So, Andrew Sullivan says of George W Bush: "because he cannot address homophobia and cannot even say the word 'gay' in public or address this issue directly, his legacy in America is actually an increase in HIV transmission".
This is all a bit rich, isn't it, coming for a HIV positive man who, 7 years ago, was actively seeking "bareback" sex?
(Yes, I know, he claims he was only going to have unprotected sex with another HIV positive person, but even that is behaviour not entirely without sexual health consequences.)
What upsets Sullivan is that he (Bush) didn't use the word "gay" in a conversation about HIV. He then goes on about how homophobia amongst blacks being the biggest HIV problem in America.
Funny, I thought the issue was that black men do not identify readily as "gay," and wouldn't assume George was even talking about them if he used the word. How does Sullivan think using the word "gay" is going to work magic within the black community?
By the way, that story from The Nation about Sullivan's dating strategies notes that Sullivan's ad indicated he was also into "bi-scenes" (as well as orgies generally.) I will take this as adding credibility to my personal theory of why Sullivan hates Sarah Palin!
UPDATE: just stumbled across a recent, very detailed, and very explicit, article in Huffington Post which argues that "barebacking" between the HIV positive is almost certainly encouraging mutated, drug resistant strains of HIV. It is very critical of the way the gay community is, to a large extent, taking the view that HIV infection is not such a serious matter now.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Embed problem?
I'm told that this blog is sending off anti virus warnings for some, and it appears to be related to embedded Youtube. (I actually got a virus warning from a science blog that appears to have no videos on it.)
I use AVG (paid version) and am not having any problems, and it seems not entirely clear whether it is a "real" problem or not.
Still, in the interests of safety, and not annoying people, I'll delete the embeds in the last couple of posts. Maybe they can be re-instated later.
I use AVG (paid version) and am not having any problems, and it seems not entirely clear whether it is a "real" problem or not.
Still, in the interests of safety, and not annoying people, I'll delete the embeds in the last couple of posts. Maybe they can be re-instated later.
More anti-Dubai
Why I'd rather die than visit Dubai | Sathnam Sanghera - Times Online
Most remarkable from the above opinion piece:
Most remarkable from the above opinion piece:
According to the Lonely Planet guide to the city, one British tourist was arrested at Dubai airport and sentenced to four years in prison after 0.03g of cannabis - an amount “smaller than a grain of sugar and invisible to the human eye” - was found on the stub of a cigarette stuck to the sole of his shoe. Meanwhile, a Swiss man was reportedly imprisoned after customs officers found three poppy seeds on his clothes (they had fallen off a bread roll he had eaten at Heathrow), and a British woman was held in custody for two months before customs officers conceded that the codeine that she was using for her back problems had been prescribed by a doctor.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Clever bike
Sanyo to launch new electric hybrid bicycle
Equipped with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, the "eneloop bike" takes the crossover between a normal bicycle and a moped one step further, aiming to tap growing interest in tackling global warming.They need to get rid of the Japanese style shopping basket on the front, though, for it to look cool enough in the West.
The system harnesses energy from braking when the bike goes downhill, and can add extra power equivalent to double the rider's pedal force for going uphill, in line with relaxed government restrictions on such systems.
The eneloop bike can travel 1.8 times faster than conventional bicycles thanks to the motor powering its front wheel, the company said.
Doctors behaving badly
Arrogant, abusive and disruptive — and a doctor - International Herald Tribune
"About 3 to 4 percent of doctors are disruptive, but that's a big number, and they really gum up the works." Experts say the leading offenders are specialists in high-pressure fields like neurosurgery, orthopedics and cardiology.
...every nurse has a story about obnoxious doctors. A few say they have ducked scalpels thrown across the operating room by angry surgeons. More frequently, though, they are belittled, insulted or yelled at — often in front of patients and other staff members — and made to feel like the bottom of the food chain.Interestingly, one researcher blames the way surgeons teach themselves:
Norcross blamed "the brutal training surgeons get, the long hours, being belittled and 'pimped' " — a term for being bombarded with questions to the point of looking stupid. "That whole structure teaches a disruptive behavior," he said.Vast international readership: you can post anonymously here your true life experience with a "disruptive doctor". Everyone likes those stories, don't they?
Tracking down CO2
Carbon Detectives Are Tracking Gases in Colorado - NYTimes.com
Good article explaining the research underway to get a better understanding of where CO2 comes from and goes (otherwise known as the carbon budget):
Good article explaining the research underway to get a better understanding of where CO2 comes from and goes (otherwise known as the carbon budget):
...researchers think about half of the CO2 emitted into the atmosphere gets absorbed by oceans and land, but they do not know precisely where the gases come from and where they end up. This knowledge gap has serious policy implications; until it becomes clear where emissions are going, it will remain difficult to have verifiable credits for sequestering carbon.This sounds like it may help a lot:“We need to make sure that carbon markets are affecting climate change, not just putting money in the hands of some companies and people,” said Lisa Dilling, an assistant professor of environmental science at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
A vexing challenge is that surface inventory assessments — based on measuring forests, agricultural fields and smokestack emissions, for instance — generally do not agree with atmospheric measurements.
Surprising they haven't had a satellite to do that before now.In January, the next frontier of atmospheric CO2 measuring instruments will begin when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration launches the first carbon-scanning satellite, called the Orbiting Carbon Observatory.
Each day, the satellite will orbit Earth 15 times, taking nearly 500,000 measurements of the “fingerprint” that CO2 leaves in the air between the satellite and Earth’s surface. The data will be used to create a map of CO2 concentrations that will help scientists determine precisely where the sources and sinks are — showing differences in trace gases down to a 1 part per million precision against a background of 380 parts per million CO2 equivalent.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Australia revisited
History in the Making: The Current Cinema: The New Yorker
Damn. The New Yorker had David Denby review "Australia" instead of Anthony Lane. Still, Denby took quite a strong and witty dislike to it, so the result is not too bad.
The previous post here said it was a "spoiler" for the movie, yet it didn't actually deal with how the movie ends. (Oddly enough, over the weekend many people were coming to the post via searches for the movie spoiler.)
For those still interested, the real movie ending appears to be explained here, but David Denby also appears to give it away to a significant degree (and with a killer final line):
Damn. The New Yorker had David Denby review "Australia" instead of Anthony Lane. Still, Denby took quite a strong and witty dislike to it, so the result is not too bad.
The previous post here said it was a "spoiler" for the movie, yet it didn't actually deal with how the movie ends. (Oddly enough, over the weekend many people were coming to the post via searches for the movie spoiler.)
For those still interested, the real movie ending appears to be explained here, but David Denby also appears to give it away to a significant degree (and with a killer final line):
At the end, King George summons Nullah to a rite of passage, a walkabout. Nullah’s disappearance into the desert, leaving the whites behind, is framed as a triumphant anti-colonial moment, but Luhrmann confuses the issue by accompanying the scene with, of all things, the stirring “Nimrod” passage from “Enigma Variations,” by Edward Elgar, the composer perhaps most closely associated with the glories of empire. With the same degree of appropriateness, Luhrmann might celebrate Barack Obama’s Inauguration with a thundering rendition of “Dixie.”If it weren't 3 hours long, I would be tempted to see to confirm my suspicion as to how bad I would find it. But life is too short for that. And in any event, it can almost certainly be written off as a box office flop, and will be making an appearance in the DVD rental shop sooner than they expected.
Always their fault
Egypt's Jew Haters Deserve Ostracism in the West - WSJ.com
Good article here about how even the supposedly liberal part of Egyptian media runs stories blaming the Jews for everything.
Good article here about how even the supposedly liberal part of Egyptian media runs stories blaming the Jews for everything.
The Independent should expect letters
The kindest cut: How circumcision is the secret weapon in the battle against HIV/Aids - The Independent
Here's a long article about the success of circumcision in Africa as a preventive step to dramatically reduce HIV transmission:
Here's a long article about the success of circumcision in Africa as a preventive step to dramatically reduce HIV transmission:
Flooding Africa with condoms and trying to change sexual behaviour has had little demonstrable impact. Research on an Aids vaccine has foundered and an effective microbicide is still not in sight.What's the bet that this will still not satisfy the very strange anti-circumcision movement, the believers in which will no doubt be writing letters to The Independent this very minute.The toll from the disease is staggering – an estimated 33 million people infected with HIV, and 25 million dead. Even more alarming, however, is that new infections are growing by 2.7 million a year, outnumbering the annual two million deaths. For every two people put on drug treatment, five more become infected.
