Of Fragile Egos and Unknown Writers

Andrew Pyper (courtesy of Now Magazine)

Hey, remember that anthology of crime fiction set in Toronto, called Toronto Noir? The one that includes my short story, "Midnight Shift"? I just found a couple of interesting references to it. Don Gillmor does a standard review for The Walrus here. And something called "The Rap Sheet" has a fairly scathing commentary about the book here --complete with the head-slapping caveat that the writer hasn't even read the book yet!

The reviewer refers to the book's authors list as a bunch of "mostly unknown writers (even by Canadian standards)." That seems to be his main objection to the anthology's very existence. (I've found the same article at a place called The Thrilling Detective Blog, by Kevin Burton Smith, so I assume he's the author of the piece.)

To be fair, his contention is accurate. No one outside of my family knows who the heck I am --and sometimes even they forget! Also, with the exception of Andrew Pyper, I'd never heard of any of the other contributors. Frankly, the average schmuck has probably never heard of Mr. Pyper, either. It surely doesn't mean he's not a good writer. Nor does it mean that the anthology is not a strong one. (I haven't read the entire thing, but I can attest with all modesty aside that my entry was the weakest of the lot --there are some really interesting stories in this volume, and I wish I'd done a better of job of meeting their standard.)

But then the reviewer goes on to list a litany of contenders he would have preferred --none of whom I've heard of, either. John McFetridge? Michael Blair? J.D. Carpenter? Mary Jane Maffini? Rosemary Aubert? John Swan? Marc Strange? Giles Blunt? Who are these people? I've never heard their names before.

My ignorance of these names probably says more about my unfamiliarity with the supposed who's who of the Canadian mystery writing scene than it does about any fame or achievement these men and women might have achieved. After all, I'm just a silly scientist who writes books on the side. The hierarchical world of writing is alien to me; it's a party to which I'm largely uninvited.

McFetridge, Blair, et al --indeed, maybe even Mr Burton Smith himself-- are probably excellent crime writers. I don't know. I've never read them. It doesn't mean I'm going to dismiss an anthology made by them simply because their names are unfamiliar to me.

It reminds me of another anthology I was part of many years ago: North Of Infinity, a collection of Canadian science fiction. (There's a blog about the evolving series here.) One reviewer complained that we were all a bunch of unknowns --which was true! But here's the rub: one of us, a fellow named Robert J. Sawyer, went on to become one of the most celebrated science fiction writers in the world, winning both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, SF's greatest honours. So you can never tell. All writers start out as unknowns.

The lesson is this: in terms of fiction writers in Canada, pretty much anyone who's not Margaret Atwood, Robert Sawyer or Rohinton Mistry is an unknown. To suggest that one list of unknowns is preferable to another list of unknowns because --wait for it-- they are less unknown to you and your friends is, I must say, more confusing than my poor monkey brain can handle.

It's yet one more reason I detest being a writer in Canada. The fragile egos are far too abundant here.

The Great Bracelet Battle

I saw this as a moment of humour on the intentional part of Obama. But it could have also been a moment of shared maudlin cloyingness. From someone at rabble.ca:

Obama-McCain: Round One

Some observations after the first McCain-Obama debate:

• What has happened to John McCain in the last 8 years? Back then, he was exciting and bold. Today he just seems tired and a bit too eager to be President.


• Obama really needs to stop stammering. I find it distracting.


• During the Democratic primaries, I didn't like Hillary Clinton's condescending tone. Ultimately her personality caused me to gravitate toward the less skilled and a tad vacuous (policy-wise) Obama. However, watching tonight's debate I couldn't help but think that if Hillary were the Democratic candidate, she would have hammered McCain into the ground.


• One of the reasons I'm biased toward the Obama camp is that I support his style of "debate". It's professorial, what one commenter called "intellectual generosity". In a professorial exchange, you acknowledge your opponents positives and seek middle ground. Obama said "John is right" several times in an attempt to bridge the gap. McCain, on the other hand, comes from the confrontational school of debate, wherein you never give any ground to your opponent. I don't know which is best, only that I find the former a tad more civilized.


• When both candidates were asked, "What is the lesson of Iraq?" I was screaming for Obama to answer, "The lesson of Iraq is that we did not learn the lesson of Vietnam."


• I'm so tired of politicians listing their passport visa stamps as foreign policy credentials. They all do it. In Canada, during one Parliamentary exchange, all the top leaders from all parties made it a point to slip in that they had been to Afghanistan. Tonight, McCain mentioned his trips abroad many, many times. Well, lots of people go to Paris, but how many can negotiate a trade deal with France? Politicians travel all the time; the trips are managed and protected. I really wonder what insights it actually offers them. I trust the well schooled book-reader to know a place better than any frivolous political tourist on a stage-managed visit.


• When McCain suggested that he would build a sort of league of democracies, I thought Obama should have answered, "Great idea! When I'm President I will make sure you get to head up that project!"


• To be fair, McCain appeared to be much better versed on the details of American foreign policy, while Obama floundered on those points, looking as if he had lost his cheat sheets. But I don't think the details are what this election is about. Rather, it's about vision and values. Obama nailed it when he said something to the effect that we will have less money next year, not enough to do everything he wants to do, so we will have to make choices and priorities, and they way we do that is by being clear on our values.


