September 30, 2010

Distant Lands

This map of Europe according to American preconceptions is spot on:



Now how about a map of the U.S. according to European preconceptions? For starters, I'd label the entire East Coast "NEW YORK." I'd make it a weekend project if I had any competence with graphics software.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:59 PM | Comments (0)

September 29, 2010

Milking The Cash Cow

Does George Lucas have nothing better to do than endlessly fiddle with the Star Wars movies? His latest recycling project involves converting all six films into 3D. The first to get the treatment will be The Phantom Menace for a 2012 release. That movie was slap in the face to most old-school fans and I don't expect it to be any better in three dimensions. I thought Lucas wanted to go back to making small, personal films again. Perhaps some of his friends could organize an intervention and put an end to this nonsense before he starts thinking about 3-Difying the Christmas special as well.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:20 PM | Comments (0)

September 28, 2010

Well-Informed Heretics

Among the many misconceptions about atheists is the one that we are ignorant of the basic tenets of the major religions. I've been in situations where I've identified as an atheist and believers assumed I needed a primer on the differences between the Old and New Testaments or something equally basic. Of course, they don't know that I went to a Catholic college and was required to take theology courses. I can't quote biblical chapter and verse, but I have a reasonably good grasp of the core beliefs of the world religions. In fact, a recent Pew survey found that atheists may know more about the faith than some Christians. For example, 53% of Protestants didn't know that Martin Luther began the Reformation. But Christians aren't alone in their ignorance. Fewer than half of all respondents knew that the Dalai Lama is a Buddhist.

That many of the faithful lack any curiosity about the historical context of their beliefs and posses a complete disinterest in other belief systems isn't shocking news. I remember one of my college classmates expressing disbelief when I explained that Christianity spun off from Judaism. Our public schools have been scared away from doing any serious teaching of religion and it shows in the study's results. And as long as Christian fundamentalists get apoplectic when anyone even mentions a sacred text that isn't the Bible, that's unlikely to change. Perhaps we atheists should start teaching some afterschool classes in comparative religion. I'm sure nobody will raise a fuss.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 05:55 PM | Comments (1)

September 27, 2010

Confidence Is High

Polling of the gubernatorial race over the last week has supporters of all three major candidates gnashing their teeth. A Rasmussen poll had Democrats on edge when it showed Republican Tom Emmer with a slight lead. But over the weekend, a Star Tribune poll showing Dayton with a nine-point lead had Republicans crying foul. Independent candidate Horner also fares significantly better in the Strib poll, although he's still well behind the other candidates. MinnPost has an excellent article up on the historical accuracy of the various polls. In short, the Strib gets it right more often than not while Rasmussen's track record is more dubious. But the statistic that gives me the most comfort comes from Nate Silver at the essential FiveThirtyEight blog: his modeling shows that Dayton has a 78% chance of winning the election. I am by no means certain of the result and I'll still be obsessively clicking on my web browser's Reload button on Election Night, but I'm starting to think that this race might be the one bright spot in an otherwise dismal evening.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:28 PM | Comments (0)

September 24, 2010

Visitors

For your Friday enjoyment, here's a story about UFOs visiting nuclear weapons sites. My Altairian overseers tell me they were just checking out potential sites for their slave camps and weren't interested in our "primitive fission weapons." So, nothing to worry about.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 06:53 PM | Comments (0)

September 23, 2010

Pure Idiocy

Today's NY Times is running a series of articles profiling families that will benefit from protections in the Affordable Care Act that take effect today. One family has a daughter with a severe form of spinal muscular atrophy and they no longer have to worry about hitting the lifetime benefit cap. The Affordable Care Act prohibits insurance companies from placing lifetime caps on benefits, which means that this child and other people with severe disabilities will continue to receive the care they need.