Against this litany of despair there is now, for once, a message of hope – a chance of curbing, and even reversing, the epidemic. Circumcision, if rolled out across the continent, offers the first real prospect of saving lives by preventing infection on a significant scale. Estimates suggest that if universal circumcision were introduced across sub-Saharan Africa, it could prevent 300,000 deaths in the next 10 years and three million deaths over the next 20 years. It is sometimes described as a "surgical vaccine" – with good reason.
Overexposed
Jamie Oliver to launch own magazine | Media | guardian.co.uk
I suppose I didn't mind watching a bit of Jamie Oliver's shows when he was new, but they became increasingly irritating over time. Although I don't watch him deliberately anymore, I still see enough from time to time to know what he's up to.
First it was all those happy music end scenes of the "mates over for lunch" in his London pad that grated (a feature of Nigella Lawson's shows too,) then the soap opera of his wife not liking the press making up stories, and the saintly fights to improve British school food. Recently, he did a series in which he showed Italian monks how to enjoy life again (while swearing and going on about some domestic drama about whether his wife was really going to turn up or not), and the latest seemed mainly to be about how good he was at growing his own vegetables.
Now, believe it or not, he is going to publish his own bi-monthly magazine.
I am just waiting for his new movie to be announced.
I suppose I didn't mind watching a bit of Jamie Oliver's shows when he was new, but they became increasingly irritating over time. Although I don't watch him deliberately anymore, I still see enough from time to time to know what he's up to.
First it was all those happy music end scenes of the "mates over for lunch" in his London pad that grated (a feature of Nigella Lawson's shows too,) then the soap opera of his wife not liking the press making up stories, and the saintly fights to improve British school food. Recently, he did a series in which he showed Italian monks how to enjoy life again (while swearing and going on about some domestic drama about whether his wife was really going to turn up or not), and the latest seemed mainly to be about how good he was at growing his own vegetables.
Now, believe it or not, he is going to publish his own bi-monthly magazine.
I am just waiting for his new movie to be announced.
A failed suppression continues
Speaking of climate change, I am not the first to note this, but there continues to be a hell of lot of articles in the Australian press lately by warming skeptics complaining that their dissent is being suppressed.
It's starting to remind me of lefties complaining of suppression of dissent under the Howard government's sedition laws. It all has a bit of a Monty Python air about it, claiming suppression when everyone with ears in fact can hear what they are saying.
If their complaint is that they can't get published in peer reviewed journals, a large number of the vocal skeptics simply don't work directly in the field of climate research anyway. (Geologists are unduly represented, and while part of their knowledge is relevant to the big picture, I still wouldn't expect that they would be particularly knowledgable about studying what is happening in the atmosphere and oceans right now.)
The people at Real Climate have noticed this upswing in skeptic confidence too, and refer people to their Wiki as a resourse for information addressing the skeptic's arguments.
While my argument is that it is not even necessary to have a position on warming in order to believe that strong action on CO2 is warranted (due to ocean acidification,) I must say that I increasingly find the warming skeptics position irritating, in that they just ignore the reasonably put rebuttals by the climate scientists. (Real Climate has nearly always taken a moderate tone, in my opinion, although this latest post indicates that they are really just getting tired of being nice to skeptics.)
I'll give the skeptics the point that media reporting greatly favours any "alarmist" news, but this is not really something that affects the actual science. I am even happy enough to see a wildly inaccurate claim by Tim Flannery, for example, to be held up for ridicule by Tim Blair, but people shouldn't forget that he is just like the geologist skeptics in that there was never any reason to take his opinion particularly seriously anyway.
It is also true, as John Quiggin has noted, that being a conservative blogger who wants to see action on greenhouse gases is a very lonely position in Australia. It is actually very annoying to agree with Andrew Bolt's reading of federal politics about 90% per cent of the time, but then to find that he just runs with any skeptical argument on greenhouse gases and shows no sign of independently looking at the counterarguments.
It increasingly seems to me that many skeptics are now taking just as "religious" view of the issue as the Greens, with(for example), their belief that there is a vast quasi-conspiracy of climate scientists keeping quiet about the "truth" in order to keep their funding going.
Unfortunately though, it is the skeptic faith that seems likely to the one which is going to cause real problems for future generations.
It's starting to remind me of lefties complaining of suppression of dissent under the Howard government's sedition laws. It all has a bit of a Monty Python air about it, claiming suppression when everyone with ears in fact can hear what they are saying.
If their complaint is that they can't get published in peer reviewed journals, a large number of the vocal skeptics simply don't work directly in the field of climate research anyway. (Geologists are unduly represented, and while part of their knowledge is relevant to the big picture, I still wouldn't expect that they would be particularly knowledgable about studying what is happening in the atmosphere and oceans right now.)
The people at Real Climate have noticed this upswing in skeptic confidence too, and refer people to their Wiki as a resourse for information addressing the skeptic's arguments.
While my argument is that it is not even necessary to have a position on warming in order to believe that strong action on CO2 is warranted (due to ocean acidification,) I must say that I increasingly find the warming skeptics position irritating, in that they just ignore the reasonably put rebuttals by the climate scientists. (Real Climate has nearly always taken a moderate tone, in my opinion, although this latest post indicates that they are really just getting tired of being nice to skeptics.)
I'll give the skeptics the point that media reporting greatly favours any "alarmist" news, but this is not really something that affects the actual science. I am even happy enough to see a wildly inaccurate claim by Tim Flannery, for example, to be held up for ridicule by Tim Blair, but people shouldn't forget that he is just like the geologist skeptics in that there was never any reason to take his opinion particularly seriously anyway.
It is also true, as John Quiggin has noted, that being a conservative blogger who wants to see action on greenhouse gases is a very lonely position in Australia. It is actually very annoying to agree with Andrew Bolt's reading of federal politics about 90% per cent of the time, but then to find that he just runs with any skeptical argument on greenhouse gases and shows no sign of independently looking at the counterarguments.
It increasingly seems to me that many skeptics are now taking just as "religious" view of the issue as the Greens, with(for example), their belief that there is a vast quasi-conspiracy of climate scientists keeping quiet about the "truth" in order to keep their funding going.
Unfortunately though, it is the skeptic faith that seems likely to the one which is going to cause real problems for future generations.
Complicated oceans
North Atlantic cold-water sink returns to life : Nature News
Here's the opening paragraph from the above report:
Here's the opening paragraph from the above report:
Scientists have found evidence that convective mixing in the North Atlantic, a mechanism that fuels ocean circulation and affects Earth's climate, has returned after a decade of near stagnation – thanks, perhaps, to a dramatic loss of sea-ice in the Arctic during the summer of 2007.From a global warming/greenhouse gas point of view, this appears to be good news. Certainly, the oceans are proving remarkably complicated to understand, probably because they are huge and hence hard to study:
(And by the way, I don't know that this has much influence on the issue of ocean acidification as a concern.)Reduced convection should in theory weaken the entire Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC) — responsible for carrying warm tropical water northwards — with far-reaching consequences for Earth's climate. But so far at least, scientists have not observed any significant changes to that large-scale circulation. Findings published in 2005 that seemed to indicate a big slowing of the MOC were later found to be in the range of natural fluctuations (see 'Ocean circulation noisy, not stalling').
One reason, says Fischer, is that the observational basis is still thin. The Argo programme, a global array of 3,000 robots that measure temperature, salinity and water pressure, has only last year become fully operational, for example.
But already it's clear that the response of the Atlantic Ocean circulation to high-latitude changes is much more complex than has been assumed.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Innovative team building activities
The art of the toilet in Japan
Yeah, I've gone on enough about the wonderful clever toilets of Japan. That's not why I've linked to the article, it's this part:
Yeah, I've gone on enough about the wonderful clever toilets of Japan. That's not why I've linked to the article, it's this part:
Japanese people do not see cleaning as a demeaning or shameful job....Recently, I visited a small technology company in Osaka. The president, Mr Sugimoto, is trying to inspire his staff to work harder as recession takes hold.
He is noted for his drive and enthusiasm and that came across in a punchy presentation which he showed me on his laptop.It included photographs of his staff on their knees scrubbing the urinals.
His point was that in preparation for a new project, the whole team had mucked in to clean up the workplace and this was clearly a source of pride to be included in the company's publicity.
Sad to say that in Australia you would have the newly invigorated ACTU interfering with such innovative team building exercises.*
* Just trying to be silly: no one should take it as sarcasm indicating any particularly sympathetic attitude to unions in Australia.Modern policing
How to calm binge drinkers: get them all blowing bubbles
In England, a novel idea in babysitting. (Sorry, make that policing):
In England, a novel idea in babysitting. (Sorry, make that policing):
I don't get it. Will these bubble blowers come with a little bottle of detergent too? If so, how many fights will be started by some drunk bumping another and causing detergent to get in the eyes?Drinkers will be encouraged to play with children's bubble blowers instead of picking fights, in a scheme to start next month in Bolton. Police will hand out the free toys as young people pour out of pubs and clubs in typically boisterous mood.
