Ex-Montreal
It would be hard to explain to non-Americans (of whom I may have one or two readers) just why the Expos’ relocation to Washington DC is a big deal. I’m not an Expos fan, neither am I particularly invested in having non-U.S. teams available for World Series play, a nomenclature frequently mocked by those from countries where sporting events include actual global participation at least on a four-year cycle. Nevertheless, I’m shocked, dismayed even. The NY Times article explains some of the historical aspects of the move: Senators become Twins; new Senators become Rangers. (Hmm, there’s an argument against renaming the team “Senators.”) I suppose that Montreal was just too far outside the megalopolis of the Northeastern U.S. corridor (the sprawl from Atlanta through Boston) to serve a substantial enough population, whereas Toronto, with its relative proximity to upstate NY population centers, still can. Dropping another team into the middle of the Atlantic states will probably afford a sufficient audience to sustain the team, but wasn’t that Baltimore’s job? Maybe if they’d field a team into the playoffs once in a while. No, I can’t explain why this is a big deal; I’m still stuck on what their name will be.
30 September 2004
Dirty Bombs and Dirty Tricks
Why does Dick Cheney think his George Bush sock puppet would be better at combating terrorism than John Kerry? Maybe because a re-elected Bush administration would be quicker at putting radioactive work sites back to work, while Kerry might focus more on an effective clean-up? The politics of fear play us into the hands of those operating according to the politics of greed.
Why does Dick Cheney think his George Bush sock puppet would be better at combating terrorism than John Kerry? Maybe because a re-elected Bush administration would be quicker at putting radioactive work sites back to work, while Kerry might focus more on an effective clean-up? The politics of fear play us into the hands of those operating according to the politics of greed.
Healing the Nation
I can’t figure out if this is a clever ploy or the nadir of American politics: Bush and Kerry are going on Dr. Phil. Well, you can’t expect them on Oprah anymore, because she doesn’t do that kind of show; too busy interviewing Gwyneth and handing out cars, I guess. Dr. Phil? If you’re Bush, you go on because you’re from Texas and have two children who are out of control. If you’re Kerry, you go on because Bush did, so you have to pander to the pseudo-intellectual Jerry Springer set or lose their votes to Bush. Look, Dr. Phil’s got his function on television, and I suppose he does it well enough and even, often enough, to good effect. But Presidential politics isn’t the same thing as touting your latest movie with Jennifer Lopez, so I’m not really amused by appearances on the late-night talk shows either, regardless of whether the candidate carries it off well or not. Gore smashing Pentagon ashtrays on Letterman is funny, but it isn’t going to educate anyone about policies, including policies to cut government spending. Nobody’s listening to the jabber on these shows or in the advertisements, except for what they already believe or expect, like those cartoons with the dog: “blah blah blah Ginger blah blah.”
I can’t figure out if this is a clever ploy or the nadir of American politics: Bush and Kerry are going on Dr. Phil. Well, you can’t expect them on Oprah anymore, because she doesn’t do that kind of show; too busy interviewing Gwyneth and handing out cars, I guess. Dr. Phil? If you’re Bush, you go on because you’re from Texas and have two children who are out of control. If you’re Kerry, you go on because Bush did, so you have to pander to the pseudo-intellectual Jerry Springer set or lose their votes to Bush. Look, Dr. Phil’s got his function on television, and I suppose he does it well enough and even, often enough, to good effect. But Presidential politics isn’t the same thing as touting your latest movie with Jennifer Lopez, so I’m not really amused by appearances on the late-night talk shows either, regardless of whether the candidate carries it off well or not. Gore smashing Pentagon ashtrays on Letterman is funny, but it isn’t going to educate anyone about policies, including policies to cut government spending. Nobody’s listening to the jabber on these shows or in the advertisements, except for what they already believe or expect, like those cartoons with the dog: “blah blah blah Ginger blah blah.”
Debate Activities
If you're watching the U.S. Presidential debates this year, you've probably already made up your mind whom to vote for, so to keep yourself occupied (not to mention to keep yourself from tearing out your hair), Scott's developed a bi-partisan drinking game. It helps, however, not to play this game with Republicans in the room so you can keep your wallet.
