Fiddler's Green

Question of the day

2006-07-28T14:56:00.000-05:00

Is this so sad it's funny or so funny it's sad?

Sock-puppetry a Go-Go?

2006-07-21T19:09:00.000-05:00

NOT. In fact I have no opinion on whether Glenn Greenwald is pseudonymously arguing with his critics. I will note that the tone of the attacks started pretty nasty and has quickly become dangerously personal.

No, my sock-puppetry is that I now have a family of 3 sure-to-be-rarely-updated blogs. This one is for political rants & general carryings-on; I'm working on a new series of mp3 posts for Audiofile Quality, and I put my Unfogged-inspired desecration (or is it?) of verse in A Commonplace Blog.

Branching out

2006-07-15T15:18:00.000-05:00

I've decided to complement the personal/political blog I rarely update with a music blog I'll probably rarely update. We'll see. At the moment it's largely experimental; but please do check it out.

Those who do not learn from history will not notice when it goes into reruns

2006-07-07T17:16:00.000-05:00

Sure I've got a problem--a big problem--with the Administration dragging a terror alert across their trail whenever they think it suits them. "Gee! what an amazing coincidence that this story should break today!"

But frankly, I'm idealist enough to hope that 230 years of (relative) democracy have created a national bullshit detector. Crying wolf is so manifestly short-sighted that its reward is inevitable. Isn't it? Please?

Nevertheless, I have a MUCH BIGGER PROBLEM with the Administration fleshing out their press releases with actual flesh. Look at the Miami thing: I've seen little serious reporting on it, but it certainly seems likely that the guys in the mugshots (if they've even released mugshots) are simply, as Jon Stewart so pungently observed, "a bunch of dipshits living in a warehouse".

The "press conference" announcing arrests admitted no weapons or equipment were seized, despite a months-long investigation; it's hard to believe these guys flew their WMD's into Syria before the hammer came down. I can't recall where I heard this, but apparently this little "cell" supported themselves in between bull sessions about the evils of America by selling cut-rate hair-care products on the street. In short: the Protectors of Our Homeland rounded up the only organization in the country more obviously ill-equipped for effective action than the Department of Homeland Security itself.

Even if the Miami Cell are basically incompetent ne'er-do-wells attached to a con artist with a personality disorder, they are under prosecution by an Administration which derives its sole authority (AOTW) from the Constitution. And no one seems to have any evidence of any wrongdoing beyond shit-talking. And no one I've seen so far has had a response stronger than eye-rolling. Okay, fine, so it's a comical turn. I've laughed, I admit it.

But who's the butt of the joke? I'm sure those pasty-faced intellectual rootless cosmopolitans in the 50's looked pretty funny from a sofa in Levittown--and I'm sure those shifty-eyed firebrand immigrants looked pretty foolish in their day, too ("Look at that moustache! It's so totally 1913!").

At least in the 20th century America's scapegoats were railroaded the old-fashioned way--on trumped-up evidence of actually doing something. Here in the Information Age, deeds seem to be irrelevant. How advanced.

If you've ever wondered whether the wisdom of Karl Marx can still be vindicated, here's your proof.

(& in unintentional comedy: Blogger's spellchecker wondered if I would like to replace "Levittown", above, with "leviathan" or "lobotomy". Having that rarest of all things, a perfectly balanced mind, I couldn't pick which to use; so I'm sticking with "Levittown".)

Hallelujah

2006-06-28T21:09:00.000-05:00

Someone will show this movie on the big screen, or I'll know the reason why. Because Leonard Cohen rules me. That is all.

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2006-05-05T16:05:00.000-05:00

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The Ever-Expanding Book Meme

2006-04-29T15:48:00.000-05:00

bold = read it
italicised, but not bold = a book I want to read but haven’t yet
italicised and bold = a book I’m currently reading
~~italicised and struck through = a book I failed to finish reading but keep meaning to get back to~~
~~bold and struck through = a book I tried to read and have formally abandoned out of disinterest~~
purple bold = a book I love
purple bold italics = a book I love so much that it is always current reading
red bold = a book I read but would not especially recommend

Then add 4.

The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams
The Great Gatsby - F.Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter 6) - J.K. Rowling
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story - George Orwell
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
~~Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen~~
1984 - George Orwell
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3) - J.K. Rowling
~~One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez~~
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4) - J.K. Rowling
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter 5) - J.K. Rowling
Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
Angels and Demons - Dan Brown
Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Book 1) - J.K. Rowling
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2) - J.K. Rowling
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Ender’s Game (The Ender Saga) - Orson Scott Card
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Good Omens - Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
Atonement - Ian McEwan
The Shadow Of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Dune - Frank Herbert
The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera
Hey Nostradamus! - Douglas Coupland
The Nature of Blood - Caryl Phillips
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules - Ed. David Sedaris
The Last Continent - Terry Pratchett
The Book of Skulls - Robert Silverberg
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice - Laurie R. King
Persepolis 2 - Marjane Satrapi
The Sound & The Fury - William Faulkner
A Wild Sheep Chase - Haruki Murakami
The Bridge of Birds - Barry Hughart
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman
~~Gravity’s Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon~~
A Wrinkle in Time - Madeline L’Engle
Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. LeGuin
The Oresteia - Aeschylus
The Family : The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty - Kitty Kelley
A Scanner Darkly - Philip K. Dick

near Bout time

2006-01-28T22:15:00.000-05:00

My, the preceding post was quite the rant... I'm just getting my Irish up (such as it is) for the Roller Derby & attendant events. Because me & my boys, we got our tickets, & we intend to MAKE SOME NOISE.

The elephant in the room

2006-01-28T20:32:00.000-05:00

Anybody who says the Abramoff scandal is bipartisan can bite me*. Completely aside from being in bed with Ralph Reed, who apparently used to merely crash on his couch (?!), Abramoff went after Republican congresscritters for the same reason Willie Sutton reportedly went after bank vaults -- because that's where the money is. Everybody knows it.

Unfortunately, it looks like the congressional Democrats are afraid of losing their own ticket on the gravy train -- after all, someday they might actually be worth bribing again! Parading congressional Democrats in front of a pledge nobody will read is no substitute for real reform. Although I like the relative detail of this proposal, it seems the reform effort overall is a bit fuzzy.

Nevertheless, this is a great time to let the media know that balancing the story is not the same as balancing the facts. If the facts show that Abramoff was playing pander to the GOP, and the punditocracy keeps saying otherwise, the public needs to ask why pundits are allowed to pull assertions from their asses without getting called out on the air. Chris Matthews (or whomever, but Media Matters has a typical quote) may be too craven to call a man a liar to his face; but can anyone explain why he won't book somebody who's willing to do it? I thought the whole point of the Crossballs genre was the agon! I can't believe, I refuse to believe that no one is willing to talk about this honestly. Give me a break! It's an elephant -- & it's in the room!

