January 2012
14 posts
3 tags
Commuter Guide
I’ve lived in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Atlanta without using a car, and for much of that time without owning one. I didn’t get from one extreme to the other in ten easy steps. It took a long time and a strong willingness to challenge my own convictions.
The consequences of giving up one’s car are numerous and, depending on your perspective, many of these may be...
2 tags
Invention: Consumer Price Point Classifier
I invented a Consumer Classifier™ to help bin and charge customers according to their need that I plan on selling to the corporate world. Serious Patents are pending, although some time before I can cash in as I’ve been informed there a serious backlog in the sub-department of metaphysical bullshit in the patent office. Long story short, a raft of genetics patents are ahead of me in the...
1 tag
4 tags
WatchRecycling Bin
Offering to help a couple of guys put together a masthead for their site, they want to be a sort of flagship for the Occupy Movement. I think they might want to go in a different direction visually, mine are too overtly nautical/obvious, so maybe I’ll reuse this later.
Having a hard time keying into exactly what they want. Kind of fun to work on though and the occupy movement is...
1 tag
Bamboo Cutting in a Direction
I am leaving for rural Thailand in a few weeks. I am planning on trying to live there for an indefinite term, or at least trying to do so. Some of my friends suggested that I should write about what I am doing there to keep them abreast of things. That’s an interesting idea and I first considered and started a travel blog with private permissions, allowing only personal friends access. I...
Pissing Contests
Some talking head said that she would have dropped trou and pissed on the dead bodies too. This is causing all kinds of pearl clutching on the left now. See the comments thread at Huffington Post, for instance.
I could understand, but not condone, this behavior in the home team. But occupiers should never act like this.
I have no idea if this is satire or real. I am leaning toward a genuine...
Eulogy for the Narrative of Progress
The narrative of progress of ever increasing growth or humanity and society’s conditions of improvement strapped to the arrow of time is, according to some, failing. I’ve written about the subject without giving a name to the narrative, the way I put it is to say the unthinkable will become thinkable as the system and institutions fail to offer interpretations that seem credible.
One...
Chomsky-opathy
I am reading a bit here. It has dirges such as,
While many Americans are focused on their ability to feel comfortable, or lack of, NATO continues the American war against brown women and children. And as always the death of brown children is “unfortunate” though acceptable and necessary to the continuance of the rape of the Middle East…
Narrating carnage, or raising awareness, in the...
“in the NBC report that Rob links to … Brian Williams assures the audience...”
– Here.
The rhetorical narrative of our war in Iraq has offered a number of bizarre rationales for our actions. None of which have put a burr under my saddle quite like the one that says we are liberating people, maintaining stability, and that the Iraqis should be grateful for our sacrifices on...
“More technologically advanced societies often, though not invariably, move away...”
– Very interesting Arch Druid Report today. The more I think on it, the more comments spring to mind. Some of them might be interesting, but I don’t want to spam them there.
Another interesting point, Roman history also conformed to this narrative as it was recorded. It was, by definition, a...
Collapse Into Now
One real drag about people discussing the collapse, such as any number of threads in all sites that discuss politics, peak oil, environmental issues, is the doom and gloom framing of the discussion. A lot of people approach the reality of our situation with tight lipped stoicism verging on fatalism or a sort of manic anxiety. The 2012 year is going to be all of this amplified to the nth degree...
Legal Reform
I’ve been informed that there is no small amount of hysteria at the appending megapocalypse decending upon the end of this calendar year. Tis the season for wishful thinking, so here is mine.
Our legal system should cut both ways. If a defendant in a criminal trial is found not guilty, or exonerated, then the agents of the state who have personally aggrieved him or her are charged with...
“The overall message seems to have been that it doesn’t matter what any of...”
– Given how droning, rambling, repetitive, luridly detailed, acidly dry Chomsky’s prose is, that is the most sympathetic, empathetic and warm hearted insult I’ve heard. Everyone pipe down, let the traumatized Chomsky talk, it seems to help him some. He’s spent over half a decade...
“Is it better for the world to love us or fear us?”
– Neither because you will then be neither resented nor hated.
This is from a Mark Ames investigative piece on a paid commenter. The amount of money and resources that the military and corporations put into false fronts on the intellectual front as part of public relations is no joke.
The CIA takes...
December 2011
4 posts
Defining Art Part II
Autonomy is decision making of self, Creativity is autonomy absent self, Creativity artifacts as Art.
Art is a game, Games are entertainment, Entertainment congeals as culture. Culture is a mirrored reflection of our collective selves. We reflect, reflect on or reflect upon culture.
Reflecting culture is the game of defining ones’ self within a culture. Reflecting on culture is the chore of...
Cherry Business and Nappy Hewers
In the spirit of brotherly whatevers and peace on turf, I offer my zen koan.
