Counter Programming

So, McCain made his choice for VP: An inexperienced woman from Alaska. The choice is so transparent. She sounds particularly awful. Should be fun.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Did the United States Orchestrate the Georgian Conflict??

Vladimir Putin came out today and accused the United States of orchestrating the war in Georgia.  According to Putin the United States had men on the ground in Georgia at the start of the conflict.  These men were attempting to train military personnel in the pursuit of a seizure of the autonomous region of South Ossetia.  He further contends that the United States were inciting this conflict for the purposes of increasing the political footing for John McCain as he runs for the presidency.

I think this is a shockingly bold move by the Bush Administration, if the accusations prove true.  The scenario reminds me of the film 'Wag the Dog' in that the administration has chosen settings like Georgia and South Ossetia for this to play out.  

Ask the average American to tell you where Georgia is on a map he couldn't do it.  So, the conflict raging between Georgia and the baddies of yesteryear, Russia, has the ring of indistinctness -- it promotes generalized fear of a life without United States military intervention.  People don't even know where it is on a globe, but with Russia involved in the war you raise the alarm bells for the people 40+.  

These people remember the Cold War.  They remember how close we came to nuclear war with Russia and Cuba.  By inserting ourselves into the region and facilitating military action, we have awoken a dormant fear of Russia.  All of a sudden these Cold War survivors are reminded that Russia may once again become a danger to our interests around the world. 

What other than diplomacy can we deploy to fend off Russia?  The military, of course.  These are the humorless thoughts of many.  And given the general reputation of liberals and Obama's relative lack of experience in Washington, McCain becomes a more urgent selection for President for those on the fence or undecided.  

Invoke generalized fear and be sure to include the need for military action.  This is the recipe for the Bush Administration.  This is what they are willing to offer McCain to help swing him the election.  It is the last faint machination of Dick Cheney in a last gasp effort to achieve one more small bit of ground on the road to neoconservatism.  It is bold in its application to a purer level of election manipulation, but certainly well below the bar set by Bush and Cheney in 2002-2004.   

I don't think that Vladimir Putin is spreading lies to exonerate Russia.  I think he is telling us a truer description of what lead to this mini war with Georgia.  Honestly, if that accusation held no water, what good would it ultimately do Putin and Russia?  Only if it has teeth and is verifiable to some extent would he even come out and say it.  What does he have to gain from looking foolish on the world's stage?  

This is why I fear that the Bush Administration has indeed encouraged the negative developments in South Ossetia.

It is indeed time for a change.  

Congratulations, Barack Obama, on a speech for the ages.  You are a candidate that comes along once or twice in a lifetime.  Enjoy the ride and best of luck.  

Your Unfaithful Servant

Batman Flags

For the first time since its release, 'The Dark Knight' has failed to surpass the million dollar mark for single-day ticket revenues. It is well ahead of Titanic in terms of total earnings at this same point in the release cycle, however Titanic was able to sustain a million dollars or more for a staggering 101 straight days WITH cheaper tickets.

Read more here.

Watch Out Jen!

HIV infection rate is three times as high in New York compared to the nation according to this.  Watch out, Jen!

More on the Power of Cannabinoids

SciAm reports that research has shown that several non-psychotropic and psychotropic cannabinoids found in marijuana can kill bacteria, including resistant strains. Hopefully, the research on cannabinoids both endogenic and exogenic will bring about a sea change in national opinion in the coming years.

Unfaithfully Yours

Outfoxed: Complete

A buddy pointed me toward this Google video version of the documentary 'Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism'. I haven't seen much yet, but it sounds interesting (and frightening).

Your Unfaithful Servant

'Miseducation': An Oral History

For anyone who has enjoyed 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill' Rolling Stone has put together an oral history of the album's production.

Check it out.

Unfaithfully Yours

The Machinations of Obama

You know, I had forgotten about Obama's primetime speech in '04's Democratic National Convention until I stumbled upon this New Republic article. He knew that a prime time slot would be important to creating the national recognition required to grow a presidential movement.

Barack might be a guy with a fresh vision for the country, but he is at the same time one of the shrewdest politicians to come along in years. He is a proud man with an undeniable thirst for career advancement.

It's hard to root for someone so firmly entrenched in the joys and sorrows of Washington, but in this election the American people have no choice. If everything is just an act with politicians, you have to vote for politicians whose acts are most palatable.

Your Unfaithful Servant

See: Cannabinoids Are Good For You

A naturally occurring cannabinoid has been shown to protect against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, and stroke.

The take home message: cannabinoids aren't neurodegenerative, but instead neuroprotective. Keep that in mind, folks.

