September 30, 2004

"He Forgot About Poland!"

If Kerry does manage to pull off a defeat, political scientists and historians will cite the first debate as a turning point. Kerry needed to introduce himself to all of the regular people who still didn't have a clear idea of who he was. He needed to appear direct, firm, and presidential. In other words, he needed to sell himself to the people who were fed up with Bush but not ready to buy Kerry. I think he did that. He had a commanding presence and never seemed on the defensive. Bush oftentimes seems befuddled and sometimes at a loss for words. And he relied heavily on pat phrases from his stump speech. Until tonight, I had no idea that it would be "hard work" to rebuild Iraq.

And what was up with Bush's curious fixation on Poland? You could have played a hell of a drinking game based on the number of times he mentioned Poland.

Now, the Dems need to control the spin game. The Republicans will try to portray this as a draw and the Kerry camp needs to fight that. And while I have ambiguous feelings about polls, it would be nice to see Kerry move in the polls.

After the debate, we all tuned to The Daily Show. They did a brilliant piece on undecided voters. Quoth Samantha Bee to a group of undecideds: "How do you fucking dress yourself in the morning?"

Now to bed.

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Come Out Swinging

I'm leaving shortly for a party to watch tonight's debate presentation Kabuki theater. I'm discouraged at the hyper-formalized structure of the debate. I want to see some drama, some bons mots, some heated exchanges, damnit. Not this tightly orchestrated political music video. Perhaps I'll be surprised and get my wish. Then again, you should be careful what you wish for.

And if things do go really bad, at least there will be plenty of alcohol on hand to dull the pain.

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September 29, 2004

Winning Hearts And Minds

The election is a little more than thirty days away and I'm itching to get involved in some get-out-the-vote efforts. I've been going to some meetings to do organizing in the disability community, but frankly, that hasn't been satisfying. A lot of people with disabilities are still reluctant to identify themselves as disabled and it's nearly impossible to identify potential voters with disabilities. There are some housing complexes that are home to marry people with disabilities, but that seems like such a narrow target for our efforts. I want to do some outreach to the general population, especially to young people and people living in the suburbs. I may not be the best person to do canvassing because of the low volume and slow rate of my speech, but I think I want to try. Whether or not Kerry wins, I want to be able to say that I did what I could. I'd rather not do this alone, so if you have a free weekend in the next month and you're in the Twin Cities area, let me know and we'll hit the streets and fight the good fight.

Here's a hypothetical for everyone: If you could ask one question of Bush or Kerry during tomorrow's debate, what would it be? I'll let you know what mine are once I've mulled it over a bit more.

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September 28, 2004

The Machine Age

I got around to watching Freedom Machines last night, the recent POV documentary on assistive technology. It did a nice job of covering the various types of technology that can benefit people with different types of disabilities. But it only brushed deeper issues like the reluctance of schools and other bureaucracies to purchase AT devices and the artificially high prices (in my opinion, anyway) of that technology. But I suppose those are issues that can't be as easily discussed in a documentary which has as its main focus the actual people who use the technology. And it's difficult to understate the transformative nature of assistive technology. I can't imagine life without my HeadMaster. Without it, this blog would never have happened and I probably would have had a lot more difficulty finding employment.

The specs for the extended edition of ROTK have been made public. Fifty minutes of additional footage. I'd better start my Lord of the Rings viewing marathon in the early afternoon. Who wants to join me? I think we might be getting a plasma screen television in my building's party room. For the association dues I pay, they should put a private friggin' theater in every unit.

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September 27, 2004

Daily Briefing

Juan Cole, a professor of history at the University of Michigan, has an excellent blog covering the war in Iraq. I remain mystified as to why the mainstream press, especially television news outfits, continues to cover the war in such a cursory fashion. Do they think people aren't interested? I think most people are interested in what's happening, but they aren't actively seeking out information. Blogs can play a role in providing that information, but television still has the most immediate impact on public opinion. If I was the news director of a major network, I'd begin every nightly newscast with stories from Iraq, regardless of my political bent. It's the biggest story around and yet sometimes it trails behind headlines of the Scott Peterson trial.

