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28 June 2002 
Radio Ga-ga
US Senator Russ Feingold, co-sponsor of the notorious bill that would prevent political campaigns from spending money as they choose to, is now sticking his nose into the radio and concert-promotion industries:
Pointing to a decline in local ownership of radio stations, escalating ticket prices, and strong-arm promotion tactics, Democratic Sen. Russell Feingold said his bill would rein in the worst abuses of an industry that has undergone rapid consolidation since ownership caps were relaxed in 1996.Russ, I think you'd be more at home up here in Canada, home of election gag laws and the crtc.
10:41 PM |
Ungodly Ruckus
More on the Pledge flap, from the Intellectual Activist:
The phrase "under God" in a school-sponsored ritual is a very small breach of the separation of church and state. But the arguments offered by Bush are signals of a much larger breach in the making. The insistence that our rights come from God implies that those who don't believe in God have no rights—an implication made explicit by the elder President Bush back in 1990, when he declared that he didn't think atheists were full citizens of the United States.
10:17 PM |
God and Government
I'm all for getting God out of public school classrooms, so I approve of the recent court decision banning the "under God" bit of the Pledge of Allegiance. Like many, however, I've had a bit of difficulty getting too excited about it. I mean it's just a couple of words, right? Well, for an inkling of how important it is to the other side, see the lunatic ravings of Cal Thomas:
On the eve of our great national birthday party and in the aftermath of Sept. 11, when millions of us turned to God and prayed for forgiveness of individual and corporate sins and asked for His protection against future attacks, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has inflicted on this nation what many will conclude is a greater injury than that caused by the terrorists.If this is how the religious right sees it, then I am positively thrilled with the ruling.
(Luckily, due to another fine judgment, Cal and his confused cohorts can still use their vouchers to have their kids brainwashed at the private school of their choice.)
02:12 PM |
Homocon and Happy
Richard Goldstein believes that all self-respecting gay people are also socialists. As a result, he has a slight issue with "homocons" (his word) like Andrew Sullivan. Last night, the two duked it out in a debate in New York.
- Sullivan's comments on the event
- An audience member account by Clay Waters
- Another first hand report, by Sasha Castel (scroll up; the permalink is wonky)
01:26 PM |
Why Software Sucks
An interesting article on why software sucks.
“Users are tremendously non-self-aware,” [says former chief technology officer Nathan] Myhrvold. At Microsoft, he says, corporate customers often demanded that the company simultaneously add new features and stop adding new features. “Literally, I’ve heard it in a single breath, a single sentence. ‘We’re not sure why we should upgrade to this new release — it has all this stuff we don’t want — and when are you going to put in these three things?’ And you say, ‘Whaaat?’” Myhrvold’s sardonic summary: “Software sucks because users demand it to.”
09:55 AM |
26 June 2002
Fairfield Pix
Here are some pictures from the Fairfield Half Marathon.
09:46 PM |
25 June 2002
Driving Me Crazy
As Kottke was writing this, I was living it on the drive back from Connecticut.
(Running page updated with the race results. A decidedly unspectacular time, but considering the hills, heat, and humidity, I wasn't overly disappointed.)
10:30 AM |
21 June 2002
Gotta Run
I'm heading out Saturday am to drive almost 1000 km (and back) in order to run 21.1K. Yes, we runners are a little bit crazy. OK, so maybe it's just this runner, but see the new quote of the moment for a wise word from noted "running philosopher" George Sheehan.
