Two new programming languages that I have learned about in less than a week:
Flex
Ruby on Rails
Very exciting!!!
More to explore.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Where Hillary Failed ... Wright succeeds ... Bringing Down Obama
Read more about "Wright to Obama: 'Coming after you' " on politico.com
The Pastor Disaster ... Just when it seemed about to blow over ...
Reverend Jeremiah Wright, former pastor to Barack Obama, has had quite a week. He taped an interview with Bill Moyers last Wednesday which aired on Friday, April 28, on PBS. Spoke at an NAACP dinner Sunday night, and today gave a talk to the National Press Club in Washington. And he sure raised some hell. And put Obama in a tight spot.
Just when it seemed about to blow over ... Wright comes out of his weeks of silence, swinging. He denies that Obama denounced him. And he has a lot to say that is going to alienate voters for his friend and former Congregation member.
Geez, I remember thinking that Obama was getting a free ride with the Press, no one digging into his real past, no one dragging him through the mud.
Nope, it took a man of God, a pastor, a preacher, to bring down Obama. And Wright may have finished off Obama for good.
Why did he keep silent for so long? And why speak now? He looks like he is grabbing his fifteen minutes of fame. He may destroy Obama's political ambitions, but he has thrust himself onto the national stage as one of the "voices" of black America. Now he will be up there in the spotlight with Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. He can show up anywhere and get press coverage. He can write a book and get rich. He can grow his power and influence in the black community infinitely.
But he cannot help Obama. And he cannot allow Obama to succeed as an individual. He has to bring him down. It's like the Irish. Whenever an Irish person gets too successful, then the others around him have to pull him back down to their level. The Irish are great at not letting their own succeed. And apparently black pastors have a bit o' the Irish to them.
Wright would rather push his paranoid black liberation theology agenda than see real progress for African Americans. He would rather make a name for himself than help the entire country benefit from the type of leadership that Obama could bring to the Presidency.
Pathetic, sad man, Jeremiah Wright, trapped in a view of the world that is inflexible, no longer valid, and holding back progress more than anyone or anything outside of himself.
Obama needed a family. But what a price to pay for it.
Just when it seemed about to blow over ... Wright comes out of his weeks of silence, swinging. He denies that Obama denounced him. And he has a lot to say that is going to alienate voters for his friend and former Congregation member.
Geez, I remember thinking that Obama was getting a free ride with the Press, no one digging into his real past, no one dragging him through the mud.
Nope, it took a man of God, a pastor, a preacher, to bring down Obama. And Wright may have finished off Obama for good.
Why did he keep silent for so long? And why speak now? He looks like he is grabbing his fifteen minutes of fame. He may destroy Obama's political ambitions, but he has thrust himself onto the national stage as one of the "voices" of black America. Now he will be up there in the spotlight with Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. He can show up anywhere and get press coverage. He can write a book and get rich. He can grow his power and influence in the black community infinitely.
But he cannot help Obama. And he cannot allow Obama to succeed as an individual. He has to bring him down. It's like the Irish. Whenever an Irish person gets too successful, then the others around him have to pull him back down to their level. The Irish are great at not letting their own succeed. And apparently black pastors have a bit o' the Irish to them.
Wright would rather push his paranoid black liberation theology agenda than see real progress for African Americans. He would rather make a name for himself than help the entire country benefit from the type of leadership that Obama could bring to the Presidency.
Pathetic, sad man, Jeremiah Wright, trapped in a view of the world that is inflexible, no longer valid, and holding back progress more than anyone or anything outside of himself.
Obama needed a family. But what a price to pay for it.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Michelle Obama & Race
After reading Michelle Obama's senior thesis "Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community", I didn't find it racist at all. She was trying to draw a correlation between how much time Blacks spend with what she calls "the Black community" and "Black culture" and how much those same people are interested in helping economically disadvantaged Blacks.
The paper is somewhat pedantic, well-written and rather boring. Which is interesting since Barack's autobiography was also well-written and a little to wordy and pedantic, and dare I say it? ... a little boring.
Most people that I know look back upon their senior thesis with some sort of nostalgia for their naïveté and innocence, or irony for their unsophisticated ideas. Of course, I have no idea how Ms. Obama would feel if she reread her thesis at this point in time. I would hope that she would be able to see the flaws and naïveté implicit in it's simplistic take on race in America. But who knows if some bitterness may have hardened her ideas.
Some of the assumptions Ms. Obama makes in her thesis are moral stances on what people ought to do. She does not present an argument for why skin color should determine who you do or don't help. She starts with the assumption that skin color defines culture, and that people ought to help economically disadvantaged people who have the same skin color as them.
In this picture, there are "Black" people and "White" people and no one in between. And the "White" people are somewhat stereotyped as having "the luxuries typical of the White middle class." As a person of northern European descent, I certainly don't think of myself in the terms, generalizations or stereotypes which Ms. Obama uses in this paper.
But it's not a paper about what happens when you stereotype and generalize people based on race. She was trying to prove her thesis that when "Blacks" went to Princeton, they become inculcated with the desire to have lucrative, successful careers, and they do not have an interest in helping people of the same skin color who are economically disadvantaged. And there is a definite judgment that it is bad not to help disadvantaged people who have the same skin color as you do.
There are some assumptions made that I would say don't hold up to examination. But Ms. Obama is viewing the world through a very distinct prism in this paper.
