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This one has got to be the long shot of the year. It has happened before. A rather hefty woman was hit by a larger rock that came through her roof some decades ago; a car boot got well dented by another in the last decade; and I think a dog got killed or injured by one. From the smiling face I assume she had good sensible shoes on and is not now walking with a limp. August 31st, 2002 | Comments are closed
 I’ve been reading a few items on genetics recently and have also run across some assorted blog articles on the topic at Gene Expression. I must admit it’s caused much thoughtful daydreaming on my part: enough, perhaps, for several articles. For now I’ll settle on one item. Race simply doesn’t matter much any more and is becoming less and less of an issue as each generation goes by. The US Census showed interracial marriage accelerated drastically in the last decade in America; and I have it on the best of anecdotal data from fellow editor Perry de Havilland the same is true in London. I think I know why. Let’s look at the generations of the last century. In a personal sense I can “reach back” to 1910 when my grandparents were born. From there I can follow the evolution of attitudes over 20 year generational intervals. 1910-1930: This generation grew up with racism as a philosophically backed reality of every day life. The underpinnings of the Nazi Aryan hypothesis were everywhere and were not just a Nazi invention. Adolph the Paper-Hanger didn’t really invent much. He just dipped into the turn of the century philosophy and ripped the arse out of it. This is not to say the Western World was Nazi or that my grandparents were; only that all existed within the same philosophical milieu. 1930-1950.: This generation was taught racism from the cradle, but grew up with World War II. They saw the horrors of the previous generation’s ideas taken to their most utterly extreme conclusion and had no choice but to reject them. Thereafter they were like church goers who have no faith but attend because mommy and daddy did, and continue to live the values they were taught because it is what they know. Ideas in motion tend to stay in motion. 1950-1970: The generation of Woodstock. They were given a very watered down version of racism from their parents and easily rejected it because there was nothing behind it. Their parents racism was a hollow sham. Even their parents were losing faith as they grew older. The only thing holding back interracial marriage was an unwillingness to face the family nightmare that would ensue from grandparents and parents. This shows up in songs: Janis Ian’s hit “Society’s Child” and the later song by the Stories, “Brother Louie” come easily to mind. 1970-1990: Their parents had lusted after members of other races but didn’t do anything much about it. What little racism they recieved from mom and dad was a pass through of deference to the grandparents. When they came of age in the 90’s they started miscenegating like rabbits – thus the Census results. We can expect this trend to simply accelerate until there are no “races” in the US, UK, Canada and many other Western nations. I accept that my generation limits are arbitrary, but almost any cohort blocking you chose will still grow up with the above period-piece home environments. Some regions will be time-shifted one way or the other, so not everyone will “be here now”. I’m discussing trends, not particulars. Race as a basis for pretty much anything is a dead issue in 2002. The Tranzis’ just won’t let us bury the corpse. August 31st, 2002 | 9 comments - (Comments are closed)
I actually can’t blame the whole two nights on Pearl Harbour. I must admit that the following had a bit to do with the lack of sleep as well:
With little effort you can find a lot more information on the many warship wrecks around the world. ones that can be dived on; ones that are being conserved for historical value and ones that are off limits war graves like HMS Royal Oak at Scapa Flow. Go forth and lose thy sleep! August 30th, 2002 | Comments are closed
I’m in a serious state of sleep deprivation and it is all the fault of the Internet for supplying such incredible information. I’ve been on the net since the 70’s and I still have a sense of wonder at it all. I sometimes feel I am living in the Science Fiction novels of my youth. This item on the history, archaeology and conservation at Pearl Harbour is absolutely guaranteed to keep any naval history buff up for the night. There is a more serious side as well. This quote, found in the above referenced document, is something for our enemies to consider well and long as we approach a solemn day of remembrance:
We will never forget. There will be wreaths laid on a Pennsylvania field for centuries if not millennia into the future. In a thousand years there will be those among the stars who trace their ancestry to America as Americans do to England. As the history of England is an inseparable part of American history, so too will the terrible events of last year – and of December 7th, 1941 – be part of the soul of those who come after us. August 30th, 2002 | Comments are closed