Incidentally, ABC's The Note is a vital election-season resource. It has an exhaustive recap of the day's political events, important stories from the papers, emerging trends, poll data, etc. A daily must-read.

We FINALLY have new computers at work. I can't tell you what a pleasure it is to have a workstation that doesn't stutter and hiccup when you try to have more than one document open at a time. Please let me never work on a Windows NT machine ever again. Ick. But I'm not sure why we were upgraded to Windows 2000 instead of XP. Maybe it was a cheaper license.

VSA Arts of Minnesota, a local nonprofit that has me on their Board of Directors, had its first annual fundraiser on Nicolett Island yesterday. I wish I had brought my camera because it was a beautiful location. In the middle of the river and with a spectacular view of downtown Minneapolis and the old mill ruins. If I ever get married (I know, I know, I can't stop laughing either, but I'm just saying), I think that spot would be my first pick.

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September 26, 2004

Size Matters

Sometimes I get bummed about my stature. I'm barely five feet tall and I weigh about eighty pounds. I've had people call me "little guy" or "little man" in what they thought were endearing tones. But I suppose I prefer being my lean and easily portable self as opposed to the other extreme--weighing in at over a ton. The human body's capacity for enduring incomprehensible amounts of weight amazes me.

I have to pay my attorney's license renewal fee this week. Two hundred dollars. Ugh. Not all of us lawyers are able to bill that kind of money in an hour, despite popular perceptions. I guess that new printer will have to wait a few more weeks. I also need to take care of my continuing legal ed requirements relatively soon. I've thought about putting my license on restricted status since I'm not practicing and then I wouldn't have to take CLE classes. However, I don't want to go through the hassle of re-activating it if I ever change jobs. At least we have the option of taking classes over the web.

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September 25, 2004

Rebel Scum

Like a good geek, I bought the Star Wars Trilogy on DVD and I'll probably begin viewing it tonight. I'm not the biggest SW purist, so I don't get too hung up on the finer points (e.g. whether Greedo or Han shoots first in the cantina scene). But I do hope they took out that wimpy scream that Luke gives when he does his tumble off the railing in Cloud City.

More later. Now, out to enjoy the sunshine.

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September 24, 2004

In The 'Hood

I think I'm going to really enjoy my fellowship. We had orientation today and I had the opportunity to meet most of the other fellows. Everyone seems genuinely interesting, intelligent, and extremely talented. I think it's quite possible that I'll make some good friends during this experience. We heard from some of the previous fellows and they emphasized that participation was the key to having a quality experience. They also stressed that while people bring different viewpoints to the discussion, the fellows never personally attacked each other because it's difficult to vilify someone you know. I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone. And the trip to DC should be a blast.

It was also nice to be back in my old West Bank neighborhood yesterday. Before living on the 19th Floor, I resided in a tiny one-bedroom apartment in the Seven Corners neighborhood of Minneapolis, near the law school. It was home for seven years and I miss the do-your-own-thing vibe of the neighborhood. A lot of my book is based on experiences and people I knew during those seven years. But I don't miss the college boys wrestling in the hallway outside my apartment and bloodying up the walls.

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September 23, 2004

Bohemian Rhapsody

If you're into mash-ups, you absolutely must download the Kleptones' A Night at the Hip-Hopera. It's a full-length album that seamlessly integrates major songs from the Queen oeuvre and samples of other artists like Eminem, Missy Elliott, Beastie Boys, Peaches, and more. I'm listening to it now and it's one of the most brilliant things I've heard. When I got my first stereo system, I also purchased a CD of Queen's greatest hits, so these mash-ups have a special appeal to me. Holy crap, they're even using Queen's over-the-top theme song from that early 80s piece of cinematic cheese: Flash Gordon. I've died and gone to pop heaven. The album is mirrored here. You can thank me later.

And while we're on the topic of 80s cultural detritus, I see they're making a musical of...The Last Starfighter? You're kidding me. I went to see this movie on my twelfth birthday with some friends. The space battles were cool, but I didn't see much opportunity in the story for song-and-dance numbers. Can somebody in New York check this out for me and tell me if I'm missing something?

