November 30, 2009

Temporary Measures

The Senate takes up the health care bill today in a final push towards passage, but another story underscores the need for permanent reform. December 31st is the final day that laid-off workers can qualify for the federal subsidy that helps pay for COBRA health care coverage. COBRA is a federal law that allows most laid-off workers to maintain their group coverage, albeit at exorbitant prices that can easily top a thousand dollars for family coverage. The subsidy, passed as part of the stimulus package, picks up 65% of the tab for COBRA premiums for a maximum of nine months. Minnesota picks up the remaining portion for certain low-income individuals.

Congress seems likely to extend the subsidy as part of a jobs bill, but I will be amazed if that happens by the end of the year. All the more reason for Congress to ensure that, in the near term, affordable catastrophic coverage is available to individuals who lose employer coverage and, in the long term, that affordable comprehensive coverage is available on the individual and small business markets.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:08 PM | Comments (0)

November 29, 2009

On Deaf Ears

I blogged a few months ago about Gary McKinnon, the British man who faced extradition to the U.S. for breaking into American defense networks in 2002 in a quest to find evidence of a government cover-up on U.F.O.s. McKinnon's case had drawn considerable media attention because he has Asperger's Syndrome and his family is deeply concerned that the American prison system is not equipped to handle his mental health needs. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, the British Home Secretary rejected a final appeal from McKinnon and ruled that he must be extradited to the U.S. "forthwith".

The secretary cited as supporting documentation a letter from the U.S. Justice Department stating our government would assure McKinnon receives the necessary treatment and medical care. I'm not sure how much credibility I would give those assurances. The American penal system doesn't have a sterling record of caring for inmates with mental health needs. McKinnon may still be able to serve his sentence in the U.K., but the Americans seem determined to make an example of McKinnon as a warning to other hackers who might attempt similar mischief. That's not great news for McKinnon.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 03:36 PM | Comments (0)

November 28, 2009

Critic At Large: Old School

I picked up Old School expecting it to be a typical example of the coming-of-age-at-a-boarding-school genre, but it surprised me with its spare narrative of one boy's halting journey towards becoming a writer. Tobias Wolff's semiautobiographical novel, set in a New England boarding school in the early 60's, doesn't contain any schoolboy hijinks or tearful moments of self-discovery in which the protagonist realizes he wants to be an artist instead of a physician. Instead, we get a peek at the cloistered lives of a group of precocious boys who are both friends and fierce competitors. The area of competition is a series of writing contests in which the author of the winning entry receives a private audience with a famous author.

The scenes in which the authors visit the school are some of the novel's most sharply written and funny passages. The narrator's brief but heady infatuation with the didactic writings of Ayn Rand had me chuckling as much as his sudden disenchantment with her philosophy. Wolff also nicely captures the narcissism and petty rebellions of adolescent boys. Wolff is a careful observer of people and that comes through in every page of the book.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 12:59 PM | Comments (1)

November 27, 2009

Greek To Me

My dad called me today for some tech support on his iMac (I'm the only PC in a family of Macs). Having not used a Mac since the 80's, I could do little more than do some basic Google searches and offer the most rudimentary suggestions. When my best suggestion is "turn it off and on", you know I'm grasping at straws. He figured out the solution himself after a few minutes. It almost made me nostalgic for the days when I would spend forty-five minutes on the phone helping him install a printer driver.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:20 PM | Comments (0)

November 26, 2009

Xie Xie

I'd like to wish all my American readers a happy and safe Thanksgiving. I continue to be grateful that you choose to waste a few minutes with me each day.

Save some mashed potatoes for me.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)

November 25, 2009

In His Own Words?

I posted a couple days ago about Rom Houben, the Belgian man who was misdiagnosed as being in a coma for the last couple decades. Since then, the story has taken another interesting turn. Hauben described his experience to German magazine Der Spiegel using a method called "facilitated communication", a method by which an assistant holds the individual's hand and helps the individual type out messages on a keyboard. His recounting is quite vivid:

I became the witness to my own suffering, as doctors and nurses tried to speak to me and eventually gave up.

