schmevil: (domino (skull))
Good morning lovlies. Start your morning news scan with this op ed in the Washington Post by Barack Obama. I'm loving how communicative this administration is. I'm also loving the efforts by some members of the US Senate to get rid of the 'Buy American' clause. Nice try, John McCain. Nice try. So now we're facing a watered down version of protectionism. I'm not subscribing to the CRISIS! newsletter, but I'm starting to think it's a good time to go off-grid and self-sufficient. Cabin in the woods? If only.

Anyway, it's Thursday again, which means it's time for another poll. Feverish though I am, (yes still), I've managed to come up with something that should suffice. This one is about action heroes, one in what is likely to be a never-ending series. I promise to occasionally break up the monotony of explosions and beheadings with other kinds of heats, like cookies. Maybe we'll do cookies next week...

Three characters, people, animals, vegetables or minerals are given, and you must choose one to marry, one to f*ck and one to kill. No fence sitting. No halfsies. Ya gotta choose.

[Poll #1344076]

And remember guys, I don't close these polls, so you can go back and vote in previous rounds of Marry, F*ck or Kill.
schmevil: (rosa)
I really don't update enough. I'm going to try to update every day in January and see if eljay is habit-forming.

But for now, a short entry on mining, for the season devoted to celebrating conspicuous consumption. John Maynard Keynes called the gold standard a "barbarous relic" but as Brook Larmer points out in National Geo, our obsession with precious metals is as barbarous a relic of more superstitious times. I've read two fantastic articles recently about metals mining that take you inside a luxury trade with wide-ranging and truly devastating socio-economic and environmental consequences.

The Mountain That Eats Men
Andrew Westoll
The Walrus

Legend has it that the Inca knew about the riches lying beneath the Cerro. According to Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano, an Inca named Huayna Capaj led a team of treasure seekers to its summit long before the Spanish arrived. As they began to dig, though, a fearsome voice thundered from the heavens. “This is not for you,” it warned. “God is keeping these riches for those who come from afar.” The Incas fled, terrified, but not before dubbing the mountain Potojsi, Quechua for “to thunder, burst, explode.”

In 1545, during the early days of the conquest, the prophecy of the mountain came true. An unlucky Indian named Huallpa spent a shivering night on the Cerro, after passing the day in pursuit of an escaped llama. By the light of his campfire, he glimpsed a huge vein of pure silver glittering on the mountain’s surface. Word spread quickly, and, as Galeano puts it, “the Spanish avalanche was unleashed.”

The Spaniards opened the mine that same year. Within three decades, Potosí had grown more affluent than Paris or London, making it the New World’s first genuine boom town. The Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, named Potosí an Imperial City, and upon its shield were inscribed the lines “I am rich Potosí, treasure of the world, king of the mountains, envy of kings.” Popular theory holds that the old mark of the Potosí mint (the letters ptsi superimposed on one another) was the precursor of the modern dollar sign.

The true amount of silver extracted from the Cerro is impossible to measure, but Bolivians often claim that enough was chiselled from the mountain to build a shimmering bridge from the summit all the way to Madrid. In Spain, even today, if something is “worth a Potosí,” it is worth a fortune. But this astonishing wealth came at an awful cost: untold numbers of indigenous workers perished inside the mines, after living lives of incomparable torment.

The Real Price of Gold
Brook Larmer
National Geographic

Like many of his Inca ancestors, Juan Apaza is possessed by gold. Descending into an icy tunnel 17,000 feet up in the Peruvian Andes, the 44-year-old miner stuffs a wad of coca leaves into his mouth to brace himself for the inevitable hunger and fatigue. For 30 days each month Apaza toils, without pay, deep inside this mine dug down under a glacier above the world's highest town, La Rinconada. For 30 days he faces the dangers that have killed many of his fellow miners—explosives, toxic gases, tunnel collapses—to extract the gold that the world demands. Apaza does all this, without pay, so that he can make it to today, the 31st day, when he and his fellow miners are given a single shift, four hours or maybe a little more, to haul out and keep as much rock as their weary shoulders can bear. Under the ancient lottery system that still prevails in the high Andes, known as the cachorreo, this is what passes for a paycheck: a sack of rocks that may contain a small fortune in gold or, far more often, very little at all.

Apaza is still waiting for a stroke of luck. "Maybe today will be the big one," he says, flashing a smile that reveals a single gold tooth. To improve his odds, the miner has already made his "payment to the Earth": a bottle of pisco, the local liquor, placed near the mouth of the mine; a few coca leaves slipped under a rock; and, several months back, a rooster sacrificed by a shaman on the sacred mountaintop. Now, heading into the tunnel, he mumbles a prayer in his native Quechua language to the deity who rules the mountain and all the gold within.

"She is our Sleeping Beauty," says Apaza, nodding toward a sinuous curve in the snowfield high above the mine. "Without her blessing we would never find any gold. We might not make it out of here alive."

It isn't El Dorado, exactly. But for more than 500 years the glittering seams trapped beneath the glacial ice here, three miles above sea level, have drawn people to this place in Peru. Among the first were the Inca, who saw the perpetually lustrous metal as the "sweat of the sun"; then the Spanish, whose lust for gold and silver spurred the conquest of the New World. But it is only now, as the price of gold soars—it has risen 235 percent in the past eight years—that 30,000 people have flocked to La Rinconada, turning a lonely prospectors' camp into a squalid shantytown on top of the world. Fueled by luck and desperation, sinking in its own toxic waste and lawlessness, this no-man's-land now teems with dreamers and schemers anxious to strike it rich, even if it means destroying their environment—and themselves—in the process.

The scene may sound almost medieval, but La Rinconada is one of the frontiers of a thoroughly modern phenomenon: a 21st-century gold rush.
schmevil: (daily planet)
There is a phrase that I want banned: Canadian politics is boring. Canadian politics is no more boring than any other state's; like all political ecosystems it is by turns tedious and alarming. The key difference between American politics (which usually wins the competition of interest), and Canadian politics, or American politics and Finnish politics even, is money. Power too is pretty significant - when you're the world's lone hyperpower, people are bound to be fascinated by your political goings on. But money is the big difference between the American political scene, and everyone else's. Every part of their political process, from the budgets at stake, to the media conglomerates that play a big part in determining the national agenda, has more digits before the decimal in play. Even Britain, France and India, with their sophisticated and powerful media, can't quite match the Americans. (Ching-ching?) ExpandRead more... )

Before this most recent election, I said that public opinion to the contrary, this one was important. With the Conservatives now barely keeping their heads above water, and the Liberals, Bloc and NDP preparing to form a coalition, I think I've been proven right. *g* Canada may soon have its first coalition government since the First World War, the united Right is showing strain, and the fragmented Left is considering alliance. The vilified Stephan Dion is now being touted as the next Prime Minister of Canada. A shocking upset that shouldn't be a shock to people who have been paying attention to the pressure cooker the House has become. Harper has spent his time in government running roughshod over media elites, opposition politicians and even his own party. The recent move to end public funding to political parties is only the latest salvo, in a sustained cold war with the Left.

