July 29, 2010

I just finished reading another book by Noam Chomsky, Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy . It is a provocative and deeply troubling analysis of U. S. state power, foreign policy, and the work to undermine democracy at home. But, it is also extremely well researched and documented. He sees the current state of internal U. S. politics and the American hegemony the way I do, and he makes a great case. The first half of the book covers much the same ground as Hegemony or Survival, but the second half really gets at what is going on to undermine democracy around the world, as well as here at home. A very, very valuable book. Here is a brief suggestion he makes for what could change things for the better:

“The persistence of the strong line of continuity to the present again reveals that the United States is very much like other powerful states. It pursues the strategic and economic interests of dominant sectors of the domestic population, to the accompaniment of rhetorical flourishes about its dedication to the highest values. That is practically a historical universal, and the reason why sensible people pay scant attention to declarations of noble intent by leaders, or accolades by their followers. In addition to the proposals that should be familiar about dealing with the crises that reach to the level of survival, a few simple suggestions for the United States have already been mentioned: (1) accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court and the World Court; (2) sign and carry forward the Kyoto protocols; (3) let the UN take the lead in international crises; (4) rely on diplomatic and economic measures rather than military ones in confronting terror; (5) keep to the traditional interpretation of the UN Charter; (6) give up the Security Council veto and have "a decent respect for the opinion of mankind," as the Declaration of Independence advises, even if power centers disagree; (7) cut back sharply on military spending and sharply increase social spending. For people who believe in democracy, these are very conservative suggestions: they appear to be the opinions of the majority of the US population, in most cases the overwhelming majority. They are in radical opposition to public policy. To be sure, we cannot be very confident about the state of public opinion on such matters because of another feature of the democratic deficit: the topics scarcely enter into public discussion and the basic facts are little known. In a highly atomized society, the public is therefore largely deprived of the opportunity to form considered opinions. Another conservative suggestion is that facts, logic, and elementary moral principles should matter.” I couldn’t agree more.

July 28, 2010

But man’s life is short, at any moment
it can be snapped, like a reed in a canebrake.
The handsome young man, the lovely young woman—
in their prime, death comes and drags them away.
Though no one has seen death’s face or heard
death’s voice, suddenly, savagely, death
destroys us, all of us, old or young.
And yet we build houses, make contracts, brothers
divide their inheritance, conflicts occur—
as though this human life lasted forever.
The river rises, flows over its banks
and carries us all away, like mayflies
floating downstream: they stare at the sun,
then all at once there is nothing.

But until the end comes, enjoy your life,
spend it in happiness, not despair.
Savor your food, make each of your days
a delight, bathe and anoint yourself,
wear bright clothes that are sparkling clean,
let music and dancing fill your house,
love the child who holds you by the hand,
and give your wife pleasure in your embrace.
That is the best way for a man to live.

                                                                Gilgamesh

July 27, 2010

Since the early 1990s, both medievalists and electronic media theorists have pointed to the hypertexted quality of medieval illuminated manuscripts in making complementary claims: medievalists to continuing cultural relevancy and electronic media theorists in continuity to literary tradition. The medieval books we admire so much today are distinguished by the remarkable visual images, in the body of a text and in the margins, that scholars have frequently compared to hypertexted images on internet “pages.” The function of these images in illuminated manuscripts has no small bearing on the hypertext analogy. These “miniatures” (so named not because they were small—often they were not—but because they used red ink, or vermillion, the Latin word for which is minium) did not generally function as illustrations of something in the written text, but in reference to something beyond it. The patron of the volume might be shown receiving the completed book or supervising its writing. Or, a scene related to a saint might accompany a biblical text read on that saint’s day in the liturgical calendar without otherwise having anything to do with the scripture passage. Of particular delight to us today, much of the marginalia in illuminated books expressed the opinions and feelings of the illuminator about all manner of things—his demanding wife, the debauched monks in his neighborhood, or his own bacchanalian exploits. Books of commentary, known as “glosses,” included conversations among different commentators across time that surrounded a central text, such as a Bible passage. The wisdom of the rabbis or Christian sages would be preserved through decades and centuries, with new commentators sometimes being added as successive copies were produced. Over time, the original contexts for these comments were forgotten and their relevance to the central text became obscure, so they became part of the interpretive project of reading a book. Often, the commentary became more significant than the central text itself. In addition, medieval books were very often not the single-author volumes familiar to us today. A binding might include a bit of Chaucer—something from the life of St. Bridget, perhaps—and part of an almanac, or a treatise on herbal remedies. They were, to borrow terminology from George P. Landow, “dispersed texts,” unburdened by the modern fiction of sequential ordering of thought as “natural” or unitary authorship as normative that contributed to Enlightenment understandings of the “focused” mind of the individual thinker. Engaged by brilliant illuminations; challenged by reading in Latin, without spacing between words, capitalization, or punctuation; and invited into the commentary of past readers of the text, medieval readers of Augustine, Dante, Virgil, or the Bible would surely be able to give today’s digitally-distracted multitaskers a run for our money. The physical form of the bound book brought together all of these various “links” into one “platform” so that the diverse perspectives of a blended contemporary and historical community of thinkers could be more easily accessed.

