The Bedford Hillsian

Readings: Etiologies

2010-11-07T20:08:00.002-05:00

As Randall Packard and Paul Epstein have written, “The medical research community expected the social scientist to adhere to the dominant behavioral model. Constructed in this way, the question immediately narrowed the range of sociological data relevant for the discussion. It became not: ‘What is the social context within which HIV transmission occurs in Africa’? but rather: ‘What are the patterns of behavior which are placing the Africans at risk of infection?’ While the first construction would have allowed for open-ended discussion of a wide range of social, political and economic conditions that might be affecting health levels in Africa, the latter formulation quickly narrowed discussion to an inquiry into the ‘customs of the natives.’” Not only is this approach to the problem ineffective, as many studies conducted since have shown, it is also unjust, because it leads to laying responsibility for their affliction on people with AIDS themselves, a classic reversal of the order of things that consists in “blaming the victim.”

- Didier Fassin from When Bodies Remember

Conspicuous Aliens

2010-09-26T18:10:00.003-05:00

In my dream, I'm waiting next to my car. I'm waiting because some people that I've never yet want to borrow it. In my dream, it made more sense why I was waiting and how this whole borrowing thing worked - maybe it was some variant of Flexcar of something.

A family shows up to pick up the car and I ask them if they don't mind dropping me off nearby. I explain that I would be grateful if they helped me although I could manage either way. They seem congenial enough and agree to take me. We climb into the car, I get in the back seat with the kids and the mother while the father sits in the front - on the passenger side. No one gets in the driver's seat.

Then, the car starts driving.

I get suspicious. Mainly because the car is diving but no one is in the driver's seat.

The father is sitting on the passenger side and smiling contently. The whole family sits calmly while the car drives itself. It takes me a moment to realize why all this is happening but I come to the obvious conclusion fairly quickly. These people are aliens, not humans at all. To test my theory, I say a couple things in alien.

In a buzzy insect-like alien language:
"What are you doing? That's right, I speak alien and I know you understand me."

Now, they start to glance at each other nervously.

"Look", I say, "I know you're aliens. That's fine. But don't you realize that when you drive a car someone is actually supposed to drive the car? You can't do it like this, you'll get pulled over. You people are so bad at this. Where did you learn about humans anyway? Seriously, if you get caught it'll be straight to the alien autopsy for the lot of you. I don't even know if I want you to borrow my car now."

End of dream

Readings: Modern Parents

2010-09-11T15:03:00.003-05:00

The first enemy was sugar, then sweets and biscuits, then brands such as Coca Cola, and bigger temptations such as Barbie dolls and the ubiquitous gun: ‘an unceasing struggle between what is regarded as the world of nature and the artificial world of commodity materialism’.* The battles over diet and gender are regarded as efforts to resist commercialism and consumerism, efforts that invariably end first in capitulation and then in the withdrawal that characterises the grandparental generation, who find it easier to allow the child freedom to choose its own style...

Parents do not give up without a struggle, within which their concept of biology plays a major role. It is very common for such parents to insist that their infants have an allergy to anything artificial. It is as though the infants’ bodies have antennae attuned to the mothers’ ideology of nature. Infants are said to come out in spots as soon as they ingest any kind of additive or the wrong E-number. If the children do not oblige (with spots) then the parents may claim these additives cause behavioural problems, which is a harder claim to contest.

- Marilyn Strathern from "Kinship, Law and the Unexpected"

=====
* Miller, Daniel. 1997. How infants grow mothers in North London. Theory, Culture and Society 14: 67 –88.

Happy Late Mother's Day

2010-05-17T23:30:00.002-05:00

Consider this: In American politics today, the “perfect” mother is one who does not work and stays home with her children. Unless she’s poor. Poor women who want to stay home with their children are called lazy, welfare cheats. If you’re poor, you can only be a good mother by working.

- Lisa Wade in sociologicalimages

Read a Book

2010-05-07T20:38:00.003-05:00

(via sociological images)

Chomsky on Health Care

2010-02-18T18:35:00.000-05:00

(via milkandcookies)

Heck of a Job, Scott Brown

2010-02-11T16:52:00.001-05:00

(via therealnews)

B Roll

2010-02-11T11:23:00.000-05:00

Jesus Loves Soft Rock

2010-01-22T07:36:00.003-05:00

This one should be right up Unbeatable's alley.

via failblog.org

Readings: Foreign Investment

2010-01-05T11:05:00.001-05:00

Investments in emerging markets have done better than investments in the U.S. in the 2000s. China and Japan have continued to buy U.S. debt, not because they are impressed with Silicon Valley's growth potential, but in order to cripple American manufacturing by keeping the dollar artificially high and the yuan and the yen artificially low. Their debt purchases are part of their strategic industrial policies on behalf of their own export-oriented manufacturers, not a vote of confidence in future American economic dynamism.

- Michael Lind in The Clintonites Were Wrong

Jerk

2009-12-16T21:55:00.003-05:00

I apologize in advance but certain actions taken today have forced my hand.

War is Peace

2009-12-11T21:59:00.002-05:00

Dear President Obama,
I hate to break it to you but a non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. A robust German peace movement would have stopped WWII before it started.

Where Have all the Fishmongers Gone

2009-12-07T11:33:00.001-05:00

My brother keeps talking about how much he misses his days in London when he had a butcher and a fishmonger on his block.

Christmas Devil

2009-11-29T21:38:00.001-05:00

Season's Greetings everyone!

This is pretty damn funny.

Home Movies Clip of the Day

2009-11-19T19:01:00.002-05:00

Kid Dammit and Recon, this one's for you.

Hang It Up and Hang It Out

2009-11-19T16:27:00.003-05:00

Earlier today, I made the hang up gesture and said "click" to emphasize it.

Then, I spent about ten minutes explaining to the 22 year old that I was talking about how I wasn't flashing a gang sign and how, in the old days, we had to literally hang up the phone in order to hang up the phone.

(photo via nypl)

Bicycle as Doomsday Machine

2009-11-18T11:54:00.002-05:00

In fact millions of pedestrians, standing at crosswalks, have experienced real terror, exposed as they now are to the mercy and moderation of bicycle riders, people whose lawlessness and viciousness are a matter of record...