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September 22, 2004

Taking Off The Gloves

I start my Humphrey Fellowship tomorrow, which has me excited. The Fellowship has two co-directors: Vin Weber and Tim Penny. Both men are former Congressional representatives and are well-known in Minnesota political circles. Vin Weber is now an influential Republican advisor and Tim Penny ran for governor as an independent a couple years ago. I'm looking forward to meeting both of them and I also hope that there's a diversity of viewpoints amongst the fellows. It's always nice to meet who agree with you, but that can make for a dull academic experience. I'm also a little curious about how people will react to my disability. We have orientation on Friday and I'll probably make some kind of mention of it when we do our introductions. I usually find that it's better to acknowledge it early on because it's the one thing most people wonder about when first meeting me and it also demonstrates that I'm not uncomfortable talking about it. There's a fine line between talking about your disability and letting it define you. You don't want to pull an Ellen DeGeneres and have every conversation revolve around that one characteristic that separates you from the mainstream (I'm not trying to pick on Ellen; she actually seems much more at ease with herself in recent years). At the same time, you don't want to try and push the elephant in the room into the broom closet.

Senator Kerry has clearly been reading my blog. How else to explain the aggressive tone his campaign has taken on lately on the issue of the Iraqi war? Seriously, I'm encouraged to see that Kerry has found his voice again. He has taken the critical step of defining the news cycle rather than responding to it. Let''s hope it continues.

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September 21, 2004

Another Book Excerpt

I flinched and turned to see Erin standing at my table, a half-full glass of a dark amber liquid in one hand. She was leaning on her walker with the other hand. The faint light from the single candle on the table made it difficult to tell whether her hair was still streaked pink or something closer to purple. She wore a black T-shirt over a short denim skirt. There was some lettering made out of tiny beads stitched into the front of the T-shirt, but I couldn't read it from where she was standing. "Oh, hey, Erin. Yeah, it's pretty cool, huh?"

She nodded. "Must 'e nice tuh-to 'ave rich friends." Erin gave me a quizzical look. "Why ah you suh-sitting here all 'lone?"

I shrugged. "It's been kind of a strange day. I think I wanted to be by myself for a little bit."

"Oh," said Erin. She pulled one of the chairs away from the table and sat across from me. The beading on her T-shirt sparkled and now I could read what it said: PORN STAR. "'Ell, I need to suh-sit down. My 'eet 'urt. Jus' pruh-pruh-pretend I'm n'uh here."

I chuckled. "It's okay. I could probably use the company. You having fun?"

The ice in Erin's glass clinked softly as she raised it to her lips. "Sure," she said. She set the glass down and she wiped away the few droplets that were running down her chin with the back of her hand. "'Ots of cute guys here an' even a fuh-few girls. Did you 'ee that one guh-girl sitting 'ith Vic's parents at dinner?" I shook my head. "Fuckin' guh-gorgeous," she said with an emphatic tilt of her head. "'Oo bad she's n'uh bi."

I pushed cake crumbs around my plate with my fork. "Yeah? How can you tell?"

"A girl nuh-knows these things, 'Ames," she said with the tone of a teacher lecturing a particularly dense pupil. Her eyes got all dreamy and unfocused. "Course, suh-sometimes all they nee' is a li'l push in the right duh-direction."

"And you're the one to give that push. Is that what you're saying?"

A coy smile flickered across her lips. "Neh-never hurts to try." She folded her arms on the table and looked at me intently. "So tuh-tell me. Why ah you 'aving a 'range 'ay?"

I glanced around to make sure Dad wasn't in earshot and then I told her about the mess I had gotten myself into at Shifting Paradigms, culminating in me quitting/getting fired/whatever that morning. When I finished, Erin reached across the table and patted my hand. "I'm 'orry, 'Ames. But it suh-sounds 'ike you di'n't want to buh-be there anyway."

I gave her hand a friendly squeeze and let it go. "I thought I did, at first. After graduation, I thought it would be really difficult to find a job, y'know? And I go in for my first interview and they seem to really like me." I snorted in disgust. "Well, except for that prick Cy. I keep thinking I could have done something differently to get him to like me. I don't what, but something."

Erin frowned. "I 'oubt it. I don't th-think it 'eally had anything to duh-do with you personally. He wanted someone el' for the job an' you were in the 'ay."