But the initiative has been condemned as a 'nursery school gimmick' and a waste of taxpayers' money. The blue and orange bubble blowers, which double as pens, will be handed out by police community support officers and town centre ambassadors on Saturday nights. Elaine Sherrington, a Bolton councillor, said: 'They are a great idea to keep things light-hearted. Revellers will have something fun to focus on as they leave pubs and clubs.
Are the Japanese noticing?
Faroe islanders told to stop eating 'toxic' whales - New Scientist
The Faroe Islands got a mention here earlier this year, when Foreign Correspondent ran a story about them. (The direct link is here.)
Their whale eating habits will have to change, though:
The Faroe Islands got a mention here earlier this year, when Foreign Correspondent ran a story about them. (The direct link is here.)
Their whale eating habits will have to change, though:
Chief medical officers of the Faroe Islands have recommended that pilot whales no longer be considered fit for human consumption, because they are toxic - as revealed by research on the Faroes themselves.
The remote Atlantic islands, situated between Scotland and Iceland, have been one of the last strongholds of traditional whaling, with thousands of small pilot whales killed every year, and eaten by most Faroese....
But today in a statement to the islanders, chief medical officers Pál Weihe and Høgni Debes Joensen announced that pilot whale meat and blubber contains too much mercury, PCBs and DDT derivatives to be safe for human consumption."It is with great sadness that this recommendation is provided," they said. "The pilot whale has kept many Faroese alive through the centuries."
Saturday, November 29, 2008
The curse of Saturday night TV, and songs of previous decades
Saturday night from 10pm has been the dead zone of Australian television since about, I don't know, the invention of television.
Having children of a certain age means few outings at that time currently, and once again I am facing the problem that television assumes that its potential audience is either oldies who are already in bed by 9.30pm, or youngsters who are out on the town or already having sex. (I say "once again" because, while single in the 1990's, it was not all that uncommon to find me sponging a Saturday night dinner from married friends, which would end with us channel surfing and noting how there was absolutely nothing worth viewing - even with cable.)
About the only times I can remember Saturday night TV being something to look forward to was when the ABC ran (I think) D Generation in a fairly late night timeslot (or was it another show from the same Working Dog group?) It would appear that this was in 1986 and 1987. Mark those years down as possibly the only ones this nation will ever see for fresh comedy on a Saturday night. (Well, Mick Molloy made his disastrous forays with his own show on a Saturday too, I think, but the less said about them the better.)
Still, I must admit that I am now quite taken with Rockwiz on SBS. (It provides 40 minutes of entertainment til 10pm at least.) You probably have to be in your 40's to enjoy it, being mainly based on nostalgia for music from the 80's and 90's, but it is terribly good natured, and it's hard not to like Julia Zemiro's as host.
Speaking of songs of previous decades, I was surprised to see an article on Lisa Loeb in The Japan Times today. As far as I knew she was a one hit wonder, and while it appears that she's had nothing approaching the huge success of her first single ("Stay"), she has managed to make a career out of music after all. Oddly, she's had some success with songs for children, although it would appear from her Wikipedia entry (and this), that she may be an example of the modern young woman who dawdles in semi-committed relationships so long that they never get around to having children. (I could be wrong here, but it sounds as if she has no kids.)
Anyhow, like millions of others, I really liked "Stay," and how can any male resist her cute, vulnerable, librarian vibe in the video clip? (Well, maybe rugby league players can, with their more lurid sexual fantasies and realities than mine, but we can't all be into toilet trysts.)
Loeb looks like the Anti-Winehouse, or Anti-Madonna if you like. (By the way, I wouldn't even recognise a Winehouse song if I heard one on the radio; I only know of her due to the appalling tatts and druggie look.) It's been ages since I've seen Loeb's cheap but charming video, but here we go. Enjoy:
Deleted due to virus warning - may be back later
Having children of a certain age means few outings at that time currently, and once again I am facing the problem that television assumes that its potential audience is either oldies who are already in bed by 9.30pm, or youngsters who are out on the town or already having sex. (I say "once again" because, while single in the 1990's, it was not all that uncommon to find me sponging a Saturday night dinner from married friends, which would end with us channel surfing and noting how there was absolutely nothing worth viewing - even with cable.)
About the only times I can remember Saturday night TV being something to look forward to was when the ABC ran (I think) D Generation in a fairly late night timeslot (or was it another show from the same Working Dog group?) It would appear that this was in 1986 and 1987. Mark those years down as possibly the only ones this nation will ever see for fresh comedy on a Saturday night. (Well, Mick Molloy made his disastrous forays with his own show on a Saturday too, I think, but the less said about them the better.)
Still, I must admit that I am now quite taken with Rockwiz on SBS. (It provides 40 minutes of entertainment til 10pm at least.) You probably have to be in your 40's to enjoy it, being mainly based on nostalgia for music from the 80's and 90's, but it is terribly good natured, and it's hard not to like Julia Zemiro's as host.
Speaking of songs of previous decades, I was surprised to see an article on Lisa Loeb in The Japan Times today. As far as I knew she was a one hit wonder, and while it appears that she's had nothing approaching the huge success of her first single ("Stay"), she has managed to make a career out of music after all. Oddly, she's had some success with songs for children, although it would appear from her Wikipedia entry (and this), that she may be an example of the modern young woman who dawdles in semi-committed relationships so long that they never get around to having children. (I could be wrong here, but it sounds as if she has no kids.)
Anyhow, like millions of others, I really liked "Stay," and how can any male resist her cute, vulnerable, librarian vibe in the video clip? (Well, maybe rugby league players can, with their more lurid sexual fantasies and realities than mine, but we can't all be into toilet trysts.)
Loeb looks like the Anti-Winehouse, or Anti-Madonna if you like. (By the way, I wouldn't even recognise a Winehouse song if I heard one on the radio; I only know of her due to the appalling tatts and druggie look.) It's been ages since I've seen Loeb's cheap but charming video, but here we go. Enjoy:
Deleted due to virus warning - may be back later
At last...
IR reforms asking for trouble | The Australian
Finally, Paul Kelly finds something about which to actually criticise the Rudd government. (It's the new, union-enhancing IR laws.)
Maybe these laws signal the end of many in industry cuddling up to this Labor government. (My pet theory is that so many of them have become used to not dealing with unions that have forgotten how intrusive they can be.) The laws are also coming at exactly the wrong time in the economic cycle.
Let's see what happens.
Finally, Paul Kelly finds something about which to actually criticise the Rudd government. (It's the new, union-enhancing IR laws.)
Maybe these laws signal the end of many in industry cuddling up to this Labor government. (My pet theory is that so many of them have become used to not dealing with unions that have forgotten how intrusive they can be.) The laws are also coming at exactly the wrong time in the economic cycle.
Let's see what happens.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Of little interest soon
Can't we hold torturers accountable and still find out the truth? - By Dahlia Lithwick - Slate Magazine
By the sounds of this article, an Obama administration is not going to try to prosecute Bush administration figures over their involvement in counterterrorism policies. (Assuming that they even can if the expected presidential pardons are made.)
They will instead hold a 9/11 style commission.
This prospect annoys many liberals as being too soft on Bush and co, but surely they should see that if indeed Obama is "tested" by more terrorism against Americans (and the Indian attacks are giving us a taste of this), public interest in how many people might have faced a waterboard under a Bush administration is going to be very, very low. (There is also going to be the distraction of a very severe recession.)
In other terrorism related stuff, John Quiggin takes the opportunity to make a statement of the obvious about a phrase which I thought had long gone out of use by all but the most stupid anyway:
By the sounds of this article, an Obama administration is not going to try to prosecute Bush administration figures over their involvement in counterterrorism policies. (Assuming that they even can if the expected presidential pardons are made.)
They will instead hold a 9/11 style commission.
This prospect annoys many liberals as being too soft on Bush and co, but surely they should see that if indeed Obama is "tested" by more terrorism against Americans (and the Indian attacks are giving us a taste of this), public interest in how many people might have faced a waterboard under a Bush administration is going to be very, very low. (There is also going to be the distraction of a very severe recession.)
In other terrorism related stuff, John Quiggin takes the opportunity to make a statement of the obvious about a phrase which I thought had long gone out of use by all but the most stupid anyway:
As the cycle of war and terror has gone on, it’s become increasingly clear that the kind of easy evasion involved in slogans like “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” is no more tenable than the bogus arguments for war put forward by Bush and his followers.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Spoiler warning: Australia
Being allergic as I am to all Australian movies, it seems a fair assumption that "Australia" would cause a breakout of hives even if I walk past the cinema door while it's playing.
