The Experts, Pt. 2

I had intended to send my second thought bubble on experts floating out through the netsphere yesterday, but there were many interruptions. Of course, in the interest of honesty, I wasn't entirely sure what that second bubble was about. My overall point is fairly simple, so I'll try to state that here for clarity: expertise is very valuable, but it tends to stifle creative approaches without sufficient feedback from external sources, including novices. Well, that was easy. I would be surprised to find any substantial disagreement with that point of view.

I suspect what's behind the clash of thinking processes is often some basic difference between the value systems of the individuals involved. For a programmer developing a large application, the value system can become skewed in esoteric directions that have little to do with usability, while a user can quite intimidate a developer with his or her wide-ranging knowledge of that application, based on a value system of practical, and even creative, interaction with the software in daily life. Fortunately, the programmer is highly motivated to provide products with features that directly respond to the value systems of the users, and a collaborative effort is made to achieve that goal. This has worked out very well, for the most part, in the world of software.

Much of today's world might be viewed in terms of similar conflicting value systems, and much of what seems broken might be symbolized by the dysfunctional cooperation between those whose value systems do not coincide. This way of looking at the problem could be extended in so many different directions it's hard to know where to begin, but there are three I want to mention initially here, and return to from time to time in future posts. They are:

• American foreign policy and the average American's view of that policy
• Corporate policies and the average American's view of their policies
• Religious doctrine and, again, the average American's view of that doctrine

In each of the three areas above, there is a schism between the posture of a given entity, and the American people themselves. In each case, something of the collaborative process appears to be fundamentally ineffectual. Why should this be? What would short-circuit such a basic process that enjoys such success in environments like that between a software company and its users? With regard to software, a primary motivation for maintaining the balance is competition. If one company's developers don't listen to the users, another company's developers will. Some might refer to that as a "free market", but there can frequently be a dearth of real competition in a free market. In my personal experience, the best software has always been as a result of spirited competition for users between rival applications. Where there are problems related to the list above, it is often a lack of competition that contributes greatly to those problems.

I'm rummaging through all these concepts to try and build some framework for the perspectives I've gained by the reading and study I've been undertaking to try and understand what's behind the unholy mess everyone seems to be making of our lovely little earth. Even a moderately sane human being could only describe the major forces at work in the world today as perverse, or perhaps even the height of madness. I want to find some handy, accessible frames of reference because I've found there is method to be discovered beneath the chaos, and that's the most troubling aspect of all. It's one thing to feel that we're careening out of control. It's quite another to feel controlled. But there it is.

I have finished Noam Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival, and am nearly halfway through Howard Zinn's A Power Governments Cannot Suppress. These are books which stand against some elements the authors see as highly intentional, not some muddied result of poor planning, but from the perspective of average folks like you and I, an opposing force. I can't compel you to read these books, but now that I have, I need to find ways to integrate the perspective I've gained into this blog in a meaningful way that relates to shared knowledge. I don't expect I'll be able to accomplish that overnight, but I believe such an effort can be useful.

A lot of it is about respect. I developed a deep respect for the experts at Microsoft, and an equal respect for the armies of users. I encountered an application, then known as Outlook Express, and now, Windows Mail, from the perspective of bits and bytes, and hundreds of thousands of lines of code that, after some natural recoil from what seemed an enormous task, taught me to respect the subtle, intricate structure of the creation as it existed before my intrusion into its arcane world. After much study, what had seemed like random flights of fancy revealed beauties of design all the more satisfying because those secrets were only revealed when I had applied myself with sufficient effort to make myself ready to receive them. At Microsoft, software can have mystical overtones!

I have learned a little about respect, and the rewards that can be gained when sufficient respect is paid to the object of interest. The Zen of everyday life might be described as learning to have genuine respect with regard to all we encounter. So I do feel motivated to treat these questions with sufficient respect. As an indication of that, I will respect what seems like a good place to stop for the moment. If I've given the reader anything to consider further here, I will be pleased; but this is also for my benefit. Some parts of them will continue to rattle around in my head for the next day or two, until I know it's time to let some more of them spill out on my keyboard.

The Experts, Pt. 1

In the beginner's mind, there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few.

-- Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

I have used that quote before, only about a month ago, and I'm sure I will use it again. It's one of my favorites. We have a lot of experts around. I've known some of them. It's a major achievement when a person gains a reputation of genuine expertise in his or her chosen field.

When I reflect on my past, I can boast of having gained sufficient respect for my own expertise that I was allowed into the inner circles of development efforts that resulted in the latest edition of the operating system known as Windows Vista® (and Windows Live®, too, by the way). I have written many thousands of lines of code as my part of that effort, and if we discard false showings of either humility or pride, I can be considered an expert repository of knowledge that's of no small importance to our world.

I'm grateful for the opportunities I've had in the past, and perhaps will again in the future, to acquire and build on that reputation in the interest of stretching the boundaries of the digital aspects of our lives. The sales figures of Windows Vista® attest, hopefully, to real acceptance of our efforts, and the promise of Vista® for its advancements and support for new and exciting possibilities of working with information and communicating it to others. It all could have been done without me, of course, but it couldn't have happened without The Experts.

At Microsoft, there is a very healthy respect for expertise. The amazing people who can navigate comfortably through the labyrinthian core of Windows source code with deep understanding and respect for the intentions and far-reaching impact of seemingly obscure subroutines and branches have my deepest respect. They are the foundation, and theirs are the shoulders whereon we stand as we explore those possibilities they've helped to enable. And I've been often amused when the experts are pulled up short by a novice whose question the experts might choose to reject.

Innovation at Microsoft has always been a collaborative effort between the experts and the novices. It's an ideal laboratory for examining the compartmentalization of thinking, and the frequently encountered "inside-the-box" limitations of standardized thinking. Fortunately for Microsoft developers, we have frequently been forced to come to grips with those limitations, and to reach out in innovative directions that challenge our mental routines. That's an experience not to be minimized, and I bring that element of my background to this effort with unchecked enthusiasm.

This is part 1 of my rant on The Experts. I have much more on this topic bouncing around in my head, but it's almost time for the #1 Ohio State Buckeyes to play Penn State (can you tell I was born and raised in Ohio?), so I'll stop for now. I'll pick this up again within the next posting or two.

I want to leave a link to a short blog I posted today on my.barack.obama. I've already stated my support for his campaign, and that I maintain a small, more "politically-correct" blog there on his web site. The theme of that post is very relevant to this topic, so if you'd like to read that as well, here it is: When Will We Learn?

Instinct

One of the few things I've figured out is that this blog is about instinct. But that's a very tricky word to deal with. My handy Encarta Dictionary tells me that instinct has three primary definitions:

in·stinct [ín stìngkt]
noun (plural in·stincts)
1. strong natural impulse: a powerful impulse that feels natural rather than reasoned
followed his instincts and took to his heels

2. biological drive: an inborn pattern of behavior characteristic of a species and shaped by biological necessities such as survival and reproduction
the survival instinct

3. knack: a natural gift or skill
an instinct for putting people at ease

adjective
filled: completely filled or imbued with something (formal)
a look instinct with compassion

Microsoft® Encarta® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

In keeping with the Microsoft product placement ads, I bounced from the dictionary to Encarta itself, and found a decent little discussion about instinct. But I often reference Wikipedia in this blog, partly because Wikipedia is such a unique internet reference, it has a mind-boggling number of contributors, and a large percentage of them are highly responsible and take ownership to protect its integrity as much as possible. It's far from perfect, obviously, but it's pretty irresistible, in my opinion.

The second sentence of Wikipedia's definition highlights the problem with the direction I'm trying to go here. It says: "Instincts are unlearned, inherited fixed action patterns of responses or reactions to certain kinds of stimuli." Or at least it said that just now, assuming it hasn't been edited. The common dictionary associations are to aspects of us that are literally still animal, sometimes even reptilian. Instincts can be viewed sometimes as part of our common heritage of survival, and sometimes as the vestiges of ignorance. So where in all that would you expect to find characteristics like altruism, conscience, or moral disgust? Is there such a thing as an innate moral instinct?

I started to google around, but I stopped myself. I want to use my instinct.

I will point over to Huffington Post again, though. I guess I'm going over there too much, but of course there are always lots of lively discussions on a variety of topics, and I'm not visiting DailyKOS as much right now, because they appear to be just a little too attached to Chevron ad money, and I really have a problem with that. Not that Huffington Post is pure, or anything.

Anyway: Giuliani: I'm Not Sure Waterboarding Is Torture. Rudy's distinction can be readily dismissed. Waterboarding is torture.

