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August 29, 2004
It’s official.
Just got the word yesterday. On Wednesday 15 September 2004, Retired General Tommy Franks will be signing copies of his autobiography American Soldier at the Barnes and Noble at Arden Faire Sacramento. If anyone is interested in meeting up with me there, drop a comment. If enough people plan on being there, perhaps we could turn it into an excuse for a blogger bash...
By the Way: as far as I know, Gen. Franks will be doing a signing-only event. You can either bring your own copy or have him sign one you buy there. The book is worth reading, though he leaves some gaps I wouldn’t have minded him filling...
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August 28, 2004
Reviews: (books) Disposable People: New slavery in the global economy
Disposable People was assigned reading for a class my sister took, but after my father claimed to have been moved to tears by it, I knew I needed to read it. I did go into it with certain biases (which I’ll share just to let you know where I am coming from): I am of the belief that Slavery and Genocide are just about the only 2 capital offences...
I was a bit worried about this book, though. It would be too easy for a communist to write a book about Modern “slavery” and spend his time talking about how bad the poor have it. To my way of thinking, comparing the situation in America pre-1864 with that of some Brazilian coffee farmer is ludicrous. Not to the communists of course. Which is why they failed...
Fortunately Kevin Bales (the author) doesn’t take that road. While he is maddeningly non-specific in defining slavery, the examples he shows are all consistent with what we historically think of as slavery. He does take a somewhat pornographic view of slavery (“I know it when I see it”), however the underlying theme of violence is present whenever he talks about modern slavery...
Again, here is where a communist (or a libertarian for that mater) might talk about "wage slavery", insisting that someone who walks off the job in America faces starvation and is therefore enslaved. Mr. Bales is not a communist (or a libertarian), and thus limits his discussion to direct violence, or the threat of direct violence. He gives an example of a Pakistani family who try to leave their debt bondage. As a result of this, the family is separated into different camps, the men are beaten, and a non-enslaved relative is captured and arbitrarily declared to be a slave. Even though slavery is illegal in Pakistan this violence is administered by the police...
This book is weakest in its constant unsupported claims that modern slavery is worse than classical slavery. Granted, such a thing would be hard to prove, nonetheless if he makes the claim he should back it up. Since I had just read the autobiography of Fredrick Douglass, I had a good idea of what classical slavery looked like fresh in my head. Both are evil, a claim that one is more evil than the other is just silly...
The other weak point in this book is the claim that Slavery exists in every country-- including our own. While I have no doubt that this is true (Oh gods, please let it not be true), Mr. Bales does not give a single example of it. Assertion isn’t proof, and Mr. Bales has enough horrific things to talk about without casual mentioning others and not demonstrating them...
Ultimately this book is a success. I cannot read it without my blood boiling. Upon reading it, I wish to start up or join an anti-slavery society. Anyone know how to go about doing so?
Rating: 4.5 broken chains out of 5 broken chains. This book is very good, very important, with only minor flaws. I cannot recommend this book highly enough, or stress its import enough. Go out and read it...
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August 23, 2004
42 Baby!
usnews.com: America's Best Colleges 2005: University of California--Davis: At a glance
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August 21, 2004
A swift Vet Remembers
Chicago Tribune | Anti-Kerry vets not there that day
There were three swift boats on the river that day in Vietnam more than 35 years ago—three officers and 15 crew members. Only two of those officers remain to talk about what happened on February 28, 1969.One is John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate who won a Silver Star for what happened on that date. I am the other.
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I'd Actually like to see that
Posted by Andrew at 08:56 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Chuckle, Snerk
CollegeHumor.com : New Funny Pictures, Funny Movies, and Funny Hotlinks Daily!
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August 20, 2004
Fascism, American Style
Many on the left have been terrified of what they see (and call) a slide towards Fascism under our current President Bush. The evidence is there, if one cares to look for it...
However, I don’t think Bush (nor the Republican Party per seis necessarily responsible for the ugliness infecting our culture. Neither do I believe that this is part of a conscious strategy on the part him or anyone else. After all, many of the most obnoxious parts of the USA PATRIOT act were first proposed by Bill Clinton (and opposed at the time by John Ashcroft)...