A black guy grabs an axe and steps out on his porch and yells, “I am sick and tired of all you racist motherfuckers! Imma chop your heads off!” He walks down the street and hacks through the front door. He finds a white man inside watching the redneck comedy tour. The black guy says, “If you say...
Apocalypse Mom resumed
The next chapter of Apocalypse Mom is tentatively posted (assuming the author is happy and doesn’t pull the post.) This chapter was originally supposed to be in color, but I quickly found that I suck at coloring on the computer using a mouse.
Today, I am heading back to my brothers for a week or two to finish the chess set. Once we finish that, and finalize how we want its online...
“It is extremely difficult for me to reconstruct the events that occurred during...”
– - Jon Corzine
When I read stuff like this bit about MF Global, I sense the angry insociance of Michael Corleone before Congress. Its been surreal to watch this thing unfold.
Circa 2000, with Enron and the scandals of that time, we got a glimpse at the degree to which corporations were blindly...
November 2011
8 posts
Sally the Cat
I have been documenting the making of the chess pieces for the game because the concept is a DIY chess set with alternative rules that anyone can build, and I would have a how to instructional essay as assembly instructions as part of the game’s packaging some, all downloadable for free. Here is one with Sally the cat diung his compositional best to lend a hand.
Here are a few others I...
Rotten Apples through Rose Colored Glasses
I would say that of the people I know, I am the most openly critical and derisive of our national project, and the least trusting of our system of government and its implementors. I differ from others who generally agree with me in that I don’t think it follows from that premise that one should try to restore or resist this system through combat, I believe that withdrawing from it is an...
Ramming Down
You may find yourself living in a shotgun shack And you may find yourself in another part of the world And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile You may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife You may ask yourself, “Well, how did I get here?”
- Once in a Lifetime
The most salient feature of our system is that it is a system, no single...
Hammarabi's Codes
I recently had a discussion with some folks about the nature of law. My take is that law is the codification of the rules, conceits, and guidelines of a single perspective. The law is a way of rendering a social system legible from an administrative lens. The law is a decoupling of the ruler from his rules, a way of making the warlord’s laws enforceable without the warlord’s presence...
Connect the Dots
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Homeowners concerned for the safety of their well water, and environmentalists, who believe the drilling even caused the Oklahoma earthquake, have formed movements against the practice, and it was these efforts that came up for discussion at last week’s oil industry conference in Houston
Filled with industry insiders all facing the same challenges and concerns, speakers lectured openly...
“But what’s the alternative? Would I, by giving up central heating, car, roof...”
– Lisa Simeone, from here.
Every single person in the industrialized world, in America, anywhere else in the world, from the most craven Wall Streeter, to the most corrupt politician, to the white collar suburbanite, all the way down to the truckdriver, could pose this question and fill in their own...
How will the could end?
it’s an interesting question, or a couple of them mashed-up as a reasonable question … historical determinism doesn’t deny individuality or individual agency; it doesn’t even deny free will, although it perhaps snickers at most popular notions of free will as mere minor artifacts of a very particular culture. Each ticking second of your life is not written in advance,...
“I know people love people at moments you know, and very genuinely - I...”
– - Pauline Boty
That’s certainly been true in my experience. Sometimes you love someone intensely, and the feeling leaves suddenly and without explanation. And sometimes you love someone in spite of yourself or what you consider your best interests, and the only thing to do is to wait until it...
October 2011
19 posts
“I was reminded of the goats at the Special Forces Medical Lab. When I was...”
– For context, see this post at a blog I sometimes read.
The first comment,
“I guess seeing goats as sub-human doesn’t seem like a major violation of categories to me.
-Seth”
If we are entering an age of empathy, I think sentiments like this in response to the above are going...
Great Men and Ineluctable Outcomes
In any vocation or discipline that requires a lot of time and training to become proficient, one encounters a simple mathematic feature of the competitive space. For every expert, master or champion, there are dozens of others who were just as good, had just as much determination, drive, willingness to work, but who came undone by circumstances. Injuries, illness, untimely death, unforseen...
“If you don’t come to the attention of law enforcement you don’t have...”
–
“The FBI by mid-January will activate a nationwide facial recognition service in select states that will allow local police to identify unknown subjects in photos, bureau officials told Nextgov”
More here.
I have been warning various people I know personally over the last few...
Under Deconstruction
Will we go back to an imaginary past in which we are hopelessly confused and mislead by a welter of different defence mechanisms hiding painful truths from ourselves? Or will we go forward into a future we knowingly shape together for the mutual benefit of all? Those are the two visions before us, which the weeks and months ahead should make increasingly clear to one and all. -Paul Rosenburg.
...
