"It’s never a true lefty protest unless old men are arguing about Trotsky"

A nice on-the-scene roundup of protest and politics in New York City by a guy who pretty much lines up with my feelings on these issues.
posted by Mike Silverman at 9:50 AM

 
Book 'em

In this thread someone had the idea that rather then displaying political books by author, instead display them by persuasion...on the left side of the shelf, put liberal books, on the right side, conservative books. Chomsky on the far left, all the way to Buchanan on the far right. I think this would be kind of fun and clever. I'd limit it to "current" political screeds, basically anything having to do with the 2004 election or the candidates therein. Or how about this...set up a display table with red and blue sides, and place the books in their appropriate locations.

Ironically, I really do not like reading partisan political books. If I want "entertaining and unbalanced" I have a long list of blogs I read that are generally better then anything quickly slapped together to sell during an election year. I'm equal-opportunity here. Whether it is a gag-inducing book on Bush's intimate and personal relationship with God, or explosive outgassing from Michael Moore's pie hole, I don't want to read it.

Now I do like intellgent books on political theory and history. One of the best I have read this year is The Right Nation which is a fascinating and in-depth book on the history of the conservative movement in the United States, from a middle-of-the-road perspective that steers clear of any ideological assumptions about the reader, or judgment of the book's subjects. Another great political book that came out this year is Occidentalism which is subtitled "The West in the Eyes of It's Enemies." Occidentalism is an amazing look into how we are seen by our enemies, and how often the enemies of liberal civilization arise from our own midst.
posted by Mike Silverman at 3:53 PM

 
Tanned, rested, and ready

The excellent Jewish political group blog KesherTalk is back online with a nice new design and the return of comments. Check it out!
posted by Mike Silverman at 9:52 AM

 
"Hatikva" will echo over the hills of Olympia!

Israel wins first Olympic gold




A windsurfer whose first name means ``wave'' in Hebrew gave Israel its first Olympic gold medal ever Wednesday, taking a plunge in the Saronic Gulf to celebrate.


Gal Fridman sailed a remarkably consistent regatta, never finishing worse than eighth in the 11-race series. He placed second in Wednesday's decisive race.


After Fridman crossed the finish line, he took a victory dip and then wrapped himself in an Israeli flag when he came out of the water.
posted by Mike Silverman at 9:59 AM

 
Misc. Debris

Two things:

1. Last night we had severe weather and the power went out for a few hours. Ordinarily, nothing to get too excited about, but I find it ironic that this happened right after I posted about Dies the Fire below.

2. Foghat leads the list of second-rate performers who want to sign up to put on concerts to support President Bush's re-election efforts. Now I know Foghat isn't quite R.E.M or Bruce Springsteen, but Bush would gain at least one vote.



Yeah, I like drummers with 30 minute drum solos, like the guy from Foghat.
DOOGADADOOOGADADA! Yeah, that's my drummer." -- Carl, Aqua Teen Hunger Force
posted by Mike Silverman at 9:55 AM

 
Which statement do you agree with?

1. Legitimate protesters in New York are being muffled and their speech is being unfairly restricted by forcing them to march in low-visibility locations far away from the convention.

2. Violent protesters are in New York to disrupt the RNC, and these people need to be shut down as violence and harassment are not free speech.

My answer: "both of them."

Protesting (or supporting!) Republican policy and the President is about as legitimate as political speech gets, and should be celebrated and supported. But God knows, there are some dangerous people coming to New York who will break the law and harass everyone to make their purile points. These people are enemies of all good Americans, Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives.

For example, somebody released a list of names and contact info of a couple thousand GOP delegates. Delegates (to both conventions) are generally local precinct chairs and activists...pretty much the people who are the grassroots of both parties. Posting their names is electoral intimidation, an interference in the democratic process...morally on the same level as having thugs beat up people who vote the wrong way. It would be educational for the federal judiciary system to make an example out of whoever posted those names and addresses.

I feel really sorry for the legitimate non-violent protesters. Their message will get lost.

I do not envy the NYPD's job next week.
posted by Mike Silverman at 3:25 PM

 
Dies the Fire

Science fiction author Steve Stirling's new book "Dies the Fire" is perhaps the most thoughtful -- and disturbing -- "end of the modern world" novel I have ever read. The world Stirling creates is even more disturbing then the well-known ends of the world seen in books like Stephen King's The Stand and Robert McCammon's Swan Song, because in Stirling's apocalypse, the modern world doesn't just end, but the very conditions of the planet change such that there is no chance of humanity ever clawing back from a new dark age. The major difference in Dies the Fire is that there is no war or plague to cause the end of the world; rather, the very physical laws of time and space are changed so that three things are changed: anything based on electricity and rapid combustion (think explosives and firearms) stops working, just like that. It's kind of like a massive EMP, but without any hope of rebuilding. The absense of firearms mean that the strong can prey on the weak at a level not seen since the early middle ages. This is a point that may people (especially those who are anti-gun) often fail to see -- that guns act as an equalizer and give the physically weak and outnumbered a fighting chance against the strong. This changed history; prior to the invention (and the modern perfection) of firearms, the average person had no means of defense against the well-trained and physically strong brigand with a broadsword. In Stirling's world, America goes back to the Middle Ages, in the most savage way: You are either handy with a sword, or you are the slave of those with swords. Or you die.

