Back Again
The last day of Ramadan was today (or yesterday in many parts of the world) and so tomorrow is Eid. So Eid Mubarak to all my peoples out there, and I hope you made good use of Ramadan to reflect.
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September 30, 2008
September 29, 2008
Even More Reasons to Love Tina Fey
September 24, 2008
The Company You Keep
Yes, it's another political post and quite frankly I'm just as tired of them as you are, but with the election looming, I think it's my civic duty to put stuff like this out there. Who is Sarah Palin? Forget about the lipstick and the various animals and the basketball; instead read a letter from someone who lived in her little town of Wassila and what they have to say about her stewardship of that small corner of America.
link courtesy of Cyborgirl (who it's been a long time since I've heard from)
Little Things that Count
About a year and a half ago, I said something about buying a laptop or two for my Dad's village school - and you guys responded really well I thought. I got super ambitious in the meantime, and decided that the best thing to do would be to set up a small non-profit to make it more durable and more attractive to would-be donors (who doesn't want a tax write off?). But as always I let myself get too bogged down in details (what to name it, who to put on the board, what to write in the charter, etc) that I lost track of the whole point.
Well it's been two years since I've been back to Sudan with not even a calculator to show for it. I am planning a trip to the Sudan in December and I would like to be able to present the folks at the school with at least one machine, so that the kids can get a leg up in their education. To that end, I am all about accepting cash, software (preferably education) and/or even rebuilt laptops so that I can pass them along. Wouldn't want the village to think I am TOTALLY useless. If you're interested then email me at lofatmo at the rest of this site name (or if you can't figure that out, just leave a comment with where I can reach you to get stuff arranged).
I am also working on getting all this sponsored through an NGO on the ground in the Sudan, but we'll see how that pans out. It might be better to go that route than to start things on my own without the proper support in place.
September 23, 2008
Passing the Collateralized Debt Obligation (formerly, the buck)
Like many of you fine folks I've been trying to get my mind around the collapse of the world financial markets since last August. To that end I've been doing a lot of reading, radio listening, and have subscribed to a variety of podcasts to try and figure things out. It was during a piece on NPR that I heard a financial analyst talk about the root causes of the crisis being due to the complexity of the financial "instruments" being utilized. By way of exculpation, though, the analyst said something along the lines of, "the problem was that these instruments were created by 'rocket scientists' and people didn't really understand how they worked - so you had these physics PhD's coming up with instruments that were far too risky and eventually brought the market down."
You see what happened there?
The financial meltdown is not caused by greedy investment bankers, or the cupidity of executives - no, it's those nerds again. The same people who were to scapegoated for everything from Enron to nuclear arsenals are called back into play. See, folks, it's not the people who decide to deploy weapons/strategies/financial instruments without bothering to understand even remotely how they work - it's those eggheads who tinker with things and force their ideas on the decision makers. How cleverly they deflect blame from themselves and onto their subordinates.
These folks are adept at dodging blame for their bad decisions and now it seems like they will also escape the inevitable market-driven consequences for their string of apparently willfully uninformed decisions. I wish I could say I was surprised but as I've remarked in the past these guardians of accountability have no need for any accountability themselves.
This whole affair seems to be yet another front in the popular war on reason in the United States. From politics to business, there's an undeniable hostility towards intellectuals of various stripes. This anti-intellectual strain in American society is both pernicious and widespread, materializing whenever a complex problem arises. It makes me ashamed thazt my adopted countrymen should be so shallow, and proudly lowbrow.
September 22, 2008
The Clean Break
Well I finally did it. I just gave my manager 2 weeks notice and so by October 3rd I will be out of NewCo and off into an entirely new world. I won't be returning to Faceless Corporation, like some of my peers, but instead striking out. I'll keep you guys posted with what's going on and where I end up and what fun nicknames I have for my new coworkers.
September 21, 2008
Geese, Ganders, and Forgiveness
I think the thing that annoys me most about the state of political discourse in this country is the lack of consistency. Consistency is one of the things I value most highly, and I'm not entirely sure why, but I do. In the political arena, inconsistency rears one of it's ugly hydra heads; the one named hypocrisy. What makes hypocrisy the ugliest form of inconsistency is how often you see it, and the way that hypocrites seem oblivious to what they're doing and saying. This is especially galling in an age when everything you say is being recorded and parsed a thousand times over. But I digress, the lack of consistency is ever present and manifest (particularly on the Right) in a denigration of the less fortunate.