The Boston Globe printed new poll results on Thursday, August 29th which show support for the repeal of the state income tax has grown from 30% to 40%. The poll was conducted by KRC Communications Research (Democratic pollsters). It was based on a survey of 801 likely voters. What is even more exciting about these results is the poll occurred before the Massachusetts LP’s full page supporting ad appeared in the Globe. This is getting very interesting! For more information try the Small Government web site, Carla Howell for Governor or Michael Cloud for US Senate  August 30th, 2002 | Comments are closed
Next month just might be the month it finally happens: a non-government rocket may finally cross the boundary into space. Ky Michaelson’s Civilian Space eXploration Team (CSXT) has got the i’s dotted and the t’s crossed with the bureaucrats and are now ready for the easy part: sending their rocket up to 62 miles from a Nevada test range. The officially defined altitude at which space begins is 50 miles. I wish them luck and godspeed. August 30th, 2002 | Comments are closed
When Janis Ian wrote her first article on the rather big shop of horrors the music industry has become, she expected it would be read by the usual few fans and industry friends who visit her web site. Boy was she ever wrong! Janis was not fully aware of the magnitude of the war raging across the Internet between “us” the consumers (and lowly creators) of music and “them” the parasitic entities of “Big Music”. At the very least she did not expect a huge organized opposition ready and willing to adopt her as a figurehead. She should have known better and I mean that in a very positive way. Read her response to it all and you will see what I mean. This is one extremely intelligent woman, someone who is far more than a well known songwriter. She understands the business of music and how to make a living off it. She knows how to research, learn and synthesize technical issues in short order. She’s also a very nice person who took the time and trouble to individually and personally respond to many strangers who contacted her. One of them was myself and she and I had a lovely email chat. We grew up only a few short miles apart in the Ohio River Valley in the same time period and we both started writing songs early on so there is a bit of commonality Of course the difference is her songs were great and she is justifiably famed for them, whereas mine were merely okay and I am perhaps justifiably unfamous. What is important to those of us who have never reached her heights in the “biz” is her inside knowledge that the Majors are just as sleazy, just as crooked and just as intent on screwing the last possible dime out of the artist as any of us ever imagined we knew. If you have any interest in music or in keeping culture open, read what she has to say. Oh, and by the way… go buy some of her records. She’s a really nice lady and deserves your support. August 17th, 2002 | Comments are closed
I always enjoyed the Village Voice. It’s one of those publications that may gladden or infuriate, sometimes in the same issue, but will always tell the truth as they see it. They are invariably interesting to read, far more so than the bland uptown (well midtown: NY Times overlooks Times Square) papers. It was also my neighborhood paper for a good part of two years, so I got in the habit of reading it over a morning coffee at the Sidewalk Cafe. Today I ran across this fascinating article. I have long wondered, and by long I mean twenty years or more, whether the city as we know it can survive the amplification of capabilities of “one man working alone”. My own suspicion is the combination of information technology and nanotechnology will allow humanity to disperse at the same time low density becomes a matter of safety. But even under the more dire of possible future histories, I cannot see us doing without places like New York. We need the energy and creativty and well, life of it. Many cities may die, but the cultural centres will live on, even if they have to be rebuilt and repopulated once a generation.  Hollywood film crew on street below August 15th, 2002 | Comments are closed
After many years I’ve finally ‘gotten around to’ reading Richard Dawkins famous book “The Extended Phenotype”. I’m only in the early chapters as yet, reading about his explanatory struggles. He has battled for years with those of little comprehension. They simply cannot seem to “get it” that genetic change can create conditions which modify or encourage a behavior but does not determine it. I sat back and pondered his predicament awhile. I ran through a number of thought experiments. Rejected a few… and settled on this one. Perhaps poor Dr Dawkins will find it of minor assistance the next time he discovers himself cornered by slow learners. Imagine an alternate world in which early Smurfs are predated upon by a rather strange alien beast. The creature is sort of