Archive for January, 2008
Failure now an option [The Onion]
Failure Now An Option
Filed under culture : Comments (0) : Jan 22nd, 2008
Oh dear. . .
Filed under economics, politics : Comments (0) : Jan 21st, 2008
Kucinich slams GE
In the Nevada Democratic Debate last week, Dennis Kucinich was excluded from participating, even though he is still an active candidate for the Democratic primary. He filed suit and went as far as the Nevada Supreme Court to argue that he must be allowed to participate, since he met all of their previous guidelines.
In this radio segment, Kucinich slams on NBC and parent company GE, claiming he was excluded in the name of GE’s political gain.
It should be noted that his example, nuclear power, was brought up in the debate and talked about at some length. Even so, an interesting question of the competing interests between cable outlets and candidates in our little democracy.
Filed under politics : Comments (0) : Jan 21st, 2008
War Society
I saw a fantastic bumper sticker at work:
This triggered another thought I’ve been rolling around in my head for awhile: Why are we such a war-happy culture?
The phrase “war on x” is so common that we use it without thinking about its meaning. For anyone who as actually lived through a war and been personally impacted by it, war is literally hell on earth. It destroys families, ruins countries, and is felt for decades to come. In short, not the sort of word you would expect a healthy society to throw around carelessly.
To prove my point, let’s do a little thought experiment: How do you feel about the phrase “Let’s start a holocaust on drugs” or “The liberals have started another genocide on Christmas”?
Not such a friendly expression. Yet why should these be any different than “war on drugs” or “war on Christmas”?
Digging down a layer, you’ll find the problem is even more pervasive than it seems. The national media outlets love using violent analogies for non-violent events. Politicians don’t simply debate or argue, they “take the gloves off” (suggesting a rowdy fist-fight). It’s not merely a race or a contest for the Whitehouse, it’s a battle. We simply love using war/fighting/violence in our analogies.
Of course, the irony is that when there’s a real live war to report on, that same national media gives it only passing mention. The Iraq War is now the second longest war in US history, it has claimed north of 150,000 lives, and yet Britney’s personal meltdown gets more coverage.
Here’s the hook: we’ve gone a little screwy in our culture and with our lexicon. War is overused as an analogy and woefully underused to describe current events. Does anyone out there even bother to consider the use of peace as a conceptual tool? Do we really need to relearn the consequences of militarism? Have I gone off the deep end?
Filed under culture, war : Comments (1) : Jan 20th, 2008
Presidential Milkshakes
Filed under culture, politics : Comments (0) : Jan 19th, 2008
Shame upon us all
This really makes me feel ashamed to live in the U.S. right now. I know that it’s going to get better, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that we’ve allowed a president to install the policies of torture. We should be better than that.
BBC NEWS | Americas | Canada puts US on ‘torture list’ via kwout
The history books will not look favorably upon us.
Filed under culture, politics, war : Comments (0) : Jan 17th, 2008
Life in Packerland
I live and work in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It’s a lovely place.
Having grown up in Minnesota, I figured that one Midwest state would be more or less similar to another. Well, this isn’t always the case. Perfect example: The Packers.
I’ve never been much of a football fan, so this is mostly new to me. What I’ve discovered is that Packers trivia is always an appropriate conversation topic. I’ve compensated for my lack of any real Packers knowledge by repeating this phrase “Brett Favre for President!” (it’s a real crowd pleaser).
Here’s another fun fact about living (and working) in Milwaukee: the guidelines for business casual change with the Packers schedule.
Here is a sample of the sort of business attire I see around the office on any given day.
Pretty standard business/casual stuff.
During the Packers season, and especially when they’re winning, the range of acceptable business attire expands a bit:
(Note: this photo wasn’t taken at work. But yes, I’ve seen this exact outfit.)
[Updated Jan-18-2008]
Actual conversation heard in the hallway at work:
Woman A: Excited about the game?
Woman B: I’m really looking forwarded to it!
A: Me too. Now all they have to do is win.
B: They will. That’s not even in question. [Delivered with perfectly flat intonation. It's really not in question.]
There you have it, folks. Packers fans are a different breed.
Filed under culture, work : Comments (2) : Jan 17th, 2008
Michigan Primary [Updated!]
Today’s Republican primary in Michigan could be the end of the road for Mr. Romney (and I secretly hope it is.) His campaign has run on a “don’t rock the boat” platform of Reagan-esque sound bites and used-car salesman smiles. It’s no surprise that he didn’t do well in Iowa or New Hampshire; I suspect he will come in second in Michigan as well.
It’s interesting watching the various Republican candidates fall over each other making ever-grander empty promises to fix Michigan’s economy. It’s a bit ironic to watch as the party who worships the hallowed ground of Big Business tries to explain to the good people of Michigan why sometimes Big Business screws you. Many cities in Michigan have never bounced back once all the automotive manufacturing jobs moved outside the U.S. I’m fascinated to see just how any of the candidates hope to improve the situation while maintaining their less-taxes, less-public assistance, pro-big business agenda.
I’m predicting that McCain will get the nod today. I still like him, even if I don’t share his political ideology. There’s something very refreshing about honesty and integrity, regardless of which party it’s coming from.
[Updated Tuesday Jan 15, 23:12]
Well, I’m wrong again. Which means I’m bad at calling primary elections (but evidently I could still get a job as pollster!) At the end of the night, Prettyboy Romney came away with a healthy lead over McCain. Huckabee was a distant third, with the other candidates fighting for the scraps.
It should be noted that there’s a big asterix on this one, since both the Democratic and Republican parties have threatened to strip Michigan of all nominating delegates for breaking the rules and moving their primary up in the schedule. Even so, this is a pretty big win for Romney. It’s now anybody’s game as Iowa, New Hampshire, and Michigan have been split. (And with Giuliani looking for a win in Florida, who knows what the nominating convention is going to look like!)
Filed under politics : Comments (2) : Jan 15th, 2008
Slash & Burn Politics
In the domain of agriculture, slash & burn is a destructive method of clearing forested land. In the rain forest, this practice results in fantastic crop yields for one or two seasons, after which the soil is devoid of nutrients and turns to desert. In short, it’s a classic trade-off between short term gain and long-term sustainability.
The Bush Administration has employed a similar tactic with politics. This administration was one of the most (if not the most) powerful in terms of advancing a political ideology at any cost. They paid no heed to the legislature, installed enough justices to sway the Supreme Court, and have generally ignored the US Constitution. Most of the federal government was in lock-step with the executive, with hundreds of young Republicans installed in all departments to ensure ideological obedience.
This was the administration who rewrote energy policy to favor Big Coal & Big Oil, rewrote forest policy to favor loggers, rewrote EPA regulations to favor polluters, rewrote the Constitution in the guise of the PATRIOT Act, and started an incredibly ill-conceived military adventure in the Middle East to the great benefit of defense contractors. They party shrewdly used hot-button issues such as abortion, gay marriage, and immigration to rouse their political base without actually passing any related legislation. In short, this was a presidency that was nearly unstoppable in executing a very radical agenda.
And yet, the Republican party is in shambles. The electorate has become so dismayed by the lack of effective leadership and the blatant disregard for domestic issues that 2008 may well be a full rout for the Democrats. Wide swathes of the Republican base have become disillusioned by a party seemingly out of control. The traditional tenants of fiscal responsibility and limited government have been completely thrown out by an administration driven purely by a neo-conservative ideology.
In this way, the Bush Administration has discovered the unfortunate downside to slash & burn.
Filed under politics : Comments (0) : Jan 12th, 2008
Just imagine. . .
Filed under technology : Comments (1) : Jan 9th, 2008
