The North American Therianthropic Journal

Filk Safety Button with Pengu Artwork (Revised)

tnatj — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 01:05:11 GMT

Pengu Filk Safety Button
Pengu the Filk Safety Spokespenguin with Guitar and Hardhat (Version 2: Changed Typeface and Color)

Update: "Pengu" image is by bookwyrm_com, used by ~~being cajoled~~permission. I shall be making a few buttons available at GAFilk for acceptance testing (US$2 donation to Interfilk).

Filk Safety Button with Pengu Artwork

tnatj — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 00:29:58 GMT


Pengu Filk Safety Button Pengu the Filk Safety Spokespenguin with Guitar and Hardhat appears on this Button with Motto "Always Filk Safely!"

Happy New Year!

tnatj — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 05:12:23 GMT

Have a happy New Year's day and all the days that follow. May you all live long, and prosper, every one.

Help from the Mac/LJ/IRC Braintrust, Please?

tnatj — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 03:25:17 GMT

Today is Boxing Day in Canada and the UK. Not being from those two countries (but having ancestors who were), I decided to partake in the festivities by getting a box of my own.

Being sick of the MS OS mess, I'm reverting to the Macintosh, which I used some 20+ years ago (yes, it has been that long!).

So, I went up to Grand Rapids and bought myself a laptop Macintosh for $$$$'s at the Apple Store in Woodland Mall. It now sits in the greatroom, I am pleased to say, connected to the internet by my wireless router.

The difference between the machines of today and of 15 years ago is mind-boggling. For example, there is not a single port on a Mac Powerbook 145 (vintage early 1990s) that is compatible with a MacBook. I'd have to buy an external diskette drive (using a USB port on the MacBook) to sneaker data from one of those old machines mouldering down in my basement. I'm not sure I want to bother ...

Now, for the questions I wish to direct to the most excellent and experienced Brain Trust.

If you own a modern Mac:

1. what version of the LiveJournal client application (that has a version for Mac OS X "Tiger" or 10.4) do you own or recommend?

2. what version of an IRC client application (again with a version for Mac OS X) do you own or recommend? Or you can mention a list of clients I might try.

3. do any of you use Open Document software on Mac OS X? Can you relate to me your experiences with it?

Now, I'm going to test The 5000 Finger of Dr. T on the laptop. I want to be sure I can share excerpts of this early 1950s movie with quadrivium. Particularly Dr. Terwilliker's triumphal monologue, as performed by Hans Conried.

Thanks in advance!

Poetry Corner: On "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"

tnatj — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 19:27:17 GMT

My speculation is as good as anyone's right now, so ...

No, it shall not be very de riguer
The way J. K. Rowling will transfigure
Poor Harry Potter, from deathly clay
To fired White, like Gandalf the Grey!

And, yes, you are supposed to mispronounce "de rigeur" to rhyme with "transfigure".

My Wallpaper

tnatj — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 03:11:36 GMT

allisona asked about what I had for my computer wallpaper.

My PC Wallpaper
This is a small statuary fountain (the water runs out of the jar the fairy "Alyse" is holding) by a tiny pond in my backyard garden. Note the Green frog on the rock jutting out of the water. The fountain pump runs on electricity generated from sunlight, so does not run during cloudy days, at night or when the photovoltaic cells are in shade.

Pengu the Penguin Says ... Initial Badge Up for Comments

tnatj — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 17:42:12 GMT

Filk Safety Badge (no artwork)
First try at a Filk Safety badge. Penguin artwork to be developed (a front view of an adult Emperor Penguin is preferred). Comments welcomed.

Update: The image that I'm really searching for the Pengu character for the Filk Safety badge is a very stylized or cartoonish drawing of an adult Emperor penguin (of indeterminant sex), preferably on a solid white (or solid anything) background, that scales well to about 1" in height. The penguin should be facing the observer, although being a bit off from center doesn't hurt, as I am contemplating using a word-balloon from its beak with the word "Always!" in it.

Next Fen & Filk: Tentative Date February 24th OR March 3rd

tnatj — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 16:04:04 GMT

UPDATE: How is March 3rd for folks? Is anyone who plans to go to F&F planning to go to Consonance?

