Read:

A report in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that some 50,000-100,000 Americans die each year from lung cancer caused by particulate air pollution, the biggest cause of which is coal-burning power plants in the midwest and east. Even taking the maximum predicted death toll from Chernobyl, we would need a Chernobyl-sized accident every three weeks to make nuclear power as deadly as coal and oil already is. Shall I repeat that? If the world was filled with Generation I reactors run by feuding coal miners, we would need a worst-case scenario every three weeks just to match the US death toll we’ve imposed upon ourselves by clinging to our current fossil fuel system. Next time you see a hippie cheering the defeat of nuclear power in the US, realize that a healthy environment and saving lives are clearly not their priorities.

This is a quote from a recent Skeptoid episode:

♦ The Terror of Nuclear Power
(you can read the transcript, or listen to the 18 minute audio file)

In this episode, Brian examines the reason why Americans are so scared of nuclear power–and why it’s, today, unfounded. Not only unfounded, but harming us by allowing us to continue to create many times more deaths and illness due to coal and oil, and keeping us addicted to these non-renewable energy resources, when nuclear power is today safer and cleaner than any alternative.

Fascinating article from BadAstronomy today, describing the recent confirmation of a organic molecules in space. Particularly a molecule that is a precursor to the amino acid that makes up living DNA:

♦ An organic farm in the galactic center

You know what that means….
Well, nothing certain, of course. But it indicates that, in conjunction with more and more Goldilocks planets being discovered, that the chance of lifeforms elsewhere in the galaxy is moving closer to probable instead of just possible.

Beer review: Blue Fin Stout
Brewed by:
Shipyard Brewing Co.
Maine, United States

C- / 2.65
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | drink: 2.5
rDev: -41.9%

I received a bottle of this at a conference I recently attended.
I love stouts, but this one was a bit too coffee for my taste.

A- Beautiful appearance. Deep, dark opaque black/brown with a roasted nut brown head. Not too thick, very nice. Didn’t last long and the lacing was slight.

S- An almost sweet scent. I barely got an aroma of coffee, but very light and not in the least strong enough to give me a clue as to what the taste would end up like. A simple aroma.

T- Awful, for me. I admit to hating coffee (which makes trying a new stout a crapshoot for me.) I love bitter, and hoppy, just can’t stand the coffee. And that’s what this tasted like to me, like drinking tepid coffee.

M- Watery and somewhat fizzy. Thin. Added to the tepid coffee experience.

D- I ended up doing something I never do: I poured it out after about half. Just couldn’t stand it.

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 03-26-2008 03:59:53

(And still, the weird problem remains with using “from” too many times. I swear, the blog refuses to post unless I change some of the “from”s to “frm”. It must be some kind of bug in the module that tries to detect SQL injections, is the best I can figure.)

Yesterday I posted some of my thoughts on the ICFA after having just returned from it. I left out a lot. I’ll try to go vaguely chronologically and hit highlights.

OK, Wednesday:
I hate flying. But the flight down was fine.
The car rental place had no VW Bugs and I so wanted one! *sigh-pout*
I got a little lost trying to find my hotel, decided to give that up and go right to the conference, and made it to the opening panel at exactly one minute before it began!
Don’t recall much about the opening panel…except Brian Aldiss read an interesting poem of his that seemed to exemplify the idea of “sublime” (the theme for this year’s conference.

