Comments on Contrary Brin: This blog "blacklisted"... for demanding we respec...

My daily commute on the MAX is actually faster (an...

2007-12-28T20:00:00.000-08:00

My daily commute on the MAX is actually faster (and more productive) than driving.

Rob, I agree. My experience is that the Dan Ryan in Chicago is just awful.

I took the Amtrak Cascades north of Seattle during the week. Quite enjoyable and scenic. Hope to take it to Vancouver, BC, in a few months.

So that's why they won't extend MAX a few miles ac...

2007-12-23T22:39:00.000-08:00

So that's why they won't extend MAX a few miles across the river? I had no idea. May I ask what the evidence for this is? Any public statements? What's the official reason? I tried googling but couldn't get anything.

(Hails from across the river!)

I've long wondered why previous generations could build the interstates, but we can't even get any public transit out here (CTran definitely doesn't count). Also, why do they have bullet trains in other countries, but the MAX can't keep up with the cars on the freeway?

It's really hard to see the Singularity coming at this rate.

Well aware, Jonathan, but the way this remains Con...

2007-12-22T13:06:00.000-08:00

Well aware, Jonathan, but the way this remains Constitutional is that the Federal government is essentially just agreeing to endorse whatever the States and Tribes come up with, as long as it's within the parameters of the Bill.

The Federal Government is still the technical signatory.

Anything else would take an Ammendment.

In the interest of clarity, I'm not a huge fan of the Casinos, and see absolutely no problem with anyone arguing against them, but we're talking about here is not an "ethnic priviledge" but rather an issue of soveriegnty.

Arnie is popular right now because he's essentially stopped doing anything.

This time around, the CA tribes have done a far better job of making their case, using a small portion of that gaming revenue to buy air time to correct Arnies race baiting lies about how "Indians don't pay taxes".

As long as he just stays in his cigar tent most of the time and shows up to shake hands with firefighters, he'll remain popular.

(Zorgon the Extremely Depressed)Disastrous FY 2008...

2007-12-22T11:56:00.000-08:00

(Zorgon the Extremely Depressed)

Disastrous FY 2008 budget for Fermilab.

Huge budget cuts. They're going to have to lay off 200 full-time scientists so we can continue the insanity in Iraq.

Well, Hawker (and Anon), while it's true that it's...

2007-12-22T11:44:00.000-08:00

Well, Hawker (and Anon), while it's true that it's supposed to be Congress' responsibility to make treaties with the indigenous tribes in US territory, they voluntarily abdicated this responsibility to the states during the Reagan administration (IIRC). Each state was supposed to reach its own agreements with the reservations regarding gambling.

Yet these agreements had to be reached in accordance with Federal laws regarding gambling (basically nonexistent), rather than whatever laws the states had on the topic. Go fig.

Russel went of his nut years ago.

2007-12-22T10:10:00.000-08:00

Russel went of his nut years ago.

@Stefan, I could be wrong, but I've seen people on...

2007-12-22T10:01:00.000-08:00

@Stefan, I could be wrong, but I've seen people on this side of town behave consistent with that kind of attitude when it comes to changing school boundaries.

It's also possible they're far more worried about gangs than the ethnicity of their members.

I've got to agree with Anon here. The "First Nati...

2007-12-22T07:46:00.000-08:00

I've got to agree with Anon here. The "First Nations" are sovereign nations inside the United States; and do not answer to state governments.
And Organized Crime does not follow LEGAL gambling, but to run a large scale ILLEGAL gambling requires organization.
Now, looking at anything involving crime and/or politics, always ask the question "Who Benefits?" (Quo Vidas?) Who benefits from driving Indian casinos in California out of business? Could it be casino owners in Reno and Las Vegas?

Back to the original subject... During my last months of active service (in early 2004), I spent a lot of time awaiting medical appointments. Such time was often spent in the base internet cafe. There I found that websites that were directly political were blocked; I had no access to the DNC or RNC websites. So, I went to a private site called "Democratic Underground"... and found it blocked also. "Free Republic" was not blocked, but any site with the words "Democratic" or "Republican" in the name were. Amazingly enough, the shipboard web server allowed me access to all of them. Seems it was a "Base" rule, not a "Shipboard" rule.

