Untitled

Wherein I disclose my sources.

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 20:40:38 -0400

With sooo much going on in the world, it can help to have more eyes on the news, so i’m going to reveal some of my hitherto closely held news gathering sources in no particular order…

Twitter is a rumor generation and persistence machine. It’s utility is only as good as the social network you’ve worked to develop. I rarely post there. my socnet is from 3years ago, and is mainly news and politics oriented. As such, i view it as a siesmograph of what one consistent group of contacts finds important. @karoli is my main politics source. she’s all over it with a middle-left perspective. @breakingnews is finally worthwhile to follow now that a bigger news agency took it over and they give a source so you can google and verify yourself. you MUST verify anything you see on twitter. The people worth following include the links for you.

I don’t post links there out of paranoia and it still amazes me that people with oppressive governments do. First, because it uses bit.ly to tinyurl. and if you add the + sign to the end of a bitly url, you see everyone on twitter that has posted that link (even if they used another shortener or none at all) so all a country like Iran needs to do is put an anti-gov post out there and see who passes it along. Second, it’s really easy for a govt to simply block the site and cut off communication.

Identi.ca and it’s wide network of decentralized yet interconnected sites is much better, and that’s where i’m active. it’s much more social, with threaded conversations and groups. almost impossible to block, because you can just re-route by using another server and still get your message out. The smarter Iranians have moved there. OStatus is an open standard being used that lets me subscribe to some blogs, people on Buzz, etc. And i trust them. run by Spock Mountain Research folk. it will be much more useful once people get a clue and move there in greater numbers. In the meantime it’s the go-to place for all thing related to internet freedom.

Friendfeed is interesting. most people use it as a cloud backup, so their twitter or other cloud contributions like flickr get collated there, if people set it up that way. it has two big things going for it. the first is groups. I’m subbed to a lot of science related groups and get fantastic info there. the second is their search. This is HUGE. you can enter any search term or combo and see live updates of any hits. you don’t even need an account to do this. for example: the search for Nuclear is dizzying. You’ll need to pause often, and realize lots of this is from unreliable twitter and much is repeat of older news as people find out about it and forward it to their friends.

More later at this location. too much going on in the world…

Nuclear Power. even if safe it makes no sense.

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 15:40:00 -0400

This is quick rant, because bravenewclimate.com chose to address their perceived need for continued investments in nuclear power instead of updating us on the current situation (something they’ve been doing a good job of until now)…

i feel compelled to put some brief facts out there they chose to ignore…

1. Peak Uranium. everyone ignores it, yet some reports predict shortages of nuclear fuel as soon as 2013. note even the denying agency says “new sources need to be developed soon to avoid “uranium supply shortfalls.” http://hg.my/a

2. Even if you agree with BNC’s assessment that Nuclear Power Plants can be safe, the mining of uranium is clearly a hazardous activity with well-documented deaths and lasting health impacts. We just don’t hear about it because the brunt of these impacts are levied on Native Americans. see http://ur1.ca/3iz0t

3. Simple Economics. it takes 7 years and $billions of up-front investments to bring a nuclear plant on-line. Perhaps a thousand construction jobs followed by about 300 operational jobs all at one location. The same investment in alternati…ves like wind, solar, and fuel cells would provide a lot more manufacturing jobs, followed by sales and installation jobs nationwide. The life-cycle costs are close to being the same and would decrease rapidly with programs to accelerate economies of scale. The programs would benefit the middle class making alternatives affordable, and decreasing energy costs.

We are at a time of significant acceleration in the realm of technology, especially in the area of alternative energy. Researchers have prototypes that achieve significant efficiency improvements in solar - some as high as 80%, and harvest energy at night, utilizing the the infrared spectrum. These are only a few years away from production. ~~by the time any new nuclear plants come online the cost/kW of alternatives is likely to be much lower than Nuclear.~~ UPDATE: we’ve already reached that point. solar is cheaper…

source: http://1bog.org/blog/solar-power-now-cheaper-than-nuclear-power/ [warning: nasty pop-up trying to get you to subscribe to them]

4. Nuclear Power is centralized. I think it is absolutely pitiful that Japan’s power plant didn’t also have wind and solar back-up systems. when disaster strikes, one of the first things to go is the grid. The crisis underway was caused by… loss of electricity for the cooling systems. NASA has warned of the likelihood of a solar storm during the upcoming max that could take out large portions of the grid wherever it hits. We need decentralized power where the excess is shared via the grid. This is so obvious to me, why don’t our leaders understand???

Note: each of these points ignores the low probability but high impact risks of Nuclear Power itself - the crises we’re currently watching unfold.

update: my friend Ron adds:

I can’t help but think that nuclear proponents ignore the massive (MASSIVE) investment in fossil fuels to make nuclear fuel a possibility. It takes huge amounts of diesel to dig up the uranium, separate it, process it into fuel rods, etc…… When it’s all done, the Uranium looks more like yet another storage medium for fossil fuels (like Hydrogen) to me. Cost/kW often translates to fossil-fuels/kW.

