Whats does a T6 ECLAD look like?

T stands for tons of fun... S stands for sleep next door. What should a T6 ECLAD look like? Share your vision. If it involves seizing every single government position in the local government, I'm not coming. (Note this is not for place discussions. Logemann has establisted that post already.)

T6 ECLAD in North Carolina

This post is mostly for my friend Steve, who is convinced of (but has little data to support) the idea that North Carolina is a bad state for single people, and thus would make a poor site for the hypothetical T6 Experiment in Communal Living and Discipleship (or T6 ECLAD, for short). “The Triangle” area of North Carolina (comprised of the cities of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill) boasts the many elements vital to the T6 economy: major research universities for the academics like UNC, Duke and NC State; high tech (and high-paying, no doubt) companies for those more practically inclined (for example, those with *ahem* computer science degrees, perhaps?) including Cisco, DuPont, Freescale Semiconductor, GE, GlaxoSmithKline, IBM, Sony Ericsson, and Verizon, among numerous others; several NPR stations; throngs of smart, interesting and available young women (some probably even with southern accents); and inexpensive real estate. You can read a little more (but really not much more) in this Wikipedia article.

Also of interest, the Triangle's population is the most educated in the United States, with the highest number of Ph.D.s per capita. Sounds like an interesting place to me... how about you?

A Link

The following information will be presented in the form of a cheezy radio commercial.

[Cheezy radio commercial music- dee de deee dip daaa!]
"Hi Marshall!"
"Oh, Hi Jenny; wow, you look excited!"
"Well, I just found out about this exciting new website called Library Thing!"
"Library Thing? What's Library Thing?"
"Library Thing is a wonderful online application that allows serious book-owners like me to enter my whole library to my own online database—it's an easy, library-quality catalog!"
"Wow, that does sound exciting, tell me more!!!"
"I'd be glad to, LibraryThing also connects you with people who read the same things; I've already met over FIFTY PEOPLE who love differnt books that I love!"
"Wow! . . .wow wow wow wow WOW!"
"I know! And signing up is easy! Just go to http://web1.librarything.com/ to start your account today!"
"Wow! That's great, I will."
"Hurray!"

[Da dee Daa [pause] Library Thing!]

Goodbye Denny

Resign, Mr. Speaker
TODAY'S EDITORIALOctober 3, 2006
The facts of the disgrace of Mark Foley, who was a Republican member of the House from a Florida district until he resigned last week, constitute a disgrace for every Republican member of Congress. Red flags emerged in late 2005, perhaps even earlier, in suggestive and wholly inappropriate e-mail messages to underage congressional pages. His aberrant, predatory -- and possibly criminal -- behavior was an open secret among the pages who were his prey. The evidence was strong enough long enough ago that the speaker should have relieved Mr. Foley of his committee responsibilities contingent on a full investigation to learn what had taken place, whether any laws had been violated and what action, up to and including prosecution, were warranted by the facts. This never happened. Rep. John Shimkus of Illinois, the Republican chairman of the House Page Board, said he learned about the Foley e-mail messages "in late 2005." Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the leader of the Republican majority, said he was informed of the e-mail messages earlier this year. On Friday, Mr. Hastert dissembled, to put it charitably, before conceding that he, too, learned about the e-mail messages sometime earlier this year. Late yesterday afternoon, Mr. Hastert insisted that he learned of the most flagrant instant-message exchange from 2003 only last Friday, when it was reported by ABC News. This is irrelevant. The original e-mail messages were warning enough that a predator -- and, incredibly, the co-chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children -- could be prowling the halls of Congress. The matter wasn't pursued aggressively. It was barely pursued at all. Moreover, all available evidence suggests that the Republican leadership did not share anything related to this matter with any Democrat. Now the scandal must unfold on the front pages of the newspapers and on the television screens, as transcripts of lewd messages emerge and doubts are rightly raised about the forthrightness of the Republican stewards of the 109th Congress. Some Democrats are attempting to make this "a Republican scandal," and they shouldn't; Democrats have contributed more than their share of characters in the tawdry history of congressional sexual scandals. Sexual predators come in all shapes, sizes and partisan hues, in institutions within and without government. When predators are found they must be dealt with, forcefully and swiftly. This time the offender is a Republican, and Republicans can't simply "get ahead" of the scandal by competing to make the most noise in calls for a full investigation. The time for that is long past. House Speaker Dennis Hastert must do the only right thing, and resign his speakership at once. Either he was grossly negligent for not taking the red flags fully into account and ordering a swift investigation, for not even remembering the order of events leading up to last week's revelations -- or he deliberately looked the other way in hopes that a brewing scandal would simply blow away. He gave phony answers Friday to the old and ever-relevant questions of what did he know and when did he know it? Mr. Hastert has forfeited the confidence of the public and his party, and he cannot preside over the necessary coming investigation, an investigation that must examine his own inept performance. A special, one-day congressional session should elect a successor. We nominate Rep. Henry Hyde, also of Illinois, the chairman of the House International Relations Committee whose approaching retirement ensures that he has no dog in this fight. He has a long and principled career, and is respected on both sides of the aisle. Mr. Hyde would preside over the remaining three months of the 109th Congress in a manner best suited for a full and exhaustive investigation until a new speaker for the 110th Congress is elected in January, who can assume responsibility for the investigation.

