Liz's Bloglet - Tuesday 8 April 2003

The BBC is talking to Nobel Peace Prize Laureates about the current war. Yesterday, they talked to F. W. deKlerk. I think that many of the people who think the current war is such a good idea have no real memory of Apartheid. When I was a kid, the evil regime in the world was definitely the deKlerk regime. International pressure and diplomacy were the only actions tried to solve this huge ugliness, and they were successful.

Why are we storming the streets of Basra when we did we not storm the streets of Soweto? Why will we kill Saddam Hussein when deKlerk ended up with a Nobel Prize? What are the differences between South Africa of most of the 20th century and Iraq today? diamonds vs. oil, white people oppressing brown people vs brown people oppressing brown people, sticks and guns and throwing people out windows vs sticks and guns and (alleged) gas, colonialism vs colonialism. The issues are so complicated, and I know that. I was just reminded yesterday of an amazing success story for diplomacy that stands in such juxtaposition to all of this. _
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10:14:59 AM, Tuesday 8 April 2003

Ted Riegel was a man I only knew a little. He was a baritone and the Choral Society's master fundraiser. Now, after his death, I find out what an amazing man he was in so many other ways. _
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03:54:11 PM, Monday 7 April 2003

thbbbbbbtttt! _
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02:39:55 PM, Saturday 5 April 2003

Life's not a song
Life isn't bliss
Life is just this
It's living _
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10:20:26 AM, Thursday 3 April 2003

Limpets! There are limpets in Peachtree Creek! The mind continues boggling. _
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05:08:20 PM, Wednesday 2 April 2003

Charming. Some dude in Tuscon thought it would be great fun to take pictures of people protesting the war and post them online on a page with the lovely name Traitors of Tuscon. It is a Tripod site and of course can't handle the traffic, so I can't check to see if anybody I know is on there. _
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02:04:41 PM, Tuesday 1 April 2003

Remiful. _
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09:28:14 AM, Monday 31 March 2003

I had not seen this before: Jimmy Carter speaks out against the idea that this is a "just war" _
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05:14:55 PM, Sunday 30 March 2003

I finished Shenmue. I've heard all the complaints, but I enjoyed the pacing--just when a wondering-around-asking-questions phase of the game was growing old, there would be a bout of fighting, or motorcycle riding, or forklift driving. (Actually, I wouldn't mind a game consisting of nothing but forklift driving) I knew that the sequel had been released for the X-Box, which left me unhappy because there's simply no way we would ever buy a Microsoft anything if we can help it. I found out, however, that Shenmue 2 was released on Dreamcast in Japan and also in Europe, which means the translations have already been done. It looks like the British edition can be acquired. It all takes place in Hong Kong, and I fear there may not be any forklift driving. _
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10:01:30 PM, Saturday 29 March 2003

Equilibrium is everything The Matrix wanted to be and so desperately failed at. _
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09:35:14 PM, Saturday 29 March 2003

Comfort food:

Malai Kofta, Naan, Laasi

or

Cheese Biscuits, Potato Soup, Orange Juice _
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09:31:31 AM, Friday 28 March 2003

Liz is a Coconut-Eating Rage Monkey with a Battle Rating of 8.4.
Unleash your own Food-Eating Battle Monkey. _
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06:01:39 PM, Thursday 27 March 2003

I heard E. O. Wilson speak yesterday. It's always amazing to meet one of the greats. He had given a general audience talk on North Campus on Tuesday which I had not been able to go to, and which I gather dealt with some of his philosophical ideas. His South Campus talk was about the first love of his life, ants. He has just published the definitive book on ants of the New World. (I just looked for it on Amazon and it doesn't seem to be there--maybe it comes out next week.) Over a period of 15 years, looking at type samples shipped to him from all over the hemisphere, he identified over 600 species of ant in one genus (making it one of the largest genera), including over 300 species never before described. So he described them and named them. He told us a little about the drama of coming up with 300 names for ants, searching through Greek and Latin dictionaries, and naming quite a few for people in his lab, conservationists, and donors to the cause (including Harrison Ford). His book includes drawings of all of 600 something ants, in the same views to aid in identification, something most books don't bother with. Finally, and perhaps the most neat, he found somebody who does this really amazing digital photography, focusing in layers all the way down and then combining it into one image that looks better than what can be seen under the microscope (especially if, like Dr. Wilson, you can see out of only one eye). The book includes a cd-rom with these images.

