Omniquity

I’ve been using the Mac Mini for about a month now. I definitely give it a thumb’s up. I have not once longed for my laptop since transitioning to the Mini.

Aside from the expected boost in speed from the latest processor, here are the pluses:

• Absolutely silent, and runs much cooler than the MBP. Intensive disk operations will heat it up noticeably, but with ordinary operation it’s barely warm to the touch
• The smaller footprint is nice, and it’s a beautiful piece of industrial design in any case
• The four USB ports on the back reduce the need for an external expander and/or cable swapping (the Dell monitor I use also has USB ports built in, so between the two I’ve got plenty of USB capacity)
• The ability to pinch the screen to expand or contract it (like on an iPad) is a great feature for my poor eyes
• Lion is great on start up—it’s quick and it will bring you back to the same point when you shut down: same browser tabs are opened, same apps are open
• Lion is also much faster when shutting down

I have but one complaint:

• The external disk drive takes up some of the footprint saved by the Mini itself, plus it could use a slightly longer USB cable for more flexibility in placement

This doesn’t seem like much, but given the pain usually associated with migrating to a new computer, the highest praise I can give to the Mini is that the migration was virtually painless and operation since has been flawless (I don’t think there’s been a single crash of an app, let alone the OS).

If you don’t need the massive power of a true desktop and you have other mobile devices to relieve you of the need for a laptop, the Mini is a perfect choice.

(Source: tumblr.com)

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Further to my earlier post on the death penalty, a case in point:

http://fieldnotes.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/09/21/7880191-two-versions-of-justice-in-troy-davis-case

Seven of the nine witnesses who testified against Davis later recanted or changed their statements. Several claimed police coercion. One of those witnesses, Jeffrey Sapp, said, “I got tired of them harassing me… I told them that Troy told me he did it, but it wasn’t true… I didn’t want to have any more problems with the cops, so I testified against Troy.”  Davis’ defense also claims a lack of physical evidence. The murder weapon was never recovered.  All of it was presented during previous appeals and attempts at a retrial. Those attempts failed.

I’m mystified how the police or prosecutors can look at this case and feel good about themselves or the jobs they are doing. This is not justice, it is the state wielding its ultimate power to satisfy some primal urge for revenge-any revenge. Shameful.

Coincidentally, if ever there were a case to be made for the death penalty, this would be it:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44613428/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts

A horrible, horrifying, remorseless crime. Did he “deserve” the death penalty? In some cosmic sense, probably yes. But there are equally horrible criminals who committed equally horrifying crimes who are not facing the death penalty. When a penalty so severe, so uncorrectable, so final, is administered so randomly, it cannot be seen as just.

(Source: tumblr.com)

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I love a good laugh. We’re not blessed with a lot of options for live comedy in Singapore, but as with most things cultural there has been steady improvement. Unfortunately, in one respect at least, comedy itself has taken a step backwards.

I am very difficult to offend, and the F-bomb does not, in an of itself, bother me at all. But judging by the comics we saw last night, if you’re not dropping that bomb every other word then you’re either a newbie or consigned to the Catskills / Poconos circuit. Is it not f*#king possible for these f*#king people to express their f*#king selves without saying “f*#k” or some f*#king variation of it six f*#king times in a f*#king sentence? For f*#k’s sake, I’m not f*#king offended by it, I’m simply f*#king annoyed by it. I mean, how f*#king hard is it for you, you f*#k, to read this f*#king sh!t? You get pretty f*#king weary of this pretty f*#king fast, don’t you? f*#king right. And after a while, you start counting the times they say “f*#k” instead of listening to what they’re saying.

Don’t get me wrong, these comics were funny. Seriously funny. Hilariously funny. (At least 4 out of the 5 were. The Aussie, who curiously was the Scottish comic of the year, was uneven at best, and not coincidentally he used “f*#k” most liberally and crudely.) Some gags had people on the verge of rolling in the aisles, literally. And some of the funniest lines made judicious use of the F-bomb. But the fact is, “f*#k” is no longer shocking and, by itself, is rarely funny. So I don’t understand why they feel the need to sprinkle it liberally about their routines.