Brian Aldiss is an interesting fellow. Long time, well awarded, knighted, writer primarily in science fiction. Wrote the short story that inspired the film A.I.. (I’m sorry, but I absolutely loved that movie! Speaking of Aldiss and the movie, there was a session that included a paper by Andrew M. Gordon, author of (among other books) Empire of Dreams: The Science Fiction and Fantasy Films of Steven Spielberg, in which he defended the ending of the movie. Thank the gods! I’m one of the only persons I know who loved the ending because I see it completely differently than most people, and Mr. Gordon defended it succinctly and effectively: Most people see the ending as a sappy, Spielberg ending, and creepy because of the apparent Oedipal evocation. But that mistaken apprehension of the ending is what makes the ending all the more tragic and sad! It’s a very, ironically, tragic ending in which a fake boy programmed for obsession has his “perfect day” with a fake mommy in a staged environment set up by fake lifeforms who worship the missing human race and believe they will come closer to knowing humanity through this simulacra. And Spielberg intentionally and skillfully crafted this treacherously misleading ending. God, just writing this makes me sad. Gordon of course went into these issues at great length with superb presentation, and I believed he took a room full of people who dismissed A.I. out of scoffing hand, and may have changed some minds, or at least got people thinking. Brava!)

(more after the “fold”…)
Read the rest of this entry »

(Note: At some point my blog decided it no longer liked the word “from.” It wouldn’t post if I had too many of them. So after a while you’ll find “frm” instead. Sorry for the inconvenience.)

Spectacular! I got back from this year’s International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts just this morning. Was there since Wednesday last (today’s Monday) and already sorely miss being there.

It was my second one, I blogged my reactions to my first, last year: Back from the ICFA. It’s very likely this year was even better, despite a couple major downers:
Most disappointing, my wife couldn’t come along with. Since the conference overlapped Easter, she needed to stay home and do family-time for the holiday. She had a great time last year, and I’m going to make sure she can go next year even if it means shanghai’ing her. *wink*
The other downer was I couldn’t afford to stay in the (nice) hotel the conference was held at, despite the conference rates. Had to stay in an Econo Lodge a few miles away. Not a huge deal, but very annoying and inconvenient.

But on the plus sides:
The friends we made last year came back! (Well, Mrs. P. and Ms. N. did, and Ms. B. for some of the time. Unfortunately, Mr. B. and “The Germans” couldn’t make it, but I did get an opportunity to get better acquainted with other regulars which was nice. The more the merrier!
But I have to say, I’m so glad to have gotten a chance to get to be better friends with P. and N. They’re smart, funny as all-get-out, friendly, talented, and are a real inspiration for me to keep working on my own writing! I so suck at corresponding with people, but I pledge to do so with them. More in a bit….

Alright, the conference.
It was held at a much nicer hotel than in years past, and in Orlando instead of Ft. Lauderdale. And the best thing, there was a variety of restaurants in the area! Although I mainly went to Bennigan’s. *grin* Miss them since leaving Iowa (although, I have to say, I was disappointed with their Ruben).

I attended a variety of sessions, but I tried to focus on ones that involved a posthuman subject or approach, since that’s my main area of scholarly focus. One panel in particular that was rather entertaining and wildly informative, was “Cyberpunk and Beyond.” The panel included editor Ellen Datlow (I’ve always liked her editing…how nerdy is that?!), James Patrick Kelly, and John Kessel (and some other fellow I didn’t know, but who also didn’t participate in the panel much). Kessel and Kelly have edited compilations together, such as Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology (which I’d gotten not long ago for research on my own paper), and it was just hilarious how the two bickered and argued and corrected each other. Like an old married couple. While they were so often at odds, you could still detect the professional respect they have for each other. It was great. Datlow found herself often in the middle of Kessel’s dour dismissals and Kelly’s theatricality.

Anyway, that panel was about discussing what made up cyberpunk as a (distinct?) sub-genre of SF, who was responsible for it (Bruce Sterling) and more importantly–what may come to replace it as “the next big, great thing in SF.” While there are some interesting things being done with slipstream, for example (another sub-genre Sterling is trying to raise to cyberpunk fame), but the forces of change in the publishing industry and technology and culture, make it nearly impossible for another powerful and popular sub-genre to spring up like that again.