Unfaithfully Yours

It's All in the Eyes of the Beholder

An article plus slideshow of eye illusions from SciAm. Pretty trippy to see how much knowing the direction of another's gaze affects our own visual perception.

Check it out.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Forgot your compass? Consult a Cow

If you are ever lost and need to get your bearings (and happen to be near a cow pasture), just look to a cow for guidance. Using aerial photos of grazing herds from around the world it was shown that cows stand in line with the north-south magnetic plane far more often than chance would suggest. I am not sure why this is important to cows. I would suggest that this might be vestigial, but who knows.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Malthus Revisited

Here is a thoughtful article considering the possibility that the Malthusian predictions we all learned in history class might actually be more prescient than modern economics and sociology had us believe.

One thing is for sure: I will be very hungry if there is a food shortage and you don't want to see me hungry.

Unfaithfully Yours

Strahan to Return?

According to news reports Michael Strahan would consider returning to the NFL after an offseason of retirement if the Giants present him with a serious offer. I doubt he is in NFL shape right now, so I wouldn't expect to see him playing serious minutes with the team, even if he signed today, until a few weeks into the season. Should be interesting.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Kaine Unable to Serve

An article about Obams's second favorite VP candidate.

Watchmen -- The Saga Continues...

Here is an EW Hollywood Insider story on 'Watchmen'. It has Kevin Smith's take on the film (he loves it) and some insight into the magnitude of the potential legal settlement with Fox. There is even talk that in order to recoup more money that Zak Snyder might need to cut his 145 minute film down even more to accommodate more showings per day.

Also if you haven't checked it out DC is offering a free download of the first chapter of 'Watchmen' on iTunes. But this isn't just some pdf of the comic, this is an 'action comic' (something between a comic and an animated film version of that comic). Pretty neat. Apparently, DC wants to create 'action comics' for several of their properties in the future.

Unfaithfully Yours

You Have to Fight for Your Right...

To Clone... (Unless you are a Sith lord).

Cool story about human cloning here.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Microsoft's Photosynth

I am not the world's biggest Microsoft fan, but this software sounds interesting. Photosynth is a creation of Microsoft's Live Labs research and product line. Photosynth allows you to take a collection of 2D photos of the same item or location and turn them into a 3D navigable rendering of the item or environment in question. For people who love photography and interactivity it sounds pretty awesome.

Official Site

Short SciAm article

Download Page

Enjoy!

Your Unfaithful Servant

The Way of the World

Ron Suskind's new book 'The Way of the World' exposes the White House's involvement in the fabrication of evidence drawing connections between Iraq, 9/11, and al Qaeda amongst many other frightening revelations.

You can read a lengthy interview with Ron Suskind conducted by Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman.

Also, a short blog entry from Mother Jones here.

Explosive stuff. Upon the Bush Administration's close, I anticipate a cascade of revelations far more sinister and ignoble than what we are hearing now. This is just the tip of the iceberg (as if that is any surprise).

Your Unfaithful Servant

Wait... How Many Homes Do I Own?

In yet another age and wealth related gaffe, John McCain was unable to provide a number when asked how many homes he and his wife own. Seriously.

Sadly...

Your Unfaithful Servant

R.I.P. Gene Upshaw

Head of the NFLPA, Gene Upshaw, has passed away at the age of 63 from pancreatic cancer.

He was a pretty steady guy who I think managed to navigate the path between league needs and player needs pretty effectively. However, many felt that he was too close to the league and consequently he did receive his share of criticism over the years. Bryant Gumbel got in some hot water awhile back when he stated on his 'Real Sports' show that everyone knew that Upshaw was the owners' lapdog.

More on Upshaw the NFLPA head and the HOF player here.

Unfaithfully Yours

U.S. Softball Perfect No More

After barely getting by Japan earlier in the week, the U.S. Women's Softball team fell short today losing to Japan in the gold medal match 3-1. This is the first time the U.S. Women's team has lost since 2000.

More details here.

Oh well. The sport is leaving the Olympics just when there is a real rivalry beginning to brew. Maybe in eight years it will still be alive.

On a brighter note the U.S. Women's Futbol (soccer) team has won another gold by beating Brazil 1-0 in a match in which they were totally outplayed.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Organic Better? Think Again

According to a study out of the University of Copenhagen there are no nutritional differences between organic (no pesticides) and non-organic (grown with the help of pesticides) crops in terms of nutrients and trace elements.

Who'da thunk it?

Your Unfaithful Servant

Biden as VP?

So lots of signs are pointing to Joseph Biden (Deleware) as Obama's running mate. Supposedly Obama and his VP will be campaigning together on Saturday, so we should know then for sure.

