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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
David Fiske's LiveJournal:
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| Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 | | 10:39 pm |
| | Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 | | 8:26 am |
Who will tell the people? My own totally unscientific polling has left me feeling that if there is one overwhelming hunger in our country today it’s this: People want to do nation-building. They really do. But they want to do nation-building in America.Indeed. | | Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 | | 2:18 pm |
Moyers on Jeremiah Wright If your mind isn't made up on this whole issue, just watch this essay. Thank you Bill Moyers, for putting this entire thing into perspective. | | Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 | | 12:40 am |
Kindly Prophetic Thought provoking:Individuals with low self-esteem or fragile high self-esteem were more verbally defensive than individuals with secure high self-esteem. One reason for this is that potential threats are in fact more threatening to people with low or fragile high self-esteem than those with secure high self-esteem, and so they work harder to counteract them."
On the other hand, individuals with secure high self-esteem appear to accept themselves "warts and all," and, feeling less threatened, they are less likely to be defensive by blaming others or providing excuses when they speak about past transgressions or threatening experiences.
One reason the study's findings are important, Kernis said, is that it shows that greater verbal defensiveness relates to lower psychological well-being and life satisfaction. | | 12:10 am |
| | Monday, April 14th, 2008 | | 10:30 pm |
AP - 'Merican politics What Obama Really Said About Pennsylvania gives some needed context to the comments that are being taken out of context so maddeningly by Clinton (I swear, if she wins the democratic nomination, I will vote "None of the Above"): At the end of Obama's remarks standing between two rooms of guests -- the fourth appearance in California after traveling earlier in the day from Montana -- a questioner asked, "some of us are going to Pennsylvania to campaign for you. What should we be telling the voters we encounter?"
Obama's response to the questioner was that there are many, many different sections in Pennsylvania comprised of a range of racial, geographic, class, and economic groupings from Appalachia to Philadelphia. So there was not one thing to say to such diverse constituencies in Pennsylvania. But having said that, Obama went on say that his campaign staff in Pennsylvania could provide the questioner (an imminent Pennsylvania volunteer) with all the talking points he needed. But Obama cautioned that such talking points were really not what should be stressed with Pennsylvania voters.
Instead he urged the volunteer to tell Pennsylvania voters he encountered that Obama's campaign is about something more than programs and talking points. It was at this point that Obama began to talk about addressing the bitter feelings that many in some rural communities in Pennsylvania have about being brushed aside in the wake of the global economy. Senator Obama appeared to theorize, perhaps improvidently given the coverage this week, that some of the people in those communities take refuge in political concerns about guns, religion and immigration. But what has not so far been reported is that those statements preceded and were joined with additional observations that black youth in urban areas are told they are no longer "relevant" in the global economy and, feeling marginalized, they engage in destructive behavior. Unlike the week's commentators who have seized upon the remarks about "bitter feelings" in some depressed communities in Pennsylvania, I gleaned a different meaning from the entire answer.
First, I noted immediately how dismissive his answer had been about "talking points" and ten point programs and how he used the question to urge the future volunteer to put forward a larger message central to his campaign. That pivot, I thought, was remarkable and unique. Rather than his seizing the opportunity to recite stump-worn talking points at that time to the audience -- as I believe Senator Clinton, Senator McCain and most other more conventional (or more disciplined) politicians at such an appearance might do -- Senator Obama took a different political course in that moment, one that symbolizes important differences about his candidacy. | | 12:50 am |
Australia's PM speaks to the Chinese Excellent example of using language to actually communicate with the Chinese government, as opposed to simply rattle sabers: Rudd's brilliance in the speech involves turning the Chinese term "friend" on its head. Friend (pengyou in Chinese) and frienship (youyi) are two of the most distorted concepts in modern China culture. In modern China, a friend is someone who will do you favors and who expects favors in return. A "foreign friend" is someone the Chinese party-state expects will carry water for them and NEVER criticize them.
Whenever a Chinese official called me "foreign friend" (waiguo pengyou), I knew some type of horrible deal would soon be asked or expected of me.
