Random Fate

France voted "Non!" on Europe? Not really...

Paris and Grenoble, FRANCE - The "Non!" vote has carried the day, in no uncertain terms. However, it is important to remember the wise words of an American politician, the equivalent of which I have yet to encounter here in France:

All politics is local.
   -Senator Thomas P."Tip" O'Neill

I visited Paris the weekend before the election, and while I walked about town I looked to see any signs of advocacy for either a "Oui" or a "Non" vote. The "Non" was easily found on the public boards that are placed in prominent pedestrian areas here in France for any election. The "Oui" posters were significantly harder to find, in both Paris the weekend before the election, and in Grenoble for the past several weeks.

In the end, here are samples of the only "Oui" posters I was able to find (click any image to get a larger picture):

In Grenoble, only this:

In Paris, these:

The lack of "Oui" posters was surprising in this vibrant, combative, discursive political environment and indicated the true depth of uncertainty involved.

There are many here in France who say that the goal of President Jacques Chirac was to break the power of the Socialists and other left parties such as the Greens (in the second Paris poster image above) to preserve his own power. Unfortunately for him, he appears to have miscalculated regarding his ability to get a "Oui" or "Yes" vote from the populace at large. The far left has indeed lost power, but apparently so has President Chirac.

However, it is important to remember, not everything is always as it seems. As was once said in a song:

When the world falls apart
Some things stay in place
   -Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin

In the end, what does this mean to President Chirac, and to the idea of a closer European Union?

For Chirac, it is a decisive rejection of the results of his recent policies.

This means nothing more than the recent low polling numbers for President George W. Bush in the United States, poll numbers which in the US are driven more by high prices for gasoline than by any more fundamental dissatisfaction.

In France, they are driven by the apparent turning away from what is regarded as the "French socialism" of long term unemployment benefits and comparatively high retirement income.

To put it in simple, straightforward terms, the population of France is simply afraid. Afraid of two things: first, of losing the wonderful social benefits that have recently been cut because of fiscal constraints, retirement benefits, unemployment benefits, and medical benefits, all provided by the French government as part of the "French socialism" that was until recently regarded as such a success here in France.

The second fear? The fear of job losses to the new nations recently accepted into the European Union from the former Warsaw Pact. I can speak from personal experience in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, prices there are MUCH cheaper, and I presume the labor and other expenses are as well. When there is a cheaper alternative within the EU, why choose France?

Not an unreasonable question, nor an unreasonable fear of the answer.

All politics is local.

Europe did not lose in this election, President Chirac and his policies aimed at making France more competitive at the expense of the French socialism lost the election.

Chirac could have taken the decision to the French legislature for a guaranteed passage, as was done in Germany, but he chose the more risky path to reduce the power of the far left.

He accomplished his aim, at the expense of his own power as well.

Will the idea of Europe (an idea, or rather an ideal, more than a reality, even now after the advent of the common currency and the free travel between nations without the need of a passport) die after this vote?

No.

It may provide a much needed breather to allow the population to catch up with the politicians, however.

The ideal of Europe is hard to describe to those who have not encountered it first hand, yet it is indeed there, and this ideal is stronger than any single vote rejecting a huge Constitution for Europe.

The ideal survives, and will eventually prevail despite momentary setbacks.

Expect a lot of changes in Europe in the next decade.

Absurd

All I ask is for you to think, and not simply jerk your knee and go with your initial reaction.

Follow me through to the end, think about it, and if you disagree with me, I can respect your position.

From MSNBC.com:

Bush blasts Amnesty report on Guantanamo
President says document is an 'absurd report'
The Associated Press
Updated: 11:56 a.m. ET May 31, 2005

WASHINGTON - A human rights group's report about conditions at the U.S. military's prison at Guantanamo Bay is "absurd," President Bush told reporters Tuesday.

The Amnesty International report, released last week, said prisoners at the U.S. Navy base had been mistreated and called for the prison to be shut down.

The president, addressing a news conference at the White House, said the Amnesty document was an "absurd report."

"It's absurd. It's an absurd allegation. The United States is a country that promotes freedom around the world," Bush said of the report, which compared Guantanamo to a Soviet-era gulag.

He said the Amnesty allegations were based on interviews with detainees, who hated America and were trained to lie.

Bush's remarks echoed similar criticism by Vice President Dick Cheney.

"Frankly, I was offended by it," Cheney said in the videotaped interview with CNN's Larry King. "For Amnesty International to suggest that somehow the United States is a violator of human rights, I frankly just don't take them seriously."

Frankly, I am offended by the fact that these people have constructed a prison in Guantanamo Bay for the express purpose of being outside the US court system to avoid judicial review, and this prison is not open to any and all for complete transparency in how the prisoners are treated. For the administration to suggest that what they have done is completely legal, aboveboard, and free of the taint of human rights violations, I frankly can no longer take them seriously.

Without the transparency, then the accusations stick because no one REALLY knows what is going on in there.

Which part of this incredibly simple math is too difficult to understand where the comparison with gulags arises?

Is the comparison with gulags an exaggeration?

Yes, it is an exaggeration, but it is a sad irony that the same nation that condemned the Soviet Union for setting up prisons that were extra-legal, with no recourse to appeal in any independent judicial system has now set up more than one prison that has the same extra-legal characteristics.

If you cannot see the irony, then there is nothing more to say, because you have decided to wear the blinders of "my country, right or wrong," which in the end results in the destruction of that which you hold so dear.

The absurdity here lies not in the report from Amnesty International, it is in the fact that President Bush apparently thinks these actions of setting up these extra-legal prisons and asserting the right to declare any citizen an enemy combatant who can be imprisoned with no right of appeal or even seeing legal counsel are completely fine and within the principles outlined by the Constitution.

How far removed from the reality of this incredible expansion of governmental power over citizens, not to speak of the documented cases of prisoner abuse, do these people we have chosen to govern us have to be for their complete and utter disregard for the fundamental principles that our founders wrote out in the Constitution is actually recognized?

If you cannot see the absurdity in the statement from President Bush, then you have stopped thinking, or you never understood the fundamental principles of the Bill of Rights in the first place.

Call me liberal if you must attach a label to satisfy yourself, but remember your name-calling when the federal agents are kicking down YOUR door because you have been declared an enemy combatant with no appeal, no recourse to any courts, and no way to resist.

Hyperbole?

Perhaps...

But what if it is not?

Recall the grievances listed in our Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

---

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

In other words, "My way or the highway"...
---

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

In other words, "Pass all of my judges or I'll go nukular on your ass"...
---

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury.

In other words, "We're settin' up a prison in Guantanamo so those damned judges that I didn't nominate don't interfere with us puttin' the hurt on the evildoers"...

Biased?

Yes.

So was our Declaration of Independence.

However, the commentary I added to the text IS the face we are presenting to the world, as perceived by that world.

"The rest of the world doesn't matter," you say.

You are wrong, and that statement is even more absurd than the statement of President Bush, as you sit there in your Chinese-made clothes, using your Taiwanese assembled computer with parts made in Singapore, Hong Kong, and who knows where else.

Do the math, or the math will do you.

I am sorry...

...but there will be no post from me on the topic of Memorial Day, for several reasons.

First, many others have posted on it already.

Second, I just returned from a trip, and I can barely think.

Third, this holiday is celebrated in a completely different fashion on a different day here in France, and I think I would serve the general community better by posting on that rather than yet another "Memorial Day is important because of (insert favorite platitude here)" post.

Do I sound cynical? I do not mean to do so.

I would like to both challenge and expand the point of view of us all, as my point of view is challenged and expanded almost every day.

Writing a "me too" post would hardly serve that purpose.

Does this mean I do not believe in the meaning behind the holiday, even when most in the US have forgotten it in their rush to barbecue?

I do believe in the meaning, not the result.

However, the meaning is not restricted to a particular day, instead the day is reserved for the meaning, but we should never forget the meaning that we have chosen to reserve this day for.

Unfortunately, all too often we do, rarely more so than now.

Some have asked for a firm, non-balanced opinion from me...

...but are you sure you want one?

I'm making a point here, so stay with the entire post.

Here is a mild version:

Do the math.

In other words, the conclusion is left as an exercise for the reader.

Any questions?

If yes, then see me after class, but I expect you to have spent some time thinking about it first...

---

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Do I agree with every point or implication made in the cartoon above?

Nope... However, I have noticed that often, exaggeration is often required to get the attention of many people.

I suggest you reexamine your own prejudices before you go forward with a condemnation of me or others because of our views on current events, especially in light of history, including the history written by those who have an agenda, which means ALL history... yes, even the history you were taught in school.

In other words, question everything.

I do.

Too many inputs...

...to synthesize effectively.

What am I talking about?