I would also like to point out that we have a really big nuclear waste problem. Nobody wants the stuff stored in their backyard or transported through their state. And the solutions are all very expensive and have somehow been left to the taxpayer to deal with instead of the plant owners. I’m ok with investments in a few reactors that will use this waste as fuel, primarily because that is the safest, most economical way to get rid of the stuff instead of storing it for future generations to deal with or dumping it on the shores of Somolia which is the #1 reason for the pirate problem. what? you didn’t know that? http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-you-are-being-lied-to-about-pirates-1225817.html

It should be noted that the fire at Reactor #4 has been attributed to spent nuclear fuel pools, and it’s quite likely that the increase in radiation we’ve seen is due to the same pools in reactors #1 and #3 which have likely been exposed by the hydrogen explosions that blew apart the external buildings at those sites, the cranes that load and unload those pools are “gone” http://www.japanfocus.org/events/view/51

Libya/Middle East Live Blogs

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 17:51:00 -0500

A collection of Live Blogs (in no particular order) Note: some of these change daily, link may be old, but it give you a starting point for searching if i can’t update this list.

Reuters stories about Libya http://af.reuters.com/news/country/?type=libyaNews

The Telegraph live blog http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8358841/Libya-live.html

The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/mar/10/libya-uprising-gaddafi-live

Al Jazeera English Live blog (note the link changes daily, may not be current) http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-11

BBC News Middle East & Libya Live Blog http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

AFP Live Blog http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110308/ts_afp/libyamideastunrest

LibyaFeb17 Live Blog http://www.libyafeb17.com/2011/03/breaking-zawiya-being-shelled-right-now/

Live News Feeds:

CNN http://www.justin.tv/radiomando1 or http://www.justin.tv/live_news

CNN International http://www.justin.tv/hoctoggle

Al Jazeera English http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

Choose Dignity

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 23:26:00 -0500

I’ve been meaning to spend some time articulating the complicated feelings I have with respect to the rapidly unfolding situation in Libya. It has been refreshing to see mass peaceful movements in the middle east as people seek to re-exert some level of self-determination. For too long, too many in the world have suffered from despotic and corrupt leadership. Sadly, many of those rulers have remained in power with assistance from my own country, the United States. As UK Labour Leader Ed Miliband has stated…

The extraordinary events of the past few weeks have served to underline that our alliances should be defined by our values, rather than our values defined by our alliances

Each movement has been different to the extent each country’s situation is unique. The core aspects, though, are universal and value-based: namely, the yearning of people everywhere to be treated with Dignity, Respect, and Equality.

Even in countries that have practiced this experiment we call Democracy, the people always seem to be struggling for these most basic needs of humanity. The United States had a very bloody civil war to determine whether some persons were property to be bought and sold. We had to fight for the right of women to vote. We had to struggle to overcome whites-only restaraunts or separate drinking fountains for ‘colored people’. We have made great progress. While there can now be a Black President in the White House, by no means are the evils of racism or sexism eradicated. Every day someone’s dignity is attacked because of their race, or sex, or choice of partners, or religion, etc.

In every country there are those who fight on the side of Dignity. And in every country there are those who rob others of the same. Each of us can do better. In Libya, the situation is very complicated, choices need to be made. As the people of Libya give their lives in this struggle for Dignity, will they afford the same to everyone who happens to be there?

I’d like to share with you a letter from my friend Hanna to her former students. The situation is one that tugs at my heart. It’s hard to imagine being in this gentleman’s situation. But imagine it we must, for the road to Dignity, Respect, and Equality is best walked in another’s shoes…

——————-

I could really use your help right now.

Remember when I used to talk about the power of one person to change the world? There is a situation where, each of us can be such a person.

Most of Libya is fair-skinned, and black Africans are not treated equally there. Gaddafi, the dictator of the country, hired black mercenaries to attack protesters. Now protesters are attacking black Africans. The situation grows less stable by the day. There is a good chance that if Gaddafi falls from power, all black Africans will be punished for Gaddafi’s actions. There is even a chance of genocide.

I have a friend who was teaching English in Tripoli, Libya, when this revolution started. He is a black African from Sub-Saharan Africa. My friend’s country, Sierra Leone, has been rebuilding since its military coup in 1997. It is still a poor country with little stability. They need help getting their people out. They are not the only country who needs help of this kind.

Now, Gaddafi has done some horrible things and has attacked his own people. I am not supporting Gaddafi’s regime, but I want the black Africans to have a chance to escape before everything falls apart. However, they are poor people from poor countries. We must come to their aid. They need people to help them leave Libya and they need help resettling somewhere else.

The ways out of the city of Tripoli are limited. Refugees can go to the west towards Tunisia. That road, however, has been taken over by protesters and is not safe for black Africans. Refugees can go east to Egypt. That road, however, has also been taken over by protesters and is not safe for black Africans. Refugees could fly out of Tripoli’s airport. Forces are not letting planes land from black African countries anymore however; they are afraid that the planes will bring in more mercenaries. In addition to that, most sub-Saharan countries don’t have their own airlines that could be used to help evacuate people. Refugees could take a ferry to Malta, but Malta doesn’t want to end up with a bunch of broke refugees that they need to take care of. Refugees would only be allowed to stay there a short time, if at all.

I have started a campaign to educate people on what is happening to black Africans in Libya and to try to get them out of Libya before it is too late. Time is very short on this. If things turn much worse than they are now, there will be no chance for my friend and others like him.

So I am asking your help.

If you could educate people about what is happening- please do.

If you are able to get the word out to the media by contacting radio stations or TV shows or online sources, please spread the word.

If you can make a video or a song and put it on YouTube to educate people— please do.

This is a social justice issue where we can possibly save lives by acting.

I ask you to help me act. Both for my friend and for the thousands of others like him; trapped in Libya and scared. My friend has fled from Tripoli and is hiding on a farm outside the city. I speak to him twice a day. Last night, over the phone, I could hear lots of gunfire. It frightened me, across the globe. I can’t even imagine how frightening it must be to be there.

