Cybrpnk's Rantings

With echoes of Michael Huffington the forces of truth have once again rousted a demon from the halls of the US Congress. The 'Living a Lie' award for today goes to Ed Schrock formerly of the 2nd District of Virginia. A pity really, since Ed was rated quite highly by The National Journal. Why is Ed leaving the hallowed halls of Congress and fleeing back to Virginia Beach with his tail between his legs? Well it turns out that, his wife and sponsorship of the Defense of Marriage Amendment notwithstanding, Ed is apparently either gay or bi. According to various news sources Ed had left some voice mails on a phone service used by men to arrange sexual liasons with other men. Some gay activists somehow got ahold of at least one of his recordings and posted it on their website. Well Ed, You might enjoy getting together with Jack Ryan for a beer, maybe take in a sex show, although don't take it personally if he won't have public gay sex with you, that may just not be his thing. At least not the gay part....

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It is quite charming to hear our beloved Uncumbent, the usurper W. railing against the terrible impact of 'shadowy' groups running political ads without being bound by hard money limits. Particularly charming since presumably part of why the conservatives haven't really ramped up their 527s is they don't see the need; after all they have their own 'news' network. Our so-called president is concerned about these 'shadowy' groups and the effect they might have on our democracy. No worries about having a big swath of the public airwaves controlled by a conservative Australian who uses his media to either shill for the conservative cause, or to berate and belittle anyone to the left of King George III (that's not a typo, it's a reference to the British monarch we wrested independence from). All in the guise of 'journalism.' For those who don't know, real journalists actually do report stories from a neutral position, and actually do have a concept of fairness in how they represent different viewpoints.

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The classic conservative approach to most social ills is 'let the market sort it out.' This reckless invocation of the market is a severe abuse of a sometimes useful tool that obfuscates critical discussions of policy. An excellent example of improper use of the market is our current approach to energy policy. Sure it's true that as oil becomes scarcer the price will rise, and that there will be periodic spikes in the price. But by the time the market really starts signaling that it is time to start looking for other energy options it will be too late.

To seriously address the transformation of our entire economy and infrastructure from an oil-sucking monstrosity to a world leader in conservation, renewable energy production, and efficiency will take not just significant investment, but far-sighted planning and sponsorship of high-risk blue-sky research. Markets have not shown much of an ability to generate either of these types of activity. Markets also have a horrible track record of passing over high-quality science and engineering in favor of slickly-marketed inferior products.

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The so-called 'Swiftboat Veterans for Truth' are a bunch of scum-sucking un-American weasels. Why mince words about this? These people have launched a scurilous attack against a candidate for President. They have no evidence to back up their lies. they are clearly funded by George W. Bush's friends. They have no policy goal. They are political hatchet-men. If they really were concerned about the qualifications of a man asking to be commander-in-chief, why attack the guy who actually fought in combat, when the alcoholic with a rumoured history of cocaine use is clearly far less qualified? and in Bush's case we don't even need to go on his use of political influence to evade combat duty, his history of arrests, his numerous failed businesses. We can just look at his support of Donald Rumsfeld and the failed attempt to disprove the Powell doctrine. Just lay at Bush's feet the nearly one thousand American soldiers and countless Iraqi civilians he has gotten killed in Iraq, and clearly the man is unqualified to be commander in chief.

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The recent storm in Florida has me thinking of the disaster that is federal emergency management. Not that I have any complaint about FEMA and how they operate. My issue is at a policy level. For quite some time it has been clear to me that there should be a distinction between unlikely disasters and probable disasters. The poster boy of this is flooding in the Mississippi basin. Every few years we are treated to the site of people filling sandbags, submerged houses, people on rooftops refusing to be evacuated, etc. Why are all those houses where they are? It's great farmland. Why is it great farmland? It's very rich in nutrients from the alluvial mud that periodically gets dumped on it when the Mississippi river floods. Oh. Shouldn't these people live on higher ground, or build on stilts, or something, and just farm in the flood basin? The obvious response to that is: 'Why do the liberals always want government to tell people how to live their lives?'

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Globalisation, we are told by the conservatives, is good for America. Why? On the one hand it lowers the price of goods, on the other it is good for the overall economy because it frees up labor resources to do higher value work. A nice theory, but one with significant flaws. First off, an underlying assumption is that not only will there necessarily be higher-value work to be done, but that Americans will be uniquely suited to do that work. Secondly, there has not yet been any serious discussion of the future of people who are not capable of attaining higher-value skills.

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Not going to have much time to post this week. It's Siggraph time. For those who don't know this is THE computer graphics conference. All of my fellow visual effects production types, academics, tool vendors, etc. converge for one crazy week of presentations and parties. It's in LA this year (as it is about every other year) which is a bummer. Too much driving. When it's out of town it's always more fun.

Today I got to see the keynote speech which was given by Bruce Sterling. The gist of what he had to say was that our society is on a non-sustainable course, and that the technological leaders like us Siggraph types should take the initiative and try to make a difference. He talked quite a bit about technological innovation, sustainable manufacturing, and the preservation of democracy. Clearly some in the audience had been hoping for something more in the area of adoration of their technological selves, but if they'd read his books they shouldn't have been surprised at what he had to say. Most of the audience seemed to appreciate what he had to say as much as I did.

A couple of times over the last year I have been the target of what were intended to be devastating verbal assaults. These were blasts by people who were so certain that they had command of overwhelming verbal ability that they would be able to incinerate me with their attacks. While I salute their initiative and passion, I was left scratching my head at the showcase of poor reading skills, ignorance of logic, ad hominem attacks, and raw bluster. Where, I found myself wondering, did this come from. After some discussions with friends and colleagues, I have formulated a theory: these people, like so many of their fellow Americans, are simply incapable of participating in sophisticated discourse. Which is not just to say that they are not capable of contributing to the discussion, but that they are incapable of comprehending what the discussion is really about.

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When it comes to the middle east there are far more questions than answers, and more radical ideas than clear solutions. On the one side there are the conservatives and neo-conservatives who seem to think that some combination of force and nation-building will result in wide-spread democratization and an end to extremism. On the left there is a distaste for the use of force, a belief that there must be another solution, but no clear ideas that work with my understanding of the realpolitik of the region. So, I'm going to play a little bit of Devil's Advocate here.

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