Dirty Politics

The upcoming Presidential election has the potential to turn into a total farce, at least for those who would like to see a clean campaign featuring a number of candidates. As I've ranted before, both the Republicans and the Democrats oppose viable third party candidates. The claim is that viable third party candidates have the potential to draw crucial votes away from one candidate or another. In the last election we heard about the Nader's role as a spoiler. We're heard the same thing repeatedly about this election. Nader's stealing votes from Kerry! The end is near! The Republicans believe this to be true as do the Democrats.

Both the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee disgust me. Rather than allowing a third party candidate to gain access to the election through her or his own efforts, the RNC and DNC are mucking up the works. The Republicans are trying to "help" Nader get on the ballot (help my ass), further raising the ire of anti-Nader libers. Supporters of Kerry are using unscrupulous measures in an attempt to keep Nader off the ballot altogether. Last weekend, someone asked me why I thought 3rd parties have such a difficult time in the United States. I answered with something like the following.

When morally bankrupt political organizations (the Republicans and Democrats), funded by millions, if not billions, of dollars of contributions from corporations and affluent individuals (corporations and individuals who expect legislative favors, tax breaks, and access to important people within the Administration), control virtually ALL the political resources and assets of a country, third parties will find it very difficult to make real advances. Both organizations, locked in what they see as a one-on-one battle for the hearts and minds of the U.S. American electorate, will do everything possible to exclude anyone who might garner a few votes. Third party candidates will be excluded from debates, given limited access to the media, and denied ballot access.

What a country.

About My Brain!


What Color is Your Brain?
brought to you by Quizilla

Not sure why I keep encountering these things . . . or why I keep taking and posting them.

Children Interned & Abused by U.S. Military?

According to This Modern World, Iraqi children have been abused by the U.S. military. Read the article carefully. Why is this being reported around the globe and NOT in the U.S.? Our media has failed us miserably. The move to war should have been questioned, relentlessly, by the media. Once the war started, the actions of our military should have been under the media's magnifying glass and should continue to be so. Instead, we had "embed" reporters zipping around Iraq along with the troops. I hope everyone realizes that reports from embed reporters had to be authorized by a commanding officer. It seems to me that the U.S. media no longer performs a "watchdog" function for the citizenry. Today's media is all about spectacle and entertainment.

This and That

Despite having few plans for the holiday weekend, the 4th turned out to be busy, busy, busy. Here's a quick account of the hecticness.

Friday. Friday morning marked Kathleen's return from Bulgaria. She brought me an incredible gift: a WWII era, German u-boat compass. I've looked all over the internet for an image but can't find one. Using the marking from the compass, I've been able to determine that the piece belonged to a sailor of U-boat 124.

Friday evening, we attended Raena and Scott's elegant wedding at the Inverness Golf Club. Raena and Scott are colleagues from school. As such, several of my professors from my MA studies attended. It may be months before I recover from seeing several of my former professors dance to "Celebrate." Kathleen and I bailed before the DJ unleashed "The Chicken Dance" song. ::shudders::

Saturday. Kathleen engaged in some serious jet lag recovery while I worked on the dissertation. Saturday evening, we packed up the dogs and headed north to 'rents. Mike was in town visiting his family, so we made the 60 minute journey. Mike and I have been much better about staying in contact the last few months. We usually talk three of four times a year. Lately, we've been talking a couple times a month. Still, it was good to see him in person. He loaded me down with more distracting reading material, of course. That's probably a good thing. Without some prodding from those around me, I frequently retreat into the realm of academic theory.

Sunday. We didn't stop moving the entire day. We got up at 9:00 and met Margie and Dan for an 11 AM brunch. Margie and Dan married last summer (see The Lovers' Knot post from last summer). Margie, another friend from my graduate school adventures, is working on her Ph.D. at the University of Iowa. Although Margie and I see each other a couple times a year at various academic conventions, it's nice to meet outside of that setting.

After brunch, we raced back down I-25 to Jenn's birthday gathering. Jenn's parents--Jenn is one of Kathleen's teaching colleagues--had a couple dozen people over to celebrate. Good food, good drink, good conversation. At one point in the evening the talk turned to politics. Jenn's roommate said, "Anyone who votes for Nader is voting for Bush. What a bunch of idiots." You can imagine how well that went over with me. The next half hour consisted of various people around the table firing challenges my way. I defended everything from Nader's candidacy to the multi-party system. I was amazed by how many people at the table, all educated individuals, hadn't given any thought to the benefits of encouraging a re-invigoration of multiple parties. Jenn's dad, a Dane by birth, looked at me and said, "When I came to this country, I was stunned that everyone fell in line with the Democrats and Republicans. In Denmark, we have three of four viable parties presenting different platforms. It makes for messy politics but I think the end result is superior." Exactly.

Late Sunday evening, we joined Mary, Charles, Sheila, and Gavin for an evening of Goth dancing. We finally collapsed in our beds around 2 AM.

Monday. I put the finishing touches on Chapter Four and we attended Farenheit 9/11. Kathleen came out of the film absolutely infuriated. I think it's safe to say the two of us are like-minded in our crusade against the current administration.

Tuesday. I handed over Chapter Four to Kristin, my dissertation buddy. She returned Chapter Two with her comments/suggestions. Overall, she thinks my work is top-notch. Let's hope my advisor agrees when I plop my entire dissertation in his lap.

Wednesday. Saw the film What the &^%$ do we Know? Go see this film right now! Combining documentary, computer animation, and character driven narrative, the film explores the application of quantum physics to human consciousness. Sounds pretty heady, right? It is. That said, the movie manages to explain quantum physics in way that's accessible to those less learned in the ways of science. The basic idea of the film is that we, as active human agents, have far more control over our reality and our lives than we could ever imagine. The film argues that cultural paradigms, the basic ideas, beliefs, attitudes, and values that we hold to be true, restrict our ability to control our own lives. Given that our lives consist of a virtually infinite number of possibilities, paradigms restrict the number of possibilities we view as reasonable. Anyway, a very enjoyable and thought-provoking film.

And that should get us up to date. Hope everyone enjoyed the 4th. It's back to the dissertation grind for me!

Letterman's Top Ten List: Top Ten George W. Bush Complaints About Fahrenheit 9/11

10. That actor who played the President was totally unconvincing

9. It oversimplified the way I stole the election

8. Too many of them fancy college-boy words

7. If Michael Moore had waited a few months, he could have included the part where I get him deported

6. Didn't have one of them hilarious monkeys who smoke cigarettes and gives people the finger

5. Of all Michael Moore's accusations, only 97% are true

4. Not sure - - I passed out after a piece of popcorn lodged in my windpipe

3. Where the hell was Spider-man?

2. Couldn't hear most of the movie over Cheney's foul mouth

1. I thought this was supposed to be about dodgeball

You are Choleric. Confident, strong willed, and
self-sufficient, you make a strong leader and
delegator. You are the type of person that gets
things done, and motivates others to do the
same. Though generally optimistic, you can be
driven by anger or revenge, and are at times
referred to as both unemotional or cruel.
Cholerics make excellent teachers, athletes,
and military professionals.


Which of the Humours are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Yikes. I've heard all the above from a variety of sources.

Travelogue

I received word this morning from Kathleen. She's slowly making her way home from Bulgaria. Yesterday, she flew from Sofia to Heathrow. She had this to report about her stay in the UK:

I'm in London waiting for our flight. Boy! Did we stay in a shit hole last night and it cost $200. That's how much it cost for six days in Sofia. Toilet wouldn't flush and overflowed all over the room, we had no TV, and the food and drinks were just a ripoff. The trains into the city are on strike so we couldn't go. Not what I expected for London.

Sometime today she'll make the flight from London to NYC; tomorrow morning she makes the flight from NYC to Denver. That's a whole lot a flying going on.

As for me, much disserting. With a bit of luck, I'll have Chapter Four finished by the end of the holiday weekend. I need to wrap this chapter up quickly. Chapter Five, the data analysis chapter, will prove extremely time consuming. I'll need at least a month.

Humane World

Such human qualities as morality, compassion, decency, wisdom and so forth have been the foundations of all civilizations. These qualities must be cultivated and sustained through systematic moral education in a conductive social environment, so that a more humane world may emerge.

-His Holiness the Dalai Lama

dressed to kill

This is for Mike:

Suicide Bomber Barbie

Years ago, Mike posted a list of Barbies You'll Never See in Stores on the internet. For his humorous efforts, he received a free "cease and desist" letter from the kind folks at Mattel. Those folks need a sense of humor. Fear no more, Mike! Mattel recently lost a lawsuit it filed against a Utah man (Mike, do you know him?!) who parodied the doll with such classic works as Barbie Enchiladas (check out this site for images).

Hey, Dude, Where's My Buddy?

As much as I like Michael Moore, Nader has a point.

