I’ve moved the blog, and in the process have split it up:

• My professional blog (technology, International Relations, Higher Education, etc) is here: lningram.com/blog
  
• My personal life and thoughts are here: lningram.com/life
  
• Philosophy in progress: lningram.com/philosophy
  
• And this site is down right now, but if I ever do get serious about photography, it will go here:  lningram.com/world

Bookmark one, two, or all, and check back whenever :)

Cheers, and I”ll see you on the other side(s)!!

-Lauren

http://mediamatters.org/discuss/200810280013

I’m in the process of revamping the blog and a few other things; I’m putting the blog on hold for a couple months. I’ll be back after the New Year. 

Cheers :)

-L

But if you’re a member of Generation We (under 28, all about the ‘greater good,’ and ‘really jazzed up about the environment and the energy crisis…’), then take out your copy of the HItchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, dust off the cover, and repeat after me*:

DON’T PANIC

For those of us who are (or were in the very recent past) passionate, broke, and still trying to decide what we want to be when we grow up  - a financial crisis shouldn’t be that scary, because, let’s face it: we’re still  flexible (i.e., uninvested) enough to deal.  We’d be wandering the world, half-destitute, even if Wall Street were on its way up instead of down.  We’d just be complaining about something else ….

So here’s what I think our reaction should be:

You’ve always wanted to go green?  Now’s the time.  Sell your car. Buy a bike. Take the bus.  Walk.  You’ll look better, you’ll feel better, and your wallet will thank you.  I walk a mile to work and back, every day, and I wouldn’t trade that walk for anything.

On that note, exercise more in general – no, really.  Go to the gym instead of the movies. Find a willing victim and practice your persuasion; it’ll give you something to do (instead of buying the shiniest new ipod), you’ll save money, and you’ll be happier.

Happiness also comes in cup sizes. And it’s more expensive than gasoline, even today’s gasoline.  So… Buy a coffeemaker. Buy a nice travel mug. Use them.  Make food to go with.
Incidentally, I’m looking for a coffee maker that does steamed milk and coffee, and nothing else — if you have any suggestions, I’m all ears . . .

And so as not to be in up to your ears, do add to your savings.  Pay off your credit cards. Don’t pick up any new credit if you can help it.  Set enough money aside to pay off your student loans for the next few months, in case you lose your job.  Standard advice.

On the flip side… If you have money to burn: Invest in the stock market.  …. No, really.  There are some real bargains out there at the moment.  You’ll almost certainly lose money now, in the short term – but if you pick strong companies, you’re almost guaranteed to make money in the long term.  As I read it.  Just don’t plan on getting any of it back in the next five years.

And finally, rethink your priorities.  Invest in your community; they’ll catch you if you fall, and they need you to be there for them, too.  Write your grandmother a letter.  Call your oldest friends.  Go home for Thanksgiving.  For real perspective, volunteer at a homeless shelter.

Oh, and if all else fails, you can always use couchsurfing.com …

–

“Across this country, this is the agenda I have set before my fellow prisoners and the same standards of clarity and candor must now be applied to my opponent.”

He said it, not me.

Brilliant at Breakfast has a rather interesting (if somewhat inflammatory) post on the subject.  I can’t seem to link to the post, but it’s titled “A Freudian Slip For the Ages,” (10/9/08).

Freudian slips are a window to a part of the brain even the speaker doesn’t know about.

Perhaps in McCain’s subconscious, we’re all prisoners (of the economy, or the senate, or the war?), and he wants to break us free, give us our freedom back.  Perhaps he sees himself as a prisoner, and has since Vietnam; helpless, surrounded by enemies, nothing left to him but loyalty to his country, and his fellow men.

Perhaps it means something else entirely.  Or nothing.

But I have ask myself: what effect will this subconscious have on my life, if or when he’s elected president? On foreign policy? On internal politics?

If we’re all prisoners, does it reallty make a difference if political activists wind up on terror lists?  Or if we have terror lists at all? If we’re all prisoners, will our collective wishes make any difference, if he discovers – or thinks he’s discovered – a way out?

Do you like PhD Comics?

I think this one is brilliant :)

You probably will, too, even if you have no idea what PhDComics is …

• How To Find Meaningful Work – By Penelope Trunk, of the Brazen Careerist
• How To Be Creative – By Hugh MacLeod, of Gaping Void, and
• Advice for Aspiring Call Girls – By Debauchette, of the eponymous blog.

