neisthai

Cant Have

2005-03-19T16:32:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder what is the psychological phenomenon which drives humans to desire they very thing which is out of reach, while within their scope are assets no less valuable? The grass IS greener possibly because we're not there to walk all over it.
Further rants, reveries and rummage at Cant Have .
An Okular perspective at a Photoblog .

Chinatown

2005-02-11T17:39:00.000-08:00

"God" is in Google

2005-02-10T11:47:00.000-08:00

We all have become accustomed to the instant search results of Google, forgetting the small wonder behind its works, the fact that the search engine surveys billions of web pages in split seconds with satisfactory results. Its Page Rank algorithm which is responsible for predictably successful hits also serves as a model example for a functioning democracy...The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine a paper written by Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page, the founders of Google, states:

PageRank capitalizes on the uniquely democratic characteristic of the web by using its vast link structure as an organizational tool. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. Google assesses a page's importance by the votes it receives. But Google looks at more than sheer volume of votes, or links; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves "important" weigh more heavily and help to make other pages "important."(exerpt from Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki) Most recently it has been discovered that Googles pages can serve as an immense database from which a software could potentially derive semantics. Up until recently any attempts to deduce meaning were hindered by the necessary overhead of creating vast textual libraries from which word associations could be deduced. Paul Vitanyi and Rudi Cilibrasi of the National Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, realised that a Google search can be used to measure how closely two words relate to each other.

For instance, imagine a computer needs to understand what a hat is.To do this, it needs to build a word tree - a database of how words relate to each other. It might start with any two words to see how they relate to each other. For example, if it googles "hat" and "head" together it gets nearly 9 million hits, compared to, say, fewer than half a million hits for "hat" and "banana". Automatic meaning Extraction, is an elaborate system of word comparisons which establishes the Normalized Google distance which has been proven to "distinguish between colours, numbers, different religions and Dutch painters based on the number of hits they return". Could it be that the indexed pages of Google contain all the primordial elements necessary for the inevitable emergence of Artificial Intelligence?

(Thanks Art, for the tip.)

Jade

2005-02-07T16:29:00.000-08:00

The Better Deal Swill

2005-02-05T13:15:00.000-08:00

I can't get over a nagging suspicion that the Social Security reform proposed by G.W. Bush is more than just an attempt to restructure the American Society and it's economics in line with the radical neo-conservative ideology. I think it is a necessity meant to minimize liability for running the country into bankruptcy... The last 4 years of Bush presidency have propelled the country deep into a budgetary deficit, the upcoming 4 next, will only exacerbate the ailing financial affliction. An article in the National Review, Is the Money Where W’s Mouth Is? chronologically delineates Bush's inability to resist squandering our tax money:

We should not forget that over the past four years, Congress and the president have cooperated to produce a 30-percent increase in spending, including a 36-percent increase in non-defense spending. Not only has America been subjected to an unnecessary loss of life and resources in an unjustified war in iraq, but the government under G.W. Bush's lead swelled it's discretionary spending as if the country wasn't at war, as if the growing deficit would never have to be repayed.

Although we should not obsess over the deficit per se, we should read it for what it is: a glaring sign that this administration is doing a very poor job with our money.(Links via andrewsullivan.)
And now, G.W. proposes revamping the Social Security System. And no, it is not to lay his hands on the Social Security Trust Fund, because it is empty, but to eliminate the responsibility of ever having to repay it. It is an autocratic debt pardon to himself and the republican party. Isn't a cost of roughly $750 billion, according to an administration official to put the program into place, worth ever having to worry about coming up with 5.7 trillion to sustain the retirees between 2018 and 2041 when the Trust Fund money would kick in, if it was ever available? However, if Peter R. Orszag is right in his estimates: the program would cost the government over $1 trillion in the first 10 years the accounts were in place would be over $1 trillion and more than $3.5 trillion in the second 10 years, the administration only transfers the fiscal problem from empty into hollow, creating a veneer of remedying an ailment it is largely responsible for in the first place.

A Night Out

2005-01-31T01:56:00.000-08:00

VGCats

2005-01-29T15:38:00.000-08:00

VG Cats - 138 - Challenging.

For those of us who don't play games here is a peak into the Gamers' world, through comics. The cultural markers and speech are very authentic. The graphics and execution are lovely too, or should I simply say: cool!

Thanks, Arthur.

Profession: Blogger

2005-01-28T01:11:00.000-08:00

Web logs gave voice to people, ordinary people. Youth experiencing first pangs of romantic love, dealing with generational conflicts with their parents and teachers, asserting and shaping their personalities and life paths; Family men with day jobs and house-wives burdened by mortgages striving for a sliver of self expression and fulfillment beyond their life of responsibility and obligations; Professionals of all ages desiring to break away from creatively stifling work environments, wanting to share and broadcast their knowledge, hoping for recognition. The early days of personal web logs, I realize, are over... It hasn't been that long since the early days of Pitas or Blogger. Web logs have gone pro. They have become a business model which can generate income or a communication model which facilitates feedback between companies and clients. But more importantly they became to many, myself included, a favorite format to take in information. Quick descriptive summaries one can skim through, links to sources and further reading, comments where anyone can veto and correct that which has been posted. Most prolific blogs update a couple of times daily and entries are often written by a no. of contributors which assures variety and constant fresh content. Not surprisingly, when I recently treated myself to a Pentax *ist DS, I wished for a digital photography blog. Not a mailing list, not an expert magazine, not a book, but a blog run by knowledgeable people who enjoy sharing their experience. And so I disovered digitalphotography.weblogsinc, then photoshop.weblogsinc and the rest of the weblogsinc suites. The site provides the infrastructure while inviting professionals to deliver content.
They say:

Partnering is better than owning. Our goal is to partner with individual bloggers, letting them do what they do best (writing, creating community, researching) and support them with what we do best (upgrading the software that drives their Web site, generating revenue, running the business). We split the profits 50/50 with each of our bloggers taking out only hard costs (i.e., sales commissions, credit card fees). Presently Weblogs Inc is wanting to enhance their blog topic pool with experts in the fields of media, technology, business and life science. If it wasn't for the fact that I am not affiliated with the aforementioned areas of knowledge - I'd consider.

Cake for everyone

2005-01-22T23:35:00.000-08:00

An article on Alternet takes a deeper look into GW Bush's idea of the Ownership Society (via Disinfo)

The article pinpoints correctly that this rhetoric is addressed to the core of an "economic man" within each and everyone of us. "— it's a visceral appeal to our naked self-interest."... On the surface there's nothing wrong with the desire to own a home, work towards increasing one's own wealth and being responsible for one's own healthcare and retirement, if anything this kind of initiative and will to bear personal responsibility is admirable. However, further expanding the capitalist operational framework from the offices of Corporations into the backyards of families and into neighborhoods and making trade, financial exchange and competition the pervading mentality of our society is an excess. This Darwinian model of economics, encourages primitive patterns of self interest served first, that of next of kin second and that of vast society at large a distant sequent. Under the banner of the seemingly noble idea of self reliance, GW Bush wants to abolish Social Security and thus narrow to a a pinhead, the circle of collective responsibility. More so, he preys on the metacognicion deficiencies of the 51% of the population who voted for him. The overly confident investor syndrome is a common occurrence at the financial markets. It is understandable why the one single percent of the richest would not have any problem lining up behind GW Bush's social and economical reform - they already live it, able to retire early and choose healthcare providers at whim. But why is it that the middle class, of which America is largely constituted would think that they can at all benefit from Bush's malformed, elitist vision (stemming undoubtedly from his own privileged background and a narrow view of economic reality of the nation's masses)? As the Alternet article points out the majority of Americans are too indebted, or too poor to save and invest. Yet everyone wants to believe they can. Not incidentally according to a psychological study, People tend to hold overly favorable views of their abilities in many social and intellectual domains. It is also the lowest quarter of the underachievers who tend to be the most misguided about their potential and overall performance. The current administration may be malevolent and nepotistic, but we do not lack a large population of gullible, self interested masses who support it.

Romantic Poetry

2005-01-20T23:07:00.000-08:00

- Jorge Luis Borges (1934)

Cynical and inured, yet this poem moves me. It is Love deconstructed, as I understand it.

