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May 5th, 2008
12:39 pm - Three Things
- Voted early! Woo! Yay, civic duty.
- Happy Cinco de Mayo, folks! Drink at least vaguely responsibly.
- Also, new (free!) Nine Inch Nails release. Go get it!
That's all for now.
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February 19th, 2008
07:57 am - Castro, Musharraf, and Historical Fiction
So, Castro is stepping down as Cuba's president. Musharraf's party suffers a massive defeat at the polls, implying that he might go soon, as well. At roughly the same time, at the demand request of my lovely wife, I've been told to decided to blog my progress through Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles, which various people I trust claim to be the best historical fiction out there.
Consequently, if anyone wants to read my reactions to the series, they should reply here, and I'll add them to the filter.
...and this has nothing to do with Fidel or Pervez, really. I just wanted to note that in my blog somehow.
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07:55 am - [Indiana] One Small Step for Sanity...
Gay-marriage ban fails in Indiana, but only because it's already against the law. This was an attempt to put it in the state constitution, as well.
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May 15th, 2007
11:23 pm - Saudi Oil Woes?
My friend Chase pointed me to an incredibly detailed analysis of the Ghawar oil field in Saudi Arabia. There's a lot of speculation in there, but the short version is that Ghawar is probably about 85% depleted at this stage.
It's a bit dry, but it's a fascinating read, and skimming through the comments ate up a good half hour of my time. Mind you, some of the comments are filled with gloom and doom, but it puts a new spin on the price of oil.
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November 8th, 2006
01:55 pm - Politics and Archivists
There are the obligatory things to mention. Friends of mine are justly happy about the next Speaker of the House. Similarly, Massachusetts gets its first African-American governor, who just happens to be a Harvard man. (Any of you folks happen to know which House? ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) swan_tower and I are curious.) The key Indiana races went Democratic (including District 9, which is mine; go, Baron Hill!), Tester appears to have won Montana, and Rumsfeld is stepping down, to be replaced, apparently, by former CIA chief Robert Gates. Generally speaking, this appears to be a political shift and an interesting one, at that. Some of the concession speeches are worth watching.
I mean, this news is better than having found out that Britney Spears was divorcing Kevin Federline.
(Only tangentially related: If any of you are, like me, fond of loopy conspiracy theories, take a look at this one, which puts forward the idea that George W. Bush's grandfather was none other than Aleister Crowley.)
In any case, no. My current thoughts are on the various websites that will be going down between now and mid-January. This concern actually came to me when I saw this video yesterday. Apparently, the White House had been cropping "Mission Accomplished" from the video of the infamous speech on the USS Abraham Lincoln in May of 2003. ...at least the version of the video which is on the White House web site. This got me to thinking about the impermanence of items on such sites and the ways in which that is ... well ... wrong.
For instance, what if one wanted to see the White House site for, say, the very end of Clinton's term? It's not as if Bush's cronies have been keeping that site up, and while the internet archive sometimes has such things, it's not as if all of the lame-duck legislator sites will be kept for posterity. What about Senator Santorum's site? Senator Talent's? Defeated Indiana Representative Mike Sodrel's site? I don't think so.
I know too many anthropologists, librarians, political wonks, and historians to say that this information isn't important enough to save. Granted, individual candidate websites might not be the most important thing in the world, but certainly something like press releases should be archived, shouldn't they?
Of course, then we run into revision issues, as with the White House's editing of the video above. Most sites don't have the revision controls for their pages that, say, Wikipedia has (using as an example, in this case, the page for Mike Sodrel, my lame-duck Congressman). Software developers are very familiar with revision control packages, but not many other folks are. ...and I'll wager that most Webmasters are just as happy to be able to expunge old documents from their servers, particularly when it doesn't fit the image their employers want to project.
I've heard many times that the span of time we're in currently will be a black hole in history, as much of its literary and intellectual output is going to fall prey to data rot. I've mentioned this concern before, I'm sure. ...but the fact that there appears to be no good centralized archivist for this data makes me sad somehow, even as the Right stumbles and the Left cheers.
