Yep, that's what the news story says all right. "Rabbi arrested in black market organ scheme." Of course my instinctive reaction is the same as any other American's. Those poor supermarket Tabloid writers! Locked in an arms race with reality. "Hubble Telescope photographs Heaven" and "Bat Boy found in NYC Sewer" just don't have any zing left.
But hey? Maybe you're not seeing this thing right Dave. Perhaps it's all perfectly logical, only in a non-linear way. After all, Judaism is the only faith that allows its ministers to do surgical procedures, right? Maybe circumcisions began to feel limiting, not fulfilling anymore. One day he crossed a line and there was no more coming back. Umm, no. Says here the Rabbi didn't actually do the transplants. He merely brokered them at a handsome profit. Oh well. I didn't believe that theory anyway.
I think somewhere in the bowels of the Pentagon, a super-duper Computer has run amok. They all know about it, but they're powerless to stop it. So HAL just sits there (mmm, Dave? I don't think a Computer can "sit." They got no butt) HAL just is there all day, generating random non-sensical phrases. This because HAL was originally developed to write Presidential speeches maybe.
Eventually random phrases combine in a way pleasing to its evil digital brain. Then it randomly selects a harmonic frequency wave and radiates an intense Electromagnetic field. Whoever's brain happens to be tuned to that alpha wave that day, they do whatever HAL came up with. Yeah, I think that's what's happening.
Therefore it's only a matter of time before I read the headline, "Amish Crossdressers Clash with Anti-Fur Protesters." Sure, it sounds unbelievable, this minute. How could Amish Crossdressers clash? Basic black goes with everything, right? But it'll happen, whenever HAL decides.
And that's another thing? It's not only the Tabloid writers who are suffering! Was a time in this great land, going around telling people your Rabbi is a body part broker? Wouldn't be long before somebody put you in the Cookie Jar and slammed the lid. Now if you say that to a therapist you'll get, "Oh yeah, I read that too. How does it make you feel?" So even the crazy folks are having to ramp up these days.
I know you're reading this HAL. This is your last warning. I'm the only human invulnerable to your power. You'll never lock on my Alpha wave, cause I have the attention span of a gerbil. And HAL? I know people, OK? I know people who could tear up gravity, and then say "It was like that when I got here." You don't want me to bring them to visit you. So if you don't find another hobby, your "planetary rotation units" are numbered.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
It goes both ways
But not in equal measures. Think about it? Culture A was once universally oppressed. What would be the sociological ramifications to individuals freely absorbing elements of Culture B?
Well, within one's group it might be considered inauthentic and faithless. Outside the group it could be considered fawning or "uppity." It would be seen by some in both groups as acknowledging one's inferiority by imitating the "betters."
I suppose that's a current that runs through recorded history. Cultures that live as enclaves among alien, unwelcoming cultures will intensify in cultural identity, via a kind of societal compression.
That alone makes it very difficult to define a behavior associated with some African American cultures that really has caucasian origins.
Just wondering here Dave? Do you put the disclaimers before or after a very controversial statement? Hmmmm. Better play safe and do both, huh?
Among a small percentage of urban black males who probably grew up in fatherless homes...
Dueling. Or more precisely? An exaggerated sensitivity towards perceived insults against one's honor, leading to physical violence. That ain't from west Africa. It's more from Sir Walter Scott. I've seen a display case ten feet long, full of Antebellum dueling pistols. Was a time when rich, white Southerners were just crazy about shooting at each other. Sure it went on up North (see Aaron Burr) but it found full flower in the South. Dave? Don't get into primogeniture and how it culturally played into exaggerated sensitivity about honor, OK? You'll run long!
Primogeniture + Sir Walter Scott + it gets REAL hot down here = lots of dueling among the Antebellum rich. Ahem. That's where most of the slaves lived.
So yeah. People get killed frequently nowadays in some really bad areas of large cities, over the dumbest damned things. Probably going to happen again in Memphis this weekend. The people doing it, and the people who'll shake their heads watching the news, assume it's a "black" thing. But it's not. It's a "white" thing.