"To be a friend of China, the Chinese people, the party-state or, in the reform period, even a mainland business partner," Barme writes, "the foreigner is often expected to stomach unpalatable situations, and keep silent in the face of egregious behaviour. A friend of China might enjoy the privilege of offering the occasional word of caution in private; in the public arena he or she is expected to have the good sense and courtesy to be 'objective.' that is to toe the line, whatever that happens to be. The concept of 'friendship' thus degenerates into little more than an effective tool for emotional blackmail and enforced complicity."
So what did Rudd do? He went back -- way back -- into Chinese history, to the 7th century AD, and used another word for friendship (zhengyou).
"A true friend," Rudd said, "is one who can be a zhengyou, that is a partner who sees beyond immediate benefit to the broader and firm basis for continuing, profound and sincere friendship."More on the speech here. | | Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 | | 1:05 am |
Great Speeches I was at dinner this evening with a friend whom I hadn't seen in a long time, and the subject turned to American politics. We were discussing the Barak Obama's "A More perfect Union" speech, and I was reminded of another amazing speech on the topic of race, by Bobby Kennedy". Before boarding a plane to fly to Indianapolis for one last campaign speech in a predominantly black neighborhood of the city he learned that Martin Luther King had been shot, leading Kennedy press secretary Frank Mankiewicz to suggest that he ask the audience to pray for the King family and ask them to follow King's policy of non-violence.[2] They did not learn that King was dead until they landed in Indianapolis.
Both Mankiewicz and speechwriter Adam Walinsky drafted notes immediately before the rally for Kennedy's use, but Kennedy refused Walinsky's notes, instead using some that he had likely written on the ride over; Mankiewicz arrived after Kennedy had already begun to speak.[3] Right before arriving at the rally the Chief of Police in Indianapolis told Kennedy that he could not provide protection and that giving the remarks would be too dangerous,[4] but Kennedy decided to go ahead regardless. Standing on a podium mounted on flatbed truck, Kennedy spoke for just four minutes and fifty-seven secondsHere is what he said. | | Monday, March 24th, 2008 | | 10:05 pm |
Body of War I saw this segment from C&L and decided to take a longer look. Body of War thoughtfully tells the story of a solider who returned from Iraq... The full show can be viewed here - part 1, part 2. It was worth the time - well worth it for me... I agreed strongly with Phil's rant on the media that starts a little after 13:25 of part 2. I would say, "Enjoy it" but this isn't that type of post. | | Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 | | 11:34 am |
| | Wednesday, January 9th, 2008 | | 12:09 pm |
| | Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 | | 6:57 pm |
2004 Election was stolen It give me little pleasure to say "I was right", but I was: the 2004 election in Ohio was stolen.Ohio’s top election official, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, announced on Friday the voting systems that decided the 2004 election in Ohio were rife with “critical security failures.” You and Bob Fitrakis have reported extensively on the 2004 presidential vote in Ohio, your most recent book, What Happened in Ohio: A Documentary Record of Theft and Fraud in the 2004 Election. Your response to the report? What did you think was most important in her findings?
HARVEY WASSERMAN: Well, our initial response was “Yippee!” I mean, they finally, after all these years of us banging our—you know, we’re local boys. We live in Ohio, in Columbus. And we saw the election of 2004 stolen right in front of our faces. And we reported it extensively, and everybody laughed at us. And they said, “Oh, this couldn’t happen in America.” And we documented it in How the GOP Stole America’s 2004 Election and Is Rigging 2008. We documented scores of ways that this election was stolen. And we pointed out a myriad flaws that we saw right in our own neighborhoods, of what was done to keep people of color and young people from voting and to rig the vote count.
I mean, the servers for the computation of the Ohio vote count were in the same basement in Chattanooga, Tennessee that houses servers for the Republican National Committee. The programmers who did the stuff for Ken Blackwell, the Republican Secretary of State, were Republicans who did websites for the Bush administration. I mean, it’s amazing.