As complacent as Canadians have become since Harper first became PM, his government has never been rock solid. His ability to govern as though he had a majority, despite the Conservatives consistently taking only a minority of seats, has been the result of a fragmented and confused opposition, made up of the NDP, who've never really held power, the Bloc, who don't exactly want it, and a Liberal party ravaged by two decades of bloody infighting. But now, thanks to Flaherty's laughable economic report, the move to end public financing of political parties and eliminate the right of public employess to strike, the Conservatives have handed their opposition the greatest gift of all: issues around which all three parties can form a consensus that will serve as the foundation of a broader agenda. Harper has been saying for years that the Left should unite (for various reasons that I won't get into), but now he's managed to get them united in precisely the worst possible way for him, and at the worst possible time.

Hilariously, the Conservatives are trying the mesmerize the Canadian public into supporting them with blatant lies about our political system. Are you ready to debunk some myths? Let's go. ExpandRead more... )

Now, the coalition is not a done deal. Harper could still prorogue Parliament. The Governor General could call yet another election (sigh!). Needless to say, I think that any suspension of parliamentary activity to support a faltering Conservative government would be the worst sort of hypocrisy, from a party that continues to campaign on ethics (ha!).

This story has more details.

Liberals, NDP, Bloc Sign Deal On Proposed Coalition
December 1, 2008
CBC.ca

The six-point accord includes a description of the role of the Liberal and NDP caucuses, which will meet separately and will sit next to each other on the government benches in the House of Commons, Dion told a news conference alongside Layton and Duceppe.

The proposed coalition cabinet will be composed of 24 ministers and the prime minister. Six of these ministers will be appointed from within the NDP caucus.

The accord will expire on June 30, 2011, unless it is renewed. It includes a "policy accord" to address the "present economic crisis," which states that the accord "is built on a foundation of fiscal responsibility."

An economic stimulus package will be the new government's top priority, while other policies include a commitment to improve child benefits and childcare "as finances permit."

There is also a commitment to "pursue a North American cap-and-trade market" to limit carbon emissions.

The Bloc Québécois would not officially be a part of the coalition, but the new government's survival would depend on its support.
schmevil: (daily planet)
So there was an explosion in the neighborhood yesterday. Literally. A couple of my friends were among the evacuees. Much property damage was enjoyed by all.

Also, there was a riot in Montreal.

WTF Canada? An unusually exciting news weekend in the Great (Not) White North.

In other news, it turns out that it may be possible for us all to have Invisibility Cloaks (FU Marauders! From now on, all mischief will be managed by me).

Invisibility Cloaks Possible at Nano Level
The age-old fantasy of rendering objects invisible took a sharp step toward reality Sunday when scientists said they had created a material that can bend visible light in three dimensions.

For now the vanishing act takes place on a nanoscale, measured in billionths of a meter.

But there is no fundamental reason why the same principles cannot be scaled up one day to make invisibility cloaks big enough to hide a person, a tank or even a tanker, the scientists say.

Discovery News
August 11,.2008


See, I'm among those who are continually asking where my damn jetpack and robot servant are at. (We was promised! The Jetsons lied!) Even aside from all the possible military applications, this news is ambrosial nectar to my nerdy senses. It's not so much that I want to run around doing naughty things invisibly (because I so don't need that excuse to perform acts of extreme idiocy), as it is just really, really cool.

And now for some random links:

The Unauthorized Chronology of the DC Universe - as a casual DC fan, this kind of thing is so helpful in understanding such mysteries as Power Girl And Hawkman. For more advanced fans, the potential hours wasted on ultimate geekery is immense and delicious.

Code Box's Game of Life generator - Conway's Game of Life is a cellular automaton. Read the wiki - I don't want to explain it to you. Instead I'll just say that it's total crack. Also at Code Box find quizes on common English words, the biggest countries in the world and all kinds of actually useful stuff.
schmevil: (daily planet)
Emo, Ontario. Emo is known for its stockcar races - not very emo. Man, the citizens of this town, all 1300 of them, must be pissed.

In the news...

Sleep-deprived? You might sound drunk
Lack of sleep alters the brain to such a degree that it can be heard in the way a person speaks, according to a new study that found sleep-deprived people sound almost drunk.

Jennifer Viegas
Discovery News
July 14, 2008


I am this article. I've been a hardcore insomniac for over ten years now, and the change in my demeanor when I've actually slept? More than dramatic. Astonishing. I've been loving the push to have sleep-deprived driving classified as equal in naughtiness to drunk-driving, because that means I get to claim over ten years of intoxication. Retcon for my stupidity!

I don't really have much to say about this next story, except that I read it with interest.

Island Dreams
The history of popular music is, among other things, a history of magical buildings. There is Sam Phillips’s Sun Studios in Memphis, Tenn., where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins cut early records. There is the Beatles’ Abbey Road, as well as Motown’s Studio A and dub pioneer Lee “Scratch” Perry’s Black Ark studio. Blackwell had long wanted just such a studio, where a distinctive sound could emerge based on the perfect combination of session players, engineers, equipment and atmosphere, all guided by a label boss’s omniscient hand.

Richard Poplek
CBC News
July 9, 2008


If you couldn't tell, I love pop culture history.

The Outquisition
We were talking about the slow-motion collapse here in America, the looming climate crisis,the futility of survivalism; and we began to play with the thought, what kinds of heroes would actually do some good for the communities that get hit hard?

Because if the ruins of the unsustainable are the new frontier, and if, as is already happening, the various economic and environmental transitions we face will leave many people unmoored from their familiar assumptions at the very least and, at the worst, cut loose from their jobs or driven from their homes, a huge number of people are going to need help forging new ways of life.

Alex Steffen
World Changing
July 12, 2008


Read for the article and for the comments.

Now, I can has coffee?
schmevil: (daily planet)


1. Find more Carlos Ramos at The Corey Helford Gallery along with other great stuff, including robot boxing.

2. Paper and cardboard miniature. Photographed. Find more from Jasper de Beijer at Fette-Gallery.

3. Mixed media. Find more Amy Rice at Blue Bottle Art.

***

Artic Ice: Going, Going, Gone
There's a 50-50 chance that the North Pole will be ice-free this summer, which would be a first in recorded history, a leading ice scientist says. The weather and ocean conditions in the next couple of weeks will determine how much of the sea ice will melt, and early signs are not good, said Mark Serreze. He's a senior researcher at the National Snow and Ice Data Center and the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo. The chances for a total meltdown at the pole are higher than ever because the layer of ice coating the sea is thinner than ever, he said. "A large area at the North Pole and surrounding the North Pole is first-year ice," Serreze said. "That's the stuff that tends to melt out in the summer because it's thin."

Seth Borenstein
Associated Press @ Discovery News
June 30, 2008
Expandclick for pic )

Climate Change Causing Significant Shift In Composition Of Coastal Fish Communities
A detailed analysis of data from nearly 50 years of weekly fish-trawl surveys in Narragansett Bay and adjacent Rhode Island Sound has revealed a long-term shift in species composition, which scientists attribute primarily to the effects of global warming.

Science Daily
June 30, 2008


***

And finally, ART+CLIMATE CHANGE.

* Cape Farewell, a site dedicated to cultural responses to climate change, particularly in the form of art.

* Will Climate Change Be Good For Canada? A visual essay.
schmevil: (daily planet)
Aboriginal leaders look to future after historic apology
"Our peoples, our history and our present being are the essence of Canada," Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine told members of Parliament and hundreds of observers seated in the gallery. "The attempts to erase our identities hurt us deeply. But it also hurt all Canadians and impoverished the character of this nation. We must not falter in our duty now. Emboldened by this spectacle of history, it is possible to end our racial nightmare together."
CBC News

Next step? Making concrete plans to counter the underdevelopment of First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities, and signing the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

When Max Met Julie
MONTREAL–The restaurant where then-industry minister Maxime Bernier first met an enchanting brunette named Julie Couillard is a chic Italian eatery and bar frequented by movie stars, beautiful people and, on occasion, gangsters. Couillard was brought to a dinner gathering, held in Bernier's honour in April of last year, by a colleague from a property development firm with which she had recently become affiliated, sources say.