Not only are bicycles dangerous, they are as antiquated a form of transportation as the rickshaw. In no advanced city on earth will you find civilized people cycling to work. The urban cyclist is generally a crank, either profoundly antisocial or hopelessly narcissistic and following the strenuous life in hopes of achieving immortality or a legendary sex life.

- Emmett Tyrrell Jr. in the Indianapolis Star Op Ed circa 1980

(via Andrew Leonard via Copenhagenize)

Race Words and Nationalities

2009-11-12T23:05:00.002-05:00

I caught a really neat post over at language log today. Turns out, the term "darkies" is not offensive to South African blacks. They often use it to refer to themselves and are not offended by it. Well, when some South African blacks started using "darkies" on twitter things got a little messy and feeling were hurt. Kinda cool how this global interweb is allowing us to learn about each other while we insult each other.

Anyway, in an earlier post, I featured a video about the black middle class. These things interest me. The stereotype of what it means to be black can easily be broken by recognizing that being black can mean so many different things.

Where I live in DC, there are a lot of east African immigrants - many 1st generation from Ethiopian, Somalia and Kenya. Their English is fine but accented and they all speak languages that I don't recognize. I am constantly fascinated watching the interactions between these people and the black people who have grown up in DC. There's a strange mix of familiarity and awkwardness through a lot of these interactions like if you met a relative from another country that you've never met before.

This is the exact reason that I don't use the term African American. This term really washes over the differences in experience between an Ethiopian immigrant from an upper middle class background whose first language Amharic and an working class American who is black. Most Americans that are "African American" have about as much to do with Africa as I do (which is to say very little). As I understand race in this country, it is not about culture or heritage or genetics it is about the color of your skin and to a much lesser extent the way you talk and the way you dress. I'm pretty sure that race is skin deep. Of course, what you do with your race, how you incorporate it into your identity is much more complex.

Think for a minute about Barack Obama. Here's a guy whose mother was a white lady from Kansas and his biological father was a black man from Kenya. He was born in Hawaii and raised in Indonesia by his mother and his step father, an Indonesian man. He went to high school in LA and college in New York City then law school in Boston and a political career in Chicago. Now, why the hell is this guy African American? Is it because his father, whom he only met once in his life was from Kenya? Yeah. That makes sense.

The Universe on a Snowy Day

2009-11-02T22:46:00.000-05:00

Carl Sagan is my new hero.

Consent

2009-10-29T23:11:00.003-05:00

Leave it to Dan Savage to find this guy:
(Warning, this video contains Dan Savage and the types of things that he usually talks about)

This is the best counter to anyone who thinks that homosexuality is a gateway to bestiality - a man who has regular sex with a horse and also happens to be appalled by the thought of being gay.

Lessons on Hearing Questions

2009-10-15T11:10:00.004-05:00

The differences between being a Republican and a Democrat in Congress seems to be that fine line between being simple and being stupid. I would say that as a general rule, Republicans misrepresent complex issues by over simplifying while Democrats grasp issues better but fail to communicate or address them properly because of stupidity.

Case in point, here is Rep. Alan Greyson (as previously seen on this blog) doing his best to catch Federal Reserve General Counsel Scott Alvarez in a gotcha statement (Spoiler! he fails miserably.)

Ok. I know that Greyson has become a kind of progressive internet hero for his willingness to ask "tough questions." I will also agree with the broad idea of questioning the role of the Fed and its goals with regard to the US economy. Still, Greyson stumbles over his own incompetence when he first assumes that attorney client privilege has any bearing on Alvarez's role as legal council and then when accuses the Fed of "market manipulation," a term that has specific legal implications that Greyson seems to know nothing about. Alvarez is absolutely on the money when he states that questions about market manipulation are over broad. Generalized charges of manipulation are the equivalent to accusing the NIH of causing disease or the Pentagon of murdering people. These charges are so broad that they almost have to be true when applied to such large institutions with broad mandates. What Greyson really should be doing is asking about the effects or outcomes that specific policies are designed to have.

In contrast, here's Sen Al Franken asking some pointed questions of Mark de Bernardo regarding the alleged sexual assault of Jamie Leigh Jones. Is Franken grandstanding? Probably. But, at least he knows what he's doing.

UPDATE!

Greyson redeems himself in my eyes with this.

What a Four Dollar Haterade Tastes Like

2009-09-23T13:51:00.002-05:00

Next Tarantino Movie An Homage To Beloved Tarantino Movies Of Director's Youth

I seem to have built up an admittedly accurate reputation as a Tarantino hater. I not exactly sure where it came from but it may have something to do with my proclivity to engage in awkward extended and pseudo-intellectual polemics at the mere mention of the self absorbed director. Unfortunately, I am forced to accept that this tendency is best described as “Tarantinoesque.”

Haiku 1

2009-09-14T15:53:00.000-05:00

the smell of salt on
the wind; it longs to be with
the sea once again

Blame China

2009-09-06T09:13:00.003-05:00

I always knew that China was responsible for all the trouble Iraq.

Seriously, China. Why do you have to be so evil?

As the Crow Flies

2009-08-31T15:54:00.006-05:00

Here's the survey of the day:

What do you think of Sheryl Crow?

Do you give her the thumbs up, the thumbs down, the thumbs sideways, the no thumbs dues to and industrial accident or inbreeding?

Is she a talented singer/songwriter or a pretty face with a guitar? The voice of a generation or a voice like an electric generator? A rock and roll goddess or a tight bodice with a head full of rocks?

We here at TBH want your opinion... and by we I mean me. I'm particularly interested in hearing from those of you whom I know are into music.