Not consensus or compromise

2005-01-20T22:14:00.000-08:00

I picked up again, a book I bought, started reading and put away. It is "The Wisdom of Crowds" by a New Yorker columnist James Surowiecki. It initially caught my attention because I believe the very ideas it tries to dispel. Surowiecki brings those up right away in the very first chapter, the Introduction. He quotes philosophers and historians who uphold the notion that crowds are incapable of wise judgment. Henry David Thoreau, an American author and philosopher is quoted: " The mass never comes up to the standard of its best member, but on the contrary degrades itself to a level with the lowest."Friedriech Nietzshe is quoted: "Madness is the exception in individual but the rule in groups". But my favorite quote is by Thomas Carlyle an English author and historian of the 18th century: "I do not believe in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance". And he is right, mathematically it doesn't add up...So as James Surowiecki makes his case for the wisdom of crowds, putting forth example after example of point on, smart, collective judgments, I will place the Thomas Carlyle quote on my bookmark at the head of every page, to remind myself to read and assimilate critically. This practice is even more so necessary, because James Surowiecki is very convincing. His book is very well structured and balanced, studded with examples from a broad range of disciplines such as sociological studies, investment markets, political polls, gambling and historical anecdotes. It is easy to be swept away into a sort of religious awe at the "miracle" of average "bondedly rational" (term by Herbert Simon) folk arriving at an accurate prediction. The truth is, and James Surowiecki makes it an important point of his hypothesis, there are a few criteria which a crowd needs to meet in order to become wise. They are: "diversity, independence and particular kind of decentralization."
It makes one wonder, the democratic election process encompasses the entire population of a country. Taking the United States as an example, the voting group is definitely diverse and decentralized, but is it independent? I suspect it isn't independent of thought, due to the mass media messages and broadcasts which are sponsored by corporations with specific political agendas. The fact that GW Bush is being inaugurated tonight as President for a second term, ranks as one of the lower scores for the wisdom of crowds. However, Mr. Surowiecki emphasizes that group decisions pertaining to "matters of general interest will, Over Time, be intellectually superior to the isolated individual." So, there is hope for the Democratic process as it is sure, Over Time, to correct its course. I'll end with a quote from the book, which I firmly believe is true and can be extrapolated to encompass many areas of human interaction:

"Diversity and independence are important because the best collective decisions are the product of disagreement and contest, not consensus or compromise."
Regardless of a problem at hand, the best way, the only way, is to fight it out.

2020

2005-01-18T23:27:00.000-08:00

How will the World look in the year 2020? Will it be a Davos World where the rising economies of Asia turn the Globalization barrel against it's very own masterminds of the West? Will the poor economic prospects in the Middle East within a rapidly changing world seduce the large youth populations of the Arab countries into an embrace of religious organizations offering safety and a sense of community which transcends all borders and propagate a "New Caliphate" rule? Will the United States get a grip on it's foreign policy and aspirations of world domination and become a cooperative cohabitant of the planet alongside other nations in an all inclusive Pax Americana? Or are we on a downhill spin to a reality where fear begets fear and attempts at non proliferation lead to outlandish security measures and effectively an Orwellian order? Better than a crystal ball, The National Intelligence Council provides a report outlining The 2020 Global Landscape, via Disinfo. Mapping the Global Future is the 3rd of Global Trends publications projecting onto the years 2010 and 2015 beforehand. This report differs from the previous ones, in the scope of foreign opinion sought to shape the predictions and to provide a mirror to the US image around the world.

Mass Quality

2005-01-15T20:53:00.000-08:00

A few years back a friend of mine was receiving dating advice from his close friend who was sharing his secrets of successful dating strategies. Sharing the office, I listened in on the conversation. To this day, I remember not the exact words, but the spirit of what was said. My friend was interested in a relationship, not a lay, and so the advice was to attend one of the Border's single's nights which were organized at that time on friday nights. The spoken assumption was that bookstores are where "quality" women are found. Quality women, quality content, and quantity over quality have been occupying my thoughts ever since I stopped at Acorn bookstore on Polk street in San Francisco earlier today...The store specializes in used and rare books. I admittedly have an old publication fetish, and so immediately I reached for a small volume, about palm size, compact, nicely leather bound. There were five of those single tomes, the earliest I leafed through was published in 1829. To my delight they turned out to be a 19th century version of yesteryear's Women's magazine. Ladies' Magazine which was edited by Sarah Josepha Hale, published by her husband, was later purchased by Louis A. Godey a publisher and editor, and became known as the Godey's Lady's Book. Mrs. Hale remained the editor of the new form of the magazine and aimed to educate women while steering away from religion, politics and social issues.

"Gradually the periodical matured into an important literary magazine and contained extensive book reviews and works by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and many other celebrated 19th century authors who regularly furnished the magazine with essays, poetry and short stories. The Lady`s Book was also a vast reservoir of handsome illustrations, which included hand-colored fashion plates, mezzotints, engravings, woodcuts, and ultimately chromolithographs. (...) In addition to extensive fashion descriptions and plates, the early issues included biographical sketches, articles about mineralogy, handcrafts, female costume, the dance, equestrienne procedures, health & hygiene, recipes & remedies, etc. Each issue also contained two pages of sheet music, written essentially for the piano forte."It was a thrill to see poetry, literature and historical informative articles along side more practical advice on laundry recipes and needle point patterns. Mrs. Hale stated: "The greatest triumph of this progression is redeeming woman from her inferior position and placing her side by side with man, a help-mate for him in all his pursuits." Sadly yet, understandably within the historical perspective, she was trying to accomplish the goal through reinforcing Home as a women's sphere opposite and complementary the men's domain of work outside of the home. Despite it's dated bias, I wish this was the format of current day Women's magazines. Instead, news stands today, carry large, flashy, glossy magazines with headlines such as: "Guys tell what's sexy in bed - Love Your Hair - Free Stuff, lucky breaks - Sex and Amnesia - Shine and Sparkle"... Need I say more... Mass literacy brought on the demise of quality content. More women can read than ever before. If only we cared to be informed and not merely entertained, educated and not merely pretty, smart and not merely "hot in bed", there'd be Masses of Quality Women for men to live up to.

A Maverick Communist

2005-01-09T23:59:00.000-08:00

Who doesn't like to receive free "stuff"? Free consultations, free samples, free tickets...Sadly I am thinking of free strolls in the woods with No signs of mad dogs unleashed upon private property trespassing, and picking of free berries, as I did as a kid in the public properties of Socialist Poland. Soon, thanks to American Capitalism extreme, a free ride on a public freeway will be a distant nostalgic memory as well. The Lexus Lanes or the toll lanes for the affluent, are gaining massive support. Instead of focusing on global solutions to highway congestion problems which would benefit everyone, users are simply happy to pay their individualist way to "get ahead" in traffic. The oxymoron of toll Free-ways aside, this post is about Hospitality Club...of which I am a member since September 2004. I stumbled upon the club while reading Kuro5hin. In todays news, the Hospitality Club states:

We are 36032 members in 167 countries all over the world! Welcome our first members in Ethiopia and on Burundi! The premise, you guessed it, is generosity of spirit and old fashioned hospitality. Sure, I could rent my spare guest room for 30$ a night and stuff my closet with designer shoes or Louis Vuitton collection of travel accessories, handbags and wallets, to announce to the world: I can afford it - I matter. Instead I had my first hosting experience in December. Two young women from Germany on their Around the World Trip, or what I like to refer to as: A Personal Discovery or Life Experience Excursion, stayed with me. Initial week turned into 3 weeks, we agreed they would dog-sit my puppy as I enjoyed my holiday in London. The arrangement was beneficial to all: my visitors, myself and my dog, the currency was: exchange of favors. A WTO of Free Market of Mutual Help, no caveats, no profit, yet everyone wins - what a concept. Having accomplished my second feat of generosity, first being openly sharing my wireless connection with my neighbors or anyone within 300 feet radius of my router (inspired by Juan, who else..) I therefore knight myself - a Maverick Communist. I will gladly share the title with anyone who matches me with 2 acts of generosity of heart and a desire to keep it up. To those still shy of the "communist" label stigma, here is some fascinating reading from my favorite site Etymonline.

