My laptop computer almost died yesterday. Spilled a little water into the keyboard, and although I didn't notice it, apparently some moisture got further inside. I even opened up the case and didn't see anything, but after an overnight "hail mary" effort to dry it out by aiming a 100-watt drafting light at it from close range while the battery and CD player were removed (for ventilation), it revived itself.
I still have a very bad feeling about this. In general, this laptop seems to be on its last legs. Even though it's only a couple years old, that's all it apparently was designed for. Several major components have already failed. I've thrown enough money at it that if one more fails, I'm going to replace it instead of repairing it.
Well, actually, on my budget I'll be doing neither. Which would suck because it's the only computer capable of talking to my CD burner or digital camera. At any rate, Gotta do a full backup when I get back home and have the CD burner available.
Back in January of 2003 I speculated on how Monkey Boy's AIDS initiative might just be corporate welfare in disguise. Turns out my skepticism was well-founded.
Not! As if past activities against state's rights (attacking medical marijuana legislation physician-assisted suicide to name two), the recent effort of Republicans to federalize corporate lawsuits should clear up the matter. The GOP is selectively for state's rights, limited strictly to the extent that the states do right-wing things.
My curiosity got the best of me this afternoon and I stopped by the theater to buy a ticket for an evening showing of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11.
Ran into a friend at the grocery store whose review was (paraphrasing) "It's pretty polemical, and didn't make much of an impact on me because it said things I already knew." Which turns out to be pretty much my review of it.
Wasn't aware of all the gory details of the Bush/bin Laden family connections, but I didn't have to be to come up with pretty much the same analysis that Moore gives for why the 9/11 attacks weren't stopped: they happened because it would have been politically awkward to follow all those Saudi terrorism leads.
I'm a little less sure about the implication that the operation in Afghanistan may have been hobbled specifically to let bin Laden escape. Whether that was the case or it got hobbled because of a desire to get into a profitable (for Monkey Boy's business buddies) war in Iraq (and getting bin Laden wasn't important enough to interfere with that primary goal) probably can't be determined as this time. Either way, the effect was the same: to divert effort from attempting to get a known national security threat into getting a non-threat.
The now-famous flights evacuating Saudis (including bin Laden family members) from the US were covered, as was the (news to me) point that Osama isn't quite as completely estranged from the rest of his family as some claim he is.
There was no standing ovation or great emotional response at the end. I'm guessing that's because (this being Portland) most of the audience, like me and my friend, already knew just what a bunch of lying deceitful bastards Monkey Boy and his puppeteers are. The response is probably far greater in Middle America where people weren't as aware of the awful truth.
And yes, it does seem truthful as far as I can make out. Just because Moore is a propagandist doesn't mean he tells lies. Quite the contrary: factual propaganda can be brutally effective propaganda.
And for all too long, the right has been having nobody significant call them on their (frequently non-factual) propaganda, and nobody making strong propaganda to counter theirs. With Moore, now they are. And predictably, they're whining about it. The poor babies.
One of the other threads in Fahrenheit 9/11 was that of the Flint woman who had advised her son to join the military so he could afford an education, and her transition from unquestioningly rallying around the court-appointed "President" to one of being very upset with him after that son returned to the States in a body bag.
It all brings to mind something I've been meaning to mention here about patriotism and class consciousness.
Patriotism is a value of the lower classes. They're the ones who go off to die for the system that exploits them. In contrast, the ruling class is notably unpatriotic. They think nothing of engaging in deals with their compatriots abroad to send good jobs overseas. Business deals between the ruling classes of the US and other nations have often been the motivation behind unsavory foreign interventions (such as in Guatemala and Chile).
The core motivating value of the ruling class is class consciousness (with a healthy dose of internationalism in the guise of globalization). Their children almost never die in wars. They know they're on top, they always want more, and they'll do anything to get it. Even if it means selling their countrymen short. Even if it means having the government they control appease countries like Saudi Arabia for business purposes. Even when such appeasement threatens the security of their country.
The ruling class has always adhered to these values. It's only when those of us from below start preaching their own versions of class consciousness and internationalism that they get all hot under the collar. They want others to worship at an altar they refuse to kneel before.
Head on over to Schweitzer Engineering Laboritories careers page and click on the "No Smoking Policy" and "A Drug Free Workplace" pages.