Once upon a time, there was Michael Moore the First. He never forgot his friends. Come time for the Washington, DC premiere of Bowling for Columbine a while back, he invited his old buddies in Washington—gave them good seats and spent the rest of the evening with them. During his other movie's premiere, he affectionately recognized how much those old friends helped him and supported him after he was mistreated and let go by Mother Jones. He was generous with his words and time.

Four years ago, Moore was Raging Against the two party Machine. This year, he's sleeping with the Democratic Party establishment. Michael, Michael, Michael. Consistency, my man. It's all about the consistency of the message. That's one thing Nader has going for him--his positions have remained the same year, after year, after year.

Recently, I've been reading a lot of chicken little editorials crying for Nader to drop out of the Presidential race. Mind you, these editorials are from liberal writers with whom I usually agree. I heard the same argument from an extended family member: "Derek, quit being so ideological. This isn't about Nader or Kerry, it's about defeating Bush." There's that lesser of two evils argument again. Ugh!.

Since Bush took office, liberal pundits have complained over and over again that the U.S. American people are being steamrolled into submission by Conservatives. I've written about this on several occasions: If you don't support the Iraq war effort, you support Saddam Hussein; If you question the President's positions, you're anti-American or unpatriotic. Through a rhetorical slight-of-hand, Conservatives frequently use fallacious reasoning to position detractors as an enemy of truth, justice, and the American way. Liberals are now using the same flawed logic: If you vote for Nader, you support George Bush. One of the basic assumptions behind this argument is that Nader supporters would automatically cast their vote for Kerry if Nader wasn't running. That's a mighty big assumption.

If Nader wasn't running in this election, I would NOT cast my vote for John Kerry. I'd vote for a member of the Green Party, the Socialist Party, or the U.S. Pacifist Party. I'd cast a write-in vote for myself before I voted for John Kerry. Talk about your throw away vote. Although I think I have the best platfrom, I have no chance in this election. Bush Lite, er, John Kerry comes from wealth, attended an Ivy league school, and belonged to the same secret society as GW. He's a career politician. Yuck. His positions are NOT a radical departure from the Republicans. So to all my liberal comrades: you go ahead and vote for John Kerry in the upcoming election. Cast your vote for someone who doesn't really represent your position. Go ahead and cast that vote against Bush. I have no doubt you'll vote for the "winning" team. That said, quit trying to position those of us who choose not to support Kerry as supporters of Bush. Don't you dare use the same tactics you decry. Pot. Kettle. Black. Leave me alone and let me vote for someone who presents challenges to the morally bankrupt political system of business as usual. It is, after all, my vote.

Potpourri

Kathleen has been in Bulgaria since last Wednesday. Her brother, a former member of the Peace Corp, spent two years in the country, met a local woman while there, and they decided to marry. The wedding was yesterday or the day before. I get confused with the nine hour time difference. Thanks to the wonders of email, Kathleen has been able to send me daily missives. The place seems awfully quiet without her.

I went looking for sandals last week. I know, I know. What was I thinking? Actually, I was looking for some shoes that would be easy to take on and off when I visit the Shambhala Center for meditation. Doing the combat boot thing can get rather tiresome. Rather than sandals, I bought a pair of Chuck Taylors.

In the geek cool department, I purchased my ticket for the 12:01 AM showing of Spiderman 2. Most reviews suggest it's better than the first. One review describes the film as "a Willie Wonka Everlasting Gobstopper." That's high praise, very high praise. I'll offer my thoughts on Wednesday.

The dissertation is progressing. I'm currently engaged in the laborious task of writing an ethnography of the goth scene. Basically, I'm writing a description of the subculture. While the writing itself is easy, the difficult task is pulling together all my notes from the last five years. You wouldn't believe all the notes I've accumulated. While I did a nice job of organizing notes chronologically, I probably should have organized them topically. So, I spend tons of time flipping through a couple hundred pages of material. Thankfully, I've re-familiarized myself with most of the entries and I can now find what I want quickly. The most important part of ethnography, at least the way I do it, is letting the members of a culture tell their own story. Although I consider myself a member of the scene, I try to keep my voice from becoming the focal point of the chapter. After I finish this chapter, hopefully by the end of the week, it's on to Chapter Five (rhetorical criticism of the subcultural self). Once that chapter is complete, I'll pull everything together in the concluding chapter. After years of having everyone ask when I'll be done with my dissertation, I can honestly answer that I should have a complete draft written by the start of the fall semester (mid August). Revisions will probably take a couple months of the Fall semester, but I'm hoping to graduate during DU's fall quarter. Keep your fingers crossed.

Subject heading for a recent piece of spam: "Moore hiss foor your trrouser snake." That's a classic.

Now With Less Vitriol!

After reading my last few blog posts, Mike emailed and asked if I was okay. Looking back, my last few posts have been a little more fiery and attack-oriented than usual. So, time for a couple posts on the lighter side.

Gene recently titled one of his posts, "that smell of smells." I assumed the post was going to relate the tale of a heinous odor. I was wrong. Still, the title got me thinking about smells I love and abhor.

My Favorite Odors:
1. The Library. I love the smell of decaying parchment.
2. Cloves. Put 'em in candles, incense, a recipe, cologne, or in a cigarette. Mmmmm.
3. Amor Amor. Kathleen recently discovered this parfum and I dig it.
4. Fall. Ever notice how the Fall season has a distinct smell? Fresh air mingling with leaves. It's almost like you can smell the drop of temperature.
5. Dog. The dusty/musty smell of my dog's coat.

My Least Favorite Odors:
1. Body odor. Can people really not smell their own stench? Ugh. Nothing triggers my gag reflex better than a whiff of ripe pits. Shower. Deodorant. Now.
2. The food someone in our complex cooks. From time to time, someone in our condo complex cooks a dish that smells like a combination of cabbage and garlic. I'm not opposed to either smells. However, this combination keeps me up at night. Literally. The stench seeps through the walls of our condo and nothing keeps it at bay. We've tried incense, spraying our pillows with cologne, opening a window. Nothing works.
3. The meat department in the supermarket. ::gags:: Since becoming a vegetarian, the smell of raw meat turns my stomach. If I have to venture through that area of a grocery, I take a deep breath and run.
4. An old tavern. Stale beer and cigarettes. Mmmm. Actually, I have a love/hate relationship with this odor. To some extent, the smell is like an odiferous version of siren song. I'm oddly reminded of days gone by. Another part of my brain screams, "Danger, Will Robinson!"
5. Alcohol breath. Ever stood next to a friend after they've had a couple glasses of wine and engaged in intimate conversation? You know, where you're close enough that you can't help bet smell the other person's breath. The smell is even more obvious at a small art gallery opening. Everyone is walking around, sipping wine, and exhaling. Surprisingly, the smell of alcohol doesn't bother me. The smell of alcohol that's been slightly processed by the human body repulses me.

Chill

Hysterical message board comments from Plastic.com.

Poster 1: I gather there were a few there that disagreed with Moore, based on the fact that when Britney Spears made her gum clicking comment about supporting and trusting the President no matter what, they applauded and yelled "that's right!". They applauded Britney Spears political comments. What more can you say?

Poster 2: That Brittney Spears clip was astonishing. She makes Jessica Simpson sound like a Nobel Laureate. That those kids agreed with Miss Spears shows how powerful MTV is in shaping young minds. If Ludacris came on TRL and said we need to kill all Canadians and take their snow Americas kids would be buying show shovels.

Poster 3: That ice is CHILL, yo!

Sloganator

A few months back the Bush/Cheney 2004 website featured a program that allowed supporters to create their own campaign posters. Being the resourceful bunch that they are, the loyal opposition created a few campaign posters of their own. For those accessing the site via dial-up, you're looking at a 1.7 MB download.

Sloganator Memorial

The Bush/Cheney site no longers features the Sloganator. Imagine that.

F U GW

As there are hundreds of reviews available on the internet, I'll go right to my personal impressions. Watching Moore's film, I found myself experiencing deep sorrow, fury, and amusement. At three different points, I wept. During a scene showing the bed of a pickup truck filled with the bodies of children, I cried so hard that I made an audible sobbing sound. Good thing I'm secure enough in my masculinity that I believe it's okay for men to cry in public. Dozens of points brought me to open laughter. During another scene, I flipped off Curious George Bush. Those sitting around me muttered, "Right on, man."

If you're a supporter of Bush and the Republican party, you'll no doubt write this film off as propaganda just like all the Conservative media pundits. Write it off if you will, but there's not a single piece of information from the film that hasn't been covered in major news outlets during the last three years. Why haven't most people heard about the Bush/Bin Laden/House of Saud relationship? Because the news stories appeared on page 20 of the newspaper, NOT in the headlines. Why aren't people more aware of the civilian casualties in Iraq (most recently estimated to be between 9500-11,000--so much for precision ordinance)? Same answer. The statistics, as well as narratives of personal loss, are there if you know where to look. And that, I think, is the greatest service provided by Moore. He fires people up and challenges them to get educated about issues, to ask questions, and to get involved in the political process.