Wrapping up Llyn Din

2005-01-06T13:14:00.000-08:00

Before Roman Londinium, the local lakeside forests (lLyn Din) along the banks of the Thames are believed to have given the original Celtic name to the settlements of the area. The Queen to this day has to request permission to enter the city from the Lord Mayor of London, a right which the dwellers of early London have earned through vocal and influential participation in deciding who the next regent elect should be. They, for example, favored King Stephen (1135-54) and King John (1199-1216) and opposed Matilda, the daughter of Henry I. The right to elect their own leader (Lord Mayor) was enshrined in Magna Charta. After the death of Queen Elizabeth, the struggle for power between the Monarchs and the Parliament intensified culminating in the execution of Charles I and a brief period of rule by General Oliver Cromwell in the mid 17th century. An effective constitutional monarchy in England runs many centuries back...The areas around Piccadilly, Strand and Soho developed around 1660-1690, through the Great Plague (1665) and the Great Fire (1666). The Greek Street in Soho was taken over by the Huguenot refugees in 1690 and gave the neighborhood it's early french flavor. I passed by Maison Bertaux and regretted not being able to come in for a glass of champagne or a cup of chocolat religieuse which the place is famous for apart for being run by an eccentric actress Michele Wade who stages tableau vivante of the French revolution every 14th of July. I also missed Kettners, Oscar Wilde's favorite restaurant. I only took a peek at the French House where Charles de Gaulle's subordinates ate and drank and he was running the French Resistance effort of the 2nd WW from a house in Hampstead. I missed seeing the Royal Opera House. I would have loved to visit the Cabinet War Rooms. I did see and enjoy a walk through the Inns of Court and saw the Middle Temple, the only building surviving from Shakespeare's time, where The Twelfth Night opened in 1602. The speakers corner in Hyde Park is all I imagined it would be and more. An amazing event of free speech in its purest. Anyone, just grab a box and speak your mind! Brits come across very outgoing and inherently revising and challenging any presented idea. I wish such exercise in critical thinking was more prevalent here on the American continent. I did remark however, that this speaking forum was especially popular among the religious fanatics of all sorts. At times it seemed Jews, Christians and Muslims were comparing scriptures and arguing their merits over all others. Nevertheless, very entertaining. The Jerusalem Tavern is one of the secret places of London I ended up having a pint of Strong Ale at. It seems unchanged since it's date of building, with rustic tables and wooden benches. I was told by a friendly local that St. Peter's brewery originated sometime in the 8th century on the east coast of England in a monks' convent. The tavern seems to be the only place in London serving up those Ales which recipes are so ancient.
I am barely into the 18th century London, and already enamored. So much more remains to be seen and discovered.
Maybe returns are possible, sometimes...

Au Revoire, London I

2005-01-01T02:00:00.000-08:00

More precisely: A revoire. I have not been to The National Gallery at Trafalgar Square, missed seeing Caravaggio's "Supper at Emmaus" and Jan Van Eyck's "The Arnolfini Wedding", I didn't sip a Spanish Sherry at Gordon's (47 Villiers Street), London's oldest wine bar. City Secrets London is my guide of choice and in it, Author and Journalist Victoria Glendinning describes it in an image forming manner: "I love this place for its triumphant seediness, among so much that is brash and new and smart. The facade is so unassuming that you can pass it without seeing it. Downstairs, half the tables are in candlelit darkness, under black, damp arches." While David Hughes a writer, describes his experience there: "A basement entered by neck-breakingly narrow stairs, this fine and squalid place also debauches a few awkward steps onto a shadowy alley where I loll, tumbler of fino in hand, with my back to gardens of Thames embankment." With descriptions of the sort, it is no wonder I feel melancholy, having to depart leaving all the unexplored and un-experienced behind. My next few entries will be a list of the "un-had" of London.

London-Paris

2004-12-31T11:26:00.000-08:00

Paris London
Dec.28th-Dec.31 London-Paris return through channel Lamanche. Instinctive first response to a metro clutter a Paris, "sorry", on return to London I was about to order breakfast in French: "On aimera avoir deux croissants..."
I could commute this way daily.

London Vignettes IV

2004-12-29T09:44:00.000-08:00

London Vignettes III

2004-12-24T06:17:00.000-08:00

London Motley II

2004-12-23T16:25:00.000-08:00

A couple of fascinating facts about London: Early populations in the area date to 450 000 BC. 8500 years ago the melting ice caps made Britain into an Island separating it from the rest of Europe. From then on, conquerors and merchants had to use water vessels to reach it's shores. A Roman settlement of Londinium was established off the shores of Thames after 60AD. Roads were paved, bath houses built and the population started adopting Roman customs and dress. I walked along the London Wall to the Tower of London, and through to the other side where the Blackfriars Bridge stands, the full scope of the Old city. These remnants are there still today, partly lost, partly integrated into the modern city. How many inhabitants are aware daily of the generations of people who traced the same paths before them?... The Roman Empire disintegrated sometime during the 5th century AD and new tribes of Anglo Saxons who have the same cultural root as the population of South and West of Scandinavia, arrived.

"Those who came over were of the three most powerful nations of Germania Saxons, Angles, and Jutes. From the Jutes are descended the people of Kent, and of the Isle of Wight, and those also in the province of the West Saxons who are to this day called Jutes, seated opposite to the Isle of Wight. From the Saxons, that is, the country, which is now called Old Saxony, came the East Saxons, the South Saxons, and the West Saxons. From the Angles, that is, the country which is called Anglia, and which is said, from that time, to remain desert to this day, between the provinces of the Jutes and the Saxons, are descended the East Angles, the Midland Angles, Mercians, all the race of the Northumbrians, that is, of those nations that dwell on the north side of the river Humber, and the other nations of the English.(Bede 673?-735)

West Saxon writers regularly speak of their own nation as a part of the Angelcyn and of their language as Englisc.(en.wikipedia.org)
Another fact which has been boggling my mind is the St. Paul Cathedral, it is massive and anachronistically stands out in the midst of a busy street where traffic lights flip on and off alternately. It was built in 604AD, but it stood as a wooden building then. Good. It was jokingly suggested to me, and I willingly started to suspect the Aliens for their help in hauling and mounting up the stones. The Cathedral in it's present state was completed in 1710. Designed by ChristopherWren. While walking along the Southbank today, I found a new monumental piece of architecture to obsess about, in fact more than one. My interest was sparked by the Blackfriar's bridge but my amazement applies to all bridges which need to be grounded in the river bed in freezing waters. The 6 bridges around central London were built in their currently resembling forms in the late 18th and 19th centuries. However a first form of the London Bridge was put in place by the Romans, pretty much in the same location in 80AD. Here is more interesting historical info about London's Bridges

London Vignettes II

2004-12-22T14:32:00.000-08:00

London Vignettes I

2004-12-21T05:48:00.000-08:00

London Motley I

2004-12-20T09:29:00.000-08:00

Oxford Street, London.

Just as the multicolored fabric of 14th-16th century England, London is an amazing mixture of cultures and ethnicities.
French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Polish, German, Hebrew, Italian and multitudes of other words, origins of which I don't recognize, breeze by as I am walking the streets... I love the weight of the British coins, they are dense and solid reminding me that English tradition and history are just as substantial. A friend of mine said: "London is a European New York", and it certainly looks that way. It is big, wide spread, fast paced and current. Yet, side streets are paved with cobble stones, outdoor neighborhood markets abound, quaint gourmet cheese stores and olive oil samples are there to visit and enjoy. Internet Cafes with Wifi access to which I am so accustomed living in San Francisco and practically can't do without, are inexistent except...Starbucks. These days, I find it to be one unintended yet positive effect the US capitalistic economy hungry for profit and expansion has on the rest of the world. It seems people here don't carry their work around, they come in to the coffee shops with friends and family to socialize. As much as in San Francisco, every coffee shop is populated by single individuals immersed in their books or portable computers, only occasionally glancing up and making conversation, in London, the majority is really out here to interact.

Franchised Resistance in Ukraine

2004-12-10T01:20:00.000-08:00

According to an article in last Sunday's NY Times the very word u-krajin (Ukraine) suggests "a location at the edge". Coincidentally, the results of the preliminary elections held on October 31st 2004, were razor blade close: Yanukovych 39.32% and Yushchenko 39.87%. Runoff elections held on November 21st favored Viktor Yanukovych (49.42% vs 46.69% votes for Yushchenko) . Widespread acts of civil disobedience ensued, as many international observers and Yuschenko's supporters cried foul and declared the election as rigged. All that in a country which hasn't been very fervorous politically, in the past. The surprising vote turn out - 75%, and the ardor and determination of millions of protesters were unprecedented. The flocking of International representatives to Kiev and foreign interest attracted by the election were perplexing. The main stream media in America reports only the superficial events which lead to very simple and predictable conclusions such as the worn out argument that the conflict is due an old East vs West division in Ukraine:

The western, mostly agricultural, and central parts roughly correspond with the former territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th century. They are considered more pro-Western, with the population mostly Ukrainian-speaking and Ukrainian Greek Catholic (Uniate) in the west or Ukrainian Orthodox in the center, and have voted predominantly for Yushchenko. The industrial eastern part, including the Crimean Autonomous Republic, where the links with Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church are much stronger, and which contains many ethnic Russians and fewer Ukrainians, is a Yanukovych stronghold.(http://en.wikipedia.org)
As much as most of it is very true, it turns out that the unrest in Ukraine has been initiated and cultivated by a group expert in Western branding and mass marketing techniques. Same group which was the driving force behind ousting of Slobodan Milošević in Serbia and the Rose Revolution in Georgia. The Orange Revolution wasn't a result of spontaneous combustion, as the white lie of withholding information in main stream media leads the public to believe.

