Thursday, December 23, 2004
History (According to Me)
I've been coming to this conclusion over the past couple of weeks. Recent American presidents have been pretty mediocre. Part of this is my realization about Bush's likely position in history. If he's not the architect of the destruction of the American republic, he's going to be fairly forgettable. Gore would have been as well. I think Kerry would have been too, had he won in 2004. Had Kerry (run and) won in 2000, there would have been some potential.
So an exercise to the reader. Following are all the American presidents since FDR. Rank them, best to worst.
Post your answers in comments. I'll follow up in a couple of days. I'm trying to be provocative.
So an exercise to the reader. Following are all the American presidents since FDR. Rank them, best to worst.
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- Harry Truman
- Dwight Eisenhower
- John F Kennedy
- Lyndon Johnson
- Richard Nixon
- Gerald Ford
- Jimmy Carter
- Ronald Reagan
- George HW Bush
- Bill Clinton
- George W Bush
Post your answers in comments. I'll follow up in a couple of days. I'm trying to be provocative.
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Chicago Bridges
Steven sent me this story in the Sun-Times. I have to admire the ingenuity the story indicates in Mr Dorsay. Sad that he has to face trespassing charges.
A couple of us have seen (on a few different occassions) the underbellys of some of the Chicago bridges. One time, someone suggested that one could live under a bridge (though that particular bridge, not being a drawbridge, would have been easier to manage than the one on Lake Shore). This would certainly be an occasion to include a photo, a few of which exist. Alas, they are sitting on a computer without an internet connection. Maybe I'll figure something out in the next couple of days.
A couple of us have seen (on a few different occassions) the underbellys of some of the Chicago bridges. One time, someone suggested that one could live under a bridge (though that particular bridge, not being a drawbridge, would have been easier to manage than the one on Lake Shore). This would certainly be an occasion to include a photo, a few of which exist. Alas, they are sitting on a computer without an internet connection. Maybe I'll figure something out in the next couple of days.
Monday, December 13, 2004
Airport Security (cont)
I always go through the same feelings whenever I fly. In particular, I've never been able to quite convince myself that the whole security runaound isn't just one big plan to prepare us all for the oncoming fascist (small f) government. Perhaps that's an overreaction. That particular feeling really amounts to my feeling that we just assume that a security system is good, because it's incredibly inconvienient. Or maybe that we assume that good security will by nature be incredibly inconvienient. The system has never felt quite internally consistent to me. Either one particular part of airport security is superfluous, or another part is insufficient.
The thing that's really bothering me this time is a juristictional issue. At one point, there was an announcement informing me that I should keep an eye on my belongings. If left unattended, they would be considered a security risk and confiscated. Fair enough. I'll gripe about it as an inconsistency of the internal logic of the security system, but I'll grant them that point for the sake of argument. What I got to thinking about was this: the announcement claimed that Chicago Police would confiscate unattended belongings. I'll leave aside the fact that I didn't see a single CPD officer anywhere on the premises of Midway Airport. Why is that the juristiction of local police? Shouldn't the physical security of the airport be within the juristiction of the TSA? Am I not in the process of interstate commerece at that very minute? More to the point, we find that it makes perfect sense to set up a Customs office within the airport and call that an "international border;" why can't we just call the entire airport an interstate border? Put the whole thing under the protection of the federal government.
A couple of times I've flown out of LAX, they've had LAPD inspecting suspicious cars on the way in. Forget the more general civil libertarian concerns for a moment. I'm okay with that. The interface between the interstate border and the rest of the city is the proper realm for the local security. But once you're at the border itself, it seems like the federal government should take over and do its job.
The thing that's really bothering me this time is a juristictional issue. At one point, there was an announcement informing me that I should keep an eye on my belongings. If left unattended, they would be considered a security risk and confiscated. Fair enough. I'll gripe about it as an inconsistency of the internal logic of the security system, but I'll grant them that point for the sake of argument. What I got to thinking about was this: the announcement claimed that Chicago Police would confiscate unattended belongings. I'll leave aside the fact that I didn't see a single CPD officer anywhere on the premises of Midway Airport. Why is that the juristiction of local police? Shouldn't the physical security of the airport be within the juristiction of the TSA? Am I not in the process of interstate commerece at that very minute? More to the point, we find that it makes perfect sense to set up a Customs office within the airport and call that an "international border;" why can't we just call the entire airport an interstate border? Put the whole thing under the protection of the federal government.
A couple of times I've flown out of LAX, they've had LAPD inspecting suspicious cars on the way in. Forget the more general civil libertarian concerns for a moment. I'm okay with that. The interface between the interstate border and the rest of the city is the proper realm for the local security. But once you're at the border itself, it seems like the federal government should take over and do its job.
Sunday, December 05, 2004
finals, &c.
I haven't posted anything in some time, mostly due to the impending doom that is Finals Week. But I've been meaning to get involved with Project Gutenburg for a bit. So I finally sat down this afternoon, signed up with them, and proofed a page of "Vandover and the Brute" by Frank Norris. But then I started poking around a bit, looking at what the PG folks have so far, and omigodthesepeopleareawesome:
(the coolness starts at page 6, where I quote from).
CACCATCACCATTACCACCACCATTACTACAACCATGACCATCACCA
CCATCACCACCACCATCACAACGATCACCATCACAGCCACCATCATCACCACCACCACCA
CCACCATCACCATCAAACCATCGGCATTATTATTTTTTTAGAATTTTGTTGGGATTCAGT
ATCTGCCAAGATACCCATTCTTAAAACATGAAAAAGCAGCTGACCCTCCTGTGGCCCCCT
TTTTGGGCAGTCATTGCAGGACCTCATCCCCAAGCAGCAGCTCTGGTGGCATACAGGCAA
CCCACCACCAAGGTAGAGGGTAATTGAGCAGAAAAGCCACTTCCTCCAGCAGTTCCCTGT
CTGAGCTGCTGTCCTTGGACTTGAAGAAGCTTCTGGAACATGCTGGGGAGGAAGGAAGAC
ATTTCACTTATTGAGTGGCCTGATGCAGAACAGAGACCCAGCTGGTTCACTCTAGTTCGG
ACTAAAACTCACCCCTGTCTATAAGCATCAGCCTCGGCAGGATGCATTTCACATTTGTGA
TCTCATTTAACCTCCACAAAGACCCAGAAGGGTTGGTAACATTATCATACCTAGGCCTAC
TATTTTAAAAATCTAACACCCATGCA
(the coolness starts at page 6, where I quote from).