I am trying to write several posts at once. One on the rejection by France of the proposed European Union Constitution (or Charter, or whatever you want to call it); another on reflections of my visit this weekend to Prague, the capital of (half) of a former Warsaw Pact nation; and another on some general trends I see both worldwide and in the United States that are reflections of things I see in history; not to mention the book reviews and historical articles I have read that show some other trends that are worth noting.

All of these are intermingled with photos I have taken in both Paris and Prague in a new format that has more information, but is more difficult to work with, during which I am listening to, being distracted by and inspired with, music I recently re-ripped into high quality MP3 files from my CD collection.

I have too many inputs to synthesize effectively according to the standards to which I hold myself.

I'm just a guy with a weblog, but I do my best to present something new and unique to the world, despite the tens of thousands of weblogs out there, the millions of books ever published with the billions upon billions of words in them, in a world where over six billion are alive today and even if I am tremendously successful, I can only hope to reach far less than 0.01% and influence the thinking of even fewer.

In the face of those numbers and percentages, it is easy to lose hope, but I strive on regardless of odds or lack of inspiration.

I have often used music or images or words and phrases I have encountered as a springboard into what I write about, but now I have too much.

Pity me? Nope...

Just be patient. I'm working on it.

Back from the Czech Republic...

...and while I write up an essay on the French "Non!" to the EU Constitution and upload photos, here's some quotes for you:

Few people think more than two or three times a year. I've made an international reputation for myself by thinking once or twice a week.    -George Bernard Shaw

Life is not so bad if you have plenty of luck, a good physique and not too much imagination.
   -Christopher Isherwood

God is the immemorial refuge of the incompetent, the helpless, the misrable. They find not oly sanctuary in His arms, but also a kind of superiority, soothing to their macerated ego's; He will set them above their betters.
   -H. L. Mencken

The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to betaken seriously
   -Hubert H. Humphrey

And a key one to remember

The fetters imposed on liberty at home have ever been forged out of the weapons provided for defence against real, pretended, or imaginary dangers from abroad.
   -James Madison
     4th US president (1751 - 1836)

New Tastes?

So do y’all think Jack’s enjoying the food in Prague? What kind of food do they even serve there? I'm serious. I've never been to that part of the world.

I was thinking about this. In Palm Beach County there are some great French, Cuban, Italian, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, and German restaurants. Search and you can find some wonderful island food. (Island as in Caribbean.) Ehhh, Mexican is lacking. We don’t have good Mexican food here, but we do have it. We even have a fantastic Irish Pub run by an Irishman near me… the food is fabulous.

A friend of mine used to travel a lot with my old company, to Russia for their space program. (We had a joint program with the Russians.) He was thrilled to get the assignment at first. After the 2nd trip he came to my desk and said, “I hate their food. Every time I go, I lose weight.”

I don't know, but I guess when your countrymen have been starving for centuries, you aren’t exactly known for your high end cuisine. That was 9 years ago, hopefully things have changed.

Nobody exactly talks about the great Czech restaurant down the street either.

I’ll be interested to hear what type of fare they serve… I'm all about trying new things and if I were there, I'd be trying everything native.

The Oddest Sign of the Times

As I said in an earlier post, my kids go to a small Catholic school. For the record, I’m not Catholic. My husband is devout and since he is the one with whom religion is the most important, I told him before we got married, the kids could be Catholic, but it’s not my deal. That’s worked out pretty well except when he travels on Thursday nights, which is frequently, and they have Religion Homework. That’s been interesting…

Right before the elections, I pulled up for pick up at school and pulled behind a mini-van that had a bumper sticker on it that said, “No More Bushit” as well as a smaller sticker that I recall being vulgar, but cannot remember what it’s wording was as it wasn’t so catchy. I was stunned. I kept thinking, “Which parent at this school would put profanity on the back of their car?” This parent knew full well they would be driving their vehicle onto the school premises every day, twice a day, and yet they had no hesitation to put such vulgarity on their car.

I never saw who it was.

Now you need to know, I can curse with the best of them. Growing up in a military family, working with men my whole life (I’m an engineer/mathematician in the aerospace industry), I’ve heard it all and probably said it all. I could probably make a sailor blush just on the fact that they would be stunned to hear what horrible language could come out of this petite 5’2” brunette.

However, I wouldn’t. See, there is a time and a place. I do not curse in public. I will let it fly around my siblings or my husband, and around some friends. Not in public. And I know who it offends and who it does not, and I act accordingly. As much as the sailor would not be offended, I wouldn’t curse in front of him because he might be offended that it came from me. To me, it is common courtesy not to curse in public, around people you do not know. Perhaps it is twisted, but I just view it as good manners.

So imagine my surprise when I saw that an adult would post profanity on their car like that. And during an election, with the country so divided, I considered it not only poor taste, but poor judgment.

Flash forward to the first Friday in May. There was a big Mass at my kids’ school and I attended since my 2nd son had a part. As I was sitting there, a woman who I befriended at the beginning of the year sat next to me.

I must admit, as much as I like this woman, I don’t really know her well. We’ve never spoken politics or anything really deep. She is new to the school and we were thrown together under odd circumstances and found we laughed a lot with each other.

So here I am in Mass, my new friend sitting next to me and she says, “Do you know that guy sitting way over there on the other side of the church? You know everyone. Who is he?” She describes him. I know who she is describing. He’s an attorney and so is his wife. I think she’s a whack job, but he has always been pleasant, rather meek, but pleasant.

I said, “Yup. That’s so-and-so’s Daddy.” My friend looked at me and said, “Reaaaallly? I’ll tell you what, I’m staying away from him. What a jerk. Did you see the bumper stickers he has on the back of his car?”

It turns out he’s the one with the “No More Bushit” sticker, as well as the other… still on his car.

My friend continued, “I have to question someone’s judgment that puts such profanity on their car knowing they’re going to be driving it around little kids, in particular kids who either read or are learning to read. I don’t like him. Not at all.”

It has nothing to do with politics. I would feel the same way if Kerry were President and it said something like “John’s a Jerk Off”. (Oh I gotta love what Jack could get Googled for on this post!) It’s just wrong.

And I am keeping my distance from this guy more so too. Our society has lost its manners and this is just one example. He evidently doesn’t care that there are a group of us appalled he would put something nasty on his vehicle, or he wouldn’t have put it there. But one day… one day some kid is going to say something to his daughter about it and embarrass her. One day, his daughter is going to read those bumper stickers and repeat it.

I am a centrist. I liked neither choice for President and found myself doing what I’ve done in every election since I started to vote. I voted against who *I* perceived to be the biggest idiot.

And every time I see his van with the stickers, I am reminded by how divided our country has become, by how angry some of our citizens are. I don’t ever remember it being this bad…

While the Cats Away...

While Jack is in Prague, I’m filling in. I should warn you… as I tell Jack, my blog is more of a crip crap blog, all about mass chaos in my life with three boys, where as his is the deep, political and philosophical blog. I do no research or extra reading for my posts; I write what I see. That is what you’re getting in the next two days... but you are getting what I've seen that I would normally keep to myself and not post on my blog.

What Is To Become Of Our Children?

I’m very active in a women’s organization that works with veterans and children and at a local level, works with the schools promoting history and patriotism. This week, I was to visit three area schools to present medals for ‘Good Citizenship’ at their awards ceremonies. The principals and teachers provided me the names of a boy and girl they felt deserved this medal and certificate, based on five criteria: Honor, Service, Courage, Leadership and Patriotism.

My three boys go to a small Catholic local parish school. It’s not one of those big fancy expensive private schools. The priest is insistent that all kids in the parish be afforded the opportunity of a Catholic education, whether their parents are hourly workers struggling to pay for one tuition or are wealthy, capable of writing a blank check to send five kids. Our building is bare bones, our facility was destroyed during two hurricanes, but it is a close knit school and even though the make up tends to be white Catholic, socio-economically it is very diverse.

The vast majority of the kids are active in sports or dance. They show up to school clean and of the appearance they are well kept. We have enormous parental involvement. And other than a few kids who fight the curse of genetics with body fat, most of the kids are lean and look like they play outside a lot. It’s not utopic, we have our problems, but overall, it’s a nice place to have one’s child educated.

Whenever the news comes out stating the statistics on the average American child being fat, I am always stunned. I don’t see it in our little school. I always look for it, but I don’t see it. Even when I go out to the local soccer fields with my kids, filled with kids from every crosswalk of life, I don’t see it. I glance over to the local ball fields, across the street from the soccer fields… no heavy children. All the kids look like something out of the movie Sandlot. Then I think to myself, ‘Well, of course there will be no heavy children in sports…” But everyone I know, both public and private school families, has their kids involved in sports or dance. Doesn’t everyone?