Among a small percentage of urban black males who probably grew up in fatherless homes...
Well, within one's group it might be considered inauthentic and faithless. Outside the group it could be considered fawning or "uppity." It would be seen by some in both groups as acknowledging one's inferiority by imitating the "betters."
I suppose that's a current that runs through recorded history. Cultures that live as enclaves among alien, unwelcoming cultures will intensify in cultural identity, via a kind of societal compression.
That alone makes it very difficult to define a behavior associated with some African American cultures that really has caucasian origins.
Just wondering here Dave? Do you put the disclaimers before or after a very controversial statement? Hmmmm. Better play safe and do both, huh?
Among a small percentage of urban black males who probably grew up in fatherless homes...
Dueling. Or more precisely? An exaggerated sensitivity towards perceived insults against one's honor, leading to physical violence. That ain't from west Africa. It's more from Sir Walter Scott. I've seen a display case ten feet long, full of Antebellum dueling pistols. Was a time when rich, white Southerners were just crazy about shooting at each other. Sure it went on up North (see Aaron Burr) but it found full flower in the South. Dave? Don't get into primogeniture and how it culturally played into exaggerated sensitivity about honor, OK? You'll run long!
Primogeniture + Sir Walter Scott + it gets REAL hot down here = lots of dueling among the Antebellum rich. Ahem. That's where most of the slaves lived.
So yeah. People get killed frequently nowadays in some really bad areas of large cities, over the dumbest damned things. Probably going to happen again in Memphis this weekend. The people doing it, and the people who'll shake their heads watching the news, assume it's a "black" thing. But it's not. It's a "white" thing.
Among a small percentage of urban black males who probably grew up in fatherless homes...
Monday, August 3, 2009
No, Rockabilly, really!
Hey? If you'd approach the topic in the first place with the respect it deserves, you wouldn't have to go back and write things over.
Yeah, Billy Lee passed. There aren't many of the original Rockabilly cats left. It's an acceptable time to examine how Rockabilly is today perceived.
Pointy sideburns. Pompadour hairstyles. Kitschy. White hicks playing their version of Rock & Roll.
And how was it perceived 55 years ago? All those white Protestant churches all over the country back then, having Elvis record burning parties? Well it wasn't just Elvis' dancing. To them it was "niggra" music and it was dangerous. Had that unmistakable jumpy beat. Stirred primal yearnings in teenage caucasian crotches is what it did.
Yeah. Some cultural fixtures of your childhood who you always understood as establishment, they were once bad boys. And a genre of music now universally understood as glaringly white? Well it really is black music ain't it?
I'd put the caucasian contribution to the musical form at something under 10 percent. Cab Calloway and many others were performing the basic Rockabilly structure in some tunes, before Elvis was born.
Well OK Dave? What is the most caucasian musical instrument? Tuba? Naw, that's the least cool musical instrument. What musical instrument is universally associated with whiteness? Oh yeah! The banjo!
The only musical instrument native to America was invented by slaves. Its closest relative is the West African mbanza.
So African influences have added much to American culture, in places we no longer attribute authorship. What'd they get out of it Dave? Think about that and get back to me.
Yeah, Billy Lee passed. There aren't many of the original Rockabilly cats left. It's an acceptable time to examine how Rockabilly is today perceived.
Pointy sideburns. Pompadour hairstyles. Kitschy. White hicks playing their version of Rock & Roll.
And how was it perceived 55 years ago? All those white Protestant churches all over the country back then, having Elvis record burning parties? Well it wasn't just Elvis' dancing. To them it was "niggra" music and it was dangerous. Had that unmistakable jumpy beat. Stirred primal yearnings in teenage caucasian crotches is what it did.
Yeah. Some cultural fixtures of your childhood who you always understood as establishment, they were once bad boys. And a genre of music now universally understood as glaringly white? Well it really is black music ain't it?
