Repeat after me

I will not allow isolated communications from members of my family to sabotage my self-confidence.

I will not allow others' attempts to guilt me into behavior be a prime motivator for changing behavior.

I will rise above and beyond the expectations and norms set for me by those lacking imagination and courage.

I will define my relationship with my father, and not allow, through inaction or confusion, it to be the other way around.

I will be myself, by myself if need be, but ultimately with other individuals I respect, admire, and love.

I will affirm my right to be happy until it becomes axiomatic.

I will not be permitted to be consumed by the chaos and grasping of individuals who preach but do not practice emotional maturity.

Finally, I will affirm that I am the best son that I can possibly be, and work conscientiously and consistently to make that affirmation as close to truth as possible.

(repeat in the morning, in the evening, and as often as you face difficult interactions with family)

White House AIM conversations - Steele and McConnell discuss strategy

White House AIM conversations - Senate GOP meeting

White House AIM conversations - Boehner drunk-IMs McConnell

White House AIM conversations - Reid and Pelosi talk with Rangel about a deal

White House AIM conversations - Boehner calls a House meeting

White House AIM conversations - Hillary empathizes with Barack

CA-29 election flyer targets Asian-Americans

Updated 14:22 PDT: I uploaded low-resolution copies of the entire flyer. Some of the text is illegible. But given that there's nothing especially controversial in the flyer, I think the low-res images still convey the interesting approach taken in these political direct mailings. Let me know if you want high-resolution copies.

Interesting - Adam Schiff (D-CA 29th) just sent an update that contained Chinese characters and stated that he was "proud to represent such a large and vibrant Asian community". It also shows Schiff standing with an Asian-American winner of an art competition.

I wonder if the 34% of Whites and 26% of Hispanics (both larger fractions of the population, according to 2000 Census/Wikipedia) received the same flier.

White House AIM Conversations - Trojan Horse

Two short videos of young souls in old bodies playing piano

Both of these are beautiful in separate ways. Enjoy.

3000

Yet another threshold – I have had 3,000 visitors to my blog.

The last three months of posts works out to about 43 pages in Word. I typed 15,609 words, or 75,478 characters, excluding spaces. It’s 91,234, if you include spaces. Text density, as well as content, must be on the light side. The secret? Short words. Also, I know there’s at least one “I” in narcissism. Too busy being a god among men to bother counting.

It took over three years to hit 1,000. I didn’t do a retrospective post for 2,000, because that was achieved in about a week, thanks to one post that launched a thousand clicks: "New Facebook Virus: Redhot sexy girl in thong dancing."

It's awesome to know I have readers (read: people seeking treatment for an electronic version of gonorrhea)  from countries like Jordan, Russia, and Malaysia.

Shirley Sherrod Part 2: Telling the Story

This was going to be an analysis of the politics, the decision trees, the steps that led to the present debacle, and the possible options going forward for the players in the Shirley Sherrod saga. Then, I realized that the internet will be filled with that tomorrow. How will it play in November? Can Obama afford to hire her back? Can he afford not to? The talking heads that charged headlong into a wrongheaded conclusion will continue to charge, unabated, without my help, and in spite of my protest. I may return to these thoughts, but not now.

There’s a story here that has to be told, and, I fear, won’t be, at least not broadly. I’ll do my best here, and hope that others notice it, too.

Shirley Sherrod, Part 1: Summary of the controversy, and notes on full speech

Note: Timestamp embedding doesn't work for the CNN clips because of the advertising code. To view the clip from that time, you will have to manually move the playback control to the referenced timestamp.

CNN summarizes the main issues and timeline of the Shirley Sherrod controversy.

Briefly, Shirley Sherrod, the Georgia director of rural development for the USDA, was forced to resign on Monday because of controversy stemming from a 38-second clip from a 2009 talk at a NAACP chapter in southern Georgia. During that clip, she mentions that she decided to limit her help to a white farmer, Roger Spooner, who came to her for help. The NAACP and USDA condemned her immediately. Subsequent investigation indicates she was instrumental in helping save that family's farm. The NAACP has recanted its original condemnation. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has maintained that USDA has a zero tolerance policy on racism. It is also reported that he is fully supported by the White House.

My OKCupid Profile

We are an overexposed society. Continuing with a trend of TMI, here is my OkCupid profile. Take a number, ladies!

http://www.okcupid.com/profile/resplendention

Resurrected Facebook Post 5: True Story

True story:

I don't know where I am.

I went with my cousin Renee to the mall. While she was trying on some clothes, I decided to try my hand at being French.

As you may know, I had originally intended to be French for Halloween. My costume was to consist of a horizontally striped shirt, a beret, and a cigarette (and possibly some French bread). I would also have a delightfully crappy French accent, and say only one phrase - "Life eees sheeet".

