October 2008 Archives

Say what you want about the two major political parties in the US, but there is at least one major difference between them: Democrats want as many people to vote as possible. Republicans want as few people to vote as possible. That should tell you everything you need to know which party respects our rights and which doesn't.

If you followed the whole DOJ attorney firing scandal, you'll know that is all part of the continuing effort of the Bush/Rove White House to prosecute their allegations of voter fraud. When the US attorneys wouldn't play ball, they were fired. They couldn't be allowed to get in the way of Rove's permanent Republican majority plan, of which the voter fraud, suppression and intimidation was part and parcel. If your policies are unpopular and people don't like you, the only way to win is stop people from voting.

Since the Republicans are running behind in the polls in the 2008 election, they are stepping up their efforts. TPM has a good rundown of Republican voter suppression efforts underway across the country.

Expect this to get ugly. There will be voter purges, fliers telling people the election was canceled or that black people can vote on Wednesday. There will be angry rioters at some of the Democratic precincts in swing states trying to intimidate Democratic voters. It's really sick and we need to put an end to it.

Our whole process for registering and voting is simply a mess because it's left up to the states and cities. We need a system where you are automatically registered or can register the day of the election. We should remove all barriers to voting. This new early voting system seems to be a huge improvement, but we should think about moving election day to Saturday and maybe in the spring when the weather is better. The original idea was to hold the election on a Tuesday in November was designed to accommodate farmers who need to time to come into the cities to vote and had to the scheduled after the harvest. This is no longer a consideration for us, but we persist out of tradition.

Then there's the whole problem of voting machines. All voting machines should use optical ballots that can both record the vote and the leave a verifiable paper trail that can be used in case of a recall. We need to get rid of touch screen machines and anything like the punch cards that were built before 1950 and are sill in use in many parts of the country. Every one should use the same machines and all the machines should. Period. End of story. Our democracy is too valuable to allow votes to be nullified simply because the machinery of the election isn't up to the task.

Whatever it takes to make it easier for people to vote and make every vote count, we should do it.

Lately I've been watching and doing some trading of the Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) called FXP.

This ETF is one of many that is sold by Proshares that seeks to represent twice the movement in the markets:

UltraShort FTSE/Xinhua China 25 ProShares seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, that correspond to twice (200%) the inverse (opposite) of the daily performance of the FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index.

It's a very powerful instrument. Not only does it give you access to scores of Chinese stocks in one security, but if you are bullish on the market, as I am, you have incredible inverse leverage. However, this is very much like playing with fire.

Earlier this month, bought 100 shares of FXP for 111 dollars and sold it a few days later for 128 bucks for a tidy 10% profit. Then FXP shot up to 183.99 and I felt like and idiot. That was on the 27th, a mere five days after I dumped my shares. If I held on and was able to sell at the peak, which is unlikely, I would have made and additional $5500. Oops.

Well, then FXP started to plummet, and plummet fast. The very next day, the DOW soared almost 900 points and FXP got absolutely hammered. Today, it is trading below 100. Simply amazing.

This is not for the weak of heart.

Saw David Sedaris last night at the War Memorial in the city. It was really fun although it didn't get off to the best start. The guy who introduced him, the general manager from SF public radio station KALW, said Sedaris would be reading from all previously unpublished works. When Sedaris came out, the first story he read was his recently published essay Undecided from the New Yorker.

Nothing compares to Mr. Sedaris reading his own material. His nasally high-pitched voice is tinged with equal measures sadness and sarcasm. So even hearing him read a story I had previously read was a pleasure. Sedaris is a rare breed in the US, a master story teller, along the lines of the late Spalding Gray. His observations are pithy and interesting, filled with horrific insights into our oddly idiosyncratic country.

During the evening, Sedaris read several stories, read some entries from his diary, talking about this and other book tours, and at the took questions from the audience and signed books (there was a huge line). There were lots of juicy tidbits, but my favorite was in the part where he was talking about book tours. He said he loved them. Loved getting out on the road and meeting people. Just recently he was in a hotel room listening to local conservative talk radio. One of the callers said to the host that if Obama wins the election, he's going to leave the country. Sedaris says he's thinking to himself, "AND GO WHERE? THE RIGHT WING PARTS OF EUROPE?".