Some of my favorites segments of the movie:

1. Member after member of the Congressional Black Caucus objecting to the certification of the Florida vote count (thousands of Black voters were wrongfully excluded from the voting process). The formal objection needed the signature of a Senator. Not a single Senator would sign and the issue was never brought to the floor of the Senate for debate. I nearly screamed in frustration during this scene. Spineless fucks. Like it or not, institutional racism still exists in this country.

2. Eggs pelting the Presidential limousine on Inauguration day. That's the only time in U.S. history that the President hasn't been able to walk up to the White House.

3. Audio only account of 9/11. The screen fades to black and the sound of the airliners crashing into the twin towers. Cut to a woman on the street screaming, "Lord, help those people! They're jumping! My God, they're jumping!" Definitely a tear-inducing moment.

4. President Bush speaking to a crowd of supporters. He says: "This is an impressive crowd. The haves and the have-mores. Some people call you the elite. I call you my base." What an arrogant fucking prick. This is the moment I flipped off the screen. My blood is boiling just thinking about it. Aargh!

5. There's plenty of Iraq War imagery. Most moving, however, are the images from the civilians' POV. I heard Moore had managed to get his hands on unauthorized images from inside Iraq and this proved to be the most moving point of the film for me. Seeing dead and wounded children (very graphic images) left me sobbing. Unlike Michael Moore, I don't believe war is EVER justified. I oppose ALL military solutions. No exceptions. No war. Ever.

6. There's a great segment on the "dangers" of Peace organizations. That one left me laughing and shaking my head.

Ultimately, Moore's film left me with a reinvigorated spirit and commitment to political change. In fact, I made a promise to myself as I left the theater. Somehow, I'm going to raise enough of a racket that I get placed on the Conservative watch list. You know how dangerous we radical Peace mongers can be.

Check out some of my radical ideas.

Neocons: It's unpatriotic to oppose U.S. military operations, you know!
Me: My commitment is to the rights and well-being of all humans, not just our country. I have a right to question unjust decisions made by a government that supposedly represents my wishes, you dolt. Read your constitution. Pick up a little John Locke while you're at it. Ignorance does not equal patriotism.

Neocons: How dare you be disrespectful toward the President (courtesy of my father)!
Me: I'll remind you how much your President respects you: "This is an impressive crowd. The haves and the have-mores. Some people call you the elite. I call you my base." Your President doesn't respect you. Fawn all you want, I'm taking a page from Dick Cheney's book and telling Curious George to go fuck himself. Until I see something worth respecting, I'll continue to criticize his policies. I'll also employ ad hominems as I see fit.

Neocons: If you oppose military action in Iraq, you support al Qaeda.
Me: Read a freakin newspaper or two, will ya? Iraq had no formal relationship with al Qaeda. In fact, Iraq rebuffed overtures from al Qaeda. Besides, as someone committed to non-violence I don't support any person, country, or organization that uses violence as a means to achieve goals. No. Violence. Ever. Got it?

Just Missed

A Defense Department official claims a U.S. bombing run "just missed" one of their most wanted terrorists.

Just a Bit Outside

Right. Like the military just missed Bin Laden at Tora Bora and just missed Saddam during the initial "surgical strike" of the Iraq invasion. Please. Ever notice how this kind of report surfaces when the Administration is receiving a ton of negative publicity?

More on Moore

Is the label "documentary" appropriate for this openly activist movie? Of course it is, unless you cling to some idealized notion of "objective" film that bit the dust at least as far back as 1922, when director Robert Flaherty passed off re-created settings and events as factual footage to enhance the realism of his generally true "Nanook of the North."

Finally, some sense about this whole "Moore doesn't do objective documentaries" nonsense. Nobody does objective work. Whenever a screenwriter or director gets to work, they bring their own agenda to the creative process. The same thing occurs in academic writing. When I sit down to work on a project, I bring all my attitudes and beliefs to the table. The difference between me and many other scholars is that I'll openly admit my biases. The same goes for Moore. I've never heard him make a case for objectivity--he leaves that to the "fair and balanced" Fox News Network. If you don't like his approach on documentaries, don't see his work. Those who criticize Moore's work aren't being objective either; cricis also come to the table with all their biases in tow.

Our world is one in which absolute truths and objectivity are remnants of Enlightenment thought. We negotiate that which is right or wrong, good or bad, just or unjust. Depending on our own attitudes and beliefs--attitudes and beliefs that come into being through our interactions with family, friends, co-workers, religion, popular culture, etc.--we support or oppose particular social conventions/behaviors, institutions (marriage and religion, for example), public policies, and the like. Moore's film is both a result of this collaborative constitution of social knowledge and a part of an on-going cultural dialogue. Moore's film articulates his own view and sparks the rest of us to refine and voice ours.

I'm hoping to see Farenheit 9/11 later this afternoon. I'm sure I'll have something more to say.

Go F*ck Yourself

The next time my mother voices her objections to my use of the "F" word in public, I'll remind her that she voted for a man who apparently believes it's an acceptable term on the Senate floor. If it's okay for VP Cheney, it's okay for me!

F Word in the Senate
Frank Exchange of Views
Cheney Drops the F Bomb

Check out that picture on the first link. See Dick snarl.

When Spyware Attacks!

I just spent the last two days battling an unknown enemy for control of my computer. Somewhere during my adventures on the internet, I managed to pick up a rather vicious bit of spyware. While my multi-layered anti-virus defenses detected the presence of the intruder, the search and destroy bots were unable to stop the infiltration. As a result, I've been dealing with new browsers opening and zipping me to rather unsavory parts of the internet. Different strokes for different folks and all, but I can only take so much exposure to all-natural facials. After a long and drawn out skirmish, I believe I've eradicated the invaders. Tomorrow will be the real test. If my browser remains hijack free by tomorrow evening, I'll sound the all clear.

Be Gentle

Not by harming life
Does one become noble.
One is termed noble
For being gentle
To all living things.

-Dhammapada, 19, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

Moore vs The Right

The media hoopla regarding Michael Moore's FAHRENHEIT 9/11 is heating up.

The truth about Michael Moore
The Facts
"Go Find Real Work!"

As a contemporary rabble rouser, capable of reaching tens of millions of people, Michael Moore has no peers. I cannot wait to see this film. Fortunately, the film is opening at a theater less than a mile from home; you can put money on the fact that I'll catch the film on opening night.

Something Fishy

Senator Edwards gets my nomination for quote of the day.

"Where I come from, we say a fish stinks from the head down."

The Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change were my second choice.

The undersigned have held positions of responsibility for the planning and execution of American foreign and defense policy. Collectively, we have served every president since Harry S. Truman. Some of us are Democrats, some are Republicans or Independents, many voted for George W. Bush. But we all believe that current Administration policies have failed in the primary responsibilities of preserving national security and providing world leadership. Serious issues are at stake. We need a change.

Mental Attitude

Mental attitude is one of the key factors to finding peace. That focus will help build up the world community and break down borders between religions and nations.

The Dalai Lama

Popular Culture, Ideology, and the Negotiation of the Everyday

My brain becomes unusually active right before falling asleep. Most of my writing dilemnas, which usually consist of conceptual and organizational problems, resolve themselves when I'm reading in bed (I keep a notepad and writing utensil on the nightstand). It's also not unusual for me to walk into the bedroom carrying an academic tome of some type. I have a partner, thankfully, who doesn't mind a reading light. Last night, I revisited a couple essays in The Post Subcultures Reader. In particular, I was reading a piece discussing the ideological nature of the contemporary punk movement. The author argues that contemporary punk has, to a great extent, shaken off the stylistic trappings that most of us would associate with punk. Once the culture industry started to co-opt the style and music, the punk subculture started to disassociate with the artifacts that once helped defined the movement. Instead, argues the author, authentic punk has shifted its attention away from style and music and focused on politically adversarial action. Hence, punks are frequently involved with anti-globalization and anti-war protests. Ultimately, the author of the piece argues that subcultures aren't so much about fashion & music, but ideology (the shared attitudes, beliefs, and values of a particular social group).

While reading the piece, Kathleen read over my shoulder and asked, "So what is this author arguing about subcultures?" After my brief summary, she said she agreed largely with the author and then asked another interesting question: "You've talked a lot about writing a piece on Star Trek or Star Wars fans. How does this ideology stuff relate to them?"