Each offers advice on how to effectively sell one’s services without selling one’s soul – and they all say the same thing.  You have to look out for #1.

Trunk writes (in bold!):  Take care of yourself—have the basics covered.

I think she has it right; no matter what happens in life, you have watch out for yourself, because nobody [else] cares. Do it for yourself. (MacLeod).

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Making sure you’re physically and emotionally healthy/safe (says Debauchette) is the only way to be sure you’re making good choices.

…Protect your body. Be healthy, exercise, get tested, and be sexually safe…

… Protect your emotional well-being.

Trunk agrees, regaling us with a hospital/anemia story, result of her non-attention to personal health.

You have to know and protect your limits; says MacLeod,

The most important thing a creative person can learn professionally is where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do, and what you are not.

Debauchette agrees:

Don’t hesitate to walk out if a client treats you badly. Don’t assume that because he’s paying, you’re obliged to do something against your will. Always have a plan for a worst case scenario. Know your boundaries and protect the **** out of them.

You must remain financially independent:

MacLeod says: Remain frugal.

Debauchette devotes three separate points to the issue:

- Save your money. There’s a lot that goes into upkeep, but if there’s money left over (and there should be), don’t blow it. Save it and put it toward a goal.

- Never allow yourself to become financially dependent on the clients. You absolutely, positively must be able to walk away at any time, for any reason…

– Pay your taxes. This is important.

Trunk says,

Giving back to the world requires a sense of personal well-being and stability that only people who have a roof over their head can manage. … So before you worry about meaningful work, you need to be able to support yourself. Your first job in life is to figure out how to do that.

.

I could go on but the point isn’t that there’s good advice in these three disparate blogs (there is); it’s that there’s exactly the same advice in three such disparate blogs; a careerist, an artist, and a call girl all agree – if you want to be fulfilled, content, and able to control your life and bring everything you can to your job, your calling, and others, then you must – absolutely must – look out for yourself first.

Making someone or something else your #1 invites nothing but disaster and burnout – and it’s nearly impossible to help others, or even to enjoy life – once we reach that state.

On the flip side, this is exactly the justification we’ve all been looking for! Go have a cookie. Call your mother. Read a book. Go swimming, sailing, or scuba diving. Go to the gym. Heck, go into your room, lock the door, turn off the light, and lay down with a pillow over your eyes.

Seriously.

I’ll see you on the other side!

Google’s got a nice little quote machine here: http://labs.google.com/inquotes/

The search (oddly?) is pretty limited, but it’s still fun to play with…

– Hillary Rodham Clinton

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Watching the debate for a second time – the first time on the elliiptical, this evening. Thought – like every other blogger out there, I’m sure – that I’d post some thoughts. My (caustic) thoughts in green. Comments that grabbed my attention in blue.

Full transcript here.

In my opinion, McCain won this one – but not by much. Also, I liked how many details were covered; names and places came up that I’m sure 90% of all voters have never even heard of … I’m watching NPR, and they just made the point – this sounds a lot more like a Kennedy School debate than the usual battle of the dueling soundbytes …

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In any case: Here goes:

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LEHRER: What I’m trying to get at this is this. One of you is going to be the president of the United States come January … in the middle of a huge financial crisis … How [will this] … affect the approach to take as to the presidency?

MCCAIN: How about a spending freeze on everything but defense, veteran affairs and entitlement programs.

LEHRER: Spending freeze?

Yeah, I’m with Lehrer. What? Warning, warning, Maverick at work. … I want a sign that says “Caution: Maverick thinking!”

MCCAIN: I think we ought to seriously consider with the exceptions the caring of veterans national defense and several other vital issues.

OBAMA: The problem with a spending freeze is you’re using a hatchet where you need a scalpel. There are some programs that are very important that are under funded. I went to increase early childhood education and the notion that we should freeze that when there may be, for example, this Medicare subsidy doesn’t make sense.

Let me tell you another place to look for some savings. We are currently spending $10 billion a month in Iraq when they have a $79 billion surplus. It seems to me that if we’re going to be strong at home as well as strong abroad, that we have to look at bringing that war to a close.

And Obama responds “No, we can’t stop spending - what about the children?! Let’s stop spending on the war…”

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LEHRER: (…but seriouly, folks…) How will the financial crisis affect your choices as the President?