July 24, 2010

One year ago today was my last day at a job. On July 16, 2009 I gave my notice. This is the email I was going to send:

As we have discussed previously, since the death of my mother at the end of April, and the subsequent tasks of dismantling the life my parents had made, I have found it increasingly difficult to summon the energy and focus needed to complete my required tasks. In the last week, that has become even more of a problem. As a result, unfortunately this is my two-week notice that my last day will be Thursday July 30, 2009. Working for you has been one of my best professional experiences. I felt we had created a working situation that was productive and beneficial for both of us. Thank you.

Prior to sending the email to Steve Swenson at ProVation and Eleanor at CDI, I talked to Steve. He said wait before sending the email, consulted with the F&C people, then told me that all the F&C work had to be done by 7/24. He asked me if I could finish the online help by then. If I could, 7/24 would be my last day. If I couldn’t, they would walk me out the door right then. I told him I could get the online help done by the 24^th. I’m kind of a dope about these things. I tried to do this in a way that wouldn’t leave Steve hanging, but they seem always unable to think about anything other than their own interests, though in general, Steve has been good to work with. I thought there was some personal regard, but it’s just that I was doing really good work for them, and they wanted to maximize that. So, I got a week less pay, and still did the work for them. So, when I sent the email, I modified it to say “my last day will be Friday July 24, 2009 as you requested.”

So, July 24, 2009, one year ago today, was my last real day at Wolters Kluwer/ProVation. I got all the work done, did a really nice job on the online help, as they indicated. I guess I’m glad that I went out that way, finishing everything that needed to be done for the Q2 release and doing it well, rather than just walking away. Steve wanted me to come in Monday to show him WebWorks. I asked if that was really necessary, and he said yes, though I’m sure I could just have said I wouldn’t. I’m always too nice about these things. So, I went in Monday July 27 for 30 minutes, or so, walked Steve through how I had used WebWorks to generate the help, showed him where all the files were, gave him my keys and badge, and was out of there by 11:15. I put too much of myself into those stupid jobs, and so I always felt overly nostalgic when I left, even though they had killed me and I was glad to be going. So, I felt a little sad when I pulled out of the ramp for the last time, even though I was really overjoyed that I didn’t have to go back ever again. One of the really good things about the ProVation job was the commute. I went by Cedar Lake and along Theodore Wirth Parkway to 55. This is a scene I drove by every morning in that summer:

Surprisingly, I felt very comfortable about the decision and very happy to be done. Wasn’t worried about the closing anymore. Don’t know why, but ever since I left work that Friday, for what was really the last time, I have been very peaceful about all of it.  And it has been a good year. A lot of changes, new city, new state, new apartment, new grandson, new outlook. And kind of an adventure. However things turn out, I’m very glad I got the chance to have this year.

July 17, 2010

Photos taken by a mountaineer on Mt. Everest, from the same spot where similar pictures were taken in 1921, reveal alarming ice loss. The Asia Society arranged for the pictures to be taken in exactly the same place where British climber George Mallory took photos in 1921. The photographs reveal that the ice of the Himalaya is disappearing, and that there is an alarming loss in ice mass over the 89-year period. The photos taken by Mallory from the north face of Everest reveal a powerful, white, S-shaped sweep of ice.  Experts say that the evidence is incontrovertible. Images taken from the same spot in 2010 by mountaineer David Breashears show that the main Rongbuk Glacier is shrunken and withered. "Returning to the exact same vantage points, Breashears has meticulously recreated their shots, pixel for pixel. The photographs illustrate the severity of the loss of ice mass among the glaciers surrounding Mount Everest," an Asia Society statement said. The findings are vitally important because the Himalaya is home to the world's largest sub-polar ice reserves. The melt waters of these high altitude glaciers supply crucial seasonal flows to the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Salween, Irrawaddy, Mekong, Yangtze and Yellow rivers, which hundreds of millions of people downstream depend on for their livelihoods. If the present rate of melting continues, many of these glaciers will be severely diminished by the middle of this century.

