Anger incarnate

“To the last, I grapple with thee; From Hell's heart, I stab at thee; For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee”

One mroe politcal point from my debate

My counterpart in the debate yesterday brought up the following philosophy: he would rather our friends hate us and our enemies fear us than our friends love us and our enemies not fear us. He cited the Clinton years as evidence that international goodwill cannot prevent the ire of extremists. Though there may or may not be truth in his logic, I think that stronger international partnerships and goodwill between peoples will make it easier for the leaders of our allies to convince their people to go along with American policies. Even before 9/11, Bush was famous for shaking up foreign feelings. I hope that our next president will be able to restore balance to our foreign policy.

Do I empathize with Bush?

At the end of a fruitful debate on the merits of purchasing energy produced without emitting carbon dioxide, my friend and lab mate, the only openly Republican graduate student in ecology and evolution that I know of, asked me if I had any empathy for Bush. I can understand the sentiment, as he is a man doing what he believes is right and making decisions that result in lives saved or lost. For those reasons, I don't think that he deserves to be vilified. However, the magnitude of the mistakes he has made, which are the result of his own poor decision-making process, and the the effects that his policies have had on the lives of people around the world are negative enough for him to have lost the potential for me to empathize with his position. I do suppose that he is a man that has found himself in responsibilities that are over his head, but such a scenario deserves sympathy for a character in a poorly acted comedy, not in the White House. His lack of introspection and obliviousness to the effects that self-deception have on the process of rationalization have squandered any amount of empathy that he would otherwise deserve.

Weekend fun and clean energy.

From Random images

I had a great weekend. We finally finished setting up our apartment with the hanging of about a thousand pictures and one Indian stitched wall hanging from Ten Thousand Villages. On Saturday night I stepped outside my zone of comfort to meet new friends by playing Diplomacy at the Fallout Shelter, the local comic book store with whom Cami partnered for a program at the library. Playing France, I was victorious thanks to a treacherous sneak attack against my then-ally England as I moved into London when he expected me to help him attack Germany, which I did in an ironic move since London would not have been vacant if I had not helped his attack in the same turn I double crossed him. After a long night, I got some rest and spent my Sunday cleaning and meeting friends at the gardens on campus for a bit of grilling after the storms moved through.

In other news, I am considering signing up for a clean energy package in which my utility company would purchase however much energy we use each month from a company that produces electricity from wind, solar, and hydro facilities. It would cost us about $5-$9 a month, more in the summer when we use the AC. What do you think, will our support make a difference, or are the actions of one household too insignificant to matter if our government and industries are not following suit?

Common good versus individual rights

I recommend everyone read this article. The basic premise is working with known psychological persuasions but still allowing for individual freedoms in order to extract desired behavior. You allow people to buy inefficient appliances if they really want them, but you make it more difficult or expensive up front. The market works, but the needs to the society are rarely priced in these days (aka the "tragedy or the commons"). Libertarians sometimes balk at these plans, but I really think it should assuage their concerns since it allows for individual rights and I think they sometimes underestimate the costs that individual actions have on others.

From Random images

Finally, I like how they score the presidential candidates' plans based on this scale. The only thing I'm still debating is the two carbon credit plans. McCain would give out a certain number, Obama would sell them. Obama's plan will cost us more (not just "big companies" but everyone), but it will have a greater impact. I guess it just depends on how serious a threat climate change is and how costly inaction will be... a notoriously difficult estimate to make.

Dark Knight

So I went to see Dark Knight last night and, although it was a very good movie, I think that the hype oversold it slightly. I was expecting more twists and conspiracies than there ended up being. As others have said, however, Ledger's role as the Joker was the highlight of the movie. He was by far the most fully developed character with whom the audience resonated with the most. I think Cami put it best, saying that he was so magnetic because he had a realistic, accurate philosophy which was so interesting because it was coming out of the archetype of insanity. Batman, as you may have guessed, was more one dimensional with his rigid codes of ethics that had less of a moral foundation than did the Joker; but that's a legacy of Batman's character that is unavoidable. The Superman syndrome is just less interesting than the Joker's clear window into humanity. I think there was an attempt to make Batman seem more conflicted as he wrestled with whether or not to kill his enemies, torture for information, and warantlessly wiretap in the name of security, but those elements all seemed forced or cliche.

In uncertain times...

...turn to more uncertainty.

Mmmmm, moka.

I made a cappuccino this morning with my moka maker and a saucepan and whisk for the milk. It was simple and took the same amount of time as most machines, though not as convenient as the $4000, one touch maker I saw yesterday at Williams-Sonoma. A pleasant way to start the day, imho.

Really?

Accoring to CNN, the "Vatican 'regrets' female bishops decision." as proposed by the Anglican church. From the article:

"The General Synod passed a resolution Monday night that allows women to become bishops, acting over the objections of traditionalists who argued that Jesus only wanted men in leadership positions."

I don't have much I can really say to that except: Really? Does that second X chromosome really get in the way of interpreting imaginary rules and passing judgment? Or maybe it's just that sperm are really that important to the process. I don't know what to say.

Sad, sad day

It looks like Cami and I won't be able to renew our vows on our fifth anniversary on the bridge of the Enterprise. It seems that Star Trek: The Experience will be closing this fall. It's only 6 hours from Salt Lake City, so maybe I'll have to take a leave of absence from my upcoming Animal Behavior meeting.

Woodlands creatures

From Random images

I saw a great many things over the past few days while looking for invasive plant species in the wilds of New Jersey and New York. The first sighting was of an old, wrinkly, sun-worshiping man on a rock in Harriman State Park, followed shortly thereafter by a rattlesnake. I got a good picture of it, and, as you can see, it is about to molt. The only other exciting wildlife I saw, besides a few frogs and some great shelf fungus, was a black bear with two cubs. I didn't get a photo of them, so I could be lying, but they were beautiful. The photos I did get in on picasa album.