Of course, the Treadmill to the White House 2008** could be the problem; for the last few decades, the Democrats have only ever had a leader for about 4 months out of every 4 years**. If there's no "front bench", how can you field a team?

___________________________________________________________________
* hat tip to Kevin Drum, whom I visit too seldom.

**"2008 election" = 17.2 million Googles at the moment...

***actually, from August convention to November election is barely over 3 months.

Busy Day for the webs (& the Web?)

2006-01-25T01:24:00.000-05:00

Synchronicity strikes the entertainment industry with two current news reports: that two of the few remaining broadcast networks are merging, and that Steve Jobs will soon be the single largest shareholder in Disney.

Of the latter: I expect the Disney/Pixar deal will likely play in the short-term as a movie thing, but that's old-century thinking. Having six hits in a row in the movie business is grand, but Pixar's not Harrison Ford. Don't get me wrong, Brad Bird is a freakin' genius; but the future of Pixar is in whatever today's image jockeys, code monkeys and interns happen to dream up over the next 10 years. If Pixar maintains a happy shop, they could be a powerhouse in producing short(er)-form film. Which brings us around to TV...

Of the former, I note the obvious short-term benefit to CBS and Warner television as producers of "content". Not long ago, networks were restricted in their ownership of the programs they ran; that seems odd, but it was presumably intended to promote diversity among producers. Well, that's all done now. With DVD releases starting to wake up TV the same way they're waking up the movie business, owners like the idea of making the network a big pipe for what the home office sends. Of course, 90% of television is crud -- so throwing CBS & TimeWarner together allows for some mutual support (until the back-stabbing begins).

Networks may benefit additionally from TV's strengths in the coming "content wars". TV has an edge in matching content to manageable blocks of attention: not only does TV break down the consumption of content to a variable set of up to a half-dozen or so parts (prime-time, lead-ins, etc.), but also TV builds-in an array of serial encounters (the season, the story arc, re-runs). These two strengths, the "stay tuned!" model and the "tune in tomorrow!" model, could rock the movie industry over the next generation or so. Why? Because most people don't remember which studio had a massive hit & a massive flop the same weekend, but they're likely to recall where the TV shows they watch are to be found.

P.S. Essay question: is it synchronicity that the cancellation of 7thHeaven was announced immediately before the WB/UPN merger, and that the WB/UPN merger announcement was immediately followed by a swift collapse in the share price of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Incorporated? If anyone in Birmingham, Nashville, Raleigh-Durham, or Milwaukee has an opinion, I'm all ears.

If it makes any difference, The WB's January 15th announcement by "top executive" Garth Ancier is oddly timed by any measure. How fresh is the "news" on CNN (a TimeWarner compay) these days, anyhow? E! Online had it in November! I guess this is what happens when you pit the home office against a relatively independent company. I never said the free market was all bad...

First draft for a report

2006-01-24T17:09:00.000-05:00

Here's a familiar quote from W's Monday appearance in Kansas: "My most important job is to protect the security of the American people." It struck me as familiar -- I thought I remembered previously shuddering at pretty much exactly the same phrase.

So, since Google is still legal, I tried it. As of this afternoon, there are 199 hits for "My most important job is to protect the security of the American people". I'm gonna see how much W has been running this one up the flagpole & who's saluting before further comment...

Much too late that night: Dang, I'd better finish my research PDQ -- in less than 8 hours the hit count has reached 342.

Coincidence? I hope so!

2006-01-19T15:33:00.000-05:00

I think it's dangerous to believe W is just plain stupid, but some days I understand why so many people wish it so.

Anyone who thought data mining was slowed down when John Poindexter slunk off a couple of years ago needs awakening. The MSM washed its hands of the story when Senate Democrats leashed the TIA, but the Administration pulled a favorite executive trick -- apparently they just renamed the project & handed it off in some dark corner of bureaucracy. I wonder if anyone's got a timeline?

The only reason the White House "briefed" a handful of Congresscritters was the Power of the Purse. What a scene those briefings must have been! "Sit down. Shut up. Here's what we're doing. You can read this report but you can't take notes, you can't ask questions, & if you tell anyone outside this room that this conversation even happened you'll be guilty of a felony. We need X amount of money in the Intelligence budget, and you'd better pass it."

The part that makes the Unitary Executive seem smart is that apparently the spying program kept costs low by getting the FBI to run down their "leads". And maybe that's where coincidence bows out: right after a revelation of FBI weariness at invading the privacy of innocent Americans, the Bureau brandishes "a request for 1 million random Web addresses and records of all Google searches from any one-week period".

This standoff has been in the cards for years, but I just can't understand how the Justice Department can argue while the NSA flap approaches a rolling boil (439 hits for "public hearings in Congress on surveillance" as of this afternoon). Does somebody think every civil liberties advocate in the country will be so tied in knots that no one will notice?

First we get told it's For National Security, and next we'll be told it's For the Children. "Protecting the general welfare" is a duly Constituted aim of the U.S. Government, but citizens don't need protective custody.

The true beauty of the Google subpoena is that the government is requesting the information specifically as evidence in a case brought against them by the ACLU in 1998. I suppose Google's competitors are glad to see the rich kids have to pay mouthpieces -- or has the FBI been strongarming everyone? Apparently Google's just the first to holler. According to this article, the government's motion says everybody else who's been asked has rolled over.

Supposedly the data is "only" needed to demonstrate that without Federal law, there's no way to prevent some people from having access to some information from which society would like to protect them. The protective purpose (keeping kids away from the porn) is understandable, but once "penalties of up to $50,000 per day and up to six months imprisonment" get involved, I'm reasonably certain the enforcement mechanism is going to involve some intense surveillance. There's no solid definition of "harmful to minors" (some might include this) , so prosecutors will have to start out either by evaluating material online & then identifying everybody who saw it or identifying all minors & then evaluating everything they see. Either way, there's going to have to be some serious data mining.

What does that say? Plenty, I suspect, and little to the good. Perhaps the random "lawyers for the U.S. Justice Department...in San Jose" are off the reservation, and they counted on Google to make a fuss so the Senate could grill Gonzalez -- but that's damned unlikely. Likelier is that the Justice Department has gotten so big nobody thought about Google and NSA at the same time -- a comfortable "our enemies are just stupid" kind of explanation, but certainly believable.