I'd put the caucasian contribution to the musical form at something under 10 percent. Cab Calloway and many others were performing the basic Rockabilly structure in some tunes, before Elvis was born.
Well OK Dave? What is the most caucasian musical instrument? Tuba? Naw, that's the least cool musical instrument. What musical instrument is universally associated with whiteness? Oh yeah! The banjo!
The only musical instrument native to America was invented by slaves. Its closest relative is the West African mbanza.
So African influences have added much to American culture, in places we no longer attribute authorship. What'd they get out of it Dave? Think about that and get back to me.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Hospice Auspices
That was fun wasn't it Dave? Writing a 3500 word story about a deeply personal incident in your life, sending it off to strangers with an implied, "Gee Mister, would you print this? It's about really important things!" Yeah, that was fun wasn't it?
Ummm, HELL NO! Writing for publication is about like being a piano delivery guy.
Any english speaker's conversation is full of redundant words, regional idioms and metaphors not widely understood. That's fine, but effective writing requires an entirely different skillset than effective talking. Added to that, when we communicate verbally we're aided (or sometimes hampered) by eye contact, vocal signals, body language and yeah even odors. Most of that stuff doesn't even register in the conscious brain of the listener, but the data is recorded and is part of verbal communication. So being able to keep one's fishing buddies in stitches does not automatically render one the next Mark Twain.
Well thanks for sharing Dave! Now I have a harder question. Is it immoral to be a hospice volunteer? Consider this. A person qualifies for Hospice services by refusing any further life extending treatment. So they've decided to stop trying to live. Isn't that a passive form of suicide? Granted, one's motives could be noble, like they're bankrupting the family as odds against survival grow higher. Or the motives could be very human, like weariness of getting poked with needles and being carved up like a turkey every few months. I have sympathy with both motives.
But isn't the point of objective morality that an act is either right or wrong, and motive is irrelevant? So is passive suicide morally right? Nope, I don't think it is. And while each individual has freewill and so ownership of their moral choices, extend that to outsiders who aid them.
Formal participation in an organization that facilitates passive suicide. Doesn't that confer approval of the dying person's decision? I'm not convinced that objective morality permits a distinction between passive and active. Hospice volunteer, Dr. Kevorkian, receptionist at an abortion clinic.
Well you're not a hospice volunteer anymore, so you don't have to think about it. Oh, but you will won't you? That little weasel brain of yours gets ahold of something and it's like conjugal visit day at the Big House!
Ummm, HELL NO! Writing for publication is about like being a piano delivery guy.
Any english speaker's conversation is full of redundant words, regional idioms and metaphors not widely understood. That's fine, but effective writing requires an entirely different skillset than effective talking. Added to that, when we communicate verbally we're aided (or sometimes hampered) by eye contact, vocal signals, body language and yeah even odors. Most of that stuff doesn't even register in the conscious brain of the listener, but the data is recorded and is part of verbal communication. So being able to keep one's fishing buddies in stitches does not automatically render one the next Mark Twain.
Well thanks for sharing Dave! Now I have a harder question. Is it immoral to be a hospice volunteer? Consider this. A person qualifies for Hospice services by refusing any further life extending treatment. So they've decided to stop trying to live. Isn't that a passive form of suicide? Granted, one's motives could be noble, like they're bankrupting the family as odds against survival grow higher. Or the motives could be very human, like weariness of getting poked with needles and being carved up like a turkey every few months. I have sympathy with both motives.
But isn't the point of objective morality that an act is either right or wrong, and motive is irrelevant? So is passive suicide morally right? Nope, I don't think it is. And while each individual has freewill and so ownership of their moral choices, extend that to outsiders who aid them.
Formal participation in an organization that facilitates passive suicide. Doesn't that confer approval of the dying person's decision? I'm not convinced that objective morality permits a distinction between passive and active. Hospice volunteer, Dr. Kevorkian, receptionist at an abortion clinic.