And that’s all the f*#k I’ve got to say about that.

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I met a first grader I’ll call V on Monday. My company organizes various “Cares” events throughout the year and this one involved chaperoning a few dozen students from a home for children at risk for an outing at the Singapore Zoo. I was assigned to chaperone V for the day.

V was very shy when we were introduced. We sat on the floor of the home’s main hall. There were five chaperones and four children in our group. V didn’t talk, wouldn’t shake hands, or really even acknowledge us as we tried to get to know the kids. I asked V a few questions about her socks (which had monkeys on them) and her bag (which had a famous football player on it) to try to break the ice, but she didn’t respond. I thought this was going to be a very long day.

After a few minutes, V reached toward me and placed her index finger on my forearm. She asked me why I had so much hair there (I’m a typical Caucasian male and have a lot of body hair, unlike most Asians). The other girls giggled. I mumbled something about being born that way, which V seemed to accept. Ice broken.

As we assembled to move towards the buses, one of the adults from the home mentioned something about how brave I was to be watching V because she needs a lot of attention. I wasn’t quite sure what that meant but would soon find out.

On the bus V decided (with a little prodding from me) that she would like to sit in the front seat so that we could see out the front window. She promptly turned around and looked towards the back of the bus for the first five minutes, mostly silent, thinking about something. She then turned around and stood in front of the seat, looking out the side window, leaning over the partition to play with the hair of the guide in the jump seat in front of us, and finally resting with her chin in her hands looking out the windshield. I adopted the same posture and we stayed like that for a good portion of the trip.

When we got off the bus and gathered for the orientation (we were to play a game, and the guide was explaining the rules), V noticed a lizard in the leaves and left to investigate. I coaxed her back but then she began to play on the bench with a giant overhanging leaf. She had absolutely no interest in the game or the rules. She started to wander off again and one of the home’s supervisors scolded her. V stood quietly for a few moments then clambered back up on the bench to play with the leaf again.

As the orientation finished and the teams moved into the zoo to begin the game, it became clear that V and I would be at best occasional contributors to our team. She was distracted by anything and everything. She moved at her own pace, alternating between intense interest in an animal or a bug and then racing across the path to touch a flower or dip her hand in a stream. We were constantly behind the team and they would occasionally have to send scouts back to find us. When she would run away from me I would call her name but she almost never responded. I did a lot of chasing.

Early in the stroll one of my colleagues saw my plight and came back to help. We each held one of V’s hands and then took a few quick steps ahead to swing V into the air. Little did we know what we started. She loved that and we must have heard “one more time” about 200 times that day. The team game involved answering questions based on information from various placards around the zoo, and it got so my colleague and I would tell V that we would only swing her after the team answered the next question. Of course she didn’t get one swing she got five or six, but at least it was not constant.

By now you have figured out that V has some hyperactivity and/or attention disorder. I didn’t ask for the exact diagnosis because knowing it would not have made a difference to the way I interacted with her. We were at the zoo for about five hours and I would say she was like I described above for more than four of them. She did sit reasonably still at lunch and she was surprisingly attentive during a 20 minute stage show that involved a story about the rainforest (which was probably over her head) and a lot of trained animals. But otherwise she was a swirl of unfocused activity.

Several times during the day the adults from the home remarked to me how difficult V is and thanked me for my patience with her. I have to say that it was, in fact, easy—she is a beautiful child. She laughed - a big gap-toothed smile from the loss of her front baby teeth - almost the entire day. She ran with unbridled enthusiasm towards the next object of her attention, feet pointed out and arms pumping furiously. About 15 minutes into the day she let me hold her hand without protest, and by the end of the day she would grasp my hand unbidden. I had gained the trust of the little girl who wouldn’t even say hello when we were introduced.