Here is a blog from the New Republic that goes into some details on why Biden is suspected as the VP nom and what he can contribute to the Obama campaign.

Your Unfaithful Servant

New Miyazaki!

'Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea', the new film from Hayao Miyazaki has almost eclipsed 100 million dollars in Japan after its first month of release making it one of the most successful Japanese films ever (still behind Miyazaki's 'Spirited Away').

Read more

Few films have the power to make me more excited than a new Miyazaki. Bring on the American release!

More on 'Ponyo'.

Your Unfaithful Servant

How do I smell? Sexy?

The Power of Smell (which I have seized and will never relinquish) is far reaching. Don't believe me, read the article.

Unfaithfully Yours

Are you a chimera?

Read here if you don't know what a chimera is.

Then, listen to a 'Radiolab' episode from a few months back about human genetics. Very interesting stuff.

(or if you want to stream it or read the brief intro to the episode here is the Radiolab page)

The Real Kafka

Hey there folks! A small offering:

The Real Kafka

A short Q and A with a Kafka expert and novelist. Kafka has always been more myth than man in in my education, so it is nice to read someone debunking much of the myth and focusing instead purely on his colossal prose achievements.

More later...

Your Unfaithful Servant

Bigfoot Redux

Given my interest, you can expect to see more on this topic as it comes out. In keeping here is a little SciAm article/interview about the hoax.

"It's comical"

Man On Wire

I want to see 'Man on Wire'. 

Philippe Petit is the man famous for illegally walking a tightrope stretched between the Twin Towers.  The film documents his struggles and eventual success.  

Philippe Petit Bio

LeRoi Moore Dies

Just wanted to link to this in case you hadn't seen it.  

LeRoi Moore Passes

He had a nice feel and added so much emotion and depth to DM's songs.  The tracks that he didn't appear on always felt thin to me.  

Bigfoot a hoax?

Men who will settle for notoriety over fame.

Of course the Bigfoot "carcass" was a hoax. Despite the many prayers of cryptozoologists everywhere, information is leaking out that we must all still wait in anticipation of conclusive evidence for Sasquatch.

Here is a story from CNN:

No Bigfoot

From the first time I read this story I was completely convinced that it was a pure fabrication by a few attention starved yokels from nowhere. I think my educated guess has been borne out by the personality and disposition of the men who have claimed the discovery. Apparently no one told them about the advanced state of science.

I find it hilarious that these guys held a press conference last week and announced some preliminary DNA analysis results from the body of the alleged Bigfoot. What did they find? That the DNA samples were a mixture of human and possum DNA. And they had the guts to claim that was a sample from the beast himself?

The conjecture offered up for the presence of possum DNA in the human DNA sample was that the DNA was taken from a stomach sample. Wouldn't that be a curious place to take a tissue sample for DNA typing? It is like some sort of roadside swindle on a peculiar stretch of Alabama highway . Who does this group think their audience is? It is so funny.

I can just imagine these guys grabbing some fresh roadkill possum and a bit of hair off one of the morons perpetrating the hoax, which they then proceed to rub together in hopes of creating some sort of hybrid DNA. That will definitely trick the scientists.

To me this episode represents a huge storytelling opportunity. There is just so much internal tension for each character. Each wants to be famous, wants to be known, wants to be respected, wants to matter. But each lives in the middle of nowhere and knows none of the opportunities afforded by scholarship. They fix cars and farm equipment or they run convenience stores or pump gas or drink 5 days a week and work 2. These are men who are in no position to achieve the success and fame they desire.

So how does the conversation begin in which one of these men proposes faking a Sasquatch corpse? How do they think that they will avoid scrutiny from the scientific community? How can they believe that this will lead to anything but disgrace? Who came up with the idea of rubbing some cells from a possum together with their own to create compelling evidence?

The topic seems so ripe with character possibilities. Deeply flawed and ignorant men who nevertheless have the dreams of kings, but who are too dumb to realize why they will never become kings in this society. Or at least not before they agree on this silly hoax.

The story should not lack sympathy. These men never asked to be dropped into the world they have known. They just didn't have the luck or will to overcome that kind of start.

Why use a rubber suit? Man, not only are they stupid but they are lazy. They couldn't be bothered to construct their fake corpse out of something less obviously manufactured.

I love when in the story above they test the fur/hair of the creature and it melts down into a small ball gathered at the base of the shaft. Of course, this is very uncharacteristic of human hair (or fur for that matter), but very consistent with a synthetic hair substitute. These guys are probably witnessing this happen and not thinking it poses any sort of threat to the veracity of their claim. I love it.

