OUTRAGEOUS

Think Progress: Florida Legislature Forces University To Idolize Jeb Bush

More Battlestar, Season One Complete

Some thoughts on Battlestar: Galactica, Season 1. First of all, this show continues to disturb me. The moral ambiguity of which I wrote some time back (shortly after starting the series, in fact) continues, though it’s more clear who the “good guys” are—or at least it was until the cliffhanger. One of my friends (jec, who loaned me the series) asked about the significance of the fact that the humans are polytheistic while the Cylons are monotheistic. For a while, I thought it represented the impact of Judaism and Christianity in Europe and Asia Minor, where polytheistic religions gave way to the power of monotheism, even though it took a while. I gave up on this toward the end of these last two episodes because the series seemed to be heading in another direction. Some of this theme remains, however, in the form of the Moses-like Dr. Baltar, whose purpose appears to be to bring the Cylon plan, or God’s will, into fruition.

The symbolism of the Cylon-human “hybrid” has escaped me for the moment, though of course there are various pop-cultural references (The X-Files, Demon Seed) that come to mind. The Cylons, at least the female ones, feel love, as well as other emotions, and the fact that they’re genetically human—or close enough to reproduce with human—indicates something more than the standard alien vs. man trope that is common to the genre. The Cylons are us: they feel the same emotions, they have bone and blood, they can procreate with humans. But they are at the same time something else: born of computers, they are copies of each other. They also appear to be networked somehow.

I’m planning to rent season 2 tomorrow. . . .

My favorite Fark headline in a while

"Kerkorian offers $4.5B to buy moribund Chrysler. Unfortunately, what Chrysler needs right now is Kevorkian, not Kerkorian"

Here's a link to the CNN story.

Here's Fark.

American Freedom Agenda

The American Freedom Agenda is a group founded by (mostly) former Republicans who have grown disillusioned with the strategies and tactics of the current administration regarding prosecuting the War on Terror. Specifically, they have a 10-point agenda calling for limitations on secret evidence, restoration of habeus corpus, and basically the restoration and recuperation of the Constitutional principles upon which this country was founded.

George Bush's favorite historian. - By Jacob Weisberg - Slate Magazine

Truly worrisome. George Bush shouldn't read so much.

Glenn Greenwald - Salon

Greenwald says "federal power is enlisted, and endlessly expanded, in service of an agenda of aggressive militarism abroad, liberty-infringement domestically, and an overarching sense of moralistic certitude and exceptionalism. This movement is neither 'liberal' nor 'conservative' as those terms are understood in their abstract form, but instead, is radical in its attempt to fundamentally re-define the American government and the functions it serves."

Greenwald's right most of the time, he writes well, and he uses evidence. The entry for today is but one example of his thoughtful thoroughness.

Salon should make him free to all, but if you don't have a Salon.com account, you'll have to view an ad.

10,000 Reasons Civilization is Doomed

10,000 Reasons Civilization is Doomed Have you seen this? Have any to add?

The man behind "Battlestar Galactica" | Salon Arts & Entertainment

The man behind "Battlestar Galactica" | Salon Arts & Entertainment

This is an interview with Ronald D. Moore about the show. I'm still in season 1, and have read numerous spoilers already. I can't wait to get to season 2. Anyway, as always with Salon.com, you either subscribe or you have to view advertisements to read. Cheers.

Popular Culture and Moral Ambiguity

Battlestar Galactica is a troubling program. I've just started watching the first season upon the recommendation of my friend jec. The moral ambiguity is something one doesn't see too often on network t.v. In the first episode (following the pilot/miniseries), the fleeing humans must decide if (possibly) killing 1300 people to save 47k is the right decision, and the decision must be made in scant seconds before another attack by the Cylons. The show's tone strikes me as somewhat supportive of the moral ambiguity of the war on terror. How many innocents are worth the lives of x citizens?