As for why you were banned, Dr. Brin... I'd say it wasn't for demanding that politicians respect the professionals, it was for requesting that the professionals ignore the politicians and do thier job! By saying "Ignore orders and do the right thing." You're encouraging disloyalty to the Regime, Dr. Brin! And this is a regime that (as you've pointed out) prefers LOYALTY to competence or honesty or doing the right thing.

A couple of quick links.Military lawyers stay unbr...

2007-12-22T07:15:00.000-08:00

A couple of quick links.

Military lawyers stay unbridled from the Boston Globe, about how Bush's push to take over the JAG was abandoned. Which probably means they're just gonna try something more subtle. Or not, these guys aren't big on subtle.

On indian nations: THE Lakota Indians, who gave the world legendary warriors Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, have withdrawn from treaties with the US.

Except, not really. "It's mostly about Russell Means ...

...doing something without tribal authority or more than minuscule support from the Lakota people. Not that the complaints aren't real enough. But this kind of action, by tradition, can only be taken with consent of the tribe. That has been the underlying foundation of legal action by the Lakotas since the first lawsuit was filed in 1921. Without consent, Means is no different that the "chiefs" who signed treaties in the 1850s and '60s without the OK of their people."

And now I have to go keep score for a girl's basketball scrimmage, so I'll post more later.

Arnie, the Austrian Immigrant who largely rose to ...

2007-12-21T21:55:00.000-08:00

Arnie, the Austrian Immigrant who largely rose to power by lying about the economic influence of a small ethnic minority, and blaming them for an economic downturn?

That's the guy that's going to come up with a "sane answer" to the Injun problem?

We've got these things called treaties, which, suprisingly, we're supposed to honor. These aren't treaties made between First Nations and the various States (which are prohibited from making treaties with Foreign Powers), but between First Nations and the Republic.

People of any ethnicity can open casinos in any State which allows them, but Reservations are governed by Tribal and Federal law, and States have absolutely no jurisdiction over them.

None. Got it?

Sovereign Nations.

Sinking in yet?

That these duel citizens receive benefits; tribal scholarships, or Casino revenue, or land-lease revenue; that people who are not duel citizens do not receive is no more under a States control than if a duel American-British Citizen receives a pension from the UK.

To what extent these First Nations share revenue with one another is no more under the control of a State than to what extent Sweden sends economic aid to Zimbabwe.

Whether or not American citizens elect to go throw their money away in Casinos on Soveriegn First Nation territory is no more a States business than if Americans elect to go throw their money away in Nevadas Casinos.

When should they shut their Casinos down? When and if they feel like it.

Maybe you should try adressing them about it, if you think it's a good idea for them to do so, instead encouraging yet another attempt to strip them of their treaty rights.

(Zorgon again. Merry christmas!)Lots of folks have...

2007-12-21T20:22:00.000-08:00

(Zorgon again. Merry christmas!)

Lots of folks have found themselves puzzled by the Demo congress' failure to do much of anything about the Repub depredations post-2006 election, and by the Repubs' even more baffling party loyalty even when it damages their own political self-interest. It's certainly a weird phenomenon to watch Repubs racing one another to see who can sprint off the cliff with the drunk-driving C student in the White House fastest of all. After all, with a president who has the lowest popularity rating in poll history, you'd think at least a few Repubs would try to distance themselves from him, wouldn't you?

Some excellent articles that make a stab at explaining this bizarre situation here and here.

Joking aside, I'm more on the "keep quiet" side of...

2007-12-21T20:15:00.000-08:00

Joking aside, I'm more on the "keep quiet" side of the argument then the "Go on, holler!" side.

I don't think there's anyone out there, but if there is, and they're dangerous, it won't be because of the emotional characteristics of the critters they evolved from. It'll because they've gone through the skylight, and become post-whatevers, with possibly quite callous attitudes toward biological life.