protoplasmic and wimpy but hides in trees and cliffs just out of reach and sight of the average purple hunter gatherer. It likes to drop on them and kills rather quickly if it succeeds. If it misses it still has a second chance because it can move very fast and agilely for short distances, perhaps a few tens of meters. The best strategy for our little band is to spot the beast as it peaks over the edge of its perch and bounce a good size rock off the tree trunk or cliff behind it to squash it before it drops. The second best strategy is to run and dodge like hell until it slows… and then kill it. If we fast forward a few milleinia, we find that selective pressure has made our little tribe taller so they can see the critter first; great shots with a large rock; and incredibly fast and nimble runners with a lot more endurance than the predator. More than that, they get a great surge of endorphins and pleasure at running and jumping and throwing. Mr Dawkins detractors would have you believe our purple Jordans have no choice but to become basketball stars. Purple Globetrotters all! To which Mr Dawkins would reply: “That is not the case”. Our 3 meter smurfs might find the game pleasurable, but their genes would not require them to play it. August 15th, 2002 | Comments are closed
I’ve just listened to Lawrence Lessig’s lecture on Free Culture and highly recommend it. Larry describes how much liberty we have lost in the last fifty years. A small number of giant media Corps have used their lobbying power to criminalize more and more of what was once unregulated behavior. Government acting alone is not the only threat to liberty. The self interest of exceedingly greedy corporations in conjunction with exceedingly greedy lawmakers is a formula for the destruction of civil society. Think how close the world of William Gibson’s Corp ruled dystopia is. The combination of latent totalitarians such as Jack Valenti and outright crooked politicians – Sen Hollings (D Disney) comes to mind – is a deadly one for everything we as libertarians stand for. It is also an attack on the core of everything the Left and the Right believe in as well. Therein lies our hope. As Ben Franklin said: “We must indeed all hang together, or assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” August 14th, 2002 | Comments are closed
Until recent heavy pressure from the US Congress, Saudi Arabia had a fast track for US Visas. All you had to do was talk to your travel agent and everything was sorted. Of course you had to make other arrangements for your AK47 and explosives, but what the hey? Meanwhile, Marcelo Tosatti, a top Brazilian Computer Scientist with Connectiva, the current maintainer of the Linux 2.4 Stable kernel and the resident of a free democratic country that doesn’t treat women like excrement, is banned from entry. In his words:
Yep, that’s the way to do it. Keep out those pesky well paid computer geeks from friendly democratic countries. You just can’t tell what they might get up to. August 10th, 2002 | Comments are closed
I’ve actually waited some time and thought a great deal about posting the local angle on the Middle East. I find it sad when a community I am close to sides with my enemies. Yes, you heard me right. I have known for some time there is considerable sympathy in West Belfast towards everyone in the Middle East who hates the US. I’ve been in heated arguments with dear friends over it and they and I just let it drop. The sympathy seems to have moved beyond words in the last few months. A source close to me said there were Palestinian fund raisers at a local Republican bar the last time he spent an evening there. Those of you in Boston, New York, Pittsburgh and other heavily Irish cities who remember Republican fund raisers for NORAID should know the model. I never took part in any such myself but I knew well enough about them. A girlfriend bartended one spot North of Pittsburgh that ran them. I also remember being offered a genuine souvineer Derry Rubber Bullet while ordering in my own local of some 20 years standing. Funny enough, that pub was in a Jewish and Academic area of Pittsburgh, so go figure. If anyone is reading this who actually did “help the cause” back then, I think you should be aware the same people are now using the same techniques to raise money for people who want to see you dead. If the American side of Republicanism has any influence whatever over here, I think a very loud message should be sent back to just “knock it on the head” and send our enemies back where they came from. I do not wish to classify all Palestinians as my enemy: only those who celebrate the deaths of my countrymen and who support brutal and unhuman tactics of war. Whether the fund raisers are from the suicide bomber tactions or not I do not know. Perhaps someone on the inside can find out. And yes, I do know a Palestinian or two and they are very decent people thank you. I define my enemies by their actions, not by broad labels. August 9th, 2002 | Comments are closed
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