"Yeah, but I made it easier for him to get rid of me." I rubbed my eyes wearily. "And now I have to start all over. It fucking sucks."

Erin pushed her glass towards me. "'Ere, want this? I've 'ad enough tonight." I didn't bother to ask what it was. The ice in the glass had nearly melted and what I swallowed was mostly water laced with enough whiskey to warm the back of my throat.

"I 'ink I saw a job puh-posting for something at Disability Suhvices at the U," said Erin as I crunched a piece of ice between my teeth. "They 'ot a new director who's ruh-really cool. Want me 'o e-mail it to 'ou?"

"Sure, I guess." It came out sounding less appreciative than I had intended and I got a funny look from Erin. "Sorry," I said. "It's just that the idea of going back there seems kind of depressing. I stuffed envelopes and answered the telephone in that place for almost six semesters in a row. Going back there to do the same thing as a full-time job would be, I don't know, like saying I can't make it anywhere else."

Erin shook her head. "It's nuh-not that kind of 'ob. I 'ink it 'as suh-something to do with a grant they 'ot. I'll 'end it 'morrow."

"Thanks," I said. I looked back towards the people crowded around the bar. "You could probably find someone to hang out with who's a lot more fun than me right now."

Erin glanced over her shoulder. "Yeah, 'robably." She turned to look at me with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes to compliment the glitter on her shirt. "'Ut it's more fuh-fun to see 'ou all ah-angsty and brooding. It's 'ind of sexy."

"I'm brooding because you didn't bring me a present," I said with mock-seriousness. I turned my palms up on the table. "What's up with that, huh? I thought you were my friend."

Erin leaned forward and I noticed the outlines of her nipples pushing against the tight fabric of her T-shirt. I quickly looked up so it wouldn't seem like I was gawking. An enigma of a smile touched the corners of her lips. "Ah-all you have 'o do is ask for i', Jay's," she said in a low voice. "Just ask."

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Doll House

The Sims 2 was released earlier this week. I bought the first Sims game but never any of the roughly ten thousand add-on packs that were released subsequently. I could never get into the micromanagement aspects of the game. You can only watch your Sim take a dump so many times before it loses its charm. The game also raised some rather uncomfortable existential questions for me. My Sim, a single male, pretty much did the same things I did in real life. He got up, went to work, came home, maybe played on the computer or read for a bit, and then went off to bed. Other than the necessities of bathing and eating, that was pretty much it. Sometimes a female Sim would show up, but I could never convince her to stick around very long. I found myself getting really depressed while playing the game and soon I abandoned it completely. While I'm interested in picking up the sequel, I worry a little that it might cause another melancholic bout of self-reflecting on my own life. What if I start playing and this time my Sim has a more interesting life than I do? I'm not sure I can handle that kind of juxtaposition. I might be forced to start a kitchen fire and kill the bastard in a fit of jealous rage.

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September 20, 2004

Forever Young

This AP report points out that massive numbers of young people are registering to vote. Could be good news for Kerry; the last time we had a large turnout of young voters was in 1992. As far as I can tell, neither campaign has done much to reach out to young voters. Drew Barrymore was recently on The Daily Show to promote a documentary she produced about young voters. If our nation has to rely on the likes of Drew Barrymore to get out the under-30 vote, matters are worse than I first thought. Despite her apparent earnestness on the subject of political participation, she reminded me of a pep squad leader trying to teach an introductory civics seminar. Young people need to see how politics affects the concrete things in their lives. My sister told me that her roommate, a bright woman bound for medical school, may or may not vote. I remember the apathy of my early twenties, but it boggles my mind that anyone would choose to sit on the sidelines during this election.

I'm intrigued by the new Green Day album. I was never much of a fan of theirs, but the reviews for Amercan Idiot are comparing it to Radiohead's OK Computer, one of my all-time favorites. I must find out if the hype is justified.

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September 19, 2004

All That Jazz

I have no idea what to make of the wildly divergent polls. Polling methods seem to exclude a lot of potential voters, such as people with only cell phones (who are, by the way, mostly people under 35). I do think Bush is holding a slight lead of perhaps 4-5 points nationally. Kerry seems to be changing tactics and becoming more vigorous in his critiques of the president and it looks like he may be getting ready to take the gloves off on Iraq, which is good news. But Kerry needs to present a forceful appearance on the first presidential debate on September 30th. That may be the last opportunity to shift momentum in this election.

