Good (late) evening everybody!
I'm proud to announce the newest addition to the "Just for Funsies" section of the links: "All Hopped Up", a fantastic beer blog manned by my close friend Brian Fox.
Brian's newest project is sincerely top-notch, with topics ranging from tastings to gear to brewing. His recent attempts at beer ice cream in particular have left me wondering if, perhaps, like the far reaches of outer space, sugary concoctions based on malted grain beverages will ever be reachable. Needless to say, whenever I need a break from the rough-and-tumble of politics, AHU is a great escape. If you too enjoy beer as much as I do, feel free to take a look (frankly we could both probably use the site traffic...)
In addition, I'm a guest blogger! That's right, despite Brian's actually having read my writing, he decided to invite me to author some pieces on home brewing. My intro to homebrew was up this week and, should it lead to violent hate mail and death threats, don't say I didn't tell you so Brian.
Happy hunting everybody.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Sometimes the Moment Arises
Press conferences and ribbon cuttings are designed to trick us into thinking that something monumental has happened. When a corporation opens a new hotel, we are made to believe that it is something really special, which it is not. We are made to believe that such an "event" is an event in the purest form of the word: a spontaneous intersection of events that results in the manifestation of real action.
Late Thursday afternoon, however, the House of Representatives witnessed something of a true event.
According to the Huffington Post article, House Republicans managed to summon enough votes to halt a $7.4 billion dollar bill that would've provided free medical care to those sickened by the events of 9/11. What Republicans took argument with was a procedural maneuver by Democrats that prevented the addition of amendments to the bill. This was appropriate, considering that Democrats were concerned that Republicans would tack on overly partisan amendments to a widely popular bill in order to sneak the measure in.
When the measure finally fell, Representative Anthony Weiner (D-NY) did what I believe Democrats should have been doing for quite some time. Video follows:
The remarks of observing procedural order were directed at Republican Representatives attempting to interject in the middle of Rep. Weiner's time (which is a violation of parliamentary procedure).
My 2 cents: while the GOP consistently touts "political correctness run amok" when discussing Democratic opposition to discriminatory legislation, I believe that the true meaning of the term has already reared its ugly head. The continued politeness and kowtowing to blatant, petulant, destructive, and Machiavellian obstructionism has done a great deal of damage to financial reform, health insurance reform, and public progress in general.
For my money, Anthony Weiner's speech was the first motivating thing the Democratic party has done in the past several months. Thank goodness C-SPAN's cameras were running when a true political event arose.
Late Thursday afternoon, however, the House of Representatives witnessed something of a true event.
According to the Huffington Post article, House Republicans managed to summon enough votes to halt a $7.4 billion dollar bill that would've provided free medical care to those sickened by the events of 9/11. What Republicans took argument with was a procedural maneuver by Democrats that prevented the addition of amendments to the bill. This was appropriate, considering that Democrats were concerned that Republicans would tack on overly partisan amendments to a widely popular bill in order to sneak the measure in.
When the measure finally fell, Representative Anthony Weiner (D-NY) did what I believe Democrats should have been doing for quite some time. Video follows:
The remarks of observing procedural order were directed at Republican Representatives attempting to interject in the middle of Rep. Weiner's time (which is a violation of parliamentary procedure).
My 2 cents: while the GOP consistently touts "political correctness run amok" when discussing Democratic opposition to discriminatory legislation, I believe that the true meaning of the term has already reared its ugly head. The continued politeness and kowtowing to blatant, petulant, destructive, and Machiavellian obstructionism has done a great deal of damage to financial reform, health insurance reform, and public progress in general.
For my money, Anthony Weiner's speech was the first motivating thing the Democratic party has done in the past several months. Thank goodness C-SPAN's cameras were running when a true political event arose.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
The Root of the Problem
I stumbled across an article from Crooks and Liars on Current.com this morning that I found very poignant.
What's fact got to do with it?
Go ahead, read up.