This segues into his final idea, a true Encyclopedia of Life, where a researcher could call up images and descriptions like his online, compare a recent discovery to them visually, and eventually using some sort of image comparison technology. Eventually, The Encyclopedia could also include genomic data, and as technology advances there could be instant genome comparison. This would make it possible for new species could be entered into the Encyclopedia as they are found, instant of the long delay in publishing, and the possibility of being lost in some obscure journal is some obscure language. He thinks it would take 25 years for all the other experts to catch up to his work on ants (assuming they start now). _
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02:21:32 PM, Thursday 27 March 2003

Remiless. _
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10:41:27 PM, Tuesday 25 March 2003

A philosopher gone wild. One of the founders of environmental ethics is a Davidson grad, and a truly remarkable man. _
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12:34:40 PM, Friday 21 March 2003

Strange game. The only way to win is not to play. _
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11:27:40 AM, Friday 21 March 2003

At least they finally know what's causing it. _
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09:28:12 AM, Friday 21 March 2003

Gave myself the morning off. It's spring break, we keep having violent thunderstorms and tornado warnings, and the world has gone to hell because some people just like it better that way. _
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11:48:28 AM, Thursday 20 March 2003

I just discovered that the UGA library has access to e-books. I've never used these before, and I can imagine them being hard to use, but it at least sounds like the 21st century. _
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03:50:54 PM, Wednesday 19 March 2003

Sometimes the mind starts boggling and just won't stop. _
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03:42:46 PM, Tuesday 18 March 2003

Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be known as the children of God.
_
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11:21:22 AM, Tuesday 18 March 2003

David LaMotte has written a new song, "What I said"

What I'm saying, friend, may surprise you
Though I trust you will listen and hear
I'm not out to make you angry
We both know beneath our anger lies our fear

It sounds so simple and it's so complicated
Not gentle, not just a warm feeling
People will die in the name of peace
But war will not lead us to healing

And I meant what I said, Peter, put down your sword
Did you forget or did you think I was joking?
This is not why I'm here, Peter, not to destroy

The world is already so broken
Maybe you think I'm a fool
Maybe a fool's what I am
Maybe I will die for nothing

And nothing will change in the end
Yes, I'm scared and I'm angry
That we live in this occupied land
Where the Romans can kill us at random
But the Romans will not rule my hands

There are so many lives on the line here
This is not a philosopher's game
But if you draw your sword Peter
You may not raise that sword in my name

And I meant what I said, Peter, put down your sword
Did you forget or did you think I was joking?
This is not why I'm here, Peter, not to destroy
The world is already so broken
Maybe you think I'm a fool
Maybe a fool's what I am
Maybe I will die for nothing
And nothing will change in the end

God bless the children of Abraham
God bless the Romans who reign
God bless the peacemakers and warriors
Who each think the other insane

And I meant what I said, Peter, put down your sword
Did you forget or did you think I was joking?
_
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10:49:19 AM, Monday 17 March 2003

From the marvelous Laura Juliano comes the results of a google of our friend Darin Dillon (who used to have an embarassing last name but doesn't anymore). He has written a book that is, apparently, "for professionals, by professionals." So good for him. Thus showing that one can rise above a childhood traumatized by one's name, and become a mad computer geek. _
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02:07:28 PM, Friday 14 March 2003

Howard Dean on abortion. Okay, I think that's finally decided it--I'm voting for Dean. _
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10:05:55 AM, Friday 14 March 2003

I didn't manage to post a hippy song yesterday. To make up for it, today I bring you one of the great classic hippy songs, the national anthem of that great hippy nation, Finland.

This is my home,
the country where my heart is;
Here are my hopes, my dreams,
my sacred shrine.