Before the Truffle Shuffle

2009-08-27T12:38:00.002-05:00

So in response to Unbeatable's water shortage post below I tried to find the video of Chunk from the Goonies when he finds the water cooler..."WATER!!!" Followed by Chunk putting his fat mouth under the faucet and water spraying all over his face. Well I couldn't find that particular clip, but instead found the most ridiculous 80s music video EVER. This video has Recon's fingerprints all over it, but hopefully he hasnt seen it so I can make his day. POW!

via http://www.youtube.com/user/adamv2

Water in Israel

2009-08-26T14:24:00.001-05:00

Water is an essential and limited resource that could easily create a global crisis in the near future. Major states put a great deal of effort into securing access to water. The issue of access to water has been one of the most important yet least reported stumbling block to ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Health Care: Profit and Bankruptcy

2009-08-15T23:49:00.004-05:00

From this months Harper's Index:

Percentage change since 2002 in average premiums paid
to large U.S. health-insurance companies:
+87%

Chances that an American bankrupted by medical bills has health-insurance:
7 in 10

Two Reasons Why Norm Macdonald is a Genius

2009-08-11T21:52:00.002-05:00

Money Laundering

2009-08-11T13:45:00.002-05:00

Norm Macdonald's brother has something to say about the economy.

Success Fail

2009-08-07T23:56:00.004-05:00

I can't seems to get this image to appear clearly unless you click on it. I hope the clear image speaks for itself.

Principles In Action

2009-08-06T13:11:00.001-05:00

Black Middle Class

2009-08-04T14:40:00.001-05:00

"All of the information that we have shows that middle class blacks live in neighborhoods that on many measures are more disadvantaged the poor whites. So, more disadvantaged than poor whites, not just more disadvantaged than middle class whites... When I say that I mean still living in neighborhoods with higher poverty, with more crime, with less political clout, less well funded schools, less public investment and it's that comparison that is really stark."

(via sociological images)

English Soil

2009-08-03T13:15:00.001-05:00

Happy Summer, Everyone!

2009-07-21T23:44:00.004-05:00

If you looked up "The Unbeatable Kid" in the dictionary inside my mind, this is what you'd see.

Neutral Race Redux

2009-07-19T13:54:00.002-05:00

Here's Steven Colbert going over some ground that I've covered before. I thought it was worth bringing up.

Future Ed

2009-07-10T10:35:00.003-05:00

Who would have thought that the most unrealistic aspect of the distopian future presented in Robocop was that Detroit will be an industrial hub capable of developing cutting edge prototypes like the ED-209.

USA Shows Some Promise

2009-06-29T20:52:00.003-05:00

That's right all you Landon Donovan haters out there. The US not only made it to the final of the confederations cup but showed some spirit on the way there. The broke the record making winning streak of the Spaniards and led 2-0 at the half against the Brazilians. Not too shabby.

(photo via cleveland.com)

The Moon Rising Over Tiger Hill

2009-06-21T22:19:00.003-05:00

Darjeeling: Early morning, Sunday, February 22nd 2009

You can click on the link for a bigger version of this image.

Another Prediction Winner

2009-06-15T08:37:00.003-05:00

First check any sports website to see who won the NBA championship last night. When you're finished, check my December 1, 2008 prediction. Please note the time difference between prediction and reality. Thank you - and GOOD MORNING.

Roots of Financial Disaster

2009-06-04T18:52:00.003-05:00

This is from a post today by Andrew Leonard:

"Countrywide's example makes a mockery of the idea that government pressure to expand low-income and minority housing can be blamed for the housing boom and bust. Countrywide watered down its underwriting guidelines and gave mortgage loans to anyone who could sign a piece of paper for one reason, and one reason only -- to generate revenue...Growing market share kept Countrywide's stock price high. Wall Street's appetite for securitized mortgage products meant it could unload whatever bad loans it had made as fast as it could repackage them. Government mandates to increase homeownership hardly appear to be a significant factor in Countrywide's sage of greed and stupidity."

Cats

2009-06-02T23:10:00.002-05:00

Readings: Market Fundamentalism

2009-05-28T16:26:00.003-05:00

According to market fundamentalism, all social activities and human interactions should be looked at as transactional, contract-based relationships and valued in terms of a single common denominator, money.

-From The Crisis of Global Capitalism by George Soros

Barcelona Win the Champions League '09

2009-05-27T22:08:00.005-05:00

What a great game that was. And believe it or not, Wayne Rooney proved himself to be incredibly gracious in defeat: "Barcelona are a brilliant team and in my opinion Andres Iniesta is the best player in the world. Against a team like that if you don't take your chances, they will punish you. That is what happened. It is very disappointing and the feeling at the moment is not a good one. We are hurting. But we have to forget it and look forward to next season."

It should be easy to be gracious when you've already won the premier league and the carling cup but it's clear that many Man U players believed that they should be European Champions regardless of the loss to Barca.

Danger from South of the Border

2009-05-21T14:19:00.004-05:00

The swine flu? OMG that is so two weeks ago.

Seriously, what is it with people in the US and freaking out about things crossing our southern border. If it's not some disease, then it's people, or criminals or even bees.

Killer bees that is.

(image via percussivity)

Artifacts of Racism

2009-05-20T14:36:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to take this opportunity to remind people how overt racism in the US just a few generations ago.

These "licenses" were very common in the 40's and were not a joke. Race relations really used to be that bad.

Globalization: Boom and Bust in Saipan

2009-05-19T18:10:00.001-05:00

I had a couple of comments to add. First, Adam Yamaguchi's comment, "this reminds me of Detroit" was on point. I lived in Michigan for years and even before the housing crisis much of Detroit and other manufacturing towns had already been abandoned.

Second, do most Americans even know that Saipan is part of the American territories? Saipan is in fact the capitol of the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands.

Third, gender doesn't seem to be addressed much in this video. The garment workers as you can see are largely female. The massive influx of female garment workers has completely thrown off the sex ratio of the island.

Forth, Saipan and its efforts to circumvent US trade laws were directly involved in the Jack Abramoff scandals. Remember that guy?

Cold Rain

2009-05-18T08:43:00.004-05:00

Last night, I dreamed about French snow. I was at some kind of ski lodge or something and a large number of my friends and acquaintances were all mingling outside. Someone I've known for a long time told me that she was getting married and wondered if I could teach her to speak french so that she could impress her husband.

