The Ugliness Begins

The Texas Republican Party has found itself red-faced for allowing a vendor to sell this button at its state party convention last weekend.

According to the Dallas Morning News, the vendor has apologised and the Texas GOP has denounced him, pledging to donate the $1,500 it received in rent for his stall to a charity. Pretty lame, really.

This not-to-subtle reminder of reality might give us sneak peak at what's to come as the campaign unfolds over the next several months. While many of us like to think that we've moved beyond race, the unfortunate truth remains that even as America contemplates electing a black president, racial tensions have not entirely abated and an often-suppressed undercurrent of racism persists in many parts of the country.

Until Republican party leaders take racism seriously (fat chance - remember the Republicans are the party of fear), there will be no shortage of those willing to exploit racial prejudice for political gain.

Just Slightly Ahead of Its Time

Speaking of technology of the future: Maxwell Smart and his innovative and multi-use 1960's mobile.

When the real thing came along about twenty years later, it wasn't any smaller and it didn't have the added benefit of also serving as a shoe!

It took a while to get where we are today.

Move Over Al Gore

It appears that Al Gore didn't invent the internet after all.

The New York Times reports that Belgian Paul Otlet first outlined the concept of the internet and the world wide web in 1934. The article says that:

In 1934, Otlet sketched out plans for a global network of computers (or “electric telescopes,” as he called them) that would allow people to search and browse through millions of interlinked documents, images, audio and video files. He described how people would use the devices to send messages to one another, share files and even congregate in online social networks. . .

. . .Otlet (pronounced ot-LAY) described a networked world where “anyone in his armchair would be able to contemplate the whole of creation.”

Although Otlet’s proto-Web relied on a patchwork of analog technologies like index cards and telegraph machines, it nonetheless anticipated the hyperlinked structure of today’s Web.

The concept grew out of a project he started in 1895 to catalogue all of the world’s published knowledge and he eventually accumulated more that 12 million entries. His “mechanical, collective brain” was his solution to the obvious limitations of his paper-based system.

It makes we wonder how many other seemingly impossible ideas (both good and bad) in today's world may become commonplace in the not-too-distant future.

The Real Cone of Silence

The BBC reports that scientists have created a design for a sound cloaking device. According to the article:

Scientists have shown off the blueprint for an "acoustic cloak", which could make objects impervious to sound waves.

The technology, outlined in the New Journal of Physics, could be used to build sound-proof homes, advanced concert halls or stealth warships.

Of course it's all theoretical, but the Spanish scientists who developed the blueprint say they would like to make and test the cloaking material in a lab as the next step.

Who knew that Mel Brooks and Buck Henry were so far ahead of their time?

Bush in the UK

George Bush visited the UK on Sunday and and received a warm and friendly welcome all around!

Knickers, Please

The Chairman of Ascot Racecourse has issued strong guidance about the strict dress code for the Royal Ascot race meet this year, including a tightening of the code for the Royal Enclosure after receiving complaints that standards are slipping.

Royal Ascot is a famous thoroughbred race meeting attended by the Royal Family and many consider it one of the most important social events on the calendar. Of course, most just go to guzzle obscene quantities of booze and make sometimes-questionable sartorial statements.

To clarify things for guests, race organizers helpfully included a leaflet outlining the dress code with event tickets and have published a guide on their website featuring photos of "suitable" and "unsuitable" attire, designated by green checkmarks or red x's.

The Telegraph reports:

In a humorous "A to Z of Do's and Don'ts, women are also advised to keep their underwear under wraps during the five-day meeting starting on Tuesday.

"Knickers," it says. "A definite yes, but not on show please ladies."

The same guide warns that streaky tan lines are "a total fashion faux pas", and that how a hat looks "from the neck up is the most important and can make or break an outfit".

Men are also expected to adhere to the code, which means they must wear either black or grey morning dress, including "a waistcoat, with a top hat, which must be worn at all times in the Royal Enclosure".

I guess this woman didn't get the message! What would the Queen say?

UPDATE for American readers: In British English, knickers = women's underwear, as in "That bird's got no knickers on!"