Where were these heavy American children?

I went to a public elementary school Friday morning to give the awards to a boy and girl, both in 5th grade. Parents were in great abundance. The principal was in a suit. Located in the middle of a very nice community, this elementary school has the ‘gifted program’. It is known to be one of the best elementary schools in the north county. The socio- economic cross section of this school is quite diverse, but I would say it is more ‘middle class’ to ‘upper middle class’, very few free lunch children. Once again, I know parents who struggle monthly with their bills whose kids go there, yet my cardiologist also sends his kids there.

The kids piled in, single file, standing straight, carrying on like 5th graders do. They were clean, all wearing collared shirts. There was much excitement as their folks were there, awards were being given out and… it was the last day of school! Summer was quickly approaching and I am sure they were restless with visions of sleeping in, swimming, and playing ball all summer.

It was a fun morning.

That afternoon, I went a couple miles down the street to another local elementary school. It is also economically diverse, but there is no gifted program. Kids are bussed in from poorer neighborhoods. I’d say this school is more ‘lower to middle class’. There are many free lunch children. There are no upper middle class families who send their kids there… I do not believe. It is located in a wonderful neighborhood, originally built by engineers with families from what used to be a thriving aerospace industry down here in Palm Beach County.

I met the principal, who was very casual in a polo shirt and clam diggers. I met the assistant principal and said, “Where are all the parents?” There was one family of seven there, and then a scattered parent here or there, but not many. She said, “Oh, they don’t come.”

I was puzzled. I replied, “Oh, I guess they have to work.” She looked at me blankly and said, “Not really.”

Later, while speaking to one of the mothers who did show, I was informed that it is not stressed to the parents to come. This is an awards day for the kids. I found this disturbing. In a day where I hear repeatedly that parental involvement is lacking in our public schools, should not every opportunity be used to get them there? Awards ceremonies in particular?

I sat on the side of the cafeteria as the kids ‘shuffled’ in, literally. There was the usual cutting up, but for the most part, there appeared to be no self pride. Scuzzy t-shirts, unkept hair, slouchy gaits, barely picking their feet off the floor, they all slid into their seats. Sure, there was an exception here or there, but… not many. I was shocked.

What shocked me most was… 75% of them had weight problems. This is the first time I saw fat America in child form. I could not quit staring. Forget the slovenly appearances, I could not get over that what I heard on the news, every week, from every medium was true.

I saw America’s fat children. It broke my heart.

It took all I had not to hug the boy and girl I gave the awards to, but I refrained as I know how the public schools can get... and I was a stranger afterall. These kids were ecstatic... this made their year and their classmates who I had been told were dreading this awards ceremony were carrying on and cheering for them. I will forever have those two children's names and faces burned into my brain.

This school… this is the average American school. The school I visited in the morning, with the gifted programs and high parental involvement was not the norm. *This* was the norm. And it made me sick.

What is happening to our society? What have we done? As I sat there looking at these kids, instead of listening to the ramble of names for various awards I thought, “Good God. These children are going to be adults. They are going to have some serious health problems.”

I have spent an inordinate amount of time looking for some correlation. Is it economic? Is it education within the family? A combination of both? If economics is a factor, we as a society are doomed to not only continue to have middle and lower middle class citizens of this country struggling to make ends meet and educate their children, but as adults they will be doing so under the intense burden of health problems. What is this going to do to our working economy as well as our health care system?

I don’t think I heard a death knell while watching this; I do not think we are doomed… yet. But I heard a warning bell. I am wondering, what is it going to take for America to wake up and realize… we are killing ourselves and our children?

Off to Prague...

...and I doubt I'll have computer access.

Boudicca has kindly agreed to help keep things here from getting too quiet, so don't be surprised if you see a few posts from her.

Photos when I return on Monday!

Means and ends

Recently, there have been many arguments presented in weblogs where the ends are being used to justify any means. While this argument is used most frequently by those on the right-wing to justify the Iraq War, it is used qith equal frequency by those on the left-wing to justify some of their actions.

I find these arguments repugnant.

How can you claim to be moral if you attained your moral end by immoral means?

How can you claim to be fair if you attained your fair end by unfair means?

How can you claim to be honest if you attained your honest end by dishonest means?

For a nation such as the United States that claims to believe in liberty and democracy, using the ends to justify means that are questionable is hypocritical at best, for it is the process itself that is important.

In other words, the means ARE the end.

The victory at any and all costs mentality that is now the prevailing view is damaging us more than we realize, and I can only hope that we leave this path before the damage is irreparable.

Unexpected

When I took this photo below (click on the thumbnail for a larger, more detailed image) it was my intention to show how sensual the advertisements in in France are.

The reflection of me taking the photo of an ad behind glass on the side of a bus stop seems to have an unintentional artistic effect if you look at the full sized image.

Is it art? I hesitate to say yes, but I do know that often what we call "art" is the product of serendipity.

10 Things I've Never Done, But Intend to Do Before I Die

I was tagged by a quasi-anonymous friend with a meme.

So, remember, be careful what you wish for, including what you would like to know:

10 Things I've Never Done, But Intend to Do Before I Die (by the way, the order is irrelevant):

1) Sail around the world (yes, sail, as in a sailboat)

2) Visit Scotland and at least one distillery where I can drink myself blind, probably on my 41st birthday...

3) Run a marathon

4) Finish a novel and get it published (I've started at least 10)

5) Write an episode of a television show, or even better, create a television series

6) Learn to speak at least one language other than English fluently (the prime candidate now is French, since I'm getting a lot of practice in it)

7) Understand my own motivations well enough to convince myself I am not the biggest hypocrite on the planet

8) Be optimistic about the future of my country for more than one day

9) Learn how to accept love well enough to get married again (if you don't understand this one, be happy)

10) Have children (not likely any more, but you never know...)

I'm not nearly as dark and pessimistic as I once was...

Seriously...

You just have to believe me.

I once embraced the Black Pit of Despair, now I reject it.

Sometimes, an avoidance of defeat is all the victory we can hope for.

....regarding federal funding of stem cell research

This may possibly shock some of my regular readers, but I can see the fundamental point of those who oppose government funding of stem cell research when the stem cells are derived from either aborted fetuses or embryos from fertility treatments that will never be implanted into a womb because they are not needed.

Do I agree with that fundamental point? No, but I can see where the objection arises, and I cannot condemn the objection.

Let me make myself clear, I am a cold-hearted SOB when it comes to "potential" children. If they are not already viable outside the womb, I do not regard an embryo as a human being, much less a person.

In other words, I feel that the valiant efforts to save premature babies that otherwise would not survive without the heroic intervention now commonplace is in reality breeding us for having more premature babies, not saving life in the long term.

If you feel that makes me a cold-hearted SOB, I wouldn't necessarily say you are out of line for thinking or even saying so.

Given that is my belief, according to my personal set of morals and ethics, it is OK to create embryos or clones for the express purpose of providing spare parts for people already alive, and it is OK to use embryos that would otherwise never be implanted to become babies as a source of stem cells for research into many seemingly otherwise insoluble afflictions.

However, I am very willing to admit that my views are far from the mainstream, and I am also very willing to admit that it is difficult to argue with those who believe that human life begins at conception.

Yet, I am completely unwilling to have those who believe that human life begins at conception enforce their beliefs upon everyone.

I do believe that restricting government funding of stem cell research in some fashion is a reasonable compromise, as long as privately funded research is NOT restricted.

Does this put the United States at risk of falling behind other nations that have fewer moral qualms?

Yes, it does.

Some who are self-described as on the right-wing side of the political spectrum are not entirely happy with the position of the Bush administration on this issue.

For me, one who is a self-described moderate who leans left, there are so many other areas in which the United States is endangered that I believe are far more critical, areas that I believe are worth much more effort to ensure that my nation remains pre-eminent than stem cell research that I conserve my resources for what I believe are the key battles.

Let President Bush exercise his veto on this issue, I prefer to save energy for the more important fights on fundamental principles affecting people already alive yet denied basic freedoms we ourselves declared essential in our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution.

Gloomy thoughts of the day

A realist is one who knows that the pessimist is right.
   -Jeff Ehrlich

Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish.
   -Euripides

The more things change...

...the more they stay the same.

The Commissar at The Politburo Diktat points to a failure of the MainStream Media, version 2.0.

Self-illusions

I emailed to my Mom at her insistence a photo that I took of myself in Paris this last Sunday using the remote control of my fancy digital snapshot camera (the remote is one of the main reasons I got this particular model of camera).

Unfortunately, in the photo I look like the fat, 40 year-old man that I am.

I hate it when that happens... It's nice to have some self-illusions maintained.

Oh, well.