A La Presse investigation has revealed the man who accompanied Couillard to Ristorante Cavalli on the evening of April 26, 2007, was Philippe Morin, one of two owners of Groupe Kevlar, a large Montreal property developer. The investigation has confirmed Morin brought Couillard along to a weekly dinner held by a handful of young Montreal businesspeople, and that Bernier's acquaintances among the group intended to introduce the minister, a bachelor, to the one-time actress and model.

...

"There is the possibility that organized crime is trying to infiltrate the government," Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion told reporters. "I'm not saying it's what happened. But certainly all the experts of security who have spoken (say) ... this is the pattern that you need to check."
Sean Gordon
Toronto Star


The Hells Angels are trying to infiltrate the minority Conservative government through the Industry Minster? Okay! I'm not discounting the possibility but it does sound a little strange. There are easier ways to gain influence over members of Parliament.

I'm also starting to really get annoyed by the Sex! Scandal! aspect of the coverage. On a fundamental level, I don't care how awesome Julie Couillard's breasts are. Instead, let's get back to talking about those pesky potential threats to our national security. (Not that 'national security' is the way I'd choose to frame this issue - way to hit the panic button, guys!)

The Rise of the Low Cost Laptop
But in one respect the XO Laptop has undoubtedly made an impact: by helping to spawn a new market for low-cost laptops. Hardly any models costing $500 or less were available when the XO burst onto the scene, but now there is a wide selection of such machines, from familiar makers such as HP and Intel, and from relative newcomers such as Asus and Pioneer Computers. By raising the very possibility of a $100 laptop, the XO presented the industry with a challenge. Wayan Vota, founder of OLPCNews.com, an independent website that follows the project, calls the XO a “harbinger of an entirely new class of computers”.
The Economist

The piece points to how the One Laptop Per Child program has done more to revolutionize computing in developed countries, than developing. Many of the new cheap laptops are marketed to first world consumers, and aren't exactly intended to address the access gap. Still, cheap laptops may follow the same pattern as cheap cellphones, and we'll have a wired world before we know it.

Alia Sabur

Jun. 2nd, 2008 12:30 pm
schmevil: (daily planet)
Have you heard of Alia Sabur?

Alia has been setting records and making history starting with reading at 8 months old. Her IQ was determined off the charts. She went from 4th grade to college, earning a B.S. in Applied Mathematics summa cum laude from Stony Brook University at age 14, the youngest female in American history. She then earned an M.S. and Ph.D. (ABD) in Materials Science and Engineering from Drexel University. Alia is the youngest ever to receive fellowships and awards from the Dept of Defense, NASA, GAANN and NSF.

Also multi-talented, Alia has been performing with orchestras since her solo debut at 11 with the Mozart Concerto where she was billed a music prodigy. She has also performed with musicians as diverse as Lang Lang and Smash Mouth. She enjoys performing as an orchestral member, chamber musician and soloist equally and is venturing into crossover, jazz and fusion. As a Juilliard School student she was mentored by some of the world's greatest musicians and is the winner of several celebrated awards.

Alia has done groundbreaking work towards developing nanotube-based cellular probes for use in medical research. These will allow the ability to measure the reaction of nano-materials injected into individual cells. She is also interested in a venue to develop non-invasive optical blood glucose meters for people with diabetes. Alia tries to be a role model for young people, especially girls by breaking the stereotype that scientists are nerdy. She is also passionately interested in helping improve the quality of STEM education in this country.

Alia wanted to help the relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina, so when she learned that Southern University at New Orleans, a historically Black public college, was the only college still operating out of trailers, she accepted a temporary position there as her way of giving back. While continuing her research efforts long distance with Konkuk, she has been teaching four courses at SUNO and living at the Mount Carmel Motherhouse, also devastated by Katrina. In May Alia will head for South Korea.

An Agent of Change At Home and Abroad
Perhaps one of the more promising features of this story is the buzz it has created in many Muslim countries. You see, Alia Sabur is Muslim. What she makes of her Muslim heritage is not the issue - it is her symbolism that counts.

Her achievements shatter the Western stereotype of Muslim women as inherently dim-witted and oppressed. Of course, the opportunities afforded by American society have played a vital role. One doubts that a young Muslim woman (or man) could proceed along a similar path in most Muslim countries. Yet, news reports from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan are trumpeting Alia Sabur's unique accomplishments.

Her example should serve as a rejoinder to those Muslims who believe women have been created intellectually inferior to men. This group includes religious figures whose writings have wide influence. Such an attitude of intellectual differentiation has contributed to keeping women "in their place" as less-than-rational beings who can't possibly engage in higher thinking.

Sheema Kahn
June 2, 2008
Globe and Mail
schmevil: (daily planet)
How to Spot Greenwashing
Organizers of this weekend's Green Living Show say they rejected 100 would-be exhibitors because their goods were not terribly environmental.

Sensing a lucrative green wave, some entrepreneurs are pushing products that make promises they cannot keep, spinning them as "natural" or "earth friendly," terms that are meaningless.

• Look for products that have been certified by independent parties, such as EcoLogo, right, or Green Seal. Both have set standards and perform ongoing checks.

• Check if the certification claims are true. Reputable certifiers offer public lists of their companies.

• Ask whether a company is emphasizing good work in one area but hiding negative practices in another.

• Examine the product label for directions that tell consumers how to find proof of its claims.

• Is the claim evident? Or so vague (such as "all natural" or "Earth friendly") that it is meaningless?
4-25-2008
Moira Welsh
Toronto Star


I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to do some research before going green, or even, at the bare minimum, read the freakin' labels of your shiny new green product. I work in grocery/gm retail, and I've developed a pet peeve roughly the size of Jupiter, when it comes to jackasses who buy every product in green packaging. Every product that claims to be natural. Every nonsensical, hippy-dippy homeonaturorganic product, without understanding what 'organic' means. Most of all, I'm tired of people who preach greening, without considering the problem holistically.

Memo to idiots: 'natural' products are not better for the environment if they were shipped across the continent. Reusable bags are not better for the environment if they contain possibly dangerous, untested due to grandathering chemicals, that are never broken down by the bodies of living things. Your energy efficient light bulbs, appliances and insulation are not better for the environment if you landfilled the less efficient versions.

And while we're on the subject of greenwashing - stainless steel drinking bottles. Actually green? I'm a bit leery of the mining/refining/manufacturing process. This requires investigating, because I'm sure I've seen ss bottles that claim to be green.

NASA has a stunning image of the day - Uvs Nuur Basin, Mongolia

The Uvs Nuur Basin sits on the northern edge of the Central Asian steppes, bounded on all sides by mountains. Though largely arid, the basin is dotted with water. A large salt lake, the Uvs Nuur Lake, sits at the center of the basin, and several smaller lakes are scattered across the region. Rivers, the largest of which is the Tes-Khem, run from the surrounding mountains into the basin, but no rivers flow out of the basin. This image shows one of the smaller lakes near the western edge of the basin.