Facilitated communication is viewed with skepticism by many because it's difficult to determine whether the assistant is simply assisting or actually typing out the messages for the individual. Most controlled studies have found facilitated communication to be unreliable and subject to the assistant conscious or unconscious influence. That isn't to say that Houben isn't self-aware. But it seems reasonable to wonder how articulate any of us would be after having no social interaction for the better part of a lifetime.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:37 PM | Comments (0)

November 24, 2009

Empty Words

I was just looking at the GOP's recently issued draft statement of "principles" for aspiring conservative candidates. #9 caught my attention:

(9) Protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing and denial of health care and government funding of abortion;

You gotta love the epic irony of Republicans using the health care debate to position themselves as defenders of the meek and helpless. It's fine to advocate against health care reform, but I'm increasingly disturbed by conservatives' attempts to equate opposition to health care reform as some kind of noble act of compassion. Somebody needs to explain to me how expanding Medicaid to more children and adults in poverty is not "protecting the lives of vulnerable persons".

Actually, I'm not sure I want an explanation since odds are good that it would give me a migraine.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:39 PM | Comments (0)

November 23, 2009

Locked In

A lot of what we know about the brain is still wrong. We're discovering more every day about the inner workings of mind and consciousness, but that's of little consolation to someone like Rom Houben. After being seriously injured in a car accident twenty-three years ago, Houben's doctors misdiagnosed him as being in a coma even though he continued to be completely self-aware. The misdiagnosis came to light only after a neurologist conducted a comprehensive reassessment that revealed his brain ccontinued to function normally.

I can't even imagine the frustration and despair that this man must have felt as the years marched on. I can't imagine all the times he must have been in discomfort or pain and unable to communicate the fact to anyone. I'd be very interested to know what coping mechanisms he developed to deal with such long-term isolation. Once neural implants are perfected, Houben should be first in line to receive one.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:52 PM | Comments (2)

November 22, 2009

Still Miles To Go

Once it became clear that the Democrats had sixty votes, last night's procedural vote on health care was somewhat anticlimactic, although no less significant. Every procedural hurdle surmounted adds to the growing perception that the bill's passage is inevitable. The Senate leadership still has its work cut out for it, though. Senators Lieberman, Landrieu, Nelson, and Lincoln (I have no doubt the media will start referring to them as the Gang of Four, if they haven't already) are going be the most popular kids in school for the next few weeks because they remain the wild cards in a final vote. If a public option disappears from the final, it will because one or more of these Democrats demanded it as a pound of flesh for their vote.

I can live with a bill that doesn't include a public option, but I truly don't understand these senators' ferocious opposition to the concept. It polls well and the Congressional Budget Office has already determined it will save money. Three of these senators come from conservative states and they may feel the need to appease the Glen Beck crowd, but that doesn't explain Lieberman, who is doing his best to end a long career in public service with a reputation as a resentful narcissist.

Progressives are going to have to do a lot of flattering, persuading, and cajoling in the coming weeks to ensure that the Senate passes a bill full of tepid and half-hearted reforms.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 06:03 PM | Comments (0)

November 21, 2009

A Study In Opposites

Some of you know that I'm a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan. It's one of the better-scripted series to have appeared on television with plenty of wit, depth, and cute women talking smack and kicking ass. It deserves a lot of credit for kicking off the modern pop culture fascination with all things vampire. Which brings me to the Twilight series. Now, I haven't read any of the books or seen any of the movies, but from all the reviews I've read of Meyers' oeuvre, it seems like pretty weak tea compared to the Buffy series. A bunch of mopey vampires and a heroine who doesn't really do anything heroic making googly eyes at each other.

A brilliant mashup of the Buffy and Twilight franchises lays bare the stark differences in how these two fictional universes regard women. Take a guess as to which one takes a more patriarchal view and seems to imply that stalking is perfectly acceptable behavior for hysterically emo guys. And don't even get me started on a comparison of the dialog. Ick. Just...ick.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 02:32 PM | Comments (2)

November 20, 2009

Ain't Democracy Grand?

I've explained to a couple people that tomorrow's Senate vote on health care is not a vote on the actual bill. Rather, it's a vote to begin floor debate. Senators will be grandstanding in front of the C-SPAN cameras as they debate whether they should continue debating. It's yet another illustration of how our political system is biased towards preserving the status quo. The Senate rulebook may be one of the most important documents governing our legislative process, but its not something that merits much discussion in high school civics classes. That's a shame because people deserve to understand that political gridlock is a function of process as much as it is a function of personalities.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:18 PM | Comments (0)

November 19, 2009

Countdown To Liberation

According to Intel researchers, I may only have to wait another decade for the brain implant that will give me control of my computer and, before long, much of the civilized world. In 2020, I won't even be fifty years old yet, still young enough to lead a revolution. I just have to keep my mind sharp until then to ensure I have the necessary mental fortitude necessary to bend the Internet to my will. Time to start my daily regimen of crossword puzzles.