What brought this to the forefront of my mind was an article I read the other day about John McCain's wife, Cindy. Beyond my natural dislike for the Stepford wife variety of politician's wife, I just don't like this woman. She 's got step-silbings but refers to herself as an only child (even at the memorial service for her father attended by those same siblings), but that's not what really gets my goat. What really irks me is the speed with which her drug habit was forgiven and swept under the table. She says:
“When the kids were young and I was alone with all these babies, by Thursday I’d have a pity party, and John would walk in, see me hanging off the ceiling,” McCain told Harper’s Bazaar. “Did I get angry? Sure, I’m only human.” She has often referred to herself as a “single parent,” except on weekends.
But how is that excuse valid only for her? How many women in this country are actual single mothers, with limited incomes to boot, and have not succumbed to drug addiction? Or not for that matter. There is little sympathy for such women on the Right. Those women are "welfare queens" and cast out from sight of American society, and deemed unworthy of kindness. All the accountability that the Right continually harps on about is for them and not for it's own, despite their many advantages. That the press doesn't call this into question is both typical and disappointing - especially when the so-called pundits take the hypocrisy hard line despite their own dirty hands. I guess we only have the Daily Show for that.
This goes beyond the personal level and even in the professional sphere we see it (cf. Dept of Interior), where no accountability is required - after all, they've retired from government service so we can no longer pursue them or use their past criminal activities as a pretext to prosecute.
September 18, 2008
Elitism
The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that Barack Obama is an elitist, and all it took was the richest of all the billionaires who've been repeating that phrase over and over again to make it clear to me. Yes, when a Rothschild speaks about elitism, I for one listen - because if anyone can recognize elitism, it's them.
September 17, 2008
Blasphemy?
I just read that they have commissioned some guy to write another installment of the (increasingly inappropriately named) Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I don't know whether to be livid or hopeful, but am leaning toward livid. What do you guys think?
September 15, 2008
More Reasons to Love Tina Fey
Why is that the comedians are the only people calling it as they see it? Thank you Tina Fey and Amy Poehler for speaking the truth to power.
link courtesy of Capt Excitement
Drill, Baby, Drill - 'Cause Mama Needs a New Pair of Shoes!
With the refrain coming from all corners to drill our way out the dependence on foreign oil, some of you might be asking "why not? we have it anyway right?" Beyond the environmental issues, or even the fact that most federal drilling contracts remain unfulfilled by oil companies, there's the fact that the people in charge at the Dept. of the Interior's agency in charge of doling out those contracts and collecting oil revenues make the Iraqi oil ministry look like a model of transparency.Apparently these folks have been accepting gifts, money, and sex from oil industry insiders in return for the nation's oil wealth. This all took place with a backdrop of booze fueled junkets and cocaine usage in government offices.
It appears that although an internal investigation prompted by whistle-blowers' allegations exposed extensive improprieties, and referred some of the offenses to Dept. of Justice, there has been little to no movement to prosecute! The cocaine use alone should warrant some sort of reaction, especially considering the sort of reaction drug use by the poor prompts. But then again, that's a double standard we see over and over again. I'm going to discuss this further here, if you want to know what my feelings are on Mrs McCain's drug use and the "consequences".
September 13, 2008
Science, Bitches
Just got introduced to this comic, XKCD. It's nerdly and a bit clever, with simple graphics, though it can be a bit unsophisticated at times. Hell, I saw this and I was pleased as punch:
link courtesy of Butta Phat
Exact Change
I was on my way home after soccer the other evening and without any food at home I passed through a drive-through. Upon getting home with my greasy meal I discovered that I had been given the wrong change by the attendant. I'd paid with a $10 bill and got $12 back. I was pretty wiped out from the game, but my roommate was headed out to pick up some food for himself so I asked him to drop by there and give them the extra $10 in change. Both he and his girlfriend looked at me like I was crazy - which is nothing new - but also like I was doing something completely wrong.
