Returns

Democracy requires an informed citizenry, so be informed: Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Large Facilities.

What a World

The liberal blogosphere was awash this weekend with mentions of a gathering of conservatives at something called the Values Voter Summit. It seems that the evangelicals have a hard time being led by a Mormon, and many are saying some that Romney isn't *gasp* a Christian! Which is a bad thing to not be in the universe of the VVS.

Romney reacted to the accusations, which included calling Mormonism a "cult", which this statement:

Our government should respect religious values, not silence them. We will always pledge our allegiance to a nation under God. Our values ennoble the citizen, and strengthen the nation. We should remember that decency and civility are values too. One of the speakers who will follow me today, has crossed that line. Poisonous language does not advance our cause. It has never softened a single heart nor changed a single mind. The blessings of faith carry the responsibility of civil and respectful debate. The task before us is to focus on the conservative beliefs and the values that unite us - let no agenda, narrow our vision or drive us apart.

This statement reminded me that the world of the VVS and the world that conservatives claim to want is quite a horrible place. Instead of discussing world issues and determining ways to deal with them, conservatives are playing identity politics based on who believes which version of the sky daddy story. I cannot think of a more worthless way to spend time, unless your goal is to solidify the conformity of your own group, in part by driving out those who do not conform. But if the Republicans want religious purity in their leaders, then that is their prerogative. The do have many examples from history that they can use for this, like Stalin, Mao, and I think the Catholics called theirs The Inquisition.

I find the last line in that statement pretty amusing in that Romney thinks that anything he says will make any difference at the VVS. Everyone knows that VVS people base their decisions on a nebulous concept of values, rather than on anything objective. They will not be swayed to accept Romney's Mormonism just because he says a few words. These are people who will still not accept that Barack Obama was born in the US, even after he presented the document they had been demanding all along.

But I want to get back to Romney's statement, because there is an awful lot of crazy in there:

Our government should respect religious values, not silence them. We will always pledge our allegiance to a nation under God.

You might, but I prefer to follow the advice of the gentlemen that founded the country. I make no pledges and prefer to keep this god concept out of government.

Our values ennoble the citizen, and strengthen the nation.

So long as that citizen is white and male, or respects the supremacy of the white and male citizens. And if by strengthen, you mean to send all money to the military instead of education and infrastructure.

We should remember that decency and civility are values too.

Yes, they are values too, gold star for Mitt!

One of the speakers who will follow me today, has crossed that line. Poisonous language does not advance our cause.

I don’t like poisonous language either, but have you really looked at your cause, Mitt?

It has never softened a single heart nor changed a single mind.

Well, not changed a mind for the better, at least. I should commend Mitt for getting the first part of that statement right.

The blessings of faith carry the responsibility of civil and respectful debate.

This is an especially confusing statement. What are the “blessings of faith,” anyway? What extra good could come from believing in an ancient mythology despite all of the evidence that said ancient mythology is as mistaken as the rest of them? The only blessing I can think of - that doesn’t have an analog in a non-faith-based life - is the comfort in thinking that dead people are in heaven and/or one is going to heaven after death. Still, I don’t know how that “blessing” necessarily is followed by any responsibility.

But if we follow that logic further, that would mean that only faith can inspire people to be civil and have respectful debates. That is an interesting statement, since there are many people with no faith to speak of who can conduct themselves civilly and participate in respectful debate. Romney’s logic would conclude that, without faith, they have no responsibility to have civil and respectful debate, yet they do not routinely call others cruel names or throw chairs at debates. It would seem that the responsibility to be civil and respecful might not come from faith at all.

The task before us is to focus on the conservative beliefs and the values that unite us - let no agenda, narrow our vision or drive us apart.

At least, let no agenda narrow our vision any further - we don’t tolerate Muslims, gays, independent women, poor people, government workers (unless they’re in a high enough position of power), unemployed people, hippies, hipsters, anyone not Christian, and anyone under 55 who wants single-payer Medicare when they retire (and not a pathetic voucher to give to some corporation).

For how bad all of this is, I am still laughing. The Republicans are clearly self-destructing, and I think fewer Americans will be voting this year on the premise that “I voted D last time, maybe now I’ll give R a shot”. Those people couldn’t tell that the R’s made the mess in the first place, but maybe now they can see that the R’s are full of crap.

I'm Not Alone

I was raised on America, the land of the free, the home of the brave, where anyone - even you - could be President. Democracy meant we all had a voice, and history laid out triumphs of the powerless against the powered. The African American experience engrossed me as a teenager, and we read about the struggles our ancestors had to go through to get us the things we took for granted. I remembered my education teaching me a good sense of respect for my ancestors' struggles and a proper understanding of corporate interests.

We all react to and retain information differently, but every year, for a few years at least, at least 100 8th Graders in my school saw Glory (with Denzel Washington & Matthew Broderick, I think) in History class. Everyone with the same teacher for our 10th grade social studies watched another movie about the origin of a labor union, staring Sally Field. In 7th grade English, we watched a movie about a teenage black boy who suddenly finds himself thrown back in time, to the antebellum southern America. I know from my Facebook page that many of the people that I grew up around must have learned something similar. And Occupy Wall Street looks like people my age.

This is our generation in action. We are watching our parents and grandparents claim that the Social Security that saved the elderly of The Depression from starvation and the Medicare that lets them go to the doctor when necessary is good for them, but we can forget about it. I know I'm not the only one that wants the same retirement that the last few generations got. We will not be content with this obvious concentration of wealth, and we will not let our parents and grandparents take a giant dump on our future. I do get the sense that we are not embracing this generational concept, in part because these movements are being attended by the parents and grandparents who get it, but also because it is hard to think we're rebelling as we fight the battles that we thought our great grandparents already won.