What I don't want to believe is that these events coincide by the power of pure authoritarian arrogance: the Security State wants to gather as much data as possible about everybody, all the time, with no legal oversight, to be used for any purpose whatsoever. If that objective is so central that it must be sought at every turn, in every forum, regardless of political consequences, then I desperately hope that W is stupid about one thing: stupid in believing that no institution or power in the world can succeed in frustrating him.

Accidental pilgrimage

2006-01-13T15:41:00.000-05:00

How infinite my pleasure at finding a truly universal example, suitably enshrined -- like the sacred relic that once stood as the one true measure of a meter (symbolizing a truly cosmopolitan "10-7 or one ten-millionth of the length of the meridian through Paris from pole to the equator").

Example domains may be old hat to my geek circle. I mean old hat -- the memo linked to the Example Web Page (self-categorized as "Best Current Practice") references its argument to publications on Internet practice from November of 1987.

Refuge

2005-06-23T09:38:00.000-05:00

Yes, I still remember I have a blog. This is priceless: MSNBC reports on the House of Representatives passing (for at least the 5th time!) a Constitutional amendment banning "flag desecration". Ordinarily I'd just roll my eyes wearily (since the Senate apparently still can't be dragged along), but I couldn't resist this passage:

Supporters said there was more public support than ever because of emotions following the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. They said detractors are out of touch with public sentiment.

“Ask the men and women who stood on top of the Trade Center,” said Rep. Randy (Duke) Cunningham, R-Calif. “Ask them and they will tell you: pass this amendment.”

It's good to know Rep. Cunningham can serve as such a shining exemplar of the values that make our democracy great.

I'd like to see a resolution (non-binding, of course, since I'm all about the First Amendment) to protect the flag from the grubby fingers of scum like Cunningham.

In the meantime, I'll enjoy Josh Marshall's latest proof of the value of distributed reporting.

Say what?

2005-05-17T09:39:00.000-05:00

"People are dead because of what this son of a bitch said. How could he be credible now?"
-- Pentagon spokesman Larry DiRita on Newsweek "scandal"

"People are dead because of what this son of a bitch said. How could he be credible now?"
-- 50% of Americans (as of 5/17/05) on President Bush

I am not worthy!

2005-04-29T02:53:00.000-05:00

I just got such a frisson from my old friend (and fellow former redheaded mullethead) the Apostropher, who has put quite a lot into his fine, fine blog this week after warning that he wouldn't have time to post much. Hey, our little college town won't run out of coffee anytime soon!

Anyhow, I've actually gotten into the blogroll of someone who doesn't spend hours gaming with me every blessed week, which to me is much like the Big Time. Does that mean I should start averaging more than four posts or so every six weeks or so? That doesn't seem to be mandatory (gazes longingly at Monkeytime), but I feel I should step up a little.

Certainly I'm honored enough of to (um, nearly) refrain from grousing that now I can't scroll directly to various favorite Apostro-links without thinking. My bookmarks in Mozilla look like the back seat of my old car sophomore year; I count on my friends to corral links for me, & I figure the referrer logs at Eschaton or wherever will eventually take note. In fact I rather like the new blogroll. I'll just remember to get the coffee mug in my hand before I navigate it.

The Tail Wags the Dog* (draft)

2005-04-20T11:31:00.000-05:00

Martin Edlund at Slate writes the whole story and still misses the point. In very businesslike fashion he dismisses the idea of leveraging Fiona Apple's imprisoned album into a "hit" like her debut. Keeping in mind that Apple's sophomore album went near-platinum (according to Edlund) despite mixed reviews and a title 90 words long, I nevertheless accept that Extraordinary Machine will not displace any of these jokers anytime soon.

What strikes me as odd is that Edlund disregards the potential of what he himself calls "a wonderfully complex album...by turns whimsical and solemn..." If one writes of culture, one is supposed to be above crass commercialism. Culture is about influence; if 90% of everything is crap (I heard "98%" myself, but whatever), why should it matter how many people show up this week? Does anybody remember the Velvet Underground, for example?

Right now, everybody wins. All sorts of people will be watching for Ms. Apple's next release, whatever it turns out to be; the label hasn't had to pay a flack to get attention -- in Slate, and Wired, and elsewhere) for a songstress whose last album was released when the all-important adolescent arbiters of cool were in elementary school.

This week's bonus Wikipedia-love is for classifying Sturgeon's Law in Philosophy. I've always admired the writer's keen mind (hey, he invented the Prime Directive apparently), and I've certainly never heard his law refuted. I see its general acceptance as evidence that cultural evolution has plenty to work with.

__________
*Isn't it time to reclaim that evocative phrase from a lesser Dustin Hoffman film?

hork

2005-04-17T21:45:00.000-05:00

Law professor & noted blogger Eric Muller continues his research into public-school proselytizing. There's a mailto at the bottom of his latest post, which I may use once my hands stop shaking.

Followup (January 2006)

The link died above died & I got curious as to whether anything came of this. Truthfully I didn't send a complaining email myself, so I can't get on my high horse. So how did the controversy shake out?

So far I've found nothing more than a month past Professor Muller's original postings. My search was less than exhaustive, but I don't see any evidence that any of the more than a dozen school systems cited by Muller made any changes -- of course some of his links to school reading lists are busted, but then his whole archive has slipped out of its internal links, so I suppose it's par for the course.

Once more the question arises: How much of the Blogosphere will be reduced to Linear A after a few years of link-rot?

Lost & Found

2005-04-17T16:00:00.000-05:00

If anyone had asked me, "Is Robert Silverberg read in the classics?", I would have guessed so.

So.

Professor Kitto is likely harder to find in print now than in days gone by, so it's good students such as Silverberg are still with us. Online, Kitto's work survives in such quiet stacks as the "World's Largest Online Library!!!" affords. Possible term-paper mill "Questia" keeps tight rein on actual paragraphs of writing, but will happily search the holdings (including indices and statements of acknowledgement) by word or whatever. It's better than the typical garage of google-links. Maybe Project Gutenberg has more meat (thanks ibiblio), or wherever the local hungry grad students are hanging out.

I found Silverberg, of course, through serendipity. (Which led me to discover he's been busy using his classical education... but that's for another day).

What I was looking for was some Web account of a report I caught on the BBC World Service while doing the washing up. Seems there may be some new appendices (at least) for any respectable shelf of ancient writing. Maybe some new volumes even. A long-held trove of unique papyri, buried in the Egyptian desert for up to 2000 years, are being translated and catalogued feverishly after the application of new infrared imaging technology (MEGO) revealed their contents.