PA Semi customers asking Department of Defense to intervene in Apple sale
Apple has long served as a haven in the Valley for engineers with a taste for hallucinogens and pacifism. The same can not be said of PA Semi, which Apple recently acquired. The PWRficient processor was an instant hit among defense contractors building the latest in hyper-efficient killing technology, such as Curtiss-Wright Controls. As the EE Times reports:

"We've had customers saying they are going to the DoD on this one," said a source in one of the several companies making embedded computer boards with the processor.

I'm sure Apple will be happy to simply license the design to a fabricator with no qualms about dealing in death. God bless America.

4-24-2008
Jackman West
ValleyWag


I'm linking this for the comments, such as:

Blow that shit up. My SUV needs oil, as I need to drive it to the mechanic because I got so many weak omega-male crybabies caught in my tires when I went plowing through the torch protest crowds. Hopefully he can get the smell of entry-level wage and patchouli off of the rubber as well.

and

Also, your pacifist snark aside, what do you think gives us the ability to wage war without unintentionially killing thousands of civilians? Targeting technology that uses advanced electronics. The fact is, having more effective and more accurate weapons saves lives: first, those of American troops, who have the right to demand the best technology available, given the risk we ask them to take; second, those of non-combatants, as we no longer have to level cities to take out crucial infrastructure and we can target military facilities embedded among civilian infrastructure; and third, enemy combatants, who know that we can put a bomb through the skylight of a treehouse and are more likely to surrender as a result.

Well, it's true that casualties in Iraq don't come close to casualties in say, WW2, it's specious to claim that targeting technology as it stands was developed in order to reduce civilian casualties. It's certainly a selling point when firms shop their wares to the DoD, in the sense that reducing collateral damage means less ill will from the international community, but it's not THE selling point. Increasing remote capabilities is imo mainly driven by projected cost-cutting and risk aversion.

And come on, the whole 'we can put a bomb through the skylight of a treehouse' thing is so patently false - under ideal conditions the technology can do this, but in practice? Not so much. DoD yahoos have been predicting the Final Crisis Revolution To End All Revolutions In Military Affairs, since like, the start of the Cold War and it still hasn't materialized. In practice what we've got is one country that's seventy bajillion lightyears ahead of everyone else when it comes to defense technology, and lots of other countries and non-state actors who spend all their time figuring out how to get around this snazzy new tech. Hello IUDs! (Did your know that garage door openers are key weapons in insurgencies, guerrilla wars and terrorism all over the world?)

Let's also not forget that a lot of America's woes have been the result of this aversion to putting boots on the ground.

And! All the victims of: bombs that hit the wrong treehouse; pilots who had bad intel; and lots and lots of HUMAN ERROR.

(Man, do you guys remember that episode of ToS, where two neighboring planets had outsourced their war to their computers, in order to reduce collateral damage, and the civilians were required to calmly report to a nearby disintegration facility, when it was calculated that they'd been 'victims' in the latest 'attack'?

Awesome sauce. Oh Stark Trek, you continue to win at lulz even now).
schmevil: (daily planet)
In me news...

- Went to see Des Fraises en Janvier. Very cute. Lulz factor of five. I particularly enjoy the sets at Theatre Francais de Toronto - they're always so bright, open and creatively multi-purpose.

- Going to see Evil Dead the Musical for THIRD TIME. This show is so utterly <3able. The songs are spun from the purest of comedy gold.

- And later, Kudelka's Cinderella. I saw his Nutcracker over the holidays and was sold on him. There's just something fresh and accessible about his choreography.

- The Mirvish Group has announced they're going to put on a production of Medea, starring Seanna McKenna - total must see, as far as I'm concerned.

- AND! This year's season at Stratford includes: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and The Taming of the Shrew.

me=EXPLODING WITH EXCITEMENT.

***

Addicted to Power: Dion's deadly Afghan double-deal shows he'd rather count body bags than combat Tories
The Tories and the Libs believe in war, a mutual conviction cemented last week when Liberal leader Stephane Dion agreed to their pact to extend Canada’s war commitment in Afghanistan until at least 2011.

On the other side altogether, the NDP is a pacifist party that pushes more creative options for conflict resolution than blowing the shit out of people who have different beliefs than your own.


Michael Hollet
NOW Magazine

[Disclaimer: not interested in doing a comprehensive post on the war, just looking at a couple of things that bugged me - the following does not constitute the entirety of my thoughts on yaoi the mission.]

I couldn't disagree more with the characterization of the Conservatives and Liberals as being in love with war. Power? Yes, obviously - we all know this. The Liberals are a brokerage party and Stephen Harper the supposed idealogue is, in office, compromising like his life depends on it. Or like his grasp on power depends on it, which it does. Because in case Michael Hollet failed to notice - Canada has a minority government at the moment. A minority government lead by men who utterly loathe the sight, nay the very thought of one another. The fact that the government is functional at all is thanks to political compromises made by all parties.

I'm tired of rabid idealogues who think that 'compromise' is a dirty word. Guess what assholes, compromise is what democratic politics is all about!

And honestly, I'm incredibly fucking tired of pacifists who characterize non-pacifists as 'war-loving'. It's just the most ridiculous of philosophical tomfoolery. The mission in Afghanistan is not about 'blowing the shit out of people who have different beliefs than your own'. Sorry dude, but on this I'm not going to compromise because you could not be more wrong. The mission is about several things, and none of them have anything to do with a deep-seated desire to kill, maim or blow the shit out of people.ExpandRead more... )
schmevil: (wonder woman (flight))
School is open and yet my professors decided to take a snow day. It's extremely irritating to find this out after walking to school at eight in the morning, via unplowed sidewalks. Grr.


Fillion To Voice Trevor in "Wonder Woman"


Announced at the 2008 FX International Con, Nathan Fillion (Serenity) is slated to provide the voice of Steve Trevor in the upcoming DC direct to video Wonder Woman animated film.

Fillion will star alongside Keri Russell, who will play Wonder Woman, in the highly-anticipated upcoming direct-to-video animated feature. The direct-to-video animated feature is slated for a late 2008/early 2009 release. Fillion also voiced the hero Vigilante in the late Justice League Unlimtied animated series.


I'm not thrilled about Keri Russell voicing Wonder Woman but I AM thrilled about Nathan Fillion voicing Steve Trevor. Steve doesn't get enough love. Also, he was awesome as Vigilante. (Speaking of Vigilante - Shortpacked explains why having Batman and Vigilante on the same team is a BAD IDEA).

The story for the Wonder Woman dtv seems to be a strange combination of Perez's Gods and Mortals and a B-grade zombie fantasy: Ares raises an army of zombies and Diana is named the gods' champion and sent from Themyscira to Man's World, to fight him.

Wonder Woman vs. the Army of Darkness? Golden Chainsaw of Truth, forged from the remnants of the Girdle of Gaea?

I really think this could go either way. It's going to either be brain-meltingly awful, or totally and completely awesome.

***

One of the things I do at work is interview applicants for part-time work. I was all MOTTO MOTTO OH GOD THE MOTTO while reading 35 Things To Avoid At Your Job Interview. Though the advice skews to the corporate ladder, most of it is pretty generally applicable. I work in retail and while wearing a suit to an interview would be a little strange, a tidy and professional appearance is essential. I wish more parents would coach their teenagers on interviews - it's really not ok to come straight from the gym.

I've encountered a lot of these, but some of them are intensely wtf.

