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utopian_camorra's LiveJournal:
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| Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 | | 2:20 pm |
Some postings!
Lots to comment on, I guess, but my biggest news is that the *5th* show that I will be attending this year is the Pixies at the Aragon Ballroom. Woo-Hoo, my friends, woo-hoo indeed. I did manage to catch Extract, and while it was fine, it was just not really good or funny. I think Mike Judge hit his high point with Office Space. I don't have too much to say on politics these days, at times I've felt like I remember why I was big on the Green Party in 2000, but overall, it's just sort of sucky- especially in regards to Climate change. Grow a pair, folks- this is only *the* national security threat of our and our children's lifetime. One thing that I, and many others, have found hilarious was the roll-out of this site. Of course, Steele's a clueless ass, but for me, this detail really takes the cake. Oh, and Ann Althouse still is a hypocrite. Big Surprise, I guess, but I was kinda surprised about how many internet squabbles she's gotten into: feministing, eschaton, and now the daily dish? And now she wants others not judge her on the standards by which she judges others? Good luck with that. A final thought, Yglesias talks about the cable effect, and I quite agree. Can't stand the networks... can't stand 'em at all. | | Monday, August 3rd, 2009 | | 5:10 pm |
LJ drying up
I find myself drawn more and more to faceborg, and yet unable to completely say goodbye to this medium that would allow me to rant at length about the things and people who I care. | | Thursday, June 25th, 2009 | | 12:59 pm |
Happy Anniversary, Beautiful!
It's official! I've been happily married for four years now! To my darling wife: Thank you for sharing your wonderful life with me. I'm eternally grateful and always yours. | | Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 | | 11:26 am |
This machine kills fascists
So said Guthrie's guitar. So says twitter now. But it looks like we're starting to see how the fascists retaliate against those who write and sing against it. I held off of calling Iran fascist for a long time, but with current events, I think they're settling into it quite nicely. 1) The separation of the electorate from the power to elect representatives, 2) the suppression of dissent through the arrest and imprisonment of journalists, scholars, and now activists (which has been increasing since 1979, but specifically since 2002 on) 3) the rhetoric and logic of a redemptive state by the supreme leader and his cronies, 4) the condemnation of "foreigners" and the internal "agents of foreigners" which draws the boundaries of national unity. 5) the violence visited upon those who would disagree to purge the unity for that national redemption, and this violence is notably carried out by a paramilitary organization under party, not government, control. I do not have any illusions about Mousavi or the people of Iran being able to merely transcend the power of the state that's marshalled against them, nor do I have any silly wishes about the people of Iran being our new best friends. But I do hope that any community would be able to express dissent and advocate (and even enact?) their political wishes without losing their basic human rights, let alone their lives. | | Thursday, June 11th, 2009 | | 9:51 am |
Current events trigger a longer post.
Due to the shooting of an African-American guard at the Holocaust Museum by an old extremist, which comes on the heels of the shooting of an old doctor (who provided legal late-term abortions) walking into his church, which of course comes a few months after a DHS warning about the rise of right-wing extremist violence (which the right-wing made such a fuss about that an apology was issued), I think I feel the need to talk a little bit about what I've been studying and why it is relevant today. ( Torture, Fascism, and Authoritarianism ) | | Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 | | 10:24 am |
| | Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 | | 11:08 am |
Taming the Shrill
Now that fascism is done percolating through my brain (for the moment, at least), I should catch up on the links I've been squirreling away to share with everyone. Movies: I caught Wall-E and Hancock recently, and they were both solid films. Not great, but I'd give them both three stars. Wall-E is visually appealing and cute, but the more I think about it the less it stands up, and the more I think about Hancock, the more I like it. The Economy: I don't want to make things worse, but maybe we need to be honest about the straits we're in. The market may be slightly rebounding, but job losses are the worst they've been in quite a long time. Global Industrial output slowing at the same rate as the Great Depression. We're about to hit 1980's levels and on track to hit Depression levels. Robert Reich's suggestion that the stimulus bill's problem is that it wasn't enough seems on target. I think we should probably have some more stimulus funds targeting mass transit and bike-friendly options for cities, check out Matt Yglesias, who has a treasure trove of posts here: trains, bike safety, green jobs, and the global economic impact of climate change. We need to look at how we can create jobs, lower our dependence on oil, and reduce emissions all at the same time! Matt also had an interesting post about mainstream publications "exhuming the corpse" of Marx as if to prove that he really was dead after all. But, viewing Marx as an opposition to triumphal "free-market" capitalism actually renders his thought as quite accurate. The economic determinism towards communism was, of course, inaccurate. However, I still respect and continue to ascribe to Marx's thinking on the crisis of over-production and commodity fetishism. Teh Funnyz! This is good: http://doogiehowsermd.blogspot.com/ | | Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 | | 10:22 am |
Weekends & Planting Trees
I've not spent a Saturday night in Illinois in almost a month. And my cats are voicing their displeasure. Had a particularly great weekend, despite working on Monday, hanging out at the cottage on lake Maxinkuckee. Always good drinking, good games, and some quiet relaxation to fit in some reading. Came back and watched a couple of movies, but I've not seen anything a long while that I could recommend. I laughed a lot *at* Kung Fu Panda, but it wasn't funny. And Shutter was a serviceable horror flick, nothing really more to say about it. I did finally finish the Wire, which is great, but also... rough. It's a brutal series, but also very solid. I think Amanda M.'s take on it was pretty good, so I won't recap it now. Hey! Something easy you can do: Offset 1-2 years of your carbon emissions by helping to plant trees in Natl. forests: http://www.arborday.org/shopping/memberships/memberships.cfm?membership=forestSix month memberships are $10, and for a year it's just $15. Easy! | | Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 | | 11:28 am |
| | Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 | | 12:11 pm |
| | Sunday, April 19th, 2009 | | 8:33 pm |
feeling like crap
It's not a ton of fun feeling sick all weekend, especially when one has a lot to do both socially and thesis-wise. Managed to feel well enough to swim for a bit today, tho. First time in ages, and in my weakened state it was a challenge to get to 1000 yards. But I'm in for more. All right. Those of you not completely seduced by facebook, I salute you! | | Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 | | 6:59 pm |
| | Tuesday, February 24th, 2009 | | 9:44 pm |
| | Friday, January 23rd, 2009 | | 9:46 am |
Obama off to a good start
Granted, it is very much just a start. But he's starting with motions to close Gitmo, end torture*, (mostly) withdraw from Iraq, re-implement transparency on presidential documents, ending wage discrimination (what the old ERA was all about), and will be lifting the Global "Gag Order" today. Um, it is just a start, but it's already looking a hell of a lot better to those of us who had nearly forgotten exactly what kind of "freedom" was good in this nation. As for the economy, I don't know if there's anything he can really do to get us revived in the short-term, but as for just holding on during a national banking crisis (which is what the housing crash has precipitated and is what is inhibiting new lending and growth), check out Steve Waldman's rebuttal to Kevin Drum about what the Swedes did when faced with it in the early '90s. Fox "news", is of course already going nuts. TPM posted a daily show link, check it out, as Jon Stewart again says all that needs said. I've seen a number of movies lately, I don't even know if I can remember all that I've seen. Pineapple Express was very funny, but probably would've been funnier if I'd watched the theatrical release instead of the extended version. Jumpers was awful. I really wonder how Hayden Christiansen ever pulled off "Shattered Glass," 'cause that dude can't even pull off a decent voice-over. Ick. My Bloody Valentine 3-D was indeed in 3-D, was indeed bloody, and terrible in all sorts of enjoyable ways. It's too expensive to see in the theater really, but it was rather fun, not really boring at all. The Onion has another hilarious bit on the transition. Key paragraph: "In what may turn out to be his greatest presidential prank, Bush also has spent the previous eight years damaging the American economy beyond repair and bogging the country down in an unwinnable war with a sovereign Middle Eastern nation." *On the torture topic, the conservative Ross Douthat says that Cheney, et al, should want some transparency so they can make their case to the American people that "enhanced interrogation techniques" (to steal a phrase from the Gestapo... oh wait) are necessary for the defense of the republic. My opinion is that it is never necessary, and never helps. The fictional Jack Bauer aside, there is no real evidence that it has helped. There is only the word of Cheney and other insiders, but every time we take them at their word and don't make them back down, something terrible happens. But I think even hawkish conservatives should read Douthat's column, and they should put up, or shut up about torture. But I suspect they'll do neither. | | Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 | | 9:21 am |
Blog for Choice Day: what a week!