Time to get serious about exercising again, even if it's more difficult to weight train here in France.

Damn, I hate sweating.

Cowering in the face of opposition isn't always the right thing to do

Finally, a corporation that has some balls:

No apologies for sexy Paris Hilton ad
Burger chain Carl's Jr. tells watchdog group infuriated over scantily clad soap-up to 'get a life.'
May 25, 2005: 10:24 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNN) - Hamburger chain Carl's Jr. is making no apologies for its new Spicy Burger television commercial, which features Hilton hotel heiress and reality TV star Paris Hilton in a skin-tight swimsuit soaping up a Bentley and crawling all over it before taking a big bite out of the burger.

The ad, which has been running in major markets since last week, has drawn the ire of television watchdogs, including the Parents Television Council.

"This commercial is basically soft-core porn," said Melissa Caldwell, research director for the PTC. "The way she moves, the way she puts her finger in her mouth -- it's very suggestive and very titillating."

The Los Angeles-based advocacy group plans to mobilize its more than 1 million members to contact the restaurant chain and voice their displeasure.

At this point, the PTC does not plan to petition the FCC to make Carl's Jr. remove the ad. Nor does it plan a boycott of the burger chain.

The PTC's main objection is that unlike a television program, parents have no way of knowing when the Paris Hilton Spicy Burger ad is going to appear on TV, and cannot steer their children away from it.

Since May 19, the ad has run during sports programs, on ABC's "Desperate Housewives" finale Sunday and on the season-ending episodes of Fox's "The O.C." and NBC's "The Apprentice."

Carl's Jr.'s message to the PTC: The group needs to "get a life," said Andy Puzder, CEO of Carl's Jr., a subsidiary of CKE Restaurants (Research). "This isn't Janet Jackson -- there is no nipple in this. There is no nudity, there is no sex acts -- it's a beautiful model in a swimsuit washing a car."

Puzder says he has shown the ad to his three children, ages 12, 9 and 7, and they have shown no signs of being corrupted. "Maybe people are excited because it's Paris Hilton, but there are far worse things on television that these groups should be worried about," Puzder said.

You know, I'm sick of the Mrs. Grundys telling us what we can and cannot see on television, in the movies, in books, or anywhere else.

Get a life, people, and stop trying to tell everyone else how to live their lives. Sex is not evil, and stop trying to impose your neroses on everyone else, especially your completely sick opinions regarding sex.

Another reason that Calvin and Hobbs is the best comic strip of all time

This strip doesn't even have Calvin or Hobbs, but it still speaks volumes of the regrets of leaving childhood behind:

I once thought the same thing, and now I have few answers...

And now for a quote from a Founder...

Society is produced by our wants and government by our wickedness.
   -Thomas Paine

Principles be damned

John Cole at Balloon Juice expresses his frustration arising from the recent behavior by Republican leaders:

We changed the rules of the game, and then acted all shocked when the Democrats (who are in no way without sin) got pissed. We stopped the blue slips and other options once we became the majority. The Constitutional issue is nothing more than nonsense to sell the naked power grab, and that is what it was. Bush never expected for all of his judges to get confirmed- no reasonable President would.

We were going to break the Senate rules THAT WE AGREED TO AND OPERATED UNDER WITH FEW PROBLEMS in order to make the rule change. And worse, we were going to set the stage so the minority party has no options, unwilling to recognize the fact that we will be in the minority again (sooner than these morons recognize, the rate we are going now- seen Bush's approval ratings?), and that the filibuster would be dead for everything if successfully killed for judges. Only an idiot would argue otherwise, which, of course is why so many members of my party are doing just that. They are idiots.

This has been my fundamental point in this whole affair, the Republicans are changing the rules to suit themselves, the very same rules they used to their own advantage when they were the minority party.

Is this really in alignment with the principles held by those who support the Republican Party?

It is not sitting well with some who voted Republican.

Will the those who are now raging against the so-called Republican moderates because of the deal they brokered to pull back from the brink of the Republican-coined nuclear option not rage against the Democrats when they change the rules to suit themselves the next time there is a Democratic majority?

Somehow, I don't think they will refrain from raging.

It's all about winning now, principles be damned.

As I wrote in the comments at a friend's weblog:

Actually, I think most Democrats are just like most Republicans, they claim to be principled, but instead they'll say and do what they think is necessary to win.

There are some rare politicians who are indeed principled, but they often do not achieve a high level of power.

So in the end, we voters are left trying to play the power-seekers off against each other just so we can get some semblance of representation in the government.

Just to be clear, I am not pro-Democrat, I'm anti-Republican and I'm anti-Democrat, I just fear the Republicans more.

Principles always have been honored only in the breech, but the raw power-plays being made now resemble the climate before the US Civil War.

Is that a period of our history we want to emulate?

The larger consequences of economic trends

I am not sure I agree with everything presented in this article, but it is well worth reading. From MSN Money:

The Fed is all wrong about inflation
We all feel the effects of rising prices, but the Fed doesn't see them. It looks at short cycles, but it's the long inflation waves that change history.

By Jim Jubak

For the last year, I've been convinced that inflation is back and getting worse. I can feel it in my everyday life. My favorite pizza guy raised his price for a slice by 20% last month. My kids' tuitions climbed 8% this year. Heating oil and electricity are more expensive. Breakfast cereal. Books. You name it, it costs more.

Yet for the last year, Alan Greenspan and the other members of the Federal Reserve's interest-setting body, the Federal Open Market Committee, have been telling me not just that there isn't any inflation, but that there really isn't any danger of inflation.

Well, I've finally figured out why they're wrong. It's not because government statisticians have cooked the books to keep inflation numbers low (although they have), or that the Fed governors are part of a conspiracy to cut the inflation-indexed payments going to retirees (although they may be), or that these folks are so out of touch with the real economy that they can't see what the rest of us feel in our everyday lives (although that's quite probably true).

No, the real problem is that the Fed is worried about the wrong kind of inflation.

You see, the kind of inflation that the Fed cares about -- and tries to fight -- is the short-term, cyclical kind. Prices jumped by 13% in 1979, for example, after a 9% increase in 1978, as members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) ratcheted up the price of oil. So the Fed, under then-chairman Paul Volcker, drove U.S. interest rates up to 14.7% on 3-month Treasury bills in 1981, throwing the country into a recession that did indeed put an end to double-digit inflation. By 1982, inflation was down to 3.87%.

But the kind of inflation that you and I feel right now isn't cyclical but what is called secular. My belief is that prices tend to move up in long, long waves that last anywhere from 80 to 180 years and contain many short-term cycles -- like the one that peaked in 1979. It's the duration of these waves of rising prices, rather than the magnitude of year-to-year increases in inflation, that's important. Past price waves have been characterized by annual increases of as little as 0.6%. But applied over long periods, even that rate is enough to set economic expectations, to produce a strong sense that something has gone wrong, to create intolerable stress in the economy and to lead finally to a political and economic crisis.

read more

Ultimately, it is the economic strength of the United States that gives us our power in the world.

We are the largest economy in the world.

But we will not be so forever, China will eventually surpass us, if for no other reason simply because of sheer numbers of people (aka "consumers").

We won't have quite the power we have now in the world.

What will we do then?

It is a serious question worth some extensive, serious, wide-ranging, outside the box consideration.

What are we going to do?

What are our principles?

What are our principles?

Perhaps you should tell me, because I still go by what I was taught 28 years ago, when my Social Studies textbook opened with a story about how some folks were meeting some brave Hungarians at the airport who had to leave their homeland because the evil Soviets had invaded to suppress the indigenous movement towards freedom, liberty, and democracy and opposed secrecy, oppression, and secret prisons.

What exactly are freedom, liberty, and democracy?

I'm not sure I know any more, not after the recent Orwellian newspeak redefinition of terms.

What will the Social Studies texts fifteen or twenty years from now tell of the prisons maintained by the United States in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, and Iraq, where people can be held for merely being in the wrong place at the wrong time?

What will the books tell about how the President asserted an authority to declare any American citizen an "enemy combatant" subject to imprisonment with no appeal to the judiciary in the United States, no right of habeas corpus, and no meeting with legal representation?

We were so ready to condemn the Soviet Union for taking measures that they said was for the protection of their "homeland".

Now, we are so ready to take measures we claim are aimed to protect our "homeland".

Secret search warrants.

The right for the FBI and other government agencies to conduct secret searches with no requirement for judicial approval.

Are we to the level of the former Soviet Union?

No.

Not yet...

But we do appear to be taking steps on the same path.

Are these steps truly consistent with our principles?

What are our principles?

Are we willing to fight for them, even if that fight is not on foreign shores but instead within our own political system?

Yet another politician who doesn't understand fundamental principles...

...and overuses the word "treason".