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OBAMA: There’s no doubt it will affect our budgets. … The only point I want to make is this … if we are spending $300 billion on tax cuts for people who don’t need them and weren’t even asking for them, and we are leaving out health care which is crushing on people all across the country, then I think we have made a bad decision …

So Obama replies, we’ll raise taxes on the wealthy. Oh, yeah, and stop fighting in the Middle East!

MCCAIN: …I want to make sure we’re not handing the health care system over to the federal government … I want the families to make decisions between themselves and their doctors. Not the federal government. Look. We have to obviously cut spending. …

… I also want to say again a healthy economy with low taxes would not raising anyone’s taxes is probably the best recipe for eventually having our economy recover.

And spending restraint has got to be a vital part of that.

And McCain says, no, we’ll have to cut government funding – and one place we’ll have to cut spending is in Healthcare.

Seems to me, Obama’s playing to his supporters – most of whom (I bet) are idealistic, and too young or too green to be making enough to be in that tax bracket. McCain’s talking to the Baby Boomers, who’re much more worried about debt on every front . . .

…

LEHRER: … What do you see as the lessons of Iraq?

McCAIN: I think the lessons of Iraq are very clear that you cannot have a failed strategy that will then cause you to nearly lose a conflict. … basically, he says you have to have a good strategy, and be willing to commit to it.

OBAMA: …The first question is whether we should have gone into the war in the first place.

Now six years ago, I stood up and opposed this war at…We hadn’t caught bin Laden. We hadn’t put al Qaeda to rest, and as a consequence, I thought that it was going to be a distraction. … And I wish I had been wrong for the sake of the country and they had been right, but that’s not the case. We’ve spent over $600 billion so far, soon to be $1 trillion. We have lost over 4,000 lives. We have seen 30,000 wounded, and most importantly, from a strategic national security perspective, al Qaeda is resurgent, stronger now than at any time since 2001.

We took our eye off the ball. So I think the lesson to be drawn is that we should never hesitate to use military force, and I will not, as president, in order to keep the American people safe. But we have to use our military wisely. And we did not use our military wisely in Iraq.

So, what, the lesson is “don’t make bad decisions? … Oh, and, I was right about Iraq…” ?? Great.

And, McCain with the response:

MCCAIN: The next president of the United States is not going to have to address the issue as to whether we went into Iraq or not. The next president of the United States is going to have to decide how we leave, when we leave, and what we leave behind. That’s the decision of the next president of the United States.

At this point, I started laughing. (Good point!) Yes, laughing while on the elliptical machine…

And I’ll tell you, I had a town hall meeting in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, and a woman stood up and she said, “Senator McCain, I want you to do me the honor of wearing a bracelet with my son’s name on it.”

He was 22 years old and he was killed in combat outside of Baghdad, Matthew Stanley, before Christmas last year. This was last August, a year ago. And I said, “I will — I will wear his bracelet with honor.”

(McCain plays the sympathy card)

And this was August, a year ago. And then she said, “But, Senator McCain, I want you to do everything — promise me one thing, that you’ll do everything in your power to make sure that my son’s death was not in vain.” … And [these mothers] all say to me that we don’t want defeat. … we won’t come home in defeat and dishonor and probably have to go back if we fail.

And now, the “Don’t Tread On Me!!” card — Stack ‘em up!!!

OBAMA: Jim, let me just make a point. I’ve got a bracelet, too, from Sergeant [his pause here was way too long...] - from the mother of Sergeant Ryan David Jopeck, given to me in Green Bay. And she said to me, make sure another mother is not going through what I’m going through.

This one got me. Obama’s response to “we can’t give up”: Hey, I’ve got a souvenir, too! More elliptical giggling. The trick is to come up with a different story with the same emotional impact.

Negative ONE to Obama for lack of creativity.

And it is not true you have consistently been concerned about what happened in Afghanistan. At one point, while you were focused on Iraq, you said well, we can “muddle through” Afghanistan. You don’t muddle through the central front on terror and you don’t muddle through going after bin Laden. You don’t muddle through stamping out the Taliban.

I think that is something we have to take seriously. And when I’m president, I will.

Obama: Seriously, folks, it’s all about Afghanistan…

He does have a point.

.

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LEHRER: Senator McCain, what is your reading on the threat to Iran right now to the security of the United States?