I did google around after making that statement, but I stopped again.

Right now, at least, there's some pretty widespread obfuscation on the internet around this question. Just for fun, I went over to Wikipedia and looked up waterboarding. The definition in Wikipedia begins with this phrase: "Waterboarding is a form of torture ..."

All right, we know Wikipedia can't claim to be the authority. That six-word phrase is immediately followed by 9 footnotes, some of which I'm sure call the phrase into question; I didn't look at them all. But here's another sentence, which has no footnotes, and is not considered to be in dispute: "It elicits the gag reflex, and can make the subject believe his or her death is imminent while not causing physical evidence of torture." If it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, etc.

We've been seeing definitions of torture, and those definitions are themselves undergoing a form of torture. That's the problem with words. It's why I can't talk much about Zen, because Zen is beyond words. But is something that can't be expressed, tasted, touched or felt real?

What do you see when you turn out the lights?
I can't tell you, but I know it's mine.

-- With A Little Help From My Friends, The Beatles

I'm listening to Thom Hartmann right now, from the streaming archive area of the AirAmerica web site, since I didn't listen to his show live this morning. Thom's talking about Giuliani and waterboarding, too. Hey, I thought of it first! But this is a very popular topic.

Words and definitions can be turned against us, if you believe in something like what I'm talking about. Let's continue to be imprecise in our terminology, and go on calling it instinct. I instinctively feel that torture of any kind is morally wrong. I feel that it steals something, not just from the victim, but from the interrogator, and from us, too, if we allow it. I feel it robs us of our humanity.

These are vague terms. I have not made what you would call a logical argument. Actually, there is no shortage of superb logical arguments equating waterboarding with torture, and of the incompatibility of the practice of torture with the highest, and most successful, ideals of humanity. But let's say I haven't read those arguments. I would contend that I knew the answer beforehand, because I knew it instinctively.

This is impossible, really, what I'm trying to do here. I'm trying to use words to defend what can't be expressed by them. You try it. But we're getting down to the basics now. Say what you will, my position regarding torture is a core belief. In a traditional form of expression, it is a part of my religious belief, in a very real sense. There is something deep inside me that I feel I absolutely have to trust, not because of what anyone has said, or anything I read in the Bible. I don't wish to ever have to stand against someone, especially in a political sense, in a matter solely based on my private, personal belief, but I have no choice. If I allow this matter to fall under the purview of the legal system, my belief could be overruled, outflanked by some finely-tuned argument, and I could never accept that.

In a more honest atmosphere, someday the honest arguments may be sufficient, and given time, the weight of solid argument will settle this matter in more conventional terms. Until that time, I believe there are things I need to hold close to my heart, against all odds. I hold certain truths to be self-evident.

In these blogs recently where I have discussed Zen, I've reduced it to a simple practice of sitting with good posture and breathing deeply; nothing more. That's really all it is. American Zen needs a whole new language to describe it, because in the Japaneze Zen and Chinese Ch'an traditions, when they speak about their practice, they do it in terms of their own culture, and I think that's caused a lot of unnecessary confusion. I hope I can contribute a little to the language of American Zen by demystifying the practice. It's just healthy. Just do it and don't get all wrapped up in it, and don't get too excited about it. In one sense, it's just a form of calisthenics.

Of course, there are those things that can't be expressed. I'm not at all comfortable yet with discussing that part of Zen, partly because it's so hard. But I think I've touched on it a little bit here, in an oblique sort of way. I've personally had a difficult time meditating since my birthday, but I'm getting back into the groove again. When I take time on a regular basis to sit in zazen, I know that for a period of time the normal concerns and distractions no longer pull me back and forth, and I make a connection, difficult of course to describe, with that creature that is just me.

When I say I don't condone torture, it's just me.

State Of Fire

California As Seen From Space 10/22/07

About a million people have been evacuated, probably the largest mass movement of Americans since the Civil War. Thousands of homes destroyed, nearly half a million acres of forests are burning, and it's still going strong. A couple of weeks ago, I predicted we would soon find out what our boiling point really is. I'm not fond of being right just now. I'm actually becoming rather depressed about how right I've been. I'm not bragging, I'm pleading. I'm afraid I'm going to be right about my other warning -- you know, the nuclear one -- although it may not matter if we've already burned up.

Perspective is a funny thing. You, whoever you are, may be reading this, and you may be concerned about the California fires, but you may also be somewhat amused by my tone here, because you're pretty sure we're going to come through all this somehow. Well, my tone is what it is because I'm not sure. I pray California soon receives the weather breaks it needs, and it can begin to try and recover, this time. But virtually every scientist not in the employ of ExxonMobil is telling us that the effects of climate change are increasing exponentially, each condition becoming a contributing factor in the worsening of other conditions, and so on. On Venus they called it a runaway greenhouse effect.

I tried to watch some of CNN's "Planet In Peril" thing, but I couldn't. Nice hi-def shots, and all that, but, really, what was that? I agree it's scandalous, criminal and horribly damaging the way endangered species are captured and sold, but, but ... there's a larger message, and CNN is still behaving like the good corporatist tool.

And so it goes, as Vonnegut used to say. And so it goes.

If you dig around, you can find a few more direct stories from the MSM. Here's a study published on MSNBC: Study: Warming is stronger, happening sooner. It says, among other things, that carbon dioxide emissions in 2006 were 35% higher than they were in 1990. 35%. We appear to be our very own runaway greenhouse environmental catastrophe. Just wait until the ice caps melt.

We're still living in the Twilight Zone. Every aspect of our world and our society is telling us we have to change now, radically, dramatically, immediately. But soon we'll have the chill winter winds to drive us back indoors by the fireplace, and soon we'll drift back to sleep.

My own condition isn't that good, actually. I've been taking an awful lot of medication, and I haven't really improved. I'm not able to get around well, and I'm still thinking that I will improve, you know, for a while anyway, but my condition may have something to do with my own reluctance to drift off with the rest of you. Time is relative. It may well be that none of us have nearly enough of it.

Everything you fear about change may be nothing compared to my fear of the status quo, as it now exists. I feel very strongly that you should fear the status quo as much as I do. I have not been indulging in much speculation regarding radical societal change before now, because I, too, was thinking we had more time. It's time to go with my instincts. I want you to search inside yourselves. It's time to re-think. It's time to cut off our emissions.

One little fire, and here I start shrieking that the sky is falling.

The Twilight Zone

Change in public consciousness starts with low-level discontent, at first vague, with no connection being made between the discontent and the policies of the government. And then the dots begin to connect, indignation increases, and people begin to speak out, organize, and act.

-- Howard Zinn,
A Power Governments
Cannot Suppress

I've added the final book (for now) to my new collection, and you can see from the quote above which book that might be. A Power Governments Cannot Suppress is a new collection of essays by that silver-tongued American critic Howard Zinn. I had wanted to buy it on Sunday, but Border's was out of stock, so I grabbed it today from Barnes & Noble. Although it's just out, it's in paperback, and a terrific bargain at $16.95. This isn't a book for hard-cover first editions; it's a book for the Revolution.

I've only read the first essay so far, so I've hardly earned the right to get on the internet and blog about it. First instincts are often fairly accurate, however, and I think this book holds a place of honor on my now-lengthy current reading list. If you're planning on reading along, here it is:

• Failed States, by Noam Chomsky -- Completed, as I noted several days ago
  
• Hegemony or Survival, by Noam Chomsky -- I hope to complete this book tomorrow
  
• A Power Governments Cannot Suppress, by Howard Zinn
  
• The Conscience of a Liberal, by Paul Krugman
  
• Cracking The Code, by Thom Hartmann
  
• I Am America (And So Can You!), by Stephen Colbert
  
• The Chomsky Reader, by Noam Chomsky
  
• Collapse, by Jared Diamond -- I started reading this when I broke off to read Chomsky, and I want to go back and finish as soon as I can

I suppose I could have provided links to all those books, but you've got the list, now go to the bookstore. And since we're doing book lists, let's do one more short one, so I can note some of the more helpful books I've read earlier:

• A People's History of the United States, by Howard Zinn -- I've already woven the themes of this book into several blogs. Just as Chomsky's books are essential to understanding American foreign policy from a humanist and global perspective, this is the essential book for understanding the historical context of economic and class struggle in America.
• A New History of the United States, by William Miller -- Or any other fairly standard version of American history. It's useful to read conventional American history side-by-side with Howard Zinn's version.
• The Assault On Reason, by Al Gore -- This is a courageous book if you haven't read it, and addresses today's problems in many important ways. That it was written by Al Gore makes it required reading. Sorry, if you're lukewarm about Al, but he's literally that important, regardless of how you may feel about him personally.
• Armed Madhouse, by Greg Palast -- Other books and information sources had shaken some of my media-induced preconceptions, but nothing early last spring had quite the impact of this book. It's still more than relevant, and Mr. Palast is both a skilled investigative reporter and an excellent writer.
• The Trap, by Daniel Brook -- This short book describes the social and economic quandaries of today's educated middle class as well as anything I've ever read. It's an eye-opener!
• Guns, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond -- This is a revolutionary study of human history, full of insight and careful study of the factors of climate, availability of resources, and microbial influence on the shape of civilization from its beginnings up to today.