Not only do they have the normal pre-employment violation of privacy (something that became popular during Ron and Nancy Reagan's "just say no" era, so much for conservatism and individual freedom), they insist on periodic, random testing. Perhaps even more shocking, their policy on use of a legal recreational drug, nicotine (aka tobacco) also extends to employees' private lives wherever it's legal to do so.
Make no mistake, I think tobacco smoke is a positively revolting substance, and that smokers likewise smell revolting because of their noxious habit. And secondhand smoke poses a real threat to others in a way that makes smoking tobacco less socially responsible than injecting heroin in my book. At least heroin junkies keep their junk to themselves and don't go around jabbing their needles into nearby strangers, because "it's not that bad" or "everyone appreciates a little heroin".
But really, that makes tobacco smoking a thorny problem to deal with. It definitely calls for banning smoking at all interior workplaces to protect the rights of those who don't want to inhale tobacco smoke. It certainly doesn't call for attempting to force people not to smoke. We've already seen how well that works for currently-illegal drugs (and how well it worked for alcohol when that was tried).
Besides, one of the hallmarks of a free society is not attempting to stop adults (who are supposed to be responsible for their own actions) from hurting themselves as a consequence of same. It would probably lead to ice cream (and all other fatty junk foods), downhill skiing (and all other dangerous recreational activities), and sunbathing (skin cancer, you know) being banned. "I can force you to act this way for your own good" is every bit as totalitarian an idea as "Mussolini is always right" or "I can force you to act this way because God says so".
No arguments about policy differences, just a simple observation on incumbency and term limits. If Monkey Boy wins the election (can't say "reelected" since he wasn't really elected in the first place), we'll have a lame duck president. If you thought his administration was unaccountable now, just you wait.
I have no misconceptions about Kerry (he voted for the Iraq War, which in and of itself is definitive proof he's either completely spineless, completely amoral, or both). At least, however, he'd not be a lame duck. And given how Monkey Boy has been the absolute worst president ever, that alone means Kerry is highly likely to be better.
If the current leadership wasn't so absolutely awful, I'd be more inclined to vote my conscience (or, I should say, more along my conscience — my real conscience isn't aligned with electoral politics). But it is, so I'm not.
[Re-edited on Wed Jul 14 10:48:56 PDT 2004]
Once someone cracked "It must be something in the water" in reference to the observation that two of the three prominent kooks inhabiting a particular Usenet group were from Portland. That was well before I got here.
A couple a weeks ago I found out that several of my comrades at Laughing Horse Books actually take Children of the Matrix seriously. It's got to be one of the loopiest conspiracy theories I've ever run across. By the second sentence of the first paragraph it is asserting as fact not only the Atlantis myth, but also the myth of a similar alleged drowned continent called Lemuria in the Pacific. And it only gets odder as it goes on, with Masonic conspiracies and shape-shifting aliens figuring prominently. It's as if David Icke's woven every piece of detritus from every crackpot conspiracy theory into a unified whole.
Myself, I'd lobby for it to go into the "fiction" or "humor" section. It is quite a hoot. But some folks in the collective actually take it seriously. Wisecracks about bottled water aside, I think I have an idea for a Halloween costume and maybe a few practical jokes coming to mind.
Guess Who is providing most of the support for the failed constitutional amendment to federalize marriage law? The up-is-downist rhetoric of Senatorial candidate John Thune from South Dakota is especially precious in this regard:
"The institution of marriage is under fire from extremist groups in Washington, politicians, even judges who have made it clear that they are willing to run over any state law defining marriage," Republican senatorial candidate John Thune says in a radio commercial airing in South Dakota. "They have done it in Massachusetts and they can do it here," adds Thune, who is challenging Daschle for his seat.Get it right: what happened in Massachusetts happened solely on the state level. "Washington" had absolutely nothing to do with it. Any supporter of states' rights should be standing up for the right of the Massachusetts courts and legislature to define issues of Massachusetts family law according to Massachusetts standards.
I guess the whole Iraq thing has set the standard for the neo-fascist right (sorry, guys, you're not conservatives and I'm not going to refer to you as such) in the US: use Göbbels' famous "Big Lie" technique to the max. Why bother with the truth when it's inconvenient?
There is a country building a wall, allegedly for security purposes, across the lands of a people it occupied and subjugated. That wall cuts off one community of those people from another, seriously disrupting both their traditions and their daily routines. The people of the community itself are being oppressed, subject to random searches of their homes and traffic checkpoints on their roads. Protests against the wall have fallen on deaf ears, and construction is proceeding despite them.