The operation - engineering democracy through the ballot box and civil disobedience - is now so slick that the methods have matured into a template for winning other people's elections.
In the centre of Belgrade, there is a dingy office staffed by computer-literate youngsters who call themselves the Centre for Non-Violent Resistance. If you want to know how to beat a regime that controls the mass media, the judges, the courts, the security apparatus and the voting stations, the young Belgrade activists are for hire

According to The Guardian, the kids behind the computer consoles are financed, supported and influenced by the U.S. State Department and US AID along with the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute, Freedom House NGO and billionaire George Soros's Open Society Institute.
I admit that the CIS does not know how to deal with fair and vocal Opposition and needs a lesson in Democracy. I agree that the Ukrainian people will benefit from this injection of free speech initiative. The effort will overall provide a counter charge to the clear majority rule to which the Russian states are so accustomed. A healthy political balance is that of constant push and pull between a couple of dominant parties, not an autocracy of a clear majority. Yet there is something very distasteful about such foreign intervention, no matter how well intentioned. It assumes a demeaned capacity of a sovereign people to fully govern themselves, it implies an absolute superiority of a single political ideology, it practices proselytism not for philanthropic reasons but for personal gain. Simply put, it stinks.

Magna Charta , 8 centuries of trying

2004-12-09T10:26:00.000-08:00

By Charles Dickens, "A Childs History of England":

On Monday, the fifteenth of June, one thousand two hundred and fourteen, the King came from Windsor Castle, and the Barons came from the town of Staines, and they met on Runny-Mead, which is still a pleasant meadow by the Thames, where rushes grow in the clear water of the winding river, and its banks are green with grass and trees...

On the side of the Barons, came the General of their army, Robert Fitz_Walter, and a great concourse of the nobility of England. With the King, came, in all, some forty and twenty persons of any note, most of whom despised him, and were merely his advisers in form. On that great day, and in that great company, the King signed Magna Charta - the great charter of England - by which he pledged himself to maintain the Church in its rights; to relieve the Barons of oppressive obligations as vassals of the Crown - of which the Barons, in their turn, pledged themselves to relieve their vassals, the people; to respect the liberties of London and all other cities and boroughs; to protect foreign merchants who came to England; to imprison no man without a fair trial; and to sell, delay, or deny justice to none.How many times since that day, has humanity pledged tolerance to others and respect of civil liberties? With 800 years of practice, we are still failing to meet the noble standards.

Livid

2004-12-06T10:39:00.000-08:00

Simple word definitions aren't satisfying to me. I Need to know the history, the origin, the root, the possible morphemes and derivatives. Words aren't flat (in print or sound), they have height, thickness, weight. They are tactile in the way they roll off the tongue or are stubbornly difficult to eject while lodged somewhere behind the soft palate. I was very glad to come across Etymonline...
The author of the site explains the motive behind his initiative to which I can fully relate since it was a source of constant frustration to me, that is Before having found Etymonline:

I began this project after I looked one day for a free dictionary of word origins online and found that there was none. You could subscribe to the Oxford English Dictionary for $550 a year. [As of January 2004, OED Online is now available by annual subscription to individuals for $295 a year, and has recently introduced monthly subscriptions for $29.95.] There were free dictionaries with definitions, some lists of slang words and their sources, and some sites that listed a few dozen of the strangest etymologies of English words. But there was no comprehensive public list of the words we use every day -- words like the and day -- that told what they used to be before we got them.
You can also Sponsor a Word . Today I feel like sponsoring the word livid .
Here is the "candy":

1622, "of a bluish-leaden color," from M.Fr. livide, from L. lividus, from livere "be bluish," from PIE *(s)liwos-, from base *(s)li- "bluish" (cf. O.C.S., Rus. sliva "plum;" Lith. slywas "plum;" O.Ir. li, Welsh lliw "color, splendor," O.E. sla "sloe"). The sense of "furiously angry" (1912) is from the notion of being livid with rage.The site also collates other web entries. This one is fantastically visual :

Interactive lessons at an Interactive Co.

2004-12-04T19:20:00.000-08:00

I don't have to wear stockings and suits to work, I don't have to clock in and out. I Can customize my work space, wear colored streaks in my hair and video game play is an expected daily task. The company I work for attempts to provide an alternative work environment where personal responsibility ranks high, involvement and initiative are appreciated, creativity is expected...
It aligns itself with "The Deep Dive" innovation ideology pioneered by Ideo. Ideo's motto is: "enlightened trial and error succeeds over the planning of the lone genius." Dave Kelly, the head of Ideo demonstrated Ideo's creative process at work, in a 1999 ABC interview while his team completely redesigned a supermarket shopping cart in 5 days. The design team constituted of members from a broad spectrum of seemingly unrelated disciplines, an Engineer, a Biologist, a Psychologist, a Linguist and more. They each brought to the table specific expertise which in itself was insufficient, but most essential when folded in together with the inputs of others. The group met each morning and their minds were let lose to brainstorm in what Kelly defined as "focused chaos". Within this non hierarchical dynamic, the wildest, most idiosyncratic ideas were encouraged. It was the teams purpose to push the limits of imagination and it was the team's lead's responsibility to keep their effort focused on target, assure it's feasibility and deliverability on time and within budget. The team worked in quick iterative revisions, moving on to prototyping as early as on the second day. Initially smaller sub-groups were formed and each presented a solution, best features of all approaches were selected and a second combined prototype was built. On day 5, a brand new shopping cart was unveiled. It was the result of most brilliant and collaborative, wisely and graciously managed team effort I ever witnessed. The secret of Ideo's success is rooted in the company's unconventional work ethic and company culture. Employees are encouraged to freely express their personalities and play up their eccentricities. Not only they're allowed, but expected to debate and provide alternative solution to those of their superiors. An approach of: experiment first, ask for forgiveness later is preferred over traditional approval seeking.
My company is Electronic Arts which is managing a work practice crisis only recently publicized in LA and NY Times. As a recent hire, I am not in a position to counter argue the experiences of other long time employees. I know this however, I like the non conventional work culture EA is aiming at. The lessons of Ideo, could have been thoroughly chewed by the higher ups, and brought down on us in forms of imposed policies and work structures. Instead, EA has every single employee attend a pre-production workshop, where through group work and play, with the aid of slides and videos, we are guided to derive the desired conclusions about the value of personal input, low - to high fidelity iterative thought process, quick prototyping and team work. Each and every one of us is left to decide how much of the new lessons he/she will assimilate and put in practice if any at all. One of the company slides suggested:

Indoctrinated I stand.

Jews, a sui generis?

2004-12-01T18:49:00.000-08:00

In my last post, "Integration vs Assimilation, the Gasterbeiter" I reflect on the present day clash of cultures, that of the Muslim Arabs within the Secular Western Europe. I can't help but draw a parallel to not so distant time, when antoher Semitic Religious minority was interspersed within the European, and that time, predominantly Christian society - the Jews...
Note: I am using the term "Anti-Semitism" literally, as applying to the negative sentiment against people of Semitic descent.
Following the Holocaust, a lot of effort has been put into trying to understand the leading causes and the socio-political circumstances which allowed such horrible event to take place. Jewish self introspection as well as external commentary point to the Jews' reclusion and disinterest in Integration into the host societies as a component which possibly exasperated Anti-Semitism. In that respect, both xen-societies share geographically and historically similar setup for disaster. Under the Scapegoat theory, if the EU found itself in a midst of a national or I should say multi-national crisis with it's Economy in a donwhirl spin, the Muslim minority would be on the fore front of an Anti-Semitic sentiment followed only slightly behind by Xenophobia towards the East Europeans whose Mother Lands have only recently joined the Union, and who are already on the move West, in search for better economic opportunities. Moreso, it is clear that popular society in Germany for example, isn't in step with it's State attempts to accept and accommodate the Religious quirks and demands of it's Muslim minority. Arguably, this may be an element contributing to the rise of Anti-Semitism. If any thing can be learned from the Jewish experience, it maybe:

Pierre Birnbaum (1992) offers a very different theory of the rise of anti-Semitism and of anti-Semitic variation among societies. Birnbaum attributes the rise of modern anti-Semitism to popular reaction against the strong state. Where a strong state is perceived as having imposed on society the emancipation of the Jews,anti-Semitism tends to be strong (for example, Germany and France). On the other hand, where the state is relatively weak and Jews obtained equal rights through society rather than the state, anti-Semitism tends to be muted (for example, the USA and Great Britain) (Birnbaum, 1992: 6–10, 227–8).
This theory is admittedly disputed in International Political Science Review (2004), Vol 25, No. 1, 35–53, but nevertheless is only one of the plethora of hind sight speculations on why were the Jews on the receiving end of such intense hatred that they were deemed unworthy of occupying space on this planet. The study "Anti-Semitism in Europe Before the Holocaust" offers this insight:

