I WAS GOING TO WRITE ABOUT THIS PAUL HAMM FIASCO, BUT LINDA DID IT BETTER.
- posted by thegusdad @ 8/27/2004 04:38:00 PM

 
OK, A POST TO SEE IF BLOGGER CONTINUES TO SCREW UP MY LINKS. I am a regular reader of Penny Arcade, a three-days-a-week online comic that focuses on computer gaming. [I have now established geek cred.] PA's creators, the pseudonymous Gabe and Tycho, are candid are about their goal--money! And theirs is that rare site that actually succeeds at making money on a non-subscription basis (PvP is another). They are expanding their niche and this weekend are hosting a gaming convention in Bellevue. Interesting feature of the piece is a picture of PA's creators Mike and Jerry, who do not bear much resemblance to their comics avatars.
- posted by thegusdad @ 8/27/2004 09:46:00 AM

 
BLOGGER IS RANDOMLY SCREWING UP MY LINKS. I speculate it might have something to do with its "enhanced" posting engine, but I'm not sure. In any event, some of my links are gorked--they look fine in raw html, but then when clicked they don't got through--blogger appends a blogger referent prefix that leads to a 404. I have complained, but this may be the straw that breaks the camel's back, leading me to get off blogger and onto my own domainname, hosting, usage of MT, etc.

All of which makes me cranky.
- posted by thegusdad @ 8/23/2004 11:38:00 AM

 
A "NO-DRIVE" LIST, I COULD UNDERSTAND.
- posted by thegusdad @ 8/23/2004 10:50:00 AM

 
BY POPULAR DEMAND: NAKED MOLE RATS! They were the best exhibit at the Zoo last time I was there, but I see from the website that they now have a display of Matschie's tree kangaroo. The website tells us this:

Birth: usually one joey (about 1 inch at birth) * female isolates herself before birth * Birth position - sitting on base of tail with tail between legs * Takes 2 minutes for joey to crawl to the pouch * pouch contains 4 mammae * joey attaches to nipple for 90 to 100 days, at 250 days joey looks out, at 300 leaves pouch for first time, at 350 leaves pouch permanently * long pouch life compared to other kangaroos

- posted by thegusdad @ 8/20/2004 07:37:00 AM

 
I AM A FAN OF DAVID FOSTER WALLACE. He is by turns exhilirating, frustrating, and bewildering. Right now I am reading two of his books: Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity, and Oblivion: Stories. Wallace as a writer is best known for insanely, microscopically detailed digression and discursivity; both these books (so far) are very much "his." The oddest thing about either is that the cover of Oblivion actually qualifies Wallace as "Author of Infinite Jest."

This is bizarre. Infinite Jest was one of the most difficult (and rewarding) reads I have ever encountered. It is 1088 pages (and 2.79 pounds, according to Powells), of which close to 200 pages are fine-print endnotes, of which endnotes some are full-page narratives. I know only one other person who actually completed it, though it was glowingly reviewed. So why use that as a sales point on the book jacket? To entice me and the four other people in the world who read it neither for a literature class nor to write a professional review? Or simply to give prospective Wallace shoppers an alternative? "I heard Infinite Jest was good, and look, here's one by the same guy, and it's way thinner."
- posted by thegusdad @ 8/19/2004 09:55:00 AM

 
STEM CELLS! STEM CELLS! In the back of the latest issue of Time, Charles Krauthammer has an interesting article on the stem cell issue in which he says:

I would have drawn the line [regarding federal funding of stem cell research] differently. I would have permitted the conduct of all research using cells drawn from the discarded embryos of fertility clinics (unused and ultimately doomed) but not from embryos created purposely and wantonly for nothing but use by science.

Krauthammer then bashes Kerry for "politicizing" the issue. There are real and justified critiques of the bandwagoning that is happening on the left, whicha re cogently laid out here by Will Saletan, but it's just silly to say that the politicization of this particular line of scientific inquiry started with Kerry, rather than Congress' 1996 ban on federal funding of research that involves the destruction of embryos, or indeed Bush's 9/9/01 announcement of his stem cell executive order.