14. Bring your breakfast, lunch or dinner: Not only is it impolite to bring a meal to the job interview, it’s the best way not to get the job. Your interviewer doesn’t want to watch you eat, nor does she want to wait until you’re finished chewing to learn the answer to her questions.

Ok, seriously?

20. Talk on your cell phone or read text messages: To not turn your cell phone or pager off for an interview is just plain rude. Your interviewer should have your complete attention.

O.o You... would have to be seriously addicted to texting, or seriously stupid to do this. Yet I have no doubt that there are people who think this is acceptable.

25. Brush hair, file nails, put on lipstick: Primp before the interview, not during.

Ok, when teenagers do it, I can almost understand, but COME the fuck ON. Just... lol, man. lol

***

The Case for CFLs
The case against CFLs is built largely on half-truths and innuendo. Yes, the energy-saving bulbs contain mercury, a neurotoxin responsible for a tremendous amount of human suffering over the years. And safely recycling CFLs remains far more difficult than it should be. But these facts don't justify sticking with inefficient incandescent technology that has barely changed since the invention of the tungsten filament nearly a century ago.

CFLs are lauded by environmentalists because they require far less electrical power than their incandescent counterparts. A 26-watt CFL bulb produces the same lumens as a 100-watt incandescent bulb. Assuming that you keep one of those bulbs aglow for six hours a day, switching to a CFL will save you 126 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, which translates to 170 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions on average. Now, how many bulbs do you have in your house? Twenty? Thirty? Replace them all and you could conceivably (assuming six-hour-a-day use throughout the building) reduce your annual CO2 output by upward of 2.3 metric tons—about 10 percent of the average American household's annual carbon footprint.


Slate
Brendan I. Koerner
Feb 5, 2008

I personally love my fluorescents.
schmevil: (daily planet)
Wow, the print edition of Macleans is way more attractive.

The War Over the Polar Bear
At this point, bear populations are not in a precipitous decline (some populations are shrinking, while others seem to be increasing, say biologists). Forty years ago, before hunting was regulated by an international agreement in 1973, polar bear populations were badly depleted — by some estimates, there were as few as 5,000. Today, worldwide, there are closer to 25,000. Evidence, say some biologists, of a species that has been remarkably well managed. Bears may be struggling as a result of global warming (or maybe not), but the long-term impact, not to mention the number crunching, is still a matter of some speculation. "What if this great story, that everybody's bought hook, line and sinker, proves to be more complicated?"

Colin Campbell and Kate Lunau
January 25, 2008
Macleans

The most interesting part about this article was the suggestion that adding polar bears to the list of threatened species could significantly affect the US economy. Not that anyone would let it affect the US economy, especially now, but the idea that building a factory in Jersey would have to be cleared as not contributing to global warming (and therefore destroying bear habitat) was interesting.

Totally not going to happen, but interesting. At least, not because of polar bears. No animal is that cute, not even a baby duck.

A Global View of Peopled Nature
Anthromes, by contrast, combine human settlements and land-use with natural vegetation. Instead of the either/or maps between, say, tropical forests or human agriculture, anthromes map a continuum of 15 landscape classes ranging from dense settlements, through irrigated villages, remote croplands, residential rangelands, and, ultimately, to wildlands. (You can download a large image or view the map in Google Earth, Google Maps, or Virtual Earth here.)

The world seen through anthromes is quite different from earlier maps and makes existing measures of the human footprint seem quaint. Estimates that humans consume 25% of the Earth’s photosynthesis are striking enough. Seen through anthromes, however, 90% of the planet’s photosynthesis is on human-dominated lands. Not only that, but 25% of global tree cover does not occur in forests at all but in croplands—more than the 20% of tree cover found in remote forests. Likewise, nearly half of crop-covered areas are in villages and rangelands, and 8% of Earth’s ice-free land area is dense settlements and villages.


Chad Monfreda
January 29, 2008
World Changing

clickthelinksclickthelinksclickclickclick

(You know what would be funny? If, when stringing a bunch of words together to express excitement, you horribly misspelled them and they became the incomprehensible gibberish you attempted to playfully suggest. lciktehlinskc!)

The Canned Cheeseburger
The high tech hamburger has been developed for trekkers and the non-traditional metal wrapping reflects the Trekking-Mahlzeiten company ethos that its speciality meals should be easy to prepare and require only water to do so - simply throw the can into a water container over a fire, give it a minute or two, fish it out, open the lid, and eat. With a shelf life of twelve months without requiring refrigeration, the lightweight snack is the ideal fast food treat for the wilderness.

Trekking-Mahlzeiten offers an array of freeze-dried nourishment, designed so it can be prepared quickly and easily by trekkers, adventurers and expeditionaries using only water and fire. The Trekking-Mahlzeiten product range consists of complete meals, vegetarian meals, soups, vegetables and other diverse nutritional items suitable for everything from breakfast to a high tech chocolate mousse for dessert. Each meal is available in one and two-person servings and the company also offers special sizes and nutritional planning upon request.


...

...

...

O.o

***

So I was looking for Catwoman fic to comfort me in my time of illness (yeah, sick again godfuckingdammit). Slim pickings. I found one very long and seemingly popular series that was okish, and started in on it, but holy good god was I hitting the back button with a vengence.

Why?

The repeated invocation of Catwoman's bust size as the reason she was a) awesome-r than all other women (especially Wonder Woman); b) the LOVE OF BATMAN'S LIFE; c) the darling of the Rogue's Gallery. (In this universe, btw, Catwoman is a 38DD - probably drawn by Jim Ballant. I think Julie Newmar, Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry would have something to say about that... not to mention Darwyn Cooke and Paul Dini).

Oh, and the implication that a 'truly free woman' is one who uses her sexuality to exert power over men - a woman who rejects this strategy is a matronly prude and barely tolerated dupe.

Don't get me wrong, I love Catwoman in all her sex-positive glory, but fuck you, NO. Just no.

*huff*

Anyway. Catwoman recs?
schmevil: (daily planet)
Be careful in Canada, Australians warned
Terrorists, thieves and tornadoes - oh, Canada!

Australians considering a trip to the Great White North may find themselves quickly making other plans after reading their federal government's travel advisory on Canada.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade recently updated its "Smart Traveller" website - intended to give travellers "up-to-date information about the risks Australians might face overseas" - and classified the world's nations into five categories based on their current "security situation."

Canada falls into the second safest category, called "exercise caution" (not as safe as Chile, Romania and South Korea), with terrorism listed as the top concern.

"We advise you to exercise caution and monitor developments that might affect your safety in Canada because of the risk of terrorist attack," the website reads.

"Pay close attention to your personal security and monitor the media for information about possible new safety or security risks."


Unnati Gandhi
Globe and Mail
January 25, 2008

"Canadian", as it turns out, is a cryptoracist code word for "Nigger".
The email went out about winning the trial even though they had 3 "Canadians" on the jury. A black prosecutor who was offended and hurt by this email blast, went to the court where the case was tried the next day and pulled the jury list to confirm his suspicion that [the prosecutor] was using "canadian" as a code word for Nigger. [The prosecutor] tried to stop the clerk from giving the prosecutor the list, but the clerk, who was black, gave it to him anyway. The 3 jurors referred to by [the prosecutor] were confirmed as being black (ie., Canadians, Niggers, etc). The blk prosecutor confronted [the prosecutor] right then and there man-to-man in private. As [the prosecutor] told his version of the story to people in power, this blk prosecutor was black-balled and is receiving "threats" right now so I cannot disclose his name. Eventually, Joe Owmby [a black senior prosecutor] did some email research on the use of this phrase -- that Canadian is the racist code word for Nigger, like Australian is the code word for gays -- and presented it to Lyn McClellan [a white more-senior prosecutor] to stop the rift. This prosecutor was hurt and alienated by the powers that be in the office and had to quit to find a peaceful work environment.