Here are some past gems for the uninitiated:

STORIES FROM THIS AMERICAN LIFE

47: Christmas and Commerce
Santaland Diaries (at 5:25)

173: Three Kinds of Deception
Accidental Deception (at 44:10)

Many more stories on the This American Life website.

Somehow managed to score "best original costume" at the halloween party I went to last night. The hat made the costume, but the ensemble was pretty impressive since I picked most of it (vest, tie, shoes, jacket) up at Goodwill earlier in the day. The pink and grey stripped socks (not pictured) also were a big hit. I still really need a cool pocket watch to finish the costume, but it obviously went over pretty well.

Here's the Wonderland crew, Chesire Cat, The Queen of Hearts, and, of course, Alice:

Finally got my act together and mounted my new yellow Continental tires. It's the first time I've put on new tires myself and it's a real a pain in the ass.

It's like field fixing two flats, but even worse because the tire, which has been folded over for packaging since it left the factory, is incredibly unwieldy. It keeps wanting to flip around backwards instead of staying in a circle making it tricky to get around the rim. Then add in the cats trying desperately to knock over my bike and it becomes a bit of nightmare. But I got them mounted and they looked* great.

More pics here, here and here.

*Of course, after one day of riding, they are now gray and yellow tires.

More photos on Flickr.

I just finished watching Frontline's documentary about the current state of the global climate crises, Heat°. As always, Frontline is able to frame the problems we are facing in a very stark and dramatic fashion.

This movie really highlights some of the structural road blocks to making meaningful change in the United States of America and the world. Entrenched interests are so deep and have so much money and influence that they are able to thwart any efforts to head the USA in the right direction. I'm specifically referring to Detroit automakers who are recalcitrant about fuel economy, corn growers who demand ethanol subsidies, coal states like West Virginia and Wyoming, and most importantly, oil companies like Exxon, Chevron, BP & Shell who steadfastly refuse to invest in alternative energy.

If we can't shift the current paradigm where the economic interests of the few greatly outweigh the environmental needs of many, we're in a lot of trouble. Sadly, It's going to take a disaster of a massive scale to release politicians from the perceived obligations and allow them to opportunity to make the right decisions. That's the regressive, backwards history of this country. Whether they allow themselves to make the right decisions is still up for open debate.

If you don't have access to PBS, you can watch the movie online.

Humorist David Sedaris muses in the New Yorker about the oddly inexplicable character, the undecided voter. Here's the main kernel:

To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. "Can I interest you in the chicken?" she asks. "Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?"

To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.

Worth a few minutes of your time. Sedaris will be in town next week at the War Memorial Opera House and I'm going to see him. I've been listening to him for years on NPR and I've read several of his books, so I'm really excited.

This picture is from photojournalist Callie Shell and I think it speaks volumes about the qualities that Obama will bring to the White House. If he wins, and it's looking more likely every day, he will be replacing a president who has taken more vacation time and spent more time Camp David than any of his predecessors. It's time we had some at the helm of this country who is going to work his ass off for the country.

Here's the photo cation:

Senator Obama was doing press interviews by telephone in a holding room between events. Sometime later as he was getting ready to begin his event, he asked me if I was photographing his shoes. When I said yes, he told me that he had already had them resoled once since he entered the race a year earlier. Providence, R.I., 3/1/2008.

More photos from Callie Shell's beautiful collection.

This was really a recovery ride from yesterday. I got a late start—didn't leave the house until about 1:3o, so by the time I got to the Ranger Station half way up Mt. Diablo, the sun was setting and I had to head home. As it was, I had to ride home from Rockridge BART station to my house in the dark—probably not the best plan as I was wearing all black and had no lights on the bike. I managed to make it home safely. Another great weekend of riding. Lots of pics and data for you.

More photos on Flickr.

Here, Colin Powell begins to redeem himself as he eloquently states the reasons that he will be voting for Obama. It's going to be a long before he can be forgiven for his performance before the UN that sealed the deal on a baseless war with Iraq. However, if can help being some votes over to the Democratic side or dishearten a few Republicans and keep them from voting, it will help him regain the almost universal respect he had before he went to the UN and gave that speech (Subsequently, Powell said he was misled by the CIA, but that hardly absolves him.)

