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.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
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]
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 “
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
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
Thursday, July 8, 2010
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?
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.)
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.)
Saturday, July 3, 2010
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)