The surviving complete plays of Sophocles (some "180 or more [might be] ascribed to him") don't exactly comprise a doorstop. We have seven. That's not even enough to account for his first-place prizes.

Aeschylus, who nearly lost one of his 7 remaining complete plays, is barely a paperweight compared to, say Eugene O'Neill.

My sometime antagonist Euripides, the original expat, bested both his elders with 19. Personally, I think his known involvement in the Athenian anti-war movement gave him radical chic; Aeschylus was a proud foot-soldier and Sophocles an undistinguished officer.

Anyway, the researcher (IIRC) said there were something like half a million newly readable ancient texts, including recognizable pieces of known works & fragments at least of writers whose work never reached the monasteries. Since the site from which this treasure was recovered was a centuries-deep dump, we might even guess some of the papyri might have had the sort of things Mother Church wouldn't have wanted in circulation.

...Hey, the BBC story wasn't an hallucination! Days after I went looking for it, the Oxyrhynchos Papyri got a story from NPR (thanks, WUNC -- I know you're asking for money this month, but you'll have to settle for a link). Oddly, I was taking a break from drafting a post on the surprising tin ear of a story on Slate when I heard Slate's affiliated radio show "Day to Day" covering the papyri. I wonder how durable the "Day to Day" archive is...

I came here for the spelling of "Oxyrhynchos"; I stayed for the pretty pretty maps. A wealth of information can be found on the amusingly named "POxy" server, including an indexed database of what's been catalogued so far.

All Hail the Smart Mob!

2005-04-16T11:13:00.000-05:00

When bad news turns good:

Dennis Kyne put up such a fight at a political protest last summer, the arresting officer recalled, it took four police officers to haul him down the steps of the New York Public Library and across Fifth Avenue.

"We picked him up and we carried him while he squirmed and screamed," the officer, Matthew Wohl, testified in December. "I had one of his legs because he was kicking and refusing to walk on his own."

From all I heard at the time, the GOP convention protests were hearteningly peaceful; but there's always a few bad apples, and testimony like that looks like an open-and-shut case. But after Officer Wohl's testimony (reports the New York Times)

"[...T]he prosecutor abruptly dropped all charges.

During a recess, the defense had brought new information to the prosecutor. A videotape shot by a documentary filmmaker showed Mr. Kyne agitated but plainly walking under his own power down the library steps, contradicting the vivid account of Officer Wohl, who was nowhere to be seen in the pictures. Nor was the officer seen taking part in the arrests of four other people at the library against whom he signed complaints.

A sprawling body of visual evidence, made possible by inexpensive, lightweight cameras in the hands of private citizens, volunteer observers and the police themselves, has shifted the debate over precisely what happened on the streets during the week of the convention.

For Mr. Kyne and 400 others arrested that week, video recordings provided evidence that they had not committed a crime or that the charges against them could not be proved, according to defense lawyers and prosecutors.

This wasn't just a one-time thing, either; even worse was the case of

[...] Alexander Dunlop, who said he was arrested while going to pick up sushi.

Last week, he discovered that there were two versions of the same police tape: the one that was to be used as evidence in his trial had been edited at two spots, removing images that showed Mr. Dunlop behaving peacefully. When a volunteer film archivist found a more complete version of the tape and gave it to Mr. Dunlop's lawyer, prosecutors immediately dropped the charges and said that a technician had cut the material by mistake.

Gee, it's a good thing the prosecutors didn't "accidentally" edit out the part of the tape that seemed to support their case. Of the more than 1000 demonstrators arrested, some 162 pled guilty; many more are being spared by the efforts of citizen actions like "I-Witness Video, a project that assembled hundreds of videotapes shot during the convention by volunteers [link added]". Ther's not much on the Web about the project, but it's at the front of what we can expect to become a long line of activists keeping the law honest. I'm sad, if not too surprised, to see how needed it is.

I believe it was the brilliant playwright Tom Stoppard who said "The point of non-violence isn't to get beaten up; it's to get beaten up in front of the media" (at any rate it sounds like Stoppard). In 1968 Chicago, demonstrators chanted "the whole world is watching" as they were attacked by police in front of network cameras; the movement's Achilles heel ever since has been that sometimes the networks don't show up. Now that has ceased to matter. Power to the people!

(The Times story, btw, "Videos Challenge Accounts of Convention Unrest", by JIM DWYER (Published: April 12, 2005), has no doubt disappeared into a bloody paid archive. There's more about Dunlop, and it's worth a read, but we non-subscribers have to get by on fair use. As fair as I can make it anyhow. Bur that's another post entirely...)

More Effective than Federal Millions?

2005-04-15T12:44:00.000-05:00

Kudos to the Creator (er, maybe that should be "creator") of this thorough examination of how abstinence works. I hope everyone who shrugged years ago when Dr. Joycelyn Elders got defenestrated (for suggesting that with imagination, people who are crazy stuffed with hormones can avoid serious consequences without being driven to the wall) realizes that as funny as it seems, there's a lot of (not quite literally) decent advice in, for example, Keeping Your Clothes On.

The site's mission statement says: "As lawful holders of the rights to the domain names... [we will] entertain inquiries by any individual, government and/or religious institution towards the purchase of these domains". If anybody tries to bully them into surrendering their URLs, somebody should step up.

A Call to Action?

2005-04-14T13:19:00.000-05:00

Freelance asshole Fred Phelps is coming to my town, & I'm pissed. What to do? All suggestions welcome...

Another hard case

2005-04-14T01:00:00.000-05:00

Damn, what's this world coming to when a First Amendment absolutist like me hears about a parent who wants his kid's school to get rid of a library book and I kinda see his point?

My problem is this: if an 8th grade class were offered extra credit for reading a book that uses wildly inaccurate stereotype to favor a Christian point of view and denigrate other spiritual traditions, the opinions of the 8th graders themselves would carry some weight. Junior high schoolers can be expected to have a reasonably developed bullshit detector.

Now that the ball is rolling, I wonder if there's some way to make this a "teachable moment". If I were teaching English at a local high school, I'd be trying to borrow that book. Then I would no doubt get my ass fired.

self-Contradicting

2005-04-13T19:17:00.000-05:00

Wow. Randi Rhodes certainly isn't my cup of paint-thinner, but from very limited experience I am willing to excuse her from suspicion of flat-out lying. My estimation has been that like her oft-invoked nemesis Rush, Rhodes dedicates all her energy to aligning her listeners on one side or another of a partisan divide.

As long as the host's rants have a basic consistency from day to day on major issues, it doesn't matter whether any individual argument hangs together. It's better to know fewer facts and shout them repeatedly. That way, people driving don't have to worry that they missed something.