MCCAIN: My reading of the threat from Iran is that if Iran acquires nuclear weapons, it is an existential threat to the State of Israel and to other countries in the region because the other countries in the region will feel compelling requirement to acquire nuclear weapons as well.

… existential threat?? what does that even mean…

But the point about a regional arms race is valid. He goes on to point out that Iran is encouraging chaos in Iraq, passing out weapons, etc.

So obviously, our policy over the last eight years has not worked. Senator McCain is absolutely right, we cannot tolerate a nuclear Iran. It would be a game changer. Not only would it threaten Israel, a country that is our stalwart ally, but it would also create an environment in which you could set off an arms race in this Middle East.

Now here’s what we need to do. We do need tougher sanctions. I do not agree with Senator McCain that we’re going to be able to execute the kind of sanctions we need without some cooperation with some countries like Russia and China that are, I think Senator McCain would agree, not democracies, but have extensive trade with Iran but potentially have an interest in making sure Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapon.

But we are also going to have to, I believe, engage in tough direct diplomacy with Iran and this is a major difference I have with Senator McCain, this notion by not talking to people we are punishing them has not worked. It has not worked in Iran, it has not worked in North Korea. In each instance, our efforts of isolation have actually accelerated their efforts to get nuclear weapons. That will change when I’m president of the United States.

Without Precondition?!?!

Then they go tête-a-tête over talking with Ahmadinejad (McCain mispronounces his name – which i’d be harder on, if he hadn’t said the name first, and gotten it right first, some four sentences earlier…).

They seem to agree we have to start talking to people. That dialog is good. That the president can talk to people. That having secretary-level dialoge is good. They throw a lot of names around – Kissinger, especially – to no avail. I think McCain’s trying to say that anytime the President of the US meets face-to-face with someone, it’s a world-scale political legitimization movement. That you have to do what you can to minimize that, or to drive it. And Obama’s trying to say that we may have to recognize dictators we don’t like, to get what we want – that we have to prepare, but we can’t just ignore dictators we don’t like . . .

And I think this is all obvious. Can’t we just go back to the whole fix-the-economy thing???

When we talk about preconditions — and Henry Kissinger did say we should have contacts without preconditions — the idea is that we do not expect to solve every problem before we initiate talks.

And, you know, the Bush administration has come to recognize that it hasn’t worked, this notion that we are simply silent when it comes to our enemies. And the notion that we would sit with Ahmadinejad and not say anything while he’s spewing his nonsense and his vile comments is ridiculous. Nobody is even talking about that.

No, no, go back to that – the Bush administration did something right???!?!?!

MCCAIN: So let me get this right. We sit down with Ahmadinejad, and he says, “We’re going to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth,” and we say, “No, you’re not”? Oh, please.

Right. So no diplomacy where we don’t have leverage? Since that makes sense… Someday, we’re going to have to realize we don’t get to drive all the time, any more . . .

Then things get really fun. Check this out:

MCCAIN: And Senator Obama is parsing words when he says precondition means preparation.

OBAMA: I am not parsing words.

MCCAIN: He’s parsing words, my friends.

OBAMA: I’m using the same words that your advisers use.

(to Lehrer) Please, go ahead.

LEHRER: New lead question.

Gotta give him this. Lehrer knows when it’s time to move on…

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LEHRER: Senator Obama. How do you see the relationship with Russia? Do you see them as a competitor? Do you see them as an enemy? Do you see them as a potential partner?

OBAMA: Well, I think that, given what’s happened over the last several weeks and months, our entire Russian approach has to be evaluated, because a resurgent and very aggressive Russia is a threat to the peace and stability of the region.

Their actions in Georgia were unacceptable. They were unwarranted. And at this point, it is absolutely critical for the next president to make clear that we have to follow through on our six-party — or the six-point cease-fire. They have to remove themselves from South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

It is absolutely important that we have a unified alliance and that we explain to the Russians that you cannot be a 21st-century superpower, or power, and act like a 20th-century dictatorship.

And we also have to affirm all the fledgling democracies in hat region … And to countries like Georgia and the Ukraine, I think we have to insist that they are free to join NATO if they meet the requirements, and they should have a membership action plan immediately to start bringing them in.

Now, we also can’t return to a Cold War posture with respect to Russia. It’s important that we recognize there are going to be some areas of common interest. One is nuclear proliferation.