That ended up not happening. At the time, I worked with a French postdoc, Frantz, whom I adored. (He's also 6'10" and an expert in Aikido.)

Your pretty, I'm desperate

An OkCupid study looked at response rates for messages containing certain phrases. 

(via Sociological Images: http://contexts.org/socimages/2009/09/28/what-do-women-want/) 

 

Lesson: knowing the proper use of "your" vs. "you're" is helpful, but "your pretty" is still better than proper use of the adverb "very", as in "very pretty". Does this mean that high praise tends to be viewed as excessive? Is it viewed as symptomatic of a value system overweight the physical? Or is it a good leading indicator of desperation or clinginess? The former is more likely, but I'm more amused by the latter possibility.

 

In other words, it's still bad to compliment a woman's looks vs. her personality as revealed by her profile. But if "your" going to do it anyway, and you have to choose between sounding like a moron and broadcasting even a whiff of desperation, go with moron. 

The Tea Party' sCreed

 (CNN:Palin Likens Self to Shakespeare)

Oh, Queen of the North, flower of Wasila!
Her plaintive tears make the mockingbirds cheep
Sweet tweets on how the world doesn’t getcha,
Stalked by a neighboring, muckraking creep.
Athene and Helen of the GOP,
Pit bull stylist, polymath performer,
Return us to glory! Please, make us free
From fascists, communists and conformers!
You possess the will; we have the cash.
To give to our patriot-for-a-price;
Save us from life under Obama’s lash!
Deliver us from the “learned” and “wise”!
Messiah mom, hear our supplication,
Masses, yearning for deregulation!

White House AIM conversations - Pelosi consoles Boehner on his loss

Thought Experiment: Warfare in a warm, energy-starved world

Continuing the theme of "ultra-heavy Sunday", I'm considering a grim possible future outcome of the energy crisis. This, I admit, is inspired by the Discovery Channel special on global energy consumption: Powering the Future. This is going to be a lazy, "for-fun" analysis - don't expect numbers or a lot of research.

Imagine a world where energy costs have become a high, and possibly primary, cost of input. Imagine further that the economic and environmental stresses have led to shooting wars over remaining energy resources in the Middle East, the Arctic Ocean, the East China Sea, and the Niger delta. The conflict has also made deployment of a number of large-scale solar power arrays (photovoltaic or concentrated solar) and wind farms prohibitive, as their geographic and technical requirements mean they are particularly vulnerable to attack.

Gender norms, advocacy, medicine, and the law - Cornell case study

When I first read that a friend had joined a group called "End Female Genital Mutation at Cornell", I braced myself for a report of an international student's child being subjected to mutilation according to their culture of origin. What I found was a different story that is currently taxing my vocabulary for appropriate descriptors.

I'm very bothered by this group and what it discusses on many levels. This is the kind of thing I would ordinarily ignore or otherwise not speak about - I really don't know how others, or even I, will respond to this.

But that's precisely why I am writing about it. It's a frontier I hadn't considered, with some pretty substantial stakes. And even though I am pretty damn far from an expert on gender/identity issues, I decided it was important for me to share this, and solicit opinions from my bright friends.

Working through some thoughts on faith and purpose

"Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones." - Phillips Brooks

I’ve been thinking about the words of Phillips Brooks for some time. It’s amazing how an Episcopalian minister from 19th century Massachusetts can still touch lost seekers.

There is nothing I have found from science that compares. Science can provide drama, mystery, and grandeur, but it, and its practitioners, neither acknowledge nor touch the soul.

I love my former colleagues, more than they will ever know. That is why it breaks my heart when I consider the cynicism, the hate, and the fundamental fear that stems from the denigration of faith in general, and Christianity in particular, that I witnessed. And that is why I found comfort on Sundays at church.

White House AIM conversations - Cabinet Meeting 1

White House AIM conversations - Axelrod tries to Rick Roll McCain

White House AIM conversations - Rahm and Mitch make a bet

White House AIM conversations - Boehner and Pelosi have philosophical differences

White House AIM conversations - Typo

White House AIM conversations - Hil says bye to Bill

White House AIM conversations - Obama and Biden talk about family

Text problems on blog appear fixed for now

Just noticed some problems with earlier posts. I believe it may have been a problem with displaying web pages on my computer that led to some sloppy cut-and-pasting earlier. It appears fixed now.

Advice on recruiting volunteers for community service projects

This is taken from my correspondence with a friend seeking to recruit volunteers to work with at-risk kids in the Greater Los Angeles area. From what I could tell, this project was early in the planning stages. Some of it may be helpful to me or someone else, despite the fact that I'm too lazy to tighten the structure and organize the points better. If there's interest, I may do so -- however, most of these things are self-evident after a bit of thought and reflection, and are probably treated better elsewhere.