A congressman says comedian Bill Maher's comment that the U.S. military has already recruited all the "low-lying fruit" is possibly treasonous and at least grounds to cancel the show.

Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., takes issue with remarks on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, first aired May 13, in which Maher points out the Army missed its recruiting goal by 42 percent in April.

"More people joined the Michael Jackson fan club," Maher said. "We've done picked all the low-lying Lynndie England fruit, and now we need warm bodies."

Army Reserve Pfc. England was accused of abusing prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

"I think it borders on treason," Bachus said. "In treason, one definition is to undermine the effort or national security of our country."

"Anyone who knows anything about my views and has watched my show knows that I have nothing but the highest regard for the men and women serving this country around the world," Maher said in the statement.

Ever heard of the First Amendment, Mister Representative? It protects speech, and specifically was intended to protect political speech, of which what Bill Maher said certainly was, even if you disagree with it completely.

Thank God that some of the Founders insisted upon the Bill of Rights. If they hadn't, we'd be sunk by now.

Fortunately for those morons who like shouting "Treason!" every time someone says something they don't agree with, betraying the oath of office to protect and preserve the Constitution apparently is NOT treason, even when what they are doing and saying are completely against both the letter and the spirit of the Constitution.

How can such short-sighted people get elected to Congress?

I should run for Congress when I move back to the US, I certainly can do no worse than those there now.

Howard Dean is a hypocritical idiot

I detest name-calling.

Unfortunately, Howard Dean has shown a level of hypocrisy comparable to that being shown by the Republicans in the matter of blocked judicial nominations.

For a minority party, showing this level of hypocrisy is idiotic.

Therefore, I am forced to say that Howard Dean is a hypocritical idiot.

Any questions on that definitive statement?

Here is the evidence, from MSNBC.com:

Dean stands by Delay jail remark
DNC chair says House majority leader is 'corrupt'

WASHINGTON - Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean, who famously refused to prejudge Osama bin Laden's guilt, is standing by his judgment that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay may deserve jail time for allegations of corruption.

"Tom DeLay is corrupt. No question about it," Dean said Friday. "This is a guy who shouldn't be in Congress and maybe ought to be serving in jail."

The House ethics committee is investigating whether DeLay violated congressional rules by taking foreign trips paid for by lobbyists. The Texas Republican has not been charged with a crime, but Dean said he would not apologize for saying earlier this month that DeLay "ought to go back to Houston where he can serve his jail sentence."

He told The Associated Press on Friday, "Maybe I'm prophetic."

Asked whether he was rushing to judgment, the former Vermont governor said with a laugh, "I got in trouble because I wouldn't convict Osama bin Laden. Maybe I've learned something."

As a Democratic presidential candidate in December 2003, Dean refused to say whether bin Laden should be tried in the United States and put to death for terrorism. "I still have this old-fashioned notion that even with people like Osama, who is very likely to be found guilty, we should do our best not to, in positions of executive power, not to prejudge jury trials," Dean said in 2003.

read more

Dean hasn't learned anything, he's just trying to make political points.

I am absolutely NO fan of Senator DeLay, as I am sure regular readers here already know. However, unless and until the man goes on trial for the multiple allegations of corruption laid against him, and unless and until the evidence is found sufficient for a conviction, it is NOT appropriate for a senior member of the Democratic Party to be saying DeLay should be in jail.

A man who said what Dean proclaimed about believing in not prejudging jury trials even when it comes to Osama bin Laden should NOT be prejudging a United States Senator who has not been convicted of any crime, regardless of whether that Senator is a political opponent or not.

Dean has just proven he is a hypocrite who has no principles but will say whatever is politically expedient at the moment.

Sadly, BOTH parties have many members who display exactly this hypocrisy and lust for power that prompts abandonment of any principles in the quest for support from "the base".

I despise hypocrites.

Thoughts for a Tuesday

Equality may perhaps be a right, but no power on earth can ever turn it in to a fact.
   -Honore de Balzac

The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them away.
   -Ronald Reagan

It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power.
   -David Brin

After all is said and done, more is said than done.
   -Anonymous

It is not necessary to understand things in order to argue about them.
   -Caron de Beaumarchais

Prejudice doesn't always involve race...

Never try to reason the prejudice out of a man. It was not reasoned into him, and cannot be reasoned out.
   -Sydney Smith

Back in Grenoble

I've returned to my home away from home, and now I have to go to bed because I have a meeting tomorrow morning at work (NOTE: The timestamp on my weblog is Universal Time Coordinated, or UTC, which is currently 2 hours behind my local time).

Joy... It's a meeting with middle management. Just enough power to hurt you, but not enough power to really make a difference. Just enough technical background to think they are able to ask relevant questions, out of action long enough to need directions to the ticket office for the clue train.

Bloody Hell. I hate these kinds of meetings.

No more posts until tomorrow when I'm through with work. Next weekend looks like an improptu trip to Prague, so I best better get my PC laptop up to speed.

The rhetoric is completely out of hand

I am sitting in the Gare de Lyon waiting for my train back to Grenoble, so I only have time for a short post for which I have some material to follow up with later, likely tomorrow. It is a message that needs to be conveyed to elements of BOTH wings, however.

To those who fling about the label "fascist" and like to use the idiotic shorthand "Bushitler", I say: How DARE you trivialize the legacy of those murdered by the true fascist criminals. Even in France, which has a history both of oppression in the violent revolutions that have overcome this country along with a past tainted with some collaboration with the Nazi occupiers, they recognize the evil and have been commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Camps, posting photos of those who were murdered, the posters with the legend, "Forgetting is the second death."

You should be ashamed of yourselves, especially if you call yourselves "liberal".

Saying that Bush is Hitler is not only childish and reeks of a complete ignorance of who are the REAL thugs in history, it also makes light of the murders of those who suffered under that oppression.

To those who fling about the accusation that Christianity is being oppressed because less than 5% of Bush's judicial nominees have been stonewalled by the Democratic Party, I say: How DARE you trivialize the legacy of those murdered and imprisoned in REAL religious oppression. Even today, in China, the darling of the capitalists who lust after the huge market potential there, followers of the Falun Gong sect are being imprisoned and some killed. That is true religious oppression.

You should be ashamed of yourselves, especially if you call yourselves "conservative".

Saying that 95% isn't enough and is oppression is not only childish and reeks of a scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, it also makes light of those murdered by true oppression of religion.

Both sides: Grow up or SHUT UP.

Since a picture is said to be worth a thousand words...

...and since I'm short of time and of patience (because of the problems I'm having with the line-break conversion), I'll post two editorial cartoons that capture my concerns about where we are going.

I have a post I'm formulating that condemns BOTH the far-left and far-right wings, but I don't have time to write it since I have to get up early tomorrow.

So instead I'll ask that you think carefully about the point behind the two cartoons below:

Plan B doesn't always work as well

I was obviously too dependent upon my Mac laptop, because I don't have anywhere near the capabilities on my PC laptop. I use the same application to post on the weblog on both the Mac and PC platform, but the thumbnail images for photos generated by the PC version are terrible! I need to find a good thumbnail image generator.

Sigh...

Well, I'll work on that when I get back to Grenoble, along with this pesky not converting line-breaks issue.

Where does the real blame for the deaths in Afghanistan riots lie?

Since I'm still traveling, and I don't have the time to elaborate, I'll simply link to two editorials in The New York Times that cover the bases in the Newsweek reporting imbroglio.

It's All Newsweek's Fault

Bashing Newsweek

To summarize, though, the administration and far-right-wingers, in blaming Newsweek for the deaths in the Afghanistan riots in such an over the top way, is whitewashing those in the Islamic world who misuse the Koran to justify murder.

Something to remember when you start to lose hope in politics

Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
   -Margaret Mead

A lot to post about...

...and too little time.

I'm also having a few other problems.

A virus (I'm assuming it's a Sober variant) is using my email address to send a copious amount of spam to a NASA site.

Not good, especially since I'm a supporter of the dream that prompted the creation of NASA.

The settings on my weblog seem to be fried, and the carriage returns are not posting properly as paragraphs, so I'm having to manually edit each post.

And, I'm in Paris and trying to enjoy life, sooooooo, little time to write, even if a lot of time to think while walking along the streets of Paris and the Seine.

More later.

You really do never know what's going to happen

I saw the first Star Wars movie in 1977, when it first came out, before it had an episode number or a subtitle of "A New Hope". I saw it in in an old movie theater with a noisy film projector in Memphis, Tennessee, as a soon to be 13-year old boy whose imagination had already been caught by reruns of Star Trek.

I was fascinated by the library computer used by Science Officer Spock, and I was impressed that the military organization of Starfleet (as depicted back then) had a dedicated science division.