There are many other books, and I'm constantly reading books on many other topics -- Zen, of course, literature, poetry, quantum physics, computer programming, and a lot more. Yes, I did identify with Burgess Meredith watching that Twilight Zone episode when I was perhaps eleven. Even then, with all the directions my life would take, and all the interactions I would have, deep down I was Burgess Meredith, and I just wanted to have All The Time In The World.

I want to get back to my books now. But there's also so much to discover here on the internet, and once I'm here, it's hard to resist finding my handy blog and sharing a few of my thoughts about it all before moving on. And the Twilight Zone reference seems fitting on multiple levels to me right now. I almost feel like I'm in one of those episodes; I mean, I know I'm a little more isolated than usual right now, but that's not it. Today's America has literally taken on a surreal quality, don't you think? It's inconceivable to me we should actually be struggling with the issues we're having now, when from the most basic and uncomplicated moral perspective, the direction is clear.

For no particular reason, of all the blog sites out there, I'm going to point again to Huffington Post, and another blog by Ariana Huffington, this one called Midnight in America: The Mainstreaming of the GOP's Lunatic Fringe. Actually, there's practically another disconnect even between Ms. Huffington's post and the many comments that follow, because Ms. Huffington does not yet appear to have quite the full sense yet of the absurdity that is politics in today's America. She's close, and her blog is excellent, but there is despair in these comments, and it's primal. I'm not sure how many Americans identify with the George Bush and Dick Cheney we see today, but most of us, I'm sure, identify with the students who met with Bush a few weeks ago and presented him with a plea to disavow torture. I think all but the most hardened Border Watch vigilante does not want to think of herself as part of a system that does the things we're doing to people here and abroad. Worse yet, for all our protests, no one seems actually to be listening. Doo-doo-doo-doo!

There'll be occasion in blogs over the next few days to shift from books to specific events as they seem to shed light on where things might be headed. For now, things seem a bit like one of those slow-motion scenes of carnage, where bodies fly in Iraq, Afghanistan and now, Pakistan, while the President and Vice-President turn with yearning eyes to Persia. Scattered about are various atrocities, like in Guernica, little atrocities like lies, smears, dirty tricks, hypocrisy, cronyism, corruption, racism, and greed. And, as Ms. Huffington notes, this is the Mainstream.

Guernica, by Pablo Picasso

It doesn't seem too mysterious to me why this has occurred. Or, it does, but at least I do have some sense of motive. At the risk of belaboring the point, it's clear that the wealthy and powerful have manipulated the still-formidable number of weak-minded, malleable citizens in our midst, and have manipulated less weak-minded, but still malleable public citizenry with smaller fortunes of their own. Now, those very accommodating servants are performing a ritual for their masters, spinning up fear and hatred until we generate more war and more hatred, turn ourselves into a full police state, and metamorphose. Unless some of us can find another way.

If we adhere to minimum scientific standards by requiring evidence, I can find little reason for hope from today's Congress, or the mainstream media (henceforth referenced as the MSM -- us folks at Microsoft love TLA's). Both appear to be largely under control of corporations, and act according to corporational morality, which is by definition inhuman -- hence the Twilight Zone.

It's going to require more of my energies than I would like to have to expend in order to do my part to turn us away from further wars, and home from our current wars. As long as people are dying when they don't have to, I feel guilty for the moments I steal only for myself. I do need to do this reading, however. I need to know better how to fight. (Remember, for me, the word "fight" may not mean what it does to you. I have also read Mahatma Ghandi, and Martin Luther King, and Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.)

When I need to laugh, there's Colbert. When I need ammunition for economic disputes, there's Krugman. When I need to better understand our world, there's Chomsky and Diamond. When I need to know how to talk to these people, there's Hartmann. When I need to be inspired, there's Zinn.

I'll give you one more preview of Howard Zinn's first essay, then you can go buy the book yourself:

We live in a beautiful country. But people who have no respect for human life, freedom or justice have taken it over. It is now up to all of us to take it back.

-- Howard Zinn, A Power Governments Cannot Suppress

Fair Game

Valerie Plame Wilson was interviewed this evening on 60 Minutes. I'm not aware of any new information that was revealed, but even in 2007, 60 Minutes coverage can have quite an impact. After the emotional wringer Americans have experienced with Iraq and the myriad effects of the War on Terror, can we digest the full implications of having leaked Ms. Wilson's covert role? I suspect this is going to be sticking in our throats for the next few days whether we have room for it or not. There is so little room, after all, what with global warming, Pakistan, FISA, etc. I've literally worn myself out keeping up with it all today, so this will be brief, because I'm digesting, too. My intention is to write a full-length blog entry tomorrow or Tuesday, and the impact of Ms. Wilson's interview will be in the foreground of my thoughts.

I'm still trying to finish Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival, because I've been splitting up my time in so many directions. But that didn't stop me from buying more books! I've got some reading material to help me brush up my technical style with Word 2007 for some improved blogging techniques, and I'm looking forward to an occasional break from all this seriousness by learning a few fun techie tricks.

I got a few other books as well, some of which I may discuss later, but one book I want to mention because it's also fun, and we can use some of that right now. It's I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert.

As you probably know, Stephen is now one of our Presidential Candidates:

I've only read through the first chapter (The Family), but if your sense of humor is anything like mine, I highly recommend this book. I hope to save further chapters for when I really need them. I won't give any of it away, but I will reprint a paragraph from the blurb on the inside of the book jacket (which I'm pretty sure was also written by Stephen Colbert):

You may not agree with what Stephen says, but at the very least, you'll understand that your differing opinion is wrong.

Hey, if Tim Russert can take a break from his more serious interviews with, um, Bill Cosby, why can't I? So, to finish up with this nonsense, here's the Colbert Meet The Press interview you may not have seen: the "Take Two" web portion of the interview courtesy of MSNBC:

Take two: Colbert on comedy

Blog Action Day Redux

I was listening to Ring of Fire on AirAmerica radio, and an interview with Robert Greenwald about his media company, Brave New Films. I visited that company's web site and found this little video about Blog Action Day, which I'm sure everyone has seen, but I thought it was cool, anyway. There's something almost metaphysical about all those voices sounding a single, important theme through the electronic universe. It's worth revisiting for a moment here.



A couple of clean-up notes from the "birthday blog":

I was quickly reminded that I had misremembered my own state district. I live in Washington's 8th District, of course, so I'm issuing that correction here, and correcting it in the original post. So much for credibility. Sheesh!

I received a response from cartoonist John Sherffius, who suggested I contact Copley News for any necessary permissions. I've sent them an email request, and it will be interesting to learn more about proper etiquette regarding reproduction of such material on the blogosphere. So many details!

Happy Birthday To Me!

It's my birthday today! I am now officially an old fart. I have lived sixty years now on this earth, and there's been a whole lot to see. There's been a lot to like, and, well, there's been a lot that's hard to like. Today is a milestone, however, and milestones should be celebrated. I intend to make some additions to this blog at various times today in a pretty random manner, and I plan to leverage my newfound status as elder statesman by indulging myself shamelessly at every opportunity. Forewarned is forearmed!

I'm intending to publish twice today; once now, and again late tonight with the "finished" product. I can't wait to see how this turns out!

I've been experimenting a bit today with the new blogging facilities in Word 2007, but there are a lot of things to work out in that area. I'm a C++ dev, folks. I've written a lot of HTML, but that's never been my focus, so I can get just as confused in this area as anybody else. It about drove me crazy just trying to put a nice label beneath the picture you see on the right. It's my birthday, so I'm not gonna fight this stuff today. The picture is an artist's conception of the Imagine Peace Tower on Videy Island in Reykjavik, Iceland, as dedicated by Yoko Ono to John Lennon. You can find out more about it at ImaginePeace.com.

I'll be back later today to publish the final version of today's blog. Don't look for me to work out all the kinks in Word 2007/Blogger synchronization today, but I'll be digging into these issues over the next few weeks.