If you're watching the U.S. Presidential debates this year, you've probably already made up your mind whom to vote for, so to keep yourself occupied (not to mention to keep yourself from tearing out your hair), Scott's developed a bi-partisan drinking game. It helps, however, not to play this game with Republicans in the room so you can keep your wallet.
27 September 2004
Some Votes Are More Equal than Others
Overseas
I stole that headline from Rebecca’s Pocket, who got the line from Electoral-Vote.com, which reminds us that in some states, students can register where they’re studying, rather than going the absentee ballot route via their parents’ home state. This can help turn a swing state into a solid state for Kerry. Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, and Oregon are considered “marginally pro-Bush”; while Deleware, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington are “marginally Kerry,” or worse. Even California and Illinois are considered “weak Kerry” states. With a projection of Bush winning the White House with 307 electoral votes to 207 for Kerry, it’s vitally important for everyone who can to vote as strategically as possible.
Locally
It’s all very well for John Howard to play the politics of fear and personal interest over policy, but in the end it comes down to business as usual. To say his experience is what will keep Australia safe in the new age of terror appeals to the uncertainties we face (and the media plays up to it). To say that a Labor government will drive up interest rates is just a flat-out lie. In fact, the Reserve Bank has just said it’s entirely the opposite: the Coalition’s new spending programs are likely to drive interest rates up. Ask any Australian of voting age about Labor, and you’re likely to hear about interest rates of 17%, a situation that occurred the last time Labor was in power, during which period Australia was also suffering (as was most of the world) from an extended recession. Howard’s spending the present budget surplus as if it’s money in hand, rather than just an accounting trick, in one of the biggest pork-barrel sprees I’ve ever seen, and all of the targeted programs are hot-button items: child care tax credits for grandparents, for example. That’s a clever bit of tax relief, but not one that wouldn’t have come in eventually anyway under Latham, and not one that’s going to provide much real relief, so don’t be too easily fooled (again).
Overseas
I stole that headline from Rebecca’s Pocket, who got the line from Electoral-Vote.com, which reminds us that in some states, students can register where they’re studying, rather than going the absentee ballot route via their parents’ home state. This can help turn a swing state into a solid state for Kerry. Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, and Oregon are considered “marginally pro-Bush”; while Deleware, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington are “marginally Kerry,” or worse. Even California and Illinois are considered “weak Kerry” states. With a projection of Bush winning the White House with 307 electoral votes to 207 for Kerry, it’s vitally important for everyone who can to vote as strategically as possible.
Locally
It’s all very well for John Howard to play the politics of fear and personal interest over policy, but in the end it comes down to business as usual. To say his experience is what will keep Australia safe in the new age of terror appeals to the uncertainties we face (and the media plays up to it). To say that a Labor government will drive up interest rates is just a flat-out lie. In fact, the Reserve Bank has just said it’s entirely the opposite: the Coalition’s new spending programs are likely to drive interest rates up. Ask any Australian of voting age about Labor, and you’re likely to hear about interest rates of 17%, a situation that occurred the last time Labor was in power, during which period Australia was also suffering (as was most of the world) from an extended recession. Howard’s spending the present budget surplus as if it’s money in hand, rather than just an accounting trick, in one of the biggest pork-barrel sprees I’ve ever seen, and all of the targeted programs are hot-button items: child care tax credits for grandparents, for example. That’s a clever bit of tax relief, but not one that wouldn’t have come in eventually anyway under Latham, and not one that’s going to provide much real relief, so don’t be too easily fooled (again).