After lunch V and I walked around the kids zoo while the others finished their meals. She wanted to feed the goats and pulled up grass to stick through the fence. It was probably not allowed (this being a zoo and Singapore, after all), but I decided not to be too adamant about stopping her because she had probably been told “no” a million times in her short life and a little discovery on her own couldn’t hurt. She is clearly someone who does not fit the mold and that has to be difficult in a society that places so much stock in conformity.

There are many other episodes to relate from my day with V — squashing a fly on the glass in the baboon enclosure, having her picture taken on top of all the bronze animal sculptures, refusing to walk because her legs were “sleepy” then racing off to the next animal, being surprised by a cheetah who growled and leapt at the glass towards her, deciding at the last second that she really didn’t want that giant snake put around her neck for a picture, being scared of but eventually riding the pony as the guest of the generous father who had an extra ticket (and earning looks and comments of jealousy from her mates), twirling her around so that we both got dizzy, having our picture taken and putting the Polaroid in her ID lanyard, going missing from the gift shop for a few nervous moments at the very end of the day, and waving goodbye (I’d like to think to me in particular) as her bus pulled away from ours in the parking lot. I’d grown attached to V in the few hours we were together. When the kids and volunteers separated just before leaving, I looked for her in the crowd and moved around so that I could see her. I was sad to say goodbye.

I’ve thought a lot about V in the last 36 hours — what a beautiful child she is, how much fun I had with her, how easy it was for me to be patient with her condition, and how difficult it must be to live with her 24/7. She must require constant attention. I can see how a parent who is lacking in parenting skills or time or both would be completely overwhelmed. I can appreciate why the caregivers at the home have to establish rigid rules to keep V in line. And I can understand that not only the rules but their rigidity must be antithetical to the very core of V’s being. No doubt she struggles with her environment as much as the adults in her life struggle with her.

I’ve also thought about V’s future. She is beautiful and innocent, if challenging, now. What will she be like as a teenager? Will her condition moderate, or worsen? Will she become frustrated and belligerent as she becomes more independent and chafes at the rules she is subjected to? Can a child with her condition, in her economic and parental environment, hope to develop to her full potential? Does she have a promising future, or is she consigned to a life of struggle in a hard world that will not care about her condition nor accommodate her needs? These are big questions, and as important and immediate as they are to this little girl who has touched my heart, they apply equally to millions of children around the world. My day with V has certainly opened my eyes to the plight of children with her condition.

I hope to see V again. I’d like to buy her a new bag, if the rules permit, because somehow I don’t think she cares much about the footballer who graces her current bag. I’d like to think that she will remember our day at the zoo as a special time, though I think I will remember her long after she has forgotten me. What a beautiful child. What a special day.

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Headline: “Ex-Powell aide: Dick Cheney fears prosecution for war crimes”

See source link below and my previous blog entry. I won’t go so far as to say he deserves this, because punishing any US government official as a war criminal sets a precedent with extremely grave consequences for all senior US government officials. But, there would be some justice, particularly if he is not held to account in any other way. (Note that I said “Idiot” and not “War Criminal”)

(Source: MSNBC)

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Nope, the Iraq war didn’t hurt America’s reputation. Nope, water boarding isn’t bad. I’m sure extraordinary renditions really aren’t that extraordinary, either. What’s a little torture among friends, a little spying on your own countrymen, a little lying to the UN?

No, I guess the ends justify the means in Dick Cheney’s world, and if the rest of us are too stupid and naive to agree with him then I guess that’s our problem.

Arrogance without morals or a conscience is a dangerous combination. Unfortunately, Cheney’s legacy is our problem.

(Source: MSN)

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We Homo Sapiens tend to think that we are masters of our domain, and in many respects we are. But I have concluded there are some things that are simply beyond the present powers of humans to implement safely and fairly. For those things, the stakes are too high, the risks are too great, and our social systems are too weak. The product of those factors inevitably leads to disasters.