In all truth, Obama might not need Powell's endorsement to win this election, but as the McCain-Palin campaign sinks to new depths trying to find the right slime that will stick to Obama, every little bit helps.

Humbled. That's how I felt when I finished the Kings Ridge ride. It was only 55 miles, but it was easily the most challenging ride I've ever been on. The sheer quantity and severity of the climbs was daunting and the descents were downright frightening in some places. However, the scenery along the ridge and along the coast was spectacular. Even that is not going to make me come back to this ride any time soon. I might feel different next year, but right I'll be happy to see Kings Ridge and Meyers Grade through a windshield.

More photos on Flickr.

Tomorrow morning I'm heading up to Sonoma with Team Schwab for our end of season ride. We'll be taking on the King Ridge-Meyers Grade. I'm excited because this is supposed to be one of the best rides in the universe. I'm nervous, because, although it's relatively short at 55 miles, there's a monstrous amount of climbing and I don't know that I'm up for that much suffering. I'm certainly up for the challenge, otherwise I wouldn't be doing it, but the sheer amount of pain in my near future is daunting. Fortunately I'll have some good friends from work with me. That is, If I can keep up with them. I'll have to suck it up.

Here's how the Santa Rosa Cycling club website describes the ride:

This 55-mile loop with 4500' of climb is considered one of the most beautiful, fulfilling bike rides in the world. Once into the hills, there are no services and only one likely spot for water. Be prepared, fit, and self-sufficient. Begin in Monte Rio at the north end of the bridge over the Russian River. Head west on River, turn R on Austin Creek, R on Cazadero Hwy, and take a break in the small town of Cazadero (get water!) before heading into the hills on King Ridge Rd. King Ridge climbs steeply up to an exposed ridegeline called The Butcherknife with views in all directions. It is very remote, very scenic, and very quiet. At the end of King Ridge, turn L on Hauser Bridge and descend very steeply (20% in places) to the Gualala River, then climb again (road name changes to Seaview). If you need more water, try the Ft Ross elementary school. At the end of Seaview, continue straight on Ft Ross Rd for less than a mile and straight again onto Meyers Grade. This beautifully paved road is almost as beautiful as King Ridge and snakes along the ridgeline high above the ocean before plunging down to the beach in a wild, several mile-long tumble. At the end of Meyers Grade, turn L and continue the descent on Hwy 1. After the beach town of Jenner at the mouth of the Russian River, turn L on River and return to Duncans Mills, turn R on Moscow Rd and follow it to Monte Rio. Turn L and cross the bridge to the finish. For more miles and more climbs, at the end of King Ridge, turn R on Tin Barn, L on Stewarts Point (rest stop at the Stewarts Point Store), L on Hwy 1 south to the historic Ft Ross trading post, then L up the brutal, 2.6, 1500' climb on Ft Ross Rd. At the top, turn R and continue on Meyers Grade.

I've ridden that little stretch of road between Jenner and Monte Rio on the Yellowjackets Petaluma ride, absolutely our hardest and most rewarding ride. But I've never been north of there along the coast. I suspect it's going to be spectacular once the fog lifts. The forecast in Monte Rio calls for a clear day, around 50 degrees F at start time (8:00am) and rising into the mid 70s around noon. You really couldn't ask for better weather, so I'm hoping it's right on the money. I should be able to take tons of great pics. I'll have the top 4-5 posted here with the rest on Flickr, as usual.

The route slip is here. We'll most likely be doing the tough one.

Here's the route map:

More photos on Flickr.

There's an interesting story in the NYT, Sorry, Fido, It's Just a Guy Thing, about straight single guys with cats.

John Scalzi, 39, an author in Bradford, Ohio, has been a cat guy his entire life. In September 2006, he posted a picture of a piece of bacon taped to his cat, Ghlaghghee (pronounced Fluffy — an ode to George Bernard Shaw), on his Web site www.scalzi.com/whatever. Thousands of viewers apparently found this hilarious.

Mr. Scalzi, who is now married and has a daughter, blames Hollywood for the continual bad rap that has befallen the male cat owner. Originally, he said, only strong men like Don Corleone, or the villains in a James Bond film, had cats.