Fen & Filk guests: I've pencilled in a tentative date of Saturday, February 24th or March 3rd for the next F&F sing here at Glimmerglass House.

This is two or three weeks after CapriCon, avoids colliding with a Chicago-area house sing on the 17th, and is one week before Consonance or on Consonance.

The only other possibly reasonable date would be March 10th. However, that's a bit late in the month for some people.

If there are great scheduling difficulties for you with February the 24th, please let me know by comment ASAP. I will announce the final date in early January.

The End of an Era

tnatj — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 21:53:16 GMT

Well, I had my heart set on a Galley Submarine Sandwich from The Galley, a sub shop near the Western Michigan University campus. When I got there, much to my shock — the operation was closed! Closed, along with the laundry next to it. From the hand-written sign on the door, the last day of operation was Saturday, December 2nd. The sign that announced that the shop was going out of business thanked all the customers for being so supportive over the years.

But I had no idea! I am shocked and saddened. It was one of my favorite take-out places, and its sub sandwiches couldn't be beat. The menu had 30-some sandwiches on it, all identified by a number. The sandwiches could be ordered for individual consumption in 4-, 6- and 8-inch lengths, and for parties, 24- and 36- inch subs were available. Long-time customers (such as myself) knew the sandwich style numbers by heart, without reference to the menu sheet. They never changed, although some were added through the years. This is hard for me to contemplate: No more 22's (roast beef & corned beef)! No more 25's (tuna fish)! No more 29's (roast beef & turkey)! My unexpected and sad discovery has made me distraught.

But before I wax too pitifully nostalgic, I'll point out that the outfit had started in 1965, and thus enjoyed a more than 40-year run. Pretty good for a deli run with mostly student-employees looking to make a few dollars while going to school. I first encountered the place in the mid-1970s, when I was a grad student at WMU, so I ~~have~~had been a customer for 30 years.

The chain brands were nothing compared to The Galley's sandwiches. Quizno's? Subway? I'm sorry. Their products pale before the pile of bread, meats and veggies this local Kalamazoo shop put on their sandwiches. That was their distinction, and they kept it up to the last time I had a sandwich from there. (Almost always takeout, wrapped in the white butcher-paper it was made on, and delivered to you in a plain brown kraft paper bag.)

So raise a bottle of your favorite libation. Munch on a few Jays potato chips.

Perhaps in another universe, the shop fares well, still providing excellent fare.

"Please, will you cut it in half, and heat it?"

I miss you already, Number 29.

Galley Submarine Sandwiches, 1965—2006

Poetry Corner: Zubenelgenubi Dances ...

tnatj — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 05:39:55 GMT

Zubenelgenubi Dances In the Harmonic Minor
for haikujaguar ...

I saw the old Arabian Nights: For a thousand nights and a night;
Ere Scheherezade rejoins her tale (and a bit of the next, right?),
The King claps his hands and bids for the entertainment of the evening:
The apparition of the gracile maiden, in the pavilion unwalled, dancing
Under the stars. She is part-veiled by her four muscular brothers:
Her guards in their turbans essay the powdered sea of white-glass —
They peer far into the galaxy; but of humans — they see no others;
Scimitars glint in the breeze, they face the cardinals of the rose-compass.

— Dave Alway (19 December 2006)

Commonplace Book: The Triumphal Speech of Dr Terwilliker

tnatj — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 04:59:07 GMT

This quotation is dedicated to quadrivium:

This is my day. Five thousand little fingers, all playing together on my piano. Every finger obedient to the whim of me, the master. Every infinitesimal, microscopic piece of living tissue of those five thousand little fingers, cringing and trembling and grovelling before me — before me — Doctor Terwilliker, as I raise my baton.

We shall play. Raise hands! We shall play the most beautiful piece ever written. I wrote it. "Ten Happy Fingers!" Ready now — a-one and a-two, and a-three and a-play ...

— Dr. Terwilliker from The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T (1953) written by Dr. Seuss

Highbrow Concert at the Peoples Chuch in East Lansing, MI

tnatj — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 05:02:41 GMT

bigbumble and I drove up to East Lansing for a memorial concert for Dell Taylor (soundcraft). We were greeted there by peteralway who had two pieces on the program. The evening was relaxing, and the performances were by Dell's students and colleagues, which, given the circumstances of each performer, were very good indeed.