• I couldn't believe McCain brought up his POW experience at least twice that I counted. Give it a rest already! I also couldn't believe that he referred to himself as a maverick; just because you say it doesn't make it so. But I was relieved to see the CNN live polling reveal that viewers across all political stripes responded very poorly to both instances.


• There were two memorable moments for me. The first was when, as they were battling to squeeze in one more point, Obama smiled his charming smile and said, "that's enough; I think you want to ask us another question, Tim." At the same moment, McCain looked like he was going to burst a blood vessel.


• The second --and best-- memorable moment was when John McCain finished his cloying, manipulative story about the bracelet given to him by a military family, Obama gave that smile again and said, "John, I'm also wearing a bracelet...."


• Lastly, I want to comment on how annoying it is that the networks cut from the end of the debate to a place they usually call "Spin Alley", where each party's communications people lie through their teeth about their guy's performance. Why do we need to see this? Their comments are predictable and valueless.

Obviously, I scored this contest resoundingly for Obama. But I'm a partisan, so take that for what it's worth.


Now on to the joyful slaughter that will be Biden vs Palin!

Things That Make Me Feel Like A Real Man

I love this story: Eighth Grade Kid Fights For Right to Wear Make-Up. It comes with this priceless photo of the kid, classic specimen of the genus, "Emo".



The interwebs have responded predictably and hilariously:






In other news...

A real life rocket man plans to blast across the English Channel. This will not end well.

Caroline 452

Last month, I had an entire post about one of the composers of the music of my teenage years, the brilliant Thomas Dolby.

One of the peppier and very 80s-ish songs of Mr Dolby was a little forgotten single called "Radio Silence." Here's the official video, which was attached to that other great 80s product, the movie Weird Science:



One of the catchy bits about this shamelessly poppy song is the refrain, "Caroline 452", which most people assumed was a reference either to an old telephone exchange number or a robotic girlfriend. I just found out, however, that the reference --and indeed the entire song-- is about pirate radio, which makes this song more than just a snippet from my youth, but a touchstone to a specific moment in technological history.

As one fellow writes:

"Radio Caroline was my constant companion when I was studying in London. I found it by chance, not knowing in 1986 that 'Caroline 452' was a reference to pirate radio (yeah, I was completely oblivious.) Tuning in stations on my new radio (after going out to buy the right plug end for it - a really weird shopping experience for an American) I heard: 'This is Radio Caroline - *ding ding* - broadcasting from the North Sea at 558 Khz.' My jaw just about hit the floor. I immediately made the mental connection (looking up at Dolby on my wall.) Ah, I miss the fine folks on the Ross Revenge. (That was 86-87.)"

And as Colm Smyth tells us:

"Prowling through my music collection and listening to Thomas Dolby this evening, I am reminded that long before Morpheus' beamed a hacker signal into the matrix from the Nebuchadnezzar, long before URLs and certainly before podcasts, Radio Caroline broadcast their pirate signal from not one but two floating ships into the UK and the south of Ireland."

Sounds pretty renegade to me. I like it. As another commenter put it, "Radio Silence" reminds us of a time when command of the airwaves was limited to a privileged few, but a handful of daring rebels could break the information monopoly with a little help from technology and the cooperation of thousands of their listeners. In many ways, this attitude was a precursor to the pioneering libertarian spirit that created the Internet, and that still struggles to wrest control of the 'Net from the censoring hands of the Money Men.

Radio Caroline started broadcasting in 1964, and apparently has achieved legal status today. Apparently it has moved from broadcasting from a sinking offshore vessel to being part of the global empire of satellite broadcasting. Oh well. The hippies became yuppies, and now even Johnny Rotten shills for butter.

I leave you with a rarer (and better) version of Dolby's "Radio Silence". To complete the unabashed geekotry, this one comes with unofficial Dr Who imagery. Honestly, watch the whole thing. The random images get sort of mesmerizing in the last half:

Mine Are Sweet Like Honey, Too

Has anyone not seen David Letterman's Global Warming rant? No? Check it out here.

In other news, they can now "print" concrete shapes. This is a bit of a revolution in cheap construction. If the technology remains open source, we may see a bit of a decline in housing prices worldwide as the construction cost also declines. Reminds me of some clever concepts in science fiction, among them the mobile plastics factory in Kim Stanley Robinson's epic and brilliant Red Mars. The factory allowed the first colonists on Mars to build any device, structure or shape they could imagine. Seems we're almost there.

What else have I got for you today? Well, courtesy of Andoo, here's the best Star Trek-Brokeback Mountain parody I've yet seen:



Reminds me of this.



And just for completeness, check out this one:

Arrgh, I Detest This Woman

From Dan Savage:

"Sarah Palin is pleased that her daughter 'made the decision'—on her own—to keep the baby... But Sarah Palin doesn't believe that other girls should be able to make their own decisions. Sarah Palin believes that abortion should be illegal in almost every instance—including rape and incest. So Bristol Palin is being celebrated for making a choice that Sarah Palin would like to take away from all other American women. Apparently, today's GOP believes that choice is a special right reserved for the wayward daughters of Republican-elected officials."