From the perspective of this article what made anti-Semitism different from other forms of xenophobia or dislike of minorities is that Jew hatred is more multifaceted than other kinds of prejudice. White prejudice against blacks typically embraced a racial form of dislike, while persecution of Armenians and Greeks in Bulgaria usually revolved around economic fears, and antipathy toward Irish Catholics or Italian Catholics in the USA during the 19th century largely took a form of religious hatred. Popular anti-Semitism, by contrast, incorporated religious, economic, racial, and political prejudice. Consequently, Jews were disliked and feared for their religious beliefs and attitudes, their so-called racial characteristics, perceived economic behavior and power, and their assumed leadership or support of subversive political and social movements. That popular anti-Semitism embodied numerous forms may help explain why Jews rather than other minorities were frequently sought out as scapegoats or useful targets during periods of both worldwide and national difficulties. It may also help explain why other traditional “middlemen groups” such as the Greeks in the Balkans, the Syro-Lebanese in West Africa and Latin America, the Parsis in India, and the Scots in South Africa and many parts of Canada rarely experienced the magnitude of persecution encountered by Jews (Zenner, 1987: 256–7).

Integration vs Assimilation, the Gasterbeiter

2004-11-28T19:47:00.001-08:00

Theo Van Gogh's murder early this month puts forth into the spotlight the Dutch and German authorities' struggle to curb extreme Muslim fundamental cell activity. Germans are waking to the existence of Islamic alcoves which pervaded the German land and society. About 80% of Muslims in Germany are of Turkish descent, who were allowed into the country in 1970's as "guest workers" or, Gasterbeiter...
For the past 30 years or so, the new immigrants who remained in Germany led quiet lives within the larger host community integrating into it to various degrees. However, a new trend has recently been observed among the German Muslims and it is that of increased fundamentalism and self imposed isolation and seclusion. Many Muslims choose to huddle within their own neighborhoods and communities in response to the prolonged discrimination within the German society. Even though, the state, sensitive to it's racist history is very tolerant, allows Muslim schools and even recognizes polygamy (if marriages took place in an outside Muslim country), in practice many Muslims feel that they are treated as second class citizens. In an article in Deutsche Welle the Green Party's Volker Beck said:

"Social exclusion and disintegration make young Muslims vulnerable to radical ideologies and hatred," Beck said. "The way out of this dilemma is not to brand them as outlaws, but rather to let them participate in German social life." As Tuba Ancar a 21 year old from Berlin states in NPR's story on Europe, Islam's New Front Line: Germany there is a difference between Assimilation and Integration. The Muslim community has a growing need to assert themselves in Western society.

“The message is ‘we’re here, we’re proud, we’re going to live our religion and not going to hide ourselves anymore’,” said Riem Spielhaus, an Islamic studies lecturer at Berlin’s Humboldt University. An integral part of a free and Democratic society is Tolerance and Freedom of Expression. That is where, a progressive leader like Jacque Chirac disappoints greatly by endorsing the ban on wearing the hijab, the kippa and a cross in public schools. The EU politicians have it all backwards. It is proper to practice Any spiritual beliefs in private and express those as they pertain to the realm of a private persona by wearing any type of paraphernalia an individual chooses. It is wrong, to allow religion classes in public secular schools and making concessions catering to any religious demands within that school system, such as exempting muslim girls from co-ed physical education classes. It unfairly elevates the status of few mainstream religions, encourages preferential treatment and stands in the way of integration and equality. This may sound like a hardline approach, but if religious beliefs are strictly confined to private life yet it's symbols are tolerantly allowed as means of self expression, the Secularism of the Republic which is a key issue to Jacque Chirac, is safely preserved while the burden of reconciling cultural differences falls back into the lap of the immigrants, reminding them to respect the laws and way of life of their host country while taking care to supplement their cultural and religious heritage, if they chose so, on their own time and through their own means.

Watch, listen, observe

2004-11-25T19:30:00.000-08:00

Alamo Square Park, San Francisco.
Hidden messages, subliminal content, are all around us. Some see "truth" expressed through mathematics appear in tree tops by scrutinizing the fractal arrangement of branches and leaves, such as in the film Pi . Others plot contrived schemes to find hidden messages in the text of the Bible . Neale Walshes' readers receive answers to their queries directly from God, if they know how to listen..

The human quest for meaning, truth and certainty is very entertaining.
I am a tough sceptic, I don't believe what I can't see and what you can't spell.

Consistency, please.

2004-11-24T01:03:00.000-08:00

Aliens must have voted voted on Nov. 2nd.
Results of a Times/CBS News poll were published today in a New York Times article. It finds:

All that was known On and Before election day. Bush's second term agenda carries plans to reshape Social Security, rewrite the tax code, cut taxes and appoint conservative judges to the bench who would work to outlaw abortion and alter the constitution to explicitly ban gay marriage.
The article says:"There is continuing disapproval of Mr. Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, with a plurality now saying it was a mistake to invade in the first place." And the consensus is: "that Bush won despite the fact that Americans disapproved of his handling of the economy, foreign affairs and the war in Iraq."
If the poll is correct, and this one claims an error margin of 3 %, then:
Who voted for Bush, and Why?

"For all the attention paid to the effort Mr. Bush made to increase his support from religious supporters, 31 percent of respondents said they thought that evangelical Christians had too much influence over the administration. By contrast, 66 percent said they thought big business had too much influence over the administration." Here the expression "By contrast" should be eliminated, I believe the two options are on one flop side of the Administration's agenda - that would add to a total of 97% of wrong doing.
And this statement is just absurd:

Across the board, the poll suggested that the outcome of the election reflected a determination by Americans that they trusted Mr. Bush more to protect them against future terrorist attacks - and that they liked him more than Mr. Kerry - rather than any kind of broad affirmation of his policies.
So a Republican President is elected by people who disagree with his policies but like him nevertheless, in a climate where

"Americans now have a better opinion of the Democratic Party than of the Republican Party: 54 percent said they had a favorable view of Democrats, compared with 39 percent with an unfavorable view. By contrast, 49 percent have a favorable view of Republicans, compared with 46 percent holding an unfavorable one." and there are no protests and solidarity marches?! All of the sudden Alien abductions and brainwash seem not all that improbable.

life is built for swapping

2004-11-21T21:20:00.000-08:00

A fascinating article is found in the technology section of MSNBC, via Slashdot. It casually speaks of transgenic creations:

In Nevada, there are sheep whose livers and hearts are largely human. In California, mice peer from their cages with human brain cells firing inside their skulls. These are not outcasts from "The Island of Dr. Moreau," the 1896 novel by H.G. Wells in which a rogue doctor develops creatures that are part animal and part human. They are real creations of real scientists, stretching the boundaries of stem cell research.
This controversial topic would outrage many people, I know. Obviously, the moral dilemmas tied to the subject are due to the human egocentric point of view. The mythical idea of sanctity of human life. The prevalent notion is that human life is worth more than that of other mammals and animals. Therefore it would be unfit for a human embryo to inspissate in a mouse's womb...
I wish this bias was fully transparent to all. All Evolution is a continuum and question of right or wrong is mostly only that of a degree. Why is it that human life is considered superior? If we consumed human flesh and ran our lab experiments on humans the question of inferring intelligence onto a "humanzee" would be irrelevant. Similarly the main argument against GE crops is that the genetic mutations introduced by humans would spread to other crops and potentially cause an ecological disaster. Transposon's capacity for cross-species hopping is not unique to GE modified specimens. In fact, it commonly occurs in nature. GE genes do not behave differently, they can't. Scientists don't have the capacity to synthesize new genes from scratch, they can only mix and match, transplant genes across species, nothing which Mother Nature hasn't been busy doing since the beginning of Evolution. All Mothers and Twins are Chimeras according to the article because they carry on their siblings/children's DNA forever post partum. Let's be frank and do away with the shameful double standard, let's market human flesh for consumption or stop eating animal tissue all together. Let's discontinue any GE research only if we can stop the same occurrences in nature. The misguided notion that somehow a natural mutation is less harmful than one induced by men is preposterous. That would imply consciousness and benevolence on natures part, obviously tying it in with Creationist rhetoric. Humans should not carelessly mix and match a hodge podge of genetic puzzles, if anything there is an immense degree of responsibility which comes with any venture attempting to change natural environment or predicament, be it Urbanization, Natural Resource Exploitation, or Medical Research.
If all the arguments above don't convince you of nature's preference for mixing it up, consider a phenomenon of human behavior which chauvinistically is known as "wife swapping", or more politically correct "swinging". Some men busy themselves figuring out mathematical probabilities of being paired up with their own wife at a Swing Fest. Some only joke about it .
Btw..., I Know I am going to hell.