Star Wars was of a different genre than the science fiction presented by Star Trek, and it didn't capture my heart in the way that the movie did so many others. This is not to say that I didn't enjoy the movie, but it couldn't lure me away from the promise of things to come as shown in Star Trek, which was a future set in our universe, not a story from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

I now hold a ticked to see the last Star Wars movie in 2005, with a strange symmetry in that the new movie is numbered "Episode III" when the first movie I saw 28 years ago was later labeled "Episode IV". I will see it in a state of the art digital theater in Paris, France, as a soon to be 41-year old man whose life has taken paths I never imagined even a decade ago, much less when I was 12.

The computer I am using to compose this is a laptop that is more powerful than the room-sized computer I first learned to program on 23 years ago, and it can access a network that is filled with even more information than the imaginations of the writers of Star Trek dreamed of 38 years ago.

I now do research for a company that makes the integrated circuit chips behind this explosion of computer technology, and my job is to find new materials and design new structures to make the devices even smaller, faster, more powerful, and less energy-hungry. The job has taken me to an expatriate assignment in France, and I'm in Paris this weekend as part of a business trip.

Not bad for a boy whose elementary and high school education was in Mississippi (which even then had the lowest amount of money spent on education by all measures).

Now I wonder what the next 28 years will bring.

How do you know when things are really spinning out of control...

...and not just "politics as usual"?

Here is one clue:

John Cole of Balloon Juice, no raving liberal he, lists his concerns about the current and recent actions of the Republican Party.

Unfortunately, to some viewpoints, any questioning of the agenda of the far-right-wing (which appears to be the group ruling the day in the Republican Party at the moment) is tantamount to either idiocy, or if questioning the wars instigated recently, traitorous.

How did we arrive at this pass?

A question that merits an answer, for in that answer may lie the path out.

Weekend trip

I'm leaving in a few hours for a short weekend trip to Paris.

Believe it or not, it's for a business meeting on Monday, but I decided that the weekend in Paris with the train tickets paid for by my company was too good to pass up!

I hope to have some Internet access while I'm there, so if I can, I'll post some photos.

A quote for the day

Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.
   -Elbert Hubbard

A collision between the death penalty and a chance at life

At The Kudzu Files, hboswell has written about a situation that could have been presented as a hypothetical case in arguments over life and death.

A woman in need of a liver transplant has a close relative on death row in Indiana who has offered to donate, but the procedure that will be used to execute the inmate will essentially poison the liver, rendering it unfit to transplant. Apparently, the Indiana Department of Corrections is being very uncooperative.

One cannot help but wonder where all those who recently were proclaiming that life is sacred are now.

Go to The Kudzu Files for the details.

UPDATE: Thanks to Holly in Cincinnati who left a comment in the post at The Moderate Voice, there is more to the story. From The Indianapolis Star:

Doctor: Inmate's liver not needed
Condemned man's sister should easily get transplant once she's on list, specialist says.

By Vic Ryckaert and John Strauss
vic.ryckaert@indystar.com

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. -- An Anderson woman waiting to hear about a liver transplant from her brother on Death Row should have no trouble finding an organ even without his help, according to an Indiana University transplant specialist.

The brother, Gregory Scott Johnson, on Monday asked the Indiana Parole Board to spare his life or at least delay his scheduled execution next week, so he can donate all or part of his liver to his sister, Debra Otis. The parole board will have a hearing Friday, and Gov. Mitch Daniels will have the final say.

---

But Otis, a former waitress, should have no trouble finding a donor organ and may be better off without taking part of her brother's liver, said Dr. Joseph Tector, director of transplantation at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis.

"If this were my sister and I could give part of my liver to her, I still would rather that she got a whole organ because it's a better graft," Tector said.

"It will give her better function, with a better long-term result."

Otis is not on the transplant waiting list because she is recovering from fractured vertebrae and an infection, her family said.

There are additional details in the linked story.

Because of the computer issues...

...I have been delayed starting the fiction I took the polls on.

Well, here are the results of the polls:

By overwhelming vote, people want me to combine genres, so it will be a science fiction mystery story (damn, that's going to be tough).

The second vote was also pretty overwhelming, the time frame is in the 2250s.

Those of you who voted near future, don't despair, I still have my notes and outline for the story set in 2017, and that story needs to be written soon before it becomes historical rather than future fiction.

So, to give me time to reconstruct the notes and outline I lost in the computer crash, I'll have one last poll (for now).

It's not really a poll, but it is a call for suggestions.

1) What good character names do you suggest (and I will NOT use names like "Dash Riprock"...)?

2) Any other specific things you want to see in the story?

I reserve the right to use or not use any suggestions, but I'll try to do something that I think is interesting, challenging, and accommodates as many of the suggestions as possible.

So go to it in the comments!

Frank Gorshin has died

For those who do not recognize the name, he played The Riddler in the 1960s Batman television series in a campy yet fitting performance that displayed his great talent to those willing to see.

The best tribute to him, however, is likely this:

Gorshin's wife of 48 years, Christina, was at his side when he died Tuesday at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, his agent and longtime friend, Fred Wostbrock, said Wednesday.

They stayed together for 48 years.

That says a lot.

Has the quality of journalism declined?

A brief tale from my past is told and linked to the current scandal involving journalism at The Moderate Voice.

The accounts are coming due

Amazingly, a blogger who previously accused Newsweek of being traitorous, to wit, "Screw Michael Isikoff and Newsweek. Quislings that they are," among other intemperate statements such as, "scummy, traitorous Americans whose contempt for their own nation could not have been more clearly illustrated," now admits that the report was not the first of a Koran being abused by US forces, and continues with "perhaps some of us overreacted."

No shit...

Rather ironic coming from someone who wrote, "Type M arguments really bug me, and after reading Kling's piece I'm going to start trying harder to avoid them."

I guess some in blogworld DO think after they finish jerking their knees after all, but I cannot refrain from saying, "Perhaps they saw what they wanted to see."

Unfortunately, their after-the-fact admissions are just as weak as those they accused Newsweek of performing.

I now will call a spade a spade. Time for the gloves to come off. If bloggers are going to accuse the now infamous "MainStream Media" to account every time they screw up, then it is time to call bloggers to the same accounting.

Jerking their knees must give them a similar satisfaction similar to jerking off, otherwise they wouldn't do it so readily, do you think?

As you can see, I have completely had it with the hypocrisy.

You can see my prior rants on this issue here (in order of posting, first to last):

Forgetting fundamentals amidst the uproar from the partisan noise machines

I am VERY close to chucking this whole blogging thing...

For those screaming "press bias"...

A final thought before bed tonight...

You can say I have become more ideological if it makes you feel better.

Do this one thing for me, however:

Think about how exactly the Democrats are threatening our traditional liberties and freedoms as the recent acts passed by the Republicans have...

The Real ID Act

The USA PATRIOT Act

Implicit approval of the Presidential power to declare any US citizen an "enemy combatant" without judicial review

The creation of a extra-legal prison in Guantanamo Bay, placed in that location for the very reason that it is outside the purview of the US court system

If you mistrust our court system that much, then why do you support ANY part of our government, for the courts are fully one-third of the three-part separation of powers that was to provide checks and balances against tyranny....

Who exactly is damaging our government more at the present moment?

I have always been suspicious of those who seek power, and repeatedly, they prove my suspicions well-founded.

If you are completely comfortable with the recent trends, then rest well in your indictment of me being ideological.

If you are NOT happy with what you see, THINK about it instead of being a knee-jerk ideologue.

I despise the Democrats.

But I absolutely hate what the Republicans are currently perpetrating on our system.

What is true patriotism?

Perhaps it is pointing out what is WRONG, regardless of who is perpetrating the wrong.

The Democrats are running things off the rails?

Really?

You think so?

The read this:

A former Republican official says charges that he conspired to jam Democrats' get-out-the-vote phone lines on Election Day 2002 should be dismissed because the grand jury that indicted him included Democrats.

In simple language, his contention is we can't trust those Democrats to come to an unbiased conclusion because they are Democrats!

Horrors!!!

So what are we to think of those judges that Bush has nominated?

You know, they are Republicans, so they must be biased, TOO!!!!

Unless, of course, Republicans are completely immaculate and unbiased.

Do you really think that?

Is this type of thinking really acceptable?

Let's take this story further, shall we?

Apparently, they do not want "independent thinkers" on the jury, either.

Read the entire story.

Should we take this right-wing nutjob seriously?

Is this what we have come to?

Recall, YOU elected these folks to be in the Presidency and in control of BOTH houses of Congress.

You can do the math yourself.

If you disagree, I have no problem with that, but if you are uncertain about the path we are taking, THINK about it...