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November 7th, 2006
08:30 am - Voting
So I'm off to the polls soon. I recommend, before heading there, taking a look at how the Internet has voted for this product. It amused the hell out of me, at least. The HHG2G reference in the first column made me chortle.
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November 2nd, 2006
06:10 pm - Linkity Link Link
Being a brief collection of interesting links:- True Porn Clerk Stories: an oldie but a goodie. alidavis, an improv comedienne / actor moved to LA in the last few years, but around 2000 / 2001, she was a video clerk in Chicago, and she chronicles her adventures in addictive and provocative detail. Set aside a couple hours for this.
- Emergency Kindness: an informal network of (mostly) women who try to provide emergency contraception to those women in need.
- kitsune_zen went and put together a rundown of Indiana elections, which would have made my post superfluous. Hers, like mine, is Bloomington-centric.
- Brilliant parody by "Weird Al" Yankovic, which is actually off of his previous album, Poodle Hat. If you're at all familiar with Bob Dylan, go listen and watch.
- A list of tumblelogs. What is a tumblelog? This.
- The Perry Bible Fellowship: a raunchy but quite clever webcomic.
- Exclamation Mark: a blog which appears to be dedicated to nifty artwork found on the web. I can get behind that.
- A mathematician's beer glass if I've ever seen one.
OK. That's enough for now.
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October 17th, 2006
01:44 pm - (Indiana) Voting
I just found out that you can confirm that you are registered to vote at your present address at this site. I feel like a bit of a heel for not posting this earlier, as the deadline for registration is past, but at the very least, it helps to verify that you are registered. You can also find your polling place there. Absentee ballot applications, however, can be found at the Indiana Secretary of State's site. Various other bits of information can be found here, including district maps and the like. Unfortunately, Monroe county is divided amongst U.S. Congressional Districts (4 and 9), State Senate Districts (37, 40, and 44), and State House Districts (46, 60, and 61). Frankly, this smacks of rather rank gerrymandering to me, but then again, I'm relatively new to Indiana politics.
For those who don't know who their present U. S. Congress(wo)man is, check out the little tool at the top of The U. S. House web site.
After a good half hour of searching, I'm finding really no good sites that cover what issues we'll be voting on come Election Day. That said, here are a few Monroe-county-centric pages that might be useful: Candidate listing [county clerk's office], Indiana candidates [uselections.com], Indiana candidates [politics1.com].
Edit: Monroe county party websites, alphabetically:
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September 27th, 2006
11:42 am - Of Librarians and Conscience
So, ratmmjess posted a surreal job posting that few librarians I know would ever actually apply for. It did, however, prompt me to respond, as I was somewhat distressed at the thought that the very act of applying for such a job would be a lasting stigma for someone who legitimately thought they might be able to make a direct and positive impact on the lives of people who were being oppressed.
What do others think? Am I being too open-minded here? ...or is such a job, while potentially soul-sucking, also a potential to do good for people?
Edit: I should make mention that ratmmjess is a research librarian with some significant experience, so he has a better-informed idea than I do of what it would mean to be a prison librarian.
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April 4th, 2006
12:41 pm - Reason #20456 to Hate Big Media
Apparently, the Smithsonian struck a deal with Showtime to give that network right of first refusal to most of their archives.
Kind of dumb for a publically-funded institution, right? *sigh*
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March 9th, 2006
11:15 am - Iconography
On my way into work this morning, I found out that Venezuela is changing its coat of arms and flag. There will be another star on the flag (for Bolivar), and a machete, a bow and arrow, and tropical fruits and flowers will be added to the coat of arms to represent Venezuelan peasants and indigenous peoples.
Most interesting to me, Chavez and his allies in the Venezuelan parliament have pushed for the "imperialist" horse on the coat of arms to point to the left, rather than the right. Reuters has a piece which quotes lawmaker Cilia Flores as saying, "The horse now faces left with its head forward to the future, a white, free, untamed horse, as our nation is free as never before."
