| Be afraid... |
[Sep. 6th, 2009|11:42 am] |
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I took the Wahl-o-mat which claims that it will tell you which of the political parties currently active in Germany you agree with most. The results were not pretty. Number one was the Marxist-Leninist party. Second, Die Linke (aka the PDS, aka the people who used to run East Germany.) Number 3, the Pirate Party. Fourth, Die Grune. At the other end, my lowest agreement was with the SPD (mainstream "liberal"), NPD (the "we're not the NSDAP, really we're not" party) and the CDU (mainstream "conservative.") CDU was dead last. Behind the NPD.
Now, would I really vote MLPD if I were eligible to vote in Germany? No. Well, maybe for mayor. The Communists in Italy have made a name for themselves as competent city administrators, but not more than that. Die Linke I'd like to see in official gadfly position (i.e. having about 5% of the vote so they have a seat or two in Parliment but not much more). So I MIGHT vote for them under some circumstances, but I'd have serious trust issues. The Pirate Party? If I were actually voting in Germany I'd look into them, but I'm not at all convinced. Despite my apparent closeness to Die Grune, I actually have fairly profound disagreement with them on issues not discussed (use of animals in research, stem cell therapy, etc). I'm willing to humor them on organic farming and nuclear power in return for sensible policies on issues like legalizing same sex unions (even 211 may like the way they did it in Germany: no "marriage" but a civil union with exactly the same legal rights as marriage), making daycare available, and not getting into too many wars just because the US wants to, but the stem cell and animal research restrictions are going to drop Germany's appeal as a place for biotech research and no developed country can really afford that.
So in the end I'd probably go with SPD erste Stimme, Grune/Piraten zweite Stimme. Wenn ich eine Stimme haette. Proving that once again personality trumps position (aka I wouldn't trust the MLPD candidates with more than a minimal amount of power if they promised to agree with me in every last fiddly detail.)
Incidentally, the Astronomer is a German conservative: FDP, CDU, and Pirate Party voter, per same test. |
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| Silly question of the day |
[Mar. 1st, 2009|07:42 pm] |
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If you could/had to be a character in any piece of dystopian fiction (book, story, movie, etc), which character would you be and why? |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 30th, 2008|09:01 pm] |
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The astronomer got his own LJ account. He's astronomer88 and has yet to post anything at all to his LJ. But one can be hopeful. |
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| Where are the libertarians? |
[Sep. 26th, 2008|06:17 pm] |
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And why aren't they jumping up and down and yelling about our socialist government nationalizing banks? Isn't anyone else worried about WaMu and creeping socialism? Or the inability of the FDIC to live up to its promises? |
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| In which I engage in the New Yorker privilege... |
[Sep. 11th, 2008|11:24 am] |
...of being rude to tourists: To the presidential candidates--both of them: Go away. Stop haunting downtown Manhattan on a certain day every 4 years. Stop pretending to care about the people who died in the WTC when we all know you didn't. Stop using that stupid tragedy to score political points.
The people who died in the WTC were New Yorkers and New Jerseyites. Not all of them were US-Americans and not all of the US citizens were born in the US. Many spoke languages other than English or spoke English only as a second language. Many were Buddhist, Jewish, atheist, agnostic, and, yes, even Islamic. In short, all the things that so many people in the US hate or fear. A fear and hatred that you're pandering to, even if you don't believe it yourself. And while this is a bipartisan rant, directed at both candidates, I feel the need to note additionally that a party which uses the slogan "country first" can just skip even pretending to care about the 5.7 billion or so people who are not citizens of the US. You didn't have any respect for these people when they were alive, at least stop exploiting their deaths.