Cause for Concern

Irene grew to a size of the Southeastern United States. An official at the Department of Atmospheric Research at Colorado State University described, "If you were to just put it on a map of the United States, it could go from South Florida to Pennsylvania, and from North Carolina to eastern Oklahoma." (Mitch Weiss and Samantha Gross, "Huge storm churns up East Coast", Associated Press via San Francisco Chronicle, August 28, 2011)

This is a big storm, and it is dumping inches of rain on the east coast. Oddly enough, the ground there cannot handle the 5 or 6 inches of rain because it is saturated. As it happens, there has been unusually high rainfall this year.

The National Hurricane Center at NOAA is putting our tax dollars to good use by monitoring these storms so we can prepare. We will need that this year as there is another named storm right on Irene's heels. The yellow spot is an area of atmospheric activity that has below a 30% chance of becoming a hurricane (actual, 10%). The orange spot has a 30-50% chance (actual, 40%).

I don't want to forget about the scientific method in all this, which helped us examine the skys appropriately both directly and indirectly by helping to create the ability to even get images of our planet like this. Remember to thank science that the death toll is in the single and double digits, instead of quadruple and quintuple. Of course, one could argue that science caused all of this in the first place, but at least we can use it to protect ourselves too.

Free Speech and Dangerous Delusions

After walking Steve to work yesterday, I bummed around Telegraph and stopped across from the Delusion Corner to observe. For the longest time, some Jesus Crispies have been preaching near a fenced off plot of land at the northeast corner of Telegraph and Haste. The used to use the natural volume of their voice, and hand out fliers. Then they got microphones, and now they have a rock band.

The music, itself, wasn't that bad, and had they just used their instruments, it might have been a nice backdrop for shopping, but there was singing too. At first, the songs were inanely delusional - stuff that would cause an individual to waste her life following someone's fever dream, but nothing that impacts me - but then they pissed me off. In a litany of things we should trust Jesus for, they claimed that we should trust in him for our government and economy.

I had set myself up on the southwest corner of the intersection to observe in amusement, but I was furious. I stated "No we shouldn't" a couple of times, but not loudly. For all the idiots whining about Sharia Law, here was someone with a permit issued by the city declaring his wish to undermine the constitution for religious purposes. I angrily wondered how to get these idiots off the street, but then I remembered.

Long ago, I saw a video clip of an interchange happening in the middle of the 20th century between someone speaking out in favor of Communism and some observing US Soldiers. I think the interchange was staged, for propaganda purposes. The Communist had his standard speech and one of the soldiers said [roughly]:

You should be happy to live in the United States, where you are free to say these things.

The legal precedent of our nation also allows these people to say what they want, even with amplifying devices, on the street. So while the authoritarian in me wanted to shut these idiots down, I decided instead to observe and record their now less than amusing delusions.

I got audio of a song with a completely contradictory message, and observed a completely indifferent crowd pass by the band and the people handing out fliers. My initial fury gave way to a larger perspective. Just as communists can say what they want, even about "radical revolution", so too can these people, and it looks to be just as productive.

Ewe Ess Aye! Live Blogging

In the dawn of Internet 2.0, I seem to remember that live blogging just meant updating a post. I might have made that up. I was compelled to do this today.

Just Before Game Start: The commentator called the US team 'attractive', which in context simply means that they perform well, but strikes me as an odd adjective to use.

10 minutes in: We're in the World Cup Finals today. This is the second finals I've watched, and it is a lot more exciting.

30 minutes in: There is an image of a flower on the Japan team's uniforms. The specific flower is a Japanese cultural symbol of the ideal woman.

33 minutes in: Japan is dominating the ball, and it's intense!

40 minutes in: If Japan's Ohno scores the winning goal, I will be sad, but the newspaper headline is already written.

Half Time (45 minutes): Steve has noted that there are fewer fouls in this game, and I agreed that it seems cleaner. Compared to the 2010 final, the field seems smaller, there is a lot more action, and there are hardly any penalties. Soccer is growing on me, and this game is helping.

48.5 minutes in: My heart was in my throat. We need to score!

68.5 minutes in: GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!

79 minutes in: Oh my, the game is even more fun now. Steve is noting that they are using the words 'attractive' and ' beautiful' in the commentating.

80 minutes it: Tension is back, but I think we have the upper hand.

72 minutes in: Hope Solo is a f*cking awesome name.

End of Regular Time (90+2 minutes): This is exciting, but I feel like an All Blacks fan watching the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

1 minute of extra time: A Japanese win could do wonders for Japanese spirit/morale.....

6.5 minutes of extra time: First yellow card.

13 minutes of extra time: USA Ahead Again!

19 minutes of extra time: Thrilling excitements

24 minutes of extra time: The goalie keeps being lead away from the goal. I hope she is still ok to play.

25.5 minutes of extra time: I don't think Hope can pull this out.

30 minutes of extra time: That penalty was incredible - it has become upper hand versus destiny

End of Extra Time: Ending a game with penalty kicks is kind of eh, but they're really good teams.

Before first penalty kick: I just saw a guy with a sign saying "Marry Me, Hope I'm Solo".

After Japan's first penalty kick: Hope is definitely limping...

Before Japan's second penalty kick: I think it is going to be destiny

Before Japan's third penalty kick: I call destiny

Game End: Congratulations, Japan. This is yours to celebrate.

Countdown to Picasso: Man With a Guitar (1911)

This is one of Picasso's Musicians, and one of a series of 'Man with a Guitar' paintings.

Countdown to Picasso: Two Brothers

Today, we have Two Brothers, from the Rose Period.