The conversation where these guys finally agree to admit their fraud? Priceless.

If I knew where to begin I would start writing this tonight.

If you have any comments or ideas feel free to share them.

Thanks a ton!

Your Unfaithful Servant

Claremont Is Really Coming Up in the World!

So, I happened upon this little article about the long-in-arriving Bill Maher documentary on religious extremism called 'Religulous'.  I welcome almost any attack on the right, but given the way Bill Maher usually handles things (reductive, smug) I fear it may not work as well as it could, but I digress.

The really cool part is that the film had it's U.S. premiere screening in my hometown of Claremont, CA where a 5 screen Laemmle arthouse theater was erected in a recently developed area of the downtown called 'Village West' (because it is on the west side of the main street through the 'Village' aka Downtown Claremont). In any case, as part of Oscar qualification a documentary has to have had at least one week of regular screenings in Los Angeles County and Manhattan before Aug. 31, 2008. Well, lucky for us Claremont is the easternmost town in Los Angeles County (just barely avoiding belonging to the dreaded county of San Bernardino ;) ). Anyway, enough text. Here is the article:

Religulous

Free Will, Determinism, and Morality

SciAm has yet another interesting read about free will vs. determinism. This topic excites me, so expect to see more from me in this regard (hopefully linking to articles with more depth and philosophical heft).

Check it out:

Free Will Vs. Determinism

Your Unfaithful Servant

What is Rich?

As many have heard both McCain and Obama described how much one has to earn per annum to be considered "rich" in his book. The figure presented by McCain was absolutely shocking -- 5 MILLION! Mother Jones covers it with a nice graph and a brief discussion that follows it:

Are you RICH?

Please discuss in the comments section, Thanks!

Your Unfaithful Servant

Fincher and 'The Goon'

This news item dates back to the 3rd of July, but I didn't get wind of it until earlier in the week. Apparently, David Fincher has optioned the cool comic book series 'The Goon' with intentions of making a CG-animated film adaptation.

Story from Cinematical

Official Site

Wikipedia entry for 'The Goon'

I am so happy to hear about this. Fincher's last film 'Zodiac' has turned into one of my favorite character films ever. I didn't love it at first (in fact She-Rene and I slept through portions of it on a late Friday showing). But since I got the dvd I have watched it several times and each time I feel more drawn into the obsessions of the lead characters. So, as long as Fincher avoids a 'Panic Room' on this project, it should be great.

Unfaithfully Yours

P.S., File this under tangential connection: the following link concerns the fate of the Watchmen film adaptation set for release next year; apparently, Fox contends it still owns the rights and that WB has no business making the film. See the details below:

Watchmen in Peril?!?

Dead Zones

I wonder if this phenomenon of oceanic dead zones could be related to the squid bloom Julie talked about (from my favorite news source CNN ;) ):

Gulf 'Dead Zone'

Heartbreak

For those of you who don't download the 'This American Life' podcast or stream it, this week's show is all about the emotional contradictions of break-ups. Everyone has had them, and I think the episode deals with the topic thoughtfully:

Heartbreak

I can attest to the power of emotional contradiction in songwriting. I enjoy that a good chunk of the episode relates to the desire to channel these feelings into music and it includes an interview with Phil Collins himself!

Your Unfaithful Servant

Quantum Entanglement and Killer T-cells

I read two brief articles in Scientific American yesterday that I thought were quite exciting.

The first concerns quantum entanglement, which is basically the idea that quantum particles occur in linked pairs; if you attempt to measure or detect one particle in the pair you will cause a potentially instantaneous change in the partner particle. The notion that you can effect a nearly instantaneous change (at least 10,000 times faster than the speed of light) through interaction with one particle across indeterminate distances is amazing. Read the like for a better description of the phenomenon:

Quantum Entanglement

The second article is on a new antibody treatment for non-Hodgkins lymphoma. The drug binds to T-cells and and to cancer cells simultaneously and directs the killing action of the T-cell toward the attached cancer cell. Read more detail at the link below:

Killer T-cells and Cancer

"Allow me to break the ice."

Because I will always find this amusing (and I never want to search for it on youtube again):

Os Mutantes! A Minha Menina!

I wanted to share a youtube grab of a new McDonald's commercial called 'Victory'. The commercial isn't anything special -- just some kids playing soccer. What is really neat is the use of Os Mutantes' classic 'A Minha Menina' as the only soundtrack to the commercial. She-Rene and I were just discussing the first Os Mutantes album the other day and saying how so many of the tunes on the record have real cinematic potential. So, someone must have agreed with us (too bad it was for McDonald's). Check out the video below.

Unfaithfully Yours, as always. Enjoy!