Political Pwnage
Never been a big fan of [Chris Matthews' show][1]. The very premise of "Hardball"-and all other shows of its ilk-really irritate me. He takes two polar opposite viewpoints and encourages them to argue it out. It seems to always end up with the guests shouting over each other, and with Matthews shouting over them both. As a viewer it makes me with I had a mute button for each of their microphones. Actually it just makes me seldom watch the show...I don't know if getting such outspoken and outrageous guests actually increases ratings. But it most definitely does little to advance public discourse beyond the same tired old talking points that each side repeats ad nauseum.Yesterday's show should have been no different. On the Red side we have radio blowhard [Kevin James][2], and on the Blue side we have a guy from [Air America][3], a.k.a. Rush for knee-jerk Lefties. Things got off to a typical talking points start-same ol' really intense boring crap. Then Matthews completely PWNs Kevin James. Here's a guy who spends hours on the radio saying the same thing over and over -peppered with plenty of sarcasm and references to "Hitler" and "appeasement" and "9/11" etc. He probably makes fun of some suckers who call in with viewpoints that don't mirror his own. But for all the time he spent talking about the topic in question, he obviously never bothered to look any deeper than the talking point itself. I'm not surprised at all-blowhards make their bank by blowing hard, not by listening or discussing or moving closer towards a truth that transcends blind political allegiance. But I was pleasantly surprised by Matthews' calling him out. Sure it makes for great TV and it will likely become a viral video of the moment and all that. But hopefully it also accomplishes more than just destroying that guy's ego. Hopefully it opens some TV execs' eyes to just how tired all the empty political rhetoric is. Why not use some of those 24 hours of constant coverage for actual discourse? On second thought, that sounds really boring. One PBS is enough. Background from [wikipedia][2]: Kevin James appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews, debating with Mark Green of Air America Radio to discuss remarks made by George W. Bush's speech to the Israeli Knesset in which Bush made note of Idaho Republican Senator William Borah's statements in reference to not meeting with Hitler. Later in the same speech, although Bush did not mention Barack Obama by name, he drew what many observers interpreted as a comparison between Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler before World War II with Obama's expressed willingness to meet with leaders of U.S. adversaries. John McCain later connected the policies Bush spoke about with Obama and included a reference to Chamberlain. Speaking on Hardball, James vigorously supported Bush's comparison and insinuated that Bush "should have been speaking in reference to Obama" even if he wasn't. Chris Matthews then asked James for a "history check", asking James, "What exactly did Chamberlain do wrong?" During the three minutes that followed, Matthews went on to repeat variations of the question a total of 28 times, and later specifically referenced the Munich Agreement. [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardball... [2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_James_(broadcaster) [3]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Amer...
A big day for Mr. W
Westar signed agreements with developers to build three wind farms in Kansas-in [Barber][1], [Cloud][2] , and [Wichita][3] counties. According to today's [press release][4], by the end of 2008 these farms will being cranking out 300 megawatts of power-a significant step, though modest given wind's potential. For reference, the hulking beast on Lawrence's northern horizon pumps 539 megawatts of power, using the constant stream of coal that makes dinner on the patio of [La Tropicana][5] so enjoyable.Here's [an interesting overview of all the power production in Kansas][6]. I would have thought the Wolf Creek nuclear power plant (548 megawatts) would have been the leading energy source. But it actually comes it at No. 4 ... way behind the plant in St. Mary's. That plant produces 1,857 megwatts with "Coal, Wind." I wish they would have specified what the breakdown is. My guess is wind's contribution is minimal-otherwise, Westar's PR department is really dropping the ball [given this][7].Anyway, sounds like the government and big bidness is finally getting hep to what the peeps want: more Mr. W!!! (Thanks to Hillary at [Local Burger][8] for the linkage.) [1]: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&h... [2]: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&h... [3]: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&h... [4]: http://media.lawrence.com/pdf/2008/080111wind contracts.pdf [5]: /places/la_tropicana [6]: http://www.westarenergy.com/corp_com/contentmgt.nsf/publishedpages/our%20energy%20home [7]: http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/jan... [8]: /places/local_burger
Writer’s Bloc