They have not only 15,000 nuclear warheads, but they’ve got enough to make another 40,000, and some of those loose nukes could fall into the hands of al Qaeda.

So, we can’t get mad at them, ’cause we can’t actually insist they back down . ..

… You deal with Russia based on, what are your — what are the national security interests of the United States of America?

Interesting. So we have to return to a selfish strategy. Anything to do with national debt, an overstretched military, and a failed international reputation…?

And we have to recognize that the way they’ve been behaving lately demands a sharp response from the international community and our allies.

This is nice to say. I think it’s kinda weak, in the face of the international whine-and-shrug performed post-Georgian invasion…

LEHRER: Two minutes on Russia, Senator McCain.

MCCAIN: … I looked into Mr. Putin’s eyes, and I saw three letters, a “K,” a “G,” and a “B.” And their aggression in Georgia is not acceptable behavior.

This line would’ve been more effective, if McCain hadn’t then spent some time chuckling at his own joke . . .

I don’t believe we’re going to go back to the Cold War. I am sure that that will not happen. But I do believe that we need to bolster our friends and allies. And that wasn’t just about a problem between Georgia and Russia. It had everything to do with energy.

… It’s not accidental that the presidents of Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine flew to Georgia, flew to Tbilisi, where I have spent significant amount of time with a great young president, Misha Saakashvili.

<insert massive name-and-place knowledge-dropping here. > Even I was impressed. He does \ know the playing field. He’s been there, and as an adult.Check on experience, check on commanderishness.

…. and I’m tired, so jumping to the very end:

OBAMA: Well, let me just make a closing point. You know, my father came from Kenya. That’s where I get my name.

(yes, we know)… McCain made some age jokes, too. They know their bad-publicity spots . . .

And in the ’60s, he wrote letter after letter to come to college here in the United States because the notion was that there was no other country on Earth where you could make it if you tried. The ideals and the values of the United States inspired the entire world.

I don’t think any of us can say that our standing in the world now, the way children around the world look at the United States, is the same.

And part of what we need to do, what the next president has to do — and this is part of our judgment, this is part of how we’re going to keep America safe — is to — to send a message to the world that we are going to invest in issues like education, we are going to invest in issues that — that relate to how ordinary people are able to live out their dreams.

And that is something that I’m going to be committed to as president of the United States.

MCCAIN: Jim, when I came home from prison, I saw our veterans being very badly treated, and it made me sad. And I embarked on an effort to resolve the POW-MIA issue, which we did in a bipartisan fashion, and then I worked on normalization of relations between our two countries so that our veterans could come all the way home.

I guarantee you, as president of the United States, I know how to heal the wounds of war, I know how to deal with our adversaries, and I know how to deal with our friends.

]]> http://lningram.wordpress.com/2008/09/26/debate-on/feed/ 0 LNIngram http://lningram.wordpress.com/2008/09/25/no-we-really-are-all-the-same/ http://lningram.wordpress.com/2008/09/25/no-we-really-are-all-the-same/#comments Thu, 25 Sep 2008 08:10:48 +0000 lningram http://lningram.wordpress.com/?p=601 Continue reading →]]> From Overheard in New York:

Hobo #1: Stop playing your f***ing drum, I hear it all the way over here.
Hobo #2: I was here first, motherf***er!
Hobo #3: You guys, why can’t you just play together?
Hobo #2: Nah, f**k you man! Stay out of it!
Hobo #3: You should die. You gonna die. Tonight!
Hobo #2: Are you threatening me, man?
Hobo #3 (laughing): Nah, man, I’m just a shoe shiner, but you’re seriously gonna die.

From Great moments in US Foreign Policy:

China: Stop the Capitalism now, I really mean it.
Taiwan: I was into Capitalism before you were a second world country, motherf***er!
US of A: You guys, why can’t you just play together?
China: Nah, f**k you man! Stay out of it!
Taiwan: You should die. You gonna die. Tonight! (China’s gonna kill you, but we appreciate the thought…)
China: Are you threatening me, old man?
US of A: (laughing): Nah, man, I’m just a liberty lover. But seriously. You’re gonna die.

or perhaps…

Russia: Stop playing your f***ing drum, I hear it all the way over here.
Georgia: I’m not playing a drum!
US of A: You guys, why can’t you just play together? …