24 September 2004
Zen and the Art of Dogma Cinema
As M. was entertaining work colleagues last night, I took the opportunity to go to the movies for a film I’d wanted to see during the Sydney Film Festival: Zatoichi, the newest Takeshi Kitano offering. Takeshi is a bit of a renaissance man: acting & directing in films and television, painting, and writing. Unlike the last few of his films, this isn’t a gangster flick, but instead a samurai movie, and for the most part, much the same as other such movies, with the exceptions of its use of humor and of music: sort of Dancer in the Dark (hence the “dogma” reference) meets Kagemusha, with a bit of Rashomon thrown in. Beat Takeshi shuffles and mutters through the movie as a blind masseur (whose cane conceals a sword, with which he is adept), occasionally pausing to slice up half a dozen or more assailants. And when I say “pausing,” I mean it; he appears hardly to even move (yes, special effects) and the bad guys are thoroughly dispatched. The finale – a kind of Last Man Standing or Red Harvest scenario – is played out in alternating shots of the villagers performing an ensemble peasant Broadway tapdance and Takeshi’s cleaning up the gangsters, suggesting, I suppose, not only that life goes on, but that it does so regardless of how the struggle between good and evil plays out. The humor, all the way to the final shot of the movie, is slapstick (Takeshi worked as a comedian earlier in his career), but it all goes to proving the moral, including the last line: “Even with my eyes open, I can’t see a thing.” It’s an incredibly pretty movie, too; even the gouts of blood.
As M. was entertaining work colleagues last night, I took the opportunity to go to the movies for a film I’d wanted to see during the Sydney Film Festival: Zatoichi, the newest Takeshi Kitano offering. Takeshi is a bit of a renaissance man: acting & directing in films and television, painting, and writing. Unlike the last few of his films, this isn’t a gangster flick, but instead a samurai movie, and for the most part, much the same as other such movies, with the exceptions of its use of humor and of music: sort of Dancer in the Dark (hence the “dogma” reference) meets Kagemusha, with a bit of Rashomon thrown in. Beat Takeshi shuffles and mutters through the movie as a blind masseur (whose cane conceals a sword, with which he is adept), occasionally pausing to slice up half a dozen or more assailants. And when I say “pausing,” I mean it; he appears hardly to even move (yes, special effects) and the bad guys are thoroughly dispatched. The finale – a kind of Last Man Standing or Red Harvest scenario – is played out in alternating shots of the villagers performing an ensemble peasant Broadway tapdance and Takeshi’s cleaning up the gangsters, suggesting, I suppose, not only that life goes on, but that it does so regardless of how the struggle between good and evil plays out. The humor, all the way to the final shot of the movie, is slapstick (Takeshi worked as a comedian earlier in his career), but it all goes to proving the moral, including the last line: “Even with my eyes open, I can’t see a thing.” It’s an incredibly pretty movie, too; even the gouts of blood.
Sure, After I Buy Coastal Property in Australia
Antarctica is melting. O.k., my apartment has a fair bit of high ground between it and the harbour, let alone any open water, but what's Sydney going to be worth when the Opera House is under water and ships can't pass under the Harbour Bridge anymore? Probably I should have bought out in Strathfield, where it'll be beach-front property in a few years. This is the fault of all those bouffant hair-dos from the 60's, I'll bet.
Antarctica is melting. O.k., my apartment has a fair bit of high ground between it and the harbour, let alone any open water, but what's Sydney going to be worth when the Opera House is under water and ships can't pass under the Harbour Bridge anymore? Probably I should have bought out in Strathfield, where it'll be beach-front property in a few years. This is the fault of all those bouffant hair-dos from the 60's, I'll bet.
Out for a Duck
It’s just as well now that the season is largely underway that someone has provided an easy-to-follow guide to cricket (apparently from Purdue University, and via Kottke), but I may never get a full grip on the innings and outs of the game. No mention of “body line,” either, but that’s a discredited bowling style anyway.
It’s just as well now that the season is largely underway that someone has provided an easy-to-follow guide to cricket (apparently from Purdue University, and via Kottke), but I may never get a full grip on the innings and outs of the game. No mention of “body line,” either, but that’s a discredited bowling style anyway.