The country is the United States of America. The people are the Tohono O'odham Nation in what most people call southern Arizona and northern Sonora.
Update: More information here.
In this corner, we have the assorted rednecks, unemployed loggers, and their sons and daughters who work at the big corporate Fred Meyer in Newport, OR.
And in this corner, we have the pierced and tattooed alternative kids who work at the funky natural foods co-op in Portland, OR.
And the winner is: the pierced and tattooed kids at the co-op! Yes, while the rednecks working at the Newport Fred Meyer couldn't give a flying fuck if one of their customers was barefoot, because hey, he's acting politely and his money is as good as anyone else's, the alterna-kids are in high dudgeon over it.
And they're lying and dishonest, to boot, first claiming health department rules (that don't exist), then citing a sign on the door (that didn't exist), then a mysterious store policy (which I also strongly suspect doesn't exist, because they refused to show it to me even though I'm a co-op member and asked politely). Okay, maybe they're not deliberately lying about the health department, given that that's such a common misconception as to have urban legend status. But the other excuses are downright duplicitous.
The final verdict, after being unwilling or unable to back up all the earlier allegations: "I'm the manager, and I don't have to show you any reason. You have to get out because I say so." I guess he got his customer-service skills at the same places that train nursery school teachers.
Rest assured, the co-op board will be hearing about this at their next meeting.
Two quotes by Ambrose Bierce, first:
Cynic, n.: A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be. Hence the custom among the Scythians of plucking out a cynic's eyes to improve his vision.Second:
— Ambrose Bierce (from The Devil's Dictionary, copyright 1911)
The bullet that pierced Goebel's breast'Twould have shown even more prescience on Bierce's part if the first quote had been penned before the second, which caused quite an uproar when it was first published and even more of one when its prediction turned out to be correct. Bierce was blamed for advocating the assassination of McKinley. Apparently the difficulty of distinguishing advocacy from prediction has a long history.
Can not be found in all the West.
Good reason, it is speeding here
To lay McKinley on his bier.
— Ambrose Bierce, circa 1900
Though I'll point out that the circumstances of the two assassinations were somewhat different. Goebel (governor-elect of Kentucky) was assassinated by a member of the opposition party during a period of bitter political squabbling between Democrats and Republicans in that state. McKinley was shot by an anarchist hoping his action would somehow instill revolutionary consciousness in the masses. (I suppose one could say there was a common thread in both killings in that they were politically motivated.)
When I hear things like ...
It is a whole different look at the loss of a job. In many cases, but not all, the workers have paid off the mortgage and their severance can tide them over until Social Security and pension benefits kick in. It isn't that they need the work.... I just want to punch the sorry losers that say them (which, note, are not the counselors that relay these feelings) in the face. (Full story here.)They need the identity.
"You get that sense of 'My job is who I am,'" says Mike Freccero, the western regional manager for Spherion Human Capital Consulting in San Ramon. "That's a big part of it."
"It's bigger than I ever thought it was," says Norm Meshiry, a "master career counselor" who runs his own firm, "Career Insights," in Walnut Creek. "I really didn't appreciate what work meant in the life of an individual."
Not a very charitable attitude, I admit. But I so cannot identify with how anyone can let themselves get brainwashed into identifying their life as an autonomous person with their role as a cog in the capitalist machine. Ever since losing my job, I've been busier than ever. There's so many worthwhile, interesting things to do that don't involve taking orders from a boss or getting a paycheck.
My main frustration is the difficulty of choosing which ones to do, and frustration at not having time to do all I want. That, and the imperative to find a job so I can get money to cover my living expenses.
If I was 51 years old, laid off, had a paid-off house and a severance package big enough to tide me over till retirement kicks in, I'd be positively ecstatic.
As a friend on the coast gloatingly observed, "the heat over there has been simply un-Christian". Friday's high was 103; yesterday's an even 100. But this morning dawned with marine overcast and a damp sea breeze blowing up the Columbia valley, meaning the worst is over.
Friday was a lost cause; I had volunteered to do a shift at Laughing Horse Books, and by the time was over it was too ungodly hot to plan an escape to anywhere. So I just hung around the bookstore in front of a fan set on "hi" and helped process a huge book order.