Whenever I start feeling down on the state of the human race, it's anecdotes of basic human decency that restore my optimism. Like this one instructing us in the persuasive power of show tunes.

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September 18, 2004

Back To The Future

For what it is, Sky Captain is a perfectly enjoyable Saturday-matinee type of movie. And what it is is a visually appealing bit of eye candy that has all the emotional resonance you'd expect from a director who spends most of his time in front of a computer. This isn't to say it's a bad movie. It's not. The affection for old-skool 1930s serials and comics is evident in every frame. But the actors seem to be present only as a reason to justify the dazzling pictures flickering on the screen. Unlike Spiderman 2 or Return of the King, the CGI effects in Sky Captain do not exist for the purpose of telling a deeper story. Hopefully, the director will develop a better feel for character and story. If he does, I think we could be in for some real treats.

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September 17, 2004

Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind

I was playing around with the Preview Release of Firefox last night. I really like the Live Bookmarks feature, which allows you to view the RSS feeds of websites in the Bookmarks sidebar or menu bar. It's convenient to be able to jump directly to specific articles. It isn't enough to make me give up my newsreader, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Mozilla crew eventually integrates a full-fledged newsreader into the browser. It's too early to say whether the browser wars are back on, but Microsoft better watch its back.

The Christian Science Monitor looks at the opening of the Paralympics in Athens and how it might affect Greek attitudes on disability. One person is quoted as saying, "In Athens, you never even see someone in a wheelchair in the street." My sister made a similar comment about Paris after she returned to the States. The article also touches on the sense of shame Greeks associate with disability. One hypothesis for explaining these Old World attitudes about disability that pervade much of Europe is the lack of a historical grassroots civil rights movement. Back in the 70s, Americans with disabilities were developing a consciousness that was inspired by other civil rights movements focusing on race, gender, and sexual orientation. The passage of the Rehab Act of 1973 was a direct response to people with disabilities organizing and advocating for themselves. To my knowledge, Europeans with disabilities don't have a similar history. While they may have laws on the books and ministries and such, fundamental attitudes won't shift until the gimps in Paris, Athens, Rome, Munich and elsewhere start raising a little hell.

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September 16, 2004

Play That Funky Music

Kottke points us to a story about the guilty pleasures people store on their iPods. Guilty pleasures like New Kids on the Block or Britney Spears. At the risk of obliterating my own street cred, here are a few of the tracks I play when nobody's looking

"Shattered Dreams" by Johnny Hates Jazz. I am a child of the 80s, after all.
"Cry Me A River" by Justin Timberlake. Possibly my most shameful selection.
"Genie in a Bottle" by Christina Aguilera. Hey, it's catchy as hell. And she's hot. Or at least she was before she went all skanky.
"Take My Breath Away" by Berlin. More cotton candy from the Reagan Era.
"Whenever, Wherever" by Shakira. Extremely catchy. Extremely hot.

I want to create an all-sugar playlist on my iPod, so send me your suggestions for the cheesiest, schmaltziest, sappiest songs that have ever had the misfortune of being recorded.

I'm thinking it would be cool to convene some of us Twin Cities/Greater Minnesota bloggers for a beer or something. I need to do some research and figure out how many of us there are and whether there's interest in organizing something like that.

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September 15, 2004

HG Welles Is Rolling In His Grave

Just finished reading Vol. 2 of Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. A bit short on plot, but it does contain a particularly disturbing scene where the Invisible Man...well, suffice it to say that such things were probably not contemplated by the original author. Alan Moore is a great writer, but one sick bastard.

A Gallup poll shows that Bush holds a small but significant lead over Kerry in my home state of Wisconsin. I remain confident that the progressives in the state will turn out in droves on Election Day, but I must point out that Wisconsin has a strange political history. It's the state that produced Robert LaFollette as well as Joseph McCarthy, so I guess anything can happen. Meanwhile, here in Minnesota, Kerry leads by 9.