July 15, 2010

Mary Jensen

Thurs May 7 1891   Mary Jensen walked home with me & stayed a short time.

Tues July 14, 1891   Went calling on the sick found Sister Arump much improved, but Mary Jensen worse, Lillie & I anointed & blessed her.

Wed Sept 2, 1891   Dr Ellis & I went to see Mary Jensen, administered to her and comforted her as best we could, I still have faith that she will be healed. I also had a private consultation with the Doctor about my health.

Thurs Dec 24, 1891   I went to see poor sick Mary Jensen, found her very much wasted  She seemed much pleased to see me, I gave her a blessing & felt well in so doing

Sat Dec 26, 1891   I went around the 6^th block to invite the people to come to the Meeting house to our New Year dinner, found many sick people, besides other troubles.

Mon Dec 28, 1891   By Sister Mary Jensen’s request, a number of the sisters met together and held a prayer meeting, asked the Lord to heal her if it were his will, if not to take her home out of her sufferings, she being perfectly reconciled to the Lord’s will either way, only desiring to be released from pain, We met at Lillie’s and many beautiful prayers were offered up, We all enjoyed the good Spirit & came away feeling blessed,

Tues Dec 29, 1891   Went up in the evening to see Mary Jensen, found her very low, but had rested all day, was asleep so I did not speak to her,

Thurs Dec 31, 1891   At 1, p, m I attended the funeral of sister Mary Taylor, Frank’s mother’s sister, It was a touching sight to see the motherless children, a baby 14 month old, The speakers were bro J. H. Felt, Chas. Livingston, bishop R. Morris & Pres. J. E. Taylor, She looked very much like Sopha as she lay in her coffin, Mary Jensen died today.

July 10, 2010

A rough video of the Salt Lake valley. I need to get better at this:

July 7, 2010

U.S. airline flights stuck for at least three hours on airport tarmacs fell 86 percent in May, the first full month of a regulation that subjects carriers to fines for such delays. Five flights were delayed in May, down from 35 in the same month a year earlier, the Transportation Department said in a report posted on its website. A regulation pushed by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood that began April 29 imposes fines as high as $27,500 for each customer when an airline fails to free passengers on domestic flights after three hours on an aircraft. So, do you think it’s a good idea to regulate corporations and their business practices?

July 3, 2010

It takes longer to read books on a Kindle 2 or an iPad than as a printed book. These results are derived from a recent usability survey conducted by product development consultancy Nielsen Norman Group. Participants were given short stories to read by Ernest Hemingway in print and on iPads, Kindles, and desktop PCs. Hemingway was chosen because his work utilizes simple language and is "pleasant and engaging to read." The narratives took an average of 17 minutes and 20 seconds from start to finish, enough time to get readers fully "immersed" in the stories. After reading, participants filled out a brief comprehension questionnaire to make sure no one had skimmed through a story. The study found that reading speeds declined by 6.2 percent on the iPad and 10.7 percent on the Kindle compared to print. Participants also complained about the weight of the iPad and the Kindle's weak contrast.

July 2, 2010

I prefer even numbers. I don’t know why exactly. It’s just that all those other numbers seem so… well, odd. My favorite number is 12. The multipliers, 3 and 4, fine numbers in their own right, represent the divine (3) because it is the number of the trinity, or what Mormons refer to as the Godhead, and the 4 corners of the earth. So, 12 is the joining of heaven and earth, a worthy goal, if I do say so myself. That’s why 7 is often thought of as a lucky number, because it adds 3 and 4. But as we all know, multiplying is much more powerful than mere adding, so 12 is a greater number. And, it’s even! Two other really good numbers are 4 and 8. Not only are they very even numbers, their multipliers are all even as well. Can’t get any better than that. My current phone number has almost no even numbers in it, which is disappointing, but there wasn’t anything I could o about it, so I try not to let it bother me too much. My previous apartment number, 312 was very good because, of course, it had 12 in it, and the other number, 3, is a multiplier of 12. So, 312 has a unity about it that was quite appealing. Same thing with my current apartment number, 728. 28 is an even number, and everyone knows that if you can score that many points, and you don’t have a totally useless defense, you have a good chance of winning. Also, as before, 7 is a multiplier of 28, so there is that internal unity we all strive for and appreciate so much. Nice to have at least some things squared away.