So much nasty stuff going on today. Explosions in Pakistan as Bhutto attemts to return, the S-CHIP veto was upheld, we're all trying to figure out why President Bush is talking about World War III, and so on. I haven't meditated yet today. While a howling windstorm starts to blow up outside, I'll try to flush out my brain a little bit, and make a fresh start later.

I've just discovered cartoonist John Sherffius, whose sense of irony appeals to me. I've attempted to contact Mr. Sherffius to request permission to display this cartoon, but the MSNBC contact information appears to be outdated. The cartoon indicates he's affiliated with Boulder Camera, but that's all I know right now.

UPDATE 10/26/07: I've received a response from Copley News Service to the effect that a $100 fee is required to purchase reprint rights. That's not surprising, and cartoonists and their employers need to make money, too. I have removed the picture, and I'm replacing it with this link: Editorial Cartoon by John Sherffius. Hopefully, that will be sufficient, and I won't be receiving a bill. If I get one, I guess I'll pay it. My copy of the cartoon was out there for a week.

No, I'm not drunk, although I probably should be. I don't drink much at all. There's a very expensive bottle of scotch in my cupboard I'm going to break out in a minute. It was given to me by some of my MS project leaders when I completed a phase of my work for an early Alpha version of Vista (then known only as Longhorn). That bottle's been sitting there for a long time, and my sixtieth birthday seems like a great time to finally allow its intended use. In Vino Veritas! (And that goes for scotch, too!)

Glenfiddich Special Reserve! Aged 12 years before it ever got to me, then about 3-1/2 more years back in the dark recesses of my cupboard. It tastes rich, believe me! It's strong and full-flavored, and there's something about it that says this is the way that scotch is supposed to taste. I haven't tasted Glenfiddich scotch since the mid-seventies in Manhattan, and I don't know that I've ever tasted their "Special Reserve" stock. Microsoft doesn't do anything small. This is the good stuff! I'll work on this for a while, and when I think I'm ready, I'll be ba-a-ack!


I need a better divider than this crappy bamboo border, don't I? I'll look for one. Am I drunk yet? No, no, I don't think so. This scotch is good, though.

I was thinking about a phone call I got yesterday. I live in Washington State's 8th district (like, that's where Microsoft is, dude!), and I got a call last night from Dave Reichert, our Congressman. I participated in a little group discussion (we're having a windstorm right now that's affecting my internet connection. Typing into this blog is flakey -- or is it the scotch?). I'm not sure how many constituents were online with the Congressman, but I waited my turn and was able to ask my question at the end. I asked about Iraq. I asked if it wasn't time to work hard with the rest of Congress to resolve the "problem" of Iraq as soon as possible. Congressman Reichert is a Republican. He's known as a "moderate Republican", in that he makes at least some attempt to protect ANWR, he voted for S-CHIP, that sort of thing. But he firmly defended the Bush tax cuts earlier in the discussion, and in response to my question, he defended the "war". When he complained about the unwieldy prospect of 435 generals (meaning Congress), I complained back. I'm not sure if my phone was open, especially since the Congressman spoke over my response, but I noted "Congressman, it would seem that we have 300 million generals, and most of them are against the war!". I kind of think my remark was heard by the others, but I've no way to be sure.

When Congressman Reichert concluded, it seemed I may have cast a bit of a pall on the otherwise according-to-script procedures, and the Congressman's aide piped up with "Hey, look at the time!", and we all scooted off. I hung around to leave a voice mail, though, to punctuate my anti-war remarks. I believe they went something like: "Congressman, I couldn't disagree with you more about the war. These are life and death matters we're discussing here, sir, and, you know, the odds are, in a year the Democrats will win the election, and we'll go home! [Pause for effect.] Let's go now."

I doubt if I did any good, but it's always nice to get my two cents' worth in. The Congressman's office may have grabbed my contact info as a result of some of my passionate phone calls and email protests, then perhaps confused me with my father (who has the same name, but is a veteran). He may not have realized he called an old hippie!

I'm not going to engage in personal attacks here against Congressman Reichert. He's our Congressman, duly elected as far as I know, and while I may not agree with him on every issue, we still have elections, at least for the time being. We'll see what happens here in Washington's 8th District in 2008. And he does have some good points, and I told him so in the voice mail.


Over the past couple of days, I was also active in commenting on an Ariana Huffington blog on Huffington Post. Ms. Huffington had been granted an interview with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and video for that interview was posted to the web site. For some time prior to the interview, Ms. Huffington had been soliciting questions from web site members and visitors, but of course, everyone just wanted to ask about impeachment. In her "infinite wisdom", apparently, Ms. Huffington chose to ignore that line of reasoning, and in her interview she focused primarily on Iraq, ignoring the question of impeachment entirely. Afterwards, noting the visceral response to her omission, she wrote a new post that opened the floor to commenters regarding her decision. You can read her post and all the comments here: Ending The War vs Impeachment: Following Up on the Pelosi Interview. If you're looking for my comments, I'm "donaldw6", there and many other places on the internet. The passion for impeachment has never been quite so obvious as it is in these comments.

At some point during this group conversation, I got tangled up with someone who calls himself "Professor73". He kept badgering me for proof that the Bush Administration had done anything at all that could be termed an impeachable offense, and I kept trying to provide substantiation for my claims. Eventually, he tried to stoop to condescension, but I didn't bite. I tried to convince him we weren't sufficiently respecting each other's views, and to reassure him that we could find common ground. His response stopped me short. The professor has a son who is soon to be deployed in Iraq. He believes this war would be over quickly if we'd just let it happen. It was awfully hard to know what to say. This is what I responded:

In everything I do or say, sir, I will try to think of what's best for your
son before I think of what's best for me. That's a guarantee!

My prayers are with you and your family.

Then I cried for a while. It's no shock to me that this isn't some abstract mess, that it's real and personal, but it still hit me.

I hate all this! I need another scotch!

It's hard to meditate if you're tipsy. I have not been good today. I'll try again in a few minutes. I've been reading about utopias, since we're Imagining. I think the Utopia I imagined while I was growing up was "Scientific/Technological Utopia", which maybe explains how I became a Windows developer eventually. We expected to have flying cars by now, man-sized cauliflowers big enough to feed everybody, and atomic energy enough for all. We thought science could generate so much surplus, we'd never have to worry again, everything would be done for us, and we'd have an endless array of wondrous toys to play with. We lived in hope.

I don't believe I ever read Sir Thomas More on the topic. I bet I had the book at some point, and now it's in my ex's library somewhere. Oh well. But looking through the summaries on the internet, Sir Thomas envisioned a perfectly ordered and tolerant society with no concept of property, but the arrangement was imposed. The emphasis was not on freedom, but order. It's probably a good thing that the derivation of the word "Utopia" is described as:

from Greek: οὐ no, and τόπος, place, i.e. "no place" or "place that does not exist," as well as "perfect place"

-- Wikipedia

I guess we've known for a long time that perfection will always be an unreachable goal. And if perfection is so impossible, what does it matter, maybe, if we backslide a little? If we're never going to become that truly perfect, humane, and tolerant society, then so what if we torture a little here and there? So what if some fall by the wayside in the Economic Jungle's Survival of the Fittest? So who cares what happens in this evil world? It will all be better in the next life.

I'm sixty. Shixty!

(Hic!)

Why can't I just meditate, and forget all about this pathetic world? I've got what I need from it. I'm no longer dependent on it for additional resources, things being what they are. I have reached a stage where I can successfully stand outside of things, and generate a Zen force field to protect me from feeling for all you youngsters, still struggling, still dreaming. I can exist beyond you now!

Of course, that's not how Zen works.

No meditation today. I'll have to get back to business in the morning. Birthday's over, anyway. It's now 1:28 AM PDT. (When do we go back to Standard Time, anyway? This weekend?)

Psst! Hey, you! Nobody is going to read this birthday blog all the way down this far, so it's just me and you. I'm gonna let it all out, 'cause nobody's ever gonna hear it but you an' me. We're done for. We know what we know, but we don't know what we don't know, and there's something we still don't know. Unless everyone has gone finally, completely insane, there really is an internal logic at work for someone that's behind all that's going on, and I think it's because there's something really bad that can't be stopped. Maybe it's something to do with global warming, maybe it's something in the Middle East, I don't know, you don't know, but things have gotten really stark. It only makes "sense" if we're reacting to something even worse.