There are at least three problems with Krauthammer's little exercise. Breaking them down:

1. The "line" Krauthammer proposes is the one many people suggested at the time Bush should have drawn. Krauthammer's "politicizing" started when Bush announced his affirmative step of ending federal funding on new stem cell lines. The problem lots of folks have with Bush's position is the one Krauthammer lays out: in the course of every successful fertility treatment, embryos are created which are discarded. Under Bush's line, those embryos, which would otherwise by shitcanned, cannot be used in research. (Bear in mind that according to extreme right-to-lifers, every embryo has a human soul, and discarding an embryo is murder.) But I haven't heard GWB or any other mainstream Republican dare to criticize fertility treatment as tantamount to abortion (Alan Keyes doesn't count).

2. Krauthammer's "line" lacks moral consistency. What is intrinsically wrong with "embryos created purposely and wantonly for nothing but use by science"? How is a scientist working on a cure for cancer morally inferior to a woman who wants to have a baby? As Michael Kinsley says here better than I could anywhere, "How can you restrict embryonic stem-cell research because it encourages the creation and destruction of embryos, and yet praise the fertility industry that creates and destroys embryos by the thousands (and would supply the embryos for stem-cell research, if that were allowed)?"

3. Krauthammer wraps up with this:

There's nothing less compassionate than to construct a political constituency of sufferers (and their loved ones) by falsely and cruelly intimating that their disease is on the very cusp of cure if only the President would stop playing politics with the issue... When I was 22 and a first-year medical student, I suffered a spinal-cord injury. I have not walked in 32 years. I would be delighted to do so again. But not at any price.

Pot, meet kettle. That Krauthammer could conceivably benefit from stem-cell research gives his voice no special weight. Similarly, Ron Reagan, who spoke on the importance of the funding of broad-based stem-cell research at the Democratic National Convention, does not get an extra-large vote on this issue merely because his dad died of Alzheimer's. The difference is that Reagan's activism on the stem-cell issue is motivated by his family's experience with a devastating disease, while Krauthammer's injury does not bear on his stem-cell views, which derive from his more diffuse views on the sanctity of life, etc. So his relating his sad story is a mistaken attempt to run up his credibility.

4. And this isn't about Krauthammer's piece, but a frequent meme of anti-abortion folks is that embryonic stem cell therapies are unproven, and we're doing a lot with adult stem cells. This is pure look-at-my-thumb diversionary dopeyness. AIDS therapy has come a long way, with multidrug "cocktails" letting many HIV-infected people live normal lives. Does that mean we abandon other research efforts? Does that mean we don't look for a vaccine? Of course not.

UPDATE: I am once again late to the party--Kinsley deconstructed this whole issue better a long time ago.</a>
- posted by thegusdad @ 8/18/2004 02:47:00 PM

 
THE MCGREEVEY THING. I'm late to the party, but, as always, have opinions.

First: he's gay, fine. Devastating to his family (including kids and wife #2), but his newly-public status certainly doesn't per se impair his ability to do his job. I have a problem with his cynicism. He's corrupt--he appointed his no-qualifications boyfriend to be New Jersey's Homeland Security director, when Louis Freeh would have done it for free. That's scumminess of the highest order, and if you buy the notion that the NJHSD is other than a sinecure, it meant that he jeopardized the safety of folks in New Jersey. The cynicism comes in when he outs himself pre-emptively, and by draping himself in the rainbow flag, picks up sympathy points (the whole "I have a lived a lie, and it has cost me my family, and my political career" thing).

Second: the decision to resign November 15, and therefore ensure that his appointed successor has a year of incumbency, is brilliant. As a partisan, I think it's brilliant. I hope McGreevey sticks to his guns on the date, because otherwise Jon Corzine might leave his Senate seat to run for NJ governor in a special election, and I like Corzine where he is.

Third: Golan Cipel is getting outed against his will, which serves him right, being an extortionist and all.
- posted by thegusdad @ 8/18/2004 12:34:00 PM

 
SOME SAY I HAVE ECLECTIC INTERESTS. SOME SAY I HAVE ADD. It's not lost on me that if I ever wanted to actually generate mass readership for this blog, rather than aiming it only at Josiah and Eric, that I would have to specialize more. I could concentrate only on beers made in the Portland area, and write the definitive Portland beer journal, for example. Or I could start the only team ahndball blog based in the Pacific NW. Either of these could earn small but cultlike followings, which of course is the best kind of following to have.