Okay, if you decided not to read then I'll give you the bullet points (in a bulleted list of course):
My problem, though, is with their proposed solutions. There really is no public accountability for news organizations, since any attempt to regulate them finds one lambasted in "1st amendment" arguments, there really is no natural, commercial way to regulate them, since the sensationalist, fear based reporting is what brings in the big bucks, and there is no natural psychological way to moderate them since, as C&L mentioned, the bias is built into us.
So I'm asking you guys, what can we do? As intelligent individuals, its not as difficult for us to question and re-shape our beliefs when presented with legitimate facts contrary to our already-held beliefs. But what about those mired a little deeper in the information quagmire with less tools to escape? Frankly, I think that improving self-esteem has already failed miserably, since it has created the most narcissistic generation of all time (extreme narcissists are even less likely to accept facts that contradict their subjective reality).
For my money, I think a cultural shift is required. The "information age" was supposed to bring about this utopia of enlightened minds but it has instead brought people's attention spans to their knees. According to recent studies (mentioned here for example) our attention span has actually regressed to the point that it resembles that of our primitive ancestors; analyzing every rustle and movement in search for predators. In order to counter-act the fast-paced news cycle, scanning of information, and deleterious effects of shallow conversation and thought, our culture must shift back from a rapid-fire information fueled one to a more pensive, more thoughtful, more deliberate one. That way people might instead analyze information more thoroughly as it comes to them, perhaps diffusing the hegemony of errant opinions based on flimsy facts in the first place.
Unfortunately, this one could be pretty hard to legislate.
But hell, what do you think? I believe we have enough intelligent people reading this blog to come up with a real solution. Just put your fingers on the keys and fire away.
What's fact got to do with it?
Go ahead, read up.
Okay, if you decided not to read then I'll give you the bullet points (in a bulleted list of course):
- In the age of information, one could reasonably believe that information and fact should undo erroneous beliefs
- However, new studies show that instead of undoing such beliefs, it actually strengthens them
- Furthermore, scientific studies show that fear and the perception of threat also prevents people from accepting fact as, well, fact
- C&L's solution then is to bring the hammer down on news corporations, since the bias that fuels this phenomenon is built into our psychology
- Another solution they present is to tap into findings showing that those with higher self-esteem are more comfortable changing their minds
My problem, though, is with their proposed solutions. There really is no public accountability for news organizations, since any attempt to regulate them finds one lambasted in "1st amendment" arguments, there really is no natural, commercial way to regulate them, since the sensationalist, fear based reporting is what brings in the big bucks, and there is no natural psychological way to moderate them since, as C&L mentioned, the bias is built into us.
So I'm asking you guys, what can we do? As intelligent individuals, its not as difficult for us to question and re-shape our beliefs when presented with legitimate facts contrary to our already-held beliefs. But what about those mired a little deeper in the information quagmire with less tools to escape? Frankly, I think that improving self-esteem has already failed miserably, since it has created the most narcissistic generation of all time (extreme narcissists are even less likely to accept facts that contradict their subjective reality).
For my money, I think a cultural shift is required. The "information age" was supposed to bring about this utopia of enlightened minds but it has instead brought people's attention spans to their knees. According to recent studies (mentioned here for example) our attention span has actually regressed to the point that it resembles that of our primitive ancestors; analyzing every rustle and movement in search for predators. In order to counter-act the fast-paced news cycle, scanning of information, and deleterious effects of shallow conversation and thought, our culture must shift back from a rapid-fire information fueled one to a more pensive, more thoughtful, more deliberate one. That way people might instead analyze information more thoroughly as it comes to them, perhaps diffusing the hegemony of errant opinions based on flimsy facts in the first place.
Unfortunately, this one could be pretty hard to legislate.
But hell, what do you think? I believe we have enough intelligent people reading this blog to come up with a real solution. Just put your fingers on the keys and fire away.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Oh Hey Guys!
Ladies and Gentlemen, after a brief hiatus from the blogging game I am proud to announce that I am back, like an employee opening the door to his office after a long vacation only to find an avalanche of papers and assignments.