That's all I'm gonna say about that.

And from Reverend Manny and the Twilight Empire:

"Oh America. You sad, stupid, spoiled bitch. You wasted . gilded heffer marching on the killing floor with a bible up your ass and a twinkle in you somniferent eye. You stupid stupid nation. Look how far afield psychoworld you’ve taken us.

How did we get here? How did we go from a 680 billion dollar surplus and the top moral standing in the world, to record-setting national debt and the ire/suspicion of the rest of the globe? How did we get from a tough, but semi-permeable hierarchy into a deadset Barbell economy? What happened to the middle class? You fat, stupid, spoiled bitch. What in the fuck did you do...?"

Unsurprisingly, former Reagan advisor Dinesh D'Souza has another take.

Been waiting for someone to photoshop Sarah Palin's head onto Michael Palin's body, or vice versa. No takers yet. This is the closest we have:

My Throbbing Hadron

Today's Sarah Palin mockery video: Hockey Moms Against Sarah Palin.



And if you haven't caught the excellent Hillary/Palin sketch on SNL, you can see it on Antonia Zerbisias's blog.

Big news this week was the start-up of the Large Hadron Collider by CERN in Switzerland. For those not in the know, CERN is the European Organization for Nuclear Research, and are responsible for pretty much inventing the World Wide Web.

Back when I was an undergrad physics student at the University of Toronto, my good buddy Good Ol' Nojjy Boy (now a Canadian diplomat) once roared in laughter after cracking open one of our new physics textbooks.

"What?" I asked.

"Look!" he cried. "There's a particle called a HARD-ON!"

Clearly, Nojjy Boy was suffering from lack of sleep. The particle he had discovered was in fact a hadron, which is a collection of quarks bound together into known forms, like photons or neutrons. And this past week, CERN finally started up the LHC, after 25 years of construction. This is a hallmark moment in the history of science, comparable in some ways to the detonation of the first atomic implosive.

Prior to that experiment 6 decades ago, there was some concern that the test itself would ignite the Earth's atmosphere and bring all life on this planet to a gruesome death. Similarly, some people were concerned that the LHC would create quantum black holes that would consume the Earth.

Well, the LHC's first true experiments are still weeks away, so I suppose quantum collapsars could still be created there. Fans of Larry Niven's stories will be familiar with quantum black holes. In one story, "The Hole Man", a quantum collapsar is discovered in an ancient Martian laboratory; when released, it begins consuming both Mars and, soon, the Earth. It would devour both worlds in about a thousand years, at which point it might be visible to the naked eye --assuming any naked eyes were still around to see it.

In the David Brin novel, Earth, aliens fire a quantum black hole into the Earth (which was the actual source of the famous Tunguska explosion), and it's not discovered till centuries later. Another of Niven's stories, "The Borderland of Sol", also plows this topic.

Well, the world is supposed to come to an end in 3-4 years anyway, so why not this way?

Still not sure what the LHC is supposed to do? Check out this educational rap by CERN employee Kate McAlpine:



I plucked that one from one of Andoo's links, specifically The 6 Quirkiest Memes of 2008. On that list, as well, was a follow-up to a video I'd posted here months ago, the test of the quadrupedal robot Big Dog:



Someone tried their own Big Dog test:



That's all I got today. By the way, my AIDS talk last night at 1848 went well. Thanks to all those who came out!

1848: The Year We Make Contact

Continuing with the world media's "All Palin, All The Time" policy, Brother Bhash sends us the Evil Beet's special Palin page.

Lastly, a bit of self-pluggery. I'll be speaking tomorrow (Monday) night at the bar called "1848" on the campus of the University of Ottawa, on the topic of "the Global Burden of HIV/AIDS". Come one, come all. Festivities begin at 6:30pm. The importance of the venue is that one can have alcohol, which always makes listening to me all the more palatable.

Never Forget.... 1973

On the 7th anniversary of the terror attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, the predictable ones are predictably commenting with such tropes and memes as "Never Forget" and "Never Again", etc.

Yes, it was an awful thing that 2000 people died on that day. And I hope everyone who was responsible is brought to justice, and I hope the like never happens again.

But I also hope that the event ceases to become a reason for further pointless murder in such places as Iraq and Afghanistan. It behooves me to say it, but someone needs to: well beyond 2000 have now been murdered ostensibly in the name of vengeance for those killed in 2001. And I say "ostensibly" because thinking people realize that the real reason for those wars has very little --if anything-- to do with 9/11 or terrorism.

And as far as the "Never Forget" bit goes.... Well, how many remember another September 11, back in 1973? I think Americans should never forget that date, either, though most have. Chileans certainly haven't. On September 12, 2003, I wrote:

Yesterday every media outlet in the world had something to say about the anniversary of September 11.... 2001. Since they've got it well covered, I'd like to turn your attention to September 11, 1973. On that date, 30 years ago, US-backed terrorists overthrew the peaceful and democratically elected government of Chile.