I wrote up something on the lessons learned recruiting volunteers in college, linked here. However, it's only somewhat relevant to your cause, since (1) I assume you're trying to recruit people who are out of school, and (2) the type of events might be geared toward a more long-term, regular commitment than one-off events. Still perhaps helpful as a testimonial for things that worked and didn’t within an institutional setting.

Goodbye Facebook

UPDATE: I have been advised to NOT leave Facebook until I manage an alternative structure taht provides social connections. With some reservations, I've decided to cancel, or delay, my departure from here until further notice. Sorry if it seems like I was yanking your chain - I really was going to delete this profile Tuesday. - R

There are good reasons for leaving. For me, it has become a substitute for genuine friendship and social interaction. And it’s not good for me to use it as both livejournal and Truman Show. Life is much more than that, and my life needs to be more than that right now. I am deleting this profile (and the other vestigal one) in seven days.

The next -gate scandals

Apple-gate: Controversy surrounds Apple’s new iPad, which, in a move to support the troops, comes with a pre-installed racy background of Christina Applegate . She is depicted making out with the Mac guy on the top of a bunk bed, with the PC guy tearfully peeking from under the covers on the bottom bed. [1]

Gates’ gate-gate: Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is forced to resign for inappropriate use of Pentagon funds, specifically to finance a renovation of a house in the Hamptons, complete with a $5 million front gate modeled on the Arc de Triomphe.

Goldman-gate: Goldman Sachs is found to have deliberately sold bad assets to its clients, while taking short positions on the same assets.

The absurdity continued when it was made into a musical starring Golden Girls star Betty White, complete with a “Goldman-gate bridge” and including an acoustic modification on the classic fail sound effect from “The Price is Right”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzfuqbOEqnU&NR=1. It was later revealed that Goldman had shorted this musical as well. This led some to call the subsequent scandal Goldman-Golden-gate-bridge-gate. [2]

Some brief thoughts on climate change, prompted by the Economist

The following comments were in response to an Economist article, "Science behind closed doors", concerning climate change science. This is perhaps the first time I've publicly communicated my thoughts on the ongoing discussions of global warming and climate change. I would appreciate your input.

Vitriol surrounding climate change appears to conflate a few separate topics that have to be discussed in turn:

(1) The science of the greenhouse effect
(2) How much of it is caused by human activities (anthropogenic, in IPCC-speak)
(3) The effect of increased CO2 on temperatures, crop yields, disease, etc. on a regional basis
(4) Scientists’ roles as analysts/messengers/advocates
(5) How much governments, industry, and individuals should do to prevent it

The Atlantic: "Societal Forces and 'The Daily Show' "

An interesting article from the Atlantic on gender and the Daily Show. It brings up a point or three about women in comedy. But I still have a feeling that I'm pretty (but not completely) sure isn't grounded in sexism that tells me that Olivia Munn's delivery isn't meshing well with what I enjoy about The Daily Show.

In college, I once felt guilty for being annoyed by a Jewish guy in my department. But I eventually came to terms that I disliked him not because he was Jewish, but because he was annoying, insensitive, kind of arrogant, and not a really effective person to work with.

If we can't distinguish that race/gender is one (albeit very important) of many components of identity, then progressivism is doomed. I think it'll be a good day when people can hate on, say, Obama or Pelosi or Sarah Palin without it either being intended as racist/sexist, or being perceived as racist/sexist. But it'll be a long, long time before that happens. And I question whether that should even be the goal. So a question for all of you: how do YOU reconcile the need to acknowledge and correct for institutional and personal discrimination without losing your ability to make reasonable critiques of a person?

Ms. K is still teaching

For the last few months/years, I have had a low enough opinion of my life and abilities that I do not do much to make my life better – it is the life of someone waiting for death, yet too cowardly to actively seek it out.

It is with some surprise, then, that I find myself feeling somewhat hopeful today. I attribute this to talking with one of my mom’s close teacher friends, whom I'll call Ms. K. (The original article had her name, which my mom rightly criticized as inappropriate to publish in its entirety, without permission.)

Some advice for nurses in dealing with hospice care, hopefully (but probably not) more funny than bitter.

Couldn’t sleep, so I decided to write. Trying to be funny and angry is hard. But it feels good. I’ll leave it to the pros, and go back to being existentially mopey tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll be back to a normal depressive state for a therapist appointment by noon – I’d hate to make a good first impression. - ed.

Background

As you may know, my father has failing kidneys, caused by a long life filled with antipsychotic medication, which was preceded by the excesses that come with being a satellite engineer during the 1960s and 1970s. In short, he did a lot of coke, and even some PCP, in his day. Hell, he gave me two pages, double-column, of all the drugs he’s taken.