If you would like to read more of the current events in Libya, try these articles:

Articles about black Africans in Libya:

Articles about evacuations out of Libya:

Need Help near Tripoli...

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 13:56:00 -0500

UPDATE Below…

I am passing this along from a friend who was in the Peace Corps and made close friends in Africa. I am redacting any information that might put them in harms way until we find some trusted organization or individuals that might be able to help them get to safety… please share, especially to contacts you may have with peace organizations operating in the region… Thank You.

My friend, [redacted], Is in hiding [just] outside of Tripoli. He is a Sierra Leonean. As Qaddafi’s forces try to keep control of Libya, Xenophobia grows stronger. All black Africans are becoming targets. [My friend] is not alone. There are seven others in hiding with him. They look to him, because he has contact with the Westerner, someone who might be able to save them all. I don’t know what to do. All I can think of doing is informing others. Perhaps one of my many connections has a connection that gets my friend out of Tripoli. If you know of someone, that might be able to help, please let me know. If you have connections, to nonprofit or the UN, please let them know about [the situation]. I can get you his contact information. If all you can do is spread this word farther, so there is more chance someone will hear it, please do that.

I can be reached at exador23 at yahoo dot com

UPDATE: The last message from the Sierra Leone man seeking help, addressed to my friend from the peace corps who has said it’s ok to share her contact info: pisenpc at yahoo dot com…

I write to inform you how deterioring the condition in Tripoli is getting by the hour, especially for us Black Africans who have been threatened by violence accussed of siding with the regime.

There is word going around town that the leader here has contracted the services of thousands of Black African soldiers to fight on his side as mercinaries whom they accussed of killing Libyan people. The story goes that, should the regime fall, we Black Africans are bound to be targeted. And media reports of this story is fueling Xenophobia mistrust and making the situation worst for us Black Africans living in Libya.

As I write this mail, there are several roadblocks in the city and shops remained closed as food is becoming scarce and residents scared of what will happen in the next hours.

I’ve left the city center and now holed up in an outskirt area overlooking the city. My food supply is running low and I don’t have money.

In light of the above, I’m desperately in need of help. I know you saved my life once. However, this time it is a matter of life and death. I know you’ve always cared for me. That is why I believe that if there is anything within your power you can do to help me at such a time, I know you would.

I don’t have access to the internet as I had to brave the security checkpoints to send this mail and I don’t think I would repeat it again for fear of my life. Therefore, if there is anything you think you can do for me at this time, please reach me on telephone lines: (phone number). In using the phone, please keep trying if you can’t reach me on first dialing because phone lines here are experiencing intermittent disruptions.

Please keep praying for me as I hope to hear from you soon.

Stepping off the Train...

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 19:51:00 -0500

[As usual here, this is still a rough draft. it could use a lot of editing, and at a minimum, I will flesh it out with some supporting links at a later date.]

I am not convinced our elected officials truly understand what “Winning the Future,” really entails. They fail to see how badly we are currently losing any prospect that the future will be a hospitable one.

It is widely accepted the climate is changing. The cause of that change is more controverstial, and the conversation surrounding the cause is politically divisive. So…

Recommendation #1 : Avoid Controversy. (Stop focusing on climate change!)

It is prudent to ask, “How do we mitigate the biggest known risks from a changed climate?” The global food crisis, conflicts over water rights, retreating shorelines, etc. These are recognized problems now or down the line. Better to focus on them rather than attempts to regulate carbon (especially via cap and trade schemes) - a waste of political capital along with other issues.

In reality, we have more pressing matters on our plate that are a lot less controversial. Peak Oil is a good starting point. Stories today in The Wall Street Journal, and The Raw Story reveal that both ExxonMobil and Shell have admitted they’re having a hard time finding new oil. The only real controversy regarding Peak Oil is when it will arrive, not if it will. (If you ignore Swiftboater Jerome Corsi’s laughable theory that oil is magically created by the earth as a renewable resource.)

Even if there were no climate change at all, the future simply can not include oil as an energy source. We should be planning for that. There really might be less time than we think. And the impact of early arrival would be pretty devastating. Consider:

[In 1940, an American] farmer was using roughly a calorie of fossil fuel to make a calorie of food. Today, that same farmer is using roughly 10 calories of fossil fuel to make a calorie of food. ~ Roger Manning

This alone is reason to be investing heavily in alternative energy sources. That figure is for growing the food in locations far away from most cities. If you’re not supporting local food production already, you should consider it, as an insurance policy if not for the multitude of other good reasons. Are you having a difficult time imagining the other disastrous effects Peak Oil could bring? Watch the important documentary What a Way to Go: Life at the end of Empire.

The metaphoric theme of the documentary is the speeding train we are collectively on as a nation and a planet. Spaceship Earth has a life support issue looming. It is time to step off the train and build a boat.

The issues facing us are serious and urgent. Recycling, electric cars, “clean” coal, and similar small efforts are too little, too late. We need consensus on big efforts to avoid the end of the tracks. Building consensus to move forward requires…

Recommendation #2: Find projects and investments that are low cost, have large payoffs, solve accepted real world problems, and/or solve multiple problems with one stroke. There are lots of them…

Invest heavily in Alternative Energy. Throw a wide net of small-ish grants and investments. Maybe a Government sponsored X-Prize. Promise additional funding to projects that demonstrate they’ve achieved a working prototype and have a workable plan for bringing their innovation to production. Assess the Economies of Scale: How many units would you have to sell to get the price-point affordable? How could we accelerate reaching that point? Could we replace some foreign aid to countries with donations of windmills, or solar panels, or ultra energy efficient refrigeration, etc?

