That Good Night blogs

Choose Your Own Dystopia

Fri, 11 Feb 2005 19:07:50 -0800

The year is 20XX (you are not Mega Man.)

Times are tough; following a horrendous global disaster, you emerge from your hidey-hole to find that you and everyone close to you (including friends, lovers, family, but not casual acquaintances or random coworkers) has survived the holocaust. For some bizarre reason, you appear to have emerged relatively unscathed. Others in your group have suffered some injuries, and some seem to have mild ailments of various types: radiation burns, infections, but nothing fatal.

Unfortunately, mother earth has not fared quite as well as you have. Massive portions of the earth's surface are unlivable, resources and infrastructure have been destroyed/polluted/corrupted, and the human race is in quite the tough spot.

(Sound interesting? Read More for Fun in the Future!)

that was quick!

Fri, 14 Jan 2005 12:36:52 -0800

According to the Washington Post it didn't take Sharon but five days from the election of Abu Mazin before he's cut off all ties with him (until the terror ends, of course). Now that's what you call a small window of opportunity. To all those thinking the election was going to radically change the dynamic: I'm sorry.

Climate Change 101

Thu, 13 Jan 2005 04:51:33 -0800

I might have been able to gloss over Reuters' latest ignorance-fest on global climate change if it hadn't been for the following paragraph:

Scientists differ as to whether global warming is caused by man-made emissions of carbon dioxide and other "greenhouse" gases, by natural climate cycles or if it exists at all.

This is the stock disclaimer that you'll see in just about any article about climate change. I assume it's mandated by Rupert Murdoch and his corporate peers. It is also only the beginning of the inaccuracies that characterize this article.

Merry Christmas, Trees!

Tue, 01 Mar 2005 15:34:00 -0800

Since Christmas is the time of year that we cut down trees, the Bush administration has decided to celebrate by pushing through an "administrative rewrite" of Forest Service regulations regarding habitat protection and environmental impact statements.

The first [change] drops the 25-year-old requirement that managers prepare environmental impact statements — a cornerstone of public involvement in environmental decisions — when they develop or revise management plans for individual national forests.

The new rule directs forest managers to involve the public in the planning process but leaves the "methods and timing of public involvement opportunities" up to forest officials.

The argument for such a change is based on the assertion that environmental impact statements (EISs) are so much red tape, and that they "don't get used or don't get read and are rapidly obsolete" (to quote Fred Norbury, associate deputy chief of the national forest system). This is patently false -- while EISs are almost never read by the general public due to their density and length, they are regularly pored over by private environmental interest groups seeking to delay or halt federal actions that might violate environmental statutes (such as the Endangered Species Act).

Big Bear, Dead Eagle

Tue, 21 Dec 2004 21:19:41 -0800

Three Forest Service employees are being sued by a would-be developer under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) for doing their jobs.

[The developer's] project came to a halt last May when a federal judge in Riverside issued a preliminary injunction saying that two activist groups, Friends of Fawnskin and the Center for Biological Diversity, had demonstrated that the development had "the potential to both harass and harm the bald eagle," which is protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. The plaintiffs have shown that "a violation of the Endangered Species Act is at least likely in the future," U.S. District Judge Robert Timlin said in a written ruling.

Frank Fraley, a Los Angeles lawyer representing the Forest Service employees, said the suit against his clients was filed in retaliation.

I find it ironic that both RICO - the law under which the Forest Service employees are being sued - and the ESA - the law that they were trying to uphold - were authorized by Congress under the constitutional power of the Commerce Clause.

Christmas: To The Roots

Sun, 19 Dec 2004 14:00:45 -0800

To hear Bill O'Reilly (a jerk) speak about how "Christmas is under attack," and "liberals are trying to take the Christ out of Christmas," you'd think that Christ had something to do with Christmas in the first place. I don't want to spend a lot of time on this, but the barest minimum of research will teach you that early Christian missionaries had a choice in dealing with popular solstice celebrations. They could either suppress them or put a veneer of Christianity on top of them and let the celebration continue. Wisely (for them) they chose the latter. The perception of Christmas today reflects that thin veneer. Merely scratch the surface however, and it becomes apparent that most Christmas traditions are decidedly un-Christian. This holiday is a holiday celebrated with gluttony and excess in all forms. To be honest, that's pretty much it, and that's what has persisted. Just look at the mall for proof.