Certainly this makes Rhodes a poor role model. As for whether she should have a job...well, she isn't running for anything, and I'm probably not buying anything from her sponsors anyhow. What does that mean to me, Al Franken?

It's her listeners that worry me. I'm curious as to why nobody called her out on Nicaragua -- are her callers appallingly ignorant, or screened with great care?

touch of velvet

2005-04-13T19:00:00.000-05:00

The link to this site, I shit you not (ISYN), urges us in red & yellow to "click here to vote for paper ballots in America now!" So, um, which is it that counts?

I cannot explain this

2005-04-13T17:47:00.000-05:00

You are Captain Malcolm Reynolds, aka. Mal or
Captain Tightpants. You saw most of your men
die in a war you lost and now you seek solitude
with a small crew that you are fiercely devoted
to. You have no problems being naked.

Which Firefly character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

A Fine Bio and a Fine Myth

2005-04-10T22:13:00.000-05:00

Newly well-known blogger Chris Clarke has quite a tale to tell beyond personal knowledge of a sociopath (whoch is after all a disquietingly common knowledge in these times). He claims one accomplishment which I might never have thought possible, to wit: "Persuaded James Watt not to use pesticides in his yard."

I've always had a weakness for the humor of oddball encounters, & this is top-shelf. I had a vague recollection of Watt making some wild statement about how protecting the environment wasn't so very important since the End Times were coming anyway. It was no great step to believe that a man who wanted to sell off vast tracts of old-growth forest to pay off the sponsors of Reagan's revolution would be amenable to protecting his own offspring from neurological damage. Such hypocrisy is old hat to someone who ground his teeth through much of the Eighties.

My enjoyment has been tempered, though, by the discovery that Watt's been patrolling his legacy. It appears that at some point a (somewhat flaky)writer published a book in which he quoted Watt as having said "after the last tree is felled, Christ will come back." The quote was wild enough (and, in view of the record, believable enough) to get used in an online magazine and a speech at Harvard by Bill Moyers.

Here's where it gets ugly: apparently nobody can source the quote. The online magazine said that his statement was made "in public testimony", which was just sloppy; their article now carries a correction. Worst of all, I found this out because Watt's efforts to get the quote corrected got covered by Powerline (no link, just trust me). Damn, I hate it when the wingnuts score. Moyers, by the way, was a gentleman about it.

Now, Watt had a real reputation for shooting his mouth off. Nevertheless, I've had a real lesson today in being careful about buying into statements just because they seem credible.

And another thing: I remember being pretty steamed (even as a young whippersnapper) about Watt when he was in office, but some reasonably extensive Googling turned up very little on his actual record -- what he tried to do & what he did. All I could turn up was his own, presumably self-serving catalogue of how much he improved the process of "restoring" land after strip-mining & so forth. Is history truly written by the winners?

mana from Heaven

2005-04-08T13:39:00.000-05:00

"An Apollo 13 bus bar battery cable that had been flown in space" ???

First of all, "bus bar battery cable" is my favorite found poetry of the spring so far. Love it. Can't quite conjure a visual image, but it sure sounds like a band name to me.

Guess the market value was in the Apollo 13 mana, though, as likely no one bid on it because they needed to cable a battery to a bus bar (or whatever). Everything from Apollo 13 "that had...flown in space" came back by apparent miracle, and relics have always tended to be odd.

Furthermore, while the Feds hate the playa, the game can't be presumed innocent. How many contracts have been swung by the ability to make a big splash?

(Tx Ap(oll)ostropher)

News Flash! Daily Howler misses elephantine agenda!

2005-03-16T15:25:00.000-05:00

If you want to defund the Federal Government (which presumably may be assumed of NH senatorJudd Gregg), why act like it's bad news when you say the Social Security trust fund will swiftly and drastically reduce the amount of money administered by Congress? The money quote:

That means defense, education, federal highways, environmental programs—every other area of government will be impacted.

Emphasis added by Howler. So what's the deal? I suspect the Party has figured out the wages of democracy. The Republican Senate & House majorities have been built on decrying the "waste, fraud, and abuse" they see in every government program.

Well, see, wait a minute, the Party now runs the program. That's what winning means.

Howler & Atrios are aghast (& rightfully so) at the reach of Gregg's bullshit column in Roll Call, a publication whose influence is out of all proportion to its hack editor's deserving. But what gets to me is the apparent statement against interest of a man who has won awards from the National Taxpayers Union and Dick Armey's Citizens for a Sound Economy (btw, avoid the CSE link if you can't bear Armey's gravelly yet weaselly voice). Why the crocodile tears?

It makes sense if we see the collapsing Social Security phase-out plan as a feint...

(more to come)

Tipping is encouraged

2005-03-06T17:56:00.000-05:00

Here's a tip for your local service workers: take a look at the bill Banning State Minimum Wage Laws (third provision described).

The whole bill is such a sweeping disaster for low-wage workers generally that I can't imagine even the GOP would pass it, even for Santorum. But it does show priorities, doesn't it?

The hat tip is for Atrios.

Pimp my ride

2005-02-09T17:24:00.000-05:00

I'm laughing through my tears.

Do I feel a draft?

2005-01-29T23:47:00.000-05:00

I've had an edifying hour reading my blog-drafts, which outnumber actual posts by a fair margin. Some of them almost come to a point, while some are merely pointy-headed. If anything turns up I'll slide it over my own transom.

See Jane subvert the structures of patriarchal dominance. Subvert, Jane, subvert!

2004-10-27T20:38:00.000-05:00

I can't help but wonder if Wonkette has stumbled upon the source of Greg Palast's latest scoop -- a file apparently created to support Republican voter intimidation in Florida. I've pasted the relevant email from the brilliant parody site "georgewbush.org" below, in case they get intimidated themselves. At the moment, the original (scroll down) is in their "Dead Letter Office", which consists of authentic GOP emails intended for "georgewbush.com".

Other than voter intimidation, I can't imagine what purpose a "caging" database could serve. If anybody has an innocent explanation, I'd love to hear it. I can always use a good laugh. Don't try to say it's all a fake, though; Tim Griffin (just for starters) is easy enough to find, though he does say "Generally speaking, we don't generally speak about what we do." I should think they don't.