Now I ask you, is it wrong or even simply crazy to return money that isn't yours? Particularly from a business wherein the clerk will most likely have that amount docked from their pay. I've worked in retail and had to do the end of the night accounting for my cash drawer, and had to explain why the register was short a dollar or two. Beyond the simple morality of not taking other peoples' money, isn't it enough to not want to put other people through the bureaucratic wringer?
September 10, 2008
Wild Things
Not to be confused with the scantily-clad turkey starring Denise Richards, Where the Wild Things Are is one of the great books of my (and I'm sure many other peoples') childhood. I'm sure there are few kids in America who didn't want to wolf pajamas, or weren't angry enough at their parents to want to run away to where they could be as mischievous as they wanted to be. So I am a little nervous at the thought of the plans to make it into a movie. The production, which is under the auspices of the frequently kitsch, always unconventional Spike Jonze. Whether you hate him or like him, the guy has a unique eye, and it can really lend itself to telling a story like this, I think. I'm cautiously optimistic about the results, it's too bad we have to wait so long to see it.
September 9, 2008
School, Hospital, Whatever
Shockingly the folks at the GOP don't know the difference between Walter Reed Medical Center and Walter Reed Middle School. Perhaps no one should be surprised, considering that they are not keen on funding either education, healthcare or veteran's benefits.
link courtesy of Phatmunkay
September 8, 2008
Flip-flops and other Political Footwear
Regarding the Republican nominee for VP (on which my own views are quite well known) I have seen a silver lining. Her appearance on the scene has outed a lot of the flip-flopping hypocrites on the right. As usual the Daily Show does the job that the so-called legitimate news outlets ought to be doing.
September 7, 2008
Pithy Political Phrasing
Man, I feel like I am getting into the spirit of the election season ... sort of. Mostly I am in it for the snark, seeing as how the true believers in the campaigns have done such a good job of pushing reasonable people out. I can't complain too much, but I CAN look around for people to call a spade a spade, like Sarah Vowell. Read and enjoy.
September 3, 2008
In a World ...
Sad to report that the "movie voice guy" - whom we all recall from his signature "In a world ..." phrase - has died. Usually I don't much care to remark on celebrity goings on but this is different. The man's voice was ubiquitous, so much so that I can't think of movie trailers without thinking of his voice, in the same way that every pack of tissues is Kleenex and photocopiers are Xerox machines. I offer up these two examples of homages to him, here (about 3:30 in) and here, and this example of his work, here.
September 2, 2008
Rules-based
Whenever I found myself arguing with Dr Germ or, come to think of it, almost anyone who isn't an engineer there's a point wherein I say something along the lines of "that's how it is, those are the rules." To which they invariably reply, "what rules? Where are these rules coming from?" and Is am forced to admit that they are made up.
Now I am not ashamed of this, far from it, I think that in a chaotic world it's insane not to impose order and rules of your own. I think you should work hard to make the rules self-consistent, and of course consistent with the rules of the world at large (moral codes, legal codes, etc). This is not as unusual as it may seem; after all, many of you have either heard of or adhere to the Guy Code (aka known as the Dude Code). And anyway, I might say, rules making is the sign of an ordered mind.
So it's with great interest and some worry that I read this article in the IEEE Spectrum about a study showing that almost half of terrorists captured are engineers by training. Now this is worrisome since it seems to indicate that the same mindset that leads one towards being an engineer also leads one to conservative thinking and religious dogma. This may be exacerbated by the situation in the Arab and Muslim world, where many college graduates are either engineers or doctors (the prestige degrees) but there are not as many engineering jobs to take in all those highly trained people. Conversely there are not enough doctors to go around, but the ones that are there are under a lot of pressure.
At any rate I'm curious - really - as to what you guys think about this. It really has me thinking and slightly worried - not about myself, but about my profession.
Fast(ing) Times at NewCo
Hey-ho there my small group of readers, just a quick post to tell you guys that Ramadan is upon us again and I will be up to my neck in fasting and other devotions for the next month. So keep that in mind when you're writing to me about your super delicious sub sandwich that you got through just a moment ago. If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and I'll do my best to fill in the blanks for you.