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Saturday, January 26
Happy Birthday!
To my father, who is some fifty-odd years old today. I considered using the Obi-Wan stamp, given the wise lessons he's imparted and all. I decided to go with the Vader stamp, though, given the greater symbolism (the father-son relationship, the diametric opinions, both Lightside/Darkside and liberal/conservative, and my father's penchant for shiny black metal helmets and black robes . . . or something like that). Labels: "star wars", birthdays, dad
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Friday, January 25
Deadpan
"It looks like a mock-Tudor house from the front and it's got two turrets at the back," the spokeswoman said. "I understand there is also a cannon." Labels: amusement, funny
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Wednesday, January 23
Age of Majority
An opinion piece on NPR a few days ago discussed the military service of the children of political candidates (specifically in this case those candidates running for president, although the points made were broad enough to apply to any political candidate with input on U.S. military policy, including members of Congress). The piece actually confused me, as the commentator (a father of a serviceman) openly admits that the U.S.'s volunteer military does not require service and no parent should push his or her children into service in the interests of furthering political ambitions, and yet he's "resentful" that his son (who it is assumed volunteered for service) was deployed to Afghanistan while President Bush's daughters were not. The majority of the statement is a detailed listing of the children of each of the top-tier candidates in the current primaries, noting their military experience (or lack thereof), but the reason for this analysis is never given. The author fails to clarify his position, other than to suggest a "higher standard" for political candidates (without giving his opinion on what the candidates should actually do). The are significant problems with the author's point of view, not the least of which is the minimum age for military service is, in most cases, also the age of majority, the point at which parents no longer have any authority over their children. The author seems to suggest that candidates should be judged by the decisions of their adult children, and even more the candidates should try to talk their children into military service in order to satisfy the author's point of view that a president should not send troops into a conflict unless he or she was comfortable sending his or her own children there. This completely ignores the autonomy of the adult children, who may have opted not to consider military service for reasons entirely separate from the "privileged and protected" lifestyle that the author heavily suggests is the reason some of the candidates' children are hedge fund managers or real estate developers; it could just be that military service doesn't appeal to a great many people. In addition, it's highly unlikely that any presidential child would see direct combat (and thus satisfy the "I'm willing to send my children in with yours" requirement that the author likes); the recent decision to withhold Prince Harry (a commissioned lieutenant) from combat for security reasons underscores the logistics, not to mention U.S. military policies that exclude women (even the daughters of presidents) from combat operations. The author's closing statement is equally confusing. He suggests we "take a page" from Eleanor Roosevelt, who wrote of how happy FDR was that his children volunteered for military service without his input, leaving open the question of how today's candidates are supposed to replicate such a situation. Labels: politics, social commentary
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Tuesday, January 22
An under-the-radar (to everyone but a handful of Georgia evangelical conservatives) news item I stumbled across today: Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee is lending his support to a proposed amendment to the Georgia Constitution ( HR 536) that would, no joke, reclassify all forms of birth control as abortion by defining "personhood" as beginning at fertilization. A legal analysis by one anti-abortion attorney suggests that practical results of the amendment could be "enforcement of homicide laws against pregnant women [and] restricting the activities of pregnant women," and raises the scary specter that the ambiguity in the amendment will mean contraception choices and enforcement will be left up to local laws ('cause, you know, *that* would never be used unscrupulously by district attorneys and local law enforcement). What a bad idea. Labels: social commentary, what the hell