"But then in the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties, Hollywood decided that we need to have the token gay man as the witty sidekick friend of the main female protagonist," he said. " 'What kind of signature thing can we give him to convey that he is not an entirely masculine being? I know! We'll give him a big fluffy cat!' "

In fact, Mr. Scalzi thinks that dogs are for the weaker of spirit, since the dog is, in effect, "your wingman."

"If you're feeling insecure about your space in the world, you get a dog because he will always back you up," he said. "He's the insecure man's best friend."

A man with a cat, on the other hand, "is secure with himself," he said. "He's sharing his space with a predator*." (my emphasis)

I'd love to have a dog and have been thinking about adopting a greyhound for years. But my lifestyle, skiing most weekends in the winter and being away from the house for long stretches, either for work or cycling or traveling, doesn't really lend itself to having a dog. As much as I want one, it will have to wait.

On the other hand, while my cats insinuated themselves into my life, they generally fit nicely into my little world. They can take care of themselves for days on end. All they need is a enough food, water and a clean litter box.

Plus how could you not love these guys?

*To be fair, I live with one predator and one predatard.

This photo is from an exhibition in Oslo called The Places We Live by Jonas Bendiksen. I've seen many places like this in my travels around the world. It's always sad and difficult and it reminds of how lucky I am and how much I have—a good thing to be reminded of in these time of financial turmoil.

I can remember the first time I was in Indonesia, back in 1995. I left Jakarta by train from Gambir Station and I was stunned to see all these people living in corrugated-roofed lean-tos in utter squalor along the side of the tracks within a few meters of where the trains came roaring by every day. There was no running water, sewage or electricity. It was middle age living right along side modern technology. It was frightening. It must have been a miserable existence for these people who moved from the countryside to scrap for a better life and found no better place to dwell than in the garbage dump that was the side of the tracks.

The place above at least has electricity and was clearly pulled together with the discarded detritus of semi-modern economy. How ironic it to live in self-fashioned house festooned with marketing from major transnational corporations.

While I was contributing to my 401K with my old employee, I had no problems holding on when the market went down because I was buying on the cheap. However, as I had left the company and was no longer contributing to the account, I didn't want to limit my options to the handful of crappy mutual funds selected for me by the no-nothings in our benefits department, so I rolled it over. It was already down 23% for the year and headed further south. I had the money in cash out of the market for the last few weeks, which was extremely lucky.

I don't think we've seen the bottom of this market. Not even close. I think there are many other shoes to drop. Bank failures around the world (Iceland is Melting?). Massive sell offs in the major markets and all the minor ones. The coming shopping disaster this Christmas that is going to cripple the US economy. Plus god knows what else.

Exposed by Rolling Stone of all places:

Few politicians have so actively, or successfully, crafted their own myth of greatness. In McCain's version of his life, he is a prodigal son who, steeled by his brutal internment in Vietnam, learned to put "country first." Remade by the Keating Five scandal that nearly wrecked his career, the story goes, McCain re-emerged as a "reformer" and a "maverick," righteously eschewing anything that "might even tangentially be construed as a less than proper use of my office."

It's a myth McCain has cultivated throughout his decades in Washington. But during the course of this year's campaign, the mask has slipped. "Let's face it," says Larry Wilkerson, a retired Army colonel who served as chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell. "John McCain made his reputation on the fact that he doesn't bend his principles for politics. That's just not true."

And Matt Taibi's take on Sarah Palin is just priceless less for what it says about Sarah Palin than what says about the country we've become that would allow someone like her to even get this close to the vice presidency.

Then there's the God stuff: Palin belongs to a church whose pastor, Ed Kalnins, believes that all criticisms of George Bush "come from hell," and wondered aloud if people who voted for John Kerry could be saved. Kalnins, looming as the answer to Obama's Jeremiah Wright, claims that Alaska is going to be a "refuge state" for Christians in the last days, last days which he sometimes speaks of in the present tense. Palin herself has been captured on video mouthing the inevitable born-again idiocies, such as the idea that a recent oil-pipeline deal was "God's will." She also described the Iraq War as a "task that is from God" and part of a heavenly "plan." She supports teaching creationism and "abstinence only" in public schools, opposes abortion even for victims of rape, has denied the science behind global warming and attends a church that seeks to convert Jews and cure homosexuals.