I mean, I don't know if we're really about to get WWIII raining down on us, or if Bush and Cheney are going to parade around in their new uniforms tomorrow, but we're seeing a shift. It's not hidden. It's not rumors. This is simply what's being talked about everywhere. Is there anyone not telling you this? Months ago, I thought we might see some small movement towards sanity, because I was sure what I was seeing and hearing couldn't last in a semi-reasonable society, but it's just been ratcheting up. Now we're thinking everything's gonna be fixed by a new election, and instead it's just ratcheting up some more. Do you see a pattern?

Just looking at what we know, it almost seems like enough. Neoconservative philosophies are failing across the globe. The great African Free Trade experiment has been declared a colossal failure, an indictment of Reaganism of historic proportions. Iraq is unspeakable. The Religious Right are spinning like dervishes. Conservatism is in tatters, and harassing children. The great resources of the economic bulwark of the establishment are fading, in addition to blatant exposure as a raging plague on nature. Progressive voices are blasting the truth through the internet, and the public stands clearly opposed by overwhelming majorities to the state of things.

But off we go, rolling merrily along. Because most of us just have work to do, and even though we know, we don't have time. Most of us just get the chance to glance up for a second, see how things have changed, and get back to work. That's how it happens. In Utopia we might have time to do something about this. But when reason fails, the ones with the forces get to take charge. That's what to look forward to.

It will be tried. They've never flinched at trying anything. It's all they've got left besides blackmail.

Fading now. Hope nobody reads this. I'm not sure I remember what I said. Yeah, yeah, happy birthday. Sixty! Who would have ever thought?

It's all part of the great dance, if you look at things cosmically. If you don't discriminate. If you're a True Man of No Rank, you can move through the water without causing a ripple.

Ho-hum! Night, all!

Al Gore's Viral Videos

This is just a couple of quick notes about a fascinating development Thom Hartmann discussed this morning on his AirAmerica talk show.

Everyone has heard about Al Gore's Nobel Peace Prize and his Oscar, but not everyone may be aware that he also won an emmy for CurrentTV, a user-driven cable channel and web site that broadcasts media creations from individuals. It's not a YouTube clone, but there are similarities.

Over the past couple of days, Al has created a few small videos (three that I know of), and uploaded them to the CurrentTV web site. You should be able to watch them from the link I've provided (although the web site still seems to be a little buggy).

Thom Hartmann questioned whether these videos might be the precursor to a "guerilla presidential campaign" by Al. I respect Thom very much, but I just signed up with CurrentTV as a member, and saw these videos in their proper context. There is a "Viewpoints" section on the web site where numerous participants upload a video on a given topic. Thumbnails of each video are displayed with that topic's heading, and members can vote for the opinion they like the best. On these pages, Al's video opinions are simply displayed as one of many. There's nothing surreptitious involved here but a little legwork to support a feature of his web site. Of course, word has gotten around, and Al's opinions are getting lots of support, which should surprise no one.

But the other point Thom made, and with which I wholeheartedly agree, is how wonderfully refreshing it is to see one of our most central political figures in such an informal environment -- relaxed, wearing a casual shirt, and spouting off for a minute into his video camera like drinkingwithbob -- and just coming right out and saying so many of the things that need to be said. Hallelujah!

Here are the topics:

• Health Care -- "It is time to have universal health insurance"


• Government Eavesdropping -- "I think we need to have stricter laws that require the government to follow the requirements of the Constitution"


• Iraq War -- "Our primary goal should be to get our troops home as quickly as possible"

The question of universal health insurance is still being debated, and it means a lot for Al just to come out and say things like this. The same applies to the other topics. But overall, for those of us who've experienced the Bush Years as something that must be endured, the mass availability of this video material from completely outside the mainstream news arena is like air to someone who's been suffocated by the current climate (hmm, I need to watch my metaphors around Al).

That's all. I just wanted to give a shout out about this.

Blog Action Day: Pre-Emptive Peace

Some folks are really upset with all this talk about global warming. Guys like "drinkingwithbob" here are practically beside themselves:

I'm sorry. I don't like it any more than you do. But it's just science. The same science that figured out how to make that video camera, so you could yell at us.

How did Bob get so angry, do you think? Did someone say something that got him all riled up?

This seems like a problem. Maybe we should listen to what the President has to say about all this:

Wow! I still don't understand! What has Al Gore been saying that's got everyone so shook up?

Well, it sure sounds scary. And Hollywood gave Gore the Oscar for this movie. Leave it to Hollywood to jump on the Tree Hugger Bandwagon! I bet they can't leave this alone.

Oh, no! It's Leonardo DiCaprio. Didn't he go down with the Titanic? Oh, well, let's hear what he has to say.

This is starting to sound pretty scary. I'm not sure what our President thinks. What does the rest of the world have to say?

Oh my! They gave Al Gore the Nobel Peace Prize! (Poor Amy Goodman with her Bell's Palsy problem. Hope she feels better soon!) Hmmm... These folks don't seem to be much interested in "spin", do they? They seem to think this stuff is pretty important. But the Nobel Peace Prize? For raising awareness about global warming? How does that make sense?

Hmmm, here's Seth Borenstein on LiveScience.com saying U.S. and Global Water Wars Loom. That doesn't sound very good.

Here's Jeffrey Sachs writing about current War Climates -- like Darfur!

Here's a report from Reuters Africa called Global warming impact like "nuclear war". Here's what it says:

"We can all see that climate change is a threat to global security, and you can judge some of the more obvious causes and areas," said IISS transnational threat specialist Nigel Inkster. "What is much harder to do is see how to cope with them."

I get it now. Is this like Bush's pre-emptive war? A little bit, I guess. But this seems like a much better idea. Maybe we can do this for other problems, too. Congratulations, Al. What a great idea!

Pre-Emptive Peace!

Too Much Truth

There are many ways to promote democracy at home, carrying it to new
dimensions. Opportunities are ample, and failure to grasp them is likely to have
ominous repercussions: for the country, for the world, and for future
generations.
-- Noam Chomsky, Failed States

How much truth is too much? Can you handle the truth? I've been trying to learn a few things about what's true and what isn't these last few months, and I feel as if I've climbed at least a plateau or two in understanding. I'd like to be able to communicate some of that here, for what it's worth, but this is just a personal blog, just a half-step above Dear Diary. The longest of my entries, printed out, would barely cover five pages. Who wants to read a long blog? Go read a book or something. I'm just posting a few pictures, a few videos, and trying to say a few short words to express how I feel, and allow random chance to find a receptive reader. If you're looking for War and Peace, this ain't the place. But there's a Pulitzer Prize winner in my immediate family (have I ever lied to you?), and while I'm not likely ever to receive Joseph's highest honor, I'm not afraid to think that I might have just a little bit of my own worth saying.

I've completed Noam Chomsky's Failed States, and have begun reading Hegemony or Survival. There are many who find Chomsky's point of view disturbing. That's a laugh, because it certainly is. Everyone has a point of view, and Noam Chomsky is no exception, but we can try and stick to the facts; they're quite sufficient. You don't have to be a student of the Noam Chomsky School of Philosophy, or whatever, to study the public records with him, and others, and come away with much greater insight into the forces that shape our world.

It is a dark vision, for the most part. I won't tell you that Chomsky is an optimist, though he may be. I suspect Howard Zinn is irrepressible in his optimism, and I love him for it. Noam Chomsky doesn't let us see quite so much of himself. The facts tend to speak for themselves.

Can you handle the truth?

I have followed this process in many phases of my life. I have seen the weight of evidence collect on numerous topics until I've attained a level of knowledge about certain things. If you touch a hot stove, you'll be sorry. If you go out in the rain with your head wet, you'll catch a cold. Smoking has bitter consequences. I've learned a lot, by trial and error. I know how it works, and I know when to say I understand.

We here in America are in the midst of momentous crisis. We are in danger of losing democracy if we're not careful. We are indeed being manipulated, make no mistake. The overwhelming majority in this country is deeply at odds with the direction we're headed, and we're being lulled to sleep by propaganda and American Idol. You, you conservative Evangelic Christian. You, you Wall Street Administrative Assistant. You, you soldier headed out for your third tour in Iraq. You are being toyed with and played for just a pathetic sucker. You have to fight!

What can you say in a little blog? After all that I've learned, what can I tell you? That politicians are corrupt, corporations are greedy, and nobody gives a damn about the little guy? Well, hot dang, you could have told me that! You don't need me! There's no room for the details here. I can't take you through it with me. But I can tell you that the devil really does reside in those details, and He's (did I really just capitalize that?) just as strong as ever. The playing field has always been tilted toward the elite and privileged, that isn't news. What's news is that it's gotten a lot more serious, and things are moving quickly now. Specific measures have been, and are being, undertaken that profoundly erode our freedoms. It's a pattern with historical parallels, and you know what they say about those who don't learn from history. It's just that we here in America can't afford to fall victim to that vicious cycle, not here, not now. The stakes are much too high, for us, and for the world.