-----Original Message-----
From: Tim Griffin - Research/Communications [mailto:tgriffin@rnchq.org]
Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2004 6:34 PM
To: kporter@rpof.org; Lindy Landreaux - Political [mailto:LLandreaux@rnchq.org]; Miriam Moore - Research/Communications [mailto:MMoore@rnchq.org]; Victoria Newton - Research/Communications [mailto:VNewton@rnchq.org]; Shawn Reinschmiedt - Research/Communications [SReinschmiedt@rnchq.org]; rkammerdiner@rnchq.org; sshiver@rpof.org; bdoster@georgewbush.org
Subject: Re: caging

Thx
Tim Griffin
Research Director and
Deputy Communications Director
Republican National Committee
310 First Street, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
w:(202) 863-8815
f: (202) 863-8744
tgriffin@rnchq.org

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kelly Porter [kporter@rpof.org]
> To: Lindy Landreaux - Political [LLandreaux@rnchq.org]; Miriam Moore - Research/Communications [MMoore@rnchq.org]; Victoria Newton - Research/Communications [VNewton@rnchq.org]; Tim Griffin - Research/Communications [tgriffin@rnchq.org]; Shawn Reinschmiedt - Research/Communications [SReinschmiedt@rnchq.org]; rkammerdiner@rnchq.org [rkammerdiner@rnchq.org]; Stephen Shiver [sshiver@rpof.org]; bdoster@georgewbush.org [bdoster@georgewbush.org]
> Sent: Thu Aug 26 18:12:49 2004
> Subject: caging
>
> Total as of today is 1834.
>
> Kelly
>
> ATTACHMENT: Caging-1.xls

...total collective word count to date

2004-10-22T16:56:00.000-05:00

My mountain man can't hardly wait to start chasing the 50,000 word mark. Less ambitious, I've been visiting the NaNoSite, which will at the least encourage me to add "NaNo" to every concept that will hold still. Ye who read these words, beware!

Hmmmm. Is this poaching on Blogger's part, or is it community service? Actually the NaNoLinks are reasonably prominent; I was two clicks from NaNoFinancing.

Best Donor Premium EVER: gifts over 1k entitle the giver to "one nagging/encouraging phone call during November about your novel from Chris Baty (this call is transferable to any NaNoWriMo participant should you not be interested in having the nagging directed at you personally.)"

What thrills me about the whole concept is that NaNoWriMo is driven by the combined forces of competition and cooperation. Is there even a word for that?

In any event, best wishes to all!

Also: this is priceless.

popular vote totals

2004-09-23T10:49:00.000-05:00

2004

2000

1996

1992

1988

Who knew?

2004-09-16T16:05:00.000-05:00

It ain't the way thatcha do it, in fact; it is whatcha do.

"Consider the source" is probably what we'll hear about the latest bleak assessment of where our Mess O'Potamia is headed. Apostropher's right; everybody tried to tell the Administration where it was headed before the shooting started. But hey, the majority rules, right? All the polls said support for the war was over 50%, which is a higher number than any Presidential candidate has gotten on Election Day since 1988. And make no mistake, 43 learned the lesson of 41; if you gain tremendous support after a military success and the economy is circling the bowl, the only way to stay on top is to keep fighting. Hell, isn't that pretty much how Rome built her empire?

So, under the simple schoolyard dogma that it's easier to get forgiveness than permission, the hawks (whatever their affiliations) decided to just go for it, and devil take the hindmost. And every step of the way we've blared our own horn about bringing Democracy and Liberty to benighted corners of the globe. What kind of image are we giving Democracy? In a democracy, whenever a majority can be cobbled together to commit any old global crime, the whole damn population can sit around and wring their hands after without blame -- as if the possibility that maybe we'll fire the guy who did it at some point in the future means the crime doesn't matter. It does.

If Benito Mussolini preferred fifty thousand rifles to fifty thousand votes, that's because he understood that on the stage of history, rifles get clearer results. The Iraq adventure has written the lead for the first quarter (at least) of the new century, and there's nothing about how cool our Constitutional government is.

Busted!

2004-09-09T10:16:00.000-05:00

Congrats to the late shift at AmericaBlog for seeing the new journalism in real time. There's more than one way to skin a cat, though -- and look who's holding the knife!

Developing story, indeed -- or shall we say "evolving"? There are more links coming below.

Some say the left needs to engage a "rapid response" on emerging issues. Hell, I say it myself (more colorfully I hope). But he said/she said is the problem. For about ten minutes the media actually had to say, in black & white, that "President Bush failed to carry out a direct order from his superior"... now it's back to leading with "Democrats pounced". Umm, okay, but isn't that dog-bites-man in this age of the permanent campaign?

Yes, when a politician gets caught lying and teaching others to lie for him, his opponents get a bit riled up. But why does everyone insist on equivalence as "balance"? The worst accusation against Kerry, from an affadavit whose contents have been widely contradicted by people who signed it themselves, is that he didn't stick around in Vietnam long enough to save more lives; Bush has been confronted with written orders, and can't demonstrate that his orders were carried out by him or countermanded by others.

Equivalence creates "balance" by weighing the degrees of relationship between the two accusing organizations and their respective standard-bearers, but doesn't address the question of evidence at all, or even the nature of the allegations. And that's where the big-M Media get their easy, safe response. That's why they always return to equivalence -- because otherwise they might have to say something that some noticeable portion of their audience doesn't want to hear.

The Ownership Society

2004-09-06T01:45:00.000-05:00

Actually, ownership is a big deal for preserving the middle class in a consumer economy. If multinationals keep shipping the jobs overseas until there's nothing to do but sell things to each other at Sprawl-Mart, how long will the workers making things overseas keep shipping stuff for us to consume? It's perfectly good stuff, why shouldn't they just keep it?

If the ownership of the multinationals is sufficiently diffused among us, we'll have to remain a market because we own the factory. There are some sorta scary implications in all this which I'm not smart enough to grasp, but the argument was made (IIRC) in The Atlantic a few months back.

Anyhow I suspect this lingers somewhere in the long-term view of the GOP (to the extent they have one). How it applies to health-care & such is beyond me.

I suspect what Bush proposes is essentially to privatize the financial assets held by the U.S. Government by dumping them into HSA's and other accounts where they will carry the name of an actual citizen but be controlled by some manager somewhere and invested in corporations that dick citizens over and sell us shoddy goods.

To assume that Bush is talking only about tax shelters for rich people could be dangerous. Rich people are voting for him anyway. He's talking to people who hope that his plan will make them rich. That's going to take some actual debunking.

Thanks again, wonkette

2004-08-29T22:48:00.000-05:00

Future Campaign Scandal!!!

You know, these folks may actually be on to the awful truth...

Also good to see wonkette is drinking with Republicans so I don't have to. (And not missing any chance at back-scratching her opposite number in NY.)