Personally, I don't see much difference between musically spawned spectacular subcultures (goths, punks, ravers, etc) and members of fandom, particularly fantasy and science fiction fans. In their commitment and consumption of particular movies and/or television shows, fantasy and science fiction fans implicate their commitment to certain ideologies. As the following blog entry suggests, Star Trek fans reflect the ideologies of the Star Trek universe. Pay close attention to the following passage:

One day, a bad bad day, when many soldiers lost lives in that distant senseless war, my middle son stood with barefeet on the cold tile floor of the kitchen, listening to NPR, and clenched his fists in frustration.

"Why don't they stop fighting? We're never going to join a Federation of Planets if this continues. Don't they know that? Why don't they want to help end starvation instead? I wish we lived in the future."

I wished we lived in that future, too, where replicators created gourmet meals and women wore flowing tunics and held important positions, and no wars raged on planet Earth because starvation was a memory from some other sick place and time. I loved that my sons saw this, wanted a future of space travel and social justice.

From a rhetorical standpoint, this passage explains why Star Trek is so important in the lives of this woman and her children. A television show, something most people take for granted as a simple form of entertainment, contributes to their hermeneutical experience. Star Trek helps a young child interpret world events and gives him something toward which to strive. Star Trek, of all things, teaches him that peaceful resolutions to conflict are superior to war. He also displays an important understanding of the need to help others. He can't understand why countries would fight wars rather than work to end starvation. The mother, on the other hand, reveals a desire for gender equity. Her reference to women holding "important positions" attests to her belief that it's difficult for women to reach these positions. In the Star Trek world it isn't difficult, but in the hear-and-now, it is.

This is what I do for living. I locate culturally relevant popular culture artifacts and try to determine how the ideological messages of said artifacts contribute to the way in which we negotiate the everyday. When I stumble across a blog entry like the one above, I'm mystified by how anyone can question the significance of studying rhetoric and popular culture. Aren't people a bit curious as to why we hold the beliefs and attitudes we do? Isn't anyone curious about the way we use music, television, film, books, fashion, and even food as a way of understanding and negotiating the world in which we live? While I'd never argue that pop culture artifacts are the only reason we adhere to particular ideologies, pop culture obviously plays a crucial role.

It's Official

This post is for all the remaining Bush supporters. He lied to our country. Period. He lied about weapons of mass destruction; he lied about an al Qaeda/Iraq connection.

9// Commission: No al Qaeda/Iraq Cooperation
Iraq Rebuffed al Qaeda

Keep this in mind when the November election rolls around.

Briefs

1. Spent several hours with the 'rents and didn't fight with Pops. Miracles do happen.

2. Insomnia is back. A power nap in the afternoon makes life tolerable.

3. I've been meditating a couple times a week at the Shambhala Center. I'm really trying to bring some peace to my life. I'm still allowing the craziness of world events to invade my state-of-mind but it's getting better.

4. A draft of the dissertation is about 60 percent finished. Completing a draft of the entire project by the end of the summer is definitely doable.

5. Mohawk is out, Buddhist monk look is in.

6. Back problems returneth!. New pillow, energy work, and ice pack treatment. Repeat. Extra stretching and weight lifting also seem to be helping.

7. Shrek 2 and Good bye, Lenin are in this week's movie queu.

8. The Pistons lead the Lakers 3-1. Go Pistons!

9. The Colorado Rockies are an absolutely pathetic organization. Sell the outfit to Stan Kronke and let him inject some life (and $$$) into a dead franchise. Besides, he needs programming for his new all sports network.

10. If you haven't already, check out Michael's Random Musings.

High School Stereotype Time





Take the What High School Stereotype Are You? quiz.

I'm a little disappointed there weren't more questions involving alcohol, cigarettes, and rock & roll. I was a band geek who knew how to party! ::plays Voltron theme on his trumpet::

The Myth of the Liberal Press

Cynthia Moothart offers an excellent piece regarding the shortcomings of contemporary media. I've been harping on much of this since 1999, the year I taught my first section of Communication and Popular Culture. In the media saturated world of the U.S. consumer, consumers who expect important information to be spoon fed by CNN, Fox "Fair-and-Balanced-My-Ass" News, MSNBC, NPR, and the major networks, media concentration results in a surprisingly uncritical press.

The problem has to do with corporate concentration and the disappearance of our press into "the media"; a press corps compromised by too much wealth and too much personal fondness for the people at the top; the over-dependence of American reporters on official sources; the elimination of the Fairness Doctrine, and other such deregulatory moves; the winning propaganda drive against "the liberal media"; the complicated influence of TV, with its over-emotionalism and obsessive focus on TV itself; and a sense of institutional trauma after Watergate and Vietnam, so that the corporate press will never wander near the brink again.

Ask Rupert Murdoch, the owner of the News Corp empire (Fox News, Fox broadcasting/cable, Fox Sports, 20th Century Fox, HarperCollins Publishing, dozens of local TV stations and newspapers), about his political leanings. Murdoch and Fox News alone should be enough to convince anyone that change is desperately needed.

Required Reading

Is US like Germany of the '30s?
The Wal-Mart Effect
The Osama Connection
Nabokov's Brightly Colored Wings of Memory
JLA Elite

Minutiae

List for the natural food store:

Silk Coffee Creamer
Organic 1/2 & 1/2
Organic yogurt
Tom's of Maine Toothpaste
Ginger granola
Lowfat apple cinnamon granola
Wasabi peas
Vitamin E, vegetarian soft gels

Un-f*cking-believable

Newsflash: Women, feminists, Muslims, and the academic left implicated in prisoner abuse scandal!

::bangs head on desk:: I am appalled that I'm reading this kind of drivel. Do people really believe this stuff or is this simply sensational journalism? It's probably a bit of both, I suspect.

How the prisoner abuse scandal came about is more than a little obvious to me. When you have an administration that's willing to "take the gloves off", coupled with an organization that systematically teaches its members to dehumanize the Other (we're talking the military, folks), you're asking for trouble.

A Real Reason to Mourn

Ray Charles, gospel/blues/jazz legend died today.

His rendition of "Shake a Tail Feather" from the The Blues Brothers is one of my favorite film scenes of all time.

Twist it! Shake it, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby!
Here we go loop dee loop!
Shake it up baby!
Here we go loop dee lie!
Bend over, let me see you shake your tail feather
Bend over, let me see you shake your tail feather
Come on, let me see you shake your tail feather
Come on, let me see you shake your tail feather
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Twist it! Shake it, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby!

Horse Hockey!

Normblog passes on the following comment from John Keegan, military historian and defence editor of the Daily Telegraph.

If those who show themselves so eager to denounce the American President and the British Prime Minister feel strongly enough on the issue, please will they explain their reasons for wishing that Saddam Hussein should still be in power in Baghdad.

I'd more than happy to explain. First, let's address Keegan's framing of the proposition. This is how Keegan lays out the syllogism.

Those who denounce the President/PM support Saddam Hussein
Person X denounces the President/PM
Person X supports Saddam Hussein

Do I really need to spend much time on the fallaciousness of Keegan's argument? How does one make a leap from denouncing an unjust and unecessary war to support for Saddam Hussein? I, for one, have never made the argument that Saddam Hussein should still be the leader of Iraq. As with most anti-war advocates, I've never argued against a change in Iraqi leadership. Where I differ with Keegan and others is the means by which to enact change.

Why was invasion the only solution pursued? Please don't give me any of that, "We tried finding a diplomatic solution." As Sherman T. Potter used to say, "Horse hockey!" The Bush Administration spent far more energy using diplomacy to garner support for a military solution than it did trying to come up with a peaceful resolution. The Iraqi threat has been contained since 1991 and another year of diplomatic negotiations via the U.N. may have resulted in the exile of Saddam Hussein. Since virtually NO effort was expended in that direction, we shall never know.

What would our world look like if we trained millions of individuals to search for peaceful alternatives rather than fire an M-16?

My I Be in Peace

I sent this to a friend earlier this evening. When things are tough and I can't see out of the maelstrom, I often recite the following to myself.

May I be in peace.
May my heart remain open.
May I awaken to light which is my true nature.
May I be healed.
May I be a source of healing for all beings.

Uh, Let's Not Get Carried Away

Okay, seems my moratorium from ripping into Reagan's legacy is coming to an end. There's a movement in the works to put Reagan's picture on the 10 or 20 dollar bill. Excuse me? Someone wants to replace Alexander Hamilton, 1st Treasury Secretary of the U.S. and contributor to The Federalist Papers, with Ronald I'm-An-Actor-Turned-President Reagan?

Let me remind everyone of Ronald Reagan's legacy.

*IranContra--He didn't know about it, of course ::wink wink::
*The Invasion of Grenada--A threat to US freedom! Uh, right.
*Reagonomics--Didn't we experience a horrible recession in the 1980s?
*Huge budget deficits
*$600 dollar toilet seats
* El Salvador death squads--funded by US tax dollars. Woohoo!
*Ignoring the AIDS epidemic
*Atrocious record of appointments of women or people of color.
*Rich got that much richer.