Meanwhile, Republicans are gleefully pitching their plans to repeal the ACA with...something. Of course, they pledge to keep all the popular features of the law (like the ban on benefit caps and the prohibition of discrimination against people with preexisting conditions), but they are determined to repeal the mandate that everyone have insurance. Removal of the mandate will render those protections meaningless because insurers will be denied the healthier customer base that a mandate would provide, forcing the people who need coverage to pay exorbitant premiums. I doubt that Republicans will actually succeed in their plans, but this is just one example of the intellectually and ethically bankrupt thinking that will likely hold sway in the House for the next couple years.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:26 PM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2010

Empire Building

Civilization V, the next iteration of the enduring computer strategy game series, was just released. I picked up Civ IV last year and haven't played it nearly enough, but the new version looks sufficiently shiny and pretty to justify an upgrade. Since I'm a person who appreciates irony, I like to play as the French and thoroughly dominate the other civilizations to the point that they are begging for mercy. If I ever find myself in the position of advising a conquering tyrant, I'll be well-prepared.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:40 PM | Comments (1)

September 21, 2010

Critic At Large: Boardwalk Empire

Boardwalk Empire is HBO's new prestige series set in Atlantic City at the dawn of the 1920s, just as Prohibition is becoming the law of the land. Nucky Thompson is the crooked county treasurer who is wasting no time setting in motion his plans to make sure that Atlantic City stays soaking wet. In the first episode, he strikes deals with the major Chicago and New York gangs to keep the booze flowing and soon learns that maintaining control of a criminal enterprise is no easy task. Directed by Martin Scorsese, the pilot is of a piece with his previous studies of the underworld--meticulous attention is paid to period detail and the violence is unapologetically graphic.

It's difficult to assess a series based on one episode, but HBO seems to have struck gold again. The pilot does what a good pilot should--keep the viewer intrigued enough to watch the next episode. Steve Buscemi's Nucky doesn't give off the same sociopathic menace as a Tony Soprano; he's less dramatic and more practical, although I expect he'll become more faceted as the series progresses. Boardwalk Empire is also one of the most gorgeous television shows in recent memory. The cinematography and set design imbue the gaudy Jazz Age extravagance of Atlantic City with a hyperreal sheen.

HBO has already renewed the series for a second season, so there's no need to worry that the story will come to a premature end. It's well worth your time.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 06:38 PM | Comments (1)

September 20, 2010

Like A Fish In Water

Phillippe Croizon, a Frenchman who had all four limbs amputated after an electrical accident in 1994, swam across the English Channel in 14 hours. A specially designed snorkel and prosthetics assisted him in completing the journey. I'm reluctant to affix the "supercrip" label to anybody, but Croizon might be the rare person for whom it's not hyperbole. I get a little winded just eating potato chips in front of the television, so I'm a little in awe of this guy. It might be time for me to look into that gym membership again.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:12 PM | Comments (1)

September 17, 2010

Eat It, Glenn Beck!

I'd love to attend Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity in D.C., but I'm going to heed the theme of moderation and watch the proceedings from home instead of booking a flight and hotel room. Perhaps one of you can bring me back a t-shirt? It sounds like my kind of scene, though. And I bet there will be lots of cute women there who have a thing for short, sarcastic, vaguely Semitic-looking guys with big hair. Perhaps such a momentous event does justify raiding one's savings account. For the good of the country, of course.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:09 PM | Comments (0)

September 16, 2010

Rethinking Disability Benefits Part II

It looks like commenting on the dramatic rise in Social Security disability rolls has turned into something of a fad. James Ledbetter has a piece in Slate that is highly critical of the program's structural disincentives that dissuade people with disabilities from rejoining the workforce. He's particularly interested in the growing number of people with mental illness who are receiving SSDI (the wonky acronym for Social Security disability benefits). He writes:

Perhaps more important, SSDI in its current incarnation is a moral and economic tragedy: We are paying millions of presumably otherwise fit mentally ill people to stay out of the workforce for the rest of their productive lives. And this at a time when mental illness is more treatable than it ever has been. When Congress passed the Americans With Disabilities Act, it established several overarching principles, including equality of opportunity, full participation, and economic self-sufficiency. SSDI, regardless of its good intentions, is public policy that pushes "disabled" people in precisely the opposite direction.