So, here we have—finally we have a Democratic Secretary of State, who took—spent $1.9 million of state money, hired Battelle, which is not exactly a progressive organization, to study it, and found that every single method of voting, pretty much, except for, you know, marking paper ballots, was corrupted in the 2004 election. | | Monday, December 17th, 2007 | | 11:49 am |
Glumbert - the man cold Cute | | Friday, December 7th, 2007 | | 12:36 am |
Adamantiumtastic Materials Cool! Zetix is a fabric so strong it will resist multiple car bomb blasts without breaking. It absorbs and disperses the energy from explosions thanks to an inner structure so adamantiumtastic it can be used in body armor, window covering, military tents and hurricane defenses—it might even be able to fend off my ex-wife. When not shielding from explosions, it can be used as medical sutures that won't damage body tissue. All of this is thanks to a property that apparently defies the laws of physics:
Zetix is built around the principle of auxetics: objects that actually get fatter the more you stretch them. Though it hurts to think about, as you will discover, it actually makes sense. | | Friday, November 23rd, 2007 | | 1:18 pm |
Unsubscribe me (WARNING - not easy viewing) Waiting For The Guards is the first of 3 films commissioned by Amnesty to highlight the enhanced interrogation techniques used by the CIA in the “War on Terror”.Just watch it - words seem pointless when reacting to the American war machine. | | Thursday, November 22nd, 2007 | | 6:09 pm |
"The credit crunch has truly gone global" So much for happy thoughts on Thanksgiving - time for my usual doom and gloom! But seriously folks, this is troubling: Chinese authorities are slamming the brakes on bank lending, in their latest attempt to curb the runaway investment threatening to overheat what is soon to be the world's third-largest economy.
In recent weeks, regulators have quietly ordered China's commercial banks to freeze lending through the end of the year, according to bankers in several cities. The bankers say that to comply, they are canceling loans and credit lines with businesses and individuals.
Over the past few years, Chinese authorities have repeatedly sought to rein in investment in sectors such as property development, where they deemed it was becoming excessive. But even in China a blanket edict to halt lending growth is unusual.
Tthe lending freeze shows how the slowing U.S. economy may be complicating Chinese policy making. Lower interest rates in the U.S. give Beijing less room to push up rates without creating a ripple effect.The article continues to discuss other aspects of this Chinese action, in particular to the dollar. While very thought provoking, I'm not sure exactly where all of this is going. Clearly, something is breaking. Unfortunately, it seems to me that it is the entire financial system. How this impacts things that matter to me like my job, the dollar and so on, I have no idea. Interesting times, indeed. Current Mood: | | 2:03 pm |
Thanksgiving
So, today is Thanksgiving in America, and I thought I would pause from life to reflect on the changes that have happened in my life in the past year. They have been many, and clearly positive.
At this time last year, the only part of my life that was going well was the friends and family side - I received tremendous support from all of them, especially Arshia, and was otherwise a broke, unemployed, single dude living in London. In the year since life has really turned itself around. I've traveled to some of the most amazing places in the world, met someone truly special, made some new friends, reaffirmed some old ones, and landed a job that makes me happy in every way a job can make someone happy (what I do, with whom I do it, and the package).
I guess what I am most thankful for on this day are the ups and down of life. They have reminded me of the truly important things in life, and helped me to appreciate all the positives that are around me. And that includes, you, the few who bother to read my blog... :-)
Happy Thanksgiving | | Wednesday, November 21st, 2007 | | 7:29 pm |
Speachless Stunning. Simply amazing. The U.S. Military is demanding that thousands of wounded service personnel give back signing bonuses because they are unable to serve out their commitments.
To get people to sign up, the military gives enlistment bonuses up to $30,000 in some cases.
Now men and women who have lost arms, legs, eyesight, hearing and can no longer serve are being ordered to pay some of that money back.Don't worry - the nation is simply applying the rules of Walmart (ASDA, for my UK readers): A Walmart employee was hit by a semi, leaving her permanently brain-damaged and in a wheelchair. Walmart paid for her medical fees and her family successfully sued the trucking company. Now Walmart wants all the money she got from the trucking company. The family only has Social Security benefits and medicaid to pay for her 24 hour medical care. The company health plan contains a clause that allows it to recoup medical expenses it paid if the person also wins damages in an injury suit. This cost-effective management of the employee health plan is just another way Walmart delivers America everday low prices.May God continue to bless America. | | Friday, November 16th, 2007 | | 12:04 pm |
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