Why Al Gore Ain't Half-Bad.

So today (well, technically yesterday, now that it's past 12:00) David Brooks - usually an intelligent, if highly conservative, op-ed contributor - wrote a piece about Al Gore's newest book, "The Assault on Reason" which I recommend.
I haven't read the entire thing, because I don't really have the cash to spare for it, but I did chill in the B&N on 7th Ave for a few hours leafing through the publication. Not a world-shaker, but really good. Thus, when I read DB's Op-Ed, I thought he was full of shit. So, I sent the Op-Ed column a letter saying so.

To the Editor,

Mr. Brooks characterizes Mr. Gore as “bizarre” for believing that rationality, logic, and honest, detached analysis are efficient and useful tools for understanding the human condition. Mr. Brooks mocks Mr. Gore for believing that the tools we create change how we interact with the world. Mr. Brooks attempts to portray Mr. Gore as an emotionless robot for encouraging people to attempt to think with the parts of our brain that we don’t share with reptiles, before succumbing to the destructive tendencies of irrationality. Thank you, Mr. Brooks, for seeing Mr. Gore as nothing but an adversary. Thank you for seeing nothing of value in the argument of an opponent, except as an opportunity for condemnation. Thank you for your casual abandonment of rationality in favor of ad hominem denunciation, and in doing so, proving Mr. Gore’s point

Owen Parker
Brooklyn, NY


Since you can almost hear the "...you fucking idiot" ending the last sentence, I'm guessing it's not going to pass muster. But then again, maybe it will. However it goes down, David Brooks is still a mid-brow print version of a forum troll, and as such, I feel perfectly justified in saying that he's a pencil-dicked twerp whose genital shortcomings are only outdone in their spectacular inadequacy by his mental bankruptcy.

Crap, now what?

Whoo hoo! Hip-hip, horray! Praises to the alma mater! Huzzah! Etc!

I'm done with college, with a diploma and a hood to prove it. Now, if I could only get a job...

Baccalaureate Bacchanalia

Well, not quite, Baccalaureate's not till tomarrow (-ish?), but whatever you could call it, the last week and a half has been delicious insanity. I'm a bit hung over (I woke up an hour ago and the ibuprophen hasn't kicked in yet), I need to make an appointment for STD testing in the next few weeks, and since I woke up in my room in my room, I can't check for prescription meds to find out what the other half of the spontafuck's name was (couldn't find her card either, wasn't in pants), but I feel great. For anyone in college reading this; if you thought you went crazy freshman year, it ain't jack compared to senior week after exams are over and all that's left is the debauchery.

Yes, of course, there should be other thoughts in my head. I need to raise more money to go to on a trip, I need to get a job, I need to get more money for an apartment, etc, etc, etc. But whatever: For the moment, the work is finished for now, there's living to be done, and entropy has decided to take the week off. Peace out, I need to take a shower and put a name to a face.

End of the year whining and other forms of intensive bitchery.

So, it's the end of the year, I'm a senior, and I have one more exam. Here's a list of the high-quality crap I've had to do.

1) 2 Review of Literature articles. Each ~12-15 pages (1.5 spacing). Each containing bibliographies citing ~16-22 sources (yes, I've read each of those citations, the professors check those sorts of things here).
• "An examination of recent advances in phytoremediation, with speculation on future directions of research and implementation."
• "Untangling the causes of PCD in the interdigital zone of higher vertebrates: Protein hierarchy and interactions."

2) 3 Presentations. 2 Scientific, one for a philosophy & technology course (so more like 2.5 presentations).
• The Blue Revolution: Global GM Aquaculture and its Potential Ecological Impact.
• The Effect of BMP2 and FGF4 on Apoptosis and Chondrogenesis in the Chick Autopod
• The phil & tech was actually pretty cool. Two others and I started a pseudo-blog where we disguised our research as a secret government project that was meant to carry out genetic testing of the entire population, and then use this to promote security and help control the citizenry's environment for their own good. Standard dystopian stuff, but our ideas were much better thought out then your usual, "Shadowy government organizations/ziabatzus are taking over with evil voodoo science!!111" you can check it out here: http://signalcascade.blogspot.com/

3) A 12 page follow up paper to the Phli&Tech presentation titled, "Intrinsic Characteristics in an Age of Fluid Identity: The Genomic Revolution and its Impact on Society and Security". It was actually a lot of fun, and while I got a lot of help finishing it up, I really view the core of the paper as mostly novel ideas.