The obvious implications are the more modern associations of "right" with "conservative" and "left" with "liberal." Or rather, as Chavez would doubtless couch it, fascist and communist, respectively. Historically, of course, "left" (as a direction) has been associated with forces of darkness, including the Devil. Wikipedia tells me, perhaps incorrectly, that "left" comes from the Old English "lyft," meaning "weak," and the Latinate "sinister," brought over into heraldic parlance, bears out the evil connotations of the direction.
...which is nothing more than me thinking out loud about the fact that meanings shift with time, and iconographic associations can be and are co-opted by regimes for their own political ends. It is fascinating, however, when something as steeped in tradition as heraldry smashes into modern politics to cause this sort of cognitive dissonance.
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February 22nd, 2006
11:25 am - Ports and Politics
For once in my life, I actually agree with the Bush administration's stance on an issue. That I find myself agreeing with their logic (if not their diplomacy and politicking surrounding their decision) is perhaps less distressing than the fact that my agreement with their policy has caused me to double- and triple-check my reasoning. I suppose I should work toward not second-guessing myself simply because my politics happen to coincide with those of people who generally oppose my views.
Short form: If we are going to allow foreign companies to manage our ports, there is no legitimate reason that we should balk at Arab companies doing so. That said company is owned by a foreign government is perhaps distressing, but of the governments in the Middle East, the UAE is perhaps the most secular and highly developed at this point. If we are incapable of trusting their judgements (particularly when filtered through a subsidiary of a secularized company), then how could we conceivably enter into partnerships with any foreign governments?
I believe this to be a case of nationalized bigotry. I have serious doubts that it would have become nearly the big deal that it has become if the company had been owned by, say, Spain. Opponents of the merger note that funding for the 9/11 attacks went through Dubai. This is sort of like saying that "money went through New York banks." Dubai is sort of the financial center of the Arab world, folks. It's not at all surprising that funding for the attacks passed through there. Punishing a government who has been friendly to us in the past when we're trying to win the hearts and minds of the Arab world is rather counterproductive.
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December 20th, 2005
11:23 pm - Thoughts on the Legislative Branch
So Cheney is cutting short his visit to the Middle East because Delay has asked him to return to potentially cast his tiebreaking vote as President of the Senate. I found it ironic that, only yesterday, I stumbled across the words of Aaron Burr, delivered to the Senate on March 2, 1805, upon resigning from the Vice-Presidency after concluding the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase, who had been acquitted the previous day:This House is a sanctuary; a citadel of law, of order, and of liberty; and it is here -- it is here, in this exalted refuge; here, if anywhere, will resistance be made to the storms of political phrensy and the silent arts of corruption; and if the Constitution be destined ever to perish by the sacrilegious hands of the demagogue or the usurper, which God avert, its expiring agonies will be witnessed on this floor. True, that.
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September 8th, 2005
12:12 pm - Katrina and the Government
I am generally a news hound. I keep abreast of current events as best I can, although I will compartmentalize my reading when I feel that I am being overwhelmed with information on a particular event. As an example, after September 11, 2001, I quickly became over-saturated with "news" which was effectively a mish-mash of information I already knew with small trickles of new stuff.
This has, to an extent, been the case with the clean-up from Katrina. There is little I can personally do other than donate money to organizations such as the Red Cross (which I have). Beyond a certain level of concern, my mental health suffers as I lose perspective and adopt extensive sympathetic frustration mirroring those who have been wronged. There are enough horrors in this world that I could immerse myself in them from now until the day I die, wallowing in misery, and I don't want to do that.
I am not saying that I look down on those who choose to engage more fully than I with particular events. Far from it. I envy their stamina and their empathy. I just choose to direct my emotional energies in slightly different directions.
One way in which I do cope with political problems (and the aftermath of Katrina is a serious political problem) is to contact my elected representatives in government. Beyond such letters, my only way to show my concern, disdain, or approval is to vote for or against them. Thus, I choose to vent my spleen in their direction, and I encourage everyone, no matter what your political stance, to do so as well. The US Senate has a link on their front page so you can learn who your senators are, if you don't know. Similarly, the US House of Representatives will tell you who your congressman is as long as you know your zip code. (A note to folks in Monroe County, Indiana: Mike Sodrel represents the eastern two-thirds of the county, while Steven Buyer represents the western third, in a case of useless gerrymandering that rather frustrates me greatly.)