What I fear is a deeper yearning towards the darkness on the part of the American People. It isn’t based in Racism, a la Nazi Germany, but rather a sense of our own cultural superiority which has its antecedent in the Italian Fascism party...
We seem to have come to a place where we are mystified at the idea that anyone could be afraid of us. Perhaps this is the most frightening thing of all. American law and philosophy is based around a very healthy fear of Power. Now that we are the world’s only Superpower, we seem to believe that Lord Acton’s warning about power is no longer applicable-- at least to us. After all, haven’t we always and only done good things with our power?
Of course we haven’t. Our history has incidents as ugly as anyone’s. We do well to remember those ugly incidents along with the good...
Prescriptions for fixing this will have to await another day...
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August 18, 2004
Holy Mother of God!
Mayor suggests free assembly a 'privilege'
Don't know what to say...
Posted by Andrew at 07:36 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
August 13, 2004
I think Bush just lost.
Capitalism Magazine: Dr. Leonard Peikoff's View on the 2004 Presidential Election by News Wire
When a man who promises to raise taxes on the rich gets the vote of the Grand Pooba of the Objectivist movement, his opponent must be so spectacularly bad that said opponent hasn’t a chance...
Posted by Andrew at 03:04 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
August 10, 2004
Bad Ass!
Scientists formulate intelligent glass that blocks heat not light
I wonder how much it will cost?
Posted by Andrew at 06:41 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
August 09, 2004
Thank you President Truman
See, back about 60 years ago, my Grandfather was a soldier. He was slated to be among the first men to invade Japan. Instead, Truman decided to drop the second bomb, thus sparing my Grandfather’s life...
Posted by Andrew at 01:39 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
August 08, 2004
Darth Vader
I was chatting with Dean Esmay last night. After prompting, he told me that he feels Darth Vader is the best fictional villain of all time. As my own pick in that category is of considerably more recent vintage, I can’t fault Dean on newness. However, I can find one major flaw with his pick: Darth Vader is a Tool...
Granted, Vader cuts an imposing figure, wears gothic black, and has James Earl Jones speaking for him. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t be frightened of him personally. See, Vader always has someone holding his leash. Did Vader destroy Alderaan? No. That was Grand Moff Tarkin. When given broader direction, (but still acting on behalf of the Emperor) he fails miserably. Doesn’t destroy the rebellion on Hoth, doesn’t capture Luke, doesn’t, well, do anything right. Fortunately for him, the Emperor is more forgiving of his mistakes than Vader is of the “mistakes” of his subordinates...
He doesn’t even show a spark of independence. When he contemplates betraying Palpantine, he asks Luke to come along. Luke refuses, and Vader gets cold feet. When Vader finally does chuck the Emperor overboard, he does it because Luke asked him to!
Ultimately Vader is nothing more than an unfaithful dog, willing to obey the orders of whoever will give him the most toys...
Question for my readers: Who is the most compelling Fictional Villain of all time? No fair using fictionalizations of biblical characters (Christopher Walken’s Gabriel, for instance.) My own vote is for Mayor Wilkins of the 3rd season of Buffy...
Posted by Andrew at 11:55 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
August 06, 2004
Rights for the Wronged
Dark_Indy over at Old School Gamers proposes a Bill of Rights for end users. Seems like a good idea to me. I really dig the logic on this one:
They keep saying that all you are buying is the license, what difference does it make how many copies of the software I have cluttering up my house?
Bingo.
Something to note: He spells it “spywere”. Technically, this should be “Spyware” (like I should mention someone else’s spelling!) I must say that I like his version better. It has that sort of “werewolf” feel to it; like you thought you were getting something good, but instead it attacks you in the middle of the night and destroys your family...
Posted by Andrew at 11:45 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
August 05, 2004
Proletariat Blues
So, in addition to my work at Barnes and Noble’s bookstore, I am also an unproud employee of SunMart Inc. they run my local Arco Gas Station. Who says the Bush economy isn’t producing any jobs?
SunMart is evil. I don’t have time right now to get into the full evilness of the company (I have to run to my _other_ job), but until I can give you a full report, let me leave you with this thought: what kind of company fears letting its employees having calculators?