So Long Dracula

Now that Chelsea has sacked Avram Grant, I will miss not having the opportunity to make fun of his resemblance to Dracula. Phil Scolari, the new manager, looks like Gene Hackman, but that's not really very funny.

Although he does also bear a striking resemblance to Papa Dolmio, and that's a little bit funny!

Subverting Freedom

I suspected the already right wing Wall Street Journal would take a lurch to the ultra-right after becoming part of Rupert Murdoch's empire, but an editorial in Friday's paper surprised even me in its level of absurd logic.

The item bemoaned the fact that those accused of crimes in America actually have rights and praised the governments of the UK and Germany for increasing the state's powers of detention without charge and their ability to spy on their citizens.

Only a day before the Supreme Court handed down yesterday's Boumediene decision – which gives alien detainees access to American courts and American rights that they had sought to destroy – the British parliament voted to extend the time terrorist suspects can be held without charge to 42 days from 28. In the U.S., it's 48 hours.

The article fails to mention that the UK act barely passed and has proved terribly controversial, especially to British citizens increasingly concerned about the steady, creeping erosion of their freedoms. The government faced strong opposition from within its own party, and the fact that the act passed by only nine votes has been a big embarrassment for Gordon Brown's already tottering government.

The WSJ seems to think that the the US government should simply brush aside the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in the cause of "National Security," and criticises the Supreme Court for audacious act of upholding the constitutional right of habeas corpus. Of course, this is the position that the current administration has taken from day one. Fortunately, our constitutional rights were designed specifically to prevent the government from encroaching on these rights, for whatever reasons, and we should all be deeply suspicious of attempts to subvert them.

What surprises me the most, although I guess it should not, is the farcical logic they employ to make their point: They say we should deprive suspected terrorists of the rights they allegedly seek to destroy by actually destroying those rights. I cannot think of anything more un-American.

It reminds me of the old joke, "The operation was a great success. Too bad the patient died."

It IS a Terrorist Fist Jab

Maybe it really is a terrorist fist-jab after all.

And what about this? It must be a "terrorist chest bump."

Terrorist Fist-Jab

Fox News has really pulled out all the stops to slur Barack Obama, abandoning any remaining pretence about being "fair and balanced."

As reported in the Guardian and elsewhere, Fox News showed an on-screen graphic referring to the Senator's wife as "Obama's Baby Mama," which I have now learned is a slang term for black single mothers. Earlier, a Fox News anchor referred to the Obama's fist bump as a "terrorist fist-jab."

Obviously, fist-bumping is a terribly subversive act, as clearly described in Time's A Brief History of the Fist Bump. I wonder if Fox has seen all of these other terrorists - the Yankees, Joe Lieberman and the Wondertwins? Better watch out!

In a perverse way, this incident, which typifies what passes for reporting at Fox, is actually a good thing in the long run. Their lame attempts to pander to a bigoted and xenophobic audience will set them on a path towards self-destruction as that demographic continues to shrink into irrelevancy.

Fortunately, Americans have finally begun to wake up and will increasingly push back against Fox's and others' particular brand of idiotic hate-mongering that passes for news. Finally, some light appears between the dark clouds that have covered the country for the past eight years!

Of course, Murdoch's a shrewd businessman. Once he senses the winds changing, you'll see the tone at Fox shift.

Regional American English

I know that I'm getting carried away with these web surveys, but I couldn't resist this one. Based on whether you say things like cellar or basement, soda or pop, sneaker or tennis shoe, and how you pronounce words like route and aunt, this survey will tell you your regional linquistic profile.

My result indicates that the 20 years I spent living in the northeast have eroded all but 15% of my Upper Midwestern English and replaced it with 40% Yankee. The 35% General American English was probably always there.

Your Linguistic Profile:

40% Yankee 35% General American English 15% Upper Midwestern 5% Dixie 0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

I must admit, the 5% Dixie baffles me. I do have a great friend who comes from Mississippi - perhaps it's rubbed off on me!

Act Your Age

Recently, I have been sucking up time taking various internet personality quizes. I especially like this one that tells me what age I act. Although it may surprise some, this survey says I act like I'm 21. How mature!

I'm fairly satisfied with this result. I was afraid it would come back with age 12!