bored of brad's gorgeous photos

It's been so long since any sort of post I just thought I'd add some comic relief. Rachel and I had this done in Tombstone, AZ, about 90 years ago... I mean, a month ago. Comments? Let a new debate arise!

Brad Kaspar's Vacation

For those of you who know him, the photos from his vacation are incredible. No passwords needed.

http://gregstrock.typepad.com/photos/hiking_in_the_alps

If you ever want to email him, I can send you his email address.

Hunter Adam Plano Plano Yoda

Steve, still gallavanting around the US? Can we have a report on your stay in America?

I have nothing to report.

Is there word yet on a date and place for the wedding, Adam?

Discourse

"This nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation." Controlling the terms of discourse controls the conversation. It takes control in advance of what will be said because it determines what can be said. Such control takes place in various ways under various names (ideology, hegemony, etc), and it takes its power from going unnoticed: it appears to be natural, the only way a topic can be discussed. Take, for example, our President's speech yesterday in Wisconsin (quoted above). He implies a rationale for anyone who wants to attack the US: they hate us only because we "love freedom" or, even more simply, because we are who we are ("our nation"). Strictly speaking, this is not a rationale because it denies any rational process/motivation. What it does is rule out any possibility that US economic and foreign policies play any role in motivating terrorism. If they hate us merely because we enjoy freedom, then there is no reason for us to examine our imbalanced policies towards the Palestinians, our support of dictators in oil-producing Arab states or the ways and degrees to which our government supports the global actions of primarily American multinational corporations. If our enemies are irrational or simply evil, then we are targeted arbitrarily (or because we are a beacon of goodness) and there is nothing we can do to prevent the spread of terrorism short of killing everyone who might want to hurt us. Now, I don't claim that terrorists have such universably defensible grievances with the US that we would be compelled to agree with them and their methods. I do think that in order to address a problem we have to understand it first, and labeling our enemies as evil and/or irrational does not begin to comprehend the problem. If US foreign policy contributes to terrorist recruitment-- and US foreign policy DOES contribute to terrorist recruitment-- then we need to carefully examine whether the offending parts of our policy are absolutely necessary or whether we can ammend our policies to minimize the violence we attract to ourselves. There are many possible reasons for denying the possibility of a logical connection between our global policies and our enemies' motivations for hating us-- emotional connections to September 11, economic interests, militaristic neocon ideology, political expediency, etc.-- but closing our eyes and ears to critical self-examination and blindly labelling terrorists as irrationally evil cannot help and often wrecks our efforts to protect ourselves and our national interest. We need to be engaged in a serious conversation about our nation's place and role in the world, but we cannot make progress on this front as long as we claim to be a target only because we "love freedom." We need to listen to both Sun-tzu and the oracle at Delphi: the first teaches "Know your enemy" and the second "Know thyself."

Urban Stronghold

I now own a house. That is, I now own a huge loan for a house, and the bank is letting me live there. It a 1350 sq. foot, three bedroom, ranch-style house directly adjacent to my own "Good Shepherd Reformed Episcopal Church and School" in Tyler. I intend to put it to heavy use as a gathering place for friends and allies, much like Steve and Adam's Traber 611, but rather less relaxed and more like a neighborhood intelligence and command center.

My first maneuvers from home will constitute planting two fruit-bearing plum trees in my front yard.

Richard M. Daley, Mayor

Just in case anyone is in striking distance, I will be in sweet home Chicago from August 17-21 (Th-Mon) to see Josh and hopefully Jordan, Ryan (Shifty) and whoever else I can dig up in or lure to the windy city. I'll buy you a pint if you can make it!

New Urbanism

I remember Dave mentioning new urbanism not too long ago. All Things Considered had a story about it today, so I thought I'd post it. Enjoy.