Friday Cat Blogging

2004-08-27T23:21:00.000-05:00

Still can't figure out how to post photos, but Elizabeth Bishop's lovely "Lullaby for the Cat" is irresistible. Enjoy.

Christie gets the kiss-off?

2004-08-27T18:00:00.000-05:00

Apostropher drops some science again, as usual.

Is it foolish of me to suspect someone influenced Bush to get right with science just this one time?

Gov. Whitman has time on her hands, and she certainly got an earful when she ran "the bureaucracy". Maybe she was even willing to listen? At any rate, she's been writing and planning her next move. I see the hydra-headed Washington Speakers Bureau is booking her after the Inauguration.

Make no mistake, Whitman is willing to shill for her ex-boss. But she could yet make trouble at the extremist makeover. Does this mean she's been bought?

If so, she's grown extraordinarily cheap. It's August, and it's "Take out the Trash Day". If Gov.Whitman ever cared, you'd think she'd be getting off the reservation right about now.

No comment

2004-08-27T09:28:00.000-05:00

This one speaks for itself. Yeesh.

Our new snowclone overlords?

2004-08-21T02:10:00.000-05:00

Thanks to my love for the reminder to go a-hunting -- I've meant to track something like this down for ever so long! I don't think I'll ever really understand Bakhtinian analysis, but at least I found the Simpsons quote in context. (Well, that's my level found.)

I'm not so sure about the term "snowclone" yet. I'll buy that "cliche" isn't quite specific enough, and apparently "meme" just makes people wince; but any word that requires an exemplary anecdote to be comprehensible seems unlikely to stand the test of time.

It has to start somewhere

2004-08-21T01:42:00.000-05:00

In case you, Dear Reader, saw the previous post without finding anything worth doing yourself to fight the power, here's a reasonable start.

I've only sent to Target, since I've done the most business with them; but I'll look forward to their response.

When cutting-and-pasting the ACLU text, however, I do recommend you take a moment to correct (in the third paragraph) the spelling of the word "latitude", which has gotten on fine since Middle English or thereabouts without only one "t" in the first syllable.

(Because I'm pedantic, and I don't care who knows, and it's impossible to hide anyhow. Although that wasn't a grammatical sentence really. Or that. So maybe never mind.)

Who watches the watchmen? Um, actually that should be everybody

2004-08-21T01:09:00.000-05:00

I've been pleased to see decent coverage of the FBI's attempt to throw cold water on political dissent (links aplenty to come). I realize she's preaching to the choir here, but Theoria is my new best dKos friend. Fight the power!

Bring it on!

2004-08-19T09:14:00.000-05:00

Reasonably strong words from John Kerry (via Atrios). I hope it gets some play in the media...

SHUT IT DOWN?

2004-08-18T23:25:00.000-05:00

Can't decide what to think of this action... My secret girlfriend Wonkette (in the talking-shit-about-strangers-in-public-places sort of way) got me to the site, because she's in charge of reading the NY Daily News gossip column for me most of the time.

I certainly see the justice, but there are only three outcomes I can reasonably expect: (1) the streets are deserted -- much bloviating about "polarized politics" and finger-wagging at the meanness of Big City types; (2) only a few choose to act -- and lose their jobs or even careers; (3) there's no noticeable response.

At least the logo's pretty funny. Right or wrong, that's how it strikes me.

"Sit back and watch"? I wanna point & laugh!

2004-08-18T18:57:00.000-05:00

Sounds like Rep. Bereuter must hate America.

Seriously, it looks like Bereuter made a principled decision, and better late than never. If the GOP machine tries to attack the former Vice Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, they'd better be loaded for bear. Especially considering how much attention the (now-former) Chairman is getting.

And kudos once more to Rep. Nick Smith (the not quite so brave as Rep. Bereuter). There's certainly an ongoing tradition of getting a little something off your chest when you cash in your chips, but I'd certainly love to see more people take the statesman's option. There's a reason we've all heard of the "military-industrial complex" (see section IV) and the "Iron Curtain". (Thanks to Mr. Saturday for a Churchill reminder.)

Is retirement the last, best hope of an American politician growing a backbone? I'll take what I can get!

What he said

2004-07-30T09:48:00.000-05:00

And so it begins...

2004-07-25T23:36:00.000-05:00

Frankly, I'm not sure there will be any more news from the protesters than from the actual announced speakers.

In any event, I can't help but pay attention; the First Amendment is my sentimental favorite (though the Ninth Amendment needs to get out more, come to think of it). I'm glad to see from the Boston Globe (1) that they ran a reasonably thorough rundown on protesters boycotting the Free Speech Pen and (2) that they cared enough to spell out "the Bl(a)ck Tea Society". Nevertheless, the media conventional wisdom on protests is an ill-disguised yawn, so I suppose we should expect the same when the GOP troop into Ground Zero.

I'll try not to get obsessed with this, since there will be convention gossip and weird tales aplenty. I tend to experience the conventions the way people I know might experience the NFL draft. The official breezy DNC blog makes kissy-face with bloggers, but while I'm glad to see that speech transcripts will be posted, I expect the real interest to be off in the corners. When the media say "X is happening, and it's news", I generally agree. When the media say "Y is happening, but it's not news", that's when I reach for my revolver.

If you have to ask, you assume there's an answer

2004-07-25T18:09:00.000-05:00

Confuse yourself and your friends! Hat tip to good kitty.

Who, me? I'm the kind of postmodernist who thinks it's more fun for you to guess. I'll never tell. Never. Okay, maybe I'll tell, but it'll take a long, long time, OK?

Careless browsers?

2004-07-25T17:46:00.000-05:00

This post has been edited to add the word "POPUPS" inside links to the shady site, which will seed your browser with them if you're not careful. If you don't have a smart browser to clear them, allow me to share the dicitionary's folksy, yet lawyerly small print:

More and more educational establishments use term papers in determining the grade. Term papers proved to be a good way for that because not only they demonstrate how well a student learned the material, but they also show whether a student is capable of thinking logically. Besides, professional term papers show the ability of a student in written English. Because of such importance, students are motivated in writing professional term papers. Professional term papers, however, require a lot of hard work, which includes extra hours of studying. That’s why many students prefer an easy way out—the services of Internet companies. These Internet companies specialize in writing professional term papers, so they are able to help with any topic on any subject. They have a staff of writers of different age groups and various levels of education, so the professional term papers they provide are adjusted for specifics of your situation. Educational establishments, however, protect themselves from cheating students. Before every term paper is graded, it is scanned for plagiarism with anti-plagiarism software. This software is designed to analyze the patterns of professional term papers and, in case it catches plagiarism, it is capable of tracing the term paper back to its source.