I should also commission someone to mock up my propaganda art. I'm envisioning giant murals of just my face with a third eye in the middle of my forehead. Or is that too over-the-top?

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:26 PM | Comments (1)

November 18, 2009

I'm Your Biggest Fan

I'm off shortly to hear Stephen King and Audrey Neffineger give a talk at the Fitzgerald. I'm bummed that I don't have my old unabridged copy of The Stand for King to sign, but I'll bring my copy of Under the Dome. It's a ginormous book and could probably cause serious physical harm if placed in the wrong hands. But Kindle versions don't really lend themselves to being signed.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 05:52 PM | Comments (0)

November 17, 2009

Healing Harmonics

Even though I'm on a vent, my lungs do a pretty good job of keeping themselves clear. It might take me a little longer to cough something up, but I eventually get the job done. On rare occasions, I sometimes need a little assistance in the form of some rigorous chest percussions. It's a crude but effective method. However, subtler means of maintaining good pulmonary health are now becoming available. The Lung Flute is one of those simple yet ingenious devices that, in retrospect, seem obvious. When an individual blows into the Lung Flute, it creates sympathetic vibrations in the chest cavity that vibrate the hair-like cilia in the lungs. The cilia are responsible for sweeping mucus up to the throat, where it can then be swallowed or spat out.

I'll probably stick with the occasional chest beating, if for no other reason than to satisfy my masochistic urges. But for people with cystic fibrosis or other pulmonary conditions, the Wand could be quite useful.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:11 PM | Comments (1)

November 16, 2009

Coming Out

The blogosphere got a case of the vapors yesterday when longtime blogger Belle de Jour voluntarily relinquished her anonymity and revealed herself to be both pretty and geeky,complete with a Ph.D. in informatics, epidemiology, and forensic science. Belle (a.k.a Brooke Magnanti) was one of the first bloggers to achieve celebrity status based purely on the content of her blog postings (in Belle's case, she blogged about her experiences as a London escort). She parlayed her blog's popularity into book and television deals, thus earning the envy and ire of all us amateurs pecking away at our keyboards as visions of literary contracts danced before our eyes.

Some might argue that Magnanti, with her middle-class background and advanced education, isn't typical of the women who earn a living as sex workers. They may be right. It's even possible that she's perpetuating a long con on a public who subconsciously wants to accept commercial sex as long as it's nonthreateningly packaged as an attractive and seemingly well-adjusted woman with an English accent and a completed dissertation. But she might just be someone who blogged about an interesting and unusual time in her life and now wants to reclaim her identity. I hope it works out for her.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)

November 15, 2009

The Rest Of The Story

Here are a couple follow-ups on posts from the last few weeks:

• Remember Ian Pearl, the gentleman with spinal muscular atrophy whose private insurer yanked his coverage after deciding that his nursing care was too expensive? The insurer decided to restore Pearl's coverage rather than continue to be portrayed in the media as the evil, greedy corporation who hates people in wheelchairs. Pearl and his family continue to advocate for health care reform and are lobbying for a proposed New York law that would require insurers to obtain permission from the state before dropping group policies unilaterally. 
• Baby RB, the U.K. infant at the center of a legal battle between his parents over whether to keep him hooked up to a ventilator, will soon have his life support removed. His father withdrew his objections to switching off the vent. The judge commended both parents for the love and devotion they showed their son.
  

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 04:02 PM | Comments (0)

November 14, 2009

The Titans & The Start-Ups

Assitive technology is sometimes developed in corporate R&D labs and then marketed to the general public. The Intel Reader, a new device that scans printed text and converts it into speech for users with visual impairments, is a good example. Intel probably spent a considerable amount of time and money developing this device, but a list price of $1,500 is still out of reach for a lot of people.

That's why it's encouraging to see development of homebrew, low-cost assistive technology like the EyeWriter. The EyeWriter uses off-the-shelf parts and open-source software to enable artists with physical disabilities to draw and sketch using only eye movement. Here's a video showing the Eyewriter being used by Tony Quan, a graffiti artist with ALS:

It would be great to see big corporations like Intel supporting some of these community efforts to produce affordable assistive technology that can dramatically improve lives. As I've said before, proprietary devices will always be needed, but I think the market is big enough to accommodate options at both the high and low end.