Yesterday I was hoping to snag a ride to Collins Beach on Sauvie Island. I thought that would be a slam dunk: just show up at faerie coffee and at least one person would be heading out there, given the weather. No dice. I could have taken the bus, but that only goes about half way, and no way am I going to pedal a dozen miles there and back in that weather.
So I rode the new MAX Yellow Line out to its very end and biked three miles to Kelley Point, where the Columbia meets one of the mouths of the Willamette. Pedaling that distance was unpleasant enough, but worth it to be able to lie in the shade on a spot surrounded by cool water on three of four sides, which created a slightly cooler microclimate. Plus there was a ready source of unchlorinated water to plunge into.
Hadn't been out there for many years. The whole peninsula between the two rivers is a part of the city that people tend to forget about. The park reflected this: the signage all bore the old logo of the Portland Parks Department, and the main wooden sign was also in the style of two decades ago, decaying, and well-covered with dessicated mildew and moss. Really gave the place a "you have arrived at the ends of the Earth" feeling. Despite that, it was plenty popular given the presence of beaches there and the weather of the day.
I'll note that my excursion was not aided by last year's copy of the AAA map of Portland my parents gave me. The darn thing cuts off the tip of the peninsula that Kelley Point is at the end of! On its cover, the map boasts of coverage of the entirety of the suburb of Gresham. I have nothing against the mapping of suburbs, but this shouldn't be done at the expense of fully mapping the main city listed on the map's cover. If there's not room for both, for heaven's sake map all of of the main subject city and issue other maps for the suburbs. Thankfully, I had a dozen-year-old copy of the same map, printed back when people adhered to the old-fashioned notion that the main purpose of a map of Portland was to show Portland streets.
Some amazingly straight talk (from a Southern Oregonian who used to be supervisor of the National Forests that burned, nonetheless) on why the current Biscuit Fire salvage logging plan is a bad idea can be found here.
One other thought worth mentioning for those of you who have never personally seen the aftermath of a forest fire: a fire, even a severe one like the Biscuit Fire, doesn't simply reduce every tree in its path to a charred giant matchstick. Yes, some areas are like that. Other areas, however, don't burn as hot and the larger trees end up with blackened lower bark (which in a fire ecology evolves to be thick and fire-resistant) but otherwise perfectly alive. And some areas get jumped over and don't burn at all. So there's plenty of live trees left behind to be cut down. Some of them ancient old growth. Salvage logging isn't just the processing of standing dead trees.
Moreover, Williams' mention of roadless areas and invasive species also bears reiterating. Using salvage logging as a pretext to destroy roadless wilderness (when same is already so damn rare), is begging for a fight. And logging and road-building equipment is known to be a major source of invasive weed dispersal; the weed seeds come in on mud caked to the treads of the equipment. That's especially worrying in the Siskiyou Mountains, which have a unique flora with many endemic species.
... About the true character of the "opposition" party, this ought to clear things up.
It's not to say there's no difference; if you've read many other entries here you'll know I don't believe that and do think that one possible outcome of the coming election is to be preferred over the other. It's just that what difference exists is between differing ideas on how to best serve the interests of the ruling elite. Real change, therefore, must involve more than just voting.
Words of an excited graduating senior upon learning that funding for her to attend UC (as opposed to a community college) is going to materialize:
"Wow. If that is what happens, that would be awesome," she said. "I'd take it because I wanted to go there in the first place."Cool your enthusiasm. A major university is principally a research and semiprofessional sports establishment. Education of undergraduate students, especially lower-level undergraduates, is nothing but an annoyance to be put up with in the pursuit of the two prime goals.
As a freshman and sophomore, you'll never catch more than a passing glimpse of those famous scientists in the halls. Your classes will be in huge auditoriums and taught by sullen, exploited graduate students, many of whose ability to speak clear English is marginal at best. You will pay exorbitant tuition for the dubious privilege of receiving this treatment.
At the community college, you would have been taught by professionals in the field you are studying. As such, their knowledge would be both current and relevant to the industry they are in. They'd be able to provide insights of what your career will really be like. They would speak clear English. You'd be in small classrooms. You could raise your hand and get your instructor to pause in his or her lecture and explain something further if it confuses you. Your tuition would be a fraction of what you'd pay at the big university.
Better service at lower prices is considered to be a hallmark of a good deal in most transactions. Why not in higher education?
Full story here.
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