V

They've been playing the movie V (for Vendetta) on cable lately. Appropriate timing given the political situation in the U.S. These days. For those not familiar, the movie takes place in a future fascist version of Great Britain, in which the government uses a terrorist attack to frighten the populace into accepting a veritable police state in order to insure their "safety and security". Sound unpleasantly familiar?

When I first saw the trailer for this movie back in 2005, I thought it was just some comic book adventure without any significant message. I was wrong. It's quite a good film if a bit obvious and heavy handed. Maybe that is what is needed. As I've posted before, I believe the U.S. is creeping toward fascism. We may never reach the state of society depicted in the movie, but as V points out, complacency and lack of vigilance can lead to such a situation, and it has in other countries.

Tag lines from the movie include:

• "Remember, remember the 5th of November, the gun powder treason and plot. I know of no reason why the gun powder treason should ever be forgot."
• "People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."

The second is a paraphrase of Thomas Jefferson, who is famously quoted as saying, "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. "

Now I don't advocate violent revolt as portrayed in the movie, but then the U.S. hasn't yet devolved into the state of government and society depicted in the movie either. Who knows how people would react if that came to pass? In the film, the character V is called a 'terrorist' by the government. But as we've seen, this can be a matter of perspective. One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. If the government is abducting people, imprisoning them without trial, and executing them (for disagreeing with administration policy), who is the terrorist?

Anyway, if you can't find this film on your local cable stations, rent it. It may at least inspire you to go vote this November.

Basic Math

Since so many Americans are poor at mathematics and don't do very well with civics either, let's do a little basic math lesson here:

• Supporting the troops =/ supporting the president’s foreign policy
• Wrapping one’s self in the flag =/ patriotism
• Extreme Patriotism + Ignorance = jingoism
• Military adventurism =/ patriotism
• High percentage of economy devoted to military spending =/ strong economy
• High percentage of economy devoted to military spending – lack of competitiveness in engineering and science = weakness, vulnerability, poverty
• Questioning the administration =/ disloyalty

Let's be clear about something. This isn't a slam on the military. Neither is it some attempt to argue that the military isn't needed or isn't valuable--the military is both. Rather, it means that the military should be employed ONLY for its intended purpose: defense of this nation. Not empire building, not nation building, not one administration's foreign policy extensions and imperial aspirations, not world police.

Thomas Jefferson is widely regarded as the most brilliant of the founding fathers. He excelled in almost every endeavor of life. It’s worth recalling some of his quotes at times like these:

• We did not raise armies for glory or for conquest.
• When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.
• War is an instrument entirely inefficient toward redressing wrong; and multiplies, instead of indemnifying losses.
• The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.

And finally, Mr. Jefferson has a good assessment of why we are in our current predicament:

“Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.”

Doesn't seem to be the case these days, does it?

"I guess I picked the wrong day to quit drinking"

These immortal words were uttered by the late, great, Lloyd Bridges in the movie, Airplane!

Recent economic news makes Lloyd's words seem timeless. Everyone is aware by now of all the problems in the financial sector: the bank failures, the mortgage problems, etc. As bad as all that is, the worst problem emerging is rising unemployment. Most people can survive fluctuations in their investments if they have income. No job--big problems. This has a cascading effect.

I wonder whether the middle class--all species of middle class from white- to blue-collar--will finally start questioning whether Bush and the supply-siders might have been wrong? Will they question whether trickle-down economics is healthy for them and for the overall economy? Is massive debt a good thing or bad?

Or will they fall for the usual right-wing ploy: blame everyone but those responsible (liberals, gays, secularists, sunspots, etc.)

To paraphrase another movie character, John Vernon (Fletcher) in The Outlaw Josey Wales, "Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining."

You are no more than a monkey

My friend Buckley posted this video on his blog a while ago, and I liked it so much, I felt like posting it here as well. For those of you anti-evolutionists out there, you might not want to click the link, as it will only make you angry or send you into a paroxism of denial, but probably won't encourage you to pick up a copy of The Origin of Species or The Blind Watchmaker. More is the pity. Just dance, monkey.

Courage of his convictions

Pete Seeger has shown courage of his convictions like few people of any political stripe over a long lifetime. From his support for civil rights and labor rights, environmentalism, to his anti-war activism, he's been a consistent progressive voice for a long time.

With the right-wing house of cards starting to fall apart, but with the simultaneous renewed vigor of the neo-cons to attempt to control the press and information in general, it's a good time to take a listen to Pete once again. He's 89 years old now, but recently released a new album. (You know how lazy those hippies are.)

Hope you live to be 189 Pete.

Praise Stupidity

When did it become a BAD thing to be smart? To be educated? To be worldly? I've been asking myself this question since Bush was first elected and morons would come up with reasons why they liked George--something to the effect of "I could have a beer with him." To paraphrase a comedian, next time you are in a bar, look around and see how many presidents are there. I don't want some chuckle-head, regular guy to be president. I want the smartest person we can find. We NEED the smartest person we can find.

Now it's happening again with Palin and to a lesser extent McCain. If Obama seems smart or articulate, he's branded an elitist. The neo-conservatives have gone out of their way to convince the moronic population of this country (which is growing much faster than the intelligent population) that anyone that is smarter than they are is somehow a threat. You'll see this when a scientist describes something that knucklehead doesn't understand. Knucklehead immediately discounts or distrusts what was said. Rather than thinking, "that person has spent much of their life studying topic X, maybe I can learn something here" they dismiss them entirely.