Imagine an initiative that would motivate kids to pursue science education, reduce or eliminate our dependence on foreign oil, encourage the return of our manufacturing base (Detroit would be a great start), reduce unemployment with previously mythical “green jobs,” and help ordinary homeowners to save on their energy bills while further employing people to install new tech. Win. Win. Win. Win and then some. Oh, and you reduce carbon emissions, but don’t tell anyone. Remember Recommendation #1.

Other possibilities:

A Key Line Plow is a very simple and efficient plow. It takes [1/3?] the horsepower to pull, meaning a smaller tractor (easier to be powered by renewables). Lower farming costs with greater yields: this plow doesn’t turn over the earth killing beneficial aerobic and anaerobic bacteria in one fell swoop. It vibrates a groove up to 2 feet deep aerating the soil without destroying its health. Oh, and along with deeper yields we could be sequestering much greater amounts of carbon (shh!) while growing healthier plants with less fossil fuel or fertilizer at lower costs. Who wouldn’t be in favor of providing incentives to farmers for this. It could be paid for by reducing traditional farm subsidies.

Fast-track zones for alternative building permits. A lot of things people want to do are against the law, or simply so different from what city inspectors are used to, that permits stall in the hands of scared permit approvers. There are many new/old building techniques that are a lot cheaper than traditional techniques. Earthships. Cob. Strawbale. Earthbags. People could be building energy efficient homes with local renewable or recycled materials. Some designs have withstood the test of time. Others could really benefit for the government doing some testing on them. If a method is tested safe for earthquakes, flood, and fire, offer training in that technique to unemployed people and potential home builders in the form of an aid project to Haiti, New Orleans, Afghanistan, etc. Keep thinking, “How do we leverage solutions to one problem into addressing multiple problems simultaneously?”

Recommendation #3: Stop funding faux green projects. Especially Nuclear. I am avoiding the controversial environmental arguments regarding Nuclear and “Clean” Coal per Recommendation #1. Stick to the well documented issues: It takes $Billions of up front funding and 7 years to bring a nuclear plant on-line. In today’s technological age, 7 years is forever. By the time it comes on line, you’ll be kicking yourself. The same amount of money will likely buy more wind and solar capacity in a few months than the nuclear plant can produce. A few hundred jobs in one location, or thousands of jobs nationwide? which do you think will be a better investment. (not to mention that Peak Uranium is just as real as Peak Oil, although the timeline is less certain)

Nuclear research is fine. When we have a good reactor design that will burn our current waste stockpile as fuel, then by all means, build a couple. It will be cheaper than building a giant vault in the mountains for the stuff. Until then, you’re wasting our time and money.

Imagine the impact on geopolitics if The United States were to pivot away from Nuclear energy while investing in solar and wind. Imagine if we offered a large donation of solar panels, windmills, or other alternative energy tech to Iran in exchange for them dropping their nuclear program. We tried Preemptive War it’s rather expensive and the results are questionable at best. Let’s try Preemptive Peace while simultaneously employing people and attaining economies of scale so America can afford to attain energy independence, thus improving our prospects of peace and a future our progeny will thank us for.

It’s not as hard as we’re making it. Avoid Controversy. Leverage Solutions. The sooner we start, the sooner we win.

Happy Solstice.

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:44:00 -0500

I’m laughing at the density of archeologists/western thought modes regarding ancient earth-based beliefs. The Sun was usually not “worshipped.” indigenous people were grateful to the Great Mystery for the warmth and illumination the Sun brought. They were also grateful for the circle - that magical reflection of nature…. “as above, so below.” All of creation follows a cycle of birth, blossoming, decay, and faith that the the cycle will start over again informed and improved by what came before (midnight, new moon, winter, north). Confusing the map with the territory, the symbols with reality, or the human personification of these mysteries (so our brains can conceptualize the Great Mystery) with some literal old man sitting on a throne in the heavens judging our every misstep is a uniquely Judeo-Christian dis-ease that also infects many in the field of Science.

Just Sayin’ :)

These wells are NOT simply drilling operations approved since...

Wed, 26 May 2010 18:02:00 -0400

These wells are NOT simply drilling operations approved since the blowout and Obama’s “moratorium.” These are operations ~exempted from environmental review~, including those wells just south of the spill which are nearly 2x as deep as the current oil volcano, and a lot closer to the loop current.

Photo

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 17:10:49 -0400

"People have already had to rethink so many concepts of motion; and they will also gradually come to..."

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:08:31 -0400

“People have already had to rethink so many concepts of motion; and they will also gradually come to realize that what we call #fate does not come into us from the outside, but emerges from us. It is only because so many people have not absorbed and transformed their fates while they were living in them that they have not realized what was emerging from them; it was so alien to them that, in their confusion and fear, they thought it must have entered them at the very moment they became aware of it, for they swore they had never before found anything like that inside them. just as people for a long time had a wrong idea about the sun’s motion, they are even now wrong about the motion of what is to come. The future stands still, dear Mr. Kappus, but we move in infinite space.”

- Rainer Maria Rilke, Letter #8, August 12, 1904

Photo

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 01:08:33 -0400

"More and more it seems that the ordering of nature is an art akin to music—fugues in shell and..."