LISTEN!

The United States of America is largely controlled by corporations. That's upside down. Now, I don't hate corporations. I really, truly, love Microsoft, for all its flaws. But how many times can we be told that power corrupts before we actually believe it? The Ring of Power corrupts all who wear it, and it's a burden that must be fully shared, if we're to go forward. I am here to tell you that a struggle is beginning now that has all the earmarks of being more terrible than we could ever imagine, far, far worse than World War II. I am here to tell you just how bad it really is.

We live in a perfect storm of global crisis, of which we're dimly, barely aware. We're literally melting the polar ice caps off our planet because we're madly uncontrolled, in a world whose religion has become the Bottom Line. We've already become immersed in this climate of fear, and by my speaking out in this manner, I think I may actually risk imprisonment and torture. It's happened already, and it will happen again. You and I, the vast majority, from all walks of life and all points of view, are, unbeknown to our everyday selves, already hostage, and smack dab in the middle of the fight of our unassuming lives.

With our dwindling resources, our overheating globe, our rapidly (thank God!) awakening public, and the growing impatience of the really nasty ones to get their power base sewn up once and for all, the battle lines are being more clearly drawn. I'm not sure which factor will finally push us off the edge, but the cliff is near, and I can see it, and you will, too. The lobster in the pot doesn't know he's being boiled, but I strongly suspect there's at least one moment of bright awareness. Do you have a boiling point? You are, I guarantee you, about to find out.

Take a breath, now. Calm down. I'm here. It's all right. We're going to get through this. I have a little blog I write occasionally over on Barack Obama's web site, and on my Profile Page I paid homage to Yoda for my favorite quote:

"Fear is the path to the dark side: fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering."
-- Yoda (Star Wars: Episode I)

I'm a little angry now myself, a little afraid, but I'll get over it. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." (Who said that?) I don't believe we're all evil. I believe there are billions of people in the world who just want to do the right thing. I am saying that we're not the ones in control now, and that the ones who are, are the same ones who've been there all through recorded time. They don't like you and me much. We were very foolish to trust them. Stop listening to their commercials, their mindless entertainment, and remember how truly dignified and noble you really are.

We're not powerless, not yet, anyway. The incredible thing about the United States of America is that its underlying structure is still based on the noblest ideals. That's the really dangerous thing about democracy with regard to the rich and powerful; there's always the chance the people themselves could win!

(Upcoming: On Monday, October 15th, I'll publish a blog in honor of Blog Action Day, when over 12,000 bloggers on blogger.com will all write a piece on the environment for an audience of millions. I suspect I'll write about Al Gore's Nobel award, and related issues. Then on Thursday, October 18th, stay tuned for my Sixtieth Birthday blog, and see what I write while in a drunken, self-pitying stupor.)

Consciousness

I've tried to think at times about how we've changed in the years I've been around to see it. A mere six decades isn't much in the scheme of things, and human nature changes slowly. But an awful lot has happened, and I think there are times when change happens more quickly. Some of the most fundamental changes happened in the first half of the twentieth century, just as I was appearing on the scene. But I could make a pretty good argument that there's been more dynamic changes for the human race in the last sixty years than ever before, probably far more. And we've been changed by it, in ways we're still evaluating.

I'm not sure I can do justice to this topic this evening. Not the very best day, health-wise. Doctor visit. New round of meds, starting all over, that's no fun, and I'm not feeling that great, but I'll get better. I'll try to finish this tomorrow.

Well, that was fun. I'm feeling a little better, so let's give this a shot. Consciousness. Funny how that's one of the things we think least clearly about. My generation grew into adulthood while engaging some big questions about the nature of consciousness. I was in college during the Vietnam War era. I led protests, including a large one after the Kent State shootings. Interesting story for later. I lived in Greenwich Village in the Sixties and Seventies, and partook (I looked it up, that's the right word) of all the good, and some of the bad, things that Greenwich Village had to offer during that time. It was amazing! From there eventually to Microsoft and the cutting edge technology mindset, I've seen a lot of Consciousness in this era up close and personal, and overall, I'd say there's a lot of positives in our Progress Report for the last sixty years. We haven't changed human nature very much, but I think we see it much, much more clearly, and in exponentially increasing numbers. That's really quite a statement when you think about it, and I believe it, don't you?

Talking about Consciousness, I'm taking occasional license to ramble, in a stream-of sort of way. You, Dear Reader, might wonder why you should bother to follow any of this. Well, that's up to you, for the most part, but I'll give you one assurance, and all I can do is ask you to trust me on this: I am always trying to tell the absolute truth as best I know it. If I make a mistake, I will try to correct it. I think our Consciousness has been harmed by the ubiquity of lies we've had to contend with, and if you've caught any of the tone of these blogs, none of it makes any sense if I'm dishonest. I'm too old to lie, people. No point in it.

(Rambling again.) There's a little story about me that will help prove my point. I don't really want to make this blog too personal, except in a Zen sort of way, but on occasion, I think it's ok. This happened a long time ago. I was living in Manhattan with my wife, and I cheated on her. That was a stupid, lousy thing to do, and I'm not proud of it. It did indeed end up destroying the marriage, and I knew what I'd done long before the actual divorce. Ironically, I was starring in a small production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible at the time, and got much too caught up in the charms of one of my co-stars. The lead character in that play is John Proctor, whose situation had a fascinating parallel with my real life (and with the actress who played the lover in the play), and I've thought about that often since then. John Proctor's tragedy was that of broken trust, and so was mine. It gave me a very profound sense of the importance of trust. I vowed afterwards that I would never compromise my honesty in any way. For me, it's how I can hold my head up in the world, and it really has been the guiding principle of my life ever since. You don't have to believe me, but it might help if you know that Honest is something I've been working on for a long time.

So. Consciousness.

We still have a lot of misconceptions about Consciousness. In Greenwich Village, the thing you wanted to do was alter it. That had its moments, believe me, and you might think with zazen I'm still trying to alter Consciousness, but I think you'd miss the point. By now, I've learned to be fully content with the Consciousness I've already got, thank you very much. I'm not looking to alter it any more. (Ok, well, at least not in the current context.) I don't think Zen is about "altering Consciousness" at all. It's just about taking the time to stop and calm down for a minute, that's all. We really need to do that on a regular basis, and we'll all think more clearly. Most Westerners haven't figured this out yet, but that's really all there is to it. Zen de-mystified! So, what's "Zen Enlightenment", then? I've already said that. It's "love thy neighbor as thyself" with all your heart. 'Nuff said.

OK, so has our Consciousness changed in the last sixty years? Good grief, yes, don't you think so? There's so much to consider on this topic. We've seen education improvements for massive population groups, staggering proliferation of information through print, television and digital media. We've altered Consciousness in ways we hardly dreamed of even in Chelsea. Exhilarating, confusing, overwhelming, that's been the times we've lived in. Now, at long last, the Hippies are starting to retire. I'm a little ahead of the pack, due to my condition. I've been struck by the thought I'm a bit like the canary in the mine. My generation has been really, really smart (and vice versa) in many ways, but so many of us have gravitated to intense careers such as I've had at Microsoft. I've been aware of the world, but just through a narrow window while my professional life took precedence, and took over, for the most part. Now that I have some time, and have looked around to get a better idea of what's really been going on, it's pretty shocking. Those of you who are still too busy with your life, especially those who are close to my age, make sure you're sitting down when it all sinks in. There are momentous issues on the table right now, and, if we survive long enough for the bulk of my generation to retire, I think we're going to have a whole lot of people in this country waking up to what's going on with a "WTF???" I'm just telling you. I thought I was on top of things, I saw through Bush and all that, but oh man, I didn't know. We got problems.

If we can just hang on, though, this Consciousness gives us a lot of reason for hope. If we can keep the lines open, there is information available in this still-gloriously-free society, that will lift some serious scales from our aging eyes. My generation is going to see through so much of the sham and nonsense of this age, to a degree I'm not sure we can even begin to imagine. I really predict this, write it down. My generation will reinvigorate its quest for the truth as the demands of career wind down, and there are truths within our grasp so beautiful, I have no words.