Kids and Madison Ave, or Why Capitalism is Evil

Indulging once again in my summer fling with NPR, I heard this piece about children and commercial advertising: All Things Considered July 31, 2006. I thought I should share it with everyone here since we have already touched on the topic of children, television and commercials. The billions of advertising dollars aimed at preschoolers and toddlers give us one more example-- and a particulary insidious one at that-- of what capitalism is really about. Capitalism is not about meeting needs; it is about creating them. It is not about fulfilling the demands of people in the system; rather, it is the strategic destruction of fulfillment in consumers in order to meet the corporate need to sell more and more units. Why supply what people demand when you can get them to demand what you supply? After all, if you supply what people demand, they might be satisfied, and satisfaction is bad for the bottom line. It's better business to sell desire, and start as young as possible...

My Ugly Mug

Stop playing games with my face.

Why We Fight

I just finished watching a documentary titled Why We Fight (2005). Has anyone else seen it? If so, I would love to hear what you think. If not, then watch it now. Put it in your Netflix queue or spend three bucks at Blockbuster or whatever, but watch it. I don't have words right now, so I'll talk to you guys later.

Congress Ave

I found this scene reflected in a downtown window.

Get Your Kicks

One of my favorites from the last roll I developed.

In America

I'm In America.
I'd like to get together with whoever can, which might mean making a trip to Arizona, Tyler, and/or D.C. Anybody in the mood? Please? Pretty please?

Sometime between Aug 6 - 16

Get your tickets while they're hot!

In full support of our new plan to make crazy delicious money with off-the-wall ideas, I've decided to sell tickets to my wedding.

Dude... I'm getting married. That's stinking weird... and crazy delicious. So yes, I have bit the dust so to speak, and asked Rachel to marry me. After a cute pause, she said yes and sealed the deal. So... I'm excited! That's certainly the second most scary time I've ever had. Second only to almost getting blown up in Iraq. Either one is about as life-changing, but the marriage thing has gotta be WAY more fun. We're thinking of getting married sometime between the end of October and the New Year, but the earlier the better! I would fully accept comments in the nature of congratulations but more importantly, TELL ME WHAT THE HECK I'M SUPPOSED TO DO NOW! Advice from married and single alike are welcome. Peace, love, and all that gushy stuff.

Naseous Anger

I am so angry today with the state of Israel, but it is not a "righteous indignation"; it is anger mixed with dread and an unsettling guilt. I cry for the Israeli dead and hate the violence backed by Hamas and Syria and Hezzbollah. I also weep for the dead in Gaza and Lebanon, and as I weep I see their blood on my hands. Our country has entwined itself with Israel in such a way that their sins cannot but fall on our heads. I feel this in my bones. The billions of dollars, the machines of war and death, our omnipotent veto that silences every censure from the United Nations all offer material support to our tacit approval of whatever Israel does-- no matter how unjust or immoral. But how could we do otherwise? Could we censure the Israeli government for collectively punishing civilian populations when we have murdered tens of thousands in our own "war against terror"? (Yes, "collateral damage" is nothing but a pretty word for murder.) But surely if given the choice between hypocrisy and murder we must choose to be hypocrites and then work to amend our own lives. But our President is silent; our ambassadors protect the "rights" of Israel to destroy Lebanon and Gaza; and we do nothing for those in Beirut who have died, are dying and will die tommorow. God save them, and God save us from their blood which cries out from the ground that soaks it up. In His mercy, let us hear the cry for justice. What twists the knife in my chest is knowing that the vast majority of evangelicals will line up in support of Israel as though that country were established by Divine fiat and not by proclamation of the Bristish empire. Apologizing in the name of God for war waged on civilians is a heresy if ever anything was heretical. I fear that we won't escape from wrath. Lord, have mercy.

One Red Paperclip

So a few weeks ago, Dave and I were talking and we figured that, in light of the fact that we have contributing to this blog a group of very intelligent human beings, we might be able to turn it into a venture that would make us all fabulously rich. And once that happens, we can start solving the problems of the world instead of just talking about them. We figured that Strauss, with his economic know-how and ability to do complex math, would be the source of this amazing idea. But I just read about this blog today where Kyle MacDonald, a random 27-year old from Canada, in the course of a year, managed to trade one red paperclip for an entire house. All on his blog, appropriately named oneredpaperclip. The moral of the story: anyone can come up with an idea that is just so crazy that it might work. Even people who can’t do complex math. So, since we don’t seem to have anything more to talk about during these quiet summer months than… grass… this is your chance to offer up your ideas for our collective online business venture. The winning idea will receive a silver-colored paper clip. Hey, it’s more valuable than you think…