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 02:45:02 -0400

“More and more it seems that the ordering of nature is an art akin to music—fugues in shell and cartilage, counterpoint in fibers and capillaries, throbbing rhythm in waves of sound, light, and nerve. And oneself is connected with it quite inextricably—a node, a ganglion, an electronic interweaving of paths, circuits, and impulses that stretch and hum through the whole of time and space. The entire pattern swirls in its complexity like smoke in sunbeams or the rippling networks of sunlight in shallow water. Transforming itself endlessly into itself, the pattern alone remains. The crosspoints, nodes, nets, and curlicues vanish perpetually into each other. “The baseless fabric of this vision.” It is its own base. When the ground dissolves beneath me I float.”

- Alan Watts, The Joyous Cosmology

"!q #q As for the Republicans, how can one regard seriously a frightened, greedy, nostalgic huddle of..."

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 16:02:37 -0400

“!q #q As for the Republicans, how can one regard seriously a frightened, greedy, nostalgic huddle of tradesmen and lucky idlers who shut their eyes to history and science, steel their emotions against decent human sympathy, cling to sordid and provincial ideals exalting sheer acquisitiveness and condoning artificial hardship for the non-materially-shrewd, dwell smugly and sentimentally in a distorted dream-cosmos of outmoded phrases and principles…intellectually, the Republican Idea deserves the tolerance and respect one gives to the dead.”

- H.P. Lovecraft, 1936 [curious if hashtags or, far less likely, !bangtags will translate to status.net]

"For if we imagine this being of the individual as a larger or smaller room, it is obvious that most..."

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 04:46:01 -0400

“

For if we imagine this being of the individual as a larger or smaller room, it is obvious that most people come to know only one corner of their room, one spot near the window, one narrow strip on which they keep walking back and forth. In this way they have a certain security. And yet how much more human is the dangerous in security that drives those prisoners in Poe’s stories to feel out the shapes of their horrible dungeons and not be strangers to the unspeakable terror of their cells.

We, however, are not prisoners. No traps or snares have been set around us, and there is nothing that should frighten or upset us. We have been put into life as into the element we most accord with, and we have, moreover, through thousands of years of adaptation, come to resemble this life so greatly that when we hold still, through a fortunate mimicry we can hardly be differentiated from everything around us.

”

- Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet, #8, Borgeby gard, Fladie, Sweden
August 12, 1904 [paragraph break added]

This is a test.

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 22:05:19 -0400

Ostatus wonderfully weaves several standards into a cohesive whole that is moving beyond traditional microblogging by allowing you to chose the stream you wish to follow, regardless of where that stream is hosted. You prefer using buzz? No problem, i can follow you, even though i prefer my personal status.net site: exador.status.net.

Have an interesting tumblog? I can subscribe to you. this is a test of that feature. Soon, as more personal streaming sites embrace the possibilities of open standards in the lifestreaming world, we will be able to communicate across the divides. Twitter is welcome to play, as are you. what are you waiting for?

The Politics of Unity

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:50:40 -0500

I feel fairly bi-partisan today. No, not across the aisle… The Republicans are looking to sell the country to the highest bidder. They need to be ignored like you ignore the mentally ill people Reagan dumped on our streets, spewing crazy to everyone and no-one. No, I’m reaching out to those on the left who turned on their peers near the beginning of this mess we find ourselves in.

Healthcare, Haiti, and Massachusetts overshadowed a significant anniversary recently. One year ago, an historic election swept our first “other” into the White House. The GOP were being proclaimed dead for a decade. The electorate felt empowered and enthused. The mess left by 8 years of Republican fire sales was bigger than anyone realized, but we were ready to dig in. chop wood, carry water. What happened?!?

Right out of the gate, much of the cabinet composition was a disappointment. Some concerns were expressed, but OK, President Obama (it felt soooo good to say) we trust you. As Health Care Reform got underway, voters were excited to see transparency in government in practice…

“That’s what I will do in bringing all parties together, not negotiating behind closed doors, but bringing all parties together, and broadcasting those negotiations on C-SPAN so that the American people can see what the choices are.” ~ Senator Obama, Jan. 31, 2008.

But that was the 1st campaign promise tossed under the bus of “pragmatism.” No big deal. You’re right, nobody watches CSPAN anyway. But it turns out it is was a very big deal, one that took place in a proverbial smokey room and was spun as a huge win.

“If a drug company — if the drug companies or a member of Congress who’s carrying water for the drug companies wants to argue that we should not negotiate for the cheapest available price on drugs, then I want them to make that argument in front of the American people.” ~ Senator Obama, Jan. 31, 2008.

This is when the coalition began it’s rift. There were some strong voices speaking out against this Big Pharma deal. Rather than joining in a chorus, of “wait a minute, Mr. President…,” a good segment of folks went after those speaking out. Those thus besieged, unproductively, and (hopefully) unfairly, called them Obamanauts, adopting the tactics and framing of the loony right. Those who did so, bear some culpability in Massachusetts, or at least aided the GOP in reanimating, zombie-like.

This is also the point at which a previously unnecessary divide develops, sadly, between Strategy and Tactics. I get it. By cutting a deal with Pharma, health care reform becomes a more realistic attainable goal. But what kind of reform? In the one case free market principles could work in our favor, you negotiate it away? for what?

The rift is really on three key issues: The quality of reform, corporatism, and Strategy/Tactics. Corporatism fears, rational or otherwise, are the toughest of the issues, but the easiest to put aside. If you can find acceptable trust mechanisms, all but the most staunch anti-corporatists could find health care reform acceptable.