Send your representative and senators a letter or an email. They do carry weight in their legislative agenda.
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July 22nd, 2005
01:23 pm - Rove Leak Article
Thanks to Chase for the link. An interesting article at FindLaw. I, like Chase, suggest skipping to the header that reads "The Jonathan Randel Leak Prosecution Precedent" and the paragraph immediately preceeding that header.
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July 13th, 2005
03:05 pm - Governor Approval Ratings
Here are the most recent approval polls. Interesting stuff. I wasn't aware that Ohio's governor was suffering from this "coingate" nonsense. Who would ever think to invest state funds in rare coins of all places?
Alaska, Missouri, and California appear to also be have governors in trouble, but those appear to be merely incompetant boobs, rather than being tied into criminal activities.
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June 2nd, 2005
04:10 pm - Memories of Deep Throat
There's a fascinating Washington Post piece by Bob Woodward today on how Mark Felt became Deep Throat. [via robotwisdom]
I don't recall if I had ever been aware of any of the signs which were used to arrange a meeting or not, but it was fascinating to read:Felt said if there was something important he could get to my New York Times -- how, I never knew. Page 20 would be circled, and the hands of a clock in the lower part of the page would be drawn to indicate the time of the meeting that night, probably 2 a.m., in the same Rosslyn parking garage. It makes me want to watch All the President's Men again.
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May 31st, 2005
11:03 am - Stuff
This week in Strange Horizons, we have "She Called Me Baby," by Vylar Kaftan, "Rattlebox," by David C. Kopaska-Merkel and Mike Allen, an editorial by our Editor-in-Chief, and the next installment of Violet Miranda.
In completely different news, Deep Throat has purportedly been revealed.
That's all for now.
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May 16th, 2005
12:07 pm - Wine and Strange Horizons
First off, it looks like you can ship wine anywhere you want now, which rocks and makes things much easier for wine consumers across the US. Good show, SCOTUS!
On the Strange Horizons front, we've got a new issue live. Greg Beatty interviews Louise Marley in Articles and then reviews her The Child Goddess in Reviews. James Schellenberg discusses literary musicians (including Ms. Marley) in Columns. We also have "Planet of the Amazon Women" (part 1 of 2), by David Moles, and "Rat," by Jenn Reese, in Fiction, and "In Their Element," by M. J. Kirby, in Poetry. ...and, to round out the issue, we have part 12 of Violet Miranda.
Next week should have part 2 of "Planet of the Amazon Women," an article by Jason Erik Lundberg on character reversals in Neil Gaiman's work, another episode of Violet Miranda, and more.
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April 19th, 2005
01:01 pm - A New Pope
For those who haven't heard, a new pope (the 265th) has been chosen.
Redux: Joseph Ratzinger, 78, from Germany (the first German pope since the 11th century). Dean of the College of Cardinals since 2002. Seen as a conservative hardliner within the church, but there are implications with his choice of name that he would soften his stances (Benedict XV (1914-1922) was a moderate who followed the reign of Pius X, who cracked down on "modernism").
Links:Personal reaction: By some technical readings, I'm a lapsed Catholic, since I was baptized in the Catholic church at the insistence of my grandfather, who was a good Polish Catholic. In fact, the only two times he ever called Poland were when John Paul II was elected and when I was born, which is a good indication of how he worked. My relationship with the Catholic Church has always been one of semi-detached dismay at the strong conservative bent that John Paul II took after Vatican II. Add to this the physical similarities between my grandfather and the former pope - the only pope of whom I have ever really been aware in my lifetime - and you get a whole muddle of feelings.
Let's hope that Ratzinger - or rather, Benedict - does take a moderate, transitional approach to his papacy. The Catholic Church is a very interesting and powerful institution, and I would love to see its power used to forward more progressive policies.
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