One would hope and expect that her world view has expanded somewhat over the years. I would have said that as a Christian woman one would expect her to be more tolerant and racially inclusive. But then again, her Church is not a particularly tolerant of racially inclusive Church.
Ms. Obama is an unknown entity. But there is no doubt that someone as intelligent and articulate as she was 23 years ago has grown over time, and has grown able to relate comfortably to people of all races and socio-economic backgrounds.
Perhaps she left south Chicago as a teenager from an environment that was entirely "Black", and arrived at Princeton, and experienced being the minority group for the first time at a time when the university was predominantly "White". Possibly she even went from being on of the most popular and successful people in her community to being an unknown amongst all the other most popular and successful people from their communities.
It can be a shock to get to college and find that is where all the other smart kids went. No one is as special as they think they were when they get to a good school because that's where all the other talented kids have gravitated to. And there is nothing easier than deciding that there is some generic reason why people treat you the way they do. Many a time I have thought that someone got a promotion because he was a guy. Maybe it was true, and maybe it wasn't. But it sure was easy to find the major difference and define the situation with that difference.
And to be honest, from what I have learned from my close friend who graduated from Princeton two years before Ms. Obama, there was plenty of institutionalized racism on that campus. Princeton in the 1980s was turning out the future corporate attorneys, stockbrokers and Wall St titans, not the future labor organizers and criminal defense attorneys that Oxy was incubating.
Read the thesis for yourself, and make up your own mind.
The paper is somewhat pedantic, well-written and rather boring. Which is interesting since Barack's autobiography was also well-written and a little to wordy and pedantic, and dare I say it? ... a little boring.
Most people that I know look back upon their senior thesis with some sort of nostalgia for their naïveté and innocence, or irony for their unsophisticated ideas. Of course, I have no idea how Ms. Obama would feel if she reread her thesis at this point in time. I would hope that she would be able to see the flaws and naïveté implicit in it's simplistic take on race in America. But who knows if some bitterness may have hardened her ideas.
Some of the assumptions Ms. Obama makes in her thesis are moral stances on what people ought to do. She does not present an argument for why skin color should determine who you do or don't help. She starts with the assumption that skin color defines culture, and that people ought to help economically disadvantaged people who have the same skin color as them.
In this picture, there are "Black" people and "White" people and no one in between. And the "White" people are somewhat stereotyped as having "the luxuries typical of the White middle class." As a person of northern European descent, I certainly don't think of myself in the terms, generalizations or stereotypes which Ms. Obama uses in this paper.
But it's not a paper about what happens when you stereotype and generalize people based on race. She was trying to prove her thesis that when "Blacks" went to Princeton, they become inculcated with the desire to have lucrative, successful careers, and they do not have an interest in helping people of the same skin color who are economically disadvantaged. And there is a definite judgment that it is bad not to help disadvantaged people who have the same skin color as you do.
There are some assumptions made that I would say don't hold up to examination. But Ms. Obama is viewing the world through a very distinct prism in this paper.
One would hope and expect that her world view has expanded somewhat over the years. I would have said that as a Christian woman one would expect her to be more tolerant and racially inclusive. But then again, her Church is not a particularly tolerant of racially inclusive Church.
Ms. Obama is an unknown entity. But there is no doubt that someone as intelligent and articulate as she was 23 years ago has grown over time, and has grown able to relate comfortably to people of all races and socio-economic backgrounds.
Perhaps she left south Chicago as a teenager from an environment that was entirely "Black", and arrived at Princeton, and experienced being the minority group for the first time at a time when the university was predominantly "White". Possibly she even went from being on of the most popular and successful people in her community to being an unknown amongst all the other most popular and successful people from their communities.
It can be a shock to get to college and find that is where all the other smart kids went. No one is as special as they think they were when they get to a good school because that's where all the other talented kids have gravitated to. And there is nothing easier than deciding that there is some generic reason why people treat you the way they do. Many a time I have thought that someone got a promotion because he was a guy. Maybe it was true, and maybe it wasn't. But it sure was easy to find the major difference and define the situation with that difference.
And to be honest, from what I have learned from my close friend who graduated from Princeton two years before Ms. Obama, there was plenty of institutionalized racism on that campus. Princeton in the 1980s was turning out the future corporate attorneys, stockbrokers and Wall St titans, not the future labor organizers and criminal defense attorneys that Oxy was incubating.
Read the thesis for yourself, and make up your own mind.
Politico.com article regarding Michelle Obama's college thesis on race
Michelle Obama thesis was on racial divide
By JEFFREY RESSNER | 2/22/08 4:20 PM EST Updated: 2/23/08 9:51 AM EST
Michelle Obama's senior year thesis at Princeton University, obtained from the campaign by Politico, shows a document written by a young woman grappling with a society in which a black Princeton alumnus might only be allowed to remain "on the periphery." Read the full thesis here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.
"My experiences at Princeton have made me far more aware of my 'blackness' than ever before," the future Mrs. Obama wrote in her thesis introduction. "I have found that at Princeton, no matter how liberal and open-minded some of my white professors and classmates try to be toward me, I sometimes feel like a visitor on campus; as if I really don't belong. Regardless of the circumstances underwhich I interact with whites at Princeton, it often seems as if, to them, I will always be black first and a student second."
The thesis, titled "Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community" and written under her maiden name, Michelle LaVaughn Robinson, in 1985, has been the subject of much conjecture on the blogosphere and elsewhere in recent weeks, as it has been "temporarily withdrawn" from Princeton's library until after this year's presidential election in November. Some of the material has been written about previously, however, including a story last year in the Newark Star Ledger.