Mark Hornby
January 13, 2008

Despite hailing from Soviet Canuckistan I can't summon up much outrage (on behalf of the Great White North) over these totally absurd stories. It's sort of difficult to be offended by a travel advisory so cracked out that it boggles the mind. I give it a WTF Factor of 10 out of 5. I mean consider that violent crime rates in Australia, Britain, the US and Canada are roughly comparable, and I would imagine death-by-nature rates too, and you really have to wonder about this one.

I wouldn't warn Canadians not to travel to the US because of the chance of being shot in Detroit, or getting killed by a... I know, a freakin' geyser in Yellowstone.

I am offended by the second story, but not on behalf of TGWN. Sweet zombie Jesus! The fact that Canadian=Nigger, Australian=Faggot were commonly known code words, (and broadly accepted, if we can judge by the fact that the story blew open due to the efforts of ONE GUY), is completely disgusting. And then, for the office to black-ball him for exposing this intolerable situation - for exposing entrenched and just barely covert racism in the office of a state prosecutor! - is absolutely unacceptable. Full stop.

***

It's official: Feminism is out of style
Whether it's because we've all fallen asleep at our tasks like Snow White, or whether we've been outplayed in a subtle and long-standing culture war, what is clear is that we are living in a new era of post-feminism. That the young women I know see no great victory in Hillary Clinton's run for the U.S. presidency is proof enough. That they also see Barack Obama as the one candidate who represents "change" is nothing less than astounding.

Ever since Clinton and her contemporaries crammed their way into law and business schools, we've been told by everyone from the cheerleading women's business networks to Virginia Slims that we've made it. Turning our backs on conventional feminism and its grinding focus on women's oppression, we empowered our daughters to embrace the more upbeat Girl Power movement. Candy-coating the world in Spice Girls tunes, pink-feathered purses and Sex and the City, we sold them a bill of goods: that women are as free and unencumbered as men, that they can achieve any goal they might dream of - even that the odds are in their favour.

...

As Steinem herself (yes, she is still alive) observed of the Clinton/Obama challenge in The New York Times, gender - not race - is still "probably the most restricting force in American life," adding that "black men were given the vote a half-century before women" and have ascended the ranks of power in greater numbers in advance of women.


Globe and Mail
Karen von Hahn
January 26, 2008
schmevil: (daily planet)
Allfacebook.com is reporting a rumor that Facebook will take on Apple's dominant iTunes by introducing its own music store. Few details are provided, save that they are actively looking to hire someone to head the project and discussions with studios have been ongoing.
Tim Faulkner
10/05/2007
Valleywag

Oh Facebook. I have a deep-seated doubt of the wisdom of trying to be everything to everyone. This could either work out fantastically for them, or screw them up really, really bad.

In contrast, this is intriguing news. I don't know - is there enough interest in streaming music? But I'm happy to see more people moving into the digital download market. Yay for competition.

Time Warner Launches Music Store

For $9.95 a month, you get unlimited access to streaming music. It also will sell digital downloads through its store, and allow you to transfer files onto portables for an additional fee. With all these new entries into digital music distribution -- real and rumored -- it'll be interesting to see if Apple caves to market pressure and either allows flexible pricing on iTunes, as the labels have asked for, or a subscription plan, to stay competitive.

Mary Jane Irwin
10/05/2007
Valleywag

This is an interesting post but I'm resistant to some of his suggestions. Just how much *are* we going to let technology control our existence? Well, a lot, I'm sure. Still, I can't even cope with being leashed to a cell phone and only enjoy using lj *because* it's anonymous.

Every day I look around the lecture hall and see at least ten laptops on Facebook, constantly refreshed. I have a Facebook account but I can't seem to muster up the interest necessary to become addicted. I mean, the daily minutia is boring enough without having it enshrined in photography. Look! Here's me at the mall! Here's me at bus stop! Here's me at the--FUCK OFF. And the wall posts. Jesus god.

Anyway, the post blurb--

Web 3.0 Starts With Your Phone

Expanding on the promise of a more mobile powered web, consider these scenarios. You have an iPhone or some other similar device. You walk into a store and your network switches over to the in-house WiFi. Now you’re online and browsing an interactive, web delivered catalog. Maybe you want to know where to find a certain product (in a department store, etc). A map pops up on your screen, showing your current location through GPS, along with a directory that you can search or browse.

Sugar Attack
10/04/2007

There's a post on World Changing about greener apartment living and it's discouragingly short on promise.

I live in a mixed townhouse/apartment condo complex that's about 30 years old. In the next few years a number of new, greener building codes and recycling requirements will come into effect. It's easy enough to recycle in a house (though it's harder when you have to bring your various recyclables to a central location), but retrofitting a 30 year old apartment building for wet recycling and composting is mind boggling. At least it's currently boggling my mind.

Our condo association is painfully in the red, and swiftly depleting its reserve fund, trying to cope with the new building codes re fire/elevator/everything safety, (which are really good, well thought out regulations), and I can already see the special assessments in our mailbox. I truly believe in the importance of making some fundamental changes to our collective lifestyle, but some days it really hurts.
schmevil: (aries)
An independent tech start-up in BC is saying that they've made a breakthrough in quantum computing.

This is interesting for two reasons:

1. They're not interested in advancing quantum physics - they just want to build a really fast computer.

2. They're not funded by the US government.

Quantum computing completely blows my mind. I will freely admit that I don't get quantum mechanics, but considering how few people do, I can live with that. But I love the idea of quantum computing, which is essentially to build a computer that functions on the principle of something being not just a binary yes or no, but yes or no, and yes AND no at once. (See the wiki for details).

What grabs me about the above linked start-up is that they're trying to just engineer the thing, without being interested in the whys - it's the ultimate in applied over basic research, and it's not being funded by the NSA. Or any other part of the US government. Both of which fund basic research solely in order to reap the technological benefits that are supposed to naturally come along with advances in theory. Meanwhile, most scientists say that quantum computing won't be realized for decades. Oh the lulz.

***

According to a recent study:

After 199 pages of detail on everything from automatic picking machines to consumer packaging, the researchers find no strong evidence that locally sourced foods are better, in environmental terms at least, than global produce - and in some cases the opposite is true.

Financial Times
Sarah Murray
April 28 2007

Yes, thank you. My god. I am so tired of sanctimonious, ignorant enviro-fascists and their constant admonishments to buy local. It sickens me that environmental awareness has been reduced to the level of fashion, with all these Live Earth wristband wearing jackasses waiting to follow, sheep-like, Al Gore's every offhand advisement about better living through ecological sainthood, NO MATTER HOW LITTLE THEY UNDERSTAND THE ISSUE AT HAND. I miss the goddamn hippies.

***

Mahnahmahnah!
schmevil: (daily planet)
"The research suggests those using Facebook come from wealthier homes and are more likely to attend college.