In the time that I took off, I missed the Kagan confirmation, the Shirley Sherrod story, the progression of Financial Reform, the erection of a billboard in northern Iowa comparing Obama to Stalin and Hitler, and a gaffe by Jim Cornyn and Jeff Sessions revealing the RNC's intentions to maintain Bush era policies if Republicans find themselves in power within the next four to five years.
Like I said, stack of papers.
But my "vacation" wasn't without cause. To be quite honest, after several weeks of burying my face in political coverage and philosophy, I found myself disenchanted with the political game. My outlook was bleak, my expectations were low, and personally I had become quite depressed. Blogging, discussing, and reading about politics no longer summoned the enthusiasm it once had and I thought it was time to step back and gain some persepective.
So, I dedicated myself to more creative work, starting with music and film, eventually discovering a passion for photography and graphic design, and culminating in a willing return to politics. The fruits of my labor you ask?
Hope everyone is having a great summer and I look forward to seeing most of you very soon.
In the time that I took off, I missed the Kagan confirmation, the Shirley Sherrod story, the progression of Financial Reform, the erection of a billboard in northern Iowa comparing Obama to Stalin and Hitler, and a gaffe by Jim Cornyn and Jeff Sessions revealing the RNC's intentions to maintain Bush era policies if Republicans find themselves in power within the next four to five years.
Like I said, stack of papers.
But my "vacation" wasn't without cause. To be quite honest, after several weeks of burying my face in political coverage and philosophy, I found myself disenchanted with the political game. My outlook was bleak, my expectations were low, and personally I had become quite depressed. Blogging, discussing, and reading about politics no longer summoned the enthusiasm it once had and I thought it was time to step back and gain some persepective.
So, I dedicated myself to more creative work, starting with music and film, eventually discovering a passion for photography and graphic design, and culminating in a willing return to politics. The fruits of my labor you ask?
- The discovery of probably a dozen incredible albums (listed here)
- The addition of several new sites (under "Just for Funsies" on the homepage)
- The aforementioned discovery of photography (Flickr)
- The viewing of several Rifftrax (makers of Mystery Science Theater 3000)
- The viewing of Wim Wenders "Alice in den Städten" (I do not get film noir...)
- The realization that without a computer, I am an absolutely hopeless mess
Hope everyone is having a great summer and I look forward to seeing most of you very soon.
Monday, July 12, 2010
A Hiatus (On Purpose This Time)
Good morning patient readers!
I write this morning to inform you that, like the Daily Show and Colbert Report, I am going on a two week hiatus, effectively putting my talent and social status on par with Jon Stewart.
After a month and a half or so of polarizing political reading (as reflected by some of my recent "Marxism" posts...) I've decided to step outside the news blogs and gain some perspective. The world can seem like a pretty bleak place when you face this stuff head-on, day after day so I'm using material such as the following to regain my optimism and enthusiasm:
If you want to follow my journey, feel free to follow my music listenings at last.fm and posts on facebook (which have recently been overtaken by Farmville and Café World). I won't be incommunicado, simply a-political.
Stay classy everybody and, when the world appears on the brink of Armageddon, step outside for a sec. It's already done me a lot of good.
I write this morning to inform you that, like the Daily Show and Colbert Report, I am going on a two week hiatus, effectively putting my talent and social status on par with Jon Stewart.
After a month and a half or so of polarizing political reading (as reflected by some of my recent "Marxism" posts...) I've decided to step outside the news blogs and gain some perspective. The world can seem like a pretty bleak place when you face this stuff head-on, day after day so I'm using material such as the following to regain my optimism and enthusiasm:
If you want to follow my journey, feel free to follow my music listenings at last.fm and posts on facebook (which have recently been overtaken by Farmville and Café World). I won't be incommunicado, simply a-political.
Stay classy everybody and, when the world appears on the brink of Armageddon, step outside for a sec. It's already done me a lot of good.