We could file corporatism in equal parts under quality of reform and Strategy/Tactics. There’s no doubt that Eisenhower’s warnings about the Military Industrial Complex are looming large in the Corporate Political Complex of today. Citizens United v. FEC. Democrats have no need to fear the decision, though - many have shown themselves as open to corporate finance as any Republican. It’s the progressives that need to worry for their party. In this sense, I consider fighting said CPC, Strategic, and just getting some sort of reform passed, Tactical.

Additionally, the context of the Health Care Reform effort is: a stinky economy, high unemployment, ongoing foreclosures, and a populist sentiment that “too big to fail” is more simply “too big.” …with too much influence on government, too much arrogance, and too little sense of humanity, despite being given the rights of humanity. So, strategically thinking, President Obama wrote the script for his own attack ads - ones perfectly suited to this environment. He even performs in them, right there on the Youtube he promised to use in fighting corporate influence. Broken Promises. Backdoor Deals. The GOP is dirty, so they’ll go farther than what some on the left have assembled. They’ll falsely peg the Bush Bank Bailout on Democrats being in-cahoots with Big Industry, then show Obama making this Big Pharma deal, flip-flopping on his promises. yada yada. And it will sell. Pure political suicide in this economy and context.

Each step down this pragmatic path has resulted in more and more people on the left jumping out of the way or washing their hands of it. And still the attacks from the senate vote counters continued. “It’s not Obama’s doing, it’s Congress that’s to blame!” That one always works with voters, right? Plus, that’s just setting yourself up for congressional defeats in, say, blue Massachusetts.

Another ~~step~~ leap came with the Cadillac Tax snafu. This really came out of left field, and from Obama. To my understanding the Senate wasn’t asking for it. What was that all about? I only care about this tax from a strategic position. That loses the unions, and is another GOP attack ad handed to them on a silver platter. To my knowledge, no-one has refuted the argument that ‘94 resulted from NAFTA pissing off the unions, resulting in a mere 39% turnout at the polls. Similarly, I’ve yet to see a compelling argument that failure to pass health care legislation led to the rout.

So here we are. There are some interesting tactical plans for improving the Senate Bill a little… complex stuff at a time of serious mistrust all around. There seems to be an honest call for unity on the left to make some progress, any progress. But those calls seem to be going afield. The key issues at the core of the rift need to be addressed:

1. (optional) Why weren’t the calls for unity heeded when the train first jumped the tracks with Big Pharma?

2. How do we go forward with health care reform without hemorrhaging seats in 2010, jeopardizing the entire agenda for two years thus further increasing the risk of losing the White House? Calls for unity need to address this because that’s why many are sidelined or actively opposed.

3. What is the Strategic Plan for health care reform? We keep hearing “baby steps,” “it can be improved later,” etc. That seems naive to me. I think the reality will be insurance companies find new ways to stick it to us, and future forays into the now ~uber~ poisonous political waters of health care reform will be primarily to close these loopholes in a never-ending game of whack-a-mole. Can you convince me otherwise, or at least produce a plan for how these promised next steps are going to happen?

4. Mandates. I’ve avoided the issue until now. Where mandates fall under corporatism, it gets brushed aside by the pragmatists. I understand the crazy idealist argument. Pointing out the dangerous precedent winds up sounding as crazy as the few who spoke out when the Supreme Court first started treating corporations as individuals. That argument is best left alone if we’re seeking unity. The bigger issue here is Strategic again:

a. This is a broken promise. another gift to the GOP.

b. This at least teeters on the edge of being unconstitutional. The obstructionist GOP ~will~ take any bill with a mandate to the Supreme Court just for the political bonanza it brings them. Even if you consider the legal arguments to be weak, SCOTUS hasn’t exactly been our friend lately. Passage of the Senate Bill doesn’t put the issue to bed, it puts it in limbo, potentially rearing it’s head along with free press for the gop crazies conveniently around 2010.

c. This loses the freedom crowd (for lack of a better term). Whereas Single Payer had potential to win support from Libertarian-minded independent voters based on the efficacy of the economics and the fire-fighting analogy, nothing sends them running away faster than a mandate. Calling them paranoid won’t cut it in the best of times. These aren’t the best of times. (see populist sentiment section above). We ~~are~~ were better off letting them obstruct and filibuster a strong bill than letting them use a weak bill against us to win the war, while we work away for baby steps.

Plans please, or at the very least, acknowledge that you hear and understand the concerns of the “other” left.

The strange reality tunnel of conservatives...

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:20:00 -0400

A brief attempt at a conversation with a conservative talk-show host on identi.ca goes awry …

charlieprofit It is amazing how forgiving the left was of Clinton and his affair(s), and how he lied about it. A Republican admits affair and gets blasted

exador23 @charlieprofit clinton didn’t blather endlessly about the sanctity of marriage. lying is bad. hypocritical lying is much worse.

charlieprofit @exador23 It was ok that Clinton allowed millions of tax payer dollars be spent to prove the truth? He’s a liar & cheater not just cheater?

exador23 @charlieprofit I didn’t say anything Clinton did was OK. Just saying Sanford should take his lumps. hypocrisy & affair aside, he went AWOL.

charlieprofit @exador23 He wasn’t AWOL. People knew where he was. What he did was wrong. It’s also wrong for ppl to give Clinton a pass but hammer him.