There is no doubt at all that many Australian critics are giving it an extra star or so just for being a large scale film by Baz Luhrmann; a director who, although married, has always seemed to display a "gay sensibility" in his movies. (He works in "operatic style" is how they put it on At the Movies last night, where both critics spent a lot of time on the faults but still ended up giving it 3 1/2 stars each.)*
Anyhow, apart from every review, whether good or bad, agreeing that the film is riddled with cliche, there is no doubt that the way the film deals with aborigines is going to attract a lot of derision from some quarters. This will be well deserved if these comments by Roger Ebert (who liked the film overall, but his judgment is wildly erractic) are anything to go by:
* well it took a couple of attempts with different search terms, but it would appear that Luhrmann has not only admitted to a gay sensibility, but to active bisexuality.
UPDATE: Andrew Bolt points out Luhrmann's blatant dishonestly in one key plot point in the film. I wonder if this was co-writer Richard Flanagan's idea? Here he is, going on in great seriousness about the film.
There is no doubt at all that many Australian critics are giving it an extra star or so just for being a large scale film by Baz Luhrmann; a director who, although married, has always seemed to display a "gay sensibility" in his movies. (He works in "operatic style" is how they put it on At the Movies last night, where both critics spent a lot of time on the faults but still ended up giving it 3 1/2 stars each.)*
Anyhow, apart from every review, whether good or bad, agreeing that the film is riddled with cliche, there is no doubt that the way the film deals with aborigines is going to attract a lot of derision from some quarters. This will be well deserved if these comments by Roger Ebert (who liked the film overall, but his judgment is wildly erractic) are anything to go by:
Luhrmann is rightly contemptuous of Australia's "re-education" policies; he shows Nullah taking pride in his heritage and paints the white enforcers as the demented racists they were. But "Australia" also accepts aboriginal mystical powers lock, stock and barrel, and that I think may be condescending.Amongst the bad reviews that are out there (it scores a 51% on Rottentomatoes), I like the start to the one by Dana Stevens in Slate:
Well, what do you believe? Can the aboriginal people materialize wherever they desire? Become invisible? Are they telepaths? Can they receive direct guidance from the dead? Yes, certainly, in a spiritual or symbolic sense. But in a literal sense? Many of the plot points in "Australia" depend on the dead King George's ability to survey events from mountaintops and appear to Nullah to point the way. The Australians, having for decades treated their native people as subhuman, now politely endow them with godlike qualities. I am not sure that is a compliment. What they suffered, how they survived, how they prevailed and what they have accomplished, they have done as human beings, just as we all must.
The film is filled with problems caused by its acceptance of mystical powers. If Nullah is all-seeing and prescient at times, then why does he turn into a scared little boy who needs rescuing?
It's a mystery to me how Baz Luhrmann continues to be regarded as a director worth following. A long time has passed since I've regarded his lush, loud, defiantly unsubtle output with anything but dread.As for the aboriginal content, she writes:
I guess I don't know enough about Australian racial politics to opine at length on this movie's vision of its aboriginal characters, but I will say that if my people were subjected to this simultaneously idealizing and condescending "magical Negro" treatment, I would seriously consider aiming a boomerang at Baz Luhrmann's head.I certainly hope Anthony Lane writes the New Yorker review: I can imagine him being very witty about this.
* well it took a couple of attempts with different search terms, but it would appear that Luhrmann has not only admitted to a gay sensibility, but to active bisexuality.
UPDATE: Andrew Bolt points out Luhrmann's blatant dishonestly in one key plot point in the film. I wonder if this was co-writer Richard Flanagan's idea? Here he is, going on in great seriousness about the film.
The Indian attacks
Analysis: a new tactic by Islamist militants - Times Online
Some early analysis here, which also discusses more broadly the range of terrorist groups and issues within India.
Some early analysis here, which also discusses more broadly the range of terrorist groups and issues within India.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Too much information: the Dutch method
Sex education: why the British should go Dutch - Times Online
Well, if all of this article is correct, the famous Dutch openness in sex education is enough to make every Australian parent I know squirm:
The article becomes less salacious when it starts discussing the other social reasons why teen pregnancy is not so common there, and oddly enough, these are consistent with a more conservative ideology:
Well, here's hoping that its possible to have the social change of kids believing that it's dumb to have sex too early, but without the addition of masturbation videos for 9 year olds.
Well, if all of this article is correct, the famous Dutch openness in sex education is enough to make every Australian parent I know squirm:
Next year, 12-year-old Sasha explains to me, they will learn how to put a condom on a broomstick (she says this without a trace of embarrassment, just a polite smile). Across the city, nine-year-old Marcus, who lives in a beautiful 18th-century house on a canal, has been watching a cartoon showing him how to masturbate. His sister, 11, has been writing an essay on reproduction and knows that it is legal for two consenting 12-year-olds to make love. Her favourite magazine, Girls, gives advice on techniques in bed, and her parents sometimes allow her to stay up to see a baby being born on the birthing channel.Such mind-boggling openness is what is often credited for the remarkably low teen pregnancy and abortion rate in the country. And it's not that they are having "safe sex" early either: they actually start much later on average too.
Then there is Yuri, 16, who explains to me in perfect English that “anal sex hurts at the beginning but if you persevere it can be very pleasurable”. When I ask whether he is gay, he says “no” but he has watched a documentary on the subject with his parents.
The article becomes less salacious when it starts discussing the other social reasons why teen pregnancy is not so common there, and oddly enough, these are consistent with a more conservative ideology:
Another reason why the teenage pregnancy rate is so low may be that in the Netherlands there is still a stigma attached to having a child before the age of 20. In Britain, a baby who can offer unconditional love, a free home away from parents and a cheque every month is not considered a disaster for a teenage girl. The Dutch Government still penalises single mothers under 18, who are expected to live with their parents if they become pregnant. Until six years ago the Government gave them no financial support. ...The other reason given is that families are closer because they are somewhat similar to the much derided ideal of a 1950's Australian nuclear family:
Braeker was shocked when she first came to Britain. “Young girls here seem to have babies to prove that they are adults. In the Netherlands it would just prove how uneducated and naive you are,” she says. “There you can have a boy as a friend, here it's almost always about sex.”
Dutch children are five times less likely to be living in a family headed by a lone parent, divorce rates are far lower and fewer mothers are in full-time employment.Mind you, we then veer into the hard-to-believe openness again:“I think my eight-year-old son has probably learnt more about sex from David Attenborough than from school,” she says. “It is the family that makes the difference. Parents leave the office by 5pm in Holland and eat dinner with their children at 6pm. They then watch TV or play sport together, so they tend to be closer to their children and can guide them to do the right thing.”
Trudie, a fashion stylist, has always talked about sex with her daughter. When, at 16, her daughter asked her what sperm looked like, Trudie asked her husband to provide a sample.Bloody hell, whatever happened to having a couple of mice in a cage to teach the kids about reproduction?
Well, here's hoping that its possible to have the social change of kids believing that it's dumb to have sex too early, but without the addition of masturbation videos for 9 year olds.
Obama and FOCA
Obama's threat to Catholic hospitals and their very serious counterthreat. - Slate Magazine
Here's a good article on the issue of Obama, the highly contentious Freedom of Choice Act, and the Catholic Church's threat to close hospitals if it goes through.
I reckon Obama will secretly be hoping that there are enough Democrats in Congress with reservations to prevent it getting through, so that he doesn't have to sign it after all.
Here's a good article on the issue of Obama, the highly contentious Freedom of Choice Act, and the Catholic Church's threat to close hospitals if it goes through.
I reckon Obama will secretly be hoping that there are enough Democrats in Congress with reservations to prevent it getting through, so that he doesn't have to sign it after all.
Janet & Ziggy today
Janet Albrechtsen has been to Israel (as a guest of the government and a Jewish group), and writes on a topic mentioned here many times before: the near impossibility of a long term solution if the Palestinians keep educating their kids to hate the Jews and not think seriously about accommodating Israel. She writes:
Look at the geography books for Palestinian children that encourage children to see no Israel, books that feature maps of Israel in the colours of the Palestinian flag, and described as Palestine. Learn about the May 2008 soccer championships for young boys in honour of terrorists such as Samir Quntar and Muhammad al-Mabhuh. Or the July 2008 summer camp held for young girls named in honour of female suicide bomber Dalal al-Mughrabi, who hijacked a holiday bus in 1978, murdering 12 children and 25 adults. Listen to Fatah-funded children’s television where children are taught to continue the way of the shahids (the suicide bombers) and quizzed about Mughrabi. She is presented as “the beloved bride, child of Jaffa, jasmine flower”. Or quizzes where children routinely identify Israeli landmarks, towns and ports such as Haifa, Ashdod and Eilat as Palestinian.This was something I hadn't heard before:
According to the PMW, more than half of the Palestinian educators in the teachers’ union are affiliated with Hamas.In other opinion in The Australian, Ziggy Switkoski continues his lonely promotion of nuclear power as a serious option for Australia. He never mentions pebble bed reactors, or other new technology, though.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
The dark continent
It's amazing the extent of bad news that Africa is generating at the moment. The current "highlights" include:
1. Zimbabwe is on "the brink of collapse" (so they say; unfortunately, the government has hovering on the brink for an awfully long time). Cholera is the latest misery being added to the appalling government generated problems:
It was odd to see that the countryside looked incredibly green and lush after recent rains, but apparently the failure of last year's crops still means there is not enough food now. The population was said to be about 80 million, which was much higher than I would have guessed.