Thanks to BoingBoing for the tip on the EyeWriter.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 01:17 PM | Comments (1)

November 13, 2009

Parting Ways

MinnPost is running an article about the reason people break up with their book clubs. According to an informal poll done by the author, most people leave because of toxic group dynamics, incompatible reading preferences, or a general lack of motivation. Here's my favorite quote from the article:

One man, for example, showed up to a meeting with a Popular Mechanics magazine and was dismayed to discover they didn't consider it potential reading material.    

I'm fortunate that my book club has experienced zero drama to date. I attribute that to the thoughtful and respectful people who seem to gravitate towards the group. Or perhaps they are still working up the courage to end my petty tyranny.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 06:31 PM | Comments (1)

November 12, 2009

This Is How The Great Cyborg War Will Start

Everyone needs to go read Aimee Mullins' terrific essay at tech blog Gizmodo on disability, prosthetics, sports, and the thin line between competitive advantage and "unfair" advantage. Recalling the hue and cry surrounding fellow athlete and amputee Oscar Pistorius when he petitioned to compete in the Olympics after successfully competing against other able-bodied athletes in world competition, Aimee points out that the Cheetah prosthetic leg used by both her and Pistorius is not exactly new technology. As with most pieces of technology, it's the user that makes the difference, not the technology itself.

Mullins then compares the hand-wringing that greeted Pistorius' Olympic bid to the more enthusiastic reception that new aquadynamic swimsuits received in the Beijing Olympics. Those suits enabled swimmers to break all kinds of records, but the press couldn't stop breathlessly commenting on their gee-whiz factor. She also comments on Tiger Woods' remarkable winning streak following his first LASIK surgery (he later had a second).

It seems to all come down to concepts of bodily integrity. Sports fans don't have a problem with fancy swimsuits, LASIK surgeries, or even performance-enhancing substances because, in the end, the athletes are still competing with their own arms and legs. In other words, they look human. But slap on a pair of prosthetics and the fans get a little queasy, even if they can't articulate why. The "otherness", cosmetic as it may be, is enough to take people aback. But when the "other" starts kicking the asses of nominally able-bodied athletes, panic ensues.

Mullins conclude with a glimpse into the future. She contemplates the consequences of prosthetics that can be programmed to function within the limits of human performance. She writes:

The chip used in a prosthetic that will dictate "acceptable human" metric-based output is what will be allowed in the Olympic standard; meanwhile, the Paralympics will be no holds barred. In an ironic, amazing cultural flip, you will see runners in the Paralympics going faster than those in the Olympics. Now won't that be an interesting comment on "dis"ability?

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:56 PM | Comments (1)

November 11, 2009

And Practice War No More

I walked past a big-screen television in the skyway today that was tuned to Fox News. Fox was doing some sort of slide show depicting soldiers in uniform, which is probably to be expected given that today is Veterans Day. But Veterans Day did not begin as a generically-themed federal holiday designed to honor military service. It began as Armistice Day, marking the end of the Great War (World War One). At the time, the scope of death and destruction left in that conflict's wake shocked the conscience and many believed that it was, to quote a historical cliché, the war to end all wars. Of course, we know now that the end of World War One set the table for the feast of horrors that was World War Two. The holiday certainly encompasses the desire to honor veterans, but it was also originally intended to serve as a day to reflect on the terrible costs of war. The original Congressional Act declaring November 11 an official holiday stated that this is "a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as 'Armistice Day'."

Americans tend to be an ahistorical people, which is surprising given our pronounced traditionalist streak. We tend to assume that the way things are now is how they have always been. But I think it's important to remember that this holiday has roots that, for some, might be inconvenient to acknowledge.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 05:54 PM | Comments (0)

November 10, 2009

Reading Material

Amazon just released the PC version of its Kindle reader. Of course, I downloaded it as soon as I saw the news and purchased three Kindle books (a couple mystery/thrillers that had been sitting on my wishlist for a few years as well as Ian Banks' Transition). The software is still in beta, so it doesn't have many frills. Text can be re-sized and navigation is pretty straightforward. If you made notes or highlighted passages on a Kindle device, those can be synched with the PC version. Unfortunately, you can't highlight or annotate text in the PC version (although Amazon hints that might change in the near future).