The Ancient Mariner
Water levels in the dams out west continue to fall, and rain does not come in sufficient quantities to keep us going. Everyone is conscious of water use, although there are those whose consciousness extends only so far as to water their gardens outside of the prescribed hours or to whether they will be able to rinse off the sand when their done surfing. Experts advise permanent restrictions and dispute Utilities Minister Frank Sartor’s contention that desalination is “inevitable.” Business uses 23% of Sydney’s water, and a fair bit of that would be related to the building trades, is my guess, despite the indications of a decline in industrial usage. Wednesday night on The New Inventors, a brick- and paver-cutting tool was exhibited that recycled its own waste water, eventually allowing the slurry to be mixed into the mortar. This is an example of the kind of the “new thinking” we need, but an even better example would be tradesmen taking up such an innovation despite the high initial outlay and long return on investment. Government could help the ROI by increasing the cost of non-household water use. Architects could probably help out, too, by developing designs to incorporate the use of rainwater storage and grey-water recycling, but the Federation style home might suffer. Anyway, as usual with humans and the environment, progress will be slow until the crunch well and truly arrives, and even then I’d expect Sartor’s desalination plants before more green-friendly developments.
Water levels in the dams out west continue to fall, and rain does not come in sufficient quantities to keep us going. Everyone is conscious of water use, although there are those whose consciousness extends only so far as to water their gardens outside of the prescribed hours or to whether they will be able to rinse off the sand when their done surfing. Experts advise permanent restrictions and dispute Utilities Minister Frank Sartor’s contention that desalination is “inevitable.” Business uses 23% of Sydney’s water, and a fair bit of that would be related to the building trades, is my guess, despite the indications of a decline in industrial usage. Wednesday night on The New Inventors, a brick- and paver-cutting tool was exhibited that recycled its own waste water, eventually allowing the slurry to be mixed into the mortar. This is an example of the kind of the “new thinking” we need, but an even better example would be tradesmen taking up such an innovation despite the high initial outlay and long return on investment. Government could help the ROI by increasing the cost of non-household water use. Architects could probably help out, too, by developing designs to incorporate the use of rainwater storage and grey-water recycling, but the Federation style home might suffer. Anyway, as usual with humans and the environment, progress will be slow until the crunch well and truly arrives, and even then I’d expect Sartor’s desalination plants before more green-friendly developments.
23 September 2004
They're Two for $5 at the Supermarket
O.k., it was a charity auction, but $20,000 for 12 mangoes, even the first mangoes of the season is still worth a bit of head-shaking. I wonder if they were Kensingtons?
O.k., it was a charity auction, but $20,000 for 12 mangoes, even the first mangoes of the season is still worth a bit of head-shaking. I wonder if they were Kensingtons?
Watching the Watchers
With all the fraud of the 2000 election and all the reports of continuing dirty tricks and smear campaigns, it’s nice to hear that A. will be heading to Florida to be a poll-watcher, but there appears to be a great deal of work needed well before November 2 to ensure that potential voters don’t stay home.
With all the fraud of the 2000 election and all the reports of continuing dirty tricks and smear campaigns, it’s nice to hear that A. will be heading to Florida to be a poll-watcher, but there appears to be a great deal of work needed well before November 2 to ensure that potential voters don’t stay home.
Fireproof
The asbestos story in the U.S. is one I’m passingly familiar with, and not one without contentiousness, although I had thought it largely resolved. If the various litigations haven’t been settled, at least the issue of clean-up seemed to be. In any event, the James Hardie affair here seems to bring the whole mess back into contention, and as usual it’s all about the money first. People’s homes, however, are extensively affected. “Fibro” structures are everywhere, and ugly, too, but I had no idea they were full of asbestos. Nasty stuff, and a disaster waiting to happen every day. The home renovation craze that has been at least partially responsible for keeping the housing economy booming for so long is extensively DIY, putting larger numbers at risk than just the tradesmen and homeowners. This is a major public health issue, and nobody’s got the money to pay for it. It’s no good James Hardie crying poor, and it’s no good putting paid to the company - not that that seems likely anyway. I’d be interested to hear what the party lines are, Liberal and Labor, on keeping the country’s lungs clear.