I told her that French is a really easy language to learn. All you need to know is:

1. "devoir" is the verb to indicate that something is nessessary. "je dois" means "I must."
2. "Il pleut" means "it's raining."
3. "Il neige" also means "it's raining" but in this case it's a kind of a strange cold rain.

I'm not sure why I considered those phrases to be the entirety of the French language or why I choose to translate "neige" as "a strange cold rain" instead of the more common "snow."

This Kick is Ridiculous

2009-05-13T11:08:00.001-05:00

(via milkandcookies)

Special Cup

2009-04-29T22:12:00.003-05:00

That's right folks. This guy finally got the gold in special cup for Mario Kart Wii. This marks the first time I've played Wii by myself other than Wii Fit since I got the machine, and while it would have been nice to celebrate with some of the crew - I will take the victory. Daisy unlocked.

Hooray!

2009-04-28T22:40:00.003-05:00

The "left" is tingling with excitement at Arlen Spector's recent announcement that he would change his party affiliation from R to D. You all know what that means: we can all look forward to one more Democratic asshole parading around in the senate.

As if we needed any more proof that party affiliation is next to meaningless.

I'm Not a Doctor But I Play One On TV

2009-04-28T21:20:00.000-05:00

Last month, a study in the journal, Resusitation, found that many medical students and residents were preforming intubations incorrectly because "they had learned the procedure from watching medical dramas."*

The National Post has a good article on the study that's worth checking out.

-----
Brindley PG, Needham C. Positioning prior to endotracheal intubation on a television medical drama: Perhaps life mimics art. Resuscitation. 2009 Mar 16

Racism Coverage

2009-04-27T21:41:00.004-05:00

Did anyone see any news coverage of the recent Durban Review Conference on Racism? I'm interested because like Bush before him, Obama has decided not to participate in this international effort against "Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance." I haven't been following the news lately so I was hoping to hear from anyone about the coverage or lack thereof.

The Road to the Top

2009-04-27T17:14:00.005-05:00

It looks like I'll be starting my own practice again since my latest "job" fell through.

This time, I'm doing it right and doing it right starts with the right business card. Thank God that the internet is there to advise me on such matters.

This video is really more appropriate for Recon's blog so this is going to be one of those rare double posts.

Iced Cream

2009-04-22T12:51:00.001-05:00

I had a dream last night that I was eating ice cream. But not just ice cream, more like a bucket of ice cream

How to Define It

2009-04-19T18:08:00.005-05:00

Ok, people, here's your chance to share some of that "lernin" you're always bragging about.

The question of the day is: What is science?

I know that a bunch of you are actually scientists of some sort so you guys get bonus points for participation. I have some ideas of my own but I thought that I'd open up the floor a bit first. I'm not asking for a monograph or research paper just let us all know what you think science is.

And, Recon, I've got dibs on "science is anything with lasers."

(photo, "M.S. Strock measuring radio lengths at the Bureau of Standards," via shorpy)

Here I Go Again...

2009-04-17T16:23:00.005-05:00

I know that I complain about the media way too much. I know. But this takes the cake.

Yesterday, Obama released some documents from the Bush administrations Office of Legal Council. These documents discussed in frank terms the torture of detainees. Then today, CNN convened a panel to speak to such issues raised by these memos as the legality of past acts of the executive branch and the possibility/desirability of prosecutions of said criminality? And, who did they pick for this panel?

Joan Walsh of Salon.com, Jeffery Tuber (CNN's legal analyst), and G. Gorden Liddy.

Yes, G. Gorden Liddy. The same G. Gorden Liddy who was not merely accused of but convicted of conspiracy, burglary and illegal wire tapping in the Watergate scandal. I guess one way of looking at it is that he's an expert on doing illegal things within the executive branch but come on. And surprise surprise, Liddy ends up arguing that what happened wasn't torture and that no one should investigate or prosecute anyone in the government. CNN probably felt that in order to be "objective" that they would need a a panel member who would be willing to argue that what happened wasn't torture and Liddy was the only guy they could find. I'm not even going to link to this bullshit.

Could I Really Be This Right?

2009-04-17T13:19:00.006-05:00

Do any of you out there remember when, a week ago, I made some predictions about which policies are most likely to change under the Obama Administration? Well, I didn't expect instant gratification and frankly I'm not sure what to think about how right I seem to be. If you don't know what I'm talking about, take a look at some headlines from the last few days news:

U.S. says ready to talk to Cuba

Relations between US, Cuba seem within reach

And I really don't feel comfortable saying this but if you read this blog you literally heard it here first folks*.

---------
Actually, you literally read it here first but you know what I mean.

How Liberal is my Media

2009-04-16T10:54:00.002-05:00

So, we've had almost no coverage of the many often massive antiwar protests over the last six years and yet now some nonsense about tea parties is getting tons of airtime with FOX practically sponsoring the events.

And still, I can't see much more than a few hundred people at any of the b-roll footage. I've been to bigger protests to keep the Friends spin off Joey on the air. Maybe, the real lesson could be that every good protest should be a double entendre.

Here's my quote of the day from one such tea party: "Government -- to be honest with you, and this will probably be misquoted, but on 9/11, I think they hit the wrong building. They should have gone into the Capitol building, hit out, knocked out both sides of the aisle, we'd start from scratch, we'd be better off today."

(quote from salon.com article by Mike Madden)

Some Questions on Banking

2009-04-14T16:30:00.003-05:00

Having now moved to DC, I have been forced to switch banks since my old bank is a Michigan bank and only has branches in Michigan. Does that strike anyone else as strange? I've lived in five different states and every time had to have a different bank. There are probably at least five fast food chains with restaurants in every state in the union but most banks limit there branches to something like a 300 square mile radius. Sears, the retailer that sells tractors and other gianormous objects has no problem shipping their wares all over the country yet most banks can't manage to ship their digital ones and zeros to the next state over.

The other thing is that my new banks is constantly confusing me with their "product" talk. For example, I went into the bank yesterday and wanted to make some adjustments to my "free" checking account so that it would actually be free. After a few minutes, the teller totally confused me by asking me "what product are you in?." So, apparently, a checking account is a product. When did this happen? Is banking a product or a service?