So cut the crap. Go away. There are plenty of other places in New York to campaign if you feel the need to campaign in NYC. (Which, frankly, I don't advise bothering with: it's a forgone conclusion state.) Put on your gym clothes and go woo the Chelsea boys. Dress wild and meet the drag queens and kings on Christopher Street. Prove your manliness by hanging out in the south Bronx. Go have your forum at Columbia. I'm sure the Columbia students are quite pleased at a chance to sharpen their claws on a candidate or two. But stay away from downtown. At least today. Come back tomorrow and collect cash from the Wall Street execs. But leave the PATH station alone. Until you can respect all New Yorkers, including those who can't vote for you, including those who look or believe differently than you, you have no business there. |
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| Gah! 9/11 fetishism |
[Sep. 11th, 2008|11:17 am] |
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People are standing in front of the Church Street 9/11 cross with a car. Painted with 9/11 symbols. Which they brought from Alaska. And are handing out cards with Christian messages on them. Yech. Disrespecting the non-Christian New Yorkers (and Jerseyites) who died, increasing dependence on foreign oil, and exploiting tragedy all in one. But the people handing out fliers are so obviously sweet, innocent, "useful idiots" who probably don't have the slightest idea of what they're doing that I didn't have the heart to do more than make a snide remark about what the car will do for our dependence on foreign oil and move on. I'm such a wimp. |
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| Question thought of in the middle of the night |
[Aug. 13th, 2008|09:29 am] |
If Clark's claim that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic is true, how far back in time would a person from 2008* need to go to be considered magical? Fifty years wouldn't do it. While a person from 1958 would consider some of our technology pretty cool (like having a computer in your pocket with more power than the rest of the world's computers combined, for example), they'd also consider us pretty weak in some areas. "It's the 21st century and you don't have colonies on Mars or even the moon? Losers." One hundred years might do it. Some of the more elaborate forms of digital image manipulation might look impossible enough to be magical to an early 20th century person, but maybe not: con artistry was well known in the early 20th century and any reasonably well educated person would probably suspect a trick. 150 years? Some medical advances might appear magical (a single dose of penicillin would probably eliminate an infection with the completely untrained bacteria of the time), as might some image manipulation technology. Would Youtube look magical?
Ideas, anyone?
*Ignoring, for the moment, the problem that time travel itself would be "magical" for an early 21st century person. |
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| People are strange |
[Jun. 26th, 2008|03:29 pm] |
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When I first got to HD this summer, one of the first things I noticed were that lots of people had put flags on their cars. What's that all about, I wondered. Is it Wiedervereinigungstag? Is an election coming up and everyone's wrapping themselves in the flag? Are they invading someone? But it turned out to be none of the above, but rather something important: Fussball! The Europameistershaft started just when we got here. Germany just made the finale last night. I was disturbed to find that I cared. Not a lot, but enough to watch the Spiegel blog until the game finished. |
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| I guess invading countries will do that... |
[May. 23rd, 2008|08:04 pm] |
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The US is number 97 on the Global Peace Index. Out of 140. It was #96 last year. Cuba is #62, possibly because it hasn't invaded any other countries recently. And the GPI is calculated by the Economist, so we can't even blame crazed liberal peaceniks for distorting the ratings. I'm off to hide under the bed now. |
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| Satire is dead |
[Apr. 25th, 2008|07:29 pm] |
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Reality killed it. By bludgeoning it to death. Al Qaeda annoyed at 9/11 conspiracy theories. Apparently, al Q thinks Iran is trying to undermine their street cred by repeating various 9/11 conspiracy theories: al Qaeda wants everyone to know that it was them, not the Israelis, Bush, or the phone company who destroyed the WTC and damaged the Pentagon. Didn't the Onion publish something about this a while ago? |
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| Wie typisch... |
[Apr. 22nd, 2008|09:06 pm] |
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According to this quiz I hold a typically German position on about 50% of issues or behaviors. I watch less TV, go to bed earlier, and go to more demos than the average German woman, but get up at the average time, have a typical attitude towards life, and express the more common opinion on whether I would be willing to put my life on the line for Germany if there were a war: no. The astronomer was also at 50%. Not sure if this all means that we've spent too much time there or not enough. |
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| My current bathroom reading... |
[Apr. 19th, 2008|10:23 am] |
...is the Economist's "Pocket world in figures" 2008 edition. Some random facts or factoids from it that I find interesting:
1. The median age in the West Bank/Gaza is 16.9. Any other questions about why the region's policies tend to be random and occasionally totally insane?
2. The country with the highest number of people in prison per capita is the US. Russia is #2. Also among the top five are the US Virgin Islands and Turkmenistan. The moral, as far as I can tell, is that if you want to be a superpower, build lots of prisons.
3. The average person in Luxembourg owns 1.5 mobile phones. (154 phones per 100 population.) The Swiss have the most computers at 86.2 per 100 population. What's with little countries and electronics?
4. The US doesn't even make the list of the 25 countries with the lowest infant mortality. On the plus side, it doesn't make the list of countries with the highest infant mortality either.
5. Washington DC is listed as (barely) having a higher quality of life index than NYC. The shame, the shame. No cities in the US made the list of 47 cities with the lowest quality of life, but I do wonder if Houston might have come in #48.