The asbestos story in the U.S. is one I’m passingly familiar with, and not one without contentiousness, although I had thought it largely resolved. If the various litigations haven’t been settled, at least the issue of clean-up seemed to be. In any event, the James Hardie affair here seems to bring the whole mess back into contention, and as usual it’s all about the money first. People’s homes, however, are extensively affected. “Fibro” structures are everywhere, and ugly, too, but I had no idea they were full of asbestos. Nasty stuff, and a disaster waiting to happen every day. The home renovation craze that has been at least partially responsible for keeping the housing economy booming for so long is extensively DIY, putting larger numbers at risk than just the tradesmen and homeowners. This is a major public health issue, and nobody’s got the money to pay for it. It’s no good James Hardie crying poor, and it’s no good putting paid to the company - not that that seems likely anyway. I’d be interested to hear what the party lines are, Liberal and Labor, on keeping the country’s lungs clear.
22 September 2004
Going Around the Pentagon
In case anyone’s trying to get in to the Federal Voting Assistance Program website and can’t, Verified Voting has setup a mirror site via a proxy server. That way, the military can’t tell you not to vote.
In case anyone’s trying to get in to the Federal Voting Assistance Program website and can’t, Verified Voting has setup a mirror site via a proxy server. That way, the military can’t tell you not to vote.
The Greenskeeping of America
It isn’t enough that we’ve done so much large-scale environmental damage that global warming is indisputable – at least in the Gulf of Mexico – Monsanto, inventor of corn not fit for human consumption that keeps turning up in tacos, has developed golf course grass resistant to their own weed-killers, and with pollen so light it spreads more than 13 times further than they’ve bothered to test for, raising the possibility of a new kudzu, but prettier and puttable. Golf is a big, rich industry – ask my M&P in North Carolina; or watch the “desert classic,” where golfers propel their little white, dimpled ball from green swath to green swath, surrounded by cactus and desert scrub – so it’s no surprise anyone would spend money to make it more possible to install more golf courses. And as more of my boomer siblings adopt golf as a social and business networking tool, more golf courses are more necessary. Unless we learn to share better or take up tennis. Still, always looking out for the “easy way” isn’t always going to be the best option. And when the Great Plains have been inundated with this stuff, we may yet regret our passion for just another sport.
It isn’t enough that we’ve done so much large-scale environmental damage that global warming is indisputable – at least in the Gulf of Mexico – Monsanto, inventor of corn not fit for human consumption that keeps turning up in tacos, has developed golf course grass resistant to their own weed-killers, and with pollen so light it spreads more than 13 times further than they’ve bothered to test for, raising the possibility of a new kudzu, but prettier and puttable. Golf is a big, rich industry – ask my M&P in North Carolina; or watch the “desert classic,” where golfers propel their little white, dimpled ball from green swath to green swath, surrounded by cactus and desert scrub – so it’s no surprise anyone would spend money to make it more possible to install more golf courses. And as more of my boomer siblings adopt golf as a social and business networking tool, more golf courses are more necessary. Unless we learn to share better or take up tennis. Still, always looking out for the “easy way” isn’t always going to be the best option. And when the Great Plains have been inundated with this stuff, we may yet regret our passion for just another sport.
Jumping at (Moon) Shadows
Cat Stevens gets on a plane from London to D.C. and Tom Ridge has the plane stopped in Maine so they can hustle the former pop star off for deportation. I’m no fan of Yusef Islam’s support for the Rushdie fatwah (subsequently recanted), and can’t respect giving money to Hamas, if that’s even true, but I think this is taking things a little further into the ludicrous. Oh, no! It’s a folk singer! Yikes. Anyway, there are now 249 people who’ll never buy a CD reissue of Teaser and the Firecat.
Cat Stevens gets on a plane from London to D.C. and Tom Ridge has the plane stopped in Maine so they can hustle the former pop star off for deportation. I’m no fan of Yusef Islam’s support for the Rushdie fatwah (subsequently recanted), and can’t respect giving money to Hamas, if that’s even true, but I think this is taking things a little further into the ludicrous. Oh, no! It’s a folk singer! Yikes. Anyway, there are now 249 people who’ll never buy a CD reissue of Teaser and the Firecat.
20 September 2004
Lies, Damned Lies, & Statistics
Via Metafilter, don't believe everything you read, at least when Gallup's skewing the numbers in favor of Bush.
Via Metafilter, don't believe everything you read, at least when Gallup's skewing the numbers in favor of Bush.