Clarence Thomas

2009-04-13T11:25:00.002-05:00

The NYTimes has a nice piece that looks inside the mind of Unbeatable's favorite Supreme Court Justice. As the article mentions, this type of "informal" interview is rare for Thomas.

I have to say, that when I reminisce about childhood memories, I typically start with the joyous act of saying the pledge of allegiance in unison. Just imagine having that thought process for one day.

Predictions: Obama Administration

2009-04-10T17:37:00.006-05:00

Heard it here first folks!

The two policies that I feel are most likely to actually change in the Obama administration:

1. Drug policy - I think the US is really ready to look at how are current drug policies are harming our criminal justice, immigration and pubic health systems not to mention the racial and class hypocrisies it embodies.
2. Relations with Cuba - I mean come on already, the Soviet Union ended in 1991 and even Castro isn't exactly what he used to be.

Guns in the holsters.

The Devil is in the Dream Tales

2009-04-06T17:11:00.001-05:00

I'm not really sure what I dreamed about last night but I know that it included the devil, a creature with probiscii for arms and when I woke up in the middle of the night I felt compelled to make sure the doors were locked.

(image via wallpapers)

The War Isn't Over

2009-04-06T11:55:00.002-05:00

Two years ago the Bush administration choose to increase the number of combat and noncombat troops in Iraq in a so called "surge." The administration was adamant that this was a temporary surge and vehemently denied that it was an escalation. For all the talk about drawing down in Iraq, Obama still hasn't reduced the number of troops below presurge levels. We still have more troops in Iraq than we did in 2006. Does that sound like a withdrawal?

Reuben Margolin

2009-04-05T14:39:00.001-05:00

(via milkandcookies)

The Average Man Knows Race

2009-04-03T20:00:00.005-05:00

One of the most annoying things about race in America is that it takes complex notions of culture, nation, and identity and tries to map them onto the mind-numbingly simple binary of black and white. Or more accurately, white and non-white.

The justices never said what whiteness was, only what it wasn't. These days, the term minority has come to be a more inclusive version of blackness and the levels of racism are far less intense than ever before but much of the same racial dynamics still apply. For example, consider that there is now PC term for whiteness that corresponds with minority. In theory, the term should be "majorities", but have you ever heard of anyone refer to someone as a majority or majorities? Minority status and what it means to be a minority in the US is a topic that people spend a lot of time trying to describe and understand but "whiteness" doesn't even have a similar term and is a fitting topic only for race conscious comedians.

Like in the Ozawa case and the Thind case, does America construct a common notion of race by defining what whiteness is not and not what it is? Although far from universally accepted among all American subcultures, my gut tells me that in the mainstream there can be no common definition of what whiteness is because to a large degree to be white is to be human. Whiteness is meaningless* because a white person is just a normal human or a member of what could be called the normative race while are normal humans plus their racial identity.

I would call this an assimilation based definition of race because at it's heart it constructs the idea of race as a measure of assimilation into mainstream American culture. Whiteness means full assimilation and normative status. Minority status means having an additional non-assimilated identity. There is the sense that if you're white you would have to add on blackness or asianness to become more black or asian but if you're black or asian you would need to remove your blackness or asianness to become more white.

It is important to note that unlike in the past this additional status is no longer viewed in solely negative terms and is even described as desirable.** We've certainly come a long way since the days of the California Alien Land Law (which by the way wasn't struck down until 1952 in Sei Fuji v. State of California). But on the other hand, I do have a problem with this view of race as favor or race as bonus identity because it ends up trivializing*** the severe racial biases in current society and tends to overlook the extremely dark history of American race relations. These biases are so easy to find in the US legal system, the health care system, the education system, the political system, and the economic system that they pop up with even a cursory analysis.

UPDATE!

The blog Stuff White People Do is an outstanding blog that takes a deep look at whiteness and what it means in the context of non-white identity. Highly recommended.

-------------
*Here is a great example of a meaningless description of whitness.
**For an example of a blog absolutely dripping with the notion that minority status can become desirable check out this blog.
***It doesn't get much more trivial than this.

The Man and the Mustache

2009-03-28T17:11:00.003-05:00

Up until recently, the most common google keyword search that led people to my blog was some version of "facts about hitler." Posts such as Completely Untrue Facts about Hitler, A Simple Misunderstanding, and Appeasement Please were somehow being found this way. The first few months this happened I wasn't sure whether to be happy for the traffic or disturbed by what it might imply about humanity that my fairly un-hitler-centric blog had tapped into this niche market. But alas, these days, the search terms that bring people here are things like "bananaman" and "nerd with glasses," much more apropos of the content.

While we're on the topic, Recon and I thought up this image awhile ago but I've been scared to post it because I find it hilarious. Sorry.

M'Lady

2009-03-27T12:06:00.007-05:00

Last June, Patricia Scotland became the first black woman to be appointed to the position of attorney general in Britain. Here she is doing what no US attorney general would ever lower themself to do:

And this is where things get a little weird for me. Because Mrs. Scotland has a life peerage or something like that, she is generally referred to in the press not as Mrs. Scotland but as Lady Scotland (her full title is Baroness Scotland of Asthal). Does that strike anyone else as weird. Lady Scotland? Take this headline from the News of the World for example:

Lady Scotland is a black woman who might become Britain's man in the US? I always imagined Lady Scotland as a women of myth who rides down from the sky on a cloud carriage and gifts hungry children with hagus from her enchanted shovel.

Inappropriate Tattoos

2009-03-26T15:06:00.002-05:00

In Argentina, passions for football can run pretty high. This is especially true for fans of the top club teams and traditional rivals, Boca Juniors and River Plate. In fact, I would recommend that any Boca Juniors fan who wants a tattoo of the Boca Juniors logo on their back should be careful to make sure that the tattoo artist is not a fan of River Plate because that tattoo artist might pretend to ink the logo and instead secretly draw a giant penis on the poor kid's back. The victim in this not exactly hypothetical case is quoted as saying, "I could not see what he was tattooing because he didn't have a mirror. I only saw it when I got home and showed it to my parents."