I'm a little troubled by his use of "disabled"--I'm picturing him etching quotation marks in the air with his fingers while rolling his eyes. Mental illness can be a significant barrier to returning to work for many people. I have no doubt that many are capable of working, but employers generally do a poor job of accommodating mental illness in the workplace. Any redesign of SSDI is going to have to be accompanied by a committed effort to place workers in jobs that suit their abilities and to instruct employers on best practices for accommodating a wide range of disabilities. Otherwise, we're just yanking the safety net out from under people who might not be completely ready to stand on their own.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:54 PM | Comments (0)

September 15, 2010

See You In The Funnies

I thought I told Hawking to avoid media overexposure before our showdown on the International Space Station, but here he is making an appearance in a Tom the Dancing Bug strip. I'm compelled to admit that I kind of dig the superhero outfit, though. That gives me an idea for a Halloween costume. I wonder if I can get away with doing a mock-up without that greedy bastard Hawking demanding a royalty check.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:51 PM | Comments (0)

September 14, 2010

Rethinking Disability Benefits

More people are applying for Social Security disability benefits because of the the grim economy. Many of those applying have minimal education and may have had challenges keeping a job even in the best of times. They were often the first to lose their jobs when the recession arrived. Social Security disability is a lifeline for such people, but the crush of applicants is creating an unsustainable cost burden on the program. And once people are on the Social Security rols, it's unlikely that they will ever return to work. As one commentator notes, "The current SSDI system sends a negative message to disabled Americans that they are not valued members of the labor force by making it impossible for them to draw any benefits and work, even part-time."

As long as we continue to follow policies that equate disability with a total incapacity to work, people with disabilities who could otherwise be productive workers with the proper support will continue to be relegated to lives of poverty. Some may not be able to work, but our current policy is based on a blanket assumption that disability is antithetical to employment.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:37 PM | Comments (0)

September 13, 2010

Let The Hypochondria Commence!

During the drive home tonight, I caught some of Terry Gross's interview with Jennifer Ackerman, author of Ah-Choo! The Uncommon Life of Your Common Cold. It's a timely topic for me because the arrival of autumn puts me in a heightened paranoid state about catching something from a sniffling colleague (even though I seem more predisposed to summer colds lately). In the interview, Ackerman patiently explained that herbal and folk remedies are almost completely ineffective at preventing or curing colds, although chicken soup may have some mild anti-inflammatory properties. In a separate interview with the New Yorker, she suggests that the best way to avoid colds is to engage in frequent hand-washing and avoid touching one's face. I shouldn't have any problem with at least one of those recommendations.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)

September 10, 2010

This Doesn't Bode Well

I have guests arriving in a bit, so I'll leave you with a bit of disturbing news to contemplate over the weekend: robots are learning how to lie. Let's see how smart those scientists feel after the machines revolt and we're all working as slaves in the lunar mines. No way am I sharing any of my rations with those scientists. But on a more positive note, we're probably one step closer to a fully functioning sexbot:

"Yes, master, your endowment is much larger than that of the average human male."

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 06:43 PM | Comments (0)

September 09, 2010

Epic Undertaking

Stephen King's Dark Tower series has been optioned for both film and television with Ron Howard at the helm. The ambitious scope of the project (three movies and two television seasons) is encouraging, but...Ron Howard? The name doesn't inspire much in the way of geek buzz and the source material doesn't lend itself to the kind of mainstream vanilla fare that Howard has been churning out in recent years. I'd love to be proven wrong; Howard has made some entertaining movies and perhaps he can pull off a Peter Jackson. But if Tom Hanks is cast as Roland, I will lose all faith in humanity.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)