It started off with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on monday, check out his prescient " longevity has its place" speech. I'm still disappointed in my University for not recognizing the day like all other comparable universities & agencies do, but at least we're moving in a positive direction. Next up was the historic inauguration, ( check this out, can you believe it?) followed by the next day's follow-up inauguration & confirmation events, and all of the sudden we're at Blog for Choice Day. From the website, the topic offered is "What is your top pro-choice hope for President Obama and/or the new Congress?" I'd have to say it's to get some not obviously partisan, not obviously insane, appointees with some ability for memory in the Supreme Court. Obviously, we need Harriet Miers! Seriously, I think getting sane, rational, legal scholars in the courts, especially the Supreme court, should erode the conservative momentum for overturning Roe v. Wade, and everything that's happened so far points to the centrist Obama Administration doing just that. Also, that $1.5 billion we're forking out for dangerous and incredibly useless abstinence-only education could sure be spent elsewhere. | | Sunday, January 11th, 2009 | | 1:02 pm |
| | Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 | | 11:18 am |
2009
I'm getting very sleepy... Um, I'm thankful for quite a few things, I've been very busy for the last few years, but I feel like I've slowly been getting things done and my life is sorta getting better, bit by bit. I was talking over how much I've been doing, and I realized that I've had to trim down some fun things I used to invest a lot of time into: movies, videogames, and to a good extent, socializing. But I approach 2009 hopefully. I think there will be significant difficulties to do deal with, but I also think that we'll be able to navigate through them. for 2008, I was thankful for *Getting my Thesis in order after getting through my coursework: It was harder than expected, but it all came through in the end. *Choosing a path I suppose it's a decision that I've been putting off for maybe 15 years, but I finally have some idea what I want to do with the next 20 years of employment. *An election that didn't leave me near hopelessness for the future. Aside from Prop H8, mostly this election left me hopeful that the rate of destruction can be slowed for a little while. *A low-drama Christmas For both my immediate and extended families, things were a little calmer this season, allowing me and my wife to come back and recharge somewhat before jumping into the new year. *My A-student, awesome wife The best person I know, who is both my conscious and my muse, C. remains the best thing that ever happened to me. | | Wednesday, December 10th, 2008 | | 12:44 pm |
I've been laughing for two days.
Illinois is now two-for-two (in getting our governors in custody) since I moved up here almost ten years ago. At least a lot of the proven corruption at the state and national level is finally getting cleared out. I'm naive enough to believe it's a new day or whatever, but it is delicious to get the G-Rod cherry on top of the 2008 elections. | | Monday, December 8th, 2008 | | 8:49 am |
Yes, he isn't Reagan
When was the last time a group of workers occupied a factory and the F**king President(-elect) backed them up? If Obama was Reagan, he would've fired them, or called for their firing. Bill C. & Bush#41 would've ignored them. Bush #43, well, Bush probably won't shipped them to Gitmo, but if he mentioned this at all, he would've said something about the "un-American-ness" of this while we're "at war." Way to go, Mr. O! Btw, the movie I was trying to remember I had evidently repressed: Across the Universe
Avoid.
I am think this artist's idea is pretty cool:
"All my "Contradictions" ongoing project has the same motivation/meaning. Technologies and the marketing behind them usually push the almost religious aspect of their evolution, as also said by Leander Kaheny in his "Cult of Mac" book, and the users are pushed to live in an intense way the abstraction from reality, living technologies only as an idea and sometimes without even knowing their real functions. And this aspect works for the social-networks too. The idealization connected with these experiences provokes a small-but-important detach of the perception of reality and what i want to do by writing the names of anything connected with the 2.0 life we are living in the slums of the third world is to point out the gap between the reality we still live in and the ephemeral world of technologies
 | | Saturday, December 6th, 2008 | | 11:52 am |
Selvaggio decostruscio fascismo
Working away at my Myth of Fascism paper- which is why I'm writing here. Much work to do. But at the end of next week, I'll be done one way or the other. Then I've just got to get my thesis proposal into shape and launch my next application process. I think my folks aren't happy that I'm abandoning the PhD path, but honestly, I had to decide what I wanted my life to be: one where I could be happy and a good person or one where I could feel "accomplished"; one that worked to strengthen that which is libertarian, democratic, and collaborative, or one that worked, well, to do some of that in more abstract ways, but still tilted towards the competitive. I had to make a choice, and while I do love research and learning, I might actually have more freedom in my new path. It's weird process, growing to face your existence. Did manage to squeeze in a read of Junot Diaz's "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" for bookclub. I thought it was actually one of the best books I'd read in years. It did a marvellous job of blending not only multiple perspectives, but also in blending in various historical and postcolonial narratives. Lots of identity themes are addressed here, perhaps most importantly the role of love therein. I saw 27 Dresses and some other movie I can't remember right now. My mind is becoming mush on these things I used to be so good at remembering. It's alright, tho. |
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