In the pilot, when Dr. Gaius Baltar fingers a smarmy ass as a Cylon because he's afraid of getting turned in, it's truly abhorent, yet the guy actually turns out to be a Cylon--does this mean that the people we have locked up in Guantanomo actually are terrorists? Or is it even worse?: that since we don't know, we must lock up certain suspected people because their discomfort could mean the safety of many more.

It's interesting to me that pop culture seems to be moving in that direction, with shows like BG, 24, etc.--even Heroes--all inhabiting areas of shadow and uncertainty. Of course, these shows also have (relatively) clearly-defined "good guys" as well, in keeping with the Western tradition of having a protagonist for whom you can cheer.

Glenn Greenwald - Salon

Glenn Greenwald - Salon

This article says a lot about the authoritarian tendencies in the American right wing. If you're not a member of salon.com, you'll have to watch an ad to view the article, but it's worth it.

p.s. If there's anyone out there, other than jec, reading this blog with anything approaching regularity (defined as coming back a second time), let me know.

All for now.

McSweeney's: Alternate Xmas poems

Here

Randomness

Just a few quick notes. I haven’t posted in a while (not that the one viewer per week has noticed), but a few things have been on my mind over the last few days:

Item: Go to New Orleans. I was there a week ago and the place is empty and people are leaving. It’s too much a part of this country’s history and heritage to allow it to die.

Item: Martin Luther King, Jr. deserves a memorial, but I think the $100 million that will be spent on the one in DC would be better spent on predominantly (and in many cases exclusively) black schools in the inner cities and rural South, or as seed money for a foundation to continue the work that he was doing when he died. His family sure isn’t doing much of anything except trying to make a buck off of his name and good deeds.

Item: Governor Mark Sanford (Libertarian-SC) latches onto every possible handhold that comes up (the latest is an audit of the state’s DOT saying they waste money—welcome to government) to argue for his pet project, reorganizing state government to make constitutional, elected positions part of a cabinet. I think instead the governor should be calling for a constitutional convention to get rid of the racist legacy of the sorry “Pitchfork” Ben Tillman, whose 1895 constitution was drawn up to disfranchise black voters as much as for anything else.

Item: James Carville needs some strange, because fucking Mary Matalin has addled his brain. Either that, or he should just sit back and raise the kids while the Mrs. runs the Republican party. If I were a Democratic leader, I wouldn’t tell him a damn thing about strategy or tactics, because Mary’ll just go down on him and he’ll ejaculate everything, literally and figuratively, right there on the living room carpet.

Visualizing Meaning � About the project

Faculty at Cornell were asked: "Of the many charts (graph, map, diagram, table and ‘other’) you have seen in your life, which has been the most important, remarkable, meaningful or valuable?" This site answers that question. Very cool.

www.dontclick.it

www.dontclick.it Don't click it. Seriously. Don't.

UP - United Professionals - Professionals deserve to earn a good living.

UP - United Professionals - Professionals deserve to earn a good living.
This new group founded by Barbara Ehrenriech looks to improve the lives of white-collar workers through attention to health care, debt, and displacement issues.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Last Outpost - TV Squad

Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation, has a wonderful blog (temporarily here), and occasionally reviews old TNG episodes, such as this one. Hilariously, I hasten to add.

The Blog | Jane Smiley: CEO President | The Huffington Post

The Blog | Jane Smiley: CEO President | The Huffington Post

Haven't posted in a while and will explain later, but this essay is astoundingly good.

del.icio.us

I've been using my del.icio.us site to organize my bookmarks online so I'll always (at least as long as del.icio.us operates) have access to them if I don't have my computer or my thumb drive. Now that you can upload and import your bookmarks file into del.icio.us, it's really easy. The other advantage is that I can share them with other folks with the same interests. I didn't share them all at first, so I'm going to have to go through them and decide which ones to share (probably the vast majority). If any del.icio.us users happen upon this entry, check my site out, and be patient. If you don't use del.icio.us, check out my site anyway: you might decide to become a user.

TruthVendor.com

The Truth about "John F. Kennedy."

James Wolcott: Hellmouth Sets out the Welcome Mat

James Wolcott has some excerpts from various sources that put the Lebanon issue in deeper context.