For most of my 30 years, I haven't really watched much TV. Yeah, I know ... but really, I just don't. Not because I'm awesome. Just that - in my experience - if you're not ready to schedule your life around whenever X show (that's not a re-run) comes on, you're condemned to watch Mythbusters or Law & Order or worse.Thanks to the magic of D - V - R, that was beginning to change for me ...No need to worry about what came on and when. If an amigo told me that Always Sunny In Philadelphia was the chronic, I could set the DVR to "record series" and check it out later, at my convenience. Wow - suddenly I can look forward to watching TV, albeit still at my convenience. Sweet.Just as I was catching my DVR stride, the writer's strike hit. Two months later and, again, there isn't shit worth watching on TV, even if you can record it ahead of time. So I took the DVR back.![][1]But tonight I watched as [KU kicked Virginia Tech's ass in a football game][2]. Feeling pretty good about that - I lingered in TV land a bit... and holy crap - Letterman's got a beard! And so does Conan?Right away, I figured it had something to do with the writer's strike. The news has had talk of the shows coming back for a while now, "for the sake of the shows' non-writer employees," and, of course, for the audience. I figured that Letterman and Conan - seeming like reasonable, non-total-bastard-types - would exhibit some sort of solidarity with the writers. Like the beard thing. Pretty sweet ... if you haven't seen it on air, it is cause for at least slight pause ([Letterman video available here][3], [Conan's here][4].What I hadn't expected that they'd seize the opportunity to use virtually their entire shows as a vehicle for expressing their support for the strike (and this on the second day back from the strike... I missed the first).The shows were great. Maybe it's because they've had two months to write them, but to me they were fun to watch because they were real. They felt a lot less like the best take of a script and more like sincere, urgent broadcasts of an important message over the priceless medium they have at their disposal. Seeing tonight's two late-night shows gave me hope for mainstream culture... (Note: despite the strike Carson Daly remains a [shaven] douchebag. His guest tonight was 10-year-old [Ariel Gade][5], who Daly described on-air, without a hint of irony, as the "most intelligent guest I've had in six weeks." Way to make hay, Carson.)
In case you missed it: Curious: [Random YouTube video set to a favorite song of 2007.][6] [1]: http://media.lawrence.com/img/blogs/i... [2]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2008/ja... [3]: http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/dave_tv/monologue/index/php/monologue.phtml [4]: http://www.nbc.com/Late_Night_with_Conan_O'Brien/video/episodes.shtml [5]: http://imdb.com/name/nm1262166/ [6]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7loLxo...
It's something of an internets maxim that Thou Shalt Not Send Nary An Email That Thou Would Hide From The World._Or something like that... The maxim for posting things straight to the publicly voyeurable internets should be doubly emphatic. Maybe Thou Shalt Only Post A Thing On The Internets If You Would Have The Whole Wide World Read It Forever And Ever.[![][1]][2]Maybe I'm too paranoid, but it seems a bit too trusting to suppose that you can transmit ANYTHING online "privately" or "100% securely," Including your credit card number on the Amazons and the eBays, et al. (Sorry, "TRUSTe" ... I don't know you from Adam.) While it's pretty hassle-free to claim fraud on major credit cards, it's surely impossible to do anything about misappropriation of your personal info and internets usage habits. And yet hordes of people continue to spend a good deal of their time every day ... doing what? ... inputting massive amounts of personal and demographic data into the servers of the MySpaces and the Facebooks, et al. The don't get paid a cent for their time and the priceless information they're surrendering. The real value for users of these "social networking" sites was already questionable enough (and a huge negative if opportunity cost of time wasted is considered). But the [lastest news of Facebook's disregard for users' privacy][3] should be a big wake up call, at least to everyone so eager to be their data entry adjunct. But it gets worse: "_Facebook came under withering criticism from its users and privacy advocates alike when a security researcher revealed that the ad system ([called Beacon][4]) tracks user activities on third-party partner sites-including the activities of people who never signed up with Facebook, who deactivated their accounts or who were not signed on to the site. Beacon captures data on what users do and buy on the external sites and sends it back to Facebook." This isn't exactly a bombshell to anyone who has read Facebook's privacy policy ("We may share your information with third parties, including responsible companies with which we have a relationship.") but, really, who reads those things? If you're an avid Facebook user caught with your pants down, [this guy has posted suggestions for guarding yourself against Beacon][5]. ![][6] [1]: http://media.lawrence.com/img/special... [2]: www.truste.org/ [3]: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9051119&intsrc=hm_ts_head [4]: http://community.ca.com/blogs/securityadvisor/archive/2007/11/29/facebook-s-misrepresentation-of-beacon-s-threat-to-privacy-tracking-users-who-opt-out-or-are-not-logged-in.aspx [5]: http://community.ca.com/blogs/securityadvisor/archive/2007/11/29/facebook-socialads-going-too-far.aspx [6]: http://media.lawrence.com/img/special...