Obama writes that the path she chose by attending Princeton would likely lead to her "further integration and/or assimilation into a white cultural and social structure that will only allow me to remain on the periphery of society; never becoming a full participant."
During a presidential contest in which the term "transparency" has been frequently bandied about, candidates have buried a number of potentially revealing documents and papers. In Hillary Rodham Clinton's case, there's been a clamoring for tax records, White House memos and other material the candidate's team has chosen to keep from release. The 96-page Princeton thesis, restricted from release by the school's Mudd Library, has also been the subject of recent scrutiny.
Earlier this week, commentator Jonah Goldberg remarked on National Review Online, "A reader in the know informs me that Michelle Obama's thesis ... is unavailable until Nov. 5, 2008, at the Princeton library. I wonder why."
"Why a restricted thesis?" asked blogger-pastor Louis Lapides on his site Thinking Outside the Blog. "Is the concern based on what's in the thesis? Will Michelle Obama appear to be too black for white America or not black enough for black America?"
Attempts to retrieve the document through Princeton proved unsuccessful, with school librarians having been pestered so much for access to the thesis that they have resorted to reading from a script when callers inquire about it. Media officers at the prestigious university were similarly unhelpful, claiming it is "not unusual" for a thesis to be restricted and refusing to discuss "the academic work of alumni."
The Obama campaign, however, quickly responded to a request for the thesis by Politico. The thesis offers several fascinating insights into the mind of Michelle Obama, who has been a passionate advocate of her husband's presidential aspirations and who has made several controvesial statements, including this week's remark, "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country." That comment has fueled debate on countless blogs, radio talk shows and cable news for days on end, causing her to explain the statement in greater detail.
The 1985 thesis provides a trove of Michelle Obama's thoughts as a young woman, with many of the paper's statements describing the student's world as seen through a race-based prism.
"In defining the concept of identification or the ability to identify with the black community," the Princeton student wrote, "I based my definition on the premise that there is a distinctive black culture very different from white culture." Other thesis statements specifically pointed to what was seen by the future Mrs. Obama as racially insensitive practices in a university system populated with mostly Caucasian educators and students: "Predominately white universities like Princeton are socially and academically designed to cater to the needs of the white students comprising the bulk of their enrollments."
To illustrate the latter statement, she pointed out that Princeton (at the time) had only five black tenured professors on its faculty, and its "Afro-American studies" program "is one of the smallest and most understaffed departments in the university." In addition, she said only one major university-recognized group on campus was "designed specifically for the intellectual and social interests of blacks and other third world students." (Her findings also stressed that Princeton was "infamous for being racially the most conservative of the Ivy League universities.")
Perhaps one of the most germane subjects approached in the thesis is a section in which she conveyed views about political relations between black and white communities. She quotes the work of sociologists James Conyers and Walter Wallace, who discussed "integration of black official(s) into various aspects of politics" and notes "problems which face these black officials who must persuade the white community that they are above issues of race and that they are representing all people and not just black people," as opposed to creating "two separate social structures."
To research her thesis, the future Mrs. Obama sent an 18-question survey to a sampling of 400 black Princeton graduates, requesting the respondents define the amount of time and "comfort" level spent interacting with blacks and whites before they attended the school, as well as during and after their University years. Other questions dealt with their individual religious beliefs, living arrangements, careers, role models, economic status, and thoughts about lower class blacks. In addition, those surveyed were asked to choose whether they were more in line with a "separationist and/or pluralist" viewpoint or an "integrationist and/or assimilationist" ideology.
Just under 90 alums responded to the questionnaires (for a response rate of approximately 22 percent) and the conclusions were not what she expected. "I hoped that these findings would help me conclude that despite the high degree of identification with whites as a result of the educational and occupational path that black Princeton alumni follow, the alumni would still maintain a certain level of identification with the black community. However, these findings do not support this possibility."
By JEFFREY RESSNER | 2/22/08 4:20 PM EST Updated: 2/23/08 9:51 AM EST
Michelle Obama's senior year thesis at Princeton University, obtained from the campaign by Politico, shows a document written by a young woman grappling with a society in which a black Princeton alumnus might only be allowed to remain "on the periphery." Read the full thesis here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.
"My experiences at Princeton have made me far more aware of my 'blackness' than ever before," the future Mrs. Obama wrote in her thesis introduction. "I have found that at Princeton, no matter how liberal and open-minded some of my white professors and classmates try to be toward me, I sometimes feel like a visitor on campus; as if I really don't belong. Regardless of the circumstances underwhich I interact with whites at Princeton, it often seems as if, to them, I will always be black first and a student second."
The thesis, titled "Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community" and written under her maiden name, Michelle LaVaughn Robinson, in 1985, has been the subject of much conjecture on the blogosphere and elsewhere in recent weeks, as it has been "temporarily withdrawn" from Princeton's library until after this year's presidential election in November. Some of the material has been written about previously, however, including a story last year in the Newark Star Ledger.
Obama writes that the path she chose by attending Princeton would likely lead to her "further integration and/or assimilation into a white cultural and social structure that will only allow me to remain on the periphery of society; never becoming a full participant."