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Wednesday, January 16
Purpose-Driven
I found an interesting article yesterday on the transformation from paper- to electronic-based information channels and how traditional information establishments (libraries, newspapers, encyclopedias, etc.) are failing to adapt. The author presents the idea (one with which I agree) that the traditional establishments are confusing what they do with what they're for (the difference between selling physical newspapers and providing a summary of information in a convenient method that consumers find both appealing and trustworthy). I think a good example of this is Omaha's local paper, which is substantially behind in its adoption of technology. For several years the World-Herald's Web version consisted of a password-protected, poorly navigable electronic copy of its print version (accounts were free, but still a hassle), which meant no one I know used it (it was impossible to forward it on by hyperlink or e-mail and you had to know enough about an article to search for it if it didn't appear on the front page). The real killer, though, was that the site had no "personality"; it was a straight dump of the paper version, with an implied feeling of "we'd prefer you buy the physical copy, but since you aren't going to do that and this seems to be expected, fine, here you go." In an information sphere where a specific newspaper doesn't have an exclusive lock on material, readers have no incentive to return to that site (it doesn't help that they use pop-up advertisements; horribly unprofessional). The same concepts hold for all other content providers. Music companies are clinging to CD sales as though their actual purpose is to sell CDs, as opposed to distributing the material an artist produces to people who are interested in hearing it, even if that doesn't involve a CD. The purpose of libraries isn't to loan books; it is to provide access to the "printed" works (in whatever format is most convenient) of an author to people interested in seeing that author's work. The fact that the book has been the most convenient method of doing that for a few centuries doesn't mean libraries should define themselves as "book lenders"; that's a fast lane to obsolescence in an information sphere. You can also see this in the switch from film to digital photography; I have a box of photos I took before my first digital camera, collecting dust in my basement, where no one sees them, and 1,500 digital photos with descriptions and searchable tags online, most of which have never been printed but have been seen by dozens of family members, friends and strangers around the world. I still have a camera, and I still show the results of my photography to people, but the information channel in between the two is radically different from what it was 15 years ago (because my purpose isn't to make photographic prints; it's to share my art with people). Labels: internet, social commentary
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Tuesday, January 15
Life Lessons
I had the opportunity to babysit at length last week, affording me some time to ponder the following lessons: - The twins' vocabulary and social skills are proceeding quite nicely. - Two-year-olds should probably not have lightsabers. - Toddlers turn corners a lot faster than adults do. Labels: alec, kyle, lane, me, twins
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Monday, January 14
The Constitution Should Be Required Reading
Republicans in the state criticized the bill as undermining federal elections. "This legislation is a constitutional travesty," Assemblyman Richard Merkt said. "It's a backdoor end-run of the federal Constitution." Please. How can one make a travesty of the Constitution when the Constitution itself says nothing about how electors are chosen on the state level other than to note the number each state sends? There is no "end-run" here. States are well within their legislative rights to base their electoral slate on the state's popular vote, the nation's popular vote, the state legislature's direct vote (used by more than half of the states until the 1816 elections) or a random coin toss. This is only a "travesty" to some people because the popular vote isn't friendly to their candidates. Labels: politics, social commentary
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Sunday, January 13
The Perils of Open Content
Although a fervent fan of Wikipedia, I'm certainly aware of the project's limitations. Such as its vulnerability to (usually temporary) vandalism. Labels: internet, social commentary
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Saturday, January 12
Happy Birthday!