As performed, these were the works in order:

"From Beyond" written and performed by Tom Heideman on guitar
Four pieces from "Jeaux D'enfante" by Bizet for Flute, Clarinet & Piano
Three Short Songs written and sung by Stephen Loomis on baritone ukulele
Nocturne by Armand Bournonville for Flute & Piano
Celebration Medley by Handel adapted for Clarinet.

Intermission

"Pavane for a Dead Princess" by Ravel arranged for flute
"Pink and Purple Greys" written and sung by Lucille Olsen on piano
"Just a Closer Walk With Thee" arr. by Jack Gale for clarinet quartet
"March Fourth Dance" by Peter Alway for clarinet trio
"Stately Flute" by Peter Alway for Flute & Guitar
Aria by Eugene Bozza for Saxophone & Piano
Opus 25 Andante and Rondo by Franz Doppler for two flutes & piano

Peter was very happy with the performances of the two pieces on the program that he composed. These are the first time the two have been done by live performers before a live audience. This is the first time he has seen any of his works performed outside of a filk venue. Serious highbrow stuff. Just like Doctor Terwilliker!

Commentary on Imprisonment: Poor Poor Eric

tnatj — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 23:22:57 GMT

The following is rather cutting; but my sympathies are rather short with certain people. Particularly on that list are those who have been quite rightly 'put away' by society for the protection of the rest of us.

For those that say life imprisonment without possibility of parole is too good for a murderer, one might read this AP News article on Eric Rudolph's complaints about his imprisonment in the Colorado "Supermax" Federal prison.

Here in my commentary I take 'God' to be the intrisic aspect of human society and civilization — particularly all of its works and workings — that make the human world exceptional within the natural world. The tension between this entity, so nebulous that it seems mythic to some, and the individual, is what makes life exciting and interesting (in the Chinese sense).

My take on poor Eric's predicament is that Mr. Rudolph is meeting up with a face of God that he didn't expect to see. And, yes, that wrathful, punitive aspect can very well drive him mad, as the reality of his confinement shakes the rotten foundations of the precepts that killed innocent people. God will not forgive until Society forgives. That will not be within his life-time, I think. And, I think, the man in the cubicle is coming to realize that, too.

I suppose I might be upset that Mr. Rudolph has any contact with the outside world; but his complaints are rather comforting. Some might bemoan my joy in the misfortune of another; but his own behavior did bring about his own doom. So any of my feelings towards him can't really be considered schadenfreude; rather, I think it is the catharsis of a fearful justice.

To some extent, Mr. Rudolph's complaint supports my contention: life imprisonment in these circumstances is worse than capital punishment.

Sorry, Eric, you should have thought of all that you complain of before you committed your infamies. Maybe someday you'll manage to grow a red nose and antlers and fly off. If you don't, we'll happily forget you. Oh, and do try to have a happy holiday season.

Fen & Filk December

tnatj — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 03:18:53 GMT

Had a wonderful time presenting Fen & Filk House Sing at Glimmerglass House yesterday. Thirty-one participants! The largest group ever for a house sing here!

More in later updates, when I have the energy.

qnvhrtz's review of the house sing.
bigbumble's review of the house sing.

The next F&F house sing is planned for late February or early March.

Fen & Filk, December 2006

Group photo of Fen & Filk (Glimmerglass) House Sing participants, 12/9/2006

(Click on photo for a larger version.)

Commonplace Book: On the Rapidity of Military Equipment Destruction

tnatj — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 12:35:15 GMT

Waste is the watchword of War.

—observation by an anonymous WWII-era soldier

Gacked from jrittenhouse: The use-up rate of equipment in Iraq is staggering.

"The Army and Marine Corps have sunk more than 40 percent of their ground combat equipment into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to government data. An estimated $17 billion-plus worth of military equipment is destroyed or worn out each year, blasted by bombs, ground down by desert sand and used up to nine times the rate in times of peace."