During a presidential contest in which the term "transparency" has been frequently bandied about, candidates have buried a number of potentially revealing documents and papers. In Hillary Rodham Clinton's case, there's been a clamoring for tax records, White House memos and other material the candidate's team has chosen to keep from release. The 96-page Princeton thesis, restricted from release by the school's Mudd Library, has also been the subject of recent scrutiny.
Earlier this week, commentator Jonah Goldberg remarked on National Review Online, "A reader in the know informs me that Michelle Obama's thesis ... is unavailable until Nov. 5, 2008, at the Princeton library. I wonder why."
"Why a restricted thesis?" asked blogger-pastor Louis Lapides on his site Thinking Outside the Blog. "Is the concern based on what's in the thesis? Will Michelle Obama appear to be too black for white America or not black enough for black America?"
Attempts to retrieve the document through Princeton proved unsuccessful, with school librarians having been pestered so much for access to the thesis that they have resorted to reading from a script when callers inquire about it. Media officers at the prestigious university were similarly unhelpful, claiming it is "not unusual" for a thesis to be restricted and refusing to discuss "the academic work of alumni."
The Obama campaign, however, quickly responded to a request for the thesis by Politico. The thesis offers several fascinating insights into the mind of Michelle Obama, who has been a passionate advocate of her husband's presidential aspirations and who has made several controvesial statements, including this week's remark, "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country." That comment has fueled debate on countless blogs, radio talk shows and cable news for days on end, causing her to explain the statement in greater detail.
The 1985 thesis provides a trove of Michelle Obama's thoughts as a young woman, with many of the paper's statements describing the student's world as seen through a race-based prism.
"In defining the concept of identification or the ability to identify with the black community," the Princeton student wrote, "I based my definition on the premise that there is a distinctive black culture very different from white culture." Other thesis statements specifically pointed to what was seen by the future Mrs. Obama as racially insensitive practices in a university system populated with mostly Caucasian educators and students: "Predominately white universities like Princeton are socially and academically designed to cater to the needs of the white students comprising the bulk of their enrollments."
To illustrate the latter statement, she pointed out that Princeton (at the time) had only five black tenured professors on its faculty, and its "Afro-American studies" program "is one of the smallest and most understaffed departments in the university." In addition, she said only one major university-recognized group on campus was "designed specifically for the intellectual and social interests of blacks and other third world students." (Her findings also stressed that Princeton was "infamous for being racially the most conservative of the Ivy League universities.")
Perhaps one of the most germane subjects approached in the thesis is a section in which she conveyed views about political relations between black and white communities. She quotes the work of sociologists James Conyers and Walter Wallace, who discussed "integration of black official(s) into various aspects of politics" and notes "problems which face these black officials who must persuade the white community that they are above issues of race and that they are representing all people and not just black people," as opposed to creating "two separate social structures."
To research her thesis, the future Mrs. Obama sent an 18-question survey to a sampling of 400 black Princeton graduates, requesting the respondents define the amount of time and "comfort" level spent interacting with blacks and whites before they attended the school, as well as during and after their University years. Other questions dealt with their individual religious beliefs, living arrangements, careers, role models, economic status, and thoughts about lower class blacks. In addition, those surveyed were asked to choose whether they were more in line with a "separationist and/or pluralist" viewpoint or an "integrationist and/or assimilationist" ideology.
Just under 90 alums responded to the questionnaires (for a response rate of approximately 22 percent) and the conclusions were not what she expected. "I hoped that these findings would help me conclude that despite the high degree of identification with whites as a result of the educational and occupational path that black Princeton alumni follow, the alumni would still maintain a certain level of identification with the black community. However, these findings do not support this possibility."
Sunday, March 23, 2008
W E I R E D N E W S: Karate students take out robber
Karate students take out robber. Metro.co.uk reports:
Texas Rocks! With the modifications to our "Texas Castle Law" last year it would be legal to kill the robber. AND if he had any money in his pockets you could reflect that the robber paid you to terminate him! Now how cool is that?
AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today signed into law Senate Bill 378, extending Texans’ rights to use deadly force for means of self-defense, without retreat, in their home, vehicle or workplace. The law takes effect Sept. 1, 2007.
- Dave, Dallas Texas
Troy -The UK is one step ahead of you guys on this. In the UK not only would the victims have been arrested, jailed and sued but the robber would have been able under EU 'yumin rights' legislation, to have demanded and received 'compensation' for his hurt 'feeling's, his hurt ribs, his hurt head, his hurt 'dignity' and all the 101 other little 'urts he suffered - poor thing. We don't play around in the UK - we give it to the victims of crime in spades. How dare they stand up for themselves?!
- John Jones, London
No kidding, how dare those kids try to defend themselves.
- Sam, Virginia, USA
Brilliant!
- Steven Klassen, United States
Columbian justice seems to have taken a turn for the better. In the US the victims would have been arrested and sued.
- Troy Lee, Sanibel Florida USA
It's been a bad few days for criminals. Not only did a mugger in Germany get taken down by a blind judo champion, but an armed robber in Colombia found out the hard way that a karate academy is a lousy place to try and rob.
The thief discovered the flaw in his plans when the students at the academy didn't take kindly to being robbed, police said on Friday.
The robber is now recovering in a hospital, in Santander province north of Bogota, after the martial artists used their combat skills on him and took away his gun.
'An individual entered a martial arts school with a firearm but they managed to react, put their knowledge to use and disarmed him,' Santander police commander Col. Julio Cesar Santoyo told local Caracol radio.