Some perspective on my views

Some have commented on how I seem to be tilting more to the "liberal" or left side of the spectrum in recent months.

As I commented in an earlier post titled "Partisan? No, principled" my recent statements are not based on an ideological reaction.

Not unless you can call ideological an opposition of those in power or those seeking power, no matter what their stated reasons are.

In this, I am like my father, but I was not fully aware of this until about 5 years ago.

When I was very young, even up until I was 18, my father taught me that respect for properly constituted authority was important.

We were both in Scouting together. When I was in the Boy Scouts, or my younger brother in the Cub Scouts, my father fully participated as an Assistant Scoutmaster.

He never explicitly told me to challenge authority, especially since more often than not he aligned himself with that very same authority.

Somehow, his rebellious streak was transferred to me, but not to my brother.

I have been the son who has moved around the country, and around the world.

I have been the son who has continually challenged the status quo, and despite continually rocking the boat, I am the son who is the most successful in many ways, not just financial or in a career, far beyond what my father ever dreamed for his children.

My father first said to me about a decade ago (and has repeated it since), "If I see most people doing something, I'll do the opposite, just because I don't trust the majority."

Odd...

We both believe in democracy.

But we both challenge the conventional thinking of the majority, and we examine the opposite path just because the majority opposes it.

A true son of the father indeed.

How odd...

The headline:

ABC revives 'Kolchak,' axes '8 Rules'

The only mention of Kolchak in the story itself, however:

September's schedule will also include "Hot Properties," a comedy about four women who work in a Manhattan real estate office, and a remake of the short-lived 1970s occult series "Kolchak: The Night Stalker."

I loved watching The Night Stalker as a child. I recently bought the DVD of the two movies for television they made. I haven't seen any DVDs for the series itself.

How the heck are they going to remake it? The story centered on the ability of Darren McGavin to pull off the character of a crusty old-school reporter, a character that if they exist any more are retired, as McGavin so effectively portrayed in episodes of The X Files in an homage to the Kolchak character he so effectively created.

Even though it pales in comparison to the special effects of even television shows today, The Night Stalker (both the movies and the short-lived series) had something special about them that still captures my imagination.

Of course, I'm not really sure what that says about my imagination, but those who anticipate my fiction can get an idea of how twisted it can be.

The remake of the series made the headline but only half a sentence in the story itself?

How odd.

New category

I have added a new category, "Rants", because I have lost patience with a lot of what I see, and I need to rant about it.

However, I want folks who are looking for balanced commentary to know what posts to avoid.

Hence, this seemed the best compromise since I don't really have time to maintain a balanced weblog and a rantblog, yet neither do I want Random Fate to be a rantblog.

Even though rantblogs get more readers, I do not want those kind of readers, and I want Random Fate to be more than a pointless echo chamber.

So, take the "Rants" for what they are, unbalanced, angry opinions.

Most of them will be hidden in the extended entries if they are long enough, but a few shorter ones may slip through. Ignore them if they offend you. If they don't offend but don't align with your opinions, feel free to comment, but don't expect a balanced reply unless you have fully thought out your comment.

You have been warned.

For those screaming "press bias"...

...think on this for a moment:

Mr. Isikoff is, famously, the journalist who discovered the liaison between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, and it was his reporting that led to impeachment proceedings against the president.

Oh, yeah, he sounds like a solid left-winger to me.

More like someone looking to get a "scoop" who screwed up.

Not like that will make any difference to those so busy jerking their knees that they'll need arthroscopic surgery.

I am VERY close to chucking this whole blogging thing...

...because of the incredible stupidity I'm reading about the Newsweek report (that wasn't even a full article...).

This is categorized under "Rants" for a reason, and if you don't want to read a strong opinion, I suggest you stop here and move on.

I suspect I will lose at least a few readers over this one.

Otherwise, read on...

Apparently, most of the folks I read in blogword can READ THE MOTIVES of those at Newsweek.

Well, isn't THAT just awesomely fucking impressive, given that if you go by the divorce rates in our country, at least 50% of the married folks CANNOT READ THE MOTIVES of those they SLEEP WITH EVERY NIGHT.

Gee, the math isn't even really hard for this one, but apparently it's too difficult for most to overcome those damn knees jerking everywhere.

"Those at Newsweek just want to make our military look bad."

"The people at Newsweek are a bunch of traitors."

"They have a left-wing agenda and this proves it."

Sorry folks.

My patience is broken, and all I can say any more is:

BULL-FUCKING-SHIT!!!

YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEIR MOTIVES ARE, ANY MORE THAN THEY HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT YOUR MOTIVES ARE.
.
.
.
I have HAD it.
.
.
.
This is complete and utter bullshit.

Just because you THINK SOMETHING does NOT make it TRUE.

Unless you have EVIDENCE of some GRAND LEFT-WING-CONSPIRACY centered in the news media, just shut the fuck up with your God damned blather about it.

It's gotten MORE than old.

The dipshit quotient of the United States is obviously MUCH higher than I ever thought it was, even in my darkest and most cynical moments.

Am I daring to defend Newsweek in their fuck up?

NO!

But, this does not make YOU OR ANYONE ELSE A FUCKING MIND READER.

So, just GODDAMNED WELL STOP WITH ASSIGNING MOTIVIATIONS TO PEOPLE YOU HAVE NEVER EVEN MET.

Unless, of course, you don't care if I try to read the minds of (insert YOUR SIDE here) and make sure that all the motivations I ascribe are COMPLETELY NEGATIVE.

GROW THE FUCK UP, PEOPLE.

---

This editorial was prompted by the incredible outpouring of thoughtless writing in blogworld.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled attempts of at least trying to achieve a balanced view on Random Fate.

Live feed of hearing cut off?

In their report on the testimony by George Galloway before the Senate subcommittee for Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the author at Sploid states:

Some crazy live television ... so they cut off the live feed after a blistering few minutes. Not broadcast on C-Span, either, but you can hear an audio webcast on this C-Span site.

I haven't been able to find confirmation of the cut off of the live feed of this hearing.

Instead of reacting immediately, I am looking for the answers to the following questions:

1) Was the feed cut off?

2) If the feed was indeed cut off, was it due to a technical issue that was just incredibly poorly timed?

3) If the feed was indeed cut off, and there was no technical issue that caused the feed to be cut off, was there another reason for the feed to be cut off unrelated to the testimony being given?

4) If the feed was indeed cut off, and no reasonable answers to questions 2 and 3 above can be found, then what does this say about our government when a live feed is terminated because a witness is ripping into both the Congress and the current administration?

Any additional information on this will be greatly appreciated.

Forgetting fundamentals amidst the uproar from the partisan noise machines

A reporter at Newsweek makes an error in trusting sources, the editors make another error in underestimating the fallout of reporting the anonymously-sourced story that has implications for the overly-sensitive Muslim community in world hot spots who have many members looking for an excuse to rouse the crowds in anti-US riots, and yet again out come the tired applications of "liberal bias" and the even more overworked cries of "traitors" by some bloggers.

Sadly enough, at least one of the criers of havoc regarding the motives of those at Newsweek is someone who claims to despise "motive-based" arguments.

Given how readily the media bought the line that the Democrats supposedly made up the term "nuclear option" to describe the attempt to end the filibuster of judicial nominations when the term had been coined by a Republican gives lie to many of the bias accusations and instead brings to my mind a question of competence.

Did Newsweek screw up?

Yes, in a big way, and that should not be overlooked.

However (and you knew, reading me, there was going to be a "however").

Let's look at two fundamentals.

First, the news media itself.

There are cries from both the right AND the left about bias in the media. I have read from big bloggers on both sides of the spectrum call CNN a shill for their opposites.

Odd, that. I don't see the right calling Fox News biased towards the left, but then, I can't read everything.

This is beside the point. The extremists on both sides are prepared to see any inaccuracies, poor wording, or thoughtless headlines as "proof" of bias.

Sorry, folks, that ain't the case.

Let's take a subject that I can reasonably say I am an expert in, science.

Reporting on science is frequently inaccurate, with poor wording, thoughtless headlines, and conclusions in stories that do not represent at all what the sources told the reporters.

I know this from personal experience, in more than one case.

Does this mean the news media has an agenda?

Nope.

It means they add "drama" to the stories by giving screaming headlines and the most extreme conclusions that they pressed out of the people they interviewed who gave huge hedges against drawing any firm conclusions. You could say there is an agenda, but it is driven by getting eyeballs to read the stories, not based on ideology or philosophy other than what will get the public to read.

Does this mean the news media is biased against science?

Nope.

It means that reporters make mistakes. Often. Even when they are trying to get it right and work hard to report accurately.

Does this mean we should give them a free pass when they make mistakes?

Nope.