But other hearts
in other lands are beating,
With hopes and dreams
as true and high as mine.
_
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09:51:06 AM, Friday 14 March 2003

If Republicans really find abortion so morally repugnant, if it really is about unborn children and not about limiting the rights of women to control their own lives, why oppose requiring insurance companies to cover prescription birth control, hospitals to provide emergency contraception to rape victims, and states to provide pre-natal care? They could try a little harder not to look like they hate women. _
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05:38:00 PM, Wednesday 12 March 2003

sticks and stones
battle zones
a single light bulb
on a single thread for the black
sirens wail
history fails
rose-colored glass
begins to age and crack
while the politicians shadowbox
the power ring
in an endless split decision
never solve anything
from a neighbor's distant land
i heard the strain of the common man
let it be me
(this is not a fighting song)
let it be me
(not a wrong for a wrong)
let it be me
if the world is night
shine my life like a light
well the world seems spent
and the president
has no good idea
of who the masses are
well i'm one of them
and i'm among friends
we're trying to see beyond
the fences in our own backyards
i've seen the kingdoms blow
like ashes in the winds of change
but the power of truth
is the fuel for the flame
so the darker the ages get
there's a stronger beacon yet
let it be me
(this is not a fighting song)
let it be me
(not a wrong for a wrong)
let it be me
if the world is night
shine my life like a light
in the kind word you speak
in the turn of the cheek
when your vision stays clear
in the face of your fear
then you see turning out a light switch
is their only power
when we stand like spotlights
in a mighty tower
all for one and one for all
then we sing the common call
let it be me
(this is not a fighting song)
let it be me
(not a wrong for a wrong)
let it be me
if the world is night
shine my life like a light _
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01:05:41 PM, Wednesday 12 March 2003

That's my toy you can't have it
That's my ball you can look, but you can't play
This is my candy and I'm not gonna share any of it
If you know what's good for you, you'll stay out of my way

That's my bike, you can't ride it
That's my chair, you can't sit there
That's my dog, you can't pet him
Oh go tell your mama, see if I care

These are my friends, we don't like you
This is our clubhouse, and it's our playground
If you talk to us we won't listen
We don't like you hangin' around

That's my parking place, I was here first
This is my place in line, you can't cut in
That's my woman, keep your eyes off of her
This is my land, stay on your side of the fence

This is our country, we don't want you here
This is our land, we mean to keep it for our own
This is our freedom, we don't want to share it
You can pack your dreams, you can go back home

This is my God, you don't know Him
He's saving a place up in heaven just for me
You won't go there, my Bible tells me so
You're not invited, just wait and see

That's my toy you can't have it
That's my ball you can look, but you can't play
This is my candy and I'm not gonna share any of it
If you know what's good for you, you'll stay out of my way

� 2000 By Steve Fisher _
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04:52:24 PM, Tuesday 11 March 2003

Read this. _
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04:38:56 PM, Tuesday 11 March 2003

Spring is in the air and it stinks like Bartlett Pears. _
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03:33:35 PM, Tuesday 11 March 2003

While the former governor drums up a war, it's business as usual in Texas, as they make plans for their 300th execution. It seems very likely that this man is innocent, a black person accused of killing a white person, like so many executed throughout the country, especially in Texas.@ _
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12:43:21 PM, Tuesday 11 March 2003

Stupid neighbors kept me up all night and now I don't really feel like being productive. What does one do in this situation? One pre-orders Buffy Season 4 and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix from Amazon. _
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10:19:33 AM, Friday 7 March 2003

grrrrrrr _
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09:14:10 AM, Friday 7 March 2003

Haven't you always wondered if you could make marshmellows with helium instead of air so that they would float around the room? _
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09:40:14 AM, Thursday 6 March 2003

Everyone else has apparently gone home. Perhaps I should, as well. Or perhaps I should read blogs and Metafilter first. _
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05:12:47 PM, Wednesday 5 March 2003

So if you pay attention to sports news, you've probably heard about the basketball scandal here at UGA. A player who was removed from the team last year (after being accused of sexual assault for the 3rd time) is accusing the head coach and his son, an assistant coach, of giving him a whole lot of money, helping him cheat academically, etc. The sad thing about this is that people are defending the Coaches Harrick not by saying they didn't do it but by saying this guy is a big ole jerk and the coaches were only helping him and he's only in this for revenge. It seems like that's the truth about college athletics--everybody breaks the rules, and you're not supposed to talk about it.

My inference from all of this is that it is more likely than ever that the irregularities surrounding the rape accusations against this guy probably were exactly what they looked like--somebody, coach or rich alumnus, stepped in and managed to make the young woman accusing three athletes of raping her look like a liar. _
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03:57:10 PM, Wednesday 5 March 2003

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