Not to be missed are the comments:Texas Rocks! With the modifications to our "Texas Castle Law" last year it would be legal to kill the robber. AND if he had any money in his pockets you could reflect that the robber paid you to terminate him! Now how cool is that?
AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today signed into law Senate Bill 378, extending Texans’ rights to use deadly force for means of self-defense, without retreat, in their home, vehicle or workplace. The law takes effect Sept. 1, 2007.
- Dave, Dallas Texas
Troy -The UK is one step ahead of you guys on this. In the UK not only would the victims have been arrested, jailed and sued but the robber would have been able under EU 'yumin rights' legislation, to have demanded and received 'compensation' for his hurt 'feeling's, his hurt ribs, his hurt head, his hurt 'dignity' and all the 101 other little 'urts he suffered - poor thing. We don't play around in the UK - we give it to the victims of crime in spades. How dare they stand up for themselves?!
- John Jones, London
No kidding, how dare those kids try to defend themselves.
- Sam, Virginia, USA
Brilliant!
- Steven Klassen, United States
Columbian justice seems to have taken a turn for the better. In the US the victims would have been arrested and sued.
- Troy Lee, Sanibel Florida USA
Friday, March 21, 2008
Obama diverted by pastor detour
Now, the media has finally found some substance to dig into rather than quibble over substances with "the pastor disaster."
Seriously, how long has Obama been a declared candidate running for the Democratic nomination? A couple weeks? Wasn't there some sort of Senate race a few years back also? But now the media has discovered Reverend Wright and his extremist sermons, not to mention the Trinity United Church of Christ's website with it's Afro-centric, blacks only message.
When I first read the website of the Trinity Church, and the message it put forward, I was definitely put off. I would definitely feel unwelcome at that Church based on the tone and message conveyed. I would be intimidated to participate in a community so candid about it's bias. Perhaps there are Churches with a bias toward white people that would also put me off and offend me.
But B. was never that kind of person. He was a skeptic like many of us at Oxy. Wary of organized religion and it's history of oppression and violence. When he found Trinity Church, and he found a minister who accepted him, and a group of people who accepted him, then met at his first legal internship a woman who was most likely very much a part of the Church and the community, well it must have all made sense to him. Spiritual growth, belonging to a community, being accepted, finding love, all of those things happened to him with Trinity Church playing an integral role.
So, I don't think B. became some kind of radical bigot all of a sudden. He found a balance between the gifts and the flaws of his new life as a Christian and a member of Trinity Church.
Part of growing up is the process of finding yourself and your identity. In retrospect, I understand that B. had a greater challenge than many of us who were of the same age and social group, but he also had the greater success. That is one of the great wonders of B., that he did so much on his own. Who knew. He always made everything he did look so easy and graceful and effortless. And sometimes it did seem like the world was colluding with him, even making the sun shine and the birds sing for his benefit. And I have felt the urge to hide when I saw him coming, in order to avoid experiencing the juxtaposition of his calm, self-confidence and seeming enjoyment of life with my nearly infinite series of failings, fears and frettings.
If ever there was a living, breathing, walking, talking example of a person bringing good things into their life by having confidence, faith and hope, B. is that person. He breathes the rarefied air of the few natural born leaders.
Not that I noticed that at the time. We were teenagers. He just seemed kind of arrogant and bossy to me.
Perhaps he was simply a misunderstood Mr. Darcy of his time. Seemingly arrogant and indifferent, but actually a highly ethical and compassionate human being. Or maybe not.
Seriously, how long has Obama been a declared candidate running for the Democratic nomination? A couple weeks? Wasn't there some sort of Senate race a few years back also? But now the media has discovered Reverend Wright and his extremist sermons, not to mention the Trinity United Church of Christ's website with it's Afro-centric, blacks only message.
When I first read the website of the Trinity Church, and the message it put forward, I was definitely put off. I would definitely feel unwelcome at that Church based on the tone and message conveyed. I would be intimidated to participate in a community so candid about it's bias. Perhaps there are Churches with a bias toward white people that would also put me off and offend me.
But B. was never that kind of person. He was a skeptic like many of us at Oxy. Wary of organized religion and it's history of oppression and violence. When he found Trinity Church, and he found a minister who accepted him, and a group of people who accepted him, then met at his first legal internship a woman who was most likely very much a part of the Church and the community, well it must have all made sense to him. Spiritual growth, belonging to a community, being accepted, finding love, all of those things happened to him with Trinity Church playing an integral role.
So, I don't think B. became some kind of radical bigot all of a sudden. He found a balance between the gifts and the flaws of his new life as a Christian and a member of Trinity Church.
Part of growing up is the process of finding yourself and your identity. In retrospect, I understand that B. had a greater challenge than many of us who were of the same age and social group, but he also had the greater success. That is one of the great wonders of B., that he did so much on his own. Who knew. He always made everything he did look so easy and graceful and effortless. And sometimes it did seem like the world was colluding with him, even making the sun shine and the birds sing for his benefit. And I have felt the urge to hide when I saw him coming, in order to avoid experiencing the juxtaposition of his calm, self-confidence and seeming enjoyment of life with my nearly infinite series of failings, fears and frettings.
If ever there was a living, breathing, walking, talking example of a person bringing good things into their life by having confidence, faith and hope, B. is that person. He breathes the rarefied air of the few natural born leaders.
Not that I noticed that at the time. We were teenagers. He just seemed kind of arrogant and bossy to me.