Ohhhh, some of you are saying, Ray is bashing the US government again. But listen: there's a connection between what the Nixon administration (which included Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld!) did back then, and what happened to innocent people on 9/11 of 2001. By overthrowing a popular democratic government in favour of a brutal murdering dictator (General Pinochet), the world learned to see the USA as a regime whose rhetoric of freedom and opportunity only applies to its own interests, while pain and repression are its goals for the rest of us. That's the vision digested by Al Qaeda; and given the events of 1973, it's difficult to argue with that interpretation.

The Pinochet "government" went on to murder thousands.

"I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go Communist due to the irresponsibility of its own people," Kissinger said of Chile at the time. No wonder people like Osama bin Laden feel no remorse about punishing similarly "irresponsible" people.

"It is not a part of our country's history that we are proud of," Colin Powell said of the Chile affair. Yet why are Cheney and Rumsfeld rewarded with wealth and power, instead of being prosecuted like the criminals they are?

And on Dec 12, 2006, I wrote:

No one talks about it much anymore, but let's not forget that [BushCo] are torturing murderers who belong in the same category as Pinochet. One day --hopefully not too long in the future-- W's funeral will cause the same introspection among Americans as Pinochet's has among Chileans, and for much the same reasons: the apologists for his crimes will weep, while we who protested will be saddened that the world was too cowardly and morally bankrupt to ever try him and his cronies for their crimes.

In other, more banal, news, have you noticed the new "RD" icon flashing in the web address box on your browser? That's courtesy of my new hired gun flash/java/etc consultant, Adam B, young progeny of Nasty Nicky B.

Raptor Jesus

The interwebs are a funny place, no? Strange memes emerge, gather global fame amongst an almost invisble subculture of millions, then disappear back into the ooze from whence they came. Some linger, some fester. Others go mainstream. I love bumping into global memes that I'd never heard of before.

Case in point: Raptor Jesus. As it says in the Urban Dictionary: "Nowhere in the bible does it say that jesus isn't a raptor."

The Raptor Jesus phenomenon is, as the Encyclopaedia Dramatica explains it, the trend of photoshopping a velociraptor's head onto the body of Jesus. Why? Why not? This site even shows us how to worship Raptor Jesus. And some people really have too much time on their hands (well, moderately more than me, in any case) as is demonstrated in this history of Raptor Jesus.

What to make of all this? I dunno. I'd make a joke about Dodo Vishnu, but we Hindus already have Ganesh:

Batshit Crazy Alaska Governor

It seems every blogger's favourite topic these days is Sarah Palin. Why not? I for one am relieved that John McCain picked her as his running mate. I was afraid the Republicans were going to do something sensible for a change and deprive us all of good comedic material. Stand-ups feasted for eight years on Bush II. It's nice to see that the Republicans haven't given up on being batshit crazy Bible thumpers.

But beyond the easy (and valid) criticisms of the McCain/Palin ticket as being retrograde, theocratic, bigoted, anti-woman and so forth, is the very rational bipartisan criticism --voiced best by Andrew Sullivan-- that McCain's choice of a VP he barely knew shows what a poor decision maker he is:

"McCain picked someone he had only met once before. I repeat: he picked someone he had only met once before. His vetting chief sat Palin down for a face-to-face interview the Wednesday before last. It's very hard to overstate how nutty and irresponsible this is."

The whole article is worth reading. One of the comments posted afterwards is also quite pithy: "McCain embodies a great deal of the country: too lazy (or afraid) to delve into people and policies and analyze them. It will be George Bush all over again." (Daniel F. Vojir, San Francisco, USA.)

It really is a remarkable circus, the election south of us. And McCain's mind-boggling choice is like a brainless, cartoonish twist in a professional wrestling storyline, the choice of a tagteam partner made solely for immediate shock value, but who probably can't do the flying headbutt off the top rope.

Think about it: Americans are given over a year to meet, vet, dissect and analyze their candidates for Presidency. This is as it should be. Yet John McCain chooses his President in one week, after meeting her only once, days earlier. I say "his President" because that's what his choice of VP really is. It's like writing in his will, "in the event of my death, I choose as successor to the Oval Office.... this batshit loony, completely inexperienced woman no one knows anything about."

Oy vey.

I particularly enjoy the shortsightedness of the RNC's speechwriters, who gave Palin the line, "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities," or something like that. They always look for the zinger without thinking about the target it places on them. But I enjoy more this response:



And while we're being fair, let's have some face time for Obama:

Goodbye, Charley Reese

Deonandia has long been fond of quoting one eloquent old curmudgeon named Charley Reese. The man is sort of a Libertarian, sort of a paleo-conservative, but most of all a fellow who's lived long enough and grouched about so much that he no longer allows labels to define his viewpoints. I haven't agreed with everything he's written, but much of it. Over the years, I've shared many of his nuggets with readers of this space. Now, Mr Reese is retiring. His final column is here, and some of his archives are here.