Anybody feel like counting the howlers in that paragraph? If I were grading (and thank Somebody I never will), I'd shitcan a whole paper for offering "help with any topic on any subject".

Why I likes to link

2004-07-25T16:15:00.000-05:00

Yr fumble-fingered Fiddler reminds you that information isn't free, exactly, or even always cheap; fortunately, information has loose morals.

Case in Point: Who might have guessed that "dicitionary.com" would yield such a treasure trove of "professional term papers"! Are those papers really free of plagiarism, as Ivy Research (you bad girl, Ivy!) promises us? 'Cause they're certainly not free.

Hell, nothing's free; the "dicitionary" is proud to offer "The top ten bidded listings" for "Thesaurus". So don't panic, O desperate C-student with your big paper due, you can get help from a Thesaurus on line! Just click on the bright blue link and reach for your wallet!

The whole dicitionary.com racket is just tawdry. Personal Favorite: The important-looking Terms and conditions link at the bottom of every page just leads you right into the leftover-from-the-last-decade lame search portal.

What would Father say? Also, does anyone still wonder at those who mourn the agonizing decline of orthography? Never mind -- the "genuine article" seems hardly fit to be Caesar's wife.

With apologies for an arguably meretricious metaphor, I will go back to my old friend Bartleby. If you, Dear Reader, would prefer not to, be sure & leave a comment.

NC news

2004-07-24T00:37:00.000-05:00

Personally, I'm a bit freaked out to hear that the NC GOP gubernatorial runoff won't happen. This is the worst news possible for Democratic incumbent and part-time empty suit Mike Easley.

I'll probably have more to say later; but in the meantime, it's nice to see the self-important conservative poster boy John Hood look foolish.

Can you say "also-ran"? I knew you could!

Read it now before Vinroot's staff dismantles their site!

Somebody Ping me!

2004-07-22T18:59:00.000-05:00

Please, people in Boston, please promise to blog the Fleet Center's Free Speech Pen (not drawn to scale)! I don't care how many bloggers are getting their backs slapped by Midwestern car dealers inside. If this is truly a populist medium, we should remember that sometimes the truest story is outside the box.

I want to know moment-to-moment that there's wireless access to the world available for the (potentially) smart mob of underfed anarchists, anti-war veterinary assistants, and other citizens who will be surrounded by 2-meter chain-link fences topped with ROLLS OF RAZOR WIRE during the Democratic Convention.

Why should I care? Because what's sauce for the goose is hot sauce for the gander. Now Central Park is suddenly off the table. How hot does the water have to get?

Oh all right,

2004-07-22T18:11:00.000-05:00

It's a catchy toon.

Meta-commentary

2004-07-21T19:05:00.000-05:00

Because I'm too busy fiddling about to find clever writers online AND respond AND come up with new stuff here. Right now I'm just keeping pace.

Also, I must confess most blogs have comment sections easier to use than Blogger.

Yeah, probably we CAN all just get along.

2004-07-17T22:58:00.000-05:00

Can one read Tom without some bemusement at the base assumption -- that whenever two guys who are strangers start a conversation, there's a chance it will lead to ass-fucking?

Not to say you've got it wrong, Tom (may I call you Tom?). It's a thoughtful, dare I say sensitive essay. You didn't invent the straight sign, you just noticed it; kudos for living consciously.

But isn't it a sad custom, really? Are we grown so alienated as all that?

As an erstwhile bisexual and longtime socialist --um, socialite --um, social person, I have been both signer and signee. And here's the thing: it doesn't happen much in line at the Kwik-E-Mart. I can think of two messages that have to be shared both ways:

(a) We have a common sense of place (same bar, same town, etc.), or interest (NFL team, political party).

(2) Your perspective on (a) is potentially valuable, or at least interesting, to me.

Is there anything more essential to the craft of flirting than that? (Eventually there's hand-touching and stuff, but that's usually a bit farther along.) Any reinforcements of the above messages lead in the direction of "The Straight Sign". Perhaps some enterprising grad student could devise a rubric (the more specific agreements in perspective, the fewer reinforcements?).

What we're really talking about is a more general "boundary statement", as Tom recognizes by noting "the Boyfriend Reference"; the boundary statement says, "Sex is right out". That's cool, and I think worthwhile. Let's just recognize that "I'm not putting the moves on you" isn't the same statement as "Dude, I'm straight". I've set the boundary in a couple conversations with a Boyfriend Reference.

The sad truth of the Straight Sign is that it can slam the closet door. A guy who's not fully out can duck into exchanging a "straight sign" just because he's not on the hunt, but doesn't want to risk misunderstanding or spend an awkward eternity discussing orientation issues. If I have to come out to every guy I want to argue politics with, I'll bore myself to tears and then some.

Anyhow I'm a grown-up, dammit. That means I can talk to strangers. I don't talk to strangers exclusively for the purpose of gettin' some action; I do it because I'm a social animal. We have to engage one another every now and then, or we lose a bit of our humanity. Guys who don't see that may have some trouble starting conversations with women, without knowing why.

apostrophizes Apostropher, with aside

2004-07-16T23:01:00.000-05:00

O Apostropher, how disquieting are thy juxtapostions! From loss to a kind of redemption between 09:19 AM and 05:25 PM!

(Aside, as promised): Please to check out the posts if you haven't (& the comments if you've time), or the next post here in the Green will make but little sense.

Y'all come back now, y'heah?

2004-07-12T00:23:00.000-05:00

So the Rally in Raleigh (who needs Don King anyway?) was a blast, but there are a few questions.

Most importantly, why be so exclusive in sucking up to the hosts? The speakers (inasmuch as they were audible from the cheap seats) made a big to-do over John E having gone to State, and made no reference at all to meeting his wife at UNC. I know it seems a small thing, but Tarheel fans are scattered all over the state (and then some) -- and the G-lover reports that the Dean himself was seated front and center. Did somebody think a fight would break out? Or is UNC School of Law not prole enough for the John E image?

It's not infuriating, but odd to see an opportunity missed.

Perhaps those nagging questions about the ticket stampeding to the "center" should be left for another post.

Opening Truth Barrage

2004-07-11T16:57:00.000-05:00

I am neither actually a fiddler nor actually a Green.

I am grown fond of various forms of greens (except this sort, about which I hold a widely-held opinion ).

In simple, it's Fiddler's Green because I like the name. Maybe it's a bit of native cussedness, but I believe names carry power.

Please let the fiddler hear how he's doing, if you like. Also let me know: is Rome burning ?

More anon...