Perhaps he was simply a misunderstood Mr. Darcy of his time. Seemingly arrogant and indifferent, but actually a highly ethical and compassionate human being. Or maybe not.
Saturday, February 09, 2008
There may be stories to find but no one has found them
Ridiculous. The NY Times ran an article about Obama, Friends Say Drugs Played Only Bit Part for Obama, questioning whether he really used drugs as much as his memoir portrays. It seems like quite a stretch to try to discredit Obama's drug use. People don't overstate their drug usage; they downplay it. One might even consider that Mr. Obama admitted to drug usage to take the wind out of any later revelations that might have come out. Mr. Obama's friends aren't talking. If you've heard him or met him, you understand he can be compelling.
Is this what all the books about George W. Bush are like? Do they also get everything wrong, talk to people who know nothing, and come up with ridiculous claims out of the writer's own imagination? In a way it is disillusioning. I mean it wouldn't be that hard to come up with some genuine journalism if one did the research. There is enough public information to make for some interesting writing. Are journalists lazy or just trying to make tight deadlines?
Is this what all the books about George W. Bush are like? Do they also get everything wrong, talk to people who know nothing, and come up with ridiculous claims out of the writer's own imagination? In a way it is disillusioning. I mean it wouldn't be that hard to come up with some genuine journalism if one did the research. There is enough public information to make for some interesting writing. Are journalists lazy or just trying to make tight deadlines?
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Free Press: Tom Cruise and Scientology
Finally, the press is getting some backbone and covering Tom Cruise and the Scientology stories.
About the Creepy Cruise video.
Creepy Cruise video.
About the Creepy Cruise video.
Creepy Cruise video.
O and Oh
Dinner at Picasso was out of this world. The Cirque du soleil show 'O' was fantabulous.
Oh, I walked around the entire hotel and never once saw Hillary Clinton or the Democratic Caucus, although she was rumored to be staying at the Bellagio. Apparently, not on my floor.
Oh, I walked around the entire hotel and never once saw Hillary Clinton or the Democratic Caucus, although she was rumored to be staying at the Bellagio. Apparently, not on my floor.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Great Lectures for Free - elite world of humanities goes open source
On ABC7 local news I heard a news story about a fabulous free opportunity. You can download lectures from some of the best professors at the best universities in the US. Go to school web sites, like openculture and a special section of iTunes known as iTunes U. I have seen lectures like these for sale on tape for hundreds of dollars, but had no idea they are available for free online. Woo-hoo!!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Foreign Policy Magazine: Top Ten Stories You Missed in 2007
The Top Ten Stories You Missed in 2007
Foreign Policy magazines list of Top Ten stories that were overlooked during the past year.
Foreign Policy magazines list of Top Ten stories that were overlooked during the past year.
A volunteer evacuates a villager after floods hit Ngawi, East Java
A volunteer evacuates a villager after floods hit Ngawi, East Java province December 29, 2007. REUTERS/Sigit Pamungkas. From picture of the day at http://www.alertnet.org/
Seriously, the cigarette makes the photo. Hey, just another smoking break from the office, and maybe I'll rescue a few people while I'm outside...
Sunday, December 30, 2007
DNA Tweak Turns Vole Mates Into Soul Mates
This is still one of my favorite articles. It is based on an article in the journal Nature.
Link to story below.
Times Staff Writer
June 17, 2004
Scientists working with a rat-like animal called a vole have found that promiscuous males can be reprogrammed into monogamous partners by introducing a single gene into a specific part of their brains.
Once they have been converted, the voles hang around the family nests and even huddle with their female partners after sex.
The results suggest that "a mutation in a single gene can have a profound impact on complex social behavior," said Larry Young, a neuroscientist at Emory University who reports the results in the current issue of the journal Nature.
The research, Young said, could help shed light on monogamy — a rare social behavior — and hints that perhaps specific genes could play a role in human relationships.
But don't expect gene therapy for human swingers.
"This is not something that we should be playing around with," Young said.
Voles, found in the wild throughout much of North America, have been particularly useful in studying monogamy, which in biology refers more to the complicated social bonds based on partnership than to absolute sexual fidelity.
One variety — the prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) — pairs up like humans. Males may occasionally stray from their lifelong partners, but they inevitably return to their nests and help care for litter after litter.
In contrast, meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus), a similar but separate species, prowl their habitat for any available female and show no interest in staying in touch.
The difference, it turns out, is a receptor for the hormone vasopressin. Prairie voles have such receptors in a part of the brain known as the ventral pallidum. Meadow voles do not.
To make promiscuous male meadow voles behave like their loyal prairie cousins, the scientists used a common gene therapy technique. They injected the animals' forebrains with a harmless virus carrying the gene responsible for expressing the receptors.
Each vole, a young virgin that had never before encountered a member of the opposite sex, then spent 24 hours caged with a female that had been injected with estrogen. They mated.
Each male was then placed in his own plexiglass complex. Leashed in one room was his original partner. Down the hall was another female primed for mating.
The 11 genetically altered voles overwhelmingly stuck to their first partner. The couples mated. They then nestled together and exchanged licks.
The voles in the control group did not consistently seek out their original partners.
What looks like romance, the researchers suggested, may be the product of two neural pathways in the pleasure center of the brain.
There is the gratification of sex, which depends on dopamine receptors in a part of the brain known as the nucleus accumbens. But nearby, in the ventral pallidum, are the vasopressin receptors, which allow for individual recognition.