I try to comment here about our search for truth and meaning, and shed any light I'm able to on how to overcome some of the hurdles placed in our path. I'm being so inspired right now by the writings of Noam Chomsky, as I've been saying, and I still have much study to do before I can really claim to have enough command of his broad-ranging knowledge to treat it responsibly, but it's a revelation to see how minds like Chomsky's can bring us closer to really understanding the forces that shape our lives. It's very significant that he brings the linguistic discipline to this task, because that discipline helps immensely to keep him honest and objective, even scientific in his approach when possible. There are other minds, of course, and the more I can grasp of the language of Chomsky, the more accessible will those other minds become. I only know English, to my shame, but I know many languages. I am an expert in C++, which contributed to expertise in C#, VB, and so on. Understanding one language can lead to many others.

We've come a long way, and we've helped to place our own roadblocks to bar the path ahead. We're still making war, and lying, and raping the earth. We may last until my generation retires, but we may not. Just to let you know, though, if we make it, if we have time to sit down and take stock for a minute, look out!

Machinations

I'm not a smart man... but I know what love is.
-- Forrest Gump

I am somewhat squeamish, but I steeled myself to keep from averting my eyes during the final scenes of Ken Burns' The War on PBS last Tuesday evening. I saw piles upon piles of corpses "stacked like cords of wood", as more than one witness had described. There's nothing quite like a 50-inch plasma display to maximize the impact of a video moment. All over the world, only a few short years ago, life had become a commodity of minimal value. As I switched off the TV and turned my attention to our modern world, I felt how deeply vulnerable we may be to the chance of its happening again.

The issue is ... whether we want to live in a free society or whether we want to live under what amounts to a form of self-imposed totalitarianism, with the bewildered herd marginalized, directed elsewhere, terrified, screaming patriotic slogans, fearing for their lives and admiring with awe the leader who saved them from destruction, while the educated masses goose-step on command and repeat the slogans they're supposed to repeat and the society deteriorates at home. We end up serving as a mercenary enforcer state, hoping that others are going to pay us to smash up the world. Those are the choices That's the choice that you have to face. The answer to those questions is very much in the hands of people like you and me.

-- Noam Chomsky, Media Control

Noam Chomsky was described in the New York Times as "arguably the most important intellectual alive." In September of 2006, Hugo Chavez displayed Chomsky's book Hegemony or Survival to world leaders at the United Nations, describing it as "an excellent book to help us understand what has been happening in the world throughout the 20th century." Of course, Chavez also expressed regret at not being able to meet with Chomsky before his death (Chomsky is very much alive), so one must reserve a degree of skepticism for Mr. Chavez' acumen. Osama bin Laden, in his video earlier this year, referred to Chomsky as "among the most capable of those from your side who speak to you on this topic." (Hey, with endorsements like that, who needs the Times Book Review?) Pat Tillman's mother, and Chomsky, have confirmed that a meeting had been arranged between Tillman and Chomsky on his return from Afghanistan. I suspect all, or at least the vast majority, regret that meeting did not take place.

I mention these references to highlight the really stunning impact this individual is having on the world. I have purchased three of his books -- Failed States, Hegemony or Survival, and The Chomsky Reader. I'm reading Failed States now, so I'm working backwards, I guess, but there's also so much material on the internet that it's somewhat slow progress. (Of course, there were the Ohio State and Cleveland Browns football games as well.) Chomsky is a complex man with complex thoughts, so I don't want to try and summarize him too quickly. But to underestimate his importance is to ignore the world.

What is the message that resonates so strongly with those who stand against U.S. foreign policies? If such a man as Osama bin Laden praises him, why should we even care? The ancient Greek philosopher Antisthines said "There are only two people who can tell you the truth about yourself - an enemy who has lost his temper, and a friend who loves you dearly." Osama bin Laden has unquestionably lost his temper, but I suspect Noam Chomsky loves us dearly. To this point, he appears to be telling us the truth, no matter how painful. We need to care, and I'm saying that Chomsky is only trying to warn us before it's too late.

If you've passed safely through the gauntlet of disinformation to appreciate that global warming is a fact, you also need to know that scientists are seeing that the process is occurring much faster than estimates had indicated. This crisis alone is more than sufficient to make us stop and take notice, but Chomsky elevates our awareness of the patterns of our overall behavior, and a much broader view of its causes and effects. The most critical problem of all is that we're heading in the wrong direction, and we're not slowing down, we're speeding up.

One of the "strongest" objections to Chomsky -- though not particularly strong, in my opinion -- is that the policies of the United States are infinitely preferable to the alternative, and ultimately result in humanitarian benefits over time. I would respond that the policies of the United States are infinitely less preferable than a revitalized policy founded principally on fundamental human rights. It represents a great lack of faith, to my mind, that we despair of making serious attempts to reform the destructive elements of the machineries of progress we've unleashed upon the world. I want to believe that we have far too much potential simply to ride on the runaway train and shout ahead with warnings.

It's not necessary to read Chomsky to get the feeling that the window of time for making adjustments may be closing, but it helps. The array of information he provides is available as a matter of public record, and the scrupulous methodology that has made him the most important linguistic scholar of our time is applied with vigor to these topics as well. It's not a matter of refuting his information, because he's simply repeating what is well known. The difference is his genius, and of course the enormous applied effort that is the real secret of genius, that allows him to broaden our view of events to include a much larger range of causes and effects, and perceive the underlying patterns. It's hard to imagine a more fitting toolset for understanding our world than a mastery of the basic elements of communication.

The problems of our world, when viewed in the historical and political contexts provided by such scholars as Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, can be overwhelming. Many of us have a growing fear that it may already be too late, so why even bother? I can't even comprehend that point of view, so I'll allow that to pass without further comment. I do believe that there's an excellent chance things are going to get much worse. I could have made that into a more comforting phrase such as "things are going to get much worse before they get better," but the truth is, by the very nature of our crises, it's more prudent to have placed the period to the sentence right where I put it. When concern about these issues is sufficient to have reached critical mass, there will be a response, of course, but it's increasingly likely our response will indeed have been too late.

So what should we do? I'm trying to do my part, in my small way. I really believe the most important thing is for us to simply recognize the problems. Many of us are not being very honest with ourselves, and you know who you are. Most of us are just trying to avoid being talked to like I'm doing now, and I probably can't blame you for that, there's a lot I'd rather be doing, as well. I think we should try to see "things as it is", as Shunryu Suzuki used to say. We should practice zazen and become less rigid, less dogmatic in our interactions, and waste far less time regretting the truth than in staying open to truth in every moment.

I really am very, very hopeful. With reservations.

FUBAR!

Under the current U. S. policies, a nuclear exchange is inevitable.
-- Noam Chomsky



I stated my intention to publish a blog entry titled "FUBAR", and this is it. The title is the same as the middle episode of the Ken Burns documentary "The War", which I reviewed in my last entry. I assume you know the acronym -- F(bleep)ed Up Beyond All Recognition -- and its assimilation into the everyday slang. It is also, far too accurately, an assessment of the world today. Not entirely, from my point of view, since I'm determined to remain an optimist. The final letter of the acronym stands for Recognition, not Redemption. The key is Recognition. Even though everything's been muddied and F(bleep)ed Up, I believe Recognition is still possible, if we just try.

This blog has been invaluable as a sort of story line for my semi-retirement. To the casual observer, I know it may be difficult to see much of a pattern, but it's there. I left the Microsoft development cycle grind a little over 7 months ago because (1) I could, and (2) I have a medical condition. My plan for this time was partially dictated by my physical limitations, but I looked forward to extensive reading and zazen in a peacefully contemplative environment. As I have begun learning to appreciate the simple pleasures, the world outside has stood in stark contrast to the satisfactions I enjoyed, so I've been studying our world intensely and, of course, blogging about it.

At Microsoft, one of my biggest thrills has been seeing the actual thought processes of truly brilliant minds. As for myself, I have my moments, but with regard to pure technical intelligence and skills, I've been known more for effort than technical brilliance. I was privileged to be part of the Windows Vista development cycle virtually from the outset, and I was constantly exposed to individuals with the capacity for lightning analysis, uncanny abilities to anticipate and prepare for a dizzying array of contingencies, and just more or less shed light on the actualization of real genius in the modern world. And I'm not exaggerating. So, I've had quite an extraordinary education about the utilization of our faculties, and that constantly inspires me to apply myself now with some of the rigors and discipline of Windows development to which I've been exposed.

I'm old enough to "get" the importance of trying to have a fairly balanced view of things, and there is certainly a connection between the Zen traditions and the ancient symbols of Yin and Yang. I know a blog that begins with pictures of nuclear mushrooms doesn't bode well for the hope of a balanced perspective, but, as I mentioned earlier, this blog is a kind of narrative. This entry represents the effect of my having reached a certain stage, but the story itself is a longer one, with more balancing effects over time.