murky waters

2004-11-18T21:10:00.000-08:00

If you take Line 38 in San Francisco at Geary and Laguna everyday, you are probably an avid Israel and Judaism supporter. You have to be. You believe it is a free democracy where women and minorities can vote, where the Isreali Palestinian issue is only a political conflict unlike the holocaust. It is the promised land endorsed by JFK and Ronald Reagan, diverse, caring, proud, progressive.
Line 38, the PR(opaganda) stop.
Ever since I can remember living in the neighborhood, this bus stop has been displaying nothing but a Blue Star PR material. Although I have personal ties to Israel and lived there for 6 years, I can't express how unfair and damaging this aggressive advertising is. Israel and the conflict surrounding it is much more complex than a dozen of slogans.
This one boasts: "Where in the middle east Arab women can vote? - In Israel." Elections are indeed the topic in Israel and Palestine, nowadays. January 9th 2005 is set to be an election day for the new PA leadership... Speculations run wild as to the future of the Israeli Palestinian dispute. Yassir Arafat, branded by both US and Israel as an unfit negotiation partner, is dead and seemingly the road is clear for a new leadership to emerge. Who ends up being the new elect will shed some light on the true intentions of the majority of Palestinians. There are fears that without the unifying influence of the iconic figure of Arafat, the separate factions, from moderates to extremists will be drawn into internal conflict and infighting. Clearly however, if the Palestinian people are allowed to vote freely - their choice on January 9th will indicate the degree of their pacifist intentions. First and only Palestinian election were held in 1996, Arafat held on to his post for additional unmandated 4 years. His character and motives have been called into question on many occasions, as has been that of Ariel Sharon, the Israeli PM. The hate and mistrust pervade. By now, after decades of conflict it is impossible to pick out the single threads of events and trace a single line of guilt and responsibility. Among the opinions out there I choose to quote two which I think are insightful and prejudice free:

prodigal daughter's return to EU

2004-11-17T21:09:00.000-08:00

On Synecdoche Juan posted Land of the Free (EU). Quoting a Salon article via Kos, he has high hopes for what is in the words of Andrew O'Hehir a:

"...transnational superstate of 25 nations, 455 million people and an $11 trillion economy. This is, of course, the European Union,"

And granted with an aspiring constitution like this:

"The new EU constitution, currently being considered by the member states...It should also serve as an inspiration to progressives around the world. It bars capital punishment in all 25 nations and defines such things as universal healthcare, child care, paid annual leave, parental leave, housing for the poor, and equal treatment for gays and lesbians as fundamental human rights..., as Rifkin says, this document all by itself makes the European Union the world leader in the human rights debate. It is the first governing document that aspires to universality, "with rights and responsibilities that encompass the totality of human existence on Earth." the EU will become the new land of dream and opportunity that America once was to it's immigrants. Juan says:

" People escaped from countries now in the EU, like Poland in the 70's and 80's, looking for freedom. It would be ironic, proper and beautiful if the sons and daughters of those now went back, looking for the same things." I have to admit that with most recent unabashed promise of cooperation between the CIA and the Administartion and the intended privatization of Social Security the future of America seems to be on a downspin track towards a totalitarian state supporting it's upper crust at the expense of the working class. The movement towards freedom spurted out in Poland in 1980-ies out of a very similar soil. The economical conditions and the limitations of civil liberties preceding the strikes, opposition and unrest in Poland, were infinitely worse than what only seems to be budding here in the US. There was wide spread censorship, attempts at price surges of up to 30% while salaries of workers remained steady for decades. It came to food rationing and military state. America still has way to go before running itself into the ground. It will be another generation or so before the US naturalized Polish émigrés would be either called to action, or seek refuge back in the Old Country, away from the oppression of the US regime. Ironically their plight would be from one extreme of a socialist system by name, through a self defeating capitalism, to safety and happiness within a mature mixture of social capitalism.

I, the cybernaut sailor

2004-11-16T16:47:00.000-08:00

I resisted Blogger and Friendster while in hype, dismissed the popularity value, sullied the inherent self promotion factor.
Because the two phenomena focus on outward expression and communication with others, I understood "the others and their response" to be the central focal point and the purpose of engagement in Blogger and Friendster activity...

Having had some experience, my Bayesian Inference would have to be seriously re-adjusted.
Both are forums for self expression, "I" is the topic, the public nature is secondary, a response whether in form of site hits or new friendship invitations is trivial. I do obsess about the hit statistics, length of visits, origin and ISP. Work my social network to acquire new friends, write messages to strangers, search demographics and interests, compare friends in common, the number of friends, admire size and vitality of an extensive Friendster network. But, my drive is expansively Apollonian, I am very proud to say. It is about acquisition, numbers and status.
As I revel in my cyber persona, muse about being a disembodied sentinel, watching and reading, absorbing and ingesting news and information online, I reflect about my stat tracking and the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. How much the information I gather about my visitors affects my posts? I also occasionally follow the entry pages back to the visitor's homes. Read their posts. Do they track? Do they revisit my Blog? Would the reality of my blogging experience be different if I didn't track?
Since the subject borders on esoteric why not check out your past life experience? Only make sure to read the disclaimer, next.

Interior Portrait

2004-11-14T22:40:00.000-08:00

R.M. Rilke

Found Findory

2004-11-13T16:34:00.000-08:00

Instead of browsing multiple news sites and sifting through numerous blog feeds waiting for that exciting moment of interest "engage!", today I discovered www.findory.com.
It is a side by side News and Blog site which changes feeds on every refresh. It is like a package of mixed flavor jelly beans, every hand dip produces a surprise... It allows to constantly discover and make yours, a variety of blogs which otherwise may have been lost among all other web publications. It is smart. The feed-interest correlation increases with usage. So today I remembered why I thought The Incredibles were only incredible artistically and why the story line discomforted my feminist bone, I wondered about Dick's dick both from www.AndrewSullivan.com. I learned how to survive EA, where I am due to start working in a week (St. Expeditus help me!) and understood how Religion and viruses have same modus operandi.
Oh and the following was apparently posted on NY's Craig's List:

via Andrew Sullivan

Island of Anglesey

2004-11-12T23:38:00.000-08:00

In anticipation of my travel to London this Xmas and New Years, I picked up a volume from my collection of Works of Charles Dickens. Admittedly it should not be my first choice... , the title is: A Child's History of England. Dickens was not a historian, his knowledge of the subject was apparently shallow and incomplete, his statements subjective and dated. For example he speaks of Julius Caesar's retreat: "Julius Caesar was very glad to grant peace easily and to go away again with his remaining ships and men. He had expected to find pearls in Britain, and he may have found a few from anything I know; but at all events he found delicious oysters, and I am sure he found tough Britons..." Or: Because Boadicea, a British queen, the widow of the king of Norfolk and Suffolk people, resisted plundering of her property by the Romans who were settled in England, she was scourged by order of Catus a Roman officer; and her two daughters were shamefully insulted in her presence, and her husband's relations were made slaves. To avenge this injury, the Britons rose, with all their might and rage." My favorite though:" Above all it was in the Roman time and by means of Roman ships that the Christian religion was first brought into Britain, and it's people first taught the great lesson that, to be good in the sight of God, they must love their neighbours as themselves, and do unto others as they would be done by. The Druids declared that it would be very wicked to believe in any such thing, and cursed all the people who did believe it, very heartily". It is because of these heavy handed generalisations and omissions of detail that this version of the history of England reads more like a fable or a children's story. I smile when I read and with conscious tactile pleasure I flip the hand cut pages of this volume printed 104 years ago.