4) And finally, a 5-pager for a GenEd course I had to take called "Wellness". The assignment was to just let your fingers run free over the keyboard and type up whatever you felt like. Being the east-coaster cityboy I so proudly am, I talked about how mass-transit and mixing of social classes was absolutely necessary to democracy.

In terms of exams, I got off lucky, I've already taken my Developmental Bio final (Dev Bio is what Hell wants to be when it gets older and grows a pair), so now all I've got to do is finish up getting ready for my Plant Physiology final (non-cumulative! Fucking SWEET!!)

So yay, that's my whining quota for the week, back to work.

Haiku

Funny sign I saw on the F-Train route, complied in haiku:

Asphalt preacher’s drums,
A pair of cans, next to sign:
“Will thump Bach 4 cash”

Gods, how I love Brooklyn.

Rupert Murdoch is the Devil

I know this isn't big news anymore, what with Blair resigning, but I'm still freaked out about the idea of Rupert "My Opinions are Reality" Murdoch owning another highly influential media outlet. Of course, I'm not terribly angry at the idea of Murdoch owning a right-wing guilded broadsheet like the Wall Street Journal.

No, I'm worried about him owning Dow Jones & Co, which is a name that dribbles respectability and oozes gravitas. This man thinks that the world is his by right, and anyone who resists his opinions are simply quacks. What's worse, his belief in his own infallibility is supported by his impressive ability to aquire failing businesses and convert them into best-selling rabble-rousers. As such, he's not completely wrong when he thinks that he's one of the smartest men in business today.

However, his ideology is, well, terrifying, and his impatience towards dissenters is legendary. In short, he should scare the shit out of anyone who values freedom of thought and belief, and every outlet he controls only serves to further hamper rational national dialouge on the social and diplomatic issues of today's world.

I don't eat brocchli because it makes me rock out.

Here's the first post of Jump Up Ugly, my personal scientific/political/philosophical/whatever-the-hell's-got-my-blood-pressure-up-today blog. It'll be updated sporadically, and it purely for my own amusement. However, arguements are amusing, so if you oppose my viewpoints, please, I'd be happy to discuss them with you.

For a little background, I'm a biologist in my early 20's with an interest in genetics, ecology and politics. I want to eventually run my own lab, perhaps repurposing bacteria into more useful roles. Since bacteria are effectively small chemical factories capable of manipulating matter on the atomic scale, they can convert any organic compound into something useful. They can turn PCB's into ethylene, crude oil into sugars, poisons into cures. They are the next industrial revolution, a modern-day alchemy that works. if coupled with bioremediation, gold, uranium, cadmium and a hundred other useful heavy metals can be extracted from contaminated dirt, converting wastelands into short-term mines and long-term farms. The country that can exploit this technology the best can solve their pollution and population problems, freeing up resources for whatever suits thier needs best.

As for my politics, they are moderately liberal. I believe that we should keep the government's hands out of our homes, and focused on providing a scientifically strong and philosophically rational, secular education. Furthermore, I believe that the best way to keep us from being attacked is to minimize the number of people who view us as a negitive force in the world. A Marshall Plan for the middle east, starting with Darfur, would increase the respect and cooperation of arabic nations, and might help to expand our influence in the region. No matter how strong a wall is, it can be circumvented and defeated. The only way to stop attacks is to cut off the supplies available to the enemy. In this, we need to effectively sell ourselves to the people of the midle east. We have enough money to do this if we cut back on military operations, and still have plenty left over to greatly increase the quality of our education system.

However, our economics should be as free as possible, with the government only stepping in to prevent alignment of established interests, monopoly and other forces that promote stagnation. If Ford can only produce cars that can't compete in forgien markets, then our laws should not be changed to accomodate thier laziness. If energy manufacturers are not capable enough to switch to nuclear and renewable power, then thier interests should be ignored, and others should be found who can do the job.

I also believe that the long-term objecive of America should be to become the base upon which space exploitation is built. Our culture is one of the best on Earth, and a space-faring humanity whose culture base is mostly compiled from our nation would be much better off then many of the alternatives.

Whew... anyway, there it is. Have fun poking holes in my thinly-supported convictions and rose-colored sensibilities.

Mood: 50-67-9