By contrast, MySpace users tend to get a job after finishing high school rather than continue their education."
BBC News
25 June 2007

This is really interesting until you consider that up until recently, Facebook was only available to college students, while MySpace has always had open access. Facebook was, I believe, originally created as a social networking site for Harvard students and it slowly spread to other American campuses and then... THE WORLD. Dun dun dun. (The Facebook addiction at my school has become epidemic). What the findings suggest is that, surprise surprise, college students tend to interact mostly with other college students or college educated people.

***

The White Stripes landed in Iqaluit today. Some interesting info:
- they'll play to 600 of the town's 7200 residents.
- they have chartered a plane for their Northern dates
- 3000 kg of sound and lighting gear was flown in
- they flew in an entire road crew from Vancouver
- a stage and PA system is being assembled from scratch for their visit
(Source: Toronto Star, June 27 print edition)

Btw, for the dueSouth fans, Iqaluit was formerly known as Frobisher Bay.

***

Friday June 29 is the National Day of Action The Assembly of First Nations' FAQ says:

"The National Day of Action is designed to raise awareness and support among the general public and the government for urgent action to address First Nations issues.

It is an opportunity for First Nations and all Canadians to stand together in support of a better life for First Nations citizens and a stronger, harmonious Canada."

The Day of Action was originally intended to call attention to the crisis in the Native community, but there is growing concern over militant First Nations groups who are calling for rail blockades, in an effort to force the Canadian government to more quickly settle the hundreds of land claims that are inching their way through the courts. Here is a map that can give you an idea of the number of claims that have yet to be settled, and of the enormous amount of territory involved.

Chief Terrence Nelson is a leading figure among radical Native activists. He's famous for making statements like: "There's only one way to deal with a white man. You either pick up a gun or you stand between him and his money." ExpandRead more... )

If you would like to show support for the Day of Action, the Assembly of First Nations suggets that you write to the Prime Minister's office at pm@pm.gc.ca, or sign their Make Poverty History Petition.
schmevil: (gwen and mj dance)
"Half-heartedly is never how Jack and Meg White, together known as the White Stripes, do things. While most people celebrate anniversaries with a nice dinner, a bottle of bubbly or maybe a weekend away, the Detroit rockers opted for something a little more dramatic: an expansive 10th-anniversary Canadian tour that will take the pair to every single Canadian province and territory - Nunavut, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories - and a special anniversary show in Glace Bay, N.S., where Jack has family roots. (After that, they're heading south of the border to perform in all of 16 states they've never played before.) And, kicking off the tour at Deer Lake Park just outside of Vancouver, they're doing it in style."
The Globe and Mail
Jennifer Van Evra
June 26, 2007

Tragically, I won't be able to see the Stripes on this tour, because I'll be writing exams when they're in town. I'm seriously hoping they add another date, but doubting the possibility because of the difficulties inherent to scheduling a cross country tour in Canada. Most big ticket Canadian acts stick to the big cities and never get very far from the US border. Setting aside the difficulties of traveling across Canada vs traveling in the US, it's extremely difficult for an act like the White Stripes to book dates in places like Whitehorse. I read (in an article that I'm too lazy to look up) that the money men were veeeery nervous about this wacky Canadian tour proposal and that just getting it off the ground was an organizational nightmare. And I wouldn't be surprised if this tour has some very slim profits.

***

My family was just talking about the state of the Canadian publishing industry the other night, so I read this article with interest:

"Industry challenges are myriad, ranging from a weak U.S. dollar in relation to the Canadian currency, which is cutting into the value of book sales, to changes in the U.S. booksellers' market, leaving Canadian publishers scrambling to keep up.

Together, these factors amount to a slow but steady drop in exports over the past five years and may help explain the growth in Canada's "cultural goods deficit." Book exports to the United States slid 23.6 per cent between 2002 and 2006, Statistics Canada said yesterday, as the greenback tumbled 26 per cent against the loonie."
The Globe and Mail
Tavia Grant
June 26, 2007

(For the sake of clarity, last I checked the exchange rate was about 1.07) The continuing stratospheric climb of the Canadian dollar (as compared to its value even 5 years ago) causes a inspires a certain patriotic pride (OMG we don't suck!), but the decline of the US dollar is causing serious problems in an economy that's so geared to producing exports for the American market. Damn you Bush and your totally wack economic policies!

What's really interesting is that Grant points out that cultural imports from China are growing (mainly books). He doesn't say, but I think that these are probably American books printed in China. This calls for some research!
schmevil: (Default)
-> An additional hidden $40 billion in American defense spending? "Now, some of this money-laundering is legitimate, or at least traditional. But some of it absolutely is not. Some parsing is vital to see what's going on here."

-> The White House correspondent for Talon News quits after a blogger inquiry reveals links to gay pornography and male prostitution.

-> "Celebration was the company's vision of the future, a vision that drew more on Norman Rockwell than Buck Rogers: Think wired bungalows. It was also a social experiment that attempted to provide a variety of housing for a variety of people."

-> "Buying an ad on TV's most-watched event makes no economic sense."

-> Beauty Pageant!Oscars? Maybe. "Other novelties are planned to be introduced in the Feb. 27 telecast, including the simultaneous appearance of all nominees on the stage when the winner is announced; some groups sitting together in the audience and receiving their awards while seated; others receiving their Oscar statuettes in a traditional way, by going up on the stage."

-> What will the fans do after Episode III is released? "When (Revenge of the Sith) comes out, I can die peacefully.... No life after Star Wars.... I waited 28 years for this movie and I will only be at the theater for 2 hours. It doesn't add up."

"The lines have changed my life," she said. "I met my fiancé who I'm soon to marry in the 1999 line. I have made lifelong friendships. I will be sad it's all over because we're not going to be lining up for so long again." *facepalm*

What will you do when JKR finishes her series?

Hmph.

Apr. 24th, 2004 10:00 am
schmevil: (zap!)
Some estimates place as many as 15,000 mercs in Iraq, others as few as 1,500. Regardless, they are playing a significant role in the conflict, which is disturbing enough without quibbling over numbers. Mercenaries are not subject to the same kind of controls that soldiers are - they are accountable only to their HR department, and occasional performance reviews. They exist in a grey space of law and are rarely prosecuted for their crimes, which statistics suggest are very common. Sexual and violent misconduct is epidemic in times of war, but tends to increase dramatically when poorly run mercenary outfits are involved.

Mercenaries are most often former military, paramilitary or police personnel, with years of training behind them, so it's certainly possible to see tight, professional units. However, there is no incentive for the mercenary to go home and little to no incentive to behave himself (they are overwhelmingly male). Staying in means a good paycheck and keeping things under control, however you do it, means a bonus. Some mercenaries make $1000 a day.

'Security Guards' from Blackwater Intl. have been retained to guard oil fields and food convoys. Blackwater mercenaries are now being counted among the USA's honoured dead. Paul Bremer's bodyguard is a Blackwater merc. Tom DeLay's wife works for the company, which has a number of other contacts in the House and Senate.

I'm reminded of a discussion in one of my IR class, about the difference between a good peace keeper, a good peace maker, and a good soldier:

A good solider kills his enemy, in order to defend his people.

A good peace maker stops conflicting sides from killing each other, and acts to protect bystanders.

A good peace keeper helps people in tense situations to relax, by acting as a buffer.