Political Rant: Who to Blame for The Mess You Liberals Have Gotten Us Into?

tnatj — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 04:42:21 GMT

There's a parlor game going on in certain liberal circles about which influential liberals were first gulled into toeing the BushCo line leading up to the War in Iraq. I have basic objections to the whole idea.

My honest feeling, back in 2002 and 2003 was very much like the consular official holding the revolver behind his back in The Wind and the Lion. He just took orders from the President: the U. S. Marines were going to land and take the capital of the North African satrapy, marching double-quick through the streets. There was nothing for him to do to add or subtract. For him forces — greater than he could influence — were at work, and now all he could do was look to his own personal safety and well-being, and hope that things went well so he wouldn't be killed in the alternative fiasco.

Who knows? Possibly to divert attention away from their shortcomings around 9/11, possibly to divert attention away from the polarizing influences of religious extremists, both in the Middle East and here in the US, and to forestall a shifting of political alliances, possibly for personal reasons, possibly on a whim of those who thought they were playing some sort of 'great game' — George W. Bush and his handlers were bound and determined to have their "short, victorious war" — and nothing on earth would dissuade BushCo of that goal.

There was a clockwork inevitability in the thing. Obviously, they were not going to do or say anything more than what they had to to "get the ball rolling" — but get the ball rolling they would. Every time there was a sense of resistance, the pro-war group would pull out a somewhat bigger lever. If something blocked their way, they'd move around it. Cook the facts, discredit the opponent, destroy careers. Pound the bumps on the way to success flat; but only just flat enough to let the juggernaut roll on.

Everyone in power in the administration and the majority in Congress played a part. It was a team effort! And there was a tipping point in public opinion (including liberal public opinion), yes; but like any catastrophe, that tipping point is often hard to determine, even in hindsight.

For me, the "Liberal Hawk Game" is a parlor game with no value, not worth the candle. Like the consular official — those who might have had doubts inside or outside of the Administration, inside or outside of Congress, in or out of power, were constrained to look out for themselves. "Geez, I do hope they know what they are doing; because we are all in this together, like it or not!" Their only hope as the cannon shot left the muzzle was that the war and its aftermath would be handled properly, that those who had pushed for the war were competent and would be competent in all its phases, from start of war to a conclusive post-war peace.

Yes, the hope was vain. But hope is the only thing one has left when political intimidation forces abdication of power to the unitary executive: nobody — much less any liberal — had any oversight, budgetary control or other leverage at all in the question of war, its conduct or its aftermath — even, it seems, to the current moment!

Do not look to anyone on the Left. The Left had (and has) no power! No influence! It didn't (and doesn't) matter what any of the liberals thought about the war. If, to a person, every liberal mentioned as a supporter of the Iraq War had opposed the war, it would not have made any difference. It would have been conducted in any event, and the result would have been the same miserable mess we see today.

Look solely to the Bush Administration, Bush, Cheney (and why does he have any influence in the Executive? His sole job, by Constitutional fiat, should be President of the Senate!), every leader in Congress more interested in his corrupt dealings than the good of the commonweal under the Constitution, every sycophantic appointee in the Defense Department and State, every enabler at Justice, if you want people to blame. And there are plenty of them. Again, it was a team effort!

And remember this: BushCo managed to fool everyone (who really mattered) some of the time. Enough of the time to get the country into a mess. But its inevitability is a permissible application of Lincoln's Law.

So the answer to the "Liberal Hawk Game" is: it doesn't really matter. The Game itself is destructive and does nothing to advance liberal causes. Rather, I can hardly think of anything that could be more damaging.

Fen & Filk. Guests to 31

tnatj — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 02:27:11 GMT

My goodness, we're up to 31 reserved guests for this December's Fen & Filk house sing.

*boggle*

Largest gathering of filkers at my house, evah.

Friends-locked List of Reserved Guests

Poetry Corner: A Poem Inspired by "Dulcimandyas"

tnatj — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 17:35:47 GMT

This is a poem inspired by peteralway's "Dulcimandyas". Right now I think the quatrains work best as a prologue to the tune. The three-line stanzas scan with the A part of that tune, and may be sung in the second verse and coda. I think I won't give words to the B part, and let the tune sing for itself.

Since Peter wrote the tune for catsittingstill, this poem is all her fault.