Going back to O'Reilly's comment, I think it's true that a lot of people are trying to take "Christ out of Christmas," but I think that people who are actively trying to do such a thing think of it more as "getting Christ back out of Christmas." At the same time, I think the growing and rapidly accelerating departure of Christmas, at least in America from Christianity is less an intentional agenda and more a natural progression of a holiday, which has been exceptionally hard for the Church to Christianize, back to its roots. Shoddy religion symbolism irritates me, particularly that which relies on an english sun/son pun. The fact that a lot of Christmas parades and Christmas paegents have become "winter festivals" under the guise of sensitivity to other religions screams their pagan origins openly.

We Americans are northern hemispheric people, and we feel the same undefined desire to celebrate the corner of the year as those who came before us in the dark, cold winters. Maybe the departure of Christ from Christmas has been inevitable ever since they slapped him on it in the first place. The fact of the matter is that Christmas is a not-so-important Christian holiday. Easter is far more important and compelling. Maybe Christ never really had anything to offer for Christmas in the first place.

I will even admit that O'Reilly is partly right about Christmas being under attack. It is, but that's because all religious expression is under attack from a source I didn't even think of until it hit me over the head. Atheists have their own fundamentalists, and I think that they're equally as dangerous as the Christian, Muslim and Jewish fundamentalists we're accustomed to dealing with.

Study: Half of Americans Total Jerks

Sun, 19 Dec 2004 14:02:58 -0800

My parents don't subscribe to the L.A. Times like the rest of our civilized metropolis, but rather to the Daily News, which is a more "fair and balanced" newspaper, if you catch my meaning. As such, I usually try to avoid reading the paper while I'm home, but some mornings when I sit down at the table with my Apple Jacks™, I really need something to look at.

This morning I read that a Cornell University study showed that 44% of "Americans" favor curbing the civil rights of all Muslim Americans. I couldn't find the article on the Daily News website (which seems to be on par with the physical paper in terms of quality), but it's an AP piece, so here it is on USAToday.

The survey conducted by Cornell University also found that Republicans and people who described themselves as highly religious were more apt to support curtailing Muslims' civil liberties than Democrats or people who are less religious.

Homo canadius

Thu, 09 Dec 2004 10:02:43 -0800

I woke up this morning to the news that activist judges in Canada's high court ruled this morning that the country's constitution does not prohibit same-sex marriage, opening the door for Canadian lawmakers to pass legislation redefining marriage to include same-sex couples. A measure like this would be a joke in America, simply a gesture by Congress to flagrantly dismiss the gay community. "Hey guys, look at this! Nobody but Dennis Kucinich wants to let you get hitched! And he's an elf! Ha!"

In Canada, well:

One top Liberal predicted the legislation should pass easily after its introduction, likely early next year. It already has the support of the 38-member Liberal cabinet and virtually all the 54 Bloc Quebecois and 19 New Democrat MPs.

Abstinence Now

Mon, 06 Dec 2004 19:43:35 -0800

The idea of abstinence-only education reminds me of the Simpsons episode where the Springfield cat-burglar leads the town on a false treasure hunt, using the diversion to escape prison. At the end of the episode, several characters have dug themselves into a hole looking for a buried treasure that's not there. Otto says, "how are we going to get out of here?" and Homer says "We'll dig our way out!"

Millions of dollars are thrown at abstinence-only education, and then it's proven, again and again and again, even when we already knew, that it doesn't work, and the response is to throw still more money into abstinence-only education.

"We'll dig our way out!"

Contraception and STI prevention are important things to learn, and I'll never understand the culture of people who deliberately misinform and ignore these issues. Abstinence-only education leads to teen pregnancy, and it leads to sexually transmitted infections. Supporting abstinence-only education means supporting unwanted pregnancies and STIs. How did that get to be so popular?

My parents didn't give me a lot of instruction in this area. Basically, they handed me a book and said, "RTFM." It's a good thing I was able to get everything I needed in school. Believe me, I was relieved, because having that conversation with my parents would have been mortifying.

I learned some important things. Sex can be a deadly weapon. I know because I've known people who died of AIDS. It can screw up your life. I've known people who dropped out of school, never to return because they got pregnant at 14. And I know why I've never had to deal with either of those, and it's because I know to get tested periodically. I know every kind of contraception and STI prevention method under the sun and I think I could proficiently use any one of them. I know that I should ask about a person's history, and I learned how to do it sensitively. But none of that knowledge has ever made any difference in when, where, how or why (although definitely 'with whom') to have sex.

I've never been a subscriber to the 'waiting' ideology (refer to The Onion article titled "Horribly Awkward First Sexual Encounter 'Worth The Wait' For Newlyweds"). Personally I think it blows the whole thing way out of proportion, and who needs that? But even those who think it is important can benefit from those tools. Why does the right-wing political climate support all kinds of weapons, except those that work?