(story via iol)

Battlefield Humor

2009-03-25T09:49:00.005-05:00

Friend: We should go on a day trip to somewhere near DC this weekend.

S: We could go to Gettysburg. My professor went there a few weeks ago and he loved it. It's real close too. Right there in Virgina or something.

Me: Gettysburg is not in Virgina. I can't believe that you don't know where one of the most important battles in American history took place.

S: Well, I'm sorry but I don't know... the Gettysburg address.

Everyone within earshot: Oh no you didn't!

(photo Gettysburg: Waiting Artillery by Oberazzi)

Forms of Awe

2009-03-24T22:48:00.002-05:00

This is a little weird. If a thing has some awe, it's awesome. But, if it's full of awe, it's awful.

Just a thought.

Rip Van Blogo

2009-03-23T15:00:00.008-05:00

Well, wing-a-ding-ding what the hell happened to me and my blog? One day I run off to India and the next we're more estranged than the original cast of Three's Company. I know that this isn't my job or anything and it certainly doesn't pay the bills but DAMN.

It's time for the third act, you know, the one where the hero gets over his own nagging self doubts, gets back to his roots and mixes some drinks epic enough to convince Elizabeth Shue to get back together with me.

I STILL GOT IT!!!

But anyway, not too much going on over here in DC. I have an interview tomorrow and thereby a real shot at some meaningful employment. That's good. On the other hand, I did just find out that I will was not accepted into any grad schools for the second year in a row. So, sometimes you gotta take the good with the bad and write a blog about it.

P.S. How bad of a sign is it that I've begun to confuse myself with Tom Cruise?

India Ahoy!

2009-02-14T13:28:00.002-05:00

Not that I've exactly been the Carl Ripkin Jr. of blogs lately but I'm on my way to India for 2 weeks. See you on the other side suckers.

Vietnam: Love It or Leave It - Part II

2009-02-09T13:58:00.002-05:00

A retreat of the US from Vietnam would be a Communist victory of massive proportions and would lead to World War Three.

- Richard Nixon

Readings: Incan Economy

2009-02-08T15:40:00.007-05:00

Not the least surprising feature of this economic system was that if functioned without money. True, the lack of currency did not surprise the Spanish invaders -- much of Europe did without money until the eighteenth century. But, the Inka did not even have markets. Economists would predict that this nonmarket economy -- vertical socialism it has been called--would produce gross inefficiencies. These surely occurred, but the errors were of surplus, not want. The Spanish invaders were stunned to find warehouses overflowing with untouched cloth and supplies. But to the Inka the brimming coffers signified prestige and plenty; It was all part of the plan. Most important, Tawantinsuyu "managed to irradicate hunger," the Peruvian novelist Mario Varsa Llosa noted.

- From 1491 by Charles Mann (p. 81)

She Works Hard for the Money

2009-02-07T11:09:00.007-05:00

More good news about the current economic catastrophe! It's balancing out the jobs to gender ratio.

The image on the right is a little deceptive seeing as it shows the share of jobs spanning the years 1965 to 2008 with most of the changes occurring between 1965 and 1990.

Putting all this "good news" about the financial mess on my blog is making me feel like a pundit on FOX.

And all you feminists out there will be happy to note that the incoming congress (the one-happy 111th) has more women than any other in history. With 17 senators (17%) and 75 congresswomen (17%) couple with the massive power that is wielded by the modern congress, we are basically living in a matriarchy.

(via NYT and sociological images)

Hicks and Letterman

2009-01-31T22:32:00.003-05:00

I happened to tune into the Late Show last night to see Letterman being extraordinarily gracious to deceased comedian Bill Hicks. Totally floored me. Kudos to Dave.

For the intro and full appearance of Mary Hicks on Letterman, check out youtube clips 1, and 2.

Vietnam: Love It or Leave It

2009-01-29T17:19:00.006-05:00

Over the past few weeks, I've been reading this really thought provoking book, "Lies My Teacher Told Me", by James Loewen. The books is a spirited discussion of the many problems with high school American History textbooks - what general themes they follow, why they occur, who is responsible for them and how they could be solved. I highly recommend it since it makes for easy and compelling reading.

Near the end of the book, Loewen presents an exercise that I wanted to duplicate here in the hopes that you, dear reader, might be inspired to participate. Here it is:

In January, 1971 the Gallup Poll asked: "A proposal has been made in Congress to require the U.S. government to bring home all U.S. troops before the end of this year. Would you like to have your congressman vote for or against this proposal?" Estimate the results, by education, by filling in this table:

Please list percentages that you would use to fill in the empty parts of the chart in order left to right on the top row then left to right on the bottom. Then, briefly state two reasonable hypotheses to explain these results.

My Brother Deserves a Medal

2009-01-27T20:54:00.002-05:00

On an earlier post, I dedicated a few words to Captain Awesome himself: Mike Piazza. In that post I talked about how he was a part of my favorite moment at Shea stadium, where he hit a 2-run game winning home run in the first game back in NY after 9/11. I went to that game with 3 friends from the old Fordham U., and we all decided to put current events behind us, paint our faces with American flags and go have a great time watching Mets baseball.

During the game some reporter who claimed to be from the LA Times took our picture, but I never got to see the fruits of our labor (or at least the lady friends recruited to paint our faces). Well now thanks to my awesome brother Keith, I found out that we did make in on TV that night. So without further delay, I present my first and only appearance on a Mets Broadcast. Feel free to skip ahead, but my appearance is only 1:12 into the video, so start to pay attention at 1:11 (it is only 1min so just watch and let the drama build up for that time). Lets Go Mets!

TARP Quotes

2009-01-27T10:35:00.013-05:00

Here are two quotes concerning the federal bailouts from Rep. Alan Grayson (seen below with some sweet sweet facial hair) that I found to be worthy of further thought. These are from an interview in Salon.

