Though their music isn’t for everyone, this makes me happy:
Because Asking a Question is a Federal Offense
Published on March 19, 2010
Well, this sucks. Peter Watts has been found guilty of a federal crime because he asked question and did not submit to the whim of capricious authority without asking “why?” One would have thought that such a stance, you know, personal liberty and the ability to question authority, would be an American value instead of a prosecutable offense.
One would be wrong.
Watts, a Canadian, could face up to two years of jail time for questioning the actions of the boarder guards. He states on his blog that he doesn’t blame any involved in his case, even the jurists who found him guilty, but rather the statute that he was charged under:
I do not know what the jury said amongst themselves. But a question they sent out to the court yesterday afternoon — “Is failure to comply sufficient for conviction?” — strongly suggests that this was the lynchpin event. (Certainly Defense had demolished every other, and the Prosecution had conceded as much.) If that is the case, I cannot begrudge the jury their verdict. Their job is not to rewrite laws, or ignore stupid ones; their job is to decide whether a given act violates the law as written. And when you strip away all the other bullshit — the verbal jousting, the conflicting testimony, the inconsistent reports — the law doesn’t proscribe noncompliance “unless you’re dazed and confused from being hit in the face”. It simply proscribes noncompliance, period. And we all agree that in those few seconds between Beaudry’s command and the unleashing of his pepper spray, I just stood there asking what the problem was. No Moods, Ads or Cutesy Fucking Icons (Re-reloaded) » Guilty
Sure, there are instances of injustice occurring every day that don’t get the attention that Watts’ case did since he is a writer of some repute and with a decent fan base. Still, as he is an artist whose work I admire, I can’t help be feel saddened on his part for being found guilty.
Best wishes to you Mr. Watts.
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HR Links’n’stuff
Published on March 19, 2010
I know, right?. It’s one of the reasons I like British television so much. Sure, there are beautiful people on the BBC, but there’s a lot more actors that look like normal, average people than on American tv. It’s quite refreshing actually.
I admit it, I’m all sorts of fanboy giddy about this!
Nature sounds we can’t usually here: cells in trees popping.. Makes you realize there’s all sorts of things going on around us that our senses aren’t equipped to detect.
Close look at the grooves on a vinyl album. Very very close. Alien landscape close. Neat
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Eat That Cheese
Published on March 18, 2010
A very interesting article about lactose intolerance today on Salon.com. Of particular note:
Milk itself has a lot of lactose, but aged cheeses have very little (most of the lactose is drawn away in the whey, and what’s left in the curd is fermented by bacteria and mold). Yogurt with live cultures contains bacteria that break down lactose, and therefore causes fewer symptoms. Butter and full-fat cream cheese contain almost no lactose. Lactose intolerance do’s and don’ts – Nutrition – Salon.com>
Considering how many people I know who complain that they are lactose intolerant and seem to make a big deal about eating cheese, I wonder if they are perhaps doing a self-diagnosis that might, in the end, be false? And the next time someone tells you that human beings shouldn’t drink/eat dairy because we can’t process the sugars properly, ask them about their beans.
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McCain Introduces Bill To Make Obama More Powerful Than A King
Published on March 17, 2010
S.3081 is obscene. S.3081 is profoundly anti-law. S.3081 allows for indeterminate detention for pretty much anyone the President “considers appropriate.” S.3081 is backed by Republicans who talk a big game when it comes to freedom and liberty and the rule of law, but who, as this bill demonstrates, are really bullies and thugs who have no regard for the Constitution, the rule of law, or basic ethical principles. McCain and Lieberman (and the others who have signed onto this bill) are doing the terrorists work for them by allowing the United States to become a land ruled by fear and imperial dictate rather than a system of justice that presumes innocence until guilt is proven.
Go ahead, someone prove to me why giving the President the power to label someone a “high-value detainee” based on whatever reasons that President decides to make up and then holding that person indefinitely is a good idea for a democracy. I thought the whole fucking point of the United States was that we didn’t live in a dictatorship/monarchy.
And I hope all you fucking teabaggers and libertarians take down the GOP for their desire to concentrate even more power in the hands of the President. But somehow I don’t think you will because you were perfectly happy to give up your rights to Bush and his cronies, and you’re now too busy whining about the fact that liberals want to actually get you better health care.