You Act Like You Are 21 Years Old

You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel like an adult, and you're optimistic about life. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. You're still figuring out your place in the world and how you want your life to shape up. The world is full of possibilities, and you can't wait to explore many of them.

What Age Do You Act?

UPDATE: Another survey told me that I belong in 1985. I guess that's consistent, since that's when I was 25 years old - pretty close to the age I supposedly still act.

http://www.blogthings.com/whatyeardoyoubelonginquiz/

Patient, Heal Thyself

I've been told that my penchant to self-diagnose and treat my own ailments instead of visiting the doctor is probably not the smartest thing to do. Perhaps that is true, but this article in Salon.com says:

Arrogant doctors criticize their patients who go online to research ailments. But they're wrong. The best health sites are a boon to patients and doctors alike.

Now, admittedly the article does not necessarily vindicate my practices. It focuses on the point that the web offers a wealth of medical information (both good and bad), and a better informed patient can participate better with her doctor in the treatment process. It says that the medical profession needs to get clued into this to this.

. . .along with a prescription for a medication or lab test, they can give patients a prescription for information that informs, empowers and helps patients be smarter and healthier.

It seems like the medical profession needs to become more like Sy Syms and his eponymous New York (now national) clothing store, who has trumpeted for 40 years that "An educated consumer is our best customer."

As for me, I will most likely continue to self-diagnose, especially as the tools available to me will no doubt progressively improve. Of course, I will also continue to visit the professionals when necessary. I just want to make sure that we're on a level playing field - I don't want them knowing more than me!

Hulu

I just found out about a new website called Hulu.com. NBC Universal and News Corp formed this site as a joint venture to make streaming video of TV shows, movies and clips available to the public online, legally and for free. The site is not limited to NBC or Fox content, but includes material from other networks and studios as well.

With my great love of bad TV, this sounds great, right? Not exactly.

It turns out, they haven't yet sorted out the licensing issues outside of the United States. So for the time being at least, you cannot view the videos if you access the site from outside the US. The site tells me they are working on it, and I've registered so that they can let me know when it becomes available to the rest of the world.

Until then, I guess my free time won't get sucked up watching bad online video, and I will still have time to write this blog.

Running Mates?

Will he or won't he. If he does, will she or won't she. For those who like political intrigue, it doesn't get too much better than this.

For what it's worth, as much as I love Hillary, I think Obama should chose someone else as his running mate. Hillary brings along too much baggage (including Bill?) and would undoubtedly upstage the candidate. If he's not careful, Barry could find himself playing second fiddle on his own ticket.

Hopefully they worked out a deal at their sit-down last week that will satisfy Hillary enough to give her all to the Obama campaign without getting the VP slot. He will ask, she will politely decline, and then get a plum job in the new administration.

Perhaps Secretary of State?

No More Peanuts and Cracker Jack

After reading this article in the New York Times describing one man's experience of eating his way through America's major league ballparks, I am pleased to know that a few of my long-time friends and I are not the only people who appreciate and rank the relative merits (or demerits) of baseball stadium food.

However, I am terribly disappointed that the writer slammed the food at Chicago's Comiskey Park (I know it's not called Comiskey Park anymore, but it always will be to me), as we had always rated this one of the best, if not the best eating ballparks in America.

I guess the culinary expertise vanished with the old stadium's demolition, as baseball cuisine evolved from bratwurst and beer to sushi and spritzers.

My favourite part of Comiskey was the picnic area in left field, where one could eat sausages and fries while looking through the ground-level, wire-mesh covered windows onto the field, often close enough to have a conversation with the left fielder.

New York also disappointed, with lousy reviews for the hot dogs in both stadia. I always thought the dirty-water dogs at Yankee Stadium were better than average (it's the dirty water), but even though I never liked the Mets, I did like their hot dogs. To quote a Sports Illustrated writer in the 80's (playing off the Mets' slogan at the time, "the Magic is back!"), "the magic is back, and it's in the hot dogs."

But the best line in the article by far is this:

In the cramped confines of Wrigley Field’s concourses, I watched a large man, his head thrown back, guzzling spicy curly fries from a cup like they were a beverage.

I think I probably know this guy. . .