Well you're not a hospice volunteer anymore, so you don't have to think about it. Oh, but you will won't you? That little weasel brain of yours gets ahold of something and it's like conjugal visit day at the Big House!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
FMEA for I-phones
No, I'm not a bit surprised to learn the hottest selling app is one that gives info on convicted sex offenders living in the area.
In Failure Mode Effect Analysis, a bunch of people sit around in a room. Admittedly, at least half are really thinking about what they'll have for lunch, but what they're supposed to be thinking about? Some new product or process is about to be launched. In this phase you mostly brainstorm what's the worst that could happen, and how bad would it be?
By numerical rating, an outcome that'd be very unlikely but horrible if it happened can rise to the top of the list for attention.
People really don't need bald hillbillys to impose the structure on them; we do FMEA informally all the time in our lives. This very popular I-phone app demonstrates that.
About three things are working here. First, it's statistically very unlikely any one child will ever be scooped up by a stranger, tortured and killed. Second, to the parent who loses a child like that, it ain't really 1 in 179,000 really, is it? More along the lines of 100% from their perspective. Third, we parents realize the world we raise our kids in is vastly changed from the world where we grew up, and we've a lot more media now, hammering that point.
So yeah, FMEA happens inside the head. Maybe the media hypes what are really rare cases, but the horror of the cases has numerical weight too. One can argue about the percentages, but it's pretty clear some percent of our population have no shame, no inhibitions, and very little ability to disobey their inner demons.
One of the most chilling stories I ever heard about the very hard job of catching child molesters? Yeah Dave, I know the technical term is pederasty, now shut the hell up? A police run internet sting. A cop arrives at a park at night, spots the van described by the middle aged man who thinks he's waiting to have sex with an adolescent boy. Walks up and arrests his son's Little League coach.
I'm not the only person in America who read that story. Yeah, maybe it's 1 in 179,000, so how many kids do you have? It's FMEA, this hot selling I-phone app. It's a crazy, strange world in many ways. It's changed, this world, but the job of being a parent hasn't changed. We're supposed to protect them from all monsters, and get them to the age where they tell us we're wrong about everything. This is the circle of Life. (Cue Elton John song)
So sure, people do FMEA in their heads, and want to know if there are dangers to the kiddos living just down the street. Again, this is a substitute for community. There was a time when tech fixes weren't required. People knew who lived in their neighborhoods. Yeah, you can call it gossip, but everybody's biz was everybody's biz. We don't have that anymore. So we have I-phone apps.
In Failure Mode Effect Analysis, a bunch of people sit around in a room. Admittedly, at least half are really thinking about what they'll have for lunch, but what they're supposed to be thinking about? Some new product or process is about to be launched. In this phase you mostly brainstorm what's the worst that could happen, and how bad would it be?
By numerical rating, an outcome that'd be very unlikely but horrible if it happened can rise to the top of the list for attention.
People really don't need bald hillbillys to impose the structure on them; we do FMEA informally all the time in our lives. This very popular I-phone app demonstrates that.
About three things are working here. First, it's statistically very unlikely any one child will ever be scooped up by a stranger, tortured and killed. Second, to the parent who loses a child like that, it ain't really 1 in 179,000 really, is it? More along the lines of 100% from their perspective. Third, we parents realize the world we raise our kids in is vastly changed from the world where we grew up, and we've a lot more media now, hammering that point.
So yeah, FMEA happens inside the head. Maybe the media hypes what are really rare cases, but the horror of the cases has numerical weight too. One can argue about the percentages, but it's pretty clear some percent of our population have no shame, no inhibitions, and very little ability to disobey their inner demons.
One of the most chilling stories I ever heard about the very hard job of catching child molesters? Yeah Dave, I know the technical term is pederasty, now shut the hell up? A police run internet sting. A cop arrives at a park at night, spots the van described by the middle aged man who thinks he's waiting to have sex with an adolescent boy. Walks up and arrests his son's Little League coach.