There are fictional precedents. Greg Bear's Jarts, who scrub worlds clean but conscientiously upload the minds of their sapient victims. The "pervert" races of Olaf Stapledon's future history, who are advanced and utopian but try to force their own path toward perfection on others.

On the SETI note, I suppose it's entirely possible...

2007-12-21T17:02:00.000-08:00

On the SETI note, I suppose it's entirely possible that other civilizations might just find us too scary to bother with.
We are, as David pointed out, a gregarious bunch, but other species might not be.
The argument that "a species advanced enough to travel all that way has nothing to fear" might come up, but it's not necessarily a good one.
After all, I'm from a species more advanced that a crocodile, but I'm not going to wade out in the middle of the river and start poking them with sticks. And bringing an assault rifle wouldn't make me feel better about the idea, either.
Of course they might not even be interested in talking to us. It's hard to tell because aliens would, by definition, be pretty damn alien.

On the side of politics and ostriches, I work as a reporter in one of the few Republican-dominated regions in New Jersey, and just saw a classic example of the more competent, less corrupt and apparently more electable candidate losing just because he came from the wrong party. It's sad to see, especially since it's a place you can still find any number of old-school conservatives and relative moderates.

Tsk, tsk, Dave. Come out and admit it . . . you're...

2007-12-21T16:09:00.000-08:00

Tsk, tsk, Dave. Come out and admit it . . . you're afraid of Kzinti! :-)

I can imagine a civilization of wolf people pondering how awful a civilization of primates would be:

"Cripes, they'd communicate by beating their chests and hurling shit at each other. Do we really want the likes of them tracking us down?"

* * *

Interesting, Rob. I hadn't heard that reason for rejecting extending the Interstate MAX. I could picture it, though.

Portland's immediate transit problem: Bridges.

On the SETI/METI discussion list, the old saw came...

2007-12-21T15:48:00.000-08:00

On the SETI/METI discussion list, the old saw came up, that humans may be so unattractive, due to our nasty gluttony and fractiousness, that others won't have anything to do with us. I'd like to share with you all my contrarian counter.

------
On Dec 21, 2007 3:16 PM, Mauro Cavalcanti wrote:
Indeed, Homo sapiens L. (the collective of which we usually term
"humanity") has "a very definite record of doing just those things"
NOT ONLY to itself, but to nearly every other life form on this planet
(or the entire planetary organism itself, from a Gaian viewpoint).

A contrarian position could be taken, in either direction.

To those who are overly-optimistic, I have already pointed out that predation appears to be deeply rooted in both biological darwinism and in the laws of thermodynamics.

Indeed, other species behave just as rapaciously short-sighted as humans, when they get an opportunity to engage in gluttony. Gluttony happens far more often than not! Watch an undisciplined dog who gets loose in a chicken coop!

From the opposite direction, let me point out how hard most human societies, religions and philosophies have worked, to CURB gluttony and aggression. Several letters to this list, including Mauro's, speak of a wish and hope that we will get better. Indeed, the environmental movement and also movements for tolerance reflect this very common desire.

The interesting thing is that our bad traits - gluttony and intolerance - appear to be rooted in biology, while our desire to overcome these things may be much narrower in origin, based upon our heritage as gregarious primates who happen also to have organic mechanisms for satiability and empathy that seem well above average, for Earth species.

Imagine an intelligent life form descended from tigers, would it even have a word for tolerance? Or would one descended from wolves have a word for satiability?

Let me tell you one of my top ten explanations for the Great Silence. It is that most ETICS can NEVER control urges that we humans have already PARTLY controlled! It may be that we are far more tolerant, even-tempered, satiable and reflective and forward looking than average. I tell you, there is some evidence for this.

Moreover, our guilt-trips... criticizing ourselves for not being tolerant and far-seeing enough, may actually help to prove my point.

Yes, this is contrarian to an extreme. But I think it bears pondering.

David, the freeways around Chicago are much, much ...

2007-12-21T15:18:00.000-08:00

David, the freeways around Chicago are much, much worse than those around Portland.