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September 14, 2004

Ray Gun

A friend and I are planning on seeing Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow this weekend. Two things about this film intrigue me. First, the technical. The movie was shot entirely in front of a blue screen, which makes me wonder if I'll be too distracted by the gee-whiz factor of the images to give critical attention to the plot. I have my doubts about sticking live actors in a computer-generated universe for a whole movie, but the idea is interesting. Second, the cultural. The film goes for a retro sci-fi feel that I can really dig. Anyone remember the computer role-playing game Fallout from a few years ago? I loved that game because it had a similar theme. Retro sci-fi has this rollocking, playful ambiance that is missing from modern SF. Think Buck Rogers or a lot of the B-films from the 40s and 50s. I hope this movie is successful enough to encourage the development of other retro-style stories.

I was watching Conan last night and they did a short bit where they had a camera following one of their staff, a total Stargate geek, as he did a walk-on part on the actual show. I think it'd be great fun to do a bit part on a show like Enterprise. I'm not sure how they'd write me in the script. Maybe as a hologram or the result of a medical experiment gone horribly awry. Now I just need to figure out how to get the show's producers to see this blog.

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September 13, 2004

The Elephant In The Room

Iraq.

That is the central issue in this year's election. Or at least it should be. If not for Iraq, Bush would most likely be walking away with another presidential term, weak economy or no. The Democrats know this, but their candidate has such a contorted position on the war that the only viable option left is to say nothing on the matter. And that's exactly what the Dems have done for the past month. Kerry's vote to authorize the war always gave me pause, but his more recent verbal gymnastics and misstatements have me reaching for the bottle. The Dems should be absolutely vilifying Bush over his blunders in Iraq. Instead, they're doing the equivalent of shuffling their feet and shrugging their shoulders like a bunch of befuddled schoolkids. I want Howard Dean to pull Kerry aside and tell him to knock off the senatorial dissembling and start going on the attack. Kerry doesn't have to list bullet points explaining his new Iraqi strategy. All he has to do is lay out the myriad ways that Bush fucked things up and ask the voters one simple question: "Do you trust the same guy who got you into this mess to get you out?"

There is still time for Kerry to re-focus the debate on Iraq, but he needs to do it soon.

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September 12, 2004

Classroom 506

The New York Times Magazine has an article about Thomas, a little boy with cerebral palsy and his parents' monumental effort to create a truly inclusive environment for him at school. Thomas is nonverbal, a challenge that is especially difficult to overcome in a classroom setting. Back in the day, I had friends with disabilities with varying levels of communication disorders. The kids who were the most nonverbal were also the most socially isolated. The able-bodied kids were, with time and familiarity, able to look past all kinds of physical impairments, but they were often intimidated by anyone who couldn't talk. The magazine article portrays Thomas as bright and sociable, which gives me some hope that things will turn out okay for him.

On a related note, the POV series on PBS will be airing a documentary entitled Freedom Machines, highlighting the role of assistive technology in the lives of people with disabilities. Thanks to Katja for the heads-up.

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September 11, 2004

Hut One!

Football season is here. Eh. Something tells me the Packers are going to suck this year. And there's no way I can get all that interested in the Vikings, but I'll probably settle into my usual routine of having the games on as background noise. I do need to get back to Green Bay at some point to check Lambeau Field v2.0. When I was a kid, I went to a couple games at Lambeau and got to sit on the sidelines. Probably not the safest place for a person in a wheelchair to sit during a football game, but I had some good views of a couple bone-shattering tackles. I think they've moved the disability seating to the upper deck now, which in a way is too bad. Sitting on the sidelines, you almost felt like part of the team.

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September 10, 2004

Ritual

A note on disability and the art of shaking hands. I've been in several social situations where I'll meet a new person and that individual will reach out to shake my hand. I don't have the strength to raise my hand to reciprocate and I always find the other person's response to this matter of etiquette to be quite revealing. Some people will quickly jerk their hand away, as if they've been burned and they'll flash a nervous, uncertain grin. Some will morph their aborted handshake into a squeeze of my forearm or a pat on my armrest (confirming my theory that people often see my chair as an extension of my body). A select few will actually pick up my hand and shake it without hesitation. I can usually judge a person's level of comfort around me from how they deal with the handshake scenario. I suppose I could save some people potential embarrassment by simply telling them it's okay to pick up my hand, but that would make things so much less interesting. I should start keeping notes and if the novel doesn't pan out, perhaps I can write an Idiot's Guide to Disability Etiquette.