Nuclear power - disasters on a large scale. Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, Fukushima. What’s next? Nuclear power is like playing with the ultimate fire. There are two main problems with nuclear power today. First, I don’t believe that the economics of operating a nuclear power plant will support the implementation of a truly safe design (if in fact one exists). Second, our political and legal systems are incapable of ensuring that a safe design would be implemented properly and that the resulting plant would be operated according to prescribed standards. There is too much money involved and money corrupts everything. The regulators are in the pocket of the industry and are toothless, which means regulations are both weak and weakly enforced. Greedy contractors and owners look for ways to cut costs and understaffed, underfunded regulators (because taxpayers are cheap, too) are incapable of discovering their shortcuts and mistakes, or of forcing corrections if they are discovered. The volatile mix means that a disaster of epic proportions is waiting to happen at every nuclear power plant.

The death penalty - disasters on a small scale. Justice derives its legitimacy from fairness. I’m convinced there is no justice system in the world that is capable of implementing the death penalty fairly. The problem, again, is money. How many rich people get the death penalty? In the US, virtually none. They have the resources to hire the best lawyers and bring the most pressure to bear on the (understaffed, underfunded) government. The death penalty is thus visited disproportionately on the poor. Even if everyone sentenced to death “deserved” it in some cosmic sense, it would be unfair because many other rich people who similarly deserved it are spared because they can essentially buy their way out of it. But far worse are the many people wrongly convicted and sentenced because they can’t afford to hire a competent lawyer. [I’m proud to say that my law school, Northwestern University, has established the Center on Wrongful Convictions (http://www.law.northwestern.edu/cwc/), founded by my classmate Larry Marshall (http://www.law.stanford.edu/directory/profile/40/), and that they have to date successfully overturned 13 such wrongful convictions that had resulted in death sentences. But the fact that the Center exists only supports my point.] If the legal system is incapable of administering a penalty fairly across the entire population of wrongdoers, and is incapable of administering the ultimate penalty with virtual 100% assurance of a proper conviction, then that penalty should not be part of the legal system.

My views on both nuclear power and the death penalty have changed over time. My original support for both them was predicated on beliefs that people generally conduct their affairs in good faith and that the justice system (in America, at least) could be relied on to achieve a fair result. Sadly, I’ve learned that when the stakes are high both of those beliefs have turned out to be wrong. The instinct for greed is overwhelming in big business and the only check on that instinct is correspondingly powerful regulation. When the regulation isn’t up to the task, bad things tend to happen (see, Global Financial Crisis). And the American justice system, which I still believe is the best in the world, is capable in theory of administering the death penalty fairly and correctly, but is incapable in practice. Thus, I believe nuclear power must be phased out as rapidly as possible and the death penalty should be abolished immediately.

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I have hundreds of albums in my collection but there are certain favorites I return to time after time. Here they are, in alphabetical order:

• The Allman Brothers Band - The Fillmore Concerts
• The Black Crowes - The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion
• Blue Oyster Cult - Secret Treaties
• Buddy Guy - Sweet Tea
• The Cure - Mixed Up
• Deep Purple - Made in Japan
• Dido - No Angel
• Grand Funk Railroad - Phoenix
• Guster - Lost and Gone Forever
• Incubus - Crow Left of the Murder
• John Mayer Trio - Try!
• Led Zeppelin - [Box Set 1]
• Mogwai - Government Commissions
• Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral [and almost everything else]
• Mstislav Rostropovich - Bach: Cello Suites
• Tool - Undertow
• The Who - Who’s Next

And some recent favorites:

• Bombino - Agadez
• John McVey - Road House Stomp
• John Mellencamp - No Better Than This
• Leonardo Trincabelli - Release
• ZZ Top - Rancho Texicano
• Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - The Social Network [soundtrack]
• Tobacco - Maniac Meat

I’m always looking for new artists. Based on these, who should I try next?

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