Posted by Andrew at 02:39 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
August 01, 2004
Review: (books) Great War
This review is actualy of Harry Turtledove’s Great War Trilogy, rather than of any book within that trilogy. I just finished it a few minutes ago, and it’s fresh in my head...
Turtledove is best known for his Alternate History (if you had a PhD in Byzantine history, what would write about?), and this set falls right in line. The central idea is that after a key set of orders failed to end up in Union hands (In real Life, Lee made a bad mistake about orders involving troop movements), the South occupies Washington DC. This brings France and England to recognize the existence of the Confederate States of America. As a result of having lost the Civil War (called the War of Secession in this universe). Abe Lincoln survives, and the Republican Party is discredited for a generation. In the prequel novel How Few Remain, Turtledove shows the war that follows the second Republican President’s decision to dispute the CSA’s right to buy states from the Empire of Mexico. France and England invade the USA to bring that fight to a halt...
The result of all this is that by 1914 the USA feels humiliated, and will stop at nothing to "get some of our own back". Instead of the 4th of July as a major national holiday, Turtledove’s Americans celebrate “Remembrance day”, a national day of mourning and rededication to the patriotic cause of hurting the Confederacy, France and England. To do this, they’ve teamed with Germany.
Domestic politics have changed as well. Lincoln lived long enough to split the Republican party-- only a splinter of it remains, the rest ended up joining Lincoln in the Socialist party.
One of Turtledove’s talents is in making his characters sympathetic. Even when (in other series) he writes of alien cultures, he manages to make them both consistent and credible-- and understandable. In this series, he makes note of the fact that Machine gunners rarely surrender; when they try, the enemies they had been shooting at tend to kill them. He shows us characters committing this cold-blooded murder, and we understand and have empathy for their actions...
We readers are giving many a character to have sympathy with; I can’t think of a single walk of life Turtledove hasn’t represented in this book. Soldiers, yes, those by the score. But also fisherman’s wives’, farmers in both occupied Manitoba and “liberated” Quebec, a South Carolina plantation owner, even a Socialist Congresswoman from New York. These are some of the characters who get point-of-view chapters. There are many other characters whose lives are followed within the narrative...
The story flows well, laying down its mosaic, and only occasionally moralizing. The world with the Confederacy is a colder place. The US is so consumed by the desire for vengeance that the torch of Liberty burns only dimly at best. Indeed, in New York Harbor a sword wielding Statue of Remembrance greets new immigrants...
That image, most of all, brings home for me what World War 1 was about for most of the world: nationalism and nonsense. Europe rushed into war because they could, because they thought it would be easy, because they were so consumed by the idea that the enemy was a demon that they were excited to go off on a grand adventure. And because they felt this way about the war, they imposed the harshest possible terms for peace. In real life, that gave rise to Hitler. In Turtledove’s world, that gives rise to Jake Featherston. Mr. Turtledove was kind enough to Extend this universe into a second trilogy. This Tuesday, (3 August 2004), Mr. Turtledove begins the 3rd trilogy. I’ve got some reading to do...
Rating:
5 golden rings out of 5 turtledoves. Was that reference too obscure? Anyway; the series is _very_ well written, well conceived and well executed. By turning history on its head, Turtledove gives a good account for one of the least-talked about wars in recent American history...
Posted by Andrew at 05:04 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Trade, free and fair!
Yahoo! News - Wealthy countries brace for farming cuts as WTO makes historic step
Awesome!
Hot digity damn! Wonderful...
Farm subsidies are a scourge: they suck money out of developed nations (us, for instance), and ensure that developing nations don’t have that first export commodity with which to build an entire economy...
Over the last few years, developing nations have been halting trade negotiations until we (and the Europeans) agreed to cut back on our farm subsidies. Now that they’re getting what they want out of us (the ability to compete in our markets), we’ll be able to get what we want out of them (the ability to compete in their markets). And we’ll all live happily ever after...
(Via Mr. Lessig, who notes that we’ve broken these deals before. I can only hope that future president John Kerry will show more backbone and brains on this issue than outgoing President Bush showed on Steel Tariffs...)
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