The result: sexual preference for a specific partner.
Fewer than 5% of mammals are monogamous. Monogamy has rarely suited males when it comes to propagating their own genes. More often it has been in their interest to reproduce with as many females as possible.
In some cases, however, monogamy makes sense. For example, if predators are particularly rampant, males are better off staying around their homes to protect their offspring.
Scientists believe that monogamy evolved from polygamy. The results released Wednesday suggested that flipping one genetic switch might have been enough to spur a massive social reordering, Young said.
But Evan Balaban, a neuroscientist at McGill University in Montreal, questioned whether a single gene could cause such a dramatic change. He said that in the wild, many genes were likely involved in the expression of vasopressin receptors.
In female voles, it is another hormone, oxytocin, that appears to be involved in pair bonding.
The same hormone systems also operate in all other mammals, including humans.
The genes that control expression of vasopressin receptors vary widely in healthy men.
Human relationships, of course, are complicated, and culture and socialization probably matter as much as biology. Even so, Young suggested that genetic differences could help explain why some men have trouble maintaining relationships.
Gene E. Robinson, head of neuroscience at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, cautioned against extrapolating the results to humans. "The behavior of animals is much simpler than the behavior of humans," he said.
Even if the findings could lead to an elixir for fidelity, a single gene would not solve every problem at home. The genetically altered meadow voles spent more time with their partners, but unlike their naturally faithful prairie relatives, they did not help care for the pups.
That, Young said, probably depends on other neural pathways.
Copyright 2004 Los Angeles Times
THE NATION
DNA Tweak Turns Vole Mates Into Soul Mates
Promiscuous mammals become stay-at-home dads in a study. There's no cure yet for humans.
By Alan ZaremboTimes Staff Writer
June 17, 2004
Scientists working with a rat-like animal called a vole have found that promiscuous males can be reprogrammed into monogamous partners by introducing a single gene into a specific part of their brains.
Once they have been converted, the voles hang around the family nests and even huddle with their female partners after sex.
The results suggest that "a mutation in a single gene can have a profound impact on complex social behavior," said Larry Young, a neuroscientist at Emory University who reports the results in the current issue of the journal Nature.
The research, Young said, could help shed light on monogamy — a rare social behavior — and hints that perhaps specific genes could play a role in human relationships.
But don't expect gene therapy for human swingers.
"This is not something that we should be playing around with," Young said.
Voles, found in the wild throughout much of North America, have been particularly useful in studying monogamy, which in biology refers more to the complicated social bonds based on partnership than to absolute sexual fidelity.
One variety — the prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) — pairs up like humans. Males may occasionally stray from their lifelong partners, but they inevitably return to their nests and help care for litter after litter.
In contrast, meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus), a similar but separate species, prowl their habitat for any available female and show no interest in staying in touch.
The difference, it turns out, is a receptor for the hormone vasopressin. Prairie voles have such receptors in a part of the brain known as the ventral pallidum. Meadow voles do not.
To make promiscuous male meadow voles behave like their loyal prairie cousins, the scientists used a common gene therapy technique. They injected the animals' forebrains with a harmless virus carrying the gene responsible for expressing the receptors.
Each vole, a young virgin that had never before encountered a member of the opposite sex, then spent 24 hours caged with a female that had been injected with estrogen. They mated.
Each male was then placed in his own plexiglass complex. Leashed in one room was his original partner. Down the hall was another female primed for mating.
The 11 genetically altered voles overwhelmingly stuck to their first partner. The couples mated. They then nestled together and exchanged licks.
The voles in the control group did not consistently seek out their original partners.
What looks like romance, the researchers suggested, may be the product of two neural pathways in the pleasure center of the brain.
There is the gratification of sex, which depends on dopamine receptors in a part of the brain known as the nucleus accumbens. But nearby, in the ventral pallidum, are the vasopressin receptors, which allow for individual recognition.
The result: sexual preference for a specific partner.
Fewer than 5% of mammals are monogamous. Monogamy has rarely suited males when it comes to propagating their own genes. More often it has been in their interest to reproduce with as many females as possible.
In some cases, however, monogamy makes sense. For example, if predators are particularly rampant, males are better off staying around their homes to protect their offspring.
Scientists believe that monogamy evolved from polygamy. The results released Wednesday suggested that flipping one genetic switch might have been enough to spur a massive social reordering, Young said.
But Evan Balaban, a neuroscientist at McGill University in Montreal, questioned whether a single gene could cause such a dramatic change. He said that in the wild, many genes were likely involved in the expression of vasopressin receptors.
In female voles, it is another hormone, oxytocin, that appears to be involved in pair bonding.
The same hormone systems also operate in all other mammals, including humans.
The genes that control expression of vasopressin receptors vary widely in healthy men.
Human relationships, of course, are complicated, and culture and socialization probably matter as much as biology. Even so, Young suggested that genetic differences could help explain why some men have trouble maintaining relationships.
Gene E. Robinson, head of neuroscience at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, cautioned against extrapolating the results to humans. "The behavior of animals is much simpler than the behavior of humans," he said.
Even if the findings could lead to an elixir for fidelity, a single gene would not solve every problem at home. The genetically altered meadow voles spent more time with their partners, but unlike their naturally faithful prairie relatives, they did not help care for the pups.
That, Young said, probably depends on other neural pathways.
If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at latimes.com/archives.