Sweet Memory or Dulcimemory

Prologue

There is an old tall farm-house, atop the glaciered hill,
That now lacks all but memories within its empty sill.
"Come up to me," it calls, "Up from that traveled rill.
"Come and hear the song upon this soil's ancient till."

"Dash beneath the conifer trees, and play in your watery fun;
"But 'fore you hie to the sunset sky that's nigh to lakeshore dune:
"Come and listen! Come you here, beneath the Summer's Sun!
"Come and listen! Come you here, beneath the August Moon!"

Part A (2nd Verse) Lyrics to "Dulcimandyas"

Butterfly flaps its —
Butterfly flaps its —
Butterfly flaps its wings.

Flutter leaves rush your —
Flutter leaves rush your —
Flutter leaves rush your dream.

Summer breeze soft peals —
Summer breeze soft peals —
Summer breeze soft peals ring.

Come and play tunes with —
Come and play tunes with —
Come and play tunes with me.

Part A Coda (1st & 2nd phrases) Lyrics:

Butterfly flaps its —
Butterfly flaps its —
Butterfly flaps its wings.

Come and play tunes with —
Come and play tunes with —
Come and play tunes with me.

(3rd phrase tacet) or "Come and sing songs with ... me"

— Dave Alway, 29 November 2006. Updated 30 November 2006. Updated 2 December 2006.

Commonplace: Warren Buffet on "Class Warfare"

tnatj — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 20:52:33 GMT

There's class warfare, all right — but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning.

— Warren Buffet, as quoted by Ben Stein

Book Report: Horizons by Mary Rosenblum (TOR, 2006)

tnatj — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 03:25:15 GMT

I've just finished reading my first true SF novel in quite awhile. This is Mary Rosenblum's Horizons, published November 2006 by TOR. It is also her first major SF novel in quite a few years, although she has appeared recently in shorter forms numerous times in SF magazines.

This book is a cocktail of action-adventure and mystery. Ms. Rosenblum lets you know on the first page that the "sheriff" has been shot and killed. The protagonist is on her way to New York Up by way of Elevator to obtain retribution.

There are, of course, major twists and turns, inadvertent reveals and veils-within-veils that are excruciatingly removed. And our protagonist undergoes that series of painful discoveries that reminds me of film noir, a female version of the hard-boiled detectives kicked in the teeth in plots by Rex Stout or Dashiel Hammett or Mickey Spillane, or even Ian Fleming.

I shan't spoil it for you; but the setting is Earth and Near-Earth. Space settlement has progressed to a stage where "platforms" in Earth orbit are right at the edge of economic independence, and the asteroids are being mined by grizzled loners (all that's missing are the mules and the grubstakes). The century is indeterminate; but in what I call the "middle future" — far enough from our point on the timeline to allow for genetic breakthroughs, computational and AI advances, thermonuclear wars and frightening near-apocalypses to be writ large in the historical and cultural record, yet not so far that technology is completely magic, nor is humanity unrecognizable. On Earth there are great but subtle shifts in geopolitical dominance, yet a structure (vaguely) recognizable to our own, with disparities of wealth and poverty, impotence and power, similar to that in Europe during the recent half-millenium of its ascendency.

Ms. Rosenblum uses this setting rather well. The politics is decently handled, although rather current-day stereotypical in nature. Our current notions of Justice has been altered by the nature of a repugnant conflict that the author has touched upon in her other stories. That is, for certain reprehensible criminal charges it is not enough to be proved innocent; but that there is no way possible — by some unknown method — that one could have committed the crime alleged.

Quibbles: The SF tropes are reasonably well-handled, and since there is no FTL travel invoked, Ms. Rosenblum may be excused a number of speculations that, while grounded in possibility, have relatively little chance of 'panning out'. Part of the issue is the postulated biology and genetics (or lack thereof) that is central to the story. I'll give a pass on that, however, as it is central to the story, just as Star Trek:TNG highly improbable hyper complex holodeck was central to many of that show's stories. We'll simply have to suspend disbelief.