This article does a pretty good job of listing the faults of the Reagan Presidency. Leave the money alone. Reagan certainly hasn't earned that level of commemoration. Sheesh.

Hail the Liberators!

When the U.S. entered Iraq back in March 2003, neocons and political moderates alike suggested that the people of Iraq would welcome U.S. troops as triumphant liberators. That didn't happen. Today, neocons and other Bush supporters wonder why the Iraqi people aren't celebrating their new found freedoms. Maybe supporters of the war effort should turn off Fox News (fair and balanced, my ass) and read some real news.

Despair at Childrens' Hospital
Car Bombs
Heart of Darkness

Micro Movie Reviews

We spent a lot of time at the movies this weekend. Three quick reviews follow.

Travellers and Magicians.
Excellent balance of imagery, humor, and philosophy. A joy to watch. Excellent parallels between the journeys of Dondup and Tashi.
Rating: Five prayer flags (out of five).

Raising Helen.
Cool mom. Cool kids. Cool pastor. Traditional hollywood fare meant to be enjoyed at a matinee or on DVD.
Rating: Three stuffed hippos.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Hippogriffs, dementors, and werewolves! Oh, my! Best of the HP movies to date (my favorite book, too). Excellent effects, clear narrative. Alan Rickman as Professor Snape continues to steal every scene of which he's part. Gary Oldman, playing the part of Sirius Black, gives Rickman a run for his money. Expecto Petronum!
Rating: Four and half choruses of "Something Wicked This Way Comes."

Shorts

We saw Travellers and Magicians last night. Four enthusiastic thumbs up. If you get a chance to see this, go.

We're off to the Shambhala Meditation Center this morning. Although STK and I are both proficient meditators, we're looking for a bit of guided meditation.

Raising Helen may be on the agenda for an afternoon matinee. While we love independent and foreign films, we also enjoy traditional holiday fare. We'll catch Harry Potter and the Prisoner and Azkaban, my favorite of the HP books to date, at a late night showing on Monday or Tuesday. Late night shows = less mewling kids. Gotta love the fact that we're both teachers and can spend the summer months staying out late.

Robert Jensen is speaking at the Breakdown Book Collective, tomorrow night. We'll probably check out the PantsOnFire mobile on Tuesday night.

Summer is off to a great start.

Godspeed

Former President Reagan died today. I know I spend a great deal of blog space ranting against Republicans. Eighteen years ago, during my freshman year of college, I considered myself a Ronald Reaganite and Young Republican. To aggravate my more liberal dorm mates, I taped a newspaper image of Reagan wearing a Chicago Cubs jacket right next to my bed. I wish I could find that picture--it was definitely a classic.

Even though I'd adamantly oppose Reagan's policies in 2004, I recognize that he had a profound influence on my life. Reagan's speech accepting the presidential nomination at the 1984 Republican National Convention was the first text I critiqued as a rhetorical scholar. I enjoyed writing the essay, recieved one of the few "A" grades in the class, and discovered I had a real knack for rhetorical criticism. That essay contributed significantly to my emergance as a life-long academic. Whether you agree with his politics or not, it's hard to dispute that he was one of the best Presidential speakers of the 20th century.

Godspeed, Mr. President.

T-Minus 349 Days and Counting

Only 349 days until the release of Star Wars, Episode III.

Good news on the Clone Wars animated series front. 20 new episodes will air in Spring 2005. According to TheForce.net:

More Clone War Cartoons
Wed, Jun 02, 04 09:08:15 AM EDT

Princess Leia tells us that 20 new Clone Wars episodes are signed for and will debut in the Spring of 2005, just prior to the release of Episode III. We would speculate that the animators will get to see the final movie at a screening shortly and develop the plot closely tied to the new movie. We're also hearing that a Clone Wars DVD release is a pending announcement, though we're not sure if both "seasons" will be included or first only. More soon!

May the Force be with you.

Asian Film Festival

As members of the Denver Film Society, we receive regular invites to attend screenings of various independent films. Tonight, we attended a preview screening of South of the Clouds, one of the films being shown at the local Asian Film Festival.

SOUTH OF THE CLOUDS (China, 2004, 100 min.) – Saturday, June 5, 4:15pm.
It’s been a life-long dream for middle-aged Xu Da Qin to return to Yunnan, a province near Tibet, where he had worked when he was a young man. An affair with a girl, which led to children and marriage, kept him living in the north for most of his life where he settled into a daily routine of work and drudgery. Now retired, the children grown and his wife dead, Xu heads south imagining what life might have been like if he had stayed in Yunnan. Once there he unwittingly ends up in a complicated affair with a prostitute, having misunderstood her advances for money as a sign for help, and ends up being taken into police custody. Powerful and impressive, Zhu Wen’s South of the Clouds won the critics prize at the recently concluded Hong Kong International Film Festival.

One of the things I enjoy about independent and foreign films is the emphasis on characterization. Much of the typical Hollywood fare emphasizes action, plot twists, and spectacle at the expense of developing characters. As a result, characters in Hollywood films are usually overly archetypal and emotionally underdeveloped. Independent and foreign films are the exact opposite. There's frequently very little action, few plot twists, and almost no spectacle. Characters engage in real, substantive dialogue with one another and act/react in ways that suggest emotional complexity. The result is film-making that makes audience members think.

At the end of an independent film, I almost always hear some of the following comments.

"Why did she choose to do X and point Y?"
"What kind of ending was that?"
"I thought it was kind of slow."

When I hear such comments I know a film is challenging the Hollywood model. The plot isn't being spoon fed to the audience, the ending doesn't follow a typical big screen narrative sequence, and the overall feel of the film is more cerebral than visceral.

South of the Clouds was exactly that kind of movie. How would I react if I found myself in a similar situation? Why did Xu Da Qin long for the Yunnan province? Why did he smile in the closing frame? What the heck was his dream all about? Great stuff.

Over the course of the weekend, we'll also see the following.

GOODBYE DRAGON INN (Taiwan, 2003, 82 min.) – Friday, June 4, 7:00pm.
It’s the final night of a run-down Taipei movie theatre. Once a majestic beacon for film-lovers, the theatre now serves as a refuge for society’s outsiders. As King Hu’s martial arts classic Dragon Inn plays for the last time on the screen, patrons and employees shuffle through the theatre searching for something…anything to fulfill their desires. “Rarely has the experience of movie going itself been so beautifully rendered. Tsai Ming- Liang has fashioned what may be his most brilliant metaphor yet, a lament for the death of feelings framed as a valediction to an entire era of Chinese cinema and an obituary to film-going in general. Needless to say, it’s cruelly, astringently funny.” –Tony Rayns. Goodbye Dragon Inn was Taiwan’s submission for Best Foreign Language Oscar in 2003.

TRAVELLERS AND MAGICIANS (Bhutan, 2003, 108 min.) – Saturday, June 5, 6:30 p.m.
In the Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan, nestled deep in the Himalayas, two men seek to escape their mundane lives. Dondup, an educated university graduate decides that he would be better off picking grapes in the United States than working as a government official in a remote rural village. Tashi, a restless farm youth studying magic, cannot bear the thought of spending the rest of his life stuck in his small village. The two men embark on parallel, if separate journeys—both seeking a different, and they hope better, life. Forced to hitchhike through the countryside of Bhutan, Dondup eventually shares the road with a monk, an apple seller, a papermaker and his beautiful daughter. Throughout the journey the monk relates the story off Tashi to the group, and eventually Dondup has to wonder if the grass is truly greener on the other side. Travellers & Magicians is the first feature film to be made entirely in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.

Responsible For Our Own Cure

I love this passage.

We are not compelled to meditate by some outside agent, by other people, or by God. Rather, just as we are responsible for our own suffering, so are we solely responsible for our own cure. We have created the situation in which we find ourselves, and it is up to us to create the circumstances for our release.

-Lama Thubten Yeshe, "Wisdom Energy"

Everything that happens in my life is a result of my choices. Do people do hurtful things to me from time to time? Of course. That said, I'm the one that's letting the circumstance or action hurt me. Virtually every problem in my life is of my own making. While I think that's probably true for most people, many are unwilling to accept this basic premise of life. Instead, they stumble aimlessly through their day-to-day existence, blaming others for their hardships. The above passage requires the ultimate in personal accountablility--I am responsible for everything that happens to me.

4018 Days and Counting

Eleven years ago today (June 2, 1993), I started down the path of recovery. If you want some of the gory details, you can check out the June 2, 2003 entry from last year. Rather than reflecting on the pre-recovery me, I thought I'd focus on where I'm at today. During my first couple weeks of sobriety, I heard someone say, "What you need is an attitude of gratitude." Ugh. I hated hearing that when all I wanted was to get falling down drunk. As time has passed, however, I've learned that there's much for which to be grateful. Today, 4018 days sober, I have an attitude of gratitude.