It DOES mean that we should be careful in crying havoc and screaming "traitors!" or making motivation-based arguments.

One of my favorite "laws" of nature, akin to Murphy's Law, is Hanlon's Razor:

Do not attribute to malevolence what can be ascribed to simple incompetence.

There is a lot of truth in that statement.

The second, more important point about this whole matter is one that is not pleasant, but must be addressed.

I have written often on the dangers of having an extra-legal prison set up at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay. The dangers I spoke of were mainly internal, as in a precedent of secrecy with respect to incarceration that is a very bad precedent for a democratic society that depends on both governmental openness along with free discussion by the citizens for its lifeblood.

It is now apparent that this secret prison also has implications outside of our nation beyond the black eye given to a nation that preaches freedom and democracy abroad while holding prisoners in a location deliberately chosen to be outside the reach of the judicial system. The implications have been shown by the reaction to the report of supposed desecration of the Koran.

If the prison was truly open, then the reports would not be as credible, and neither would the reports of torture perpetrated there which continue to trickle out.

In other words, the veil of secrecy over this extra-legal prison is doing more harm than good, to our foreign policy, to our reputation in the world, and in the end, to our democracy itself.

We have established the President can declare a citizen an "enemy combatant" with no judicial review.

We have established an extra-legal prison beyond the reach of judicial review.

We have passed the Real ID act, a law that has provisions enabling the Secretary of Homeland Security to make decisions that are exempt from judicial review.

Are actions taken out under a dark cloak of secrecy really good for democracy, which depends upon examination of governmental actions in the light of day?

Are exemptions of decisions and actions by one branch of government from review by another branch of government really in the spirit of the separation of powers and associated, vital checks and balances that the founders incorporated to prevent tyranny?

Don't react, think about this for a while.

There are broader implications than the partisan politics of the day. Unfortunately, our so-called "leaders" can't see beyond their next election, beyond the next opportunity to increase their own power.

Is this the path we really want to be traveling?

Bring out your dead! Bring out your dead!

Peasant, "Here's one."

Old peasant, "I'm not dead yet..."

Peasant, "Shaddup! You soon will be."

---

Thanks to some advice from Paul at Light & Dark, I have determined that the hard drive itself in my Mac is not dead, but there is something wrong in there. Either both RAM modules have bad bits, or there's something else either in the motherboard or the electronics in the hard drive that is causing a permanent, unrecoverable spinning beach ball when I try to use the resurrected Mac.

Perhaps it was all due to circumstances beyond my control...

Well, off to the repair shop. Perhaps I might send it to the US to get repaired just to avoid the communications difficulties.

More losses from the hard disk crash

In addition to losing my outline and notes for the story I'm working on, along with access to the software on the Mac I was using to write the story, I also lost several photos I had taken around Grenoble to post here. Some of the photos were of the ads I've seen around town for various products, many of them rather "racy" given that for all the downsides of the French, at least they aren't hung up on this "sex is evil" thing that goes on in the US.

Unfortunately, I also lost the photo of a poster that had been put up regarding the upcoming referendum on accepting the new European Union Constitution. That one is likely the largest loss because it said that instead of voting "oui" or "non", vote Chuck Norris!

At least some folks have a sense of humor about politics.

Not good...

I'm four aborted system installs into my diagnoses of what is wrong with my Macintosh PowerBook.

It's looking like I had a hard disk crash, and the hard disk is now a goner, belly up, non-functional, ain't working, gone to heaven, checked out, deceased, defunct, departed, done for, expired, extinct, gone, inanimate, inert, late, lifeless, liquidated, mortified, no more, not existing, offed, passed away, perished, rubbed out, snuffed out, stiff, washed up, wasted.

In other words, d-e-d...

This is very bad.

I guess I'll have to hunt down the local Apple distributor and see if they do service as well as sales.

I really prefer writing on the Mac, I like the keyboard. It's much more comfortable to me.

The euro-dollar exchange rate is going to kill me on the repair and the parts.

Ouch.

I am NOT happy.

And just after I used some new software to outline the story I'm writing. Mac-only software. The file is on the d-e-d hard disk.

Bloody Hell.

Damn...

I've had to reformat the hard drive on my Mac PowerBook.

I didn't have everything backed up.

This really sucks...

Ruminations on dreams that have died

I just finished listening to the fanfare from the first Star Trek movie. You know the one, the original release that was drawn out and boring to most, and the additions for television and VHS release included scenes that they hadn't even added the special effects for, so you could see the scaffolding and the wires when Kirk left the airlock to retrieve Spock after his abortive mindmeld with the living machine.

The movie that when I first saw it on the big screen captured my imagination and has never released it since.

I am old enough to have seen the original series, and to have been enthralled by the vision of the future it presented, despite the cheap sets, the bad visual special effects, and the more than occasional preachy and stilted dialogue.

Hope for a better future is alluring beyond almost any flaw to those who see only sadness and tragedy in the present.

Even as a boy, I only saw the sadness and tragedy in life, and the future seemed to me to be a far, far better place.

Then, the first movie came out, after the studio had been goaded for over a decade by the first truly obsessive fan-base and finally motivated by the unexpected success of Star Wars. The obsessive fans were a phenomenon that would be repeated over and over for other sci-fi fests, such as Star Wars and Babylon 5 (not to denigrate either, because I enjoy both, and have the DVDs for them, but Star Trek was truly the first phenomenon per-se).

In the end, though, all of these series or movies that encouraged such a large group of people who were ill-equipped to live in the now did so because they presented a future that was at least not worse than the present we have to deal with.

Here we are now, on the eve of the release of the last Star Wars movie (if George Lucas can be trusted), accompanied by the odd synchronicity of the broadcast of the last episode of a Star Trek television series in 18 years.

Star Trek has not suffered from overexposure, it has declined because the current producers do not understand the original appeal of the show.

For each movie after the original series cast finally retired, the producers discussed "the villain" because they felt that the second movie had succeeded because of the strong opposition between Kirk and Khan.

They were wrong in their assessment of the origin of the appeal, and it showed in the declining success in each movie and television series.

The appeal wasn't in the conflict between an ostensible hero and villain.

The appeal was twofold.

First, in the vision of a hopeful future that was at least on par with our present. In other words, we survived to the 23rd (or 24th) century, and we continued to progress.

The second, overlooked but possibly more compelling appeal was due to the questions raised regarding the nature of free will, freedom, equality, and other philosophical questions.

The triumvirate of the ever-logical Spock, the emotional McCoy, and Kirk, the decision-maker seeking some kind of balance provided a true and interesting tension that the false drama of "hero versus villain" only poorly echoed in the later movies and series.

Have we grown so cynical that we can no longer hope for a vision of the future such as that presented to us over 35 years ago without the seemingly clear dichotomy of a pure white hero and a pure black villain?

Have we lost our innocence to the point where a movie about the birth of Darth Vader, a truly dark presence in the annals of movie antiheroes is more celebrated than any visions of a better future?

Writing about this is probably as pointless as anything I will ever do.

Linking together these questions with the lost innocence that I perceive will likely accomplish nothing.

Dark visions still call up the vestiges of that angry young man that once inhabited my now older body, and that angry young man still cries out for some justice, even if his cries are weaker as the years take their toll.

Technorati Tags: opinion

What do you do...

...when you are too old to be an "angry young man" filled with the fire of injustice and idealism?

...when you are too young to be a "bitter old man" filled with the venom of broken dreams and lost ideals?

...when you are a 40-year-old who has no children to try to make a better world in the name of?

...when you are a man who has been fighting for decades against what seems obvious to him but completely out of the question to 90% of the rest of humanity?

...when you are a man who believes in rationality and logic in a world ruled by emotion and pre-judgement where any conclusion that does not match an ideology is immediately discarded and labeled either "radical" or a "betrayal"?

...when you live in a world where every time you start to think perhaps there is something to the so-called "intelligent design" a bunch of yahoos prove to you that no rational god could have ever created a species capable of such genius and generosity is also so easily turned to committing acts of such incredible stupidity and cruelty?

...when you are a citizen in a nation where members of the legislature proclaim "The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior" and judges feel the need to arm themselves?

...when the hypocrisy gets so overwhelming that you want to grab those practicing it by the neck and choke them because they are so foolish to not see the destruction they are wreaking?

...when the country that you love seems to be falling apart worse than even when the issue of slavery seemed to permanently tear it asunder?

...when you are both too young and too old for this?

...when you are too alone to continue the fight... too alone in more than one sense of the word?

...when you are just too fucking tired?

Technorati Tags: opinion, personal

I have not posted on the Bolton nomination to date...

...because I recognized it for what it is.

Apparently, many others have not.

To make it clear what I view this nomination as, I will quote a comment I left at Cadillac Tight in response to a p