All of which tells you about what you'd expect from a raise-the-base choice like Palin: She's a puffed-up dimwit with primitive religious beliefs who had to be educated as to the fact that the Constitution did not exactly envision government executives firing librarians. Judging from the importance progressive critics seem to attach to these revelations, you'd think that these were actually negatives in modern American politics. But Americans like politicians who hate books and see the face of Jesus in every tree stump. They like them stupid and mean and ignorant of the rules. Which is why Palin has only seemed to grow in popularity as more and more of these revelations have come out.

. . .

The truly disgusting thing about Sarah Palin isn't that she's totally unqualified, or a religious zealot, or married to a secessionist, or unable to educate her own daughter about sex, or a fake conservative who raised taxes and horked up earmark millions every chance she got. No, the most disgusting thing about her is what she says about us: that you can ram us in the ass for eight solid years, and we'll not only thank you for your trouble, we'll sign you up for eight more years, if only you promise to stroke us in the right spot for a few hours around election time.

Democracy doesn't require a whole lot of work of its citizens, but it requires some: It requires taking a good look outside once in a while, and considering the bad news and what it might mean, and making the occasional tough choice, and soberly taking stock of what your real interests are.

This is a very different thing from shopping, which involves passively letting sitcoms melt your brain all day long and then jumping straight into the TV screen to buy a Southern Style Chicken Sandwich because the slob singing "I'm Lovin' It!" during the commercial break looks just like you. The joy of being a consumer is that it doesn't require thought, responsibility, self-awareness or shame: All you have to do is obey the first urge that gurgles up from your stomach. And then obey the next. And the next. And the next.

Nailed it!

I was robbed at gunpoint by 2 kids at 545pm as I was walking home from the bus stop. All they got was my blackberry before they got scared and ran off. I'm still a little freaked out. I'm not hurt. Didn't lost my wallet or any money, but I don't have a phone, which really sucks. More details after I calm down a bit.

Okay, here are the details for the morbidly curious:

It happened around 5:45 as I was walking from the bus stop to my house. I was walking down the street reading the New York Times on my Blackberry (obviously a mistake in my neighborhood). Two kids, African-American, probably between 17 and 21, maybe younger, I don't really know, wearing identical white hooded sweatshirts, baggy blue sneaker and white high tops, came up behind me. One jammed a gun in my lower back and when I turned around, told me to drop my cell phone. I thought he was kidding at first. I couldn't believe I was being mugged in daylight on a busy street with cars going by, but I was.

The kid had the gun wrapped in the sleeve of his white hooded sweatshirt. I could see the muzzle and it looked enough like a real gun. I wasn't going to risk being shot over my phone, so I dropped it. The other one picked it up and then demanded my wallet. I was stalling and something scared them and they took off back up the street.

I wanted to call 911, but I didn't have a phone and I don't have a land line at home, so I tried stopping cars. The first couple ignored me, but then someone stopped. When I told him what happened, he said he just saw the cops stop a couple of kids up the street. I didn't know if it was true or not. I ran back up the street, but didn't see anything. It was too much to expect that they'd be caught that quickly, let alone at all.

As I was walking back to my place, I saw one of those white "unmarked" state police vehicles going the other way. I flagged him down, told him what happened and he called the Oakland PD. I gave a statement, told the cops I'd help with the investigation and prosecution in anyway, but I don't think this will exactly be a top priority case. Officer Moore said something about new technology that would enable them to track cell phones, but I'm skeptical since he didn't ask for any information about the phone other than the number, which I now have with a new phone. We'll see.

So they only got my Blackberry. As irritating and expensive as it is to replace a phone, at least I didn't have to cancel credit cards or get a new driver's license. I had most of my addresses/phone numbers stored on my Blackberry. It's probably a good time anyway to check in and get updated contact info. So please send me your phone numbers and addresses and I'll start the tedious work of rebuilding my digital address book.

A friend at work turned me on goodreads.com, a great to to keep track of the books you read, make suggestions to others and find out what your friends are reading.

You can create custom bookshelves, join groups and create lists.

Please join up and add me as a friend so I can see what your reading.