[from the Associated Press: “To visit his lover in Argentina, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford slipped his security detail, lied to his staff about his whereabouts and neglected to transfer executive power to the lieutenant governor in case of a state emergency.”]

exador23 interesting reality-tunnel you live in @charlieprofit: impeachment=”a pass,” 1d of shame=”hammering” & Argentina = The Appalachian Trail.

charlieprofit @id @exador23 Ask people what they think of Clinton’s sexcapades. Then ask if they feel the same way about Sanford, who admitted on his own

[Also from the AP: “Cornered at the Atlanta airport by a reporter from The State newspaper, Sanford revealed Wednesday morning that he had gone to Argentina.”]

exador23 @charlieprofit …after being caught by a reporter sneaking into the country. we’re making no progress. enjoy your strange gloss.

Keep it up conservatives. The American people can see through your talking points.

A Roadmap to Useful Microblogging {draft}

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 23:15:00 -0400

Where microblogging ~~could~~ should go in terms of being a useful tool in everyone’s lives…

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Part 1(a): Progress to Date & Hashtags

A lot of people seem to misunderstand the ugly, grammar-killing #hashtag. Healthy software systems co-evolve with user habits. In the early days of Twitter, there was no reply mechanism. Users wanted a way to indicate directed conversation and adopted the @talkingtoyou symbol. In those days of healthy customer concern, Twitter realized this was a cue to make each @ ~link~ to that user’s profile and deliver the message to a Replies Tab. *{side note: how they got it wrong}

Like @ usage, hashtags have always begged to be links. The # is short-hand for “this is an important word (or event) or meme.” It says: “I wonder what other people have to say about this?” or “Other people might want this information, beyond the people who follow me.” The hashtag allows swarming, but without linking, you have to use an external tool (search, hashtags.org, bipart.com, etc) to participate in the hive mind. This extra step is unnecessary overhead.

The federation of Laconica servers has had linked hashtags for some time. They’re rather handy (when you remember to use them). If you or someone in your stream uses one, a click takes you to a tag page with recent posts containing that tag. Think automatic keyword search at the click of a button. You can quickly skim what other people are saying about it, then return to your stream just as quickly. Discovery. Mood Sensing. Opportunities to explore further. Value with less overhead.

Recognizing that hashtag use is metadata, Tag Clouds are displayed on the Profile, Group and Public Pages. A single glance imparts a visual sense of current interests at each of these scales. Rather handy stuff when looking to refine your incoming stream.

Identica has taken this linking value a further step, introducing the bangtag or ! as a software cue to point to a Group page. Here you can read recent posts or subscribe, delivering future use of that bangtag directly to your stream in real-time — a poor-man’s track. While some groups are conversational, many are essentially subscribable hashtags, so the developers rolled bangtags into the Tag Clouds, ensuring more accurate metadata sensing.

(I know Friendfeed has had rooms for some time. But this implementation is simple, and convenient. You don’t have to go to the room or check a box to post. just use a !)

——

Part 1(b): How to improve the situation as it exists.

First of all, Twitter needs to get back to paying attention to how their platform is actually being used, and evolve in response. Make your hashtags link. Or better yet, users need to take the leap, and vote with your feet. Check out identi.ca or twitarmy or {mommy}. CNN should have their own laconica install. Oprah should have her own laconica install. The federal government should have their own laconica install. As Open Source OMB-compliant software, any user on any of these services can subscribe to any other, regardless of witch platform they’re on. But I digress…

There is already an unorganized movement toward tackling the grammar issue. People have been saving precious 140 space by working hashtags into proper sentences, rather than tossing what you can at the end, like garbage sitting on the curb. In the process, their use has become more bearable, but there’s room for improvement…

There’s no need to see those @ # and ! symbols. They are cues to software telling it what to point to. It’s the ~link~ that’s important. Make @ # and ! generate different colored links and hide the symbols so we can have language back (please?)

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Part 2: Into the Future.

That’s where we are now. Where do we go from here? Automate it. Compare words in each post to a list of groups and key words, and automatically create links. You could start with the track terms from Identispy & Twitterspy, search histories, and a list of current groups & tags. Use of a new #hashtag would automatically add it to the keyword database, or people can submit new terms. It’s the 21st Century. We should be teaching our computer tools to anticipate our needs more.

As you’ve probably already said to yourself, this is beginning to sound like the mythical Semantic Web. It’s not going to just spring into being from the heads of computer engineers coding away in some lab. We have to create it, and then teach it, ourselves.

Those already feeling overloaded by the unstoppable wave of real-time will hate where I think this should go eventually… Three Columns. The Center is your real-time stream. post something here and the keywords are identified. On the Left you’re served up your memory (previous posts by you with that keyword) along with history (a search of recent posts by others & favorited posts). This could be easily configurable - hide certain keyword results, only from friends, only favorited, maybe even (gasp!) only ads.

In the Right Column, you’re served up the possible future: a real-time stream tracking the keywords in your last post alongside posts matching persistent track words. Again, easily configurable. You don’t have to use this data. Maybe you even want to turn it off completely until you wonder aloud: “_________” and want access to instantaneous resources to help.

Simply microblogging that thought, generates a search of the past, puts you in contact with others thinking similar things ~at that moment~, and offers your subscribers an opportunity to provide their input on the subject. Imagine posting some of the following statuses. Imagine the computer (with your assistance/modification) serving up posts from: your memory, the recent past, “liked”, & maybe even adverts, deals, or recommendations; alongside a track stream for discovery, all without leaving your personal stream. Search. Real-Time. Discovery. All in one. The ultimate Lazyweb…

[MORE EXAMPLES]

I understand this is a fairly monumental task for a scalable computer system to do. But at the same time, it’s all technically doable, and Moore’s Law is still chugging along. Consider this: After at least 20 years of work, Artificial Intelligence may be stalled for a reason. Computers are better suited to calculations. Humans are better suited to abstract thought. But computers are also able to connect humans together and allow them to swarm around topics. This could enable a Super-Connected Human Intelligence.