I don't plan to stop buying physical books and I'm still waiting for an accessible e-reader that won't chain me to my desk, but I also like not having to wait for someone to turn the pages or having to flatten book bindings so I can read the margins. This will likely be a tide-me-over technology, but I'll gladly take it.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 06:55 PM | Comments (1)

November 09, 2009

Test Case

In a somewhat novel application of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a gamer with a visual impairment is suing Sony for failing to make its online games accessible to people with disabilities. I'm assuming that this individual is basing his claim on Title III of the ADA, which covers places of public accommodations. The suit raises an interesting question: are massively-multiplayer games like World of Warcraft and EVE Online places of public accommodations under the ADA, just like movie theaters, restaurants, or museums? While not binding precedent, Target settled a similar suit last year regarding the accessibility of its retail website. The rise of social gaming may expand the focus of accessibility advocates beyond websites to any application that makes itself available via the digital commons.

I can't imagine it would cost Sony much additional expense to add some basic accessibility features to its online games and such investments might pay dividends in terms of more customers. Sony may want to emulate Warcraft developer Blizzard, which a gained a reputation for making its games accessible to gamers with a range of disabilities. A little too accessible, judging from the number of hours I've spent playing the damn thing.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:31 PM | Comments (1)

November 08, 2009

Painful Compromises

Congress made a little bit of history last night when the House passed a comprehensive health care reform bill. The vote was closer than I'd like to see, but it creates significant momentum towards final passage. And abortion, not the public option, proved to be the issue that almost killed the bill in the end. The resulting compromise is terrible public policy motivated by the worst kind of paternalistic sexism. It prohibits lower-income women from accessing abortion services on the exchanges to be created under the bill, including private insurance policies. Of course, women of means will still be able to get abortions without any restrictions.

I understand that the pro-life movement has deep feelings on this issue, but their actions in this most recent debate demonstrate a really distasteful form of classism. Federal law already restricts women on Medicaid from receiving abortions, but this provision extends that prohibition to private insurers. As a society, we seem to have a fondness for complicating the lives of people in poverty as much as possible.

Final negotiations between the House and Senate may result in a less draconian provision, but I'm not optimistic. Overall, this is still a really good bill and it will help millions of people. Those of us who believe in abortion rights may just have to increase our donations to Planned Parenthood.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 03:43 PM | Comments (0)

November 07, 2009

Critic At Large: The Faith Healer

The Guthrie's production of Brian Friel's The Faith Healer is getting a considerable amount of attention in the local press because it marks Guthrie Artistic Director Joe Dowling's first appearance on-stage in several decades. Dowling brings an understated charm to the titular role of Frank Hardy, an itinerant faith healer who travels through the small villages of Wales, Scotland, and Ireland with his jovial manager and beaten-down wife. The play is told in a series of monologues by each of the three characters as they recount their own versions of the events leading up to a tragic incident in a remote Irish hamlet.

My attention on the play didn't really focus on the play until the second monologue, which is told by Frank's wife Grace. Sally Wingert is absolutely captivating in the role, imbuing the character with a searing anguish that is almost too overwhelming to watch. From there, the play finds its way to a conclusion that is sudden yet expected.

The play is worth seeing for the textured performances and the darkly poetic language. I'm not sure that Dowling is a great actor, but he picked a great play with which to make his return to acting.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 02:13 PM | Comments (0)

November 06, 2009

Double Vision

As a rule, I don't normally don't post cheesecake on this blog. But when it's Star Wars-themed cheesecake, I'm powerless to resist.




This is Carrie Fischer and her stunt double, both...er...dressed in now-iconic slave girl outfits and enjoying a little sun on the set of Return of the Jedi.

You know, ROTJ might have been a much better movie if it had featured more leg and less Ewok.

Thanks to Kottke for the tip.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 05:47 PM | Comments (0)

November 05, 2009

Born Into Precariousness

The BBC reports on the case of Baby RB, who is at the center of a legal battle between his mother and father that may ultimately determine whether he lives or dies. Baby RB has a myasthenic syndrome, a congenital condition that makes it impossible for him to breathe independently. The father wants his son to have a tracheostomy, which might assist his respiratory functions. The mother, supported by the hospital, wants all life support systems removed from the boy.

I'm in no position to judge either parent's actions. Baby RB's disability is undoubtedly severe and, should he live, he will probably require constant care. But ventilators are becoming smaller and more portable all the time. The twenty-first century U.K. is probably as good a time and place as any to grow up with a severe disability.