Here is a sample of some of the quotes I have lifted from his articles. Reese is (was?) important because he was one of the few self-proclaimed "conservative" American pundits who had not drunk the kool-aid, a man who voted for Bush then slapped himself on the forehead afterwards, a pro-gun Southerner who nonetheless understands the duplicity of the American empire and the needlessness of its foreign pugilistic ambitions. Thomas Payne would have been proud of Mr. Reese. (#23 is my favourite, but I think #18 will prove to be the most poignant in the long term.)

[1] "...the U.S. has fought only one justified war in this and the past century. That was World War II. Putting aside the fact that the U.S. government provoked Japan into attacking, attack it did, and the U.S. had a right to respond. We were not attacked, however, in Korea, Vietnam, Libya, Lebanon, Panama, Grenada, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan or Iraq."

[2] "The government should not regulate people's private lives at all. It should protect them from force, fraud, usury, foreign attacks and the rape of our share of the planet. Other than those, if some people wish to self-destruct, it's nobody else's business, least of all the government's."

[3] "Terrorists should be considered criminals, and their acts as ordinary crimes. Physically dealing with terrorists is properly ordinary police work. There is no war involved."

[4] "Oh, yes, collective punishment against innocent civilians is a war crime, and it is an Israeli specialty."

[5] "The fact is, the Bush administration has created a gulag, as Amnesty International recently charged. Certainly it is not on the scale of Stalin's, but a series of prisons in Cuba, Iraq, Afghanistan and in other, hidden places where people are held indefinitely without charges and without access to even humanitarian organizations can be fairly called gulags."

[6] "What we are witnessing is the beginning of the end of Euro-American domination of the planet. When the emperors start being idiots, the empire is on the way to the ash heap of history. If you have any grandchildren, you might suggest that they study Chinese."

[7] "The so-called war against terrorism is unwinnable... The analogy of war is a false one. The proper analogy is simply dealing with individual criminals and a few criminal gangs."

[8] "...The only prevailing morality in the country is greed. Greed has corrupted politics, law, science, medicine, education and even the church."

[9] "We are, I believe, living in the twilight of Euro-American domination. We are like a former world champion gone to seed from luxurious living."

[10] "The Iranians are just as sensible and levelheaded as anyone else. Don't buy the propaganda that they are all a bunch of crazies. They've been around a lot longer than we have. I would trust them with nuclear weapons as much as --perhaps even a hair more than-- I trust Bush. Americans must stop allowing politicians and propagandists to scare them into reckless behavior."

[11] "When they finally hang Saddam Hussein, we'll probably miss him."

[12] "Those who opposed this [Iraq] war have been proven right, and those who advocated it have been proven wrong."

[13] "[The USA is] the only country in the world that has military forces permanently stationed all over the Earth. All imperialism, even the American form, is ultimately based on social Darwinism, a belief not openly stated these days that we are a superior people and therefore must inevitably rule in one way or another the inferior others.... The code word we use for superiority these days is 'democracy.' It is democracy that is superior to all other forms of government, and therefore we are doing people a favor to spread it."

[14] "If you cannot condemn the flagrant abuses of Palestinians by the Israeli government, then you are undoubtedly a bigot, the worst kind of racist pig who believes that Palestinians are some kind of subspecies of the human race. If you do condemn in your heart these terrible abuses, but are afraid to speak out about them, then you are a damned coward."

[15] "All we have to do is cut the apron strings from Israel and pull our troops out of the Middle East, where they have no business being anyway, and Middle East terrorism directed toward us would evaporate overnight. We have no natural conflict with the Arab world or it with us, and most assuredly Islam is not our enemy."

[16] "Times are a-changing, and the world is not about to let America impose its will on everyone else without resistance."

[17] "The probability is high that [the Iraqi people] will drive us out and Overthrow whatever puppet government we leave behind. The question is how many billions of dollars and how many American lives we want to spend teaching George Bush a lesson he should have learned at the library."

[18] "There is a definitely a whiff of anti-intellectualism - so characteristic of fascist states - in the air. Beware of bully boys who worship the military and scoff at museums and libraries. Beware of people whose limited brains see everyone as either an ally or an enemy. Beware of people who can't tell the difference between patriotism and military conquest. Beware of people so stupid and ignorant that they accept anything and everything the political and the media demagogues tell them."

[19] "I'm afraid electing Bush president was like handing a loaded gun to a 6-year-old."

[20] "If we allow our government to pursue perpetual war, then we will lose our freedom altogether. It might be true that the first casualty of war is truth, but the second is individual freedom - especially the freedom to dissent from the war government's policies. That's why we must elect people who will eliminate terrorism the only way it can be eliminated - by correcting the injustices that cause it."

[21] "Our American service people take an oath to defend the United States, not to serve as legionnaires on the outposts of a global corporate empire."

[22] "...in every democracy in the world, including ours: the slow slide toward authoritarianism. Democracy has always had a short life span."

[23] "Most Americans grossly underestimate how very dangerous stupid people can be."

[24] "God, has no one in the Bush family ever read the Constitution?"

[25] "A good start [to reducing global poverty and population] would be to stop selling armaments to governments. Armaments are a negative investment. They don't create wealth. If they are used, they destroy it. A million dollars sitting in a tank is a million dollars unavailable for food, medicine and education. A lot of poverty is a direct result of military expenditures and wars for power and loot."