What are you waiting for? Start coding. :)

P.S. post is CC-BY. Ideas are rightfully free. If you go with this, after you’ve made a few million to ensure your family is comfortable, do the right thing & kick a poor homey a little retirement fund ;)

Stimulus R Us

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 18:56:49 -0500

** - [This thought is ~under construction~ !!! and is a (possibly unnecessary) set-up for a suggestion I’d like to flesh out: a Kiva-style system to encourage citizens to invest in local to national / small to medium-sized ventures by matching individual investments with federal loans - bypass the banks that aren’t lending….]

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It’s quite sad. President Obama was swept into office by a groundswell of citizen impatience with the way government works, or rather how it works only for the connected and monied classes to protect & further ~their~ causes, often at the expense of We The People.

The first and perhaps most important bill of the new administration is indistinguishable from that of any other modern administration. It is longer than War & Peace or the Bible, touching more subjects than the twain combined. This ensures that none of our representatives will have actually read it to know what they’re voting on. They must trust at face value the recommendations of their party and the special interest groups who will fund their re-election regarding it’s contents and potential efficacy.

If something is particularly bothersome about the bill - say a requirement for on-line medical records - the omnibus nature of the bill means such negatives are likely to go unnoticed. Or, if they are noticed, Congress feels obliged to vote for it in spite of these unpleasant aspects, as your pet wolfs down his food with the bitter pill from the vet hidden inside.

The only thing that could spell greater disaster for this type of legislation is also in full effect: Panic mentality. Fear-driven legislation has no place in a well-governed nation. Whether it’s fear of non-existent weapons of mass destruction or fear of continuing job loss, a rushed decision is rarely a good decision.

If you go to the doctor with serious symptoms, and he claims you’re going to die unless you go under the knife immediately for work on your spleen, liver, heart, & brain simultaneously, you’d think he was insane. Why accept a similar prognosis and surgery from your elected officials?

We know how to solve problems. You begin by assessing the situation. If there are life-threatening symptoms, by all means triage to buy time. Don’t mistake first aid for a solution, though. Successful First Aid focuses on only one or two key symptoms. First Aid is not wellness. A Healthy Recovery requires real work: Diagnosis of the underlying problems behind the symptoms, Assessment, Decide on a Plan of Action, Follow through step by step, Measure your progress, etc.

[ TO BE UPDATED & edited at a later date, when more time is available.]

25 Websites that are not infected with the 25 Things Meme

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:46:00 -0500

Rules: Something involving 25 things… 2 past the magical 23, but that’s OK, because 5x5 =25 and 5 inherently includes 2 and 3. The peace symbol hand gesture is two digits up, three down. When Richard Nixon said “I am not a crook” while shaking his head like those people in Jacob’s Ladder, the encoded message meant only for erists and zenarchists (Nixon was the first president to visit Ho Chi Zen City) was… “25 Things” ) ) [good use of nested paren- ed.]

25 Websites that are not infected with the 25 Things Meme, in no particular order:

1. http://myfaceplace.com - may be for sale. currently provides links to beauty products.
2. http://myspacebook.com - “what you need when you need it” w/ Criminal Background Reports, Christian Singles, & Russian Brides.
3. http://mybookspace.com - is Under Construction
4. http://pieface.com - redirects to hasbro.com the toy manufacturer
5. http://guyface.com - I admit I’m too afraid to see where it leads.
6. http://facelook.com - “Your destination for Facebook, Facebook Login, Online Dating And Chat, Facebooks and more” huh?
7. http://macebook.com - is an online book store, which curiously has no books on mace.
8. http://facecrook.com - redirects to facebook.com. Hmmmmmm.
9. http://mymace.com - redirects to a website templates page. proving that flash is similar to mace.
10. http://facenook.com - redirects to porn.
11. http://piespace.com - “the tasty space.” I didn’t know that In 1713, poet William King wrote “Apple Pye” in tribute of the dessert.
12. http://defacebook.com - damn. I was hoping for a graffiti art site.
13. http://erasebook.com - “could not be found. Please check the name and try again.”
14. http://myairspace.com - “Welcome to the most powerful network marketing system on the Internet - THE REVERSE FUNNEL SYSTEM!”
15. http://fakebook.com - a wiki! with a photo of Impeach Now spelled out by people on a beach. and a Iraq War $$ ticker: now over $592 Billion.
16. http://spacebook.com - part of the CHEAPyellowpages.com network. because one day, we’ll need yellow pages for outer space.
17. http://onmyfacebook.com - is under construction
18. http://mygrace.com - redirects to searchica and a photo of a panda.
19. http://myspacebong.com - doesn’t exist ?!?! come on stoners, get yer shit together.
20. http://maitaispace.com - to be fair, come on drunks, spark yer imagination.
21-23. http://my_space.com & http://myspace_.com & http://my_.com are all available, for jackassery, or for those who really like spaces.
24. http://ur1.ca/190t - Science!
25. http://ur1.ca/1910 - “Finally, he resigned to the idea of not dying, and was immediately hit by a meteorite and vaporized.”