Article licensing and reprint options
Article licensing and reprint options
Copyright 2004 Los Angeles Times
New Russian made armor-piercing grenade causing US casualties in Iraq
Interesting blog article about Russian made military weapons being used against the US in Iraq:
New Russian made armor-piercing grenade causing US casualties in Iraq.
No links to the original CBS news report, but one to a website called The Raw Story.
Here is some info about The Raw Story website which purports to be "an alternative news nexus" where they state that their "goal is to unearth and spotlight stories underplayed by the popular press, in particular those which highlight betterment and open people’s eyes to injustice throughout the world."
Be forewarned that The Raw Story website has lots of pop-ups and advertising. Not exactly how you think the alternative press will look, but hey even outsiders have to make a living.
New Russian made armor-piercing grenade causing US casualties in Iraq.
No links to the original CBS news report, but one to a website called The Raw Story.
Here is some info about The Raw Story website which purports to be "an alternative news nexus" where they state that their "goal is to unearth and spotlight stories underplayed by the popular press, in particular those which highlight betterment and open people’s eyes to injustice throughout the world."
Be forewarned that The Raw Story website has lots of pop-ups and advertising. Not exactly how you think the alternative press will look, but hey even outsiders have to make a living.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
China's Big Year: 2008 & the Olympics
2008 is going to be a China's big coming out party as journalists and tourists descend upon China for the Summer Olympics.
For me, it seems like Tiananmen Square happened in the recent past and not almost nineteen years ago in 1989. What a difference a couple decades can make. The Chinese democracy movement has essentially disappeared or been effectively neutralized, depending on your viewpoint. The combination of the brutal oppression by a police state ruled by a small, secretive, omnipotent party, the suppression and censorship of the press, and the successful liberalization of the economy with a heady dose of capitalism have succeeded in quelling all dissent. It's an accomplishment the current Administration and its past and present cadre of Roves and Cheneys would aspire to and admire.
I have met some of China's youth, bright twenty-something professionals who have immigrated to the US, and they are different from past generations. They do not have terrible memories of China, being separated from parents, having family members jailed or not seeing them for years when they escape. This generation got on an airplane with a passport as smoothly as could be. And many of them want to go home, home to visit every year, home for retirement. They are buying investment property in China. They go clubbing when they visit Beijing.
There are no worries about the government. There are no fears about repression or censorship. There is no Tiananmen Square Massacre hanging over them.
But the dissidents, the Tibetans, the victims of the state are not entirely forgotten. This past Fall, I listened on local cable television to individuals speaking to the Pasadena City Council, asking them to reconsider and revoke the approval of the participation of the People's Republic of China in the Rose Parade. Each person gave their own story of oppression and imprisonment.
Some journalists are also pointing out the dichotomies of the People's Republic of China hosting the Olympics at a time when 'people's journalism' has become a powerful force on the internet, such as an article anticipating The 2008 Beijing Olympic Disaster.
The Chinese government made the argument in the 1990's that economic development had to come before democracy. Perhaps this is the year that argument will be tested. Economic development has arrived and progressed. How will China handle the free press and the 'people's press' reporting without censorship from inside their country?
The Great Digital Wall of China will be challenged by hordes of satellite connected journalists, and cell phone carrying, You Tube enabled bloggers.
For me, it seems like Tiananmen Square happened in the recent past and not almost nineteen years ago in 1989. What a difference a couple decades can make. The Chinese democracy movement has essentially disappeared or been effectively neutralized, depending on your viewpoint. The combination of the brutal oppression by a police state ruled by a small, secretive, omnipotent party, the suppression and censorship of the press, and the successful liberalization of the economy with a heady dose of capitalism have succeeded in quelling all dissent. It's an accomplishment the current Administration and its past and present cadre of Roves and Cheneys would aspire to and admire.
I have met some of China's youth, bright twenty-something professionals who have immigrated to the US, and they are different from past generations. They do not have terrible memories of China, being separated from parents, having family members jailed or not seeing them for years when they escape. This generation got on an airplane with a passport as smoothly as could be. And many of them want to go home, home to visit every year, home for retirement. They are buying investment property in China. They go clubbing when they visit Beijing.
There are no worries about the government. There are no fears about repression or censorship. There is no Tiananmen Square Massacre hanging over them.
But the dissidents, the Tibetans, the victims of the state are not entirely forgotten. This past Fall, I listened on local cable television to individuals speaking to the Pasadena City Council, asking them to reconsider and revoke the approval of the participation of the People's Republic of China in the Rose Parade. Each person gave their own story of oppression and imprisonment.
Some journalists are also pointing out the dichotomies of the People's Republic of China hosting the Olympics at a time when 'people's journalism' has become a powerful force on the internet, such as an article anticipating The 2008 Beijing Olympic Disaster.
The Chinese government made the argument in the 1990's that economic development had to come before democracy. Perhaps this is the year that argument will be tested. Economic development has arrived and progressed. How will China handle the free press and the 'people's press' reporting without censorship from inside their country?
The Great Digital Wall of China will be challenged by hordes of satellite connected journalists, and cell phone carrying, You Tube enabled bloggers.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
More harm than good?
This is a creepy story that I had never heard of before reading about it today, HIV trial in Libya. Also, today was the "7 Europeans held in Chad kidnap case." Sometimes it's better to just stay home and mind your own business. Apparently, the first world does more harm than good, and even when they don't they are suspected of it.
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