I presented my paper on Thursday, and I think it was pretty well received. It generated some discussion afterward. It was about the death of science fiction (complicated issue) and how the posthuman is intimately tied in with the material forces that are killing scifi as a distinct genre. Which is not a bad thing. Another Marxist approach for me, sure. I’d post it up on my “scholarly” blog, GrogMonkey, except that after my paper presentation, an editor for the Journal for the Fantastic in the Arts (a peer-reviewed scholarly journal, and a product of the IAFA) came to me and said he’d like me to submit it for possible publication! *glee*. What’s interesting, is the day before during another fantastic panel: Publishing for Grad Students, in which several journal editors discussed their publications and gave advice on writing articles, stated emphatically that when an editor says “send it in,” they mean it. They won’t say it if they weren’t really interested. *glee*
So, as soon as I finish writing my take-home midterm for my cultural studies class, I’m going to work on the article and get it ready!

One of the two continuing threads of conversations that got brought up here and there and discussed by various people, was the issue of finding a good (MFA or PhD) program that will truly fit your needs and wants. I plan on continuing on from my MA to my doctorate studies, but the issue of where is vital and very quickly becoming something I desperately need to consider! I very much want to attend McGill in Montreal. Partly because it’s Montreal, mostly because it’s one (if not the) most prestigious university in Canada. However, despite the high quality and immense prestige McGill enjoys and instills, I honestly can’t say I know anything about their various programs–so, it may not be a good fit for me. There are other universities that have programs that are more fitting for my interests in posthuman cultural studies (and creative writing), but I need to start selecting now.

Unfortunately, the problem is, I have a family. I can’t just pick up and move. My wife is currently looking for a new job, we may have to move to where she can find work, which means I will probably end up getting my doctorate frm whatever local university is where we go. It’s not exactly like I can move to another city for a few years without them while I worked on my doctorate. *shrug*

The other consternating conversational thread, much less serious but still very interesting to me, was the topic of fanfic.
I have seriously conflicting thoughts regarding fanfic.
In some ways it’s always compelled me. I remember constantly daydreaming, as a kid, about myself in my favorite TV shows and movies, like classic Star Trek. Sometimes as a captain, sometimes not even. As a kid I even wrote some of these “Marty Stu’s” down. To this day I get the urge to write ‘fic, especially since Firefly! (Not as much with putting myself in it, though.) But on the other hand, I have a lot of trouble reading fiction based on existing visual media–even published works. I tried reading Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire (popularly and critically considered one of the best Star Wars novels), and I couldn’t get halfway through it, I was bothered so much. Thing is, I have such a connection to characters as portrayed by the actor, that any representation, even merely in words, seems like a pale impostor. Which is silly, really, when you consider a character (especially on TV) is a creation of usually many writers and several directors. Nevertheless, the representation created by the same actor has to be maintained by that actor or else it just feels wrong.

Let me give an example: one of my all-time favorite authors, Steven Brust (not a great author, but a whole heck of a lot of fun to read! and a really nice guy to boot), recently came out with his own short Firefly fanfic, posted for free on his site. And I have to tell you, as much as I LOVE Brust and LOVE Firefly, I’m having a hard time getting through this. The story is developing nicely, the writing is very Brustian, and I like it–but the characters feel like caricatures, because he’s using affectations developed by the actors and lines pulled frm the show. But the thing is, what else can he do? How can I expect him to portray Mal and Wash and River without using stock elements of them? But it’s still grating, like when he has Mal say to Jayne “Why are we still talking about this?” as a conversation ender, has River stick her tongue out, has Wash complain to Zoe about needing a vacation with her without her having to ask the captain’s permission…all feels counterfeit and contrived. Like, he’s resorting to these iconic moments for these characters as a way of saying “See here! I’m giving you the Firefly characters! See, see?!” And it bugs me.
But it’s my problem. Because, I love the idea of fanfic. I love the possibility of writing fanfic. But I already have a pathological hatred of writing anything that feels derivative of another work–how the heck can I write characters directly frm another work in their world?!