Male Extreme

2004-11-11T23:29:00.001-08:00

Roman Polanski knows himself. In his 1962 film Knife in the Water, he dives deep into the male psyche. The setup: a married couple, the glory of whose romance is long gone substituted by petty bickering and mutual boredom, come across a hitchhiker eager to test his limits. He stops cars by standing in the middle of the road and refusing to budge.
The husband and the hitchhiker are of the same ilk, barely 20 years apart. They enter a dynamic of power play and intense competition... , challenging each other while the brief acquaintance extends over a 24 hr sailing trip. The female role is most diminutive while the fascination of the two men borders on the homo erotic. Constant handling of a knife raises the tension which is only occasionally interrupted by carefree moments of laughter, play and fooling around. The young man's sexual interest in the wife becomes soon apparent as personal space is scarce, bathing suits wet and change of clothes often required. The husband's suspicion is aroused as he wakes from sleep and discovers that both are gone from the cabin. Even though the two are found engaged in fixing a sail before the morning departure, the husband's temper is spoilt. The hitchhiker is thrown outboard in a fight. In the same continuos spirit of challenge and competition the young man hides behind a buoy while the couple keeps diving to find him, setting up the mood for a scene where a possible murder took place. Further confrontation and bipartisan loathing is intensified between the man and his wife. The husband swims away to the shore, while she remains behind and some time later hauls the boat back to the dock. Back in the car, she questions her husband whether he intends to turn himself in, to the police. He emotionally accepts the reality of having killed a man and takes the route towards a police station, the wife confesses that the young man in fact hasn't drowned and that they had a sexual encounter before sailing in. The car is stopped at a crossroad. The husband must decide which to believe - that he has killed a man, or that the youngster has deceived him and his wife has betrayed him. The car remains at the intersection as the film ends - beautifully.

Era Passed

2004-11-11T14:27:00.000-08:00

These images from the Vancouver Sun, the Telegraph Calcutta and the Telegraph News UK respectively, captured my attention.

Most stereotypical, they are ghostly echoes from Russia's Soviet past... Russia as a country, is in depths of not only an absolute restructuring of it's economical system, but also in the midst of a major shift in it's population mentality. The Communist indoctrination of the decades past, has to cede way to a new generation's thinking and Russia faces enormous social challenges. They are well enumerated in an editorial by Yevgeny Gontmakher D.Sc. (Econ.) in The Moscow News. As the country tries to break with it's failed past, the Russian Duma is considering to abolish the commemoration of the Bolshevik Revolution as a national holiday.
Last sunday, November 7th in Moscow a city of about 8 million, only about 10 000 people marched in what may have been the last ever national revolution parade. It used to be a very festive affair filled with flowers, children and song, attracting millions. Across the country protest marches were held against the proposition to replace the November 7th with a holiday commemorating a November 4th, 1612 date when Moscow was freed from Polish occupation.
I only wonder whether erasing a date from a calendar, removing it from the population's consciousness will alleviate in anyway the painful lessons of the past? It is somewhat reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution in China in attempts to obliterate any memory of it's Imperial past, or Hitler's book burning ceremonies. The past, whether in a form of cultural legacy or as a commemorative day, should be kept as a bench mark of our progress. To remove any such events from our human consciousness and start fresh, we'd have to nuke the planet and wait billions of years for the particle to coalesce again. There are no "returns", there are no "clean breaks", only a forward process muddied with our mistakes and washed clean by our momentary flashes of insight, in an alternating cycle.

Eve, the Source of All Evil

2004-11-09T10:25:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I finally shelved a book which in many respects was an undercurrent in my personal life for the past 2 years.
The title: "The Mating Mind" by Geoffrey Miller. The glossary section at the end of the book defines terms such as "assortative mating", "fitness indicator", "extended phenotype", it also lists - "death". Death is defined as " A misfortune that precludes further courtship or reproduction". The meaning of life, according to Sexual Selection Theory promoted by this book, can be inferred from that definition...
It is a tremendous leap to understand how the biological reproductive differences between genders, expressed through social behavior, altered by evolution over a couple of million years, have amounted to our modern society where we all share in the pool of "millions of acts of courtship, in which we are neither the producer nor the intended receiver". Humans as species, have been pre-selecting creativity, fantasy and flare as exciting courtship models, conditioning our minds to produce most amazing works of art and fiction. Yet these are the same qualities which make us fallible to "forms of ideological display: (such as) armchair speculation, entertaining narratives, comforting ideas and memorable anecdotes", making it easy to deviate from logical scientific reasoning and analysis. I will quote this witty and insightful paragraph, which sums up the point:
"Imagine some young hominids huddling around a Pleistocene campfire, enjoying their newly evolved language ability. Two males get into an argument about the nature of the world, and start holding forth displaying their ideologies. The hominid named Carl proposes:
'We are mortal, fallible primates who survive on this fickle savanna only because we cluster in these jealousy-ridden groups. Everywhere we have ever traveled is just a tiny, random corner of a vast continent on an unimaginably huge sphere spinning in a vacuum. The sphere has traveled billions and billions of times around a flaming ball of gas, which will eventually blow up to incinerate our empty, fossilized skulls. I have discovered several compelling lines of evidence in support of these hypotheses...'. The hominid named Candide interrupts:
'No, I believe we are immortal spirits gifted with these beautiful bodies because the great god Wug chose us as his favorite creatures. Wug blessed us with this fertile paradise that provides just enough challenges to keep things interesting. Behind the moon, mystic nightingales sing our praises, some of us more than others. Above the azure dome of the sky the smiling sun warms our hearts. After we grow old and enjoy the babbling of our grandchildren, Wug will lift us from these bodies to join our friends to eat roasted gazelle and dance eternally. I know these things because Wug picked me to receive this special wisdom in a dream last night.' "
Needles to say, Eve and Candide got together and went on to produce many children and great, great, great grand children. And so we are today, still believing in the ancient bed time story made up by our great grand father - Candide.
Thank You, Juan.

The Last of the Pet Accessories

2004-11-07T22:37:00.000-08:00

Borgs have been busy sewing up CPUs into clothing for a few years now. The divergent portable technology is expected to come together and we'll be able to tell which device or matter require our immediate attention based on the frequency and intensity of a vibrating signal against our bodies... Be it cel phones, GPS, Palm style organizers, digital phones or music players, computers or any other devise which your personal survival may depend on. While a smart jacket which illuminates by night and keeps the wearer warm developed at Cornell University is a great idea, a woman's magazine (which name I don't bother to remember) popularized a breathalyzer sensor capable to detect a myriad of health problems such as asthma, stomach ulcers, potentially heart disease, diabetes, lung cancer and schizophrenia - into a women's accessory ring. Discretely wafted in front of an unsuspecting mate, this smart device can cut through the chase of the nonsense of dating, the drama of emotional entanglement, bypassing coitus, straight into a test tube and procreation. In the mean time I took my Pet Purse to a neighborhood coffee shop. It isn't smart and it doesn't communicate.

Pet Purse (by Hutchi Mama) - left, center frame.

Hear No Evil

2004-11-04T13:26:00.000-08:00

Denial. I pride myself in being able to look straight ahead into the gaping mouth of stark reality when it faces me. Romanticism and Idealism evaporate as I get into crisis management mode. Yet, I angrily shoved aside any discourse doubting John Kerry's presidential seat this past tuesday... By midday the conservative election blogs trumpeted around an analysis of the Democrat's chance, or the slimness of it for beating president Bush. Mark Mellman a senior pollster and a Kerry advisor described the election as an "uphill fight" for the Democrats.
In retrospect I admire this man's wisdom. Inspite of his personal involvement in the issue, he didn't lose sight of reality and hard historical facts. I am humbled by his willingness to take on a challenge, fully devoting himself to work towards the fruition of a cause, knowing all along that history and odds aren't on his side. I am even more blown away by his courage to write this article on Nov. 1st only a day ahead of the election D-day, coldly assessing the battle, yet hoping for the best.

Democratic Settlements in Middle West of America

2004-11-03T13:06:00.000-08:00

Frustrated Americans of Democratic orientation woe in disappointment of the Election outcome.
Escapism runs rampant as many daydream about new countries to make their home at.
Canada is one friendly choice, but Costa Rica and Australia are also being mentioned. It has been said that if Democrats want to win, they need to adopt some of the right wing aggressive tactics.
There may be some truth to that... The Israeli right wing for example, makes no apologies for forcefully expanding the borders of the Israeli territory through West Bank Jewish settlements. Here is how it happens. First an outpost is established bearing a flag and a water-tank. The outpost is being guarded by an armed Israeli, soon a habitable shack is put together after all, the guards have to sleep somewhere. It isn't too long before a few others spring up. One guard becomes three, becomes ten. Women and children arrive, more pregnancies, births and more children. A few years later an entire small Jewish settlement town is bustling with life all established under the radar of official authorities who tend to turn a blind eye to the works of the settlers anyway. Voila, an instant de facto outpost of the right wing religious right.
This is a lesson to Democrats in America - move, but move away to the American Mid West. Spread your ideology of welfare and healthcare for all, a fairer tax system, respect for the environment and fellow nations around the globe. Get out and get into the hotbed of conservative America, wean them of xenophobia, bring in diversity and color, be an example of true all inclusive tolerance in the spirit of "live, and let live". I'll match your move with mine.

The World Has Ended

2004-11-03T07:53:00.000-08:00

Remember the big hoopla at the turn of the millennium? Fears of Alien Attacks, Armageddon and Judgment Day, the earth exploding at it's core, all humanity instantly pulverized by radiation, only because a lead digit of an arbitrary calendar system has finally flipped it's face? I was impervious to all that nonsense.
Yesterday however... , on a sunny November afternoon in San Francisco, overlooking a street bathed in hazy light, in anticipation of the Electoral outcome, I conceived the notion of the World's End and fear settled in.
The World Has Ended last night, because inspite of the Herculean effort, widespread mobilization of the Democratic campaign, intense grass roots activity, hundreds of thousands of volunteers, John Kerry's obvious lead on issues in all three debates, a surge in voter turnout expected to benefit the challenger to the president - the Republican party and the Conservative Pragmatism (I don't think Conservatives are capable of Ideology) sweep the country.
The Democratic Party hasn't conceded victory to the Republicans yet, but at this point it seems it is only a matter of time.
Imagine "Four More Wars", deception of the people, continuos and growing assault on civil liberties in the name of "safety",
thwarting of progressive initiative (Woman's right to chose, Gay marriages, Environmental protection).
This victory will license president Bush to follow his misguided path with even more momentum and vigor. The next 4 years sadly will bring more foreign policy malpractice, the abyss between the US and the rest of the world community will only grow larger and darker, and the American parents will have to keep feeding Mars with their young. All that while "God" is in the White House - because I have no doubt that president Bush will allude to a divine intervention in his inaugural address.
G.W. Bush is blind to the fact that his self righteous crusade is sanctioned by the ignorant Demos and not by a benevolent Deus. The Democratic system in America turns out to be a self feeding loop of government using the media to manipulate the public to reelect same manipulative government to manipulate the people...

Petition in support of Indymedia

2004-11-02T14:03:00.000-08:00

The wonderful project that is Indymedia needs your help.

"On 7 October, 2004, hard drives from two Indymedia servers were seized from the London office of a US-owned web hosting company, Rackspace, at the request of the US Justice Department, apparently in collaboration with Italian and Swiss authorities." - indymedia.org ...

More on the seizure as well as Indymedia in general, can be found at wikipedia.org

Please sign the petition denouncing "the seizure of the Indymedia hard drives as an unacceptable attack on press freedom, free speech and privacy". The petition can be signed online until November 7th 2004 in English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch and Russian.

Progress on the matter can be tracked directly at IMC: FBI and other legalbreaking news.

Keirsy Temperament Theory and Elections

2004-11-01T14:44:00.000-08:00

Advisor Team is a website attempting to sort and match people to people, people to jobs and most recently predict election outcomes based on the Keirsy Temperament Theory.
Quote:
"We found that every time an Artisan ran for President, regardless of party affiliation, the Artisan won."

Maybe it is a misinterpretation... What I see from this table, is that it is the first time in recent history that an Idealist John Kerry is measured against an Artisan George W. Bush. So as it may be true that Artisan presidential candidates tend to win over Guardians and Rationals, there does not seem to be a precedent of an Artisan winning over an Idealist. The site claims to have examined data from the last 100 years, yet results of presidential elections dating prior to 1960 are not published.

Kerry's personal page is prefaced by his quote, by the same token the following personal statement should appear at the head of Bush's profile: "When I was young and irresponsible, I was young and irresponsible."
Artisan or not, temperament and personality, which were extensively discussed during early stages of the presidential race under the code name "like-ability" - can't possibly be the decisive factor in light of the notorious intellectual deficiency of the current president.

I am not selling anything

2004-10-27T15:08:00.000-07:00

Nevada, weekend of Oct 23rd.
Californians descend on Reno and Carson city.
An empowering, hopefull energy fills us as car after car
in the parking lot turns out to carry California state plates.

We gathered in front of the Democratic HQ in Reno... The mission is going door to door to encourage registered Democrats and Non Partisans to get out and vote early.
It is very difficult to gauge what impact our personal visits had. In an upscale suburb of Reno on saturday, most people were not home. I am hoping they all were at the nearby library where an early polling station was set up. Those who were home to answer the door for the Nth time I am sure, politely redeclared their intention to vote for John Kerry. I was perplexed by women married to Republican voting husbands. I imagined myself in their place, and was clear that if it was my marriage - it would not survive this years elections.
Sunday, Carson City. A lower middle class neighborhood. A few more surprises.
Ignorance of facts and narrow-mindedness have produced a few G.W. Bush supporters:
- An older man who thinks both Kerry and Bush are same caliber opponents - equally dumb. He doesn't want to be responsible for electing either one of them.
- A redneck gay couple wanting to bomb the entire middle east - because We Can!
- A US born man of a Mexican descent, voting for Bush because he feels he's been doing well economically. Discussion about minimum wage and job losses did not interest him - he described himself as "rich" earning a top amount of 15$/h.
He said all the lazy minorities should get off welfare.
Too bad he did not run into his elderly neighbor a street away who struggles to support her brain damaged son.
- And finally a woman squandering her opportunity to vote for a candidate who's got her best interest at stake - by shutting the door in my face topping it off by: "I am not interested".
Only, I wasn't selling anything...

He speaks with Images

2004-10-26T13:42:00.000-07:00

Blogspotters,
I am new to blogging, it is a personal and social discovery and experiment. I post and observe.
Blogger is not a tool - it is a community. Some of you stop, some of you stop and read, some still, stop, read and ponder, others even take time to comment. It is a tremendous thrill to capture someone's attention and evoke a response, a special thank you to all who comment, most often you will find my response to your thoughts on your return visits.

Take a peak at this site. Juan Buhler speaks with Images, sometimes however, he speaks with words too.
Take a look at his thoughtful blog.

Kerrytini

2004-10-25T23:43:00.000-07:00

1 oz unfiltered sake
1 oz peach schnapps
1 oz blue curracao
on cured cherry base

That's how canvassers celebrated their effort to turn Nevada blue - Oct. 23rd 2004.
A quaint little bar San Francisco style in the middle of flashy Reno.
The entire weekend I marveled at the diversity of the Democratic following. Barely 20 young adults, to older couples or lone persons, lesbian mothers, reticent gay professionals, married main stream once were hippies, single women past their prime, tax paying non citizens, all gathered for a single cause of outsitting Bush - probably to not ever meet again.

Wangari Maathai

2004-10-19T16:35:00.000-07:00

This years Nobel prize for Peace was awarded to East African activist - Wangari Maathai.
This very accomplished woman (full biography in the link) was divorced from her husband in 1980 on the grounds of being
"too educated, too strong, too successful, and too hard to control."
24 years later she is a Nobel Prize Laureate. I wonder what would be her life path if she yielded a little more to please her husband.

Canadians are people too

2004-10-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

There is an article on Kuro5phin titled The Decline and Fall of Canada.
It points out the the stability of Canadian government, its moderate international involvement, provisions for public welfare and inclusive embrace of all cultures and languages which all amount to Canada's egalitarian society where general public's welfare is a top concern. Despite all it's graces, Canada suffers from a brain drain of creative professionals especially in favor of the US. Of course, I say. Why pay taxes that go into a public pot luck to be shared among all the "have nots".
If higher financial return is possible elsewhere, people will generally chose their very personal good over the benefit of others. Those driven to excel, aspire to fulfill their potential. Money, position, status - are all measures of success. To perceive the full value of their work, Canadians have to view their personal successes as reflected not in the growth of their personal assets, but in the overall growth and well being of the entire country. That is a tough feat. And Canadians are only people too.

4 days

2004-10-13T15:56:00.000-07:00

Posing for a mainstream mom opposing Bush, I was busy doing the following for 4 days out of my mini sabbatical:

50 personal, hand written letters to under-registered, under-voting single mothers. About 100$ in supply, print material and postage, sore muscles - my personal mini sacrifice for a better tomorrow.

creative acoustics

2004-10-13T10:34:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, walking in Golden Gate Park I came across a small tunnel streaming a single jazz guitar.
What a brilliant place to play! The sound carried through the stone tunnel and beautifully amplified on the other side. Here is whom I found on the playing end of it.

good morning

2004-09-21T13:05:00.000-07:00

Imagine this, a young black woman is put on a deserted, arid and rocky island by a gang of men (pirates?). Regularly, once a week or so their ship docks the tiny island. Shawna is a sex slave. She never rebels or tries to escape. Years pass, incited by her now teenage daughter, carrying another toddler girl in her arms, the three venture to the other "forbidden" side of the island. They meet the "tourists". Those white, aging plump and flabby people in sandals and shorts, women with coifed curly hair and big sun glasses, are very compassionate. They want to help Shawna off the island. Shawna, like Moses, is old and tired, her mission accomplished by delivering her children to freedom. She dies on the island as her two daughters sail away with the "tourists".
I actually dreamt this! :)