Cute Dog

Cheerio, Pomeranian, attends the Westminster Dog Show

Hellzapoppin'

Movie to watch showcasing awesome swing/lindyhop.

Iraq War Movies

I recently watched to movies about the current Iraq war. In the Valley of Elah is a drama/mystery that drives home how "messed up" and "crazy" the Iraq war is. It implies that American soldiers are dealing with fear, pressure and chaos so profound that it leaves them returning home desensitized and amoral. The movie is interesting and well made.

However it leaves me asking, are our soldiers really desensitized and amoral? If so, then is this war so different from wars of the past? Are these soldiers so different? I want to say our military has a history or training people to be upstanding citizens and promoting such a culture. There is such thing as PTSD but this movie is showing something else: normal young men now left emotionally and mentally destabilized. Tommy Lee Jones portrays a retired army military police sergeant who maintains his fortitude, discipline and mental sharpness. Why then are the present day soldiers portrayed so different from Jones? The movie does not give an answer.

The other movies, Full Battle Rattle, is the documentary displaying the U.S. Army's simulation of an Iraq town in the Mojave desert as part of the Army's training before soldiers go to the actual war. The town and military outpost are made up of Iraqi refugees, dummies and military personel. I am thankful for the refugees volunteers. The movie is fascinating and honest and I will have to see the first half of the movie before I make additional comments. I would recommend it.

Harder, Faster, Better, Stronger

Daft Punk deconstructed by David Crowder - awesome.

First Sign of Intelligence

I engage in frequent discussions with a friend and in the last month I was told, "That was the first intelligent thing you've said," which gives insight into what his perception of me has been or has become, but I want to focus on what I said.

I said, "Your values are influenced by your parents. How they spend their time shows you what they value. If they don't go to church then they show that attending church or religion is not valuable." I think the weight of this statement lay in the simple truth of the statement and how the example literally hit home for my friend.

The lead up was a discussion on offending parents if a child chose a religion. If a son or daughter chooses to value something that the parents' don't value, would they necessarily be offended? I say, "no and even unlikely," especially in American society where there exists openness for exploration. What may change is the parents' perception of their child. I don't think offense plays much of a role here. Negative reactions would more likely be fear or confusion. I should ask another friend who had to deal with this very choice.

What my friend's comment informed me was that my conjectures and examples need to be relevant in order for our discussions to be meaningful.

A Take Away Show

Fleet Foxes - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Objectified

I'm interested in this documentary on Industrial Design:

Video game Therapy

I first saw the use of video games as therapy at a bioengineering conference in 2001. Not surprisingly, Japan was using video games in physical therapy then. Here gaming is being used as adjunct pain management.

"Rigidity" of Liberals

The New York Times recently reported on an interesting study showing that conservatives enjoy all forms of humor and for even the humor that liberals enjoy, conservatives enjoy more. This was considered surprising because conservatives have consistently been painted as closed-minded and rigid and liberals as open-minded. However it is liberals who more often take offense at political incorrectness and are suspected by the Times as having a less cheerful disposition. Also the study and analysis was performed by sociologists, a group with Democrat to Republican ratio of 7 to 1, leaving the Times wondering if the findings should be surprising in the first place or were the initial assumptions subject to bias.

McCain's campaign has been portrayed as based on anger and fear but I can tell you that the Democratic machine has fed on anger for at least the last 12 years. And the last 2 elections have campaigned on fear of another Bush-like term and fear for our economic future. I was placed on the Democratic Congressional Campaign listserve which doles a constant meal of anger and fear. This anger has been rationalized as the sole work Nancy Pelosi, but it is an anger that existed before her rise to Congressional power.

After the elections which selected George W. Bush as U.S. president, liberals gave up on the United Sates and there was common talk and writing of moving to Canada or Europe instead of coming behind the president and supporting him. There was outright hatred of a man they did not know personally and depicted as stupid, backward and ignorant [though he had one of the most diverse cabinets (black, white, Latino, Japanese, Chinese)]. There was a refusal to acknowledge the Bush presidency in part because of voter discrepancy, even though President Clinton also lost the popular vote during his election to presidency. With the election of Senator Obama there has been general consensus on both sides to support him as President. Is this a sign of Obama's reach or the willingness of conservatives to remain, not give up, and help this country?

A Symbol Exalted

I've been thinking about the election of Obama and pose a hypothesis based on conversations, the news and the history of recent elections. For the majority of people who voted for Obama, the votes were cast not so much for a set of policies but for a symbol, a virtual blank slate by which they could ascribe their hopes and dreams. It comes at a time when America seemed to be in a slow decline in influence (politically, economically, culturally, etc.) and the world had stopped believing the American dream or that this young nation could live up to her ideals. Studies from this election and past elections have shown that most people vote with their gut--how do they feel about the candidates despite the candidate's policies? (A survey was done asking if people agreed with Obama's economic and health plans, but the plans described were those of McCain's and the consistent finding was they agreed with these "Obama" plans.)

The effectiveness of the Obama campaign was the creation of an image and a message of "hope & change" and McCain was a man essentially going against an amorphous symbol. Who can go against "hope"? McCain was not against hope nor change but he did not have any counter to it. What is interesting is these two ideas were never clearly defined (Hope in who/what? Change into what?) and the Obama campaign seemed satisfied with leaving it that way--up to our imaginations. But it strikes such an emotional chord. Just look at the "Yes We Can" music video by will.i.am. Other powerful images are his ethnicity (95% of blacks voted for him), oratory skill (mellifluous is the word thrown around), and youth (the younger the voter, the greater the proportion of votes went to Obama); but most powerful idea is the simple promise of hope and change which resonates around the world in a time when leadership is needed.

