The Social Network: See it, then forget it.

Aaron Sorkin does not use Twitter. Aaron Sorkin does not have a flickr account. He doesn't use Foursquare, as far as I can tell. And unless you consider having a fan page being 'on Facebook' (and nobody on Facebook does), Aaron Sorkin is not on Facebook. That the writer of 'The Social Network' doesn't seem to engage in any social networks says all you need know about this film.


The movie is bright. The dialogue is 30's comedy fast, a style familiar to anyone who's ever watched Sorkin's other whip-smart love-child, "The West Wing". The film is structured around legal depositions, by the FB founder and those suing him for a piece of that multi-billion dollar pile. And what we see on screen is conflict over who owns the idea, what money gets you as an early investor, what being first can do for you in founding an online company, the social bump the founders get by starting a service that's 'cool'.


This really should be an interesting movie. And not only because of the considerable talent behind it -- it should be interesting because it is about social media, the most significant alteration in human interaction since television. Instