National security v. pork-barrel politics

From CNN:

A Homeland Security database of vulnerable terror targets in the United States, which includes an insect zoo but not the Statue of Liberty, is too flawed to determine allocation of federal security funds, the department's internal watchdog found....

[T]he department's database of vulnerable critical infrastructure and key resources included an insect zoo, a bourbon festival, a bean fest and a kangaroo conservation center. They represent examples of key assets identified in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, and Maryland.....

[T]he Homeland Security assessment of New York this year failed to include Times Square, the Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Bridge or the Statue of Liberty as a national icon or monument....

At least we know that the bean festival and the kangaroo conservation center are safe from evil terra-ists. And those whiny New Yorkers... why, that city votes Democrat! Why should stouthearted patriotic Republicans listen to anything they say?

Edit: On the other hand, maybe we should be worried about carnivorous kangaroos. Not to mention Demon Ducks of Doom.

Recent Reads

Evangelical Cockroach : the short stories of Jack Woodford
Sadly, the man who wrote such swinging, slashing assaults on the follies of the publishing industry in The Loud Literary Lamas of New York fails to get much traction as a fiction writer. The two or three stories I read from this volume all seem to aspire to O Henry's style of clever, punchy endings, but sadly the characters seem rather wooden and uninvolving. Since the book's due back to the interlibrary loan, I won't have an opportunity to investigate further.

Recent Reads

The Books of Great Alta, by Jane Yolen (omnibus edition of Sister Light, Sister Dark and White Jenna.) Yolen has taken a fairly standard fantasy trope -- that of the mysterious or marked child who is prophesied to overturn the existing social order -- and souped it up with some novel feminist world-building concepts, some clever pastiches on old English folk-ballads, and a witty, indirect running commentary on the way that legends, myths, and stories eventually become history. It's a good recipe.

"Thrice mothered and thrice orphaned", white-haired and black-eyed Jenna is fostered to a forest-dwelling matriarchial Hame, or community, that lives apart from the society around it and worships Great Alta, a dualistic mother-goddess with both light and dark sides to her personality. Yolen has given these sisters an unusual and intriguing gift, the ability to call forth "dark sisters", or personal doubles, who can only appear as shadows at night, in moonlight or candlelight. These are not mere dopplegangers of their "light sisters", but independently thinking and acting beings whose personalities echo, but do not duplicate, those of their "light sisters". This is an intriguingly original concept, especially in a genre (epic fantasy) which all too often treads its way tiresomely around the same old cliches of graceful elves, sturdy dwarves, and filthy orcs without introducing anything new to the mix. It's possible that Yolen pulled the basic inspiration of this concept from Jung's concept of the Shadow, but she develops it in a way that is distinctively her own, and reveals it so gradually and subtly that a naive reader may be well into the story before recognizing the nature of the "dark sisters".

Outside the safe haven of the Hame, there is turmoil and social upheaval. The Dales seem to be a fantasy-analogue of medieval England, complete with an arrogant, exploitative class of foreign-born aristocrats and a good many ballads, dirges and other songs which Yolen has cleverly derived from historical English folk songs like "Lord Randall", The Lyke Wake Dirge, et al. On top of the cultural conflict between ruling Continentals and native Dalefolk, Yolen has also superimposed a clash between matriarchial and patriarchial cultures, creating a theater in which the hypotheses of Robert Graves' The White Goddess can be played out. Inevitably, the fateful child Jenna is drawn into these conflicts.

Interspersed throughout the story is a commentary by a "modern" historian, whose conjectures and commentaries on other historians' views cast an ironic light on the whole concept of history itself. (And yes, The White Goddess does get cited by Yolen's imaginary historian!)

It's fine fantastical fun with just enough mythological, historical and intellectual games(wo)manship to keep the synapses happily perking away.

Recent reads (in brief)

Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

This book might just as well have been titled Freakopsychology or Freakosociology, since many of the anecdotes related have only a tenuous connection to economics as most people understand the term. However, it does provide some interesting and thought-provoking examples of the ways in which both overt and covert incentives affect human behavior. The gratuitous self-promotion of Steven D. Levitt is annoying, especially the adulatory quotes which introduce every chapter, all of which are taken from the same magazine article.

Good news for A-squared

Google Claus is coming to town.

Somewhere, it's a dark and stormy night...

... and the results of the annual Bulwer-Lytton contest have been announced, inspiring shock and awe in all who behold them.

Thanks to Fiend for the heads-up and this story from the Globe & Mail. It spotlights the winning entry, in which a burrito-chomping detective meets a woman with rather talkative anatomy.

Blasphemy!

Budweiser pays $40 million for exclusive "pouring rights" at the World Cup. Beer drinkers in the land of Rheinheitsgebot are predictably unimpressed.

I am so disappointed.

Sadly, I am missing out on the Michigan ElvisFest. But maybe I will still get a chance to check out the Shadow Art Fair the following weekend, or the Michigan Beer Festival the weekend after that. (Unless, of course, I have other commitments!)

Recent viewings

Superman Returns. The latest installment in the Superman franchise is pretty good entertainment. The effects are impressive, although more than once good ol' Supes seems to have a suspiciously synthetic sheen to his skin. Brandon Routh, as many reviewers have noted, looks something like Christopher Reeve, and does a good job of portraying the Man of Steel as a heroic outsider who is slowly coming to realize just how isolated he really is. (Even so, despite all the heavy drama, my favorite moment was the quick, grimly reproving grin that he gives to a dismayed bank-robber who has just discovered that his big, impressive arsenal of firepower doesn't quite cut the mustard against any part of the Kryptonian anatomy.) The actress who plays Lois Lane, on the other hand, seems miscast for the role, petulant and brittle rather than gutsy and determined. Lex Luthor is dapper and surprisingly sympathetic, and even makes a plausible-sounding speech about why he hates Superman. But his schemes and his deeds are still villainous. The expensive toys he plays with -- a glorious yacht equipped with a vast interior library complete with fireplace and grand piano; a fantastically elaborate if ill-fated model train layout -- could overshadow a lesser villain, but rest assured he has dastardly schemes in mind that will dwarf such mere gewgaws. Parker Posey has some fun as a gangster's moll who may not be quite as dimwitted as she looks. The filmmakers have some fun with obscure allusions to the long-running Superman mythos, replicating the iconic cover of Superman's first comic-book appearance in a news photo halfway through the movie and casting archival footage of Marlon Brando as the hologram of Superman's long-deceased father.

All in all, a fun , effects-heavy adventure, but it seems unlikely to acquire the iconic status of older interpretations.

PS: I ordinarily try to avoid supplying spoilers in movie and book commentaries; however, I can't help but wonder whether the screenwriter for Superman Returns was deliberately trying to skim around some of the implications of Larry Niven's ... er, ... seminal essay on the subject of human/Kryptonian sexual relationships, Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex, by implying that the offspring of Kryptonians -- or at least of Kryptonian-human hybrids -- begin life in a "fragile" state and only gradually gain their super-powers. Still, they fail to explain how such a child could be engendered at all, given the difficulties presented by Niven.

Recent reads

The Black Squall, by Lori Stone. There are a few mystery series that I have enjoyed reading over the years. Robert B. Parker's Spenser series is one. Sharyn McCrumb's series of Appalachian tales is another. And so is John D. MacDonald's long series of books about Travis McGee, that salty old houseboat-dwelling Florida raconteur, freelance investigator, salvage consultant, and slightly tarnished knight-for-hire who pursued swindlers, crooked land speculators, drug dealers, corrupt cops and other south-Florida evildoers in a series of novels from 1964's The Deep Blue Goodbye to 1984's The Lonely Silver Rain.

Recent discussion on a fiction-related listserv clued me in to a couple of things that I didn't know about McGee and his creator. Apparently there are persistent rumors that MacDonald wrote a book titled Black Borders for McGee in which the peripatetic private eye met his death. However, no such book has ever been published and MacDonald's widow and publisher both stoutly deny any such rumors. But that doesn't mean that McGee is safe in that limbo to which fictional characters retire when their series have run their course.

Lori Stone's The Black Squall, a novel published in 2001 through Iuniverse, a purveyor of "supported self-publishing", begins with a young professional woman discovering that her father and uncle have been killed in an explosion at sea. Her father? Well, he was a salty old houseboat-dwelling Florida raconteur, freelance investigator, salvage consultant, and slightly tarnished knight-for-hire who pursued swindlers, crooked land speculators, drug dealers, corrupt cops and other south-Florida evildoers. Sound familiar?

Although Stone, for obvious reasons, must be coy about the question, as in this interview, there can be very little doubt that the deceased father in her book is at the very least a very close kindred spirit to Travis McGee. Allusions to the titles and background of MacDonald's books abound through out The Black Squall, beginning with the title, which echoes the format of the McGee titles with their inevitable color references. (For a more detailed analysis, see here.)

I enjoyed reading the book, but I found that most of my interest was in spotting the allusions to MacDonald's books, not in the doings of the protagonist, one Jean Pearson. Stone is a competent writer and storyteller, with the exception of one glaring plot discrepancy involving a helpful secondary character who, at the end, is suddenly and inexplicably revealed as a villian, thus rendering his previous help to the protagonist completely nonsensical. However, her lead character lacks McGee's distinctively pungent bachelor charm, and her descriptions of the Floridian settings lack MacDonald's eye for detail and atmosphere. This is one of the hazards of imitating a master.

The Black Squall reads almost like a very good example of fan fiction. At best, such fiction can recall the pleasures of the work that it derives from, but it rarely exceeds its progenitor, and usually gets weaker as its story proceeds away from that original source. A successful series requires a protagonist who can stand on his (or her) own two feet and command the reader's attention without the crutch of allusions. If Stone wants her promised followup novel, Dead Issue, to appeal to readers, then Jean Pearson needs to become a compelling character in her own right rather than trading on her father's connections.

Obligatory Nancy Pearl moment: My interest in the McCrumb books is primarily due to their setting, whereas my interest in Parker's books is primarily due to the appeal of the character Spenser. MacDonald's books score high on both appeal factors. McGee is an entertainingly eccentric narrator, and the south Florida setting he inhabits is piquantly described and easily imagined in all its sunbaked, seedy splendor. Stone's novel, although competently written, does not excel in either area, but the clever allusions to McGee make it an entertaining read for MacDonald fans, and it's always possible that she could catch a second and more individualistic wind in her next book.

Crash!

For those who haven't been following the titanic legal collision between veteran Lionel and upstart MTH Trains over stolen locomotive plans, here are a couple of articles that will explain what's been going on in the world of tinplate trains.

Background of Lionel/MTH lawsuit, from Classic Toy Trains magazine

Train Wreck, from Inc.com. A personal profile of MTH founder Mike Wolf, and his perspective on the stolen-plans feud.

It looks like another lawsuit between the two companies, this time over Lionel's alleged misuse of a patented method of electronically controlling locomotives and related sound devices, has been postponed until the appeals court decides whether or not to uphold the existing $40 million judgment over the locomotive plans. Since Lionel entered bankruptcy after that judgment was awarded last year, it may be possible that as a major creditor, MTH will end up with partial or complete control of its forerunner and competitor.

Stolen documents, schemes, legal maneuvers.... Jay Gould and his hated archrival Cornelius Vanderbilt have nothing on these guys.

A thief as well as a liar

Ann Coulter, plagiarist.

Coulter's response, from her July 5 column:

Once considered a legitimate daily, the Post has been reduced to tabloid status best known for Page Six's breathless accounts of Paris Hilton's latest ruttings, and headlines like "Vampire Teen — H.S. Girl Is Out for Blood." How crappy a newspaper is the Post? Let me put it this way: It's New York's second-crappiest paper.

Maybe the Post's constant harassment of me is an attempt to shake me down for protection money like they did with billionaire businessman Ron Burkle. I have sold a LOT of books — more books, come to think of it, than any writers at the New York Post.

No mention of its proof of her plagiarism. After all, we can't have her readers figuring out that they've been conned. Especially since, as usual, she has no substantive response to offer, only content-free vitriol to spew.

Editor and Publisher notes in its discussion of Coulter's plagiarism that "[T]he Post could hardly be "reduced to tabloid status" since it is, in fact, a tabloid."

An intriguing paradox

Why Conservatives Can't Govern, from Washington Monthly by way of Arts & Letters Daily.

If government is necessary, bad government, at least for conservatives, is inevitable, and conservatives have been exceptionally good at showing just how bad it can be. Hence the truth revealed by the Bush years: Bad government--indeed, bloated, inefficient, corrupt, and unfair government--is the only kind of conservative government there is. Conservatives cannot govern well for the same reason that vegetarians cannot prepare a world-class boeuf bourguignon: If you believe that what you are called upon to do is wrong, you are not likely to do it very well.

Note to Pablo: I responded to your comment below, but Enetation refuses to update the number of comments.

Reasons not to go to graduate school

From "Thomas Benton" in the Chronicle of Higher Education: Goodbye, Mr. Keating.

The problem is you can't get to where I am now without going through a decade or more of immersion in a highly politicized and anti-literary academic culture. You have to spend so many years conforming that, by the time freedom presents itself, you don't know why you became an English major in the first place. You might even have contempt for your seemingly naïve students, who represent the self that you had to repress in order to be a professional.

It is not that I want to privilege some form of literary dilettantism as a substitute for professionalism. I simply want to demonstrate that the reasons most people get into English are different from the motives that will make them successful in graduate school and in professional life beyond that. They must, ultimately, purge themselves of the romantic motives that drew them to English in the first place -- or pretend to do so. If you want to be a literary professional, you must say goodbye to Mr. Keating.

News Noted

Apparently the Pentagon believes Al Qaeda to be composed of gay pacifists who reside in the United States. Its so-called "anti-terrorist" efforts have recently been found to include spying on domestic political activities including anti-war student groups and gay activists. Be a good citizen! Be sure and report any suspiciously well-dressed pacifists to your local Thought Police!


In a completely unrelated story, Chris Hedges of the NYT analyzes The Christian Right and the Rise of American Fascism. The article is well worth reading as he describes in great detail how the fanatical/fundamentalist "Dominionist" movement, inspired by the absolutist doctrines of Rousas Rushdoony, gained influence over the Republican Party over the past 25 years, and plans to impose Old-Testament theocracy through government fiat. Plenty of very revealing quotes, including this cute little zinger from Gary North, Mr. Rushdoony's son-in-law and founder of the so-called "Institute for Christian Economics":

"So let's be blunt about it: We must use the doctrine of religious liberty to gain independence for Christian schools until we train up a generation of people who know that there is no religious neutrality, no neutral law, no neutral education, and no neutral civil government. Then they will get busy in constructing a Bible-based social, political and religious order which finally denies the religious liberty of the enemies of God." (Christianity and Civilization, Spring, 1982)

It sounds very much like the old chestnut about democratic elections in countries dominated by Islamic fundamentalism: One man, one vote, one time.
Hedges' conclusion:

All debates with the Christian Right are useless. We cannot reach this movement. It does not want a dialogue. It cares nothing for rational thought and discussion. It is not mollified because John Kerry prays or Jimmy Carter teaches Sunday School. These naive attempts to reach out to a movement bent on our destruction, to prove to them that we too have "values," would be humorous if the stakes were not so deadly. They hate us. They hate the liberal, enlightened world formed by the Constitution. Our opinions do not count.

This movement will not stop until we are ruled by Biblical Law, an authoritarian church intrudes in every aspect of our life, women stay at home and rear children, gays agree to be cured, abortion is considered murder, the press and the schools promote "positive" Christian values, the federal government is gutted, war becomes our primary form of communication with the rest of the world and recalcitrant non-believers see their flesh eviscerated at the sound of the Messiah's voice.