Warm Up

I've been stretching all wrong... need to do dynamic stretches according to NY Times.

Proud American

History is in the making in the United States and these are exciting times. There is a high expectation of renewal given the talk of "rebuilding" the nation. We are witnesses to a symbolic milestone. Yet I was initially put off by people's comments that almost negate or deny America's past accomplishments, comments such as: "I now think that America's so cool," "I can now be proud of America," or even "I can now travel outside the U.S." I suspect such people lack a sense of history or are ashamed of being identified with America, until now. But for others it may not be necessarily a matter of shame.

I never bought into the division of the "real" America versus unreal America but I think the Republican campaign was getting at patriotism versus shame. It leads me to wonder is it possible in this day and age to do right yet be unpopular even in the world arena? Are we not able to recognize the billions of dollars given out to aid countries whose constituents may even hate America? Are we not able to see the work we do to promote health, fight AIDS, fight genocide, rally to help in disasters, promote human rights and equality, provide excellent university education, allow for freedom of speech, fuel dreams? But for those who once lacked inspiration, Obama is an inspirational figure. I think there is something deeper at play in the form of people who never felt like they belonged to American now feel they are accepted and President-elect Obama is the embodiment of that vindication--one that allows them to be proud Americans because they are not lesser but equal and they belong. So for many it was not that they refused to be identified as American but they felt they couldn't until now. We can all be proud of the American system.

Apple Hardware

Apple seems to be getting in on serious hardware assets with the acquisition of chip designer P.A. Semi in the spring, Segway's CTO Doug Field in the summer, and now IBM executive Mark Papermaster (said to be privy to knowledge of IBM's Power microprocessor architecture). What is Apple building?

Addendum
IBM has filed a lawsuit to block Papermaster's move to Apple under a noncompetitive agreement.

Tactile Interpretation

Using sensory input to retrain the brain. This is something I can see myself getting involved in.

Self Discipline Begets Self Discipline

NY Times tips on self control/discipline is practice with little acts of self control (and avoid hypoglycemia).

Healthcare Plan

I was quite impressed by a friend's argument against McCain's healthcare plan. He pointed out that, sure, McCain would allow people to shop around for cheaper insurance alternatives, but insurance agencies will not be willing to pick up those with pre-existing illnesses. He also brought up the argument that employers will cease to cover employees if employers were taxed to fund the McCain plan. Finally he argued that the uninsured population abuses emergency department visits, thus driving up costs for the public and hospitals. He proposes that with universal coverage would remove one reason they are inclined to visit the ED. Both candidates plan to increase the number clinics to improve preventative care and field non-emergent complaints. Even so there are several free clinics already available through county systems; yet the ED still is swamped with visits.

Nonetheless a question continued to linger was how could Obama pay for his version of universal healthcare. Faulty implementation has become a motif in Wall Street Journal's criticism of Obama's weak economic plans which appears to draw heavily upon "unverifiable" sources. One article showed that his own economic advisors have even up to 4 months ago admittedly advocated a McCain-like plan and that "Mr. Obama has offered no clue as to how he intends to pay for his health-insurance plans, or doubling foreign aid, or any of the other 175 programs he's promised to expand."

Addendum
Apparently McCain's plan actually accounts for those with pre-existing illnesses. His healthcare plan would fund insurance for those who have been rejected by an insurance company, i.e. those at highest risk.

China's Silencing of Parents

Oh China, you pain me! This is not justice. You placate your people now, only to build future unrest. Companies cutting corners leading to deaths of children are not brought to trial because they are too intertwined with government. It demonstrates fear of exposure and losing control.

Scare Tactic

Enough with rumor that Obama is Muslim as a scare tactic-- a tactic that is is somehow demeaning to a group of Americans and not true.

But most people understand this. I myself have been wary of the violence against Christians and against those who leave or criticize the Islamic religion. This however has not been the case for moderate Islam; extremism within any people group subsists in the fringes yet they can act as though speaking as representative. (So it is a sad that the Wahabist movement in Islam cannibalizes the rich, open culture widely found even as late as the 1970's.)

Capital Gains Tax

Obama now has a 6% lead (50% vs. McCain's 44%), mountains upon mountains of money, advertising spending at a 4:1 ratio compared to McCain, the endorsement of Colin Powell and Warren Buffet, a constant message of change and hope, and the often cited "steadiness" which on the side some wonder about a dullness or lack of passion but mostly it is read as confidence. Powell's opinion has been swayed by the current economic climate. So is Obama's economic plan sound? The Wall Street Journal and Investors Business Daily have both argue against his increase in the capital gains tax from 15% to 28% which would hit those who own stock. This was said in his debate in April but even now Obama is consistent with his plan to increase the capital gains tax for the sake of "fairness."

This is despite the fact that government revenue from taxes increased every time capital gains tax was cut and decreased when it was raised. It suggests that Obama still has much to learn about economics and that he is willing to stick with an ideology despite the evidence being pointed out to him. Either candidates will need to draw on a strong economic partners if they are to carry us through these hard times.

Powell for Obama

Colin Powell's endorsement for Senator Obama is huge, especially if Obama is elected and Powell is invited and agrees to come on staff. Powell is an iconic man whom everyone respects, has military and foreign relations experience, has served on staff under three presidents (Reagan, H.W. Bush, W. Bush), and was once considered for presidential candidacy (though declined). In my opinion, Obama's greatest weakness is a lack of experience but if he continues to surround himself with seasoned pros, that weakness is minimized.