I guess I'm not that hungry for attention--I think I'd do this even if I got zero page views. Of course, I never read my traffic reports, so maybe I am typing into the void. But without further ado, Browns rookie tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. has, after one week of training camp, asked his defensive coordinator to give him some pass-rushing snaps as a defensive end. I'll be drafting this guy for my Fantasy team for sure.
- posted by thegusdad @ 8/17/2004 02:03:00 PM

 
ACTUAL TOPIC SUMMARY OF A BOOK I JUST PLACED ON HOLD AT THE LIBRARY:

* Puppets -- Fiction.

* Taxidermy -- Collectors and collecting -- Fiction.

* Television programs for children -- Collectibles -- Fiction.

mmmmm...up too late. Insomnia.
- posted by thegusdad @ 8/17/2004 01:11:00 AM

 
I HEARD ABOUT I LOVE BEES FROM PENNY ARCADE. It is a rewarding and trippy time-waster--especially for those of us who wear our tinfoil hats while gaming.
- posted by thegusdad @ 8/16/2004 04:53:00 PM

 
JOHN KERRY: MOST LIBERAL HUMAN BEING EVER? Most of us by now have heard the GOP talking point that "John Kerry is the most liberal member of the US Senate." This article contains an explanation and partial debunking.

Of course, he isn't nearly liberal enough for me.

UPDATE: link fixed.
- posted by thegusdad @ 8/16/2004 04:02:00 PM

 
THIS IS THE FIRST GMAIL INLINE AD LINK I EVER CLICKED, and I can't understand what the commercial motivation is.
- posted by thegusdad @ 8/12/2004 03:37:00 PM

 
WHEN IS GETTING SUED A GOOD THING? When you're Kobe Bryant. That's the third-level subtext of the civil lawsuit his "Jane Doe" accuser has filed against him. Why? because when she testifies in the criminal case against him, Bryant's lawyer Pamela Mackey will get to cross-examine her at length about any factor other than the alleged rape that might be affecting her testimony, including financial interest. E.g., "Isn't it true, Ms. Doe, that you have filed a lawsuit against Mr. Bryant seeking money? Millions of dollars, in fact?"

Now, lots of commentators have said that Pam Mackey and Hal Haddon, Bryant's lawyers, would have to "walk a fine line" in dealing with the alleged victim--in other words, make it clear to the jury that she is a gold-digging little psycho while making it seem that they don't want to smear her, that they wish they didn't have to point out that she is an unbalanced money-hungry slut, but that justice requires them to tell these painful truths. The civil complaint just widened that fine line into one that a cross-eyed drunk could stagger easily (though I'm not implying that Pam or Hal touches the sauce, ever). Further, the complaint opens a couple of doors that she should have left shut:

As a direct and proximate result of the sexual assault and rape perpetrated by Defendant Bryant upon her, Plaintiff has been subjected to public scorn, hatred and ridicule and has suffered threats against her life and physical safety.
***
As a direct and proximate result of the sexual assault and rape perpetrated by Defendant Bryant upon her, Plaintiff has incurred special damages, including medical and legal expenses.

Let's break this down a little. First, as kids learn their second day of law school, the words "direct and proximate result" don't mean to lawyers the same thing they mean to real humans. "Direct and proximate result" means (and sorry, lawyers, for the lack of citation--Palsgraf, perhaps?) a result of a given course of tortious conduct that is both closely related and foreseeable enough that it is appropriate to hold a civil defendant liable for that result. In other words, assume Bryant raped Doe. Should he have contemplated that Doe would have been damaged by the rape itself? Of course, and he should be liable for her damages--her pain and suffering, the emotional trauma, etc. Those things are caused directly by his actions. Should Bryant be liable for the "public scorn, hatred, and ridicule [and] threats against her life and physical safety"? Should he be liable for the lawyers' fees she has incurred in trying the rape case in the press?