6. The median age in Germany is 42. I feel young suddenly...
7. Ireland is #4 on the "gender-related development index". Ireland? Have they even legalized divorce there yet? What the hell are they measuring? |
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| How to motivate a 4 year old |
[Jan. 23rd, 2008|09:05 pm] |
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Critter didn't want to brush her teeth tonight. So I told her I'd explain why diabetics had heart attacks without feeling it if she let me brush her teeth. (We'd been discussing what happens when a person has a heart attack earlier.) She agreed. It all made sense at the time, but I'm now thinking that this may be a slightly unusual way to motivate a 4 year old. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 11th, 2008|09:45 pm] |
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I always wondered what ads would look like if they were made with someone like me as the target audience. Now I know. |
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| A meme to play with |
[Oct. 6th, 2007|01:13 pm] |
Rules, copied directly from Wombat's entry on the same meme...
1. Leave me a casual comment of no particular significance, like a lyric to your current favorite song, or your favorite kind of sandwich, maybe your favorite cat. Any remark, meaningless or not.
2. I will respond by asking you five personal questions so I can get to know you better.
3. Update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. Include this explanation and offer to ask someone else in your own post.
5. When others respond with a desultory comment, you will ask them five questions.
Questions asked of me by wombats, with answers...
1. What sort of a question would you ask someone you barely know, but like, based upon what little you've seen of them?
I probably wouldn't really ask this, but here's the question I've always wanted to ask in that situation..."I'm interested in the human condition. You seem to be a human*. May I inquire as to your condition?" The ideal answer would be a lead to a long discussion of their philosophy of life and intersting issues about life, the universe, and everything.
*Assuming that the person in question did appear to be a human, of course. Otherwise I'd probably ask something about their biology.
2. Books or music? Pick one and give me a sample of your tastes.
Hmm...I'm tempted to punt by saying "eclectic", but I'll take the easier one. Music: As a general rule, I'm lyrics oriented (and word oriented overall, which is why music is the easier question.) I like music from a number of styles, including rock, country, rap/hiphop, folk, and occasionally showtunes but only if the music has something interesting to say with it. I've always considered my lack of appreciation of classical music to be a personality flaw, but at my current age I've decided to live with it.
3. I'll skip the jello or mud wrestling, you have an pet human all your own (well, shared ...). What's your comfort food?
Chocolate. Oddly enough, that's also the answer to the question you didn't ask.
4. Which scientist do you idolize, or at least, put on that special "that was one cool thinker" pedastal?
Another difficult question. I've always been partial to Marie Curie, if only for the two Nobel prizes in physics while raising two children (one of whom also eventually got a Nobel in physics) aspect. I also admire Darwin's thoroughness and ability to construct a radically different theory which nonetheless had fairly unanswerable data backing it from the time he first published. Ernest Just probably gets my vote for "most unappreciated original thinker", having the dual problems of being black in the early 20th century and working in the wrong area (he was interested in cytoplasm at a time when genetics was the hot topic).
5. What's been the high point of your overseas sojourn?
Le luge d'ete...zoom was one--a favorite of Critter speed demon. Finishing 9 manuscripts was another. Also having woods a couple of blocks from home, really good bread, moderately lower levels of government paranoia, bike paths, and the availablity of books in German were all nice things. |
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| Random thoughts and observations |
[Aug. 12th, 2007|08:36 pm] |
1. I find Germans to be social butterflies who waste far too much time partying. I think that this may say something very, very bad about my social ability.
2. It rains a lot in Heidelberg in the summer. But the weather is still nicer than NYC in the summer. Which is nicer than Dallas in the summer. But nearly everything is nicer than Dallas in the summer.
3. If Voldemort, Sauron, and Darth Vader had a fight, who would win? (No followers, all magic/mystic abilities allowed, Sauron does not have the ring, but it hasn't been destroyed yet either.)
4. It's nice being in a country with no nukes (that is, no nuclear bombs, power plants they've got). It makes it all seem so much more ethical to pay taxes.
5. Lately my political predictions have followed this pattern: the sillier the prediction, the more likely it is to be true. Therefore, when I say that I think that my instinct says that the next presidential election will be Clinton versus Guiliani: the ultimate subway series, the rematch, the campaign that will make Bush versus Kerry look polite and restrained, you should be very afraid. Or maybe not. But it could be amusing if it happened. Incidently, my further prediction is that Clinton will emerge bloody but triumphant with Guilani's diseased prostate in her teeth. It's probably not going to really happen that way, but if it does I'm using this post as a part of my resume for a new job as a pundit.