The story was also noteworthy for showing up the questionable reliability of World Vision. The journalist visited a 14 year old girl that he had been sponsoring for years. It appeared that she had been barely aware that she was being sponsored until recently, when she was given a jacket and a pen. Certainly, the feedback that World Vision supplies as to what the sponsored child is doing (learning english, for example) does not appear reliable.
World Vision apparently said that the sponsorship money goes to community projects that benefit the children, but it was not clear in this story what they may have done for this child's community. It was not a good look, and World Vision will certainly be hoping that this does not get much coverage.
While watching undernourished people living in the lush green countryside, it was hard to avoid the thought that this was a country that really needed help with developing modern, efficient farming. According to Wikipedia, the problems range from the small farm size, to some of the farm practices:
3. Somalia continues to be pirate capital. The Economist paints this grim picture:
The corrupt, dangerous place that O'Hanlon writes about is in an even worse state now. In May this year, The Economist wrote about widespread use of rape as a weapon of war, and now the 17,000 strong UN peace keeping force needs re-enforcements that it is unlikely to get, and there is talk the place looks primed for a Rwandan style genocide.
What a depressing continent.
UPDATE: In an effort to be more upbeat, people could do worse, I suspect, than to donate to Catholic Relief Services, which appears to do a lot of work in Africa. It may just be my bias, of course, but I suspect that Catholic agencies would be pretty credible in the efficiency with which donations are used.
Out of curiosity, I just did a search for Islamic charities, and turned up Islamic Relief Worldwide, which currently features on its front page a graphic headed "donate now" that points out that "The practice of sacrificing an animal at Eid ul Adha acts as a reminder of the Prophet Ibrahim's obedience to Allah". Hmm.
UPDATE II: the BBC has this recent feature on the problem with foreign aid for Africa.
1. Zimbabwe is on "the brink of collapse" (so they say; unfortunately, the government has hovering on the brink for an awfully long time). Cholera is the latest misery being added to the appalling government generated problems:
About 6,000 people have contracted cholera in recent weeks, according to the UN, and almost 300 have died. A chronic shortage of medicine has sent hundreds of people south to seek treatment in South Africa....2. Ethiopia. Foreign Correspondent tonight had a story on famine in Ethiopia. (The video is not up on the website yet, but should be by the end of the week.)
In the meantime, the economy has disintegrated and the health system is close to breakdown. Four big hospitals, including two in Harare, have effectively closed their doors to new patients owing to a shortage of basic supplies and running water
It was odd to see that the countryside looked incredibly green and lush after recent rains, but apparently the failure of last year's crops still means there is not enough food now. The population was said to be about 80 million, which was much higher than I would have guessed.
The story was also noteworthy for showing up the questionable reliability of World Vision. The journalist visited a 14 year old girl that he had been sponsoring for years. It appeared that she had been barely aware that she was being sponsored until recently, when she was given a jacket and a pen. Certainly, the feedback that World Vision supplies as to what the sponsored child is doing (learning english, for example) does not appear reliable.
World Vision apparently said that the sponsorship money goes to community projects that benefit the children, but it was not clear in this story what they may have done for this child's community. It was not a good look, and World Vision will certainly be hoping that this does not get much coverage.
While watching undernourished people living in the lush green countryside, it was hard to avoid the thought that this was a country that really needed help with developing modern, efficient farming. According to Wikipedia, the problems range from the small farm size, to some of the farm practices:
Since the land holdings are so small, farmers cannot allow the land to lie fallow, which reduces soil fertility.[114] This land degradation reduces the production of fodder for livestock, which causes low amounts of milk production.[115] Since the community burns livestock manure as fuel, rather than plowing the nutrients back into the land, the crop production is reduced.[116] The low productivity of agriculture leads to inadequate incomes for farmers, hunger, malnutrition and disease. These unhealthy farmers have a hard time working the land and the productivity drops further.These are problems that are in principle solvable, but it would seem none of the necessary reform is happening.
3. Somalia continues to be pirate capital. The Economist paints this grim picture:
With no proper government since 1991, it has been a bloody kaleidoscope of competing clans and fiefs. More than 1m, in a population once around 10m, have fled abroad; this year alone, the UN reckons, some 160,000 have been uprooted from Mogadishu, the capital, which has lost about two-thirds of its inhabitants over the years. The country is too dangerous for foreign charities, diplomats or journalists to function there permanently. Thousands of angry, rootless, young Somalis are proving vulnerable to the attractions of fundamentalist Islam in the guise of al-Qaeda and similar jihadist brands. The cash from piracy is probably fuelling the violence.4. The Congo. I am currently reading "Congo Journey" by Redmond O'Hanlon, about his mid 1990's trip into the Congo. (Currently this is available as a $10 "Popular Penguin" edition in Australia.)
The corrupt, dangerous place that O'Hanlon writes about is in an even worse state now. In May this year, The Economist wrote about widespread use of rape as a weapon of war, and now the 17,000 strong UN peace keeping force needs re-enforcements that it is unlikely to get, and there is talk the place looks primed for a Rwandan style genocide.
What a depressing continent.
UPDATE: In an effort to be more upbeat, people could do worse, I suspect, than to donate to Catholic Relief Services, which appears to do a lot of work in Africa. It may just be my bias, of course, but I suspect that Catholic agencies would be pretty credible in the efficiency with which donations are used.
Out of curiosity, I just did a search for Islamic charities, and turned up Islamic Relief Worldwide, which currently features on its front page a graphic headed "donate now" that points out that "The practice of sacrificing an animal at Eid ul Adha acts as a reminder of the Prophet Ibrahim's obedience to Allah". Hmm.
UPDATE II: the BBC has this recent feature on the problem with foreign aid for Africa.
Your next weekly dose of bad ocean news
BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Marine life faces 'acid threat'
Anyhow, it's still bad news, by any interpretation.
To be fair, some reported comments of one of the researchers involved are misleadingly expressed:Man-made pollution is raising ocean acidity at least 10 times faster than previously thought, a study says.
Researchers say carbon dioxide levels are having a marked effect on the health of shellfish such as mussels.
They sampled coastal waters off the north-west Pacific coast of the US every half-hour for eight years.
The results, published in the journal PNAS, suggest that earlier climate change models may have underestimated the rate of ocean acidification.
"Many sea creatures have shells or skeletons made of calcium carbonate, which the acid can dissolve," said Catherine Pfister, Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago and a co-author of the study.That could easily be taken to mean the ocean is actually turning into an acidic pH, but ocean acidification at its worst will still leave the ocean alkaline (just significantly less alkaline than it used to be.)
Anyhow, it's still bad news, by any interpretation.
The eternal critic
Robert Fisk: Once more fear stalks the streets of Kandahar
So, Robert Fisk is reporting from Afghanistan at the moment, noting the misery suffered by the population caught between the Taliban and Western forces. (Acid throwing on girls attending school has made a recent re-appearance.)
Fisk ends the above account by the spurious advice:
So, Robert Fisk is reporting from Afghanistan at the moment, noting the misery suffered by the population caught between the Taliban and Western forces. (Acid throwing on girls attending school has made a recent re-appearance.)
Fisk ends the above account by the spurious advice:
Barack Obama wants to send 7,000 more American troops to this disaster zone. Does he have the slightest idea what is going on in Afghanistan? For if he did, he would send 7,000 doctors.A letter writer to the Independent responds appropriately:
....in the absence of western forces, what is not explained is how medics and civilian contractors might operate in a region ruled by well-armed fanatics who don't want redevelopment, and who don't want schoolgirls they've maimed with acid to be treated. Even worse is the suggestion that we leave fellow members of the human race to such an appalling fate, when it is within our powers to try to help them.But a comment made after the original article sums up Fisk perfectly, even if the spelling is lacking:
What you do Mr Fisk with your baby shaking naarratives that tunnell in on the details to obscure the big picture truth is preach a counsel of despair so the truly uncaring people of the world can continue to walk by on the other side of the road.Exactly.