Must remind myself to catch the BBC's new audio production of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I never heard the original production, which probably lowers my geek cred a little. That also reminds me that I need to read the rest of the books in the series.

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September 09, 2004

Damned If You Do

Let me see if I understand this. If John Kerry wins the election, terrorists have an open invitation to attack us. Yet we need to re-elect Bush because terrorists are plotting against us. If Bush wants to win this election, he needs to send Cheney back to his crypt before more excrement escapes his mouth. As for the TANG story, it remains to be seen whether it will have the same legs as the Swift Boat ads. I wish both sides would leave the past behind, but like Kos says, what's good for the goose... The fact that Bush got special treatment from the Guard should surprise nobody. I only wish these documents had emerged in 2000. Not that the election results would have been any different, but the issue would have been put to rest one way or the other. As it is, this will probably be the nastiest election in my lifetime.

And to the woman named Lisa who posted a comment today, send me an e-mail. The one I sent to you bounced back. I'm at wintermute2_0@the19thfloor.net.

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September 08, 2004

Crash & Burn

Poor NASA. After successfully landing two rovers on the surface of Mars, you'd think that bringing a probe back to Earth would be a cinch. Best of luck to the scientists as they try to salvage some usable samples from the wreckage of Genesis.

I need to think of an innovative way of meeting women. On-line dating sites have lost their appeal to me. It feels too much like window shopping. Someone recently asked me if I would ever date a woman with a disability. As with a lot of hypothetical questions, the answer would be "it depends." Five or ten years ago, I probably would have been a lot more reluctant to consider such a thing. Back then, I had the misguided notion that I had to be with someone able-bodied in order to "prove" to the world that I was just like everyone else. But now that I'm older and have a little more perspective on things, I see the appeal of dating someone with a disability. There wouldn't be that initial period of awkwardness, when I always felt like I had to get the object of my affection to see me and not the extraneous stuff like wheelchair and the vent. We could start from perhaps a more common set of experiences and I wouldn't have to do explain my whole life story. But like I said, it would depend on a lot more than her disability. And I really haven't met that many women with disabilities in my peer group. I'm sure they're out there, but not where I can find them.

But if she is out there, able-bodied or not, she should send up a flare or something. Celibacy is all well and good for the godly and the principled, but I'm neither and it's killing me.

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September 07, 2004

Once Upon A Time In Kansas

I've highlighted Thomas Frank's latest book on the sidebar because it's one of the most intriguing nonfiction books I've read in the last couple years. Frank is an astute observer of the political forces shaping his home state of Kansas. and because Kansas is supposed to represent quintessential Middle America, it might also explain similar trends in other states. What was once a hotbed of radical left-leaning political movements is now one of the most conservative states in the nation. He explains that modern conservatism has succeeded in uniting people of vastly different economic backgrounds on social issues like abortion, etc. People in lower and middle income brackets vote Republican even though Republican economic policies overwhelmingly favor the wealthy. This strategy is brilliant because the social battles are ones that can never really be won, but it's what mobilizes the base and they can be relied on to also vote for tax cuts that will almost certainly do nothing to benefit them. These people, good and decent for the most part, vote for policies that will weaken their towns and cities, slash funding in their children's education, and deny themselves health care while allowing themselves to be placated by promises of a restoration of "traditional values" in this country; promises that will never materialize.

Frank also is fair-minded enough to blame the left for its failures as well as the right for its manipulation. At some point, liberalism ceased to have any meaning to these people. Maybe the left was too condescending towards the cultural views of so much of Middle America. Maybe we pushed too strongly for globalization at the expense of the union workers in this country. Whatever the causes, the book is a fascinating study of how we got to our present Red State/Blue State Paradigm

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September 06, 2004

Synergy

It's a stunning day outside and I don't want to spend it at my desk. But before I go, here's an interesting story about TiVo and Netflix teaming up to offer movie downloads on net-enabled TiVos. Not a surprising move, but I have some questions about how they will implement this. Will the movies have the same visual quality of a physical DVD? Regardless of how successful it is, it's probably the first iteration of the On-Demand Media Library that will eventually replace CDs, DVDs, etc.