When I indicated my intention to write FUBAR!, the stated goal was to try and put into words anything I've left unsaid. Thinking about that, I realized that meant I should try to give a voice to some of the unspoken subtext and vague fears, hopefully without simply being shrill and alarmist, but with at least some real skill at assessing the landscape. Fortunately, we have no shortage of brilliant minds today who are attempting to do just that, and I have tried in these entries to provide the most relevant possible snapshots of these attempts, with modest success. But for all the brilliance of authors and journalists such as Paul Krugman and Naomi Klein, and even my hero Howard Zinn, I remained uncertain what I might say.

Perhaps I'm learning a bit about how to let things happen when they're ready, but I think I've always had some instincts in that regard. I appear to be ready to hear what Professor Noam Chomsky has to say about this world, and I believe those are the very words I'd been searching for.

The following is a transliteration of a portion of a radio interview of Chomsky by the BBC in January 2006, titled "The Biggest Challenges Facing Humankind":

Chomsky: Well I think there are two major challenges which are actually so serious that they literally endanger survival of the species. The worst of them, which is unfortunately rarely discussed, is the threat of nuclear war which has been high for a long time and is now increasing. It’s not alarmist when someone like Robert McNamara writes an article called “Apocalypse soon,” or when leading strategic analysts in the most conservative journals talk of the “appreciable risk of ultimate doom.” Primarily driven by what’s called the transformation of military in the United States, the vast increase in offensive military capacity, including steps towards militarization of space which every analyst understands, is leading potential adversaries to increase their own offensive military capacities. The Russians have done so very substantially since the Bush administration came in, the Chinese are now doing it. And all of these systems are increasingly being placed on automated response system, hair-trigger alert, that’s called “Accidents waiting to happen” in strategic analysis literature. We know our own systems fail constantly and are averted by human intervention which has only a few minutes of time, and the systems of the adversaries are much less sophisticated, much more likely to cause an accidental missile strike. Those dangers are going up very high and talk about ultimate doom and apocalypse is now not alarmist. In fact at a lower level, US intelligence analysts estimate the probability of a dirty nuclear bomb attack in the US in the next ten years is about 50%. That’s not a massive nuclear attack but enough to change the course of history dramatically, maybe end up in nuclear war. These are the things that are right at the edge. Instead of doing something about them, we’re going in the opposite direction.

Noam Chomsky has encountered a great deal of opposition for his forceful views, but I have spent much of my life studying brilliant minds, and Noam Chomsky possesses a laser beam quality of thinking I have rarely encountered, and that's saying something. He has the kind of thinking that blows my hair back when he speaks. I've seen so many brilliant people up close, both at Microsoft and in the theater districts of Manhattan, that I've also learned a bit about spotting the flaws in their brilliance, and I'm sure the same will be true for Mr. Chomsky as I continue to read and listen. But for all their flaws, let me tell you. When you have a chance to listen to genius, just drop whatever you were doing, and sit down. You're about to have your life enriched.

Here is a link to Noam Chomsky's primary web site, Chomsky.info, and two links to an extraordinary interview with both Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn on DemocracyNow! from April of this year:

• On Iraq, Vietnam, Activism and History


• On Alan Dershowitz and Norman Finkelstein

Chomsky rose to fame as a linguist, and has extended his reputation as a searing critic of the United States and its policies. His linguistic skills are always evident in his ability to extract the core of a given context and cling to it as a buffer against all attempts to shift the topic. With focus, discipline, and an inexhaustible range of information and specific examples, Chomsky offers a vision of today's world as defined by the imperialist tendencies of great powers, the most recent example of which is the United States. Lest you think we've merely descended into a world of esoteric phrases, there are some examples below that will touch on some of the implications. If you'll excuse a brief digression, perhaps I can establish a little more context.

Paul Krugman is a famous liberal columnist for The New York Times, and his new book, The Conscience of a Liberal, will be published later this month. He is also writing a blog by the same name. I highly recommend the blog, and hope Mr. Krugman won't mind if I include a small graph from the initial blog entry that I linked to above:

This chart represents the richest 10 percent of the American population over the past 90 years. It's a very striking representation of the fate of the middle class during that time, and might serve, at the very least, as incentive to seriously question the policies that have led to such effects on the majority of American citizens. It is completely reasonable to question why we should think that the chart above reflects the collective efforts and consensus will of the general public of this powerful nation. If one has the stomach for considering the possible darker implications, it might lead to paying more attention to some of our harshest critics.

The first video below is from an old TV show called The Firing Line in 1969. It records a brief encounter between the young Mr. Chomsky and William F. Buckley. I'm including it to allow you to experience political discourse on a rarefied level compared to most of what we see today, and to see Chomsky's powerful mind in action when pitted against one of the most eloquent conservatives of the information age:



Finally, this video is from an interview with Francine Stock of the BBC at London's St. Paul's Cathedral in December of 2002. It's "spiced up" with a little multimedia introduction that gives some sense of Chomsky's real impact on the world, though it's yet to be felt with full force in the country that's been the target of most of his criticism. As an added bonus, it's introduced by the playwright Harold Pinter, whose plays helped me explore our words and meanings in many challenging ways during the years I spent in the theater. (Note: This video may have some glitches. I'm keeping an eye on it.)



As I said, I'm determined to be an optimist. I have much to learn from the speeches and writings of Mr. Chomsky, but it's more than troubling to hear this man, to be able to recognize him as more than a cut above most of us in his abilities to perceive and examine the world, and to recognize ourselves in the mirror he shoves so rudely before our faces.

The image atop this blog entry is a warning. I have travelled this path in good faith, and have come now to stand trembling before my most eloquent accuser.

I do not have an answer.

The War

If you haven't watched any of Ken Burns' astonishing survey of World War II on PBS, you owe it to yourself to take a look. We've seen all the video of Hitler, and the newsreels, and watched The Duke take Nazis and Japs on at the same time, but this leisurely fourteen-hour recounting is the story of your father's or grandfather's war, not FDR's. For seven episodes, the people of four small towns in America remembered that time, including moments they've shared only rarely over the years. There are many opinions about this huge documentary, of course, but I'm pretty impressed. It's hard not to be reminded of Howard Zinn's People's History when watching all these events through the eyes of foot soldiers, fighter pilots, and the girl friends at home, unembellished (for the most part), unaffected, as they really were. There's a good article called Master of Deceipt by Dan Flynn at FrontPageMag.com that would seem to corroborate my theory.

There are other touches as well. Burns doesn't blink at the topic of Japanese internments, and shows us another side of who we were. Then there are the segregated black and Japanese platoons, and their soldiers who tell their story with so little rancor, but Burns makes sure we've heard them, and know what they have done. At the end of the FUBAR episode, there's also an Indian, and his is another wonderful story you won't want to miss.

I'm going to write my own FUBAR blog entry soon, I think. There's a FUBAR feel about things I'm having a hard time shaking. It's like we've been walking on what we assume to be solid ground, then all around the earth falls away to reveal our seesaw. Some of us are on one side, while on the other they're adding weights, and ballast, heavy weapons, and cash, and I'm starting to feel a decided tilt. In case you haven't been paying attention, this is a common sensation, I'm told, for a lot of us right now, and it's bordering on the epidemic. I've been engrossed by these glimpses into our last great descent into madness, and the simple dignities of mankind that survive it all, but I know that the events of today will write their own story, and could play out in a distinctively minor key. I need to dig down and see if I've left anything unsaid, and I'm doing that. I need to percolate a bit.

I read a short sermon (or teisho, if you like) by Shunryu Suzuki called "Freedom From Everything". Master Suzuki didn't believe in modest goals. He confessed that he never practiced zazen really well until two years prior, when he nearly drowned in a creek while trying to cross. It was the realization that things can end, he noted, that finally focused his thinking. Zen really is a relative of martial arts, and demands the same resolute approach as the Samurai facing his death. If this were really our last moment, would we still go on fooling ourselves, and still try to make do with half measures? If my own condition does not improve, will I die confused?

I watched another very good video on YouTube. It's a talk by Gudo Nishijima (no, I hadn't heard of him) on the Meaning of Zazen. It's a wonderful talk, with helpful discussion on the pure physiology of zazen sitting to achieve a natural balance. The Zen influence in Buddhism is practical to its core, and its practice is therapeutic in many ways. We have so much to learn.

I really believe you'll enjoy Gudo Nishijima's clear, simple style. I also hope you will notice there really is something special about him. Actually, what's so special is that there's absolutely nothing special about him. There I go with a riddle again ...