11 Things for Which I'm Grateful

1. A partner who accepts and loves me for who I am, quirks, idiosyncracies, and all.
2. My sister & parents.
3. Cindy. A friend who helped me get my head screwed on straight a couple years back.
4. Alcoholics Anonymous. 12 simple steps saved my life.
5. A profession that I truly love. There are times when I feel guilty for collecting a paycheck.
6. Joe. Despite all the ups and downs of the last three years, we keep trudging along and helping each other out.
7. Gene. We haven't been great at keeping in touch lately, but I'm forever in his debt for all the late night conversations. Without his advice, geek talk, and musical recommendations, I'm not sure I'd be in the place I am today. He's the one person who really understood where I was at three years ago.
8. Michael. A true and faithful friend who has seen me at my worst and my best. Through it all, he remains a constant. 24 years and counting, Mikey!
9. Keli & Mary. Who says you can't develop intimate friendships via the club scene. Rubbish! Thanks for all the advice, support, and laughs. You should both be ashamed for "sneaking" cigarettes when I'm not watching. I'm one year smober (smoke free) today. Maybe I should celebrate with a smoke . . .
10. Bishop. You truly live up to the title of this man's best friend. I never thought a dog would become such an integral part of my life. I'm glad you picked me all those years ago.
11. My mohawk. In celebration of summer break, I decided to cut my hair. If you thought people gave me funny looks for the Heat Miser look, you should see the looks now. Picture available on request.

Play Me Some Cockamamie

Yesterday, I was struck with a strong urge to revisit one of the artists who introduced me to indie rock. Back in 1995, I discovered Jennifer Trynin. Her eclectic style sent me scurrying about the internet, searching for "unknown" artists. Nine years later, I'm still digging female-fronted indie rock, punk, power-pop, death disco, and nu new wave.

Imagine my suprise when I noticed a piece regarding Ms. Trynin as I went through my usual morning coffee/news/blog routine. Too bad she's not fronting Loveless. Without her singing lead, the album holds little interest for me.

Delusional

I'm sure most people have heard of or read about Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me. Although I haven't seen the film, the documentary follows a man's attempts to eat nothing but McDonalds for an entire month. The other interesting twist is that he always says "yes" when asked if he'd like to "Super Size" his meal. Just about anyone can predict the outcome.

What surprises me more than the outcome of the documentary is the distorted self-image of many U.S. Americans. Most people, even when overweight, don't see themselves as such. In fact, 6 of 10 overweight folk believe they're at a healthy weight. Take this blogger, for example.
He talks as if 5' 9" and 170-175 pounds is a reasonable weight (his post inspired this rant, by the way). Are you kidding me?! Sorry David, but that's well outside the range of healthy. Unless you're some kind of ripped body builder, you probably need to shed at least 10 pounds.

And this, I think, is the more important idea to take away from Super Size Me. As U.S. Americans, we have a horribley distorted view of what it means to be fit and healthy. Most people don't eat fast food for every meal. They do, however, overeat at almost every meal. Even if we're not at McDonalds, we treat ourselves to super sized portions. Additionally, most American's don't get nearly enough exercise. The National Academies' Institute of Medicine recommends one hour of cummulative exercise EACH DAY. Those of us who manage to meet the one hour exercise minimum and eat reasonably rarely have to concern ourselves with weight issues.

For the last seven years, I've been a vegetarian. Naturally, my fat and calorie intake is pretty low. I also exercise for about an hour each day, 40 minutes of which is running or swimming. For the last seven years, my weight hasn't fluctuated more than 5 lbs. At 5' 9", my weight has stayed within the 137-142 lb range. For most of that period my weight has stayed between 138-140. Granted, I'm at the low end of the Body Mass Index.

If people had a more realistic notion regarding eating right and exercise, we wouldn't need films like Super Size Me to tell us we're a bunch of lazy gluttons.

For a really good laugh, read the comments on the linked blog. Check out all the people trying to dismiss the negative effects of smoking and passive smoke. As a smoker who presently isn't smoking (I can't begin to explain how much I freaking miss cigarettes), I'll be the first to admit smoking is the root of many health evils. If you're going to smoke, drop the denial gig and admit you're risking serious health issues (and exposing others to those risks, too). Even when I was smoking, I was crystal clear about what I was doing to myself. It's a choice, and a choice that will probably lead to negative health consequences.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

End of An Era . . . And Quality Television

Kathleen and I watched an episode from the 3rd season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer last night. Since last summer, we've been slowly making our way through each of the seasons--we're about halfway through the Season Three DVD collection. As the episode ended, Kathleen remarked, "It's kind of depressing to realize that there won't be any new episodes of Angel or Buffy next year." I agreed.

I've ranted about this repeatedly, but I'm going to say it again. As the following link emphasizes, through a farewell to Angel oddly enough, quality television is on the verge of extinction. The corporate money mongers of the media giants don't care about quality, only profit. Quality, thought-provoking television with small, but dedicated, fan-bases simply doesn't bring in enough cash. For whatever reason, the majority of the U.S. public isn't interested in sophisticated television. Instead, viewers are content to consume the crap that is reality television. Aaarrrggghhh! The very thought of another season of Bachelor, Bachelorette, Average Joe, or American Idol drives me nuts!

Anyway, here's a great piece about the end of Angel . . . and quality television.

Reality television is taking over, make no mistake, and it’s primarily because it’s so inexpensive. Point a camera at some exhibitionistic moron and let it run. No need for writers or story editors or effects people or even actors. And because people just keep watching and watching this stuff, the ad revenue keeps pouring in, and with a smaller production cost than even your most low-rent scripted show, the profit margin is immense. It makes sense. It sucks, but it makes sense.

The casualty is quality television, of course. Television that challenges and moves while it entertains, television that utilizes the medium’s inherent serial nature to really connect an audience with characters’ lives, television that goes beyond what television normally tries. Just look at Joss Whedon’s recent history: Buffy ended at seven seasons through a mutual agreement between Whedon and star Sarah Michelle Gellar, but his fledgling (and fantastic) Firefly was unceremoniously dumped after half a season, and Angel was hacked off at the knees during one of its most successful runs.

Summer Readings List

In addition to disserting, I'm trying to catch up on some reading. Here's the list of books I'd like to read this summer.

Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity
Samuel Adams: America's Revolutionary Politician*
In the Fascist Bathroom: Punk in Pop Music, 1977-1992
Siouxsie and the Banshees: The Authorized Biography
The Fortress of Solitude: A Novel
Soul of the Fire
Faith of the Fallen

*I wrote my MA thesis on Samuel Adams. He's always been my rabblerouser of choice.

They Did It Too!

Do the recent articles about coalition partners also engaging in prisoner abuse smack of something a kid would say? I'm sure at one time or another, my mother or father busted me for doing something I shouldn't have been doing. I suspect there was a time when I pointed at my younger sister and whined, "But she did it, too" just take some of the heat off myself. It's a tried and true rhetorical tactic that those of us with siblings learn at a very early age. Of course, when you're the older sibling you're familiar with the parental resonse: "As her older brother, we expect you to set a good example."

As a citizen of the United States of the Empire, I'll step up and say it. We're supposed to be the leaders of the free world, the champions of democracy, and the protectors of all that is good! I expect you, the leaders of this country and the members of the military, to set a good example. Don't give me any of that lip about Poland and other coalition countries. I'm very disappointed in your behavior. You should know better. Now go to your room!

If it was only that simple.

Guest Starring Al Gore as The Voice of Reason

You know something is wrong with the political system when Al Gore, the former Vice President and loser of the 2000 election campaign, is one of the few making any sense.

"George W. Bush promised us a foreign policy with humility. Instead, he has brought us humiliation in the eyes of the world."

If Gore had campaigned with this kind of fire, he'd be President right now.

The Realities of War

Practically ignored in the Abu Ghraib torture scandal are the Iraqi female prisoners who have told their attorneys they were raped by U.S. soldiers. The Taguba report confirms that some women were indeed raped by American G.I.'s. There is one photo of an American soldier having sex with an Iraqi woman. And there is the by now infamous story of how American soldiers harnessed a 70-year-old woman and rode her around, calling her a donkey.

One hint of the rape aspect of the torture scandal came last December, when a note smuggled out of Abu Ghraib by a female prisoner claimed that American guards were raping the female detainees. There are few women in the prison; the note said some of the women were now pregnant. According to a report last week in The Guardian (U.K.), the note urged the Iraqi resistance to bomb the jail to spare the women further shame. Amal Kadham Swadi, one of seven Iraqi female attorneys who are attempting to represent detained women, visited a detainee at a U.S. military base in Baghdad last November and later told The Guardian, "She was the only woman who would talk about her case. She was crying. She told us she had been raped. Several American soldiers had raped her. She had tried to fight them off, and they had hurt her arm. She showed us the stitches. She told us, 'We have daughters and husbands. For God's sake don't tell anyone about this.' "

Although the Taguba report makes specific reference to the abuse of female Iraqi prisoners, the Bush administration has refused to release photos of Iraqi women forced at gunpoint to bare their breasts—no doubt to spare Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld further embarrassment.