Have you seen this man? Good to know that the Republican Party is instilling civic-mindedness in our young people.

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September 05, 2004

Cinephile

I'm taking advantage of the holiday weekend to catch up on some movies that have been on my list. Yesterday was Hero, the Chinese martial arts movie starring the color wheel. It was actually a quite beautiful film with some vivid backdrops. The story has a couple twists, but nothing that will make you want to pluck your eyes out (a la The Village). The fight scenes have marked similarity to the ones in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon but didn't feel unoriginal. Jet Li doesn't have the expressiveness of Chow-Yun Fat, but he does a good nameless warrior impression. And today, I think I'm going to see Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut with my sister. It's been getting a lot of buzz on the internet and I want to see what the fuss is about.

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September 04, 2004

Brotherhood of Mutants

Finally, a book about people like me: Mutants: On Genetic Variety and the Human Body. It's up for a Guardian First Book award and has recently been added to my Amazon wish list.

I'm back in my new wheelchair. After a series of adjustments and reconfigurations, it seems to be handling a little better now. It has a "springy" feel to it, which is going to take a little getting used to. I wish I had pushed harder for the elevating seat option after seeing it on a friend's chair. I guess that can wait for the next model.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 03, 2004

Fast Food Nation

Bill, you should have backed off the Big Macs a long time ago. These days, a quadruple bypass is about as routine as a root canal and I have no doubt that Clinton will be on his feet in a couple weeks, giving interviews and signing books. Ten bucks says that the paperback edition of his book will have a whole new chapter about his brush with mortality.

Like most people, I'm absolutely horrified by the mounting death toll at the school in Russia. The Russians don't seem to have a good track record in resolving hostage standoffs. Are their cops that incompetent or are the Chechens that bloodthirsty? It's hard to tell from this side of the world. Even after 9-11, I think most Americans have a hard time comprehending a way of life under constant threat from bombings and other acts of violence. If things like this were happening on an even semi-regular basis in the US, we would see a wave of mass paranoia sweep the country. Our geographic isolation has a lot to do with our (sometimes false) sense of security. In other parts of the world, bloody conflicts with one's neighbors are a fact of life. Here, we think of our neighbors as vacation spots, if we think of them at all.

I managed to go the entire week without watching one second of the RNC. Of course, sometimes you have to put politics aside out of business necessity. Go read Alexa's blog and see what I mean. Alexa is a New York blogger who may get herself a book deal if she keeps at it.

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September 02, 2004

News From A Distant Star

This report on CNN about a possible interstellar signal caught my attention, but then I saw this article on the BBC that appears to downplay the incident. How strange. Either the first article was a little too sensational or (and this is me indulging my inner conspiracy theorist) the scientific community is doing some serious double-checking before going public. In all likelihood, the signal isn't artificial, which is a pity. It might be the one story that would be capable of distracting us from the Neverending Campaign Cycle. I can only imagine how Bush would react to such news. He would probably accuse the signal of being part of terrorist plot, terrestrial or otherwise, and put us on permanent Orange Alert.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 01, 2004

Chicken Little

We Democrats tend to be a skittish lot. When things aren't going perfectly, we start wringing our hands, sweating profusely, and whining about how our guy is continuing the long Democratic tradition of screwing the pooch in the last leg of election season. That pretty much describes our behavior over the last week, including my own to some extent. When I saw this story on CNN about possible shake-ups at the Kerry campaign, I repeatedly glanced out the window to assure myself that the sky wasn't falling. But like Josh Marshall over at TPM says, we need to stop whining and shut up. Kerry still occupies a great position, especially considering that there are only two months left. Bush will probably be ahead in most of the post-convention polls, but that can't last long in an electorate this closely divided. Kerry does need to go on the offensive and develop a better rapid response system, but I think he's experienced enough to realize that. Those of us who support him need to grow a spine and not allow the media to manipulate our perceptions.

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