[26] "What is the difference between Adolf Hitler's invasion of Poland and Bush's invasion of Iraq? There is no difference. Both were unprovoked attacks in violation of international law. Both were blatant attempts to achieve political objectives by force – in Hitler's case, the annexation of Poland; in Bush's case, regime change. Morally, there is not a thread's difference between the bombing of Warsaw and the bombing of Baghdad."

[27] "The Bush policy in regard to Iraq has been a fraud from the beginning, and it remains a fraud with the appointment of an old CIA leech as prime minister to oversee the rape of Iraq by the favored corporate pirates. The Iraqi people know the score. The question is, Do the American people?"

[28] "The Palestinian-Israeli conflict? Started by Great Britain and France at the end of World War I. The Kurdish conflict? Ditto. In fact, the modern Middle East was created by a Frenchman and an Englishman without the slightest reference to the wishes of the native people or any natural borders... And while we still struggle to undo mischief begun in the past century, our leaders are creating mischief that might well occupy our posterity. Here again, what they are doing appears plain stupid on its face."

[29] "[Bush is] the only president in my lifetime who has liked to boast about how little he reads. He needn't boast. It's quite evident. I don't say he is dumb, but he is without a doubt the most willfully ignorant man who has occupied the White House in recent years."

[30] "I have often said that history is a lot scarier than Stephen King's horror stories. I get scared every time I hear Bush talk — or try to talk."

[31] "Two American political myths are about to collide with reality. One myth is that economies can continue to grow indefinitely. The other is that we can find a substitute for petroleum."

[32] "The human race consists mostly of idiots, with a scattering of wise people. The problem with political systems is that most make it difficult to put the wise few in the positions of power. Thus, for the most part, in every generation the world is ruled by idiots, some of whom have criminal minds."

[33] "And for God's sake, folks, why would anyone believe that if we are willing to shoot, bomb, burn and dismember Iraqis and destroy their country, we would hesitate to employ torture? The United States is without a doubt the most self-deluded nation on Earth, and that nest of liars who occupy Washington work full time to maintain the delusions."

[34] "This entire glorification of war - as if the whole and only purpose of the government and the country were to fight wars - smells of fascism. The news media glorify the war and militarism; we get the same dose on television, in the movies and in video games. If the American people aren't careful, they will wake up one day to find out they've become a nation of mindless heel-clickers."

[35] "The Arab world sees us - correctly - as an accessory before and after the fact to all the crimes Israel commits against the Palestinians and other Arabs in the area. We cannot load Israel down with modern weapons, with gifts of more than $90 billion of American tax dollars, with absolute protection from all attempts to hold it accountable under international law, and then pretend we are innocent. We are guilty by proxy of murder, land theft, destruction of property and all the other human misery that Israel has caused in the region."

The Flesh Beckons, Part II: London and Australia

Apparently, in London, England, there's so much of a glut of prostitutes that prices for paid sex are dropping dramatically. Um... road trip, anyone? (Kidding, kidding, I'm a kidder.... mostly.)

Meanwhile, in Australia, land of fair-eyed beauties with swimmer bodies, there's a man shortage. Um... road trip, any--- oh, never mind.

And now, some images of Sarah Palin:

From The Star blogs
Here's her appearance at the Republican convention:



Speaking of the convention, this fellow gives us a (slightly biased) fact checking of Palin's reality-challenged speech. And what about John McCain's speech? One discussion group summed it up well with this image:


And lastly, from The Other Ray, 20 things you didn't know about telescopes.

The Flesh Beckons

From CartoonStock.com

Today's weight: 149 pounds... and dropping. This is down from around 190 at New Year's, back when I was substantially more muscular, but a tad bloated. I like the lightness, but I'm not enjoying the weakness. Yesterday's sad adventure on the field with the undergrads reinforced that sentiment.

Part of the problem is that my back pain issues are preventing me from doing my usual workout. So I'm designing a new program to ameliorate the situation. In addition to my regular lifting routine, I'm including a daily lower body regimen consisting of slow hamstring curls and static squats, based mostly on my kung fu training from decades past. The idea back then was to remain in a difficult stance for an hour or so to train both your mind and the small, balancing muscles around your lower joints. Today was Day One of the new program, and my back feels much better already. I've also instructed my massage therapist to focus more on my iliopsoas and hip flexors, again to accelerate the return to full mobility.

All of this will be very painful (and a tad expensive) in the short term, but I think it's worth a good shot at a medicine-free solution to a chronic condition. The solution to most of life's problems, kids, is always discipline.

And that brings us back to diet. I've shared with y'all my adventures in para-vegetarianism (which includes eggs and fish --'cause fish are moving vegetables, after all-- but not milk, 'cause I'm not a fan). I'm into month #3 of that journey and I'm desperately feeling the need for protein. I'm convinced that my reduced protein intake is in large part responsible for my drop in weight, which I believe is a loss mostly of muscle mass.

Yes, other things have improved as well. My cholesterol is lower, and overall metabolic functions are better than they've been in years. But I miss the muscle, and I'm concerned that I may not be able to regain it if I rely strictly on vegetable and fish protein. Keep in mind that unfermented soy products (i.e., all fake meats, soy milk, most veggie burgers, TVP, etc) are mostly off limits due to their estrogenic effect.