"How can anybody be other than angry to see something like this happening. If they took that same money, $4,000 for every man woman and child in American, and they simply wrote checks to people that would end forclosures, it would stop the drop in the housing market, it would put a significant dent in our unemployment problem. Instead they take that money...they lend it to people who we don't know, they get back stuff we can't understand and we're the ones left holding the bag."

"What we're doing in reality is we're lending the banks billions upon billions upon billions of dollars in the hopes that they will lend it back to us. I say let's cut out the middle man."

Greyson's idea to "cut out the middle man" in the financial crisis is something that I've been pondering for awhile now. Banks and other financial institutions use money to make money. They give people and organizations money in form of loans and they collect a price for this service in the form of interest. Money is the product that they produce and sell. Does giving financial institutions money so that they can turn around and loan it at profit if they so choose make sense? Of course, representatives of the Fed (Federal Reserve) have been saying that they are actually loaning this money instead of merely donating it. But, this is little more than vague assurance since they refuse to disclose exactly what they're doing to anyone.

UPDATE!

Let me put this even more simply. There is a cycle of money that is easy to follow.

Phase 1: The government gives/lends money to the banks.
Phase 2: The banks lend that money to people and/or businesses that need money.
Phase 3: These people and businesses give money to the government in the form of taxes.

Now, given the above cycle, here are the points that I find interesting. Caveat: Some of the following rehashes what I say before this update.

First, I'm still unsure to what extent the government is giving vs. lend money in phase 1. Actually, I think that this distinction has been made intentional unclear by the Fed . What I'm quite sure of is that if the money is lent to the banks it will not be returned in full and certainly not with interest.

Second, while the money is coming from the government of the United States, the distribution of this money is controlled by the Fed which is best described as a quasi-governmental institution. The Fed has members appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate but also has members and significant input from it's member banks. Again, I'm no expert on how the Fed makes decisions but I'm pretty sure that it is a hybrid institution of both the government and the banking system. These are the people that are giving/lending money to the banks.

Third, and probably most important, the banks lend money at interest. I mentioned this point in the original post but I just want to highlight it again here. Collecting interest is like skimming money off of the cycle. Or we could think of the cycle as an engine that drives profit at the banks.

Fourth, the banks have more control over lending money than any other part of the cycle. As the post illustrates, Congress is having trouble even simply accounting for how their money is spent. When people and business give their tax money to the government, their control over its distribution is limited to their ability to elect the government and advocate for its policies.

Fifth, apparently, there aren't even assurances that the money given to banks and other financial institutions is being loaned out at all. If they aren't even loaning it, God knows what they are doing with it but it's a good bet that it's something more profitable than merely loaning it out at interest.

This is how I see the state of the TARP program and the cycle of money that it generates. If anyone disagrees with my extremely simple minded analysis, I would be happy to hear alternate viewpoints.

Inverted Point of View

2009-01-26T22:27:00.003-05:00

While reading an article in the Wall Street Journal a few minutes ago, I got the sudden desire to try an exercise in inversion.

First, the original article:

Afghan Guards Confound U.S. Forces

Armed private security companies are proliferating in Afghanistan, presenting a challenge for American forces struggling to discern the identities and loyalties of the employees.

Then, the inverted article:

U.S. Forces Confound Afghans

U.S. military forces are proliferating in Afghanistan, presenting a challenge for Afghans struggling to discern the identities and loyalties of these foreign troops.

Off the Sauce

2009-01-06T14:39:00.005-05:00

The Kimya Dawson 10 Years Off the Sauce Show was off the hook. A bunch of great acts and a chance to see old friends. It was great to hear songs that tell the story of people's experience of addiction and recovery. We haven't really had too much exposure to that kind of experience since the end of the "War on Drugs".

(via icanhascheezburger)

Home-made Siren

2009-01-03T18:48:00.002-05:00

A line of cop cars just went by on the street outside my house. The cop cars had their lights on but no sirens. Well, one unmarked car didn't have a siren on but the cop was leaning out the window yelling "Whoa whoa whoa!"

Good News Everyone

2008-12-20T17:23:00.000-05:00

Good news if you're Lou Dobbs! Soon the US economy will be so bad that mexicans and other south of the border types won't be immigrating here for the jobs that don't exist. Hooray! Everyone wins!

In His Pocket

2008-12-19T16:47:00.000-05:00

How good is Dimitar Berbatov? Well, watch him beat this defender as nonchalantly as if he's hailing a cab. Incredible skill and incredible calm.

The big Bulgarian has been one of my favorite players for quite some time now.

Good Answer

2008-12-18T12:41:00.001-05:00

Q: Which single item would you like to take to a remote island?

A: I would not go to the island in the first place. I would be too alone.

Q: If you were invisible for one day - what would you do?

A: My wife would probably say I would go into the city so I could saunter around and go about my business invisibly but, at my age, I don't have the patience for such things.

Q: If you were not a footballer - what would you be?

A: I would probably still be at the weaving mill in Nerdlingen where I worked until I was 16.

From an interview with football great, Gerd Muller

Grinds My Gears

2008-12-15T09:15:00.003-05:00

So the news has been all over the latest Bush bonanza with constant analysis of the shoe throwing incident. While I do admit that the video clip is completely hilarious and actually admire Bush's reaction (the fact that his first emotional reaction was to laugh is pretty damn awesome), do we really need "ANALYSIS"?

Every opening segment starts with: "shoe throwing is considered a deep insult in the Arab culture." Really? In America it is actually considered an act of affection. In fact, nothing says I love you more than a shoe slap across the face.

Ok, I'm done.

Controlling Visions of Palestine

2008-12-12T12:11:00.002-05:00

Indian Superstars

2008-12-10T23:31:00.002-05:00

I cannot contain my excitement at finding out that Aasif Mandvi is Indian. No more hanging my head in shame over M Night Shyamalan and Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Paging Dr. Mandvi - Political Genes

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Fat Enough to Rip the Mic

2008-12-04T21:21:00.007-05:00

Whatever god it is that rules over synchronicity is throwing a literal ton of fat singers at me these days. It started a few days ago when Recon and another old friend entirely independently posted some old Fat Boys videos. In case you missed out on the 80s, the Fat Boys rocked the house. The human beat box alone should have an entire wing in the hip hop hall of fame to himself and don't get me started on "Disorderlies."