The spark that could set it ablaze may be lying in the hands of an Islamic terrorist cell, in the hands of the ideological twins of the Christian Right. Another catastrophic terrorist attack could be our Reichstag fire, the excuse used to begin the accelerated dismantling of our open society. The ideology of the Christian Right is not one of love and compassion, the central theme of Christ's message, but of violence and hatred. It has a strong appeal to many in our society, but it is also aided by our complacency. Let us not stand at the open city gates waiting passively and meekly for the barbarians. They are coming. They are slouching rudely towards Bethlehem . Let us, if nothing else, begin to call them by their name.

Further information at www.TheocracyWatch.org


And speaking of anti-gay ballot initiatives.... did anyone but me notices that the ones in Michigan were worded almost exactly the same as the ones in Texas and other states? Coincidence? Not if the bills were ghostwritten by a lobbyist group like the one described by Mother Jones magazine in this article.


On a more pleasant note, AstroBiology magazine includes this interview with Brother Guy Consolmagno, astronomer to the Vatican (NOT "astrologer", as one well-meaning Stilyagi described him last year!) He's a frequent guest at southeastern Michigan science fiction conventions, so I may get a chance to hear him talk in person one of these days. He sounds like an interesting fellow, and far less scary than the Dominionist schemers quoted above, or at least, not as overtly so:

The trouble is that some people think they can use science to prove God. And that puts science ahead of God; that makes science more powerful than God. That's bad theology. In fact, some philosophers have said that's what led to atheism in the eighteenth century -- the fallacy of the God of the gaps. You say, "I have no idea how this could have happened. It must have been God's design." And then fifty years later, somebody explains how it did happen, and you say, "I don't need God anymore." If your faith is based on science, that's a very shaky kind of faith....

If you're going to be a scientist, there are three things you have to believe. Number one, the universe really exists -- I'm not just a butterfly dreaming I'm a scientist. Two, you have to believe that the universe makes sense. It's not chaotic; there really are underlying laws and we're able to find them. And the third and hardest thing, the most religious of the beliefs, is you have to believe it's worth doing.

Back from Canada

Stratford. Much Ado About Nothing. Kayaked the somewhat mucky but still picturesque Avon River, while Fiend and friend paddled prettily along in a canoe looking like a colorful poster for the Ontario Ministry of Tourism. Superman Returns. IKEA mania! A new apartment for another friend, although not one that he will keep for long. Fireworks! (Yay, Canada! ... er, Brazil?...) Coffee experiments. Settlers of Catan card game. And, sadly, a funeral for a fish.

A busy weekend.

Computer, replicate one cup of coffee, black.

Physics genius plans to make 'Star Trek' replicator a reality (USA Today)

Canada Day!

A parade in honor of Chinese railroad workers, as seen from on high:

Render unto Caesar

Mendell D. Morgan, the Dean of Library Services at the so-called "University" of the Incarnate Word in Texas, has cancelled its library's subscription to the New York Times because he believes that criticism of the Bush Administration is "treason".

Now all those terrorists at his "university" will remain safely unaware that Caesar is scrutinizing their banking records, telephone conversations, and e'mail. Perhaps Caesar will reciprocate by letting him read the private e'mail and listen in on the private conversations of his subjects, so that he can weed out the "traitors" who criticize him for his censorship. Or for denying them tenure. Or for not funding their departmental picnic. And if the faculty and students are blocked from knowledge of current events or history, well, so much the better for encouraging obedient loyalty, right?

(More discussion of this treasonous librul practice known as "journalism" here, here, etc.)

By rail to the roof of the world

No, this isn't another model railroad posting, but a link to an article from Wired (of all places) describing the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, a recently-constructed railway in China. It's described as the highest railroad in the world, much of it over 13,000 feet elevation. It includes some fascinating details about the unusual challenges that the builders had to overcome, and the adaptations they had to make.