About Hillary
The last thing we need is a Clinton in charge of foreign policy. - By Christopher Hitchens - Slate Magazine
Actually, given his intense dislike of all things Clinton, I think Hitchens sounds slightly restrained in this criticism of Hillary as Secretary of State.
Actually, given his intense dislike of all things Clinton, I think Hitchens sounds slightly restrained in this criticism of Hillary as Secretary of State.
Monday, November 24, 2008
A bunch of stuff to keep you going
Here's a quick post of links to this and that:
* Bryan Appleyard is back, and posting in amusing fashion about the rich and travel, the BBC and "risk taking", his ailments, and John Lennon's "Imagine" (he dislikes the song; so do I).
In fact, I seem to be in basic agreement with him about everything since his return. If only he didn't have that strange aberration of enjoying Olbermann!
* I have no idea whether the author of this article is a reliable pundit on China, but the picture he paints of the dramatic consequences of a serious economic slow down in China sounds plausible enough. (Basically, it's of social disruption on a pretty massive scale, as former factory workers return to the countryside to eke out a living in agriculture, or whatever.) I do get the impression that the West is overly optimistic on China being able to spend its way out of trouble.
* Victor Davis Hansen makes a list of ten politically incorrect complaints about America. Points 3 (about Hollywood being in a terrible creative slump at the moment) and 6 (about the American male accent not being what it used to be) are the most interesting. Here's a sample:
* A lot of his commentors to this post by John Quiggin think that a carbon emissions trading scheme is too open to the abuses of a trading market, and argue a carbon tax avoids this problem. JQ does not answer them. (He may have elsewhere, but he - and nearly every other economist - just seem to be taking an ETS instead of a tax as a "given".)
* Finally: did you know that Japan has an all woman musical theatre troupe, owned by a train company (!) that has been doing large scale shows for nearly 100 years? The women play the male roles, and about 90% of the audience is women (causing much speculation as to what it is the audience is responding to.)
Anyhow, I had never heard of the Takarazuka Revue before, but there is a detailed Wikipedia entry. The shows they have put on have included such oddities (remember, it's women playing men) as adaptions of The Great Gatesby, Tom Jones, and (from "normal" theatre) The Sound of Music and West Side Story.
Very strange if you ask me.
* Bryan Appleyard is back, and posting in amusing fashion about the rich and travel, the BBC and "risk taking", his ailments, and John Lennon's "Imagine" (he dislikes the song; so do I).
In fact, I seem to be in basic agreement with him about everything since his return. If only he didn't have that strange aberration of enjoying Olbermann!
* I have no idea whether the author of this article is a reliable pundit on China, but the picture he paints of the dramatic consequences of a serious economic slow down in China sounds plausible enough. (Basically, it's of social disruption on a pretty massive scale, as former factory workers return to the countryside to eke out a living in agriculture, or whatever.) I do get the impression that the West is overly optimistic on China being able to spend its way out of trouble.
* Victor Davis Hansen makes a list of ten politically incorrect complaints about America. Points 3 (about Hollywood being in a terrible creative slump at the moment) and 6 (about the American male accent not being what it used to be) are the most interesting. Here's a sample:
.....increasingly to meet a young American male about 25 is to hear a particular nasal stress, a much higher tone than one heard 40 years ago, and, to be frank, to listen to a precious voice often nearly indistinguishable from the female. How indeed could one make Westerns these days, when there simply is not anyone left who sounds like John Wayne, Richard Boone, Robert Duvall, or Gary Cooper much less a Struther Martin, Jack Palance, L.Q. Jones, or Ben Johnson? I watched the movie Twelve O’clock High the other day, and Gregory Peck and Dean Jagger sounded liked they were from another planet.Certainly, having read this, I could not think of one convincing, male action hero who is currently in his prime and particularly "manly" in the way Hansen complains. Matt Damon? I don't think so.
* A lot of his commentors to this post by John Quiggin think that a carbon emissions trading scheme is too open to the abuses of a trading market, and argue a carbon tax avoids this problem. JQ does not answer them. (He may have elsewhere, but he - and nearly every other economist - just seem to be taking an ETS instead of a tax as a "given".)
* Finally: did you know that Japan has an all woman musical theatre troupe, owned by a train company (!) that has been doing large scale shows for nearly 100 years? The women play the male roles, and about 90% of the audience is women (causing much speculation as to what it is the audience is responding to.)
Anyhow, I had never heard of the Takarazuka Revue before, but there is a detailed Wikipedia entry. The shows they have put on have included such oddities (remember, it's women playing men) as adaptions of The Great Gatesby, Tom Jones, and (from "normal" theatre) The Sound of Music and West Side Story.
Very strange if you ask me.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Impressive storm video
Brisbane's been getting international attention for its storms this week. Fortunately, my side of town has missed the worst of it, although there is still tonight to worry about. If you want to see how bad it was in the worst hit part of town, have a look at this video. (Don't be misled by the first 90 seconds. Things really get going after that.)
Embed deleted for now.
Embed deleted for now.
Friday, November 21, 2008
The robot director
As I type this, SBS is showing Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange."
Not having seen it before, I have watched about 45 minutes now. It is one seriously strange movie. That great movie critic Pauline Kael hated it. Even without seeing it all, I can tell that much of her assessment seems correct.
But the main comment that I wanted to make here is this: did Stanley Kubrick ever make a movie in which the actors seemed like real humans? (I haven't seen Barry Lyndon: maybe he made a breakthrough there.)
From his work that I have seen, their most distinctive characteristic is that he always seemed to be able to get the actors to make their character appear not quite human, rather as if they were robots acting as humans. In 2001, I thought that this was perhaps deliberate, since a certain blurring of the line between human and artificial intelligence played well into the subplot about HAL . Maybe Dr Strangelove, as a black satire, didn't need good acting either. As far as I can recall, Nicholson was pretty good at acting mad in The Shining , although I caught a little of it again the other night, and some of the supporting actors had the Kubrick "not quite there"-ness about them.
The same artifice was in Eyes Wide Shut and Full Metal Jacket, when they certainly could have benefited with more naturalist acting. (The former was eccentrically memorable, if far from realistic. The latter I thought a complete failure.)
It's actually a bit puzzling as to how he achieved the robotisation of his actors. Was it because of his famous willingness to shoot the same scene tens of times over, trying to achieve some kind of perfection in detail that only he could see? One can imagine that this would drain the actors ability to appear human.
Or was it just a certain clumsiness in his scripts?
Of course, the issue of artificial intelligence was again dealt with in the Spielberg collaboration "AI". It's another peculiar movie in many respects, but A Clockwork Orange certainly removes any doubt that its strangeness sprang from Kubrick, not Spielberg. But you can see from AI that Spielberg is like the reverse Kubrick: he can get actors playing robots appear very human!
Spielberg has said in interviews that Kubrick told him the project needed his (Spielberg's) touch, and if his goal was to have the audience sympathetic to the plight of robot intelligences, this was certainly true.
Kubrick was an interesting film maker, and for all of his deficiencies, 2001 was a remarkable achievement. It's just a pity that in his other films, he showed so little sign of being able to replicate convincing human behaviour on screen.
Not having seen it before, I have watched about 45 minutes now. It is one seriously strange movie. That great movie critic Pauline Kael hated it. Even without seeing it all, I can tell that much of her assessment seems correct.
But the main comment that I wanted to make here is this: did Stanley Kubrick ever make a movie in which the actors seemed like real humans? (I haven't seen Barry Lyndon: maybe he made a breakthrough there.)
From his work that I have seen, their most distinctive characteristic is that he always seemed to be able to get the actors to make their character appear not quite human, rather as if they were robots acting as humans. In 2001, I thought that this was perhaps deliberate, since a certain blurring of the line between human and artificial intelligence played well into the subplot about HAL . Maybe Dr Strangelove, as a black satire, didn't need good acting either. As far as I can recall, Nicholson was pretty good at acting mad in The Shining , although I caught a little of it again the other night, and some of the supporting actors had the Kubrick "not quite there"-ness about them.
The same artifice was in Eyes Wide Shut and Full Metal Jacket, when they certainly could have benefited with more naturalist acting. (The former was eccentrically memorable, if far from realistic. The latter I thought a complete failure.)
It's actually a bit puzzling as to how he achieved the robotisation of his actors. Was it because of his famous willingness to shoot the same scene tens of times over, trying to achieve some kind of perfection in detail that only he could see? One can imagine that this would drain the actors ability to appear human.
Or was it just a certain clumsiness in his scripts?