September 08, 2010

Care-Free Living

A new study shows that the Twin Cities are the third least-stressed metropolitan area in the nation. On a day when I had to shell out a considerable sum of money for an unexpected van repair, I'm not feeling particularly chill, but I'll take the authors' word for it. Perhaps I just need to listen to some Prairie Home Companion and have a little hot dish before bed.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:59 PM | Comments (0)

September 07, 2010

Preparing For The Worst

Polling released today indicates that a Republican takeover of the House is an increasingly likely scenario. The underlying factors influencing the electorate aren't difficult to understand: the economy is terrible and Republicans are more motivated to vote by an order of magnitude. Governance is never easy and bad times invite a backlash like the one we're seeing. If the Democrats do lose the House, plenty of Monday morning quarterbacking will keep the bloggers and pundits busy until Christmas. But I'm not sure anything could have been done differently, or at least not in a way that would have made a significant difference. A bigger stimulus might have helped, although this quasi-recession seems to have a stubborn inertia that has overwhelmed the political will of our leaders.

So what could the next two years bring? A whole lot of nothing, at least from a legislative perspective. The House will pass its share of Tea Party manifestos disguised as proper bills, most of which will die in the Senate or on the President's desk. Republicans will become even more gleeful deficit haawks, bolstered by the knowledge that they won't have to make any politically tough cuts as long as a Democrat is in the While House. Any improvements on the employment front will be in spite of rather than because of Congressional action. For progressives like me, it could be a tedious and exasperating couple of years. But I also have every confidence that Republicans will not hesitate to unleash their inner batshit-crazy uncle/aunt at every opportunity, giving us amnesiac Americans ample reminder of why we voted them out not so long ago.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:20 PM | Comments (0)

September 06, 2010

Winter Is Coming

Those deep-fried mashed potatoes were a bit too deep fried for my liking, but they should satisfy anyone looking for a salty snack. And I must remember to avoid the Fair on mild, sunny Labor Day weekends as I was completely engulfed in a sea of asses and elbows. Just thinking about it causes me to hyperventilate (which isn't easy to do on a respirator). Many of my friends are bemoaning summer's end, but I welcome the cooler days, the lazy gloomy weekends, and the lower electricity bills.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 01:36 PM | Comments (0)

September 03, 2010

Gourmet Dining

I'm going to spend part of my long holiday weekend trying to find out whether deep fried mashed potatoes are worth a trip to the State Fair. Expect a full critique on Monday. Until then, excelsior!

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:17 PM | Comments (0)

September 02, 2010

Clash Of The Heathens

Now that Stephen Hawking has denied the role of God in the universe's creation, he won't be able to beg for divine intervention as I put him in a chokehold in the final moments of our zero-g deathmatch. I also thought up a new tagline for the TV promos advertising our match:

Two godless gimps will enter the ring. Only one will leave.

I'm also thinking we can do a sort of pre-match before the main event. Dig it: Hawking and I tag team a bunch of yeshiva students, Mormon missionaries, and Bible camp counselors. The pay-per-view numbers alone could be enormous.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 06:44 PM | Comments (1)

September 01, 2010

An Upside Of The Downturn

When I graduated from law school in the dotcom boom years of the late 90s, few of my peers chose public service careers. When a big law firm is offering you a six-figure salary, you're not likely to give much serious consideration to the legal aid position that pays roughly 75% less. An interesting consequences of the current recession is that some firms are offering paid deferments to newly hired attorneys whom they can't afford to bring on board at full salary for a year. Legal aid organizations and nonprofits are benefiting from an influx of talented and eager young attorneys who can afford to work for little or no money because of these deferments. Some attorneys are even choosing to remain in public service after their deferments end.

The world would be a much better place if these firms made deferments a permanent recruiting tool. New associates could get some great experience and lose some of that newbie awkwardness before entering the office grind. Clients in need would receive excellent representation from talented attorneys. Unfortunately, this practice is likely to end once the economy improves.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:09 PM | Comments (0)