The Elevators she describes are entertaining variants on the "Beanstalk" idea, although there's some confusion with their use and platforms in low earth orbit, as LEO is about 200km above the Earth's surface, and the author describes Elevators climbed to distances well above this (at least to 2500km). Too, "Beanstalks" must be counterbalanced at distances above the geosynchronous orbit level. The cover art implies a distance from Earth of about 1500km, which is in the middle of the Van Allen radiation belt. Thus I took any reference to LEO and the cover art (which is among the worst I've seen from a space-architecture-accuracy point-of-view) as simply wrong, and I ignored it.

But, let's not worry our little grey cells too much about these things. Middle future stories are incredibly difficult to pull off: they are far enough ahead that current trends (such as we can see them) descend into chaos; but they are not so far ahead that statistics has enough time to operate to make just about anything possible. Yet Ms. Rosenblum screws up her courage and tosses off enough wonderful ideas on lifestyles, dress, personal decoration, and other weirdnesses to make any futurist happy. If you want action, adventure, mystery and intrigue, much of it bloody and deadly — but above all story in an SF setting — go ahead and read Horizons.

SF Meme

tnatj — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 18:14:48 GMT

Gacked from markbernstein. I note that this list and the huge numbers of SF books I have read have a very small intersection. (e.g.: Where is L. Sprague DeCamp? Where is Poul Anderson?) Partly, I think, this is due to the profoundly different view I have of Imaginative Fiction than many prominent critics in the field, and, of course, there is the application of Sturgeon's Law. Why is it that books that come highly recommended to me I have difficulty liking much, or, in many cases, finishing? Oh, well, on with the list ...

This is a list of the 50 most significant science fiction/fantasy novels, 1953-2002, according to the Science Fiction Book Club. Bold the ones you've read, strike-out the ones you hated, italicize those you started but never finished, and put an asterisk* beside the ones you loved.

In addition, I've added a couple of notations (m) indicates that I have seen a dramatized version of the work, and (y) indicates that I have not read the work in question since my youth (10-22 years of age).

1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien*
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
3. ~~Dune, Frank Herbert~~
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson
7. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury^m
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov^y
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish^y
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey*
22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling*
27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin^m
31. Little, Big, John Crowley
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement*^y
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
46. ~~Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein~~^y^m
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer^y^m

Threes ...

tnatj — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 03:55:49 GMT

Bit O'Honey
Bit O'Peanut-Butter
BittO'Rrent

Politics: Post-Mortem on the US 2006 Congressional Election

tnatj — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 19:06:57 GMT

As much as possible, I've kept this post-mortem as analytical as possible. The numbers quoted in this post are from Kevin Drum's column in The Washington Monthly. Statistical corrections and additions are welcomed.

First of all, looking at exit poll figures, it looks like the theme that success follows an appeal to the political "center" has been (re)established. Future elections will prove whether this is a correction after an exceptional last few election cycles (2000, 2002, 2004); or whether this is just a temporary reversion.

The Democrats succeeded mostly by appealing to the undecided and the middle-of-the-roaders; not by making inroads into the Republican base. The Republicans lost by appealing only to their base (which they mostly held). That is, the Republicans held 71% of their "base" demographics, as against 72% in their previous election outing in 2004.

In the composite House races, the Democrats got an overall increase of about 5% of the vote as compared to last time (2004). Contrary to what many folks may be saying, this did not come particularly from the Republican Base. Rather, it came predominantly from the following demographics, listed in order of net increase. I have added a narration as to why I think these numbers make sense.