I take solace in the existence of muscular vegetarians, like Christian Bale and the Klitschko brothers. But these dudes must be sucking back tons of cheese, vats of whey powder and a mountain of beans daily. The vegetable combinations necessary to make up a complete protein (akin to that found in animal flesh) are not too much work, but they're not as easy as grilling up a steak. Luckily, a lot of Indian food comes already pre-balanced, after centuries of culinary evolution, to provide such completion. You will note, I hope, that a lot of Western vegetarians fail in their dietary quest because they do not pay enough attention to appropriate protein balancing standards. An amino acid deficiency will kick your ass in a serious way.

My problem is not in acquiring a full protein from vegetable sources, but in acquiring enough protein mass from those sources. Yes, the fish and eggs have helped. But a serving of oily salmon provides about 22 grams of complete protein. The same mass of chicken breast, boiled or grilled, provides more than twice that amount. Vegetable sources, per mass, offer a fraction of that amount. Despite my weight loss, I'm still a fairly muscular man, and I'm in dire need of more protein!

In short, I'm giving very serious thought to re-introducing bird flesh into my diet, specifically chicken and turkey breast. Do keep in mind that my migration to pesco-vegetarianism these past months was not solely a moral choice, but a health one, as well, and one borne of a theory that the human body is best atuned to the hunter-gatherer diet of our distant ancestors, one made up mostly of legumes and fruits, spiced monthly with high protein animal flesh. The point at which this experiment must be modified is when my health becomes affected, which I believe it has been.

So don't be surprised if in a future post I wax poetically about the joys of a chicken breast sandwich.


In Other News...
Taken from Distinguished Canadian Leadership Awards
I met Allan Rock yesterday. He's the new President of the University of Ottawa, and is making the rounds meeting everyone. Rock is, as I hope you know, a former federal Minister of Health, Minister of Industry and former ambassador to the United Nations. I've always been somewhat of a restrained fan of his, and welcome his ascension to the University's highest office. Yes, I am sucking up to the new boss.... mostly because Mr. Rock agreed to give a guest lecture to my class this year, and I intend to see that he keeps that commitment!

Young Dr Klar sends us this great site: The World is My Canvas, about GPS art. It's best enjoyed with the sound on.

Jon Voight is Officially a Wingnut

Today was orientation day for incoming first year students at the University of Ottawa. As a professor in Health Sciences, I was encouraged to participate --along with a handful of other professors-- in a "student olympics" competition between the incoming frosh from our faculty, Health Sciences (HSS), and those of the Human Kinetics (HK) faculty. For those not in the know, Human Kinetics is essentially physical education, so it's populated by very fit, body conscious individuals.

Well, we professors arrived first. Slowly, a enormous team of glistening young HK students arrived, each with muscles atop muscles... and I'm talking about the women here! Even before their competition had arrived, they were into their warm-ups. Then, thank Zod, our team arrived, a few score of young HSS students... each about a third the size of the HK kids.

It's tough being an aging man. See, when we men look in the mirror, we unerringly see 25 year old muscular perfection, even if we're 41 and pot-bellied. We have a rough time of it when the truth of our past-the-prime existence is rudely shoved in our faces. And so it was for this aging 41 year old, who has often prided himself on his fitness and healthfulness. Ultimate frisbee, soccer, relay races --whatever the event, the HK kids kicked our silly butts. And I sit here now, at home, a couple of hours later, icing my lower back and eyeing the Ibuprofen on the shelf with something resembling sexual passion.

What was really humbling was watching the skill and grace of all the young people on the field, even our moderately less-than-HK-perfection HSS students. Glistening muscles, clear skin, unending energy, limitless power and tireless abundance of motivation are truly the hallmarks of the young. I had to keep reminding myself that these were people in their early 20s and late teens. In fact, some of them were as young as 17!

Getting old sucks.

But my true lasting observation was this. All the kids, each and every one of them, was a champion soccer player. Ten years ago, it would have been impossible to pluck 60 17-20 year olds from a Canadian university and expect them to have any skills at all in the game. But with the advent of soccer momhood, the game of the masses has found traction in the Canadian suburb. So these days they all arrive with mad deking abilities and headbutts worthy of a Welsh brawler. In three generations, typical teenagers will arrive in universities with expert mhuay thai or mixed martial arts skills, possibly 'roided out to the gills.


In Other (But Sort of Related) News....

The Other Ray sends us this discussion of a high-meat diet that seems to work for one dude. Now, I'm into month #3 of my pesco-vegetarian existence. I have minimal meat cravings. But I have to admit, I'm having a hard time maintaining my protein intake. My body fat percentage has gone up and my muscle mass has definitely declined. I have noticeably less power and endurance, which was evident on today's sports field. I can't increase my soy intake without risking an estrogenic effect. Therefore, I'm considering admitting bird flesh into my diet. I'll keep y'all updated.

'Cause I feel like a little objectification today, I give you Chickipedia.