What’s this have to do with the conference? Because P. and N., and E. on one night, talked at length about ‘fic and the very serious and dynamic community for ‘fic, and I was amazed and fascinated and intrigued…and quite intimidated. I really really (I wonder how often I say “really” when I’m not paying attention?) want to try, and express that 25 year old need to write with the characters and settings that I know and love frm TV and film. But the thought occurred to me, that I’m so neurotic about feeling like I’m just copying something else that it’s prevented me frm completing no more than a few of the scores of stories I’ve attempted to star writing, perhaps if I already burn that bridge by actually copying characters and settings then I can just say “F* You, neurosis!” and just write! Might not be a bad idea.

Anyway, the way N. and P. talked about their many many (gotta love reduplication) ‘fic writing moments of enjoyment, I couldn’t get enough. It really sounds like a blast. I have to bite the depleted uranium rocket and go for it. But as for dipping my toe into the oceanic waters of the fanfic community–very scary. There are protocols, and expectations, and boundaries, and everything that is involved in a “community,” and that’s great. I mean, I’ve been a denizen of various online communities since circa 1994, and I enjoy the privileges of following decorum and being accepted as respectable member of a community, but the learning is intimidating. Fortunately, I’m the kind of guy who sits and watches and tries to get a sense of what’s going on. well, we’ll see what happens.

OK, a lot of digression, but there it is: some thoughts about this conference. I learned a lot, had a fantastic time, and have great expectations for the next 11 months of writing and corresponding before the next ICFA.

NPR has a short, 4-minute interview with the Governor of Montana discussing the inanity of the Federal Real ID program.

♦ Montana Governor on ‘Real ID’ Act

Basically, he…no, the entire Montana State Legislature! is calling the Federal government on their bluff. The Feds are demanding that the states adhere to any new policy that Homeland Security thinks is going to make us safer or else people from the dissenting state won’t have the same rights and freedoms other Americans enjoy.

The Governor explains why it’s a sham, it’s manipulative, won’t work. (He doesn’t get into what most people think is the real reason for the Federal Real ID–and that’s Federal controlled identification records and assumption of greater control and power over citizens in general.)

BoingBoing has posted a video showing an interview with a former FBI interrogator discussing the uselessness and the harm of using torture on prisoners.

♦ FBI interrogator: Torture doesn’t work, breeds jihad

The TV show “24″’s shtick of showing the torture of the guy who has the vital information in a “ticking bomb” scenario is fiction. He’s never encountered that kind of scenario, other interrogators he’s worked with haven’t, and even the Israeli’s who deal with terrorism and bombs all the time, have never needed to resort to torture in a “ticking bomb” scenario.

This whole idea of “any means possible” to wrest vital time-sensitive info from a prisoner is absurd. Worse, it horribly harms our standing as a moral authority in the world.

“We’ve squandered our ability to do effective foreign policy.”
The use of torture simply elevates the hatred against us from radical Islamists, as well as the world community in general.

One BoingBoing commenter had this to say:

The use of torture is completely understandable when you view it from the angle that you want to maintain jihad against your country because you need a real basis for constant public fear in order to rail through military spending increases, reduction of public freedoms and massive citizen monitoring.

If you can find another explanation as to why our government goes literally out of its way to conduct torture in the face of all evidence, argument, and outrage against it, shout.

BoingBoing has a story today on an incident regarding a TSA agent who, against fervent protest by the chronically ill child, opened a clear sterile bag containing the kid’s spare stomach feeding tube, risking his life. And doing so with a cavalier arrogance:

♦ TSA endangers child’s life by contaminating his feeding tube despite pleas

One commenter on the site states:

Stories like this make me glad that I’m Canadian. It also makes me wonder how a nation that gained its freedom by revolution could allow itself to get this far along the path to facism. Especially where *everybody* has guns. Why the hell are your leaders not being held accountable? It’s utterly baffling to outside observers…

Good question.

OMG. This is hilarious stuff!!

