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2.July.08
Too Much Information
To the extent that it "works" at all, war works with a strict chain of
command, something that is an increasingly untidy fit with the
democratic medium of the 'net. Not that the Pentagon hasn't enjoyed some
successes, such as the "embedding" of reporters who are given ample
reason to enthusiastically support their immediate protection. But when
the shooting starts, some feet will get in the way, sooner or later.
How do you put a positive spin on Abu Ghraib, or Guantánamo?
The best that could be done for the former was to blame a few grunts
(a cowardly and despicable
lie,
by the way). The latter has operated with an increasingly tight cone of
silence, disturbed only by the Supreme Court of the United States'
unwillingness to accept the Commander in Chief as Führer.
But information wants to be free, and some of the participants are
navigating the bureaucracy to reveal glimpses of reality in occasionally
arresting prose. One writer, LT G, crossed somebody's limit
and had his milblog shut down, but not before he'd made some entries
capturing the reality of the situation with remarkable precision.
The occupation will go on without it, I'm sure, "because higher said
so."
1.July.08
Plotting the States
The boys at the Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social
Science blog have
graphed Annenberg pre-election survey results from 2000 to show the
ranking of states by the liberalism/conservatism of their voters. They
split that ideological assessment into "social" and "economic"
dimensions.
Bill Harris
thought of me and sent the link because he knows I'm way out
in Idaho, at "upper right."
It was a different world during the 2000 primaries, but I imagine Idaho
remains an outlier. The data show us not so far out socially as
economically, however; we're "only" in 8th place in the former.
Split out by party affiliation (or leaning), we see that our Dems are
are pretty much in the middle of the pack, and our Republicans are not
the furthest out... we just have more of them, apparently.
Privacy? Didn't we already give that up?
Russ Feingold's not ready to roll over with retroactive immunity for
telecomms and skipping over judicial review for our intelligence
gathering. It makes me proud to see him carry on the progressive
tradition in my home state. It's also interesting to consider how much
better the same response to everyone
works as
a short video than as a form letter.
"I teased some of my colleagues and said we can celebrate the
Constitution on July 4th and maybe when we come back you'll decide not
to tear it up."
30.June.08
We may be slow, but we're not stupid
In this last bastion of red-state support for the miserable presidency
of George W. Bush,
Idaho's poll numbers have gone over the hump: 54% of 500 likely
voters polled said they disapproved of the job President Bush is
doing.
Goldilocks Planet
It's been just a few short decades since we were able to step "outside,"
as it were, and look back upon the planet we inhabit, and to see how
incredible it is that we should be sitting on a watery oasis in the
empty vastness of space. There may be others, but time and distance
make them more about speculation than observation. We thrill to know
there's water on Mars, that perhaps it rained there, once upon a time. Maybe
a moon of Saturn has a hint of conditions that could support life,
if not life itself, or a remnant of it.
Whatever there may be in the distant reaches of our galaxy or in the
wider universe we can visit only in our imagination, the exploration of
our own vast solar system makes one thing abundantly clear: there's
no place like home.
Having been fruitful and multiplied, and having had some success with
technology, we now confront the potential problem of fouling our nest,
with no hospitable neighborhood for us to fledge to. Our home has been
no stranger to cataclysm, "natural" and man-made, and it's a matter of
what and when rather than whether for the next one.
Will it be global climactic disruption triggered by anthropogenic
greenhouse gas emissions? Or something else? We dodged annihilation at
our own hand through the near-madness of developing the means for
"mutually assured" destruction last century. It remains to be seen
whether such a balance can be maintained in a world populated by
unbalanced actors, some of whom welcome their own death for "religious"
(or, "insane") reasons, and by extension have no reason to fear wider
destruction.
I'm thinking of how flammable things on the surface of our planet are,
with our 21% oxygen atmosphere, as family news from California rolls in.
The
Shasta-Trinity complex, $9 million spent, more than 2,000 people
in 18 fire crews, with 263 engines, 9 helicopters, 61 bulldozers, 75
square miles burned and only 10% contained. Our family's safe, the
evacuation order lifted for their area, but the smoke still thick.
A little higher greenhouse gas concentration, a little hotter, a little
dryer could be a lot worse. Seems like an experiment we might
want to avoid if we can.
28.June.08
Stimulating Circuitry
Two interesting shows on NPR this week with Jill Bolte Taylor, more
about what she learned about her brain from the experience of having a
stroke and eight years of recovering from it: on
on Fresh Air with Terry Gross and
on Talk of the Nation Science Friday.
Not Available for Comment
The footnote at the bottom of
Brian Rich's take on the Senate race in Idaho made me think of that
scene in The Wizard of Oz where the gatekeeper laughs off Dorothy
and her friends' request to see the Great and Powerful Oz.
You want to talk to Jim Risch? How droll.
27.June.08
More Fire in the Family
California's a lot like paradise, except when the rain runs out, and it
starts to burn. News from family in northern California is that they had
to clear out, under a mandatory evacuation order yesterday. My brother
writes:
"There is a large fire camp (fire fighters from the Forest Service and
CDF, California Dept of Forestry) in Junction City... When we left
yesterday afternoon smoke was very thick with lots of ash fallout but
winds were relatively calm. Visibility was maybe a quarter to a half
mile.
"Getting information is difficult. Most of northern California is
blanketed with smoke, there are hundreds of fires, and personnel to deal
with them are spread thin. Usually, the fire season doesn't get going
until August. And rain here is very unusual between June and
October–or at least September, if we're lucky. Although last
summer it actually rained three or four times and there were no fires
here. Fire is a natural part of the California ecosystem. I've heard
that historically every five hundred years every square inch of
California has burned. So now, humans have moved in, and of course we
have houses, etc. Fire is not so convenient. Humans vs. nature. Wait -
humans are part of nature..."
Voting Your Conscience
I don't pretend to understand the inside baseball involved in
Congressional votes, but I do know there's a lot more than just
totalling up the "ayes" and "nays" to see if a bill has passed.
There's the counting before the bill is even introduced, for
example, the political calculations and recalculations for amendments
and procedure, and eventually, some legislative sausage that might be
tasty, or tainted. And then there will be the analysis and answering
for the vote afterwards. Lawyers generally want to know the answer
before they ask the question.
Who can vote aye? Who needs to vote nay? And which rare
bird wants to make a principled stand for something?
If you're about to retire, you might have nothing left to answer for
(but then again, you might be planning to cash your elected position
with its modest 6-figure salary from something bigger, in the lobbying
field).
I don't know whose ax Politico might be grinding, but the
stories
of retiring Republicans bucking their leadership are entertaining
nonetheless.
raveling
Tom von Alten
tva_∂t_fortboise_⋅_org
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Wednesday, 02-Jul-2008 11:12:38 MDT
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