...people-powered democracy

Things move amazingly fast these days, accelerated by the power of the Internet and an engaged populace. As an example, consider the story about relaxed security at a Barack Obama campaign event in Dallas.

It surfaced for the first time, apparently, yesterday morning (!) in the pages of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Quickly picked up by various small bloggers, and then circulated to the masses by high-volume sites like Americablog, the story gathered enough interest -- and enough pressure from we, the people -- that the US Secret Service felt compelled to respond.

This would not have happened without the intervention of alert bloggers and large numbers of concerned citizens like you. It's an excellent example of the real-world effective power that Internet communication and action is bringing to our democracy.

Good on you!

Tags: Politics, Society

...welcome to Amerika

Hope Steffey's night started with a call to police for help. It ended with her face down, naked, and sobbing on a jail cell floor. Now, the sheriff's deputies from Stark County, Ohio who allegedly used excessive force during a strip search 15 months ago face a federal lawsuit, and this recently released video won’t help their case.

What's happening to our country??!

Tags: Politics

...the arc of Woody Allen

Ever since the first time I saw Take the Money and Run or Bananas back when I was in high school, I've been a big fan of Woody Allen. He was that rare triple threat, a guy who could write, direct, and star in his own films -- and do all three brilliantly.

When Annie Hall came out in 1977, I knew that something had changed. No longer just aces at making funny movies, Woody was now one of our great auteurs, period.

For the next ten years, there was no one in the world making better cinema than Woody Allen. His string of masterpieces during that short period is almost unrivaled in history.

But then something happened. Maybe it was his difficult breakup with Mia Farrow, or the scandal around his romance with Soon-Yi Previn, Mia's daughter. Maybe it was just a matter of an artist growing old and leaving his greatest creative faculties behind. Whatever it was, after Radio Days in 1988, Woody Allen would never make another great movie.

There was one more high point to come, with Bullets Over Broadway in 1996, but even that fine film did not come close to the heights of Allen's peak period.

The arc of Woody Allen's career as a filmmaker becomes more obvious when viewed on a graph. Below, I have subjectively rated each of his movies, from 1966 to 2006, on a scale of one to ten. The red curve is a "polynomial" -- a spreadsheet function -- that combines the various ratings and averages them into a trend.













(CLICK ON GRAPH TO ENLARGE)

It's sad to see such a steep decline, from one of the best ever to just mediocre. Perhaps that is the lot of most artists, or indeed of most people. It's more noticeable with someone like Woody Allen, though, and more poignant. What a genius he was.

...believers and non-believers

It's Christmas Day 2006, and:

An overwhelming number of Britons believe religion does more harm than good while non-believers outnumber believers by nearly two to one, an ICM poll has suggested. Eighty-two percent said they saw religion as a cause of division and tension between people compared to 16 percent who disagreed. Sixty-three percent said they were not religious; 33 percent said they were religious.

Meanwhile, according to a recent Newsweek poll, 87% of Americans surveyed claim "never to doubt" the existence of God. Fewer than 10% identify themselves as atheists, and only 37% of Americans say they would vote for an otherwise qualified atheist for President.

Why such a gap in belief between two nations so closely related?

...talking to the future

Jamais Cascio, channeling Paul Kedrosky, asks:

"What one sentence would you tell the future?"

The response is supposed to focus on each person's area of expertise, whether it is politics, engineering, cooking, or whatever.

I've thought about whether I should say something specifically about nanotechnology, such as "When we achieve the ability to engineer functional systems at the molecular scale, the very survival of civilization may be at risk," or about transhumanism, such as "Some, perhaps all, limitations of human nature are undesirable."

The problem is that I can think of numerous statements made by others that seem superior to anything I can devise, at least at the moment.

For instance, H.G. Wells: "All that the human mind has ever accomplished is but the dream before the awakening." That's hard to top.

Or Friedrich Nietzsche: "Man is a rope, fastened between animal and superhuman -- a rope over an abyss."

Or, to paraphrase Pogo, "We have met the future, and it is us."

But because I can't improve on this excellent advice, I'm simply going to quote Joe Miller: "Those who ignore the mistakes of the future are bound to make them."

Be warned.

Tags: Future Ideas Philosophy Quotes

...it's a girl!

My first grandchild, Rachel, was born on Monday, November 6th, in Houston, Texas. Mother and baby are doing just fine. Isn't she beautiful?

...Fox News is pro torture

Pro Waterboarding?

If I found out my government was torturing people, and I turned on the TV to hear what the Media was saying about it and all I heard was "I'm Pro torture" - I'd be mighty pissed.

Had enough yet?

...taking a stand for freedom

Republican Senator's Staff Assaults Marine Vet [VIDEO]

What kind of country is it when a Senator's constituent is assaulted for asking difficult and uncomfortable questions? What freedoms do we have left?

Somebody needs to take a stand against those that would bully and intimidate their fellow citizens.

Mike Stark is taking a stand. Bravo!