Resurrected Facebook Post No. 4: Thoughts on the 40th Anniversary of Assassination of RFK

(Originally posted Thursday, June 5, 2008; updated March 30, 2010 with info on a new documentary commemorating RFK's Indianapolis speech.)


1968 is considered by many historians as an amazing year. It seems a moment in which people felt a decade's worth of emotion in a single year. Revolutions in France and Czechoslovakia. The assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Race riots in America. Vietnam.

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.

Resurrected Facebook Post No. 3: In Memoriam, Ed Salpeter

(from a Facebook group created in 2008, shortly after Dr. Salpeter's death)

I created this group to commemorate the passing of one of the senior statesmen of astrophysics, Edwin (Ed) Ernest Salpeter, who passed away today.

I'm hoping everyone will take a bit of time to post your memories or thoughts about Ed on this group.

Resurrected Facebook Post No. 2: 25 Things About Me

Originally posted Feb. 6, 2009

Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. My childhood hero was Scrooge McDuck. And yes, once, when I was six, I took my meager cash possessions, and attempted to swim in a bunch of dirty dimes in my grandparents' living room.

2. One of my first memories is of a Gumby episode where he goes to space. If I remember correctly, he gets sick because there is no oxygen on the Moon. (I watched a lot of TV growing up.)

3. I play Monopoly to win, by any means necessary. During one game, I took advantage of my grandma's poor command of the English language to discourage her from buying Boardwalk. ("No grandma. No buy!")

NYTimes -- Well:Talk Deeply, Be Happy?

NYTimes -- Well:Talk Deeply, Be Happy?

Three notes does not make a dies mirabilis, but I couldn't resist posting a link to a NYTimes article on the value of deep conversations. The researchers seem to think along similar lines to Frankl, that, for humans, meaning is a "primary motivation in his life and not a secondary rationalization of instinctual drives." (Man's Search for Meaning, 99).

From the Times article, it's not clear whether the can conclude definitively that substantive conversations make one happy -- it could be only that frivolous conversations makes one unhappy. An unquantified and vague anecdote with obvious confounding variables (my life) indicates that my unhappiness grew along with my attempts to get better at "networking" in the Ivy League.

(Then again, Data has a good time schmoozing with "Hutch" until aliens start shooting people.)

I don't believe brevity is not equivalent to vacuousness; after all, I am the grandson of a haiku poet. But I've seen precious little to coax me back to Twitter.

Does anyone know an astronomer at Griffith Park Observatory?

I'm trying to set up a tour of GPO for my cousin Nathan. My cousin Sally mentioned at the concert tonight that little Nathan loves Star Wars. I thought it would be exciting for him to be exposed to some real astronomy.

I'm hoping that one of the wonderful astronomers I've been privileged to meet, and whom I might even presume to call "friend", could help me get in touch with someone at GPO.

You might be able to say no to me, but I'm pretty sure you'll find it hard to say no to this guy:

Truth or Consequences, Healthcare Edition

I'm curious what, if any, retaliatory action will be taken against Democrats who voted no on health care. I'm thinking back to heavy primary challenges of moderate Republicans over the last few years -- think senators Arlen Specter and Lincoln Chafee", who both ended up leaving the party, and Florida governor Charlie Crist, who, despite being quite popular among his constituents, has come under attack from his own party. This process, of course, hit a new high of sorts with the heavily contested, closely watched three-ring circus that was the NY-23 Congressional special election.

If there were particularly ruthless and cunning individuals holding the positions of whip, majority leader, or Speaker of the House, I could envision some sort of Godfather/Elizabeth movie denounement that involved the political "execution" of the unloyal and unfaithful. But I'm not sure Pelosi's leadership is that secure, or Hoyer has that type of temperament. I know less about Jim Clyburn, but a quick search did not reveal anything indicating a particularly vindictive or ruthless streak. I'm not sure Howard Dean would take that approach, either.

Maybe the Democratic party will remain a big tent. Maybe a lot of these reps are toast in 2010 without help from Rahmbo. I do not know whether to hope for a leaner, meaner party and its unintended consequences or not. I'll watch, and maybe learn.

Some very early thoughts on "Man's Search for Meaning"

Some of the problems I have had with the more self-centered approach to Christianity I'd participated in during my adolescence might be resolved by emphasizing on responsibility than on salvation.

I think I've tried adopting a "nothingbutness" philosophy from 2005 onward. That's worked out terribly. It might've been a product of a hyperquantitative and largely atheistic community in grad school, or it might've been a natural outgrowth of the courses that preoccupied my mind (notably, behavioral econ), OR it might've been a period of nihilisitic selfishness that sought to avoid a true assessment and action on my readiness for my program, as well as the existential struggle that had begun senior year of college.

Please join "If 1,000,000 people join this group, it will have 1,000,000 people in it".

My fellow e-mericans,

Not long ago, I made a digital campaign for a position I had no intention of filling at a time past the point of eligible candidacy. Then, as now, I promise that my lack of legitimate credentials or redeemable qualities will not stop me from appealing to you, the noble, vacillating, marginally hygienic masses to join me in the greatest cause since our valiant but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to ban the mentioning of Heidi Montag from the California public school curriculum.

Consider

Consider: You are the current manifestation of the lusts and dreams of a hundred thousand generations of humans. And yet, you are also a single lifeboat in a vast historical tempest, surrounded by the hostility of stretches of space, a mote on a mote on a mote of dust that universal historians long forgot.

Should we feel pride or despair?

Perhaps, if we are wise, we will embrace both.

Thank you, Glenn Beck.

Glenn Beck urges listeners to leave churches that preach social justice

courtesy of Maxx Lee, via Timo Chen.

I never thought I'd say this, but thank you, Glenn Beck. I think you're going to get me to go back to church.

It's hard to be angry, and harder to be effectively angry. I've been depressed and done my best to self-lobotomize myself over the last year or two, so it's been really, really hard to get angry or worked up about anything other than my own insignificant life.

And now, this.

Resurrected post no 1: Ryan Yamada for Cornell Trustee

While surveying the worthy candidates for student trustee for Cornell, it occurred to me that I liked power, attention, and corruption, and that none of these candidates had my degree of ruthlessness, blind ambition, and utter lack of bureaucratic experience. In defense of the two-party system, which according to the Constitution I never bothered to read holds that the qualified must compete on equal grounds with the incompetent, I declare my candidacy for BOTH seats. Why both? I'm a firm believer in the strongman system of decisionmaking, and though I can't bench press a ferret, I do believe I have what it takes to make quick decisions. After all, marching somewhere, even in the wrong direction, is preferable to standing still.

Transferring stuff from old FB profile to here

Somehow, I reacquired access to my Cornell FB profile. I'm happy about that, if only because it means I can copy over pictures and notes relatively easily. Expect some "priceless gems" of ancient history that, like stories about the indiscretions of parents when they were your age, should have never been unearthed.

Six impossible things I will dream of before breakfast

In brief:
1: A subculture of nonaggressive horn usage, using distinctive cars.
2: An efficient system of recycling on the elemental level.
3: A universal and comprehensive educational campaign about health and food for all children at a young age.
4: A science education curriculum to emphasize practical, actionable information.
5: A clearer framework of principles and ethics for my life
6: TBA

Returning to blogging

After a long and dark hiatus, I've decided to restart blogging. It's a bit more effective than Facebook posts, though I'd still like to have them show up there. I hate the idea of double-posting, but if it gives me feedback and ideas from more people, I suppose it will have to do.

The blog format helps me better organize my notes by subject, which will help me in the future. That, and the need to write, spurs my return.