6. Journals are very annoying. Blood (the journal, not the bodily fluid) doubly so. But all will be forgiven if I get an acceptance on any of the 7 manuscripts that have been submitted up to 2 months ago.
7. When sentiment #6 was expressed to the Astonomer, he looked very guilty and muttered something about finishing the review on the train...not my review, of course. Apart from the obvious conflict of interest, we're in different fields. But perhaps I've brought a little happiness to someone somewhere by getting his butt moving.
8. The problem with submitting to high prestige journals is that if they turn you down every time you read a crappy article in them (and every journal publishes crap now and then) you think "they turned down my article but published THAT?" Which is not good for the ego. I had this experience recently with the NEJM and the article on the death sensing cat. |
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| Defending the nation part 2: Houstopolis |
[Jul. 20th, 2007|07:35 pm] |
The current mad dictator, when asked about Houstopolis' defense policy, had the following to say, "Death ray go boom! Good! Good!" The questioners backed slowly from the room and wandered on until they came to a door marked "token sane bureaucrat". The token sane bureaucrat had the following to say about Houstopolis' military policy:
We don't actually catagorically rule out the use of any particular type of weapon. At least not this week. Traditionally, we relied on the populaces' status as masters and mistresses of the found weapon to protect us in many situations(1). Of course, this isn't always practical in the modern era of weapons of mass destruction and ranged weapons. Therefore we maintain the right to protect ourselves with whatever we feel like. We really rarely attack outsiders who don't attack us first(2) and if others are so foolish as to invade our territory I don't see why they should complain if we repel them with whatever is handy. People surely aren't still whining about the flower incident(3), are they?(4)
1. Historical, out of character footnotes: Houstopolis' population is famous or infamous for being able to create havoc with weapons improvised from any number of odd impliments. One famous example is the War of Ancient Slobovian Reconquest, IV: Ancient Slobovia, regretting the loss of its provinces and seeing weakness in Houstopolis' regime (which, at the time, was led by a mad dictator bent on converting the entire country to Pastafarianism), sent troops in to Houstopolis. (Proposed geography: Houstopolis City is located at the end of a long, thin penninsula which consists mostly of farms. The ocean surrounding Houstopolis contains a few small islands and a certain amount of oil, which provides much of Houstopolis' income and, along with its eccentric government, makes it a frequent target of invasion.) A few miles into Houstopolian territory they ran into an old woman. "Fear not, we're here to liberate you from your oppressor and bring you back into the fold of the True Country," proclaimed the general leading the attack. The old woman smiled joyously and said, "At last! After all these years...FRESH MEAT!" and proceded to decimate the invaders using nothing but her cane and eyeglasses. The stunned troops rallied and killed her but her family heard and rushed out, attacking with impliments ranging from a pitchfork to a very messy diaper, and slaughtered half the force before they could withdraw. They decided to liberate someone else for a while.
2. This is often, but not always true. Houstopolis has fought several aggressive wars. Usually in fits of enthusiasm when a new and particularly militaristic dictator comes to power. However, they almost always get bored or distracted and go home before actually doing much damage or taking more than token amounts of territory.
3. The flower incident: Sometime in the late 1990s or early 21st century (does Slobovian history run to the present?), Houstopolis was headed by a particularly virulent religious fanatic Evil Dictator who had a bad habit of making nasty remarks about the neighboring countries' religions. Eventually, one of them decided that it should "liberate" Houstopolis (and, incidently, obtain its oil reserves.) The leaders of this so-far unnamed country told their citizens that the war would be over in a week and that they would be greeted as liberators and welcomed with flowers. They were welcomed with flowers...but they were biologically altered flowers that produced a pollen so allergenic that anyone not protected (as the Houstopolians mysteriously all were) by counter-vaccination would be overcome with sneezing so presistent and unstoppable that they would actually die of dehydration and/or asphyxiation if they did not receive prompt medical attention. The genetic and/or phenotypic engineering involved seemed a little...sophisticated for Houstopolis' biotech industry, which is stunted by periodic random restrictions by its various dictators. Nord Badish involvement was suspected, but has never been proven. Be that as it may, the invasion was halted. The Evil Dictator was proclaimed to be the True Messiah and eaten, as was the appropriate fate of the True Messiah in his religion, a week later.
4. In short, no one, including the Houstopolians, is really sure what weapons Houstopolis does or doesn't have. It probably doesn't have nukes simply because it has no uranium or plutonium reserves and no one has been convinced to sell them any. At least, not officially. |
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