Of course, the issue of artificial intelligence was again dealt with in the Spielberg collaboration "AI". It's another peculiar movie in many respects, but A Clockwork Orange certainly removes any doubt that its strangeness sprang from Kubrick, not Spielberg. But you can see from AI that Spielberg is like the reverse Kubrick: he can get actors playing robots appear very human!
Spielberg has said in interviews that Kubrick told him the project needed his (Spielberg's) touch, and if his goal was to have the audience sympathetic to the plight of robot intelligences, this was certainly true.
Kubrick was an interesting film maker, and for all of his deficiencies, 2001 was a remarkable achievement. It's just a pity that in his other films, he showed so little sign of being able to replicate convincing human behaviour on screen.
But the Olympics looked good
ABC News: Mom in China Freed Without Forced Abortion
Last year, NPR reported on a spate of forced abortions in at least one part of China, some very late term. The report notes a possible reason for such draconian action:
A six-month pregnant mother of two who faced a forced abortion by Chinese authorities has been freed and allowed to continue her pregnancy, according to Radio Free Asia. The case had attracted international attention and outrage.The case was reported in The Age some days ago, but I had missed it.
Last year, NPR reported on a spate of forced abortions in at least one part of China, some very late term. The report notes a possible reason for such draconian action:
...the Baise government missed its family planning targets last year. The recorded birth rate was 13.61 percent, slightly higher than the goal of 13.5 percent. This is significant because the career prospects of local officials depend upon meeting these goals.And people wonder why the Olympics left me cold.
Confusion and the Quran
A new translation of the Quran. - By Reza Aslan - Slate Magazine
I've noted before that the Quran is difficult to read as it is not a narrative, or laid out in any other logical or consistent style. This article in Slate goes into more detail about its confusing and highly uncertain nature.
I hadn't heard this before:
The article notes that an author of a new translation tries to paint this confusing and mystifying nature of the book in a positive light:
It also seems a bit mean-spirited of God to deliver his word via a language which is (apparently) especially capable of misinterpretation.
I've noted before that the Quran is difficult to read as it is not a narrative, or laid out in any other logical or consistent style. This article in Slate goes into more detail about its confusing and highly uncertain nature.
I hadn't heard this before:
....Sura 4:34, which has long been interpreted as allowing husbands to beat their wives: "As for those women who might rebel against you, admonish them, abandon them in their beds, and strike them (adribuhunna)." The problem, as a number of female Quranic scholars have noted, is that adribuhunna can also mean "turn away from them." It can even mean "have sexual intercourse with them."Well, to say the least, that's a rather wide range of possible interpretations. (Rather like the issue as to whether the martyrs are to expect virgins or grapes in Heaven.)
The article notes that an author of a new translation tries to paint this confusing and mystifying nature of the book in a positive light:
It is through the attempt to make sense of our confusions, to work through them with reason and with faith, that the Quran's dramatic monologue transforms into an eternal dialogue between humanity and God. Indeed, of all the sacred texts of the world, Khalidi argues that the Quran is perhaps the one that most self-consciously invites the reader to engage with it, to challenge it, to ponder and to debate it. After all, as the Quran itself states, only God knows what it truly means.Well, if true, this would suggest that it's a religion primed for liberalising interpretations. But the situation in the real world is quite to the contrary.
It also seems a bit mean-spirited of God to deliver his word via a language which is (apparently) especially capable of misinterpretation.
Next action: suring for the right to leg space
Obese have right to two airline seats | Oddly Enough | Reuters
From the report:
From the report:
The high court declined to hear an appeal by Canadian airlines of a decision by the Canadian Transportation Agency that people who are "functionally disabled by obesity" deserve to have two seats for one fare.Anything in the decision preventing an airline charging a premium for the extra weight, though? Extra weight means extra fuel costs, and they already offer discounted fares for those who limit the weight of their luggage.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Indian journalism: a continuing series
Time for more examples of Indian journalism, with its amazing disregard for any sense of privacy, and delicious deadpan delivery:
1. A man diagnosed with HIV commits suicide by jumping out of a hospital window. Are you wondering why?:
3. OK, this one doesn't have anything to do with privacy, but take note. When in Delhi, watch out for the Blueline buses:
4. Finally, this story puts me very much in mind of Bonnie & Clyde, with the added element of pigs:
1. A man diagnosed with HIV commits suicide by jumping out of a hospital window. Are you wondering why?:
Investigating officials said that they recorded his wife's statement in which she has mentioned that Jhatak had lost interest in everything and wanted to die. "It could have been the reason why he took the extreme step," said officials.2. A nurse commits suicide in another city. Curious as to why?:
The exact reason for the suicide could not be ascertained, but her mother Mordi Devi alleged that Jagbir [the late woman's husband] was having an extramarital affair and that was why her daughter was depressed.Jagbir says: "Thanks for sharing, mother-in-law."
3. OK, this one doesn't have anything to do with privacy, but take note. When in Delhi, watch out for the Blueline buses:
More than 70 people have been killed this year under the wheels of Blueline buses.They should never have shown Death Race 2000 in India.
Last year, at least 120 people were run over by Blueline buses.
4. Finally, this story puts me very much in mind of Bonnie & Clyde, with the added element of pigs:
A 48-km chase for four hours and firing of 10 rounds by the police, breaking of barricades as well as running over police vehicles, and pigs being hurled at the police vehicles preceded the arrest of two suspects who allegedly stole pigs from a piggery at Sutardara.The details are worth reading. I suspect the police actually found it kind of thrilling:
When sub-inspector Satish Shinde tried to stop the thieves by placing his jeep in the middle of the road, the tempo dashed the jeep and sped off. Near Warje octroi post also they ran over a police block and constable Amol Tanpure fired six rounds at the tempo.
"During the chase, the suspects threw stones and the stolen pigs at the police vehicle. Meanwhile, several police vehicles joined the chase.... The Dattawadi police had blocked the road near Rajaram bridge. But the tempo driver sped over the block and sub-inspector Ramakant Shinde of Dattawadi police station fired a round at the tempo," Deshmukh said....
Speaking to TOI, constable Amol Tanpure said, "We were chasing them from Sutardara. When their tempo reached the Warje octroi post, "I fired four rounds, but they managed to flee. I chased them and again fired two rounds at them."......
Sandip Mane, a relative of Jadhav, who was driving the car which was chasing the thieves, said: "At first the thieves pelted stones at my car, damaging its windscreen. Later, they hurled pigs towards us at Chandni Chowk, near Warje octroi post and on Sinhagad road. All the pigs died as they came under the wheels of the police vehicles. They even hit my car twice."
Defending Disney
Defend Disney from his Mickey Mouse critics | Daniel Finkelstein - Times Online
Finkelstein gives a spirited defence of Disney the man (and the corporation too, by the way.)
I haven't talked about Tokyo Disney yet. This weekend, maybe. Yes, I know you can't wait.
Finkelstein gives a spirited defence of Disney the man (and the corporation too, by the way.)
I haven't talked about Tokyo Disney yet. This weekend, maybe. Yes, I know you can't wait.
Ain't democracy grand?
Power Line - How Obama Got Elected
A funny/slightly disturbing article at Powerline about what Obama voters apparently knew about certain issues.
The only thing against worrying about this sort of stuff, I suppose, is that either side of politics can benefit by popularly held but mistaken beliefs. (Also, there is only so much that can be done to stop people being mistaken. I mean, do we expect the media or the Republicans to even realise that they have to keep reminding people that the Republicans already don't control Congress?)
Obama is the beneficiary of this time, but its probably all swings and roundabouts in the long run.
A funny/slightly disturbing article at Powerline about what Obama voters apparently knew about certain issues.
The only thing against worrying about this sort of stuff, I suppose, is that either side of politics can benefit by popularly held but mistaken beliefs. (Also, there is only so much that can be done to stop people being mistaken. I mean, do we expect the media or the Republicans to even realise that they have to keep reminding people that the Republicans already don't control Congress?)
Obama is the beneficiary of this time, but its probably all swings and roundabouts in the long run.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Avoid, avoid
Club Troppo - Another thirty minutes with Barrie Kosky
Many people who read me would also read the much more widely known Club Troppo, but in case you missed it, Nicholas Gruen's description of the 60 minutes he has accidentally seen of Barrie Kosky directed shows is pretty funny. Well, at least if you find descriptions of self indulgent modern theatre funny.
Many people who read me would also read the much more widely known Club Troppo, but in case you missed it, Nicholas Gruen's description of the 60 minutes he has accidentally seen of Barrie Kosky directed shows is pretty funny. Well, at least if you find descriptions of self indulgent modern theatre funny.
A bit of history
The Last to Die | Military Aviation | Air & Space Magazine
Air & Space Magazine has a sad but interesting story about the last American killed in air combat in World War II. It was above Tokyo, after Japan had surrendered.