The Way the Music Died

If you're interested in the present state of music and the music industry, tune in to Frontline on Thursday night. The program will focus on how "MTV, compact discs, corporate consolidation, Internet piracy, and greed have contributed to a perfect storm for the recording industry. FRONTLINE examines how the business that has provided the soundtrack of the lives of a generation is on the verge of collapse."

Changes

I'm giving the blog a bit of an overhaul. Nothing too drastic, obviously, but I was getting tired of that split pea green & orange look. I've also started to use Bloggers built-in "comments" system. I'm hoping the new "comments" will be a bit more stable than the old.

Cringe Worthy

I can't stop looking at the following links. It's like a horrible car wreck, but funny.

The Justice League of My Little Ponies
The Justice League of My Little Ponies: Dialogue!

Which Magickal Order are You In?


You are an Elementalist. Your magic stems from the
forces of nature. You might be a forest
nuturing Druid, a storm-creating Weather-Wizard
or any of the many Elementals, but one thing is
sure-- your bond with nature is strong. You can
rely heavily on nature to support yourself
aesthetically or physically for it lends you
both comfort and strength. Your instincts
rarely fail you. You are vibrantly passionate
but are sometimes carried away by your own
emotions.


Which Magical Order Are You In?
brought to you by Quizilla

More Nonsense Names

Last night on VH1's Best Week Ever, several actors, musicians, and comics commented on the name of Gwyneth Paltrow's new baby (Apple). The topic lead to a general discussion of the wacky names stars give their children. For instance, Jason Lee apparently named his child Pilot Inspektor. What? Who could forget Dweezil and Moon Unit Zappa? One of the comedians on the show suggested a great name: Steelwool Wombat! In honor of wacky child names, or the horror of wacky child names, I've decided to offer a list using objects found in my home office.

Bamboo Hematite
Rune Kneebrace
Converse Incense
CD Staple
Button Lipbalm
Kleenex Paperweight
Stickynote Ticketstub
Amethyst Smudgestick
Gargoyle Tealight
Socks Hoseclamp
Boxfan Candlestick
Lampshade PowerPuff
Slate Coffeemug
Thesaurus Lunchbox
Altoid Envelope
Snowglobe Bookend
Scissors Litterbox

Picking a reasonable name is the first step in good parenting. These stars are setting their kids up for a boatload of teasing. Sheesh.

PSAs


The Deadly Cicada
New Strain of Ebola
The Dangers of Mountain Biking
Hazardous Material: Stinky Socks
Lack of Sleep Leads to Tiredness

The Dukes

I cannot believe this DVD collection would be on anyone's "must have" list.

Get Crackin'!

According to Democratic Presidential hopeful John Kerry, "I'll lure those who support Nader. Really? Well, he'd better get crackin'. To this point, I haven't seen anything that makes me want to vote for Bush-lite. To lure me away from the Nader camp I'll need to see the following:

1. a firm commitment to peaceful conflict resolution.
2. a concerted effort to address the current corporate welfare state.
3. support for a universal healthcare plan.
4. support for the equal rights of gays and lesbians (including marriage, NOT a civil union)
5. opposition to The Patriot Act.
6. support for the Equal Rights Amendment (legislation that guarantees equality in pay, job opportunities, insurance, social security, and education for women). Can you believe we STILL haven't added this amendment to the Constitution. How ridiculous is that?

There's a good list of starting points, Mr. Kerry. You've got a long way to go and a short time to get there. Once you've shown me your ardent support for these positions, I'll post the next half dozen.

STFU

There's a particular individual who insists on exposing me to pro-war propaganda by way of email and direct conversation. I receive letters sent home from soldiers in Iraq (most of which are written by the U.S. military and signed by soldiers--I've ranted about this before), jokes about the way U.S. personnel treat POWs, and reminders that the U.S. MUST bring democracy to the barbarians of the Middle East. In addition to the war talk, I also keep hearing about how "there are too many queers on television" and that the prospect of same sex marriage is ridiculous. Despite my repeated requests to stop, I've tried email and direct conversation, he just keeps on spouting the Republican Party line. He laps up the gruel he's fed by conservative pundits and regurgitates it to everyone within spewing distance. No unique thought, no analysis, and no critical engagement. If you're a regular reader of my blog, you know how well that message is received. The worst part of the entire situation is that he thinks my anger over these issues is funny. When I reach my limit, lose it, and rant about 10,000 civilian casualties in Iraq, he laughs and tells me I take the world too seriously. How can anyone laugh about all those people? I just don't get it.

I'm tempted to unleash my full, more-liberal-than-Ralph-Nader, fury but know anything I say will fall on deaf ears. If it doesn't come from Fox News, it's not legit. Unfortunately, I'm not really in a position to cut off all contact with him. Still, I can limit my interactions to once every several months. If I do some planning and benevolent lying, I could conceivably limit contact to a couple times a year.

I'm all about a good debate, but this has gone way beyond that point. I'll make one more attempt to get him to stop with the nonsense. If that doesn't work, I'll initiate Project Isolate and Ignore .

I'm Free

Final papers have been returned, final exams have been graded, final grade bubble sheets have been bubbled and submitted to the appropriate departmental personnel. In other words, I'm done.

I'm free
I'm free
And freedom tastes of reality

I'm free
I'm free
And I'm waiting for you to follow me

Sanity

More sane talk from a handful of reasonable people:

How to Get Out of Iraq

A Letter From Ralph Nader

This is why Nader will probably be getting my vote in November:

Dear Mr. President

Why isn't anyone else willing to ask these kinds of questions? You go, Ralph.

WTF Department: Apple Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow has named her new daughter, Apple. Seeing that Gwyneth has broken the fruit barrier, I thought it might be fun to throw out some other great names for children. If you could name a child after any fruit, what fruit would you pick? I think I'd go with honeydew melon.

Offer your fruit/name of choice in the comments.

Valid?

::student walks up to my desk at the front of the room during exam period and points to question 15::

Student: Is asking the author of an article a valid test question?
Me: Was the article and author listed on the study guide?
Student: Um, yeah.
Me: Was the article an assigned reading for the class?
Student: Uh, I don't know.
Me: It was on the syllabus and we discussed it in class. The question is valid. Good luck.

And Now for Something that Makes Sense

A call to create a Department of Peace.

What an excellent idea! Let's put together a branch of our government that actually searches for non-violent solutions to problems. Imagine a group of people who honestly try to understand an issue from several different perspectives, then try to solve the problem with all those perspectives in mind. It's brilliant! Which is exactly why it will never happen.

Insanity

Do people really believe Rush Limbaugh is some kind of genuine political commentator or analyst? Personally, I can't stand to listen to the guy for more than 10 minutes. His use of fallacious reasoning boggles the mind. The sad thing is that millions of uninformed people soak up Limbaugh's ridiculous statements and then spout those same lame argument to family, friends, and co-workders. Unfortunately, I happened to catch some of Rush's comments on the Iraqi prisoner abuse schandal. I nearly broke my hand banging my fist against the steering wheel. Here's an example of what Limbaugh had to say about the recent abuse of Iraqi prisoners:

LIMBAUGH: Exactly. Exactly my point! This is no different than what happens at the Skull and Bones initiation and we're going to ruin people's lives over it and we're going to hamper our military effort, and then we are going to really hammer them because they had a good time. You know, these people are being fired at every day. I'm talking about people having a good time, these people, you ever heard of emotional release? You of heard of need to blow some steam off?

Are you fucking kidding me? A fraternity intitiation? He's comparing the abuse of prisoners to a fraternity initiation? Arrrgggggghhhhhhhhh!

You Cannot Escape Your Destiny

Or can you? A poster to a spiritual message board I frequent posed an interesting question. He asked, and I'm paraphrasing, "How do you feel about destiny? What about free will and choice?" I responded with the following.

For me, destiny is the result of choice. The choices I make influence my fate(s). Over the course of several years, several spiritual principles have become part of who I am: love, tolerance, compassion, non-violence, and the like. I made a conscious choice to both learn about those principles and make them a part of my everday life. As a result, I often find myself helping those in need, speaking about the importance of tolerance, and the like. The actual acts of helping or speaking are, of course, choices. If I'm to remain faithful to the principles of my path, however, I have to choose to act.