No high school diploma +15%. Those with little or no education are really feeling the economic pinch these days. Unlike those in other economic classes, these folks do not plan because they cannot. Even the hope of getting a GED and going into the Armed Forces for further training for an honorable career or a better life seems to have lost its appeal with the Iraq war. The Republican Administrations failures in the aftermath of Katrina and the exposed corruption hit at them directly.
Those rating the economy "good" +15% ("good" as opposed to "excellent" "fair" or "poor"). These are the folks most sensitive to the state of the economy. I think they are okay for now; but they believe they are looking over an on-rushing economic cliff.
Latinos +14%. This last year's dust-up on immigration didn't help the Republican's cause, to say the least.
Jews +11%. The basic conflict between the Administration's policy on Israel and on domestic policy, their nodding to the Christian Dominionist members of their base and the variance with the American tradition of religious tolerance; and the Jewish tradition of law and human rights, have given many Jews pause about the direction the Bush Administration is heading.
No religion +9%. At the very least these folks are very much bothered by the introduction of blatant religious modes of decision-making in the Executive, particularly as an enabling model for other governmental institutions to interfere with the daily private lives of the people. At maximum, folk worry about having American prestige used to foist one mode of religion upon others who clearly do not wish it.
Income $200K+ +9%. These are older, successful professionals and small business owners, upper middle dual-income families, middle-level managers in corporations, upper-level managers in smaller companies. These folks, despite their incomes and trappings of wealth, are the "merely wealthy" and are not isolated socially from their staff, subordinates, customers or suppliers. They are also extremely sensitive to the state of the economy. Many have been hit (or will soon be hit) by the Housing slump, as they are owners / investors in the personal real-estate market. They have watched their wealth shrink, despite the promise of "lower taxes" — which have gone mainly to the extremely rich — those with annual incomes of a million or more, such as CEOs of major corporations.
Independents +8%. A large number of individuals, ranging from libertarians to greens, who (if they vote at all for a major party candidate) hold their noses and vote for the least repugnant of the candidates. Those libertarians who voted Democratic this year had a deep desire to check an unbridled Republican administration, particularly the MCA of 2006 stuck in their craw. Those greens who voted Democratic this year did so in the hopes that the festering issues of global warming and environmental degradation will be aired (at least) in Congress.

Democrats reached all other groups at the same rate or less than the general +5% vote gain. These groups included the Youth Vote (aged 18-29), +5% (this group actually declined from 16% to 12% of the voting population over the last two years!); Evangelical Vote, +3%; Self-Described Conservatives, +3%.

Some interesting figures:

In the House of Representatives, the total estimated vote counts are:

Democrats: 40.2 million or 53.7% of the vote
Republicans: 34.6 million or 46.3%

Considering that the Democrats are likely to get about 230 seats in the the 435 seat House, or about 53% of the total, that's not too far off the mark (about 1% difference). Especially when you consider the fact that House seats are all elected from single-member districts that are generally gerrymandered to insure the safety of the incumbent.

In the Senate, where only one-third of the seats were up for election (in about 2/3rds of the states), the majority of seats at risk were Democratic. However, the vote differential was titanic: Democrats won about 32 million votes (57%) compared to 24 million (43%) for Republicans in those 33 races. The result was a switch of 6 seats towards the Democrats. With Lieberman (CT-I) caucusing with the Democrats in next year's Senate, it means that the Republicans took no seats at all from the Democrats in the Senate during this election cycle, and gives the latter control of that body. The actual count of Senate members in next year's Congress are 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans, 1 Independent (Socialist), 1 Independent (Democrat). Both Lieberman (CT-I) and Bernie Sanders (VT-I) have stated that they will caucus with the Democrats.

Poetry Corner: For Veteran's Day

tnatj — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 23:31:49 GMT

A couple of years ago, I wrote a poem about the many poets who died on the Western Front during what was then called The Great War, but was often cursed with many epithets. Today it has been diminished by time, the deaths of its surviving participants, and yet another Hideous War in Europe during my Father's generation: We now call it World War I. John McCrae was one of the poets in the number I wrote about.

Appropriate for the season, here is his famous

In Flanders Fields
by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918), Canadian Army

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Politics: An Interesting Observation about the 2008 Presidential Election

tnatj — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 17:28:02 GMT

The next presidential election will be the first since 1952 in which neither a sitting president nor vice president will be on the ticket. Not only is the field wide open, but the influence of some traditional interest groups may be waning. (This election cycle, for instance, the NRA went in with guns blazing for Sens. Jim Talent in Missouri and Conrad Burns in Montana — both incumbents, both in sagebrush country, both lost.) With no clear successors, few obvious kingmakers (unless you count purely fundraising machinery), and dissimilar ideological currents in both parties, we have arrived at an interesting crossroads. — Christina Larson (My bold)

I know that all of you may groan; but, given the situation, is it really too soon to begin to figure out who might be (1) interested; (2) properly motivated; (3) able; and (4) energetic enough to pursue the Mother of All Brass Rings in two years?