Ghost For Sale

Sat, 04 Dec 2004 22:50:50 -0800

A woman is selling her father's "ghost" on eBay to alleviate her son's fears that the ghost is haunting their house.

To whoever wins this auction I would like to ask you to write a letter after you've received the cane (and the ghost) to my son letting him know that he's there with you and you're getting along great. I will give details at the end of the auction to the winner.

The bid price at the moment is $14,935.66.

Predictably, there are now numerous imitators listed on eBay, just like the virgin Mary grilled cheese. Suddenly everyone has a ghost to sell.

I'm All For Freedom Of Speech, But...

Wed, 01 Dec 2004 16:26:11 -0800

Ever notice that people who begin a sentence with "I'm all for freedom of speech..." seldom are for freedom of speech? They're just using the phrase as a shield. It's like saying 'I can't be a hateful bigot, I have some gay friends.' As an experiment, I did a Google search for "i'm all for freedom of speech but." My search turned up 729 hits including the following:

I'm all for freedom of speech, but...

...this is the wrong time to be having those antiwar demonstrations, with the troops over there.

...I don't want to pay for it.

Oh Dear God

Tue, 30 Nov 2004 20:32:33 -0800

Optimists club calling it quits due to declining interest.

Controlled Substances vs. Compassionate Use

Wed, 01 Dec 2004 07:44:28 -0800

Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington: Watch Ashcroft v. Raich carefully. The government is upset that your citizens are finding relief for terminal and chronic conditions without lining the pockets of Pfizer, Merck and their co-conspirators.

What's the deal with drug laws anyway? They're so arbitrary, they don't even make any sense. "Uhh, tobacco, yeah that's legal because it's just a plant. It grows naturally. Marijuana on the other hand, well, yeah it's a plant too -- but it's an EVIL plant. You can tell because it's pointy."

Other ridiculousness:
-The TV ad that claims marijuana use is bad because it "often involves criminal activity." Well, no fucking shit. It's illegal. Would it often involve criminal activity if it weren't illegal? Is murder bad because it involves criminal activity, or is there another reason? This is like the poll after the election that showed 51% of the country satisfied with the results. I could have told you that, and I didn't need to conduct a poll to do it.

-The radio ad which claims that marijuana use is bad because "all teens who use cocaine also used marijuana." Therefore (the ad claims) marijuana use leads to cocaine use. Following the same logic train, all people who have been to the moon are men. Therefore, all men have been to the moon. More seriously, it seems much more likely that the kind of person who uses cocaine isn't likely to say to themselves: "Yeah, I do coke, but I draw the line there. That marrajoowanna is some wack shit."

Given the efficacy of the war on drugs, the war on poverty and the war on terror, I'm glad that the government and the 51-ers have declared war on science and logic. Things are looking up for the results-oriented, reality-based community.

(Incidentally, while searching Google for a picture of a tobacco leaf, I came across this picture. I think it's supposed to illustrate something about smoking, but I came away with a different impression.)

Weather The Weather

Thu, 02 Dec 2004 10:11:42 -0800

Well, I am 2 for 2 when it comes to conjuring up exceedingly improbable thunderstorms for running events. I ran the Green Mountain Turkey Trot 5K with my folks this Thanksgiving morning. The weather at 6:30am was bright, sunny and 60 degrees. By 8:30am, rain had moved in. As we were walking out to the starting line of the race around 10:45am, we saw lightning in the distance. Temp -- 55. While this thunderstorm was not as...exhilarating as the one before the MDI Marathon, it didn't clear before the race began and so the entire race was in the pouring rain (at least a 5K is a short run). There's also nothing like a good nearby lightning strike to get you to kick in the afterburners. Oh, and by 4:00pm it was 30 degrees and snowing.

Sunday Hike And Meditation

Sun, 21 Nov 2004 14:52:26 -0800

"The aircraft at this site is an F-101B "Voodoo" Interceptor of the 75th Fighter Interceptor Squandron at Dow AFB, Bangor [ME].
In the early morning hours of Tuesday, April 11, 1961, Capt. Vernal Johnson and Lt. Edward Masaitis were returning from an active air defense intercept off the coast in a freezing rain storm with zero visibility. The aircraft got too low on approach and struck this mountain."
Let it remain as a memorial to these two officers and all those who gave their lives in the service of their country in the Cold War era.

Apparently, aircraft hulks such as this one aren't even that rare around active Cold War air bases. It was the beginning of the jet era and the limits of men and machines were in the early stages of discovery.