Space Race
“Zerp croad! MASHEV SPEL LERDOR! SPEL LERDOR! GSPEALE SPEL LERDOR!”
The transmission reached Zed and Trad at the same time. They scanned for its origin point of transmission when a tiny spark of light flit across their shimmering mercury skins.
Woah. Did you see that?
Yeah.
Looks like one of those metal hives exploded. That’s not good.
Yep, let’s go check out the wreckage.
Hey! Do you see...
Caterpillar Winter
A bit of folk wisdom from my Mom has it that you can judge the harshness of winter by looking at the length of the black band on the back end of a caterpillar. The more black, the harsher the winter. She has seen some caterpillars with hardly any black at all this fall, indicating a mild winter.
I went for a walk and saw them all over the place. I spent a bit of time looking at them and...
Dancing with the Stars and Stripes
Dancing with the Stars and Stripes: The search for America’s Next Top Boogeyman!
With Qaddafi down and the so gratifying I needed a cigarette afterward cover by the NY Post, the time is right to pitch my next Big Idea to the internet. A reality show where America can choose its next boogeyman from a cast of wily contestants, each with their own special talent. This is democracy in...
“As is well known, the United States of America locks up more of its people —...”
– Chris Floyd: Unguarded Guardians.
In a recent essay I pointed out some context facts about the United States. We are the largest prison state in the world in terms of numbers and percentages. We are at war with more countries than any other country in the world. We are occupying or have military...
The Day After Tomorrow
When I went back to college in 1991 to finish my degree, one of the things on my notably eccentric agenda was getting a good general grasp of the history of Western philosophy before the industrial revolution. The philosophy department at the University of Washington in those days offered a set of three survey courses, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern Philosophy, the first two of which seemed to...
Race
Over at this blog I read, the comments threads are sometimes hijacked by a eugenics peddling racist. I’ve seen the same form of his argument peddled elswhere, namely that IQ is a heritable trait. This, I find a baffling belief to hold because IQ is not a trait, its a determinate score of intelligence as measured within a specific cultural context. If that cultural context is more or less...
Blowback from Below
“Gentlemen, he said, I don’t need your organization, I’ve shined your shoes, I’ve moved your mountains and marked your cards. But Eden is burning. Either brace yourself for elimination, Or else your hearts must have the courage for the changing of the guards” -Bob Dylan
Wildfire outside of Austin, TX during drought of 2011
In spite of my admiration for the...
Missing the forest for the trees
The focus on anonymity, decentralization, and attack on structures of internal authority are the point of the protest. By their nature, they are rejecting the objective reality of large, unified systems built on status and leadership hiearchies that form the basis of modern governments and transnational corporations.
I think for those who assume that rigid hierarchies of social and...
4 tags
Deaths in the Family; Grist for the Mill
For a time in my 20s, I became fascinated with understanding the seeming connectedness of our media, government, and the rich.
In totalitarian countries, the relationship of government control of media is straight forward. It manifests in spectacle like Baghdad Bob insisting that the American troops were nowhere in the city when the viewer could see troops moving in frame behind him. These...
September 2011
5 posts
Seth Rogan
Just saw an ad for Rogan’s new movie. Its what people are calling a bromantic comedy. Bromance is shorthand for the mainstreaming of emotionally and intellectually intimate but physically platonic relationships among men. Rogan is one of Hollywood’s must have bromantic leading men, similar to how at one time Tom Hanks was the romantic comedy leading man to have after How Harry Met...
Magic Man
The Arch Druid Report by John Michael Greer is about to discuss magic. I think its going to be interesting and not at all what people will expect.
I’ve had this idea I have been kicking around for a fictional serial, beginning with the Adventureland stuff, but with more effort at fully fleshing out. But its been taking shape as time has gone on, so I haven’t spent a whole lot of time...
Code of the Road
I was about 10 miles east of Amarillo when the universe swallowed me whole. I looked south, out the passenger side window, past Anne, out over the horizon beyond the detritus of the highway. My eyes focused a few inches above the line, when I was struck with a feeling akin to vertigo. Time dilated, the next few seconds stretched into eternity and the feeling and landscape remained vividly etched...
The Movies
I am a little spooked from a recent experience at the movie house, from movie posters, to previews, to the main feature (Cowboys and Aliens), I felt like I was in a antechamber of America’s collective insanity. The total experience was a mind-bending tour through the worst neuroses of disaffected white American male psyche on red alert.
I noticed one poster for an upcoming horror movie set on the...
Culture
If we begin to define our personal success as a function of our individual piece of culture rather than as productive members of society, I believe we stand a chance in the coming age of material contraction and simplicity, and the subsequent collapse of industrialized materialist culture in either its capitalist or communist forms, of emerging with a functioning society rather than localized...