That fact is what makes Dies the Fire both incredibly fascinating, and incredibly scary. In almost every other post-apocalyptic novel you read, you probably magine yourself among the survivors. You might think you are handy with an engine, or that you know how to use a gun well, or even that you are generally a smart person and could probably make it. In Stirling's world, you can't imagine that, and that is why the book is so scary. Unless you are a hardcore SCA member (or a very fast learner who happens to be in Navy SEAL physical shape), your role in the post-apocalyptic world of Dies the Fire would probably be as a slave or rotting corpse.

posted by Mike Silverman at 10:34 AM

 
Divided we stand

It's hard to believe that both of these people are talking about the same thing.

From the left:

The Kerry camp, though damaged by the allegations, has all but won on the merits. In the last couple of days, several mainstream press investigations—see here, here, and here—have (despite a certain conventional even-handedness) undermined most of the key charges made by the anti-Kerry Swift Boat Veterans For Truth that John Kerry didn’t deserve his medals. The SBVFT argument has been further damaged by new testimony from previously silent eyewitnesses who back up Kerry’s version of the events that led to his first Purple Heart and his Silver Star. A series of suspicious-if-not-quite direct connections, and one spot-on one, have been established between SBVFT and the Bush campaign. And Kerry seems finally to be hitting back.

From the right:

It is now clear that Mr. Kerry lied, repeatedly, about being in Cambodia on Christmas 1968. Having been called out on it, he's furious; but his response will serve to draw still more attention to not only the details of his service in Vietnam, which he himself has made the centerpiece of his campaign, but also to his character. That will not serve him well. Even now, the questions are taking a heavy political toll. We'll look back on this week, I believe, as the one in which the 2004 campaign turned, decisively, in Mr. Bush's favor. I've consistently said the president will win. But I'm now starting to think, pace the conventional wisdom, that the election won't even be close, and that Mr. Bush will win but big.

It seems to me that political junkies are viewing this thing through the prism of their own desires and partisan feelings.Nobody is able to remove themselves fromtheir own biases and evaluate things from outside. It is almost like wtaching professional wrestling...the opponent comes from a comic-book, and everything he does is dastardly and evil, and why won't the ref see all those illegal moves, but your guy, he is the paragon of justice, and whatever he does is OK because he is the good guy!

What is ironic is that I am probably one of the closest people on the blogsopshere (at least the tiny part in which I swim) to a "swing voter" or independent. I mean, I honestly lean Democratic on social issues and in the past I have voted solid "D" for this reason, but September 11 changed me, as it did a lot of people, and made national security a much more important issue for me. Right now, Bush's vocal support of the FMA has swung me to Kerry, but were that issue not on the table, I don't know who I would vote for.

My opinion of the Swift Vote ads and campaign is that I don't like it. It turns me off. I think it is wrong for one vet to challenge another vet's combat experience. It seems dirty, and partisan, and scummy all in one. That said, I think Kerry has brought some of this on himself, because he keeps harping in his Nam service as if that is the single most important reason to vote for him. If he had approached his service is an important character-building experience in his life instead of the end-all and be-all of his campaign, Kerry would be in a much better position. That said, the Swift Boat ads are so over the top that they turn me totally off. The tenor of the ads almost scream out at me "the lady doth protest too much."

Speaking of ads, there is a new Bush ad which is really well done and, unlike the Swift Boat ad, makes me really proud of our country. It's the one where Bush talks about the two new free countries that are participating in the Olympics, Afghanistan and Iraq. It's misty eyed and very patriotic-feeling, and it had the effect of making me step back and think that in spite of all the problems in Iraq and Afghanistan, we still really did rid the world two horrible dictatorships, and that is something that we can be proud of as Americans.

posted by Mike Silverman at 9:38 AM

 
I'm ready for November 3


posted by Mike Silverman at 3:42 PM

 
I'm on a hunger strike, and yes, I'll have fries with that

Palestinian terrorist leader Marwan Barghouti secretly feeds himself like a pig at a trough during his "hunger strike."


posted by Mike Silverman at 1:41 PM

 
The only carbs I care about are under my hood

Dean wonders why there is so much controversy over the Atkins diet and other lo-carb diets.