The latest Friendly Atheist has posted a couple of YouTube videos that just had me rolling.

Go here: ♦ Some Grey Bloke Chooses His Religion

and enjoy!

The Friendly Atheist has a post today featuring a couple of interesting images worth taking a look at:

♦ The Golden Rule

The Golden Rule is so ubiquitous among the various religions, you’d think people would follow it more often. *shrug*

BoingBoing recently posted an article on UK police spreading fear and suspicion:

♦ London cops declare war on photography

It links to the “2008 Counter-Terrorism advertising campaign” where you can see three posters that advises you to keep your eyes open and report suspicious activity, in a snazzy way that reminds me of the “fictional” posters in Children of Men advising people to “report all suspicious behaviour.”

BoingBoing then more recently posted an article featuring people’s parody posters, such as the one I’ve displayed in this post:

♦ Remixing the London police’s anti-photographer terrror posters

Now, I’m all for reporting crime. And preventing crime, absolutely. But there’s a marked difference between the advocation of being a normally responsible citizen of a cooperative society, and the plays on the psyche the UK (and US) governments currently use to create an underlying tone of anarchists communists terrorists around every corner. It creates a general feeling of baseline fear and acquiescence to police control that makes citizens into quiet and submissive sheep, susceptible to any parently acts by government to wrest control and privacy from us “for our protection.”

Just listened to an episode of Air America’s “Atheists Talk” episode 8 where they interview “The Friendly Atheist” and biologist PZ Myers:

♦ Atheists Talk #008 Mar 2, 2008
(click the “listen now” link at the bottom to listen or download)

The first half interview with Hemant Mehta of The Friendly Atheist is kind of interesting; he discusses his book “I Sold My Soul on eBay” and his work with campus freethinking organizations. It’s interesting, by I have to admit, gets a little boring. For me. Mainly because I’ve heard what he has to say before–but I would think to the person who hasn’t it could be fascinating.

What really engaged me, was the way too brief second half with biologist and professor PZ Myers (and blogger, with his Pharyngula site).
He discusses bad design in nature, which counters the “intelligent design”…argument, that at least some of nature is so perfectly and elegantly designed that it has to have been done by A Designer. Well, even though the examples IDers have used all have turned out quite reducible, nature is rife with qualities that flagrantly display the bottom-up nature of evolution: Things come about that work. They seem cobbled together, haphazard, inelegant, but they get the job done.

The brain contains a mess of this kind of design, and Myers discusses Gary Marcus’ book Kluge, which investigates the weird and haphazard way the brain often gets things done.
Then he talks about other instances of natures design that would get a human engineer or programmer fired:

Like the human genome. It’s a mess! IDers often point to the genome as an elegant program of data and instructions that prove a programmer, but in truth, the genome is filled with junk data and bad instructions. There are significant portions of the genome that have portions where its only function is to uselessly copy itself for no purpose, except when a virus latches onto it and uses it for its own purpose.
Also, interestingly, humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes and gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans have 24 pairs. Well, evidently, a couple of the human chromosomes have at some point in evolution fused together, and you can see in the human sets of pairs where this meshing exists!

Back to bad design: the human eye. The light sensors sit behind the nerves and blood vessels making it so that we have blind spots and “poor resolution” than we could have. Like putting the cords of a video camera in front of the lens. (As I understand, squid and octopus happened to evolve without this problem.)

The human male testes have to be cooler than body temp to work, so they dangle (quite annoyingly and often painfully and terribly prone to damage) outside the body–after traveling, during infant development, through the body trailing the seminal tubing behind it to make a weird, long journey from testes to penis. A weird solution that has been better evolved in other animal species.

One of my favorites of bad design that PZ didn’t mention (his segment was much too short) was how we eat and breathe through the same whole, making the chances of our killing ourselves by choking on food quite possible. And the most common victims of this bad design are children.

Anyway, interesting program; worth a listen.
(image stolen from http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/units/disorders/karyotype/)