And crown thy good with brotherhood
It's Thanksgiving and, not to be a Debbie Downer on the holidays but... I can't help but think about the situation with the [Haskell Wetlands][1]. Perhaps you're all long sick and tired of this dead horse. But like I said, I can't help but think about it... It's bad enough that the closest thing we have to observing Native Americans' contribution to our society is Thanksgiving, which doesn't exactly come right out and celebrate Native Americans-outside of the sentimental lessons of a grade school classroom, anyway. It's particularly sad that on this Thanksgiving, [we are again reminded-right here in Lawrence-][2]of our continuing disdain for the importance of sacred lands and Native Americans' interests in general. As was surely the case when lands were originally being stripped from Natives, Lawrence's decision to route the South Lawrence Trafficway directly through what Natives consider to be sacred grounds-the Haskell, or Baker, Wetlands-is ultimately an economic decision. It would cost, Commissioners say, an additional $19 million to route the SLT south of the wetlands. That would be an unacceptable 13% increase above the $166.9 million base cost for the new highway. Of course, $19 million is no trivial amount. But to me it seems like a pittance for which to sell our soul-and to pave over the remains of our Native brother's buried family members. It's unfathomable to think about some future generation paving over the East Lawrence cemetery or any other place where mostly white people are buried. Granted, there are no headstones (anymore, anyway) out in the wetlands, but that's not really the point. These lands are considered sacred by a group of people who should be, if anyone should be, given the benefit of the doubt. Across the country, many sites of former American Indian boarding schools like Haskell have been turned into golf courses or the like. The first off-reservation boarding school, in Carlisle, Pa., is now a shopping mall. Is convenience and a 13% savings on a highway really worth such a sacrifice? Are we really going to let some jaded bean counter at KDOT decide the fate of a significant part of our culture and legacy as Americans? Are we so cold and calloused to ultimately turn a deaf ear to this issue? Call me sentimental, but Daniel Schorr's quoting of "America The Beautiful" on [this story][3] today seems fitting:O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed his grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea! [1]: http://www.lawrence.com/news/2007/sep... [2]: http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2007/nov... [3]: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16523582
“Our democracy needs a firm hand”
Another rabble-rousing country demands that its government hold elections as scheduled, to which the government responds by [declaring a state of emergency][1]. The president of Georgia told his people: "Our democracy needs a firm hand of the authorities." As the article details, this translates to: "Tear gas was fired at a church near the parliament as enraged priests attempted to shelter protesters inside." "The channel was broadcasting news of the day's turmoil as police entered the building. 'Here they are, coming into the studio," the anchor announced. "I hear shouts from the control room. I hope our employees won't be injured. Here are our guests.' The signal then stopped." "'...policemen took out their truncheons and all of a sudden started beating people.'" "Police also used rubber bullets and tear gas against protesters." "More than 500 people were injured..." (Thanks to Chris Tackett for the link.) [1]: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-georgia8nov08,1,7075983.story?coll=la-news-a_section&ctrack=1&cset=true
The cure is the cause
First, [listen to this][1]. Listen to a Pakistani administration legal adviser explain Musharraf's recent actions (starting around the 3 min. mark) by citing the U.S.'s post-9/11 actions-as a fundamental rationale no less. This is the fallout from the Bush administration. I'm optimistic enough to think our country can absorb a rogue administration in stride and move on for at least a few more generations before it all starts to unravel. (I'm not being sarcastic-I'm in no way an alarmist about the current state of American government. Throughout the entire 8 years of the Clinton administration, my conservative dad felt same the way I do about Bush. And so it goes..) The rest of the world, though, is ultimately outside our Constitution's jurisdiction. As the case of Pakistan shows, alarmingly, even a relatively friendly (remember Musharfaf's appearance on the Daily Show [[part 1][2]| [part 2][3]]? Not exactly Cold War-style, no?) and crucially strategic nation can implode despite our influence. Or could it be because of our influence? Both for sure, but that latter seems to be the case with Pakistan. If you doubt what I'm saying, listen to that interview again. He's basically saying because the U.S. did X, Y, Z following 9/11-well, this is our 9/11 (it's all relative, right?) and so we're justified in doing whatever we want, even if appearances are unseemly. How could we have expected to perpetrate Gitmo- and Abu Ghraib-style justice, Patriot Act tactics on our own population, heck even the way the 2004 election went down, without having other countries cite our actions-the shining example of democracy-as an open license to do whatever in the name of Freedom? What demagogue out there can't rightly appeal to the basest fears of its populace to justify whatever it takes to retain power-citing the U.S.'s actions as a precedent? And where is our high ground to do anything about it...even post-Bush? [1]: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16088925 [2]: http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=114685&title=pervez-musharraf-pt.-1 [3]: http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=115155&title=pervez-musharraf-pt.-2