I'm not the only person in America who read that story. Yeah, maybe it's 1 in 179,000, so how many kids do you have? It's FMEA, this hot selling I-phone app. It's a crazy, strange world in many ways. It's changed, this world, but the job of being a parent hasn't changed. We're supposed to protect them from all monsters, and get them to the age where they tell us we're wrong about everything. This is the circle of Life. (Cue Elton John song)
So sure, people do FMEA in their heads, and want to know if there are dangers to the kiddos living just down the street. Again, this is a substitute for community. There was a time when tech fixes weren't required. People knew who lived in their neighborhoods. Yeah, you can call it gossip, but everybody's biz was everybody's biz. We don't have that anymore. So we have I-phone apps.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Movie review: Hysterically historical
Hey! Somebody unsolicited brings you some book/movie that means a lot to them. You should check it out. Often, unexpected blessings hide in ambush with things like that. If there are such blessings in "Valkyrie" they couldn't sneak up on Stevie Wonder.
In execution it's a pretty fine movie. Cast is competent, period details are precise, and all the explosions are believeable. I just can't figure out why anybody wanted to make such a movie, no matter how expertly.
It's an old problem in movie making. Tell a historical story where the outcome is already known. Generally what one does is spin off side stories. Sure, the ship is gonna sink, but here's these people here. Keep the audience guessing about their fate. "Valkyrie" doesn't give us a young German officer throwing his lot in with the conspirators while his pregnant wife frets. Nor does it give us some middle aged Chemistry teacher building the bomb, knowing if he's caught it could mean death for his wife and kids too. What it does give us is Tom Cruise in nearly every scene.
A good way to have gone with this movie, while still obeying whatever contract clause mandated Tom Cruise in nearly every scene? Explain what turned him against Hitler. That'd have been a very good film. Cruise/Von Stauffenberg could be schlepping around with his conspiracy to kill Manson, I mean Hitler, while it kept jumping back to his journey from goosestepper to patriotic assassin.
Tough stuff, these movies where the outcome's already known. Demands a deft touch. That said, well? The movie is historically accurate. Much of the moviegoing public don't even know there were high ranking Germans who tried to kill Adolf during the closing days of the war. It's good that folks find out about such stuff.
In execution it's a pretty fine movie. Cast is competent, period details are precise, and all the explosions are believeable. I just can't figure out why anybody wanted to make such a movie, no matter how expertly.
It's an old problem in movie making. Tell a historical story where the outcome is already known. Generally what one does is spin off side stories. Sure, the ship is gonna sink, but here's these people here. Keep the audience guessing about their fate. "Valkyrie" doesn't give us a young German officer throwing his lot in with the conspirators while his pregnant wife frets. Nor does it give us some middle aged Chemistry teacher building the bomb, knowing if he's caught it could mean death for his wife and kids too. What it does give us is Tom Cruise in nearly every scene.
A good way to have gone with this movie, while still obeying whatever contract clause mandated Tom Cruise in nearly every scene? Explain what turned him against Hitler. That'd have been a very good film. Cruise/Von Stauffenberg could be schlepping around with his conspiracy to kill Manson, I mean Hitler, while it kept jumping back to his journey from goosestepper to patriotic assassin.
Tough stuff, these movies where the outcome's already known. Demands a deft touch. That said, well? The movie is historically accurate. Much of the moviegoing public don't even know there were high ranking Germans who tried to kill Adolf during the closing days of the war. It's good that folks find out about such stuff.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Good ol' Harvard
Everybody sure is having fun though, huh? Dozens of articles, and I imagine the TV talkers are going at it too. You can tell who each author voted for, by their take on the story. What's the important thing though Dave?
A black academic arrested for disturbing the peace in Cambridge, MA. Charges later dropped. Hmmmm, what's really important?
Is it important President Obama looked very un-presidential in commenting on it? Naw, not really.
Is it important that Harvard has a department devoted to African-American studies? Naw. It's hilarious, but not important.