To my dearest younger (and only) brother. :) Labels: birthdays, jeff
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Friday, January 11
Awkwardness
Wow, what are the odds? Labels: social commentary
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Sunday, January 6
Stupidity Knows No Bounds
I'm not sure the English language is varied enough to convey just what a bad idea this was. We may have to create a new 27-syllable German compound-noun or something. I'm not familiar with the power strip configuration, so I'm guessing these soon-to-be-medium-rare specimens of brilliance are somewhere in Europe (unless Harley speaks up and claims them as Australian brain trusts). Labels: fun, what the hell
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Friday, January 4
Weight of the World
Lisa and I discussed last night a conversation that appeared on one of the posting boards she frequents regarding the question of whether or not women should be required or encouraged (or volunteer) to comply with social standards that frown on uncovered breast feeding in public places, focusing primarily on the discomfort it produces in other people. I came down on the side of the vocal minority on the board, believing, as I do, that the entire concept of "men can be shirtless but women can't" is an oddly irrational social construct that has embedded itself in American culture (certainly not a cultural universal, as seen by relaxed attitudes in Europe, Africa and most indigenous South American and Oceanic societies), reflecting a linking of the concepts of "nudity" and "sex" when the two are not in actuality synonymous. The obvious (if juvenile) retort is "you just want to see boobies in public," but I think anyone in my inner circle will agree that my opinions are unsullied by such a factor (callipygian factors are an entirely different story). The main argument from the opposition is that such displays make people "uncomfortable," but then so do vocal political protests, t-shirts with obnoxious slogans, legally existing hate groups and the Teletubbies; we have a long and distinguished history of putting personal freedom above societal discomfort. The discussion reminded me of a television documentary I watched while on furlough (during the early morning hours when the rest of my parents' household was asleep, with the volume suitably low). BBC America (a channel I didn't even know existed until seeing it in my parents' Direct TV lineup) showed " My Big Breasts and Me," a chronicle of the methods three British women considered and implemented to deal with what is a growing (literally) problem not only in the UK but in most other first-world nations as well, the expanding bust size. While the typical male will say "Bigger breasts, yay!" (possibly substituting some colorful euphemism for "breasts"), a more enlightened look acknowledges the negative medical effects of having large amounts of weight on the front of your chest at all time, along with the self-esteem and social effects. According to the show, the average bust size in the UK has jumped from a 34B to a 36D in ten years and that chronic back pain has helped fuel a 19% growth in reduction surgeries. The women in the subject are at the far ends (for now) of the curve, with bust sizes ranging from 40G to 32E (which on a tall, thin girl is noticeable). The show followed their explorations of options, starting with diet and exercise (since bust size can be affected, both ways, by body composition) and proceeding to better support and then to surgery. Exercise in particular is a problem; the show pointed out the paradox of weight gain leading to breast size gain, leading to inactivity as exercise becomes painful, leading to further weight gain. One of the women in the show in particular had to custom-order a sports bra before she could even go to the gym, and then was quite embarrassed to be seen in public in something with "far less material" than she was used to wearing. The embarrassment angle was touched on several times, highlighting the attention (both positive and negative) that women can receive; I've had several well-endowed friends who have commented (sometimes positively, sometimes bitterly) on how difficult it is to make their bust size *not* the first thing people notice, and how awkward it can be when men take notice specifically for that reason (immortalized on the "My Eyes Are Up Here" t-shirts). Possibly the most important and interesting thing I learned from the show is that 80% of women are apparently wearing the wrong bra size, and that a simple fitting can help relieve a good deal of shoulder tension and improve appearance. So my new crusade, along with "Have you had your HPV vaccine yet?", is "Have you had your bra fitting yet?" Labels: breasts, social commentary
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Thursday, January 3
Somewhere I've Won the Lottery
Multiverses, not just for fun and fiction anymore. (Actually, this isn't really "news." The multiverse theories have been around for awhile. The many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics has been around since at least the sixties, and I first read about it in the late nineties when I read some of the works of David Deutsch. I was just amused to see it make Yahoo's news page.) Labels: entertainment, quantum mechanics, science
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Wednesday, January 2
The Rare Group Photo
In an eclipse-rare event, my generation on my maternal side assembled at the same place at the same time (in nice clothes) at a location where someone (that would be me) had something resembling a photo studio set up. Voila, the first full group photo in many a blue moon. We overspilled my backdrop to a substantial degree, so there's some Photoshop work to recreate the backdrop on both sides (I "borrowed" backdrop from a picture of Linde by herself and "threaded" it into this one). It's more or less seamless, so I'm happy with it. Labels: photography
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The One Ring
No particular post on this. I just liked this picture. I think it turned out well, with their names and the "together" at the bottom. Labels: linde, photography
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Tuesday, January 1
Happy Thoughts
Happy 2008 to all my friends and family. I hope the new year brings everyone a maximum of joy and a minimum of hardship. Labels: holiday
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