(That magazine is of such high quality, and puts a lot of its content on line. Thanks, Smithsonian!)
Air & Space Magazine has a sad but interesting story about the last American killed in air combat in World War II. It was above Tokyo, after Japan had surrendered.
(That magazine is of such high quality, and puts a lot of its content on line. Thanks, Smithsonian!)
Your weekly dose of bad ocean news
Marine dead zones set to expand rapidly : Nature News
Again, as far as I can see, this is an ocean danger story that is getting little press attention. Bah.
Rising levels of carbon dioxide could increase the volume of oxygen-depleted 'dead zones' in tropical oceans by as much as 50% before the end of the century — with dire consequences for the health of ecosystems in some of the world's most productive fishing grounds....In one of my earlier posts on ocean acidification, I had questioned whether algal blooms caused by more CO2 might be a bad thing for this very reason. (Some sceptics argue that more algae operating as a carbon sink will be a good thing. But obviously, it has a massive down side.)
A team led by Andreas Oschlies of the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences in Kiel, Germany, has now used a global model of climate, ocean circulation and biogeochemical cycling to extrapolate existing experimental results of the effects of altered carbon and nutrient chemistry on dissolved oxygen to the global ocean1. They found that a CO2-rich world will only have a small impact on waters at middle and high latitudes. But in all tropical oceans the volume of 'oxygen-minimum' zones will substantially increase as ocean bacteria feed on the algae that will flourish as a result of the elevated CO2 levels.
"Carbon dioxide fertilizes biological production," says Oschlies. "It's really like junk food for plants. When the carbon-fattened excess biomass sinks it gets decomposed by bacteria which first consume the oxygen, and then the nutrients."
Again, as far as I can see, this is an ocean danger story that is getting little press attention. Bah.
A danger sign hard to foresee
It takes courage to say the f-word: failure - Alan Ramsey
Hey, Alan Ramsey did us a favour last weekend by printing something I had missed earlier. Ken Henry (head of Treasury) had this to say at his Press Club lunch during the week:
I mean, how do you judge exactly when that has happened? Which world famous economist is going to be the first to admit that he can't understand it all?
Hey, Alan Ramsey did us a favour last weekend by printing something I had missed earlier. Ken Henry (head of Treasury) had this to say at his Press Club lunch during the week:
It's the first bit about the complexity reaching a level that no one can understand that is the most interesting."The array of financial instruments deployed within the global financial system has become so complex that it defies understanding. It's not just that nobody, no one person, understands the whole system. That would be hardly surprising. What is worrying is the very large number of senior finance sector executives who don't appear to understand the consequences of even their own decisions, of their own actions.
"The second dimension is closely related.
"It has to do with risk, it has to do with uncertainty. Complex financial instruments have been traded globally in ways that were thought to provide a more comfortable sharing of risk across the world. Instead, what they've shared is fear. People now not only don't know who they can trust, they don't even know who they need to be able to trust.
"And the third dimension I want to identify is the role played by regulation and, more broadly, the role played by governance systems. For decades to come, policy makers around the world are going to be asking why those with sufficient authority didn't, at some point, stand above the buzz of the financial markets and declare, in simple language, that all of this simply doesn't make sense."
I mean, how do you judge exactly when that has happened? Which world famous economist is going to be the first to admit that he can't understand it all?
The future foreseen
One day, when the giant flying saucer arrives, it will beam an announcement to all TVs and radios, informing us that they are from the Pan Galactic Eugenics Society, and the world's smartest human must be delivered for intelligence testing via the most devious, intricate and maddening puzzle that has ever been devised. The fate of the earth will rest in that person's hands.
Inside the saucer, the chosen brainiac with mad scientist hair waits anxiously. "Here" booms the alien voice, "is the test." A curtain starts sliding open silently. "Assemble this!"
Behind the curtain is a digital flat screen TV the size of a house with 50 speaker surround sound system, disc player, three different types of media recorder and cable connection.
This is how the Earth will end.
Inside the saucer, the chosen brainiac with mad scientist hair waits anxiously. "Here" booms the alien voice, "is the test." A curtain starts sliding open silently. "Assemble this!"
Behind the curtain is a digital flat screen TV the size of a house with 50 speaker surround sound system, disc player, three different types of media recorder and cable connection.
This is how the Earth will end.
Monday, November 17, 2008
A short, jumbled note
For a variety of reasons, not the least being the state government's refusal to do anything about daylight saving in Brisbane, so that at this time of year the sun is actually making it all bright and cheery (ha!) by rising at 4.45am, I am not getting enough sleep lately.
Maybe this is why I was having a peculiar dream last night in which I was busy investigating a rice throwing poltergeist which seemed to be connected with some bodies buried under a building, except that when I dug them up they weren't real bodies at all but dummies, which then led me to suspect that some engineers I knew were behind it all, and so on.
Usually, I can work out pretty quickly what it was that I had recently watched or read that caused me to have a jumbled dream, but I can't remember reading anything about poltergeists for quite a while. I suppose I idly think about the personality deficiencies of engineers I have known from time to time, though.
Anyhow, to continue the jumbled theme of this post, I note that time devoted to the internet is actually interfering way too much with my vague attempts to make money lately. I'm going to attempt to insist on limiting posts to the evenings for a while. Maybe this software will help in my task.
Meanwhile, please admire the giant playground robot in the last post, and tell me if you have seen anything better.
Maybe this is why I was having a peculiar dream last night in which I was busy investigating a rice throwing poltergeist which seemed to be connected with some bodies buried under a building, except that when I dug them up they weren't real bodies at all but dummies, which then led me to suspect that some engineers I knew were behind it all, and so on.
Usually, I can work out pretty quickly what it was that I had recently watched or read that caused me to have a jumbled dream, but I can't remember reading anything about poltergeists for quite a while. I suppose I idly think about the personality deficiencies of engineers I have known from time to time, though.
Anyhow, to continue the jumbled theme of this post, I note that time devoted to the internet is actually interfering way too much with my vague attempts to make money lately. I'm going to attempt to insist on limiting posts to the evenings for a while. Maybe this software will help in my task.
Meanwhile, please admire the giant playground robot in the last post, and tell me if you have seen anything better.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Unusual photos of Japan
Here's some of the more unusual photos from my recent Japan trip:
First, the impressive giant playground robot:
I am not sure how many of these may exist in Japan; it looked a little old but not in bad condition. The only semi-equivalent thing I can remember from Australia was a cage like three level rocket ship which used to grace the kids playground at Toombul Shopping Town in the late 60's. This giant robot was in a rather out of the way location in Japan, which I am willing to divulge for the right amount of money to any eccentric reader who wants to use it when videotaping their own fan version of The Wicker Man.
Secondly, breaking my rule that it's too cheap to make fun of foreigners and their English spelling mistakes:
Next, a sign encouraging people to dispose of their cigarette butts carefully, because if you don't, it'll upset the sewer rats (as always,click to enlarge):
Another sign, this one hard to read in full, but it encourages good behaviour on the trains, with some fairly obvious suggestions (which may be paraphrased as "smoke spreads" and "don't sit with your legs too far apart"):
(I have a feeling that I have seen this series of posters blogged about somewhere else some time ago, but haven't gone looking yet.)
Finally, the hungry, hungry fish:
OK, not the funniest photo to finish with, but it's late, alright?
First, the impressive giant playground robot:
I am not sure how many of these may exist in Japan; it looked a little old but not in bad condition. The only semi-equivalent thing I can remember from Australia was a cage like three level rocket ship which used to grace the kids playground at Toombul Shopping Town in the late 60's. This giant robot was in a rather out of the way location in Japan, which I am willing to divulge for the right amount of money to any eccentric reader who wants to use it when videotaping their own fan version of The Wicker Man.
Secondly, breaking my rule that it's too cheap to make fun of foreigners and their English spelling mistakes:
Next, a sign encouraging people to dispose of their cigarette butts carefully, because if you don't, it'll upset the sewer rats (as always,click to enlarge):
Another sign, this one hard to read in full, but it encourages good behaviour on the trains, with some fairly obvious suggestions (which may be paraphrased as "smoke spreads" and "don't sit with your legs too far apart"):
(I have a feeling that I have seen this series of posters blogged about somewhere else some time ago, but haven't gone looking yet.)
Finally, the hungry, hungry fish:
OK, not the funniest photo to finish with, but it's late, alright?
Friday, November 14, 2008
Charles on cars
RealClearPolitics - Articles - A Lemon of a Bailout
Charles Krauthammer looks at the issue of saving the American car industry. All rather relevant to Rudd's plans too.
Charles Krauthammer looks at the issue of saving the American car industry. All rather relevant to Rudd's plans too.
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