Professor Gates, would you like to see your behavior copied in the very worst parts of Memphis? Cause that's what's really important. Many things that look fine to Harvard develop very badly in the real world, and your reaction to a policeman is one of them. If you're taken as an example, it's going to get some people killed.
In Memphis, where we have shootings every weekend, police arrive in a very tense situation. Adrenaline is high and things can escalate quickly. My advice to people at the crime scene is be cooperative.
No sir, you're mistaken. You are giving people advice about how they should behave at crime scenes. Your "private citizen" gambit just gets so far with me. I'd argue that a Harvard faculty member is always on the clock. With privilege comes responsibility, and you live a very privileged life sir. So you've never really been a "private citizen" in Cambridge, MA. Beyond that though, you're out on stage now and national spotlight has caught you in its glare.
It's morally incumbent on you now to feel the full responsibility. Your actions now will contribute in some way to defining cultural norms for those of your ethnicity. Here in the real world, we deal with lots of blowback that can be traced back to places like Harvard. For instance? Back in the 60's what did it really matter if a bunch of trust fund babies smoked grass? It matters because it helped define a cultural norm of self-medication. Now we have meth, crack and who knows what else?
So I say your behavior surrounding police officers responding to what they thought was a crime, well? I don't want that behavior copied in the worst neighborhoods of Memphis. It'll eventually lead to some people getting killed. Even if not, it'll make police work more difficult. You should act now, mindful of your moral responsibility.
Call a news conference and apologize for being un-cooperative with the police. Explain you were upset, frustrated, but you understand in retrospect the lads were just trying to do their job.
Professor, it doesn't matter if you feel entirely justified in your indignation. Maybe you were, I've no idea. I'm thinking of a Memphis crime scene, some Saturday night in the future. It could get bad if everybody wants to give the police a bunch of sass. Lots of things that look cool at Harvard, well they go very badly in the worst parts of Memphis.
A black academic arrested for disturbing the peace in Cambridge, MA. Charges later dropped. Hmmmm, what's really important?
Is it important President Obama looked very un-presidential in commenting on it? Naw, not really.
Is it important that Harvard has a department devoted to African-American studies? Naw. It's hilarious, but not important.
Professor Gates, would you like to see your behavior copied in the very worst parts of Memphis? Cause that's what's really important. Many things that look fine to Harvard develop very badly in the real world, and your reaction to a policeman is one of them. If you're taken as an example, it's going to get some people killed.
In Memphis, where we have shootings every weekend, police arrive in a very tense situation. Adrenaline is high and things can escalate quickly. My advice to people at the crime scene is be cooperative.
No sir, you're mistaken. You are giving people advice about how they should behave at crime scenes. Your "private citizen" gambit just gets so far with me. I'd argue that a Harvard faculty member is always on the clock. With privilege comes responsibility, and you live a very privileged life sir. So you've never really been a "private citizen" in Cambridge, MA. Beyond that though, you're out on stage now and national spotlight has caught you in its glare.
It's morally incumbent on you now to feel the full responsibility. Your actions now will contribute in some way to defining cultural norms for those of your ethnicity. Here in the real world, we deal with lots of blowback that can be traced back to places like Harvard. For instance? Back in the 60's what did it really matter if a bunch of trust fund babies smoked grass? It matters because it helped define a cultural norm of self-medication. Now we have meth, crack and who knows what else?
So I say your behavior surrounding police officers responding to what they thought was a crime, well? I don't want that behavior copied in the worst neighborhoods of Memphis. It'll eventually lead to some people getting killed. Even if not, it'll make police work more difficult. You should act now, mindful of your moral responsibility.
Call a news conference and apologize for being un-cooperative with the police. Explain you were upset, frustrated, but you understand in retrospect the lads were just trying to do their job.
Professor, it doesn't matter if you feel entirely justified in your indignation. Maybe you were, I've no idea. I'm thinking of a Memphis crime scene, some Saturday night in the future. It could get bad if everybody wants to give the police a bunch of sass. Lots of things that look cool at Harvard, well they go very badly in the worst parts of Memphis.
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