In the end, the decision rests with parents. Here's hoping they can come to agreement with minimal intervention from the courts.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:06 PM | Comments (0)

November 04, 2009

Minority Report

In light of yesterday's defeat of marriage equality in Maine, I've been thinking about what it's like to be a minority seeking permission from the majority to be treated as a full-fledged person in the eyes of civil society. The disability community and the GLBT community have vastly different experiences of prejudice and discrimination, but we have in common an intimate familiarity with the indignities of being excluded from taking part in the everyday routines of mainstream society. And that exclusion is a direct result of the majority's naked prejudice, callous disregard, and outright contempt for the minority.

You think I'm overstating things? We needed to pass a fucking federal law that says kids with disabilities are entitled to a public education. And less than two decades later, we needed pass another fucking federal law that says people with disabilities should be able to go to the movies and possibly maybe be considered for a job as long it doesn't cramp the employer's style. Any kind of civil rights law would be unnecessary in a society where the majority is enlightened and rational. But that isn't this world. In this world, the majority can be kind of a dick.

I'm far from certain that either of these laws would have received majority support if they were put to referendum in the states. But as a friend of mine just reminded me, the founders had this really cool idea. A representative democracy can act as a civil society's better angels, shielding the minority from the worst impulses of the majority and even promoting the minority's equal status under the law. At least, that's the idea. As we saw yesterday, the mob still gets its way sometimes.

Same-sex advocates are fighting the same fight against the majority that has been waged so many times before, even while asking the majority to recognize them as equals. I have no doubt they will eventually win that recognition, but there's something both absurd and deeply frustrating in observing that we have been here before and will be here again. Nearly four decades of disability activism hasn't freed me from the everyday disregard and condescension of my fellow citizens. Legalizing same-sex marriage won't bring an end to homophobia. But it's a lot easier to ignore the clueless masses when you have the freedom and status to enjoy the same pleasures and rewards of life, to carve out an existence free from officially sanctioned second class treatment.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:51 PM | Comments (2)

November 03, 2009

First, Second, Third

Minneapolis had elections today for mayor, city council, and assorted municipal offices. This was Minneapolis' first election using the instant runoff voting system, which allows voters to rank their choices for candidates in a particular race. There aren't any particularly close races this year, so I'm not sure to what extent the instant-runoff feature will come into play, but it does away with cumbersome primary elections and might actually give some third-party candidates a better shot at winning elections, especially if the major-party candidates are unlikeable. I'd love to see the entire state switch to IRV, but it may take a few more election cycles to prove to the voters in rural Minnesota that IRV isn't some pinko funny business that us Minneapolis liberal elites dreamed up at one of our wine-and-cheese parties.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:15 PM | Comments (2)

November 02, 2009

Purged

Tomorrow's off-year elections aren't necessarily a good predictor for the 2010 cycle. A lot can happen in a year's time. Multiple factors--the state of the economic recovery, unemployment, and other unforeseen events--will shape voters' moods over the coming months. Nevertheless, Republicans are likely to make hay out of some likely victories tomorrow. They're likely to pick up a governor's seat in Virginia and possibly in New Jersey, but the race that has the political blogosphere chattering is in New York's 23rd Congressional district. It's a safely Republican district and it also serves as a kind of Fort Sumter in the long-brewing civil war between GOP moderates and conservatives.

In a shocker, the establishment Republican candidate, Dede Scozzafava, dropped out over the weekend when she realized that the third-party Conservative candidate would trounce her. This decision comes after the likes of Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck heavily criticized Scozzafava for being pro-choice and pro-gay marriage. If Hoffman does win, it will probably embolden other hard-right candidates to mount vigorous primary challenges in 2010 against anyone they perceive as ideologicaly impure.

As pure political theater, it might be fun to watch the extreme right engage in a closing hurrah of deluded self-congratulation. On the other hand, the Republicans must eventually evolve into a modern political party that can build coalitions and address present-day concerns. They should be emulating the Tories in the U.K., but instead they are following Beck, Limbaugh, and their ilk over a cliff.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:43 PM | Comments (0)

November 01, 2009

Blink, Blink, You're Dead

Slashdot points to an article on using muscle sensors for controlling video games. The article focuses mostly on possible applications of the technology for able-bodied gamers, but this could also be a tide-me-over advance for people with disabilities while we wait for fully functional neural interfaces. Most of us can twitch at least a few muscles. In fact, the switch I'm using to type this measures minute muscle movements, so the technology already exists in a basic form.

I eagerly await the day I can play Guitar Hero just by fluttering my eyebrows and wiggling my ears.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:15 PM | Comments (0)