This is overreaching, legally speaking, and hurts Doe's civil case against Bryant as well as the criminal case against him. Remember that there is no evidence or allegation that Bryant sought to intimidate or threaten Doe after the night in question--that was the work of crazed Laker fans. And remember that the exposure of Doe's real name and details of her personal life has been the result of zealous tabloids, incompetent court staff, and the statements of the accuser herself and her lawyers. This is bad news for the prosecution, because Mackey and Haddon will get to point out that Doe is trying to blame Bryant for the incompetent, intentional, or insane conduct of other people. It is bad news for Doe's civil lawsuit, because you can bet that Bryant's civil lawyers are already planning the motions to dismiss that will gut many of her allegations before the civil case ever goes to trial. It is bad news for Doe, herself, because while the burden of proof a plaintiff must satisfy in a civil case is lower, so is the threshold of discoverability and admissibility of things like Doe's sexual history, mental health, etc. If she thinks she has lost her privacy now, just wait: this is a high-stakes gamble that Bryant's tolerance for pain is lower than her own.

This lawsuit also plays perfectly into the theme that should be central in Bryant's defense--that whatever happened in that Eagle County hotel room is unknowable, that the legal system is utterly inadequate to determining the truth or falsity of these "acquaintance rape" accusations, and that everything since that night is not the result of the interaction between Bryant and Doe, or of Bryant's flawed moral judgment, but are cultural. The Bryant case is a perfect storm (to borrow Dahlia Lithwick's analogy) of sex, fame, money, media, and ambition. The only thing excluded from the mix is justice.

Prosecution spokeswoman Krista Flannigan said the civil lawsuit changes nothing for the criminal trial. ``We are still moving forward,'' she said. She declined to comment when asked whether the civil case could complicate the effort to win a conviction.

Yeah, right. Kobe Bryant isn't going to trial, much less to jail.
- posted by thegusdad @ 8/10/2004 03:28:00 PM

 
ITEMS FROM THE DOOM 3 MANUAL WHICH MAY AMUSE ONLY ME:

Health - The amount of damage you can take. You are completely healthy when the number reads 100. As you're shot or injured, this number decreases. If the number reaches 0, you will die and the demons will feast on your lifeless body.
[page 4]

So that we can better help you, please have the following information ready:
...
Your computer's processor type and speed (e.g. Pentium 200 MHz).
[page 20]

- posted by thegusdad @ 8/10/2004 12:43:00 PM

 
GOOD NEWS ON THE PURE SCIENCE FRONT IS RARE THESE DAYS. In January, NASA said that it would discontinue space-shuttle based maintenance of the Hubble Space Telescope. (Gregg Easterbrook has made convincing arguments for twenty-plus years for why the space shuttle project should be abandoned in its entirety, but that's another conversation.) So it is with some relief and joy that we hear that NASA will in fact continue to maintain the Hubble with robotic missions. The Hubble, of course, has been hailed as one of the single greatest tools ever for expanding our cosmological knowledge, so it would have been sad indeed to watch it fall into dilapidation.
- posted by thegusdad @ 8/10/2004 10:54:00 AM

 
I'M BACK--TANNED, RESTED, AND READY. We had a great time in the Gulf Islands, which really are a lot like the San Juans, except that they don't accept good ol' Amurrican greenbacks. A two-dollar coin? Please! But we slept and ate and drank and kayaked and suffice it to say that most of our wedding-related stress just melted away. Oh, and the wedding was good, and successful, too.

Which brings us back to the news of the day, which happened in my absence (the nerve!): the 11th Circuit upheld an Alabama ban on the sale of sex toys. It's not illegal to possess them in Alabama, or buy them out of state or over the internet, but Alabamians can't go to Billy Bob's House of Phallus and buy a latex artificial member. Dahlia Lithwick gives the legal whys and wherefores, and Thrasymachus details the Alabama legislature's deliberations over the issue.

I'm waiting for David Brooks to approvingly cite this issue as one of the good and proper differences between "red" and "blue" states.
- posted by thegusdad @ 8/06/2004 11:45:00 AM