Even so, yeah, those of the Bud Clark age had a massive case of the ideological stupids. And now other ideological stupids are preventing the excellent MAX tramlines from feeding into Clark County, WA, where half of the rich center-city employees live.

(Why? Why else? The Vancouverites don't want "that sort" tramming up from Gresham, OR. Or Northeast Portland. Kind of sickening, in a way, accepting hard gridlock every day because one doesn't care for Latinos...)

I'm still not leaving. I love this town.

(Zorgon the Malevolent)Great article on why it's s...

2007-12-21T08:47:00.000-08:00

(Zorgon the Malevolent)

Great article on why it's so important to avoid a zero-sum American economy.

Peak oil panic is zero-sum thinking. America's current mideast foreign policy obsession is zero-sum thinking. The Project for the New American Century is zero-sum thinking. The War on Terrorism is zero-sum thinking. We need to get away from that.

On my Govenator wish-list is the idea batted aroun...

2007-12-21T01:50:00.000-08:00

On my Govenator wish-list is the idea batted around here earlier - setting up peer to peer protocol for cell phone text relay during emergencies. A few states putting up some seed money and pressure on the telecoms could make all the difference to this phenomenal idea.

During the recent flooding here in Oregon parts of the western coast and coastal mountain ranges were completely cut off both physically and communication-wise. Even the police satellite phones were out. Citizen HAM radio operators kept the local governments operating, emergency crews running at the right time, etc. I strongly suspect that both the Oregon and Washington Governors would back PTP emergency texting. If just the West Coastal states and Louisiana backed such a plan it would get some traction, IMO.

In fact, federal and Congressional supremacy are m...

2007-12-20T22:25:00.000-08:00

In fact, federal and Congressional supremacy are more limited than many people think.

Yes, the Commerce Clause of the Constitution opened the door long ago to Federal supremacy whenever there is even a small chance the a good or service (or part of one) might cross state lines. A HUGE excuse for supremacy.

Still, much of the dominance by the federal level is also do to lazy abrogation of responsibility or power by the states. Assertive action by many (or all) states on particular domestic issues actually has good precedent.

Besides, Congressfolk who saw their home states demanding this or that action would think twice before thwarting it. No guarantee of course. Especially since a gerrymandering fix is NOT what they want!

But it is possible, and would make a towering capstone to Arnold's career.

Courts often rule that states can't do things (lik...

2007-12-20T21:36:00.000-08:00

Courts often rule that states can't do things (like regulate businesses in a certain way) because Congress has passed a law that sets a different standard than the state does. In other words, if the states got together and tried to fix the health care mess, the courts could tell them "No, Congress has to do this."

You know, I don't think I'll vote Republican under...

2007-12-20T20:25:00.000-08:00

You know, I don't think I'll vote Republican under any circumstance. But it was a pleasant shock to see Chuck Norris. And hear jokes, from a conservative.

Not just the indigenous...The vic government has f...

2007-12-20T19:11:00.000-08:00

Not just the indigenous...

The vic government has found it has developed a habit in the last 10-15 years since gambling and 'pokies' were introduced.

Ask also whether the person were blocked from accessing your site, or whether they were 'warned off'.

I agree that gambling is bad and that it hurts the...

2007-12-20T17:50:00.000-08:00

I agree that gambling is bad and that it hurts the poor and foolish badly.

Even so, I think allowing Native American casinos has less to do with restitution (which is why there is no African American casino) and more to do with sovereignty. The tribes are supposed to be able to make their own laws to some extent. Would you favor allowing them more independence in other areas in exchange for giving up gambling?

On the same track, would you like to get rid of the lotto? I believe Utah is the only state without one, and since the per capita Mormon population keeps dropping there, I'd imagine they'll fall eventually too.

Re: The blacklistRelax, it's probably just a ban o...

2007-12-20T17:45:00.000-08:00

Re: The blacklist

Relax, it's probably just a ban on Blogger or on blogs in general.

David, I'd ask your friend to check a few more blo...

2007-12-20T17:23:00.000-08:00

David, I'd ask your friend to check a few more blogs. I suspect that what is banned is blogspot, not just you.