Supporting the Arts
M. & I did our bit for the Australian film industry yesterday, making our way into Newtown to see Somersault, among the best films to come out of this country. Beautifully shot, and deliberately kept away from the otherwise cinematically ubiquitous beaches (as was Lantana, another relatively recent top Australian movie), Somersault tells a small story and tells it well. The acting is terrific, and with the exception of a couple of small plot points I thought were either insufficiently illuminated or otherwise unnecessary, this is world-class filmmaking.
M. & I did our bit for the Australian film industry yesterday, making our way into Newtown to see Somersault, among the best films to come out of this country. Beautifully shot, and deliberately kept away from the otherwise cinematically ubiquitous beaches (as was Lantana, another relatively recent top Australian movie), Somersault tells a small story and tells it well. The acting is terrific, and with the exception of a couple of small plot points I thought were either insufficiently illuminated or otherwise unnecessary, this is world-class filmmaking.
It’s Your Party; Cry if You Want to
When I see the latest poll results, I wonder: are there really so many people who believe George W. Bush is an effective President, or are the numbers reflective of people deluded by party loyalty? Can they, having been told by the GOP elite and their functionaries and flunkies that Bush is the nominee and the man to follow for the benefit of the country at large and the future of the free world (reminiscent of the traditional listing of royal functions in Britain isn’t it? “Protector of the faith . . .” blah blah blah), can these people be simply responding according to their identification of themselves as “Republicans”? Is this some kind of political autism?
Presented by an alternative after four years of disasterous policies, such people respond with echolalia: “Flip-flop,” they say, or “swift boat.” “Big-L liberal,” “tax-and-spend.” “Nationalized health care” (oh, God forbid). Such phrases trip from their tongues as if they have meaning outside the campaign. Political reality is so much more complex, and we have whole generations who refuse to look beyond chess-board metaphors and really try to understand the meaning of political actions, not to mention hosts of politicians who encourage such blindness or practice it themselves, their interests limited only to the next election.
Does anyone believe that if Gore had been in the White House in 2001 that we would not have pursued al Qaeda into Afghanistan? Does anyone believe that Iraq presented such an immediate threat that before our work in the one nation was complete we needed to depose another dictator? (Oh, yeah, the House of Representatives.) Oh, well, go ahead and vote for another four years of lies, then.
When I see the latest poll results, I wonder: are there really so many people who believe George W. Bush is an effective President, or are the numbers reflective of people deluded by party loyalty? Can they, having been told by the GOP elite and their functionaries and flunkies that Bush is the nominee and the man to follow for the benefit of the country at large and the future of the free world (reminiscent of the traditional listing of royal functions in Britain isn’t it? “Protector of the faith . . .” blah blah blah), can these people be simply responding according to their identification of themselves as “Republicans”? Is this some kind of political autism?
Presented by an alternative after four years of disasterous policies, such people respond with echolalia: “Flip-flop,” they say, or “swift boat.” “Big-L liberal,” “tax-and-spend.” “Nationalized health care” (oh, God forbid). Such phrases trip from their tongues as if they have meaning outside the campaign. Political reality is so much more complex, and we have whole generations who refuse to look beyond chess-board metaphors and really try to understand the meaning of political actions, not to mention hosts of politicians who encourage such blindness or practice it themselves, their interests limited only to the next election.
Does anyone believe that if Gore had been in the White House in 2001 that we would not have pursued al Qaeda into Afghanistan? Does anyone believe that Iraq presented such an immediate threat that before our work in the one nation was complete we needed to depose another dictator? (Oh, yeah, the House of Representatives.) Oh, well, go ahead and vote for another four years of lies, then.
17 September 2004
Ichthus vs.
I’ve seen the Christian fish symbol modified with feet to play with the distinction between creationism and evolution, but I have to admit to a sneaking admiration for the "evolushark.” It appears that the fundamentalist/secular divide is turning aggressive.
I’ve seen the Christian fish symbol modified with feet to play with the distinction between creationism and evolution, but I have to admit to a sneaking admiration for the "evolushark.” It appears that the fundamentalist/secular divide is turning aggressive.
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