Then, this came up and has been making the rounds on the feminist blogs. The singer Amanda Palmer got into a bit of a tiff with her record label because they wanted to digitally alter her image and she refused. They wanted to make her look less fat. Oh, and by less fat, I mean that they wanted to move her from the normal human look to the grossly underweight look. If the music industry wasn't so consistently incompetent, I might think the whole thing was a publicity stunt to stir up some buzz amongst online feminists.

Those of you who read my blog should know by now that I have a history of complaining about the music industry and the Amanda Palmer incident seems more of the same. Palmer is the real deal. In that vein, I thought that I would mention a certain woman named Etta James.

Plenty of people have great voices but few people can actually sing. Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera both have astonishing vocal skill and wail on some classic jazz numbers but to what end? I know people who love these singers but when I listen to them I hear the ability and it doesn't do much for me otherwise. Here are links to "At Last" as sung by Christina Aguilera and by Etta James. Take a listen and see what you think.

FYI this is what Etta James looked like as a young singer:

Another great photo and yet I shudder to think what a music industry exec would have to say about the girl in it if she was trying to break into the business today. Luckily, we'll all avoid such showbiz cruelty since the new movie about Etta's life will star Beyoncé and I doubt that she'll be putting on weight for the role.

Update!
Pandagon has a post on the new movie "Cadillac Records." It includes a this video of James singing "Something's Got a Hold on Me."

Understanding Health Care

2008-12-02T23:29:00.003-05:00

Part 1:
I once tried to explain to a Norwegian woman why it was so hard for me to find health insurance. I'd had breast cancer, I told her, and she looked at me blankly. "But then you really need insurance, right?" Of course, and that's why I couldn't have it.

- Barbara Ehrenreich

Part 2:
Check out the US and Cuba sitting right next to each other. Can you say outlier?

(quote via Project Censcored's Practices in Health Care and chart via the Atlas of Global Inequality)

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST FOLKS!

2008-12-01T13:59:00.003-05:00

I wanted to wait and see if Bynum was healthy, so I apologize for the late pick. But while the season is still young I would like to give you all a little insight:

Lakers Win. That's right, I national championship for the 08-09 season. I wish I could predict the opposing team, but it really doesn't matter.

Chomsky and Foucault

2008-11-30T21:25:00.000-05:00

Nancy Reagan's Faults

2008-11-29T21:52:00.001-05:00

Here's a quote from an old* Washington Post article:

"Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography" is the portrait of a woman who schemed her way into marriage, treated her mother horribly, was big on astrology, treated her children horribly, always insisted on everything for free, treated the help horribly, once tried marijuana and didn't like it, nicknamed George Bush "Whiney," and, in general, treated everyone horribly."

Is believing in astrology really that horrible?

========
*April 8th 1991 by David Streitfeld

Peter Schiff Smackdown

2008-11-28T13:05:00.004-05:00

In the interest of accountability, please watch this series of clips. The whole thing.

Consumption is the problem. Lack of production is the problem. Lack of savings is the problem. Finally, someone who makes sense amidst the dizzy ramblings of wanton shills.

Here's part of what what Schiff has to say today:

When it comes to bailouts, the real discussions are not centered in Washington but rather in Beijing, Tokyo, and Riyadh. With no money of our own, our ability to bailout our own citizens is completely dependent on the world's willingness to foot the bill. While I am sure that Bush and Paulson are doing their best to convince the world that open ended financing of the United States is in the global interest, my guess is that, unlike Congress, our foreign creditors will see through the self-serving nature of our plea.

I don't agree with all of Schiff's proposed solutions (he's clearly a free market Reaganite and I most certainly am not) but he certainly deserves to be listened to.

Readings: Smoking and Gender

2008-11-25T13:28:00.001-05:00

Men are 15 times more likely to smoke than their female compatriots in China today, with the rate of male cigarette usage hovering around 60 percent, whereas among women it is less than 4 percent. The effects of these radically divergent smoking rates on mortality are unsurprisingly stark. By the early 1990s, tobacco was already responsible for 1 in 8 male deaths (compared to 1 in 33 for women). If current trends persist, by 2050 1 in 3 male deaths will be tobacco-related. Perhaps even more arresting, during the next fifty years, no less than 100 million Chinese men are likely to be killed by cigarette usage. One might expect that the cigarette-ravaged beneficiaries of what Connel calls the “patriarchal dividend” would be strong accelerants for popular protest. That has not been the case.

- Matthew Kohrman from Depoliticizing Tobacco's Exceptionality

There's No Tear in My Beer

2008-11-21T15:26:00.005-05:00

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I hope that Bush gets the full Nixon treatment.

And, color me impressed that CNN finally has the technological capacity to enter search terms into google. I just put the terms "CNN" and "boneheads" into the google and got 54,000 hits so what does that prove?

Sex Ed and Driver's Ed

2008-11-18T16:29:00.004-05:00

The other day, S and I got into a disagreement about sex ed in the US. I finally found some support from a source that is as convincing as it is amusing.

DanSavageonSexEducation

If for some reason the embedded player doesn't, work try this link.

Click here for the whole interview and here and go to the 11:00 show for the awful discussion that set me off in the first place.

Great Leaders Think A Like

2008-11-18T14:31:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, I spent a Saturday evening with some friends watching Return of the Jedi special edition. I say special edition because we skipped most scenes that didn't have Admiral Akbar in them. It's all about Admiral Akbar and his clear head in the face of nearly insurmountable odds.

Oh Balls

2008-11-16T14:42:00.002-05:00

“I am going to hang Saakashvili by the balls,” Mr Putin declared.

Mr Sarkozy thought he had misheard. “Hang him?” — he asked.

“Why not?” Mr Putin replied. “The Americans hanged Saddam Hussein.”

Mr Sarkozy, using the familiar tu, tried to reason with him: “Yes but do you want to end up like [President] Bush?”

Mr Putin was briefly lost for words, then said: “Ah — Touché.”

(via The London Times and Glen Greenwald)