You don't send a soldier to do a peace keeper's job, because he is is a killer and his reactions will be vastly out of proportional to what the situation requires. You don't send a peace keeper to do a soldier's job, because he will not be sufficiently ruthless, or capable of the necessary dissociations. A peace maker, which is what is necessary in places like Afghanistan or Iraq - places which have been purposely destabilized and essentially annexed by outside powers - someone who is somewhere between a soldier and beat cop.

The absolute last kind of person you want is a mercenary, who's only loyalty is to his paycheck, and has no vested interest in seeing the conflict resolved.



I edit and help plan essays occasionally, for my fellow undergrads. Can I just ask -- what is it about the undergrad mindset, that makes blatantly ripping off a well-regarded bit of critique, a brilliant idea?

I swear, if I read one more first year Comm or Women's Studies paper calling Buffy: the Vampire Slayer antifeminist, because Buffy fights evil in a miniskirt and heels, I'll scream. Funny that these papers tend to focus on season one, ignoring our heroine's later, more practical sartorial choices, and rarely engage with the idea that Buffy is a very young teen herself. Of course S1 Buffy is insecure, wants to be a popular, normal girl, with a popular, normal boyfriend. Of course she wants to wear cute skirts and heels - her femininity is being questioned every time she stakes a vampire.

Even in the later seasons she retreats into corporate femininity as a defense mechanism and obsessively rejects singlehood because she doesn't need a man in any practical sense. Giles is both her father figure and her mentor, but he isn't the full-on macho masculinity that Angel, Riley and Spike represent. Xander fills a more typically 'feminine' role in the group than Buffy, or Willow. Note that Angel, Riley and Spike are all ultimately found to be emotionally lacking in someway, then shuffled off screen. Spike, of course, gets to come back, again and again, every time a little more nuts, trying to please one woman or another, only to die, in order to aid the ultimate 'girl power' victory over evil. The role reversal there isn't just startling - it's typical. And the more Buffy tries to deny her power and independence, the more she screws up herself and everyone around her.

Buffy is the modern 'post-feminist', believing that since women's lib happened, and we're all equal now, she can just wear cute heels, let her man be a man, fight evil by night and remain secure in her right to choose, without ever bothering with that feminism thing. Buffy is a criticism of the notion that a female hero must be beautiful and vulnerable, as well as strong. She's a strong indictment of the way women continue to fear themselves and their power.

Or, maybe not. But why isn't a bright undergrad making that counterargument? ^_-



On the subject of contested statistics, I read four articles yesterday, each of which gave me a different percentage for women in North America who've had abortions. Lowest was 14% and highest was 50%. I'm very curious as to what the actual numbers look like. *grumbles*

Food for thought: abortion providers are aging, and there are very few younger doctors to take there place, when they retire. Few schools are paying much attention, these days, to this most shameful *cough* aspect of reproductive medicine. More time, on average, is spent on Viagra.
schmevil: (zap!)
Reproduced without permission from Details Jan/Feb 2004, volume 22, issue 4. pp.74-76.



Why Gay Men Definitely Shouldn't Get Married

Homosexuals see matrimony as the great equalizer. And they're right -- now everybody will be fat and miserable.

By Tony Hendra



Decent, tolerant Americans, the bast majority of the nation are in a very romantic mood right now -- the honey moon phase, if you like -- over the whole idea of gay marriage.

Countless Cinderellas are lifting the shapely feet of other Cinderellas to find that lo! the slipper fits. Countless Prince Charmings are preparing to mount their fine white steeds -- and other Prince Charmings.

And why should they not be so engaged? Let's face it: "Normal" marriage -- whatever that is -- is on its last legs. Men get along far better with men, and women with women. There's very little point to opposite genders living together, except for the highly overrated business of heterosexual sex, which, for 99 percent of married straights, is a five-to-ten-minute affair anyway, leaving the rest of the week (or month or year) a waking nightmare of underappeciation, and terminal fights over whose turn it is to change Julian. Gay couples planning marriage, like every other couple in history, believe that they, unlike every other couple in history, are actually going to make it work. Could they actually be right? Could gay marriage actually be purer, sweeter, more fun, more loving and lasting than the discredited millenia-long effort to get oil and water to live together? Could gays be ushering in an era when people really do live happily ever after?

When you consider how much less dysfunctionally certain hight-profile marriages might've been if they'd been gay, you can only say Go for it, guys and dolls, plight that troth. Had the House of Windsor embraced same-sex unions, not only would Brits be spared a long line of ever more cretinous offspring, but Far-From-Bonnie Prince Charlie wouldn't have been forced into marriage, free instead to cuddle up legally, if he wanted to, with his footman or mouth-man, or whatever he was -- of for that matter with Camilla, who, as all Palace insiders suspect, is a man anyway. (That whole want-to-be-reincarnated-as-her-tampon thing was just to throw off the tabloids.)

Full disclosure: I'm not gay. I'm married with kids. I have nothing but admiration for those who are fighting to do whatever they please with those they love, including marry them -- if for no other reason than it enrages, torments, and shoves it up the abundant fundaments of the vile cracker Christians who are trying to force their spittle-flecked morality on the rest of us.

But I do wonder what's going to happen when the honeymoon glow wears off. When gay couples discover -- like all other married couples since the dawn of legal humping -- that domestic bliss is, er.. elusice?... intermittent?...nonexistent?

The detritus of so many wrecked hetero-nuclear marriages lies like a devastated postwar wasteland before our starry-eyed gay brothers and sisters. Consider some of the prospects ahead in a world where gay marriage and divorce are as commonplace as liars in the Oval Office:

- Item: Gay marriage normalizes, bringing with it an inevitable consequence of all marriages -- the colossal up-sizing of one or both partners' waistline. Add a couple of kids and you have the standard 1,200-pound-all-American family -- except it's gay. Heather has two mommies -- the size of Shea Stadium.

- Item: Chelsea, West L.A., South Beach crammed with Auschwitz-thin chain-smoking Yorkie-in-the-handbag gay divorces d'un certain age, swilling Chardonnay while desperately competing for the very, very few well-heeled silver-haired stud muffins who might want to chaperone them through the golden portals of, um, maturity.

- Item: Gay marriage, currently a middle-to-upper-middle-class thing, trickles down society, creating trailer parks where 90 percent of the occupants are either blousy castoff lesbian wives in dirty pink muumuus watching tapes of Ellen or scrofulous castoff gay husbands who live off Bud and whatever they can lap up at the truck-stop glory hole.

- Item; In no time at all, the offspring of gay marriages start seeking their own life partners... Bringing the girl home to meet Dad and Dad: "How could you, Josh? After all we sacrificed for you -- you show up with a... a.. breeder!?!"

- Item: All the dire conflicts and consequences of marriage, of any marriage, find their way into a stream of Hollywood remakes: My Big Fat Gay Greek Wedding. The First Gay Wives Club. Thelmus and Louis. TV follows with a flood of gay sitcoms: All In The Gay Family, The Queen of Queens. Why stop there? Rewrite the whole vast canon of hetero courtship, marriage and misery -- Long Gay's Journey into Night, Romeo and Julio, Gay Pride and Prejudice...

With possibilities like this ahead, why would the freest spirits in our culture want to bind themselves up in a monogamous contract before God and country and dirty Uncle Jonathan who always liked to give the kids pony rides on his knee? Sure, it might seem like a good idea for now -- with all the gut-tingling thrills of pioneering terra incognita -- but take a word of advice from us straight ball-and-chainers: Marriage is no bed of Rosies.

July 2012

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