Sam Harris wrote a brilliant article in Newsweek recently describing this phenomenon and how it's currently playing out--dangerously--in our political system. Read it and weep. (Thanks for the heads up Jack.) And by the way, read Sam's books, The End of Faith, and Letter to a Christian Nation.

HSB 8

This past weekend Golden Gate park was once again the site of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival. This is one of the premier music fests in the country (even if you prefer genres other than bluegrass). I attended two days this year, and was able to see some of my favorite musicians (Greg Brown, Richard Thompson, Dave Alvin) and some I was less familiar with. Here are some clips from last year's show. (Old clip of Richard T. doing Vincent Black Lightning - Youtube) (Dave Alvin doing Dry River at last year's HSB.) This year Dave Alvin performed with an all woman band (The Guilty Women) featuring some kick-ass musicians like Amy Farris and Cindy Cashdollar.) Killer chops.
This is a wonderful event, and I would encourage anyone that has a trip to Nor Cal scheduled for the autumn to plan your trip so you'll be here during the first weekend in October so you can catch this show.
If there is a negative aspect of the event it is that it is becoming a victim of its own success. It's getting too crowded. In the past one could set up one's blanket at a stage and wander around to various stages to catch a variety of acts. This year it was difficult to do that due to the size of the crowds at every stage. Nevertheless, it is still a wonderful time and I look forward to returning next year.

America has no problems

George Bush has many intellectual shortcomings, but his utter lack of ironic awareness stood out in his interview with Bob Costas at the Olympics recently. When asked about human rights in China, GWB emphasized religious freedom. He said that once religion takes hold in a society it can't be stopped. Is that supposed to be a GOOD thing? There can be no doubt that a theocracy in America is what Bush and the religious right would prefer, at long as it's Christianity that is taking over.
Can it be that George doesn't see the downside of religion taking over in Afghanistan? Saudi Arabia? Iran? Oh, ok, that's Islam. Does he recall the horrors that afflicted humanity when Christianity was the law of the land in Europe? The repression, the slaughter?
For those of us that would rather live in a secular society of free thought and reason, the tyranny of Christianity is no different than the tyranny of Islam or any other religion.

I'm Voting for Palin!

Not Sara Palin! What are you, on drugs?! I wouldn't vote for that witless religious fanatic for dog catcher. In fact, she is especially dangerous because she is too stupid and delusional to even realize that she is entirely unqualified to be president. Her apologists say she has 'administrative experience' and is therefore qualified. That is like saying the the assistant night manager at a small town Denny's is qualified to run General Electric because she has managerial experience.
No, I'm voting for Michael Palin for President! Sure he's not an American citizen, and is therefore not qualified, but neither is Sara.

Snoopy Hockey 2008

Another Snoopy senior hockey tournament has come and gone. For the second year, I played with the University of Michigan old timers. As in the past, we brought two teams: 50+ and 60+. Both teams ended up with the silver in their respective divisions, the 50s having lost a tough tilt to the United Nations All-Stars, and the 60s to their rivals, the University of Denver. We won all our other games pretty decisively. I was on the 50s team. This tournament is about much more than hockey, though. When we weren't on the ice, we were playing golf, canoeing, hiking, BBQing, singing and playing guitar, and generally having a good time.
These teams are composed of a nice group of folks from an amazingly diverse cross-section of life. There are guys from just about every profession you can name, and everyone has an interesting story to tell. Already looking forward to next year.
Keep your head up!

The Poisoning Continues

A cursory scan of the news today reveals more atrocities commited in the name of religion. It's happened since the dawn of time and it continues apace. People view such stories with horror and disgust, but until humanity is able to throw off its yoke of superstition, this will never end.
Church shooting
Suicide bombing
Some time ago, South Park did an episode that took place in the future in which religion had been eliminated and 3 factions of atheists were warring over their disparate views on life's great questions. Funny, in a sort of Animal Farm kind of way, but it ignores the fact that such events have never taken place and are not likely to -- ever. When have you ever heard of scientists killing each other over differing theories? Hasn't happened and won't happen. Why? Because science is fundamentally different in it's approach to discovery. Science relies on reason--and above all evidence--to establish facts. Religion relies entirely on dogma. There are a thousand competing religious views and they can never be reconciled because none can EVER prove their validity or primacy over another.

God is Angry

California recently decided it was wrong to disenfranchise and discriminate against a large segment of it's population and has made gay marriage legal. According to delusional people like this and this, God is pissed-off about this and will soon be taking it out on our horrible, secularly-humanist state. I live in California, so I'd better prepare for some biblical-style revenge.
Well, what has happened since this law was enacted? Have heterosexual couples been forced to abandon marriage? Is it the end of the nuclear family (As predicted by the knuckleheaded right)? Has California fallen into the Pacific? No. What has happened is that storms are ravaging Iowa and the southern Midwest. Now, this part of the U.S. is perhaps the most Christian, the most devout, and most willing to believe in the wrath of god, yet they are apparently the ones being punished. Is this justice? A rational person can conclude one of the following things:
There is no god. The storms and floods are simply the result of meteorological conditions, exacerbated by human intervention (levee construction, wetland elimination, etc.)
God is a poor marksman. If the religious kooks are correct and god is angry, he missed the guilty parties and is taking out his anger on his allies and anointed representatives who claim to have a first-hand relationship with the deity, and know what he wants.
God exists but doesn't give a shit. He can't be bothered with trivial stuff on this little fly-speck called earth.
Being an atheist, I choose bullet one, of course. While it may be that California will someday fall into the ocean, it will be due to seismic activity and have nothing to do with gay marriage or any godly displeasure.