That's easy.

I think people get annoyed at Atkins fanatics the same reason they get mad at people who push Amway, or Jehovah, or vacuum cleaners door-to-door....because of the self-righteous sales-pitch-y nature of what is being pushed.

Its like people who quit smoking suddenly become the loudest and most annoying anti-smoking folks. Someone loses 20 pounds on Atkins and they just can't wait to share to good news with everyone in earshot with the evangelical fervor of Ned Flanders bringing the gospel to the heathens.

That is annoying. I am happy for you. Now be quiet.

When the backlash starts, sign me up.

(by the way, the title of this post is a lie. I have fuel injection.)
posted by Mike Silverman at 11:38 AM

 
Campaign strategy curiosity

I was just thinking that I am kind of surprised that Bush's campaign has rolled out the Swift Vets' issue so early in the campaign (relatively thinking). The Swift Vets are one of the Bush campaign's aces in the hole since the very effectively challenges one of the main issue Kerry is running on, his military service.

Logically, you do not roll out a major attack on your opponent now...in between the political conventions when most of the public is more interested in the Olympics and back-to-school sales then the campaign. If I were Bush's team, I would have saved the Swift Vets for early to mid October, whent he campaign will be in full swing and most of the country will be paying attention. Delaying the attack until then also would have given Kerry's team much less of a chance to respond on their terms. As it is, by October, the swift boat convtrovery will be old news and will have been "assimilated" into the background of negativity that both candidates have swirling around them.

Oh well, maybe Karl Rove knows something I don't.
posted by Mike Silverman at 11:29 AM

 
Robots I have known

Clankers -- These are old-school robots. Slow, clunky, machinelike, they get their design from the Tin Man school of Robotology. Generally slow and harmless, although the Bender model might lift your wallet. Danger, Will Robinson! Bite my shiny metal ass!

Hard-cores -- Bad-ass steel and titanium robots, these guys don't bother prettying anything up for their human masters, or victims. Every fully articulated joint and exotic-metal alloy torso assembly is right out there in the open to be admired...or feared. Kind of like a geek's PC, always sitting open with boards and wires running everywhere.

iBots -- Steve Jobs takes over and makes the robot, well, cuddly and sleek. Available in numerous colors to best match your kitchen decor, these robots are so simple, even Grandma can use them to get on the Internet in five minutes.

Replicants -- He sure looks human...and unless you cut him open and see he bleeds white coolant instead of blood, you'll never know that the nice boy next door is a damn dirty robot. Slightly more primitive models have ridiculous yellow eyes and dream that one day they will be human like the rest of the crew.

Cyborgs -- Is it human? Is it machine? Do those implants itch like the mosquito bites from hell? We'll never know fo sure. Originally human, now half machine, who knows which is which. For some reason, these guys are almost always villians...whether you are facing Doctor Octopus, a Borg Queen, or Darth Vader, you can bet that that the bad guy is part robot!

posted by Mike Silverman at 9:08 AM

 
Yeah, I think I'll stay there!

Worst. Ad. Placement. Ever.


posted by Mike Silverman at 2:50 PM

 
Stupid questions to ponder, animal kingdom edition

1. If you are allergic to housecats, would you also be allergic to tigers or pumas?

2. Assuming you could solve the mechanical issues to make such a pairing possible, what would the offspring of a great dane and a chihuahua look like?

3. Mosquitoes are attracted to potential sources of blood by the victim's carbon dioxide exhalations. Would discontinuing respiration therefore result in you getting less mosquito bites?

4. Certain species of snakes only eat one kind of rat. How do these snakes get a balanced diet if all they eat are rats?


posted by Mike Silverman at 2:17 PM

 
Question for firearm experts

As I understand it, a modern semi-automatic pistol is operates basically with a point and shoot interface...you just pull the trigger and the gun fires (after it is loaded and the first round is chambered). To fire again, you just pull the trigger again; you do not need to manually cock the hammer.

So my question is why is it in movies and TV shows, you often see a secret agent/bad guy/thug trying to get information out of someone by first just pointing an automatic handgun at someone, and then after a few moments, thumbing the hammer back in order to let the person know that he's "serious" and they had better talk now!

So is this just creative license, or can someone really do that with a handgun...and secondly, why would someone do that since they do not have to in order to fire the gun? My guess (as someone without any experience with handguns) is that manually pulling the hammer back does two things (a) intimidates the person at the other end of the gun and (b) makes the gun fire a slight bit faster for that one shot.

Someone please enlighten me, and then I can get back to watching Law and Order and Boomtown in peace.




posted by Mike Silverman at 9:08 AM