If I'm walking through a grocery store and see a parent hitting a child, can I just sit back and watch? I could, but that would go against the principles to which I adhere. As such, I'd approach the parent and say, very gently, "Hands are for hugging, not for hitting." Was it destiny or fate that brought me to that particular situation? Probably not. Based on my choices, however, I was fated or destined to act.

Close Encounters

A UFO encounter covered by major news outlets?

BBC Coverage
CBS News
MSNBC
USA Today

There are those who believe that the US Government has known about the existence of extraterrestrial life since the 1940s. Why the secrecy? One of the claims is that the people of the world couldn't handle the full extent of the truth. In other words, if we understood just how prevalent intelligent life is in the universe, we'd have a huge Terran freakout. Some speculate that information will be leaked slowly to the public so that we can handle the change in our collective perspective.

What do I believe in regard to UFOs? Well, I can't imagine we're the only intelligent life in the entire universe. Consider that every star out there probably has some kind of planetary system, the odds are kind of odd that we'd be the only oasis capable of supporting life. Yes, I believe we probably aren't alone. That said, I'm pretty skeptical regarding the issue of visitation. If extraterrestrials are visiting Earth and people in the government are in the know, it would take a HUGE conspiracy to keep everyone quiet. Someone would eventually talk and they'd do so VERY publicly (as opposed to revealing the info on a SciFi channel "Investigative Report"). While I'd love to find out that benevolent aliens are all around us, I suspect that isn't the case.

Anyone want to visit the Roswell, NM UFO Festival with me?

Hell Week

I finished grading 165 final papers just in time to start grading 165 final exams. I'm not sure if Finals Week is more difficult on the students or instructors. All the time I've spent sitting at my desk grading papers is becoming hazardous to my health, just ask my aching back. On top of school, I spent several hours tonight writing Mary and Charles' wedding ceremony. I think the rehearsal dinner is a week from Friday and the wedding proper is a week from Saturday or Sunday. This is my first crack at writing a secular ceremony from scratch and I think I did a damn fine job. Ultimately, Mary and Charles will be the judges of my ceremonial proficiency. Once the wedding is complete, I'll check and see if they mind if I post a copy for popular consumption.

I'm off to bed. I need to get up early tomorrow and hit the lap pool before giving another final. If I don't do something to stretch out my back (swimming usually does the trick), I'll be hobbled by the end of the week. I believe a massage may be on the horizon.

Archaeology Update

Just trying to keep up with the Joneses.

Oldest Book
Trail of the Grail
Majestic Maya
In Search of Noah's Ark!

Contest of Champions

Gene brought an interesting message board thread to my attention. The basic debate, which goes on for 13 pages, centers around who would win a battle between Batman and Superman. While I tend to lean toward Supes, there are circumstances under which Batman would emerge victorious. Clearly, Superman has Batman outclassed in virtually every important category. He's stronger, faster, more durable, and possesses virtually inexhaustable endurance. Batman, on the other hand, is smarter, more ruthless, and has tons of cool toys at his disposal. Batman definitely has the edge in the "cheat to win" category--Supes isn't called a "Boy Scout" for nothing. If Superman has no idea Batman is coming (an ambush), Bats wins. Any kind of sneak attack involving kryptonite and Batman finishes Superman in less than a round.* If Superman knows Batman is coming at him, he devises a plan to separate Batman from his kryptonite and then pummels Bats into submission with a finger flick. If Superman knows something is up, how could anyone get with miles of him? Super hearing and telescopic vision make it difficult to sneak up on someone.

There you have it. In a straight up confrontation, Superman wins easily. If he has an opportunity to devise an ambush, Batman takes home the Goblet of Fire. If I analyze the heroes according to their respective bases, Superman wins again. The Fortress of Solitude is WAY cooler than the Batcave. I bet Alfred gets tired of cleaning up all the guano.

*Novices to the DC mythos should be aware that Superman is also susceptible to magic. In recent years the kryptonite/magic vulnerabilities have become less important. Superman's power levels have been scaled back from the Can-Survive-Nuclear-Blast levels of the Golden & Silver Ages of comics to something much more reasonable. For example, Thor recently went toe-to-toe with Superman in the JLA/Avengers crossover.

A Minion of Satan!

According to the following article, I'm doing the Devil's work!

The pentagram is worn too casually as an adornment to believe otherwise. The casual prevalence of body-piercing in both males and females, rendering the flesh susceptible to infection for the sake of vanity, is one of the most sinister cultural developments of recent times. I don’t know about bookshops in the States but walk into any Brit one and you see the prevailing cultural appetite in the rows and rows of books on true crime and serial killers. As Alan Bloom recorded in The Closing of the American Mind, the most critical cultural influence on the young is music, and from the Sixties onwards, when the now Sir Mick Jagger proclaimed his sympathy for the devil (‘I killed the Tsar and his Ministers’, ‘I rode a tank and wore a general’s rank when the blitzkrieg came’), the message of Christian rejection is the one that’s blasting through the headphones. The mistake was not taking Sir Mick at his word.

I regularly display two pentagrams, nine piercings, and four tattoos (each of which indicates my interest in spiritual paths other than Christianity). I'm sure the music to which I listen isn't going to score any points, either. If I try REAL hard, I can smell the fire and brimstone that await me in Hell. Wait, that's someone smoking outside.

I'm off to grade papers. In the name of Satan! ::gives the heavy metal hand gesture::

Popculturetopia

I can barely stand to read or watch the news anymore. In fact, I've become so angry with the world that I've stopped doing the news thing for a while. Instead, I'm focusing my attention on school (only 125 papers and 170 final exams to go), my own writing, and pop culturish stuff. With that in mind . . .

Blondie is Back
Holy Piccaso!
Mean Girls*
Star Wars Live Action TV in 2006! w00t!
Friends: The Death of the Sitcom?**

*Surprisingly good . . . in a Clueless kind of way.
**Although I haven't been a regular follower of Friends, I'll be tuning in tomorrow night. ::shrugs:: I teach Popular Culture. What's your excuse?

Mmmmm, Crunchberries

Derek: Did you check out the new Superman statue on my desk?
Matt: No, I didn't see it.
Derek: I got it when I purchased a twin pack of Cocoa Pebbles and Fruity Pebbles.
Matt: Ugh! You at that stuff?
Derek: I usually eat organic granola. I treat myself once a week.
Matt: I have a new favorite granola. Have you tried the Hemp granola at Wild Oats?
Derek: No, but I'll have to give it a try. I usually eat the low fat apple cinnamon granola. My favorite is the ginger granola.
Matt: I love that stuff. I could eat two pounds a week.
Derek: Me too. Kathleen eats sugary cereal almost every day. She loves Cap'n Crunch with Crunchberries.
Matt: Screw the Cap'n Crunch, just give me the Crunchberries. I always buy a box of the Christmas Crunch.
Derek. Me too.

There Be Dragons Here

A GOLD Dragon Lies Beneath!

My inner dragon is the most honorable of all. I enjoy shape-shifting, humans, and the occasional crusade to save the world. I'm what you might call a Draconic Knight. Click the image to try the Inner Dragon Online Quiz for yourself.



The entire description of the Gold Dragon reads as follows:

Your Inner Dragon is the most honorable of all. Golds are the third rarest of all the dragons (after Platinum and Chromatic dragons) and have a station in society that reflects their rarity. You are what one might call a Draconic Knight. Golds live by a strict code of chivalry and commitment. Remember Draco? Yep, Gold Dragon. Your appearance is fearsome and all-mighty but you'd never stoop so low as to bring any harm to a human. As a matter of fact, that's strictly contrary to your code of conduct. You're one of only two dragon types that is aligned "Lawful Good" and is proficient in the use of magic and spells. If you're curious, the other is Platinum, the King of the Dragons. Your piety, beauty, wisdom, and inner strength are absolutely without parallel.

But of course, being a Gold Dragon isn't all high ethics and codes. You like to fly around scaring things, advise humans in their affairs, and shapeshift. Strike that, you LOVE to shapeshift. And you're great at it. In fact, if you're a Gold on the inside, you might be a Gold on the outside, too - just in human form. Your favorable attributes are honor, chivalry, truth, kindness, gold, mining, protection, wisdom, bravery, and trustworthiness. You might be a bit too trusting of humans at times, but they're just kids compared to you. If anyone threatens your humans or tries to kill you, you could strike back with your breath weapon - Fire. But then, no one's tried anything that stupid in the last couple thousand years. After all, you're about 54 feet long.

I'm an ethical dragon who helps people? Go figure.

The Human Spirit

Spirituality I take to be concerned with those qualities of the human spirit—such as love and compassion, patience, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony, which bring happiness to both self and others.

-His Holiness the Dalai Lama

On the Cessation of Suffering: The Noble Eightfold Path

Right View
Right Intention
Right Speech
Right Action
Right Livelihood
Right Effort
Right Mindfulness
Right Concentration

Time for some work.