CRITERIA FOR DESIGNATION OF INDIVIDUALS AS HIGH-VALUE DETAINEES- The regulations required by this subsection shall include criteria for designating an individual as a high-value detainee based on the following: (A) The potential threat the individual poses for an attack on civilians or civilian facilities within the United States or upon United States citizens or United States civilian facilities abroad at the time of capture or when coming under the custody or control of the United States. (B) The potential threat the individual poses to United States military personnel or United States military facilities at the time of capture or when coming under the custody or control of the United States. (C) The potential intelligence value of the individual. (D) Membership in al Qaeda or in a terrorist group affiliated with al Qaeda. (E) Such other matters as the President considers appropriate. Text of S.3081 as Introduced in Senate: Enemy Belligerent, Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010… OpenCongress
via Glenn Greenwald
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My New Blog
Published on March 17, 2010
As I mentioned recently, I am starting a new blog that will focus on my time and work as a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh. I am pleased to announced that it is up and running at ThisThus.com. Over the next few weeks I will probably make adjustments to the look of the site as I tweak it here and there, but the first post is posted and I’m excited by the prospect of having a slightly more focused blog that will serve as both a place for me to reflect on my journey over the next several years, as well as a place to share what I learn along the way. Posts will be few and far between until the beginning to school, but I will be posting various items that have to do with preparing for both school and the move to Pittsburgh. When school starts, I hope to post regularly on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
But you few, you fearless readers of Living the Liminal should fear not! I will be keeping this space for non-PhD related topics and will never forsake you. Never ever ever!
So if following two blogs isn’t a chore, or if you are genuinely interested in following me as I go from getting into a program of my choice to completing my dissertation and getting my doctorate, I hope you will drop by and check out the new digs at http://thisthus.com.
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A Rant Against Reboot Mania
Published on March 16, 2010
“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” – Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride
This is a rant against reboots. Not the fact of their existence, but the fact that people keep using that term to mean any new version of a previous text. Look, the fact that they are making a new Conan movie does not make it a reboot. The movie was an adaptation of a story and I’m sure that they won’t be following the original movie any more closely than the original movie followed some of the original Robert E. Howard stories. Calling it a reboot would be like calling every remake of The Hound of the Baskervilles a “reboot” of Sherlock Holmes. This is especially true of franchises that were originally something else (story, play, comic, etc.), but applies to other things as well. If Spy Kids is remade it won’t be a reboot, m’kay? (No, really, I saw it here – and I don’t care if Rodriguez himself calls it a “reboot” – it’s not.)
And yes, I’m looking at you Slice of SciFi–though you are by no means the only example of this increasingly annoying tendency.
So let’s all stop it please. Thanks.
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Grad School Update for March 2010
Published on March 15, 2010
I have accepted the University of Pittsburgh, Department of Theatre Arts offer and will be starting their PhD program this fall.
I plan to write more about my decision, as well as writing more consistently and diligently about the process of getting my PhD over the next several years. In fact, I will be setting up another site that will be dedicated to covering my journey toward my doctorate, as well as larger questions about graduate school, higher education, theatre in a university setting, technology and work-flows as related to scholarship and learning, and anything else that I feel impacts or is impacted by my graduate school experiences. I plan on keeping LTL going as a place for sharing interesting links, music, tv, and movie reviews, creative works and processes, random political rants, and the occasional deep musing on the nature of the universe . . . or silly kitten video, whichever makes more sense at the time. I expect that LtL will remain pretty much as it already is. Stay tuned for the launch announcement of the other site in the next week or so.
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New TARDIS Design for the New Series of Doctor Who
Published on March 12, 2010
This news makes me a very happy fanboy!
This new Tardis – not an obligatory accessory for each new Doctor, but required by the damage done to it in Tennant’s last episode – is big. It must be three times the size of Tennant’s, on multiple levels with staircases in between. Less grubby than its predecessor, with a transparent plastic floor on the main level, its walls are resplendent with polished copper and its central column features a blown glass decoration that could be straight from Tales of the Unexpected. There are old car seats and downstairs – downstairs! – a swing. With a nod to Paul McGann’s Tardis, the central column features an old TV screen on an extendable trellis. It also has a 1980s-style computer keyboard, and a His-Master’s-Voice style trumpet speaker. (Link)
(via IO9)
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Food Policies Designed to Make Us Unhealthy
Published on March 11, 2010
This is not rocket science, people:
The government also purchases surplus foods like cheese, milk, pork, and beef for distribution to food assistance programs—including school lunches. The government is not required to purchase nutritious foods. (Link)
If anyone thinks that the Government isn’t already deeply entrenched in what you eat and what foods are available at low costs, they are either deeply misinformed or deliberately blind to the facts. We need smart policies that are designed for a healthy population instead of policies that line the pockets of the few at the expense of the rest of us. The surest way to keep the status quo is to fool people into thinking that diet and nutrition are entirely personal choices and not part of an economic and political system that effects each and every one of us.
Update: Stubborn Mule has an excellent article about the problems inherent with pyramid charts and how they distort numbers.
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