10:33 PM |
Martha Stewart Cavilling
I like Martha Stewart. From cooking, to gardening, to household chores, and beyond, she delights in finding the best, most efficient way to accomplish things. Even though I — like the majority of her audience, I imagine — am likely to put to use only the tiniest fraction of the knowledge she imparts, it's a pleasure to just to watch and read. I wish I found it surprising that she is the target for such a huge amount of hatred. But someone who is an unapologetic perfectionist, who dares to suggest there is a right way and a wrong way to do something, well, you just know that kind of attitude isn't going to remain unchallenged in our culture. In Martha and the Tall Poppies, Robert Tracinski analyzes this phenomenon:
Why do so many people hate Martha Stewart? How does a home-decorating and entertaining expert with a sweet, wholesome public persona come to be portrayed as a major cultural villain?Consider the past week's media frenzy over charges that Stewart engaged in "insider trading." The reaction in the press and by members of Congress—who have launched an investigation—is far out of proportion to the actual evidence or the alleged crime. Nor can this case explain the eagerness with which snide columnists and catty morning talk-show hosts contemplate the prospect of seeing Martha in prison—joking, as one host did, about whether her cell will have matching curtains.
There is only one explanation for this tone of vicious glee. Martha is hated because she's a tall poppy.
10:13 PM |
Zero Sense
A somewhat heated argument broke out today at work about whether economics is a zero-sum game or not. It stemmed from this quote from the movie Wall Street (which I haven't seen):
It's a zero sum game, somebody wins, somebody loses. Money itself isn't lost or made, it's simply transferred from one perception to another.I took the contrary position — that money is made — against two co-workers. I'm still puzzled at how anyone can believe there's a fixed amount of wealth and that someone has to lose for someone else to win. It seems that the history of the United States alone is sufficient to disprove that idea. But my opponents weren't having any of it. What wealth there is exists and always has, they said, and all of economics is simply redistribution of it. I found a decent link that tackles the zero-sum fallacy:
Look about you at everything that exists now, all the technology, art, literature, and the material farms and cities, from homes and skyscrapers to gardens and fields. Once people lived in only natural shelter, hunting and gathering, and had none of this. So where did it all come from, if wealth cannot be created?Does anyone have more insight into this strange idea and its origins?
09:39 PM |
20 June 2002
Rethinking DDT
Steven Milloy urges us to rethink ddt:
Rachel Carson inflamed the public against DDT with her book "Silent Spring." She claimed DDT harmed bird reproduction and caused cancer. But Carson misrepresented the then-existing science on bird reproduction and was dead wrong about DDT causing cancer.
10:33 PM |
16 June 2002
Suicide Bombers in Training
From memri comes a videotape compilation of the kinds of things being broadcast on Arab television:
Prof. 'Adel Sadeq, ...head of a psychiatry faculty at a university in Cairo, talks of Islamic martyrs reaching "the apex of happiness."Tells you a bit about a culture when its mental health professionals promote death as the pinnacle of happiness, no?
"The height of ecstasy and happiness — and I am talking to you as a professional, a psychiatrist — comes the moment ... just like the producer told you: ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and then he presses the button to blow himself up."The most beautiful moment, for which he would have time speed up, is the moment he says "one ... this man explodes, and he feels that he is flying."
On another program, a father discusses what lessons he’s sharing with his son.Not exactly surprising, but unsettling nonetheless. (Via Andrew Dalton)"I am already preparing him for martyrdom, either mine or his. He asks me: If I carry out an operation and blow myself up, will Allah give me a car, a rifle to shoot with, toys? I answer him, ‘You will get everything you ask for.’"
08:44 AM |
14 June 2002
Abbey Again
I may have to start another blog just for Abbey-gushing. Until then, you'll just have to suffer through it here.
09:15 AM |
12 June 2002
Silent Slaughter
Juan Non-Volokh disses Rachel Carson and The Professor agrees:
I enjoy seeing the blue herons, bald eagles, and other birds that have come back as a result of the DDT ban -- but I feel kind of guilty that my enjoyment is purchased at the cost of millions of third-world deaths from DDT-preventable disease.It's a surprise that more people don't feel bad about that.
01:13 PM |
4 June 2002
Who Are the Websites in Your Neighborhood?
Here are the websites in my neighborhood, courtesy Google and Mark Pilgrim.
11:23 AM |