D-Mack sends us this top 8 most annoying blog commentator types. I would add as my #1, The Insecure Intellectual-Wannabe, who tries to impress us all with his big words and confrontatoinal style, but only manages to reveal his shallow understanding of all things.


Lastly today, EK Hornbeck sends us this shocking article by actor Jon Voight, which reveals some pretty amazing reactive right wing viewpoints. I think we all understand now why his daughter, Angelina Jolie, won't speak to him. I have four comments about this article:

1. Isn't it interesting that the American right wing is quick to dismiss the political opinions of Hollywood types as pampered and uninformed... until they happen to be conveniently right wing opinions?
2. It's pretty obvious that very few people in America, or at least in media, know what the word "socialism" really means.
3. There are many valid reasons for criticizing the platform of Barack Obama. Guilt by association with the likes of Reverend Wright (whom I happen to think is a fine fellow) and faulty information about Iran's atomic program (gleaned, no doubt, from Faux News) are not among them.
4. Isn't it interesting that in a 624 word article, Voight manages to mention God three times?

John McCain's True Thoughts About Sarah Palin

Ain't Youtube wonderful?

Sarah Palin and Twelve Lanes in Atlanta!

Well, I'm back from the drive from Florida. I don't recommend it. It took about 34 hours, and my brother did most of the driving (about 24 hours worth), but it certainly took a toll on me. I slept for 15 hours yesterday and today and beaten down by both a nasty head cold and a bad back. I don't want to see a steering wheel for a loooong time.

There were some interesting observations along the way, however. We went past Coleman federal penitentiary, where Conrad Black is serving his time. We were in Florida just as Hurrican Gustav was going by. Thus, we were hit with several very intense rain storms, out of the blue. The road kill complement was decidedly weird, with highlights being a dead o'possum and a relatively intact --but dead-- crocodile! The latter was a good 5 feet long, tail not included. The driver who hit it must have been scared out of its wits. Traffic approaching Toledo on the I75 drew to a standstill when a stray dog decided to cross 4 lanes to the other side-- sucessfully. As we passed it, we say in the rear that the idiot dog was trying to cross again to the other side. Don't know if it made it.

Two really interesting sights will remain with me for a while. The first was the enormous way in which the I75 expands to 12 lanes just outside Atlanta. Yes, TWELVE lanes. You could land a couple of jumbo jets on that spread. The Atlanta traffic is pretty intense, as is the wacky way in which they've chosen to present their highway signage. The second memorable sight was the glistening reflective lanes that are incandescent at night, about 3 hours north of Atlanta on the I75. It really is mesmerizing, especially if you're the only car for miles in either direction. It's as if aliens are trying to communicate with you via road reflections.

Staying awake for many hours is one thing. Staying awake for more than 24 hours while driving is quite another. Not the safest thing, I know, but we switched off when it was appropriate. It's intriguing, though, to note how the brain plays tricks on itself when sleep deprived. Everything starts to remind you of sleep. The point at which you must stop, though, is when your brain starts to tell you that the car is in fact a bed, and that you are actually tucked under sheets and well into slumber.

I don't think I want to do that again for a lonnnng time.

In Other News...

As you all know, John McCain has chosen Sarah Palin (who?) as his running mate. Well, for obvious reasons I don't like her. To name a few: she is pro-Arctic drilling, anti-Climate Change control, pro-Creationism, anti-Choice and, most critically to me, pro-Iraq war. There are a few things about her that are admirable, however, among them her ability to "walk the talk". Specifically, regarding her stance opposed to abortion, she at least had the moral courage to keep and raise her Down's Syndrome child. Her teenage daughter's pregnancy is no one's business, so I won't discuss it here, even though it is currently front page news.

Her predictable, nonsensical small-c conservative views on Climate Change are profoundly disappointing:

What is your take on global warming and how is it affecting our country?

"A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I’m not one though who would attribute it to being man-made."

It is incorrect to suggest that Alaska will be affected more than any other state. Every place on the face of the Earth will be affected quite profoundly, though impacts on human culture will vary. Hers is a misperception born of the media's mistaken characterization of "Climate Change" as "global warming", and the lay person's characterization of Alaska as a place that thrives in coldness.

But whatever. She strikes me as someone with dangerously anti-scientific views. For me, the kicker is her desire for Creationism to be taught in secular public schools. There's a nice discussion of her views on this issue here. Sarah Palin has some attractive traits that make her --in the eyes of some Americans who are intolerant of any change-- somewhat of a reformer. But to me she is just another old-fashioned, Bible-thumping theocrat, dressed up in modern clothes, and seemingly unaware of the religious roots of many of her beliefs.

As for whether it was a canny choice for McCain, I say no. It seems she was chosen to court those disaffected Hillary supporters who have not been swayed by Obama. But does anyone really think Hillary Democrats would support an anti-Choice Creationist, just because she's a woman? There's also something superficially desperate about choosing her, that it speaks more to her electability than to her potential contributions to government. If Obama won, then croaked, I think most people would be confident in a President Biden. If McCain won, then croaked (more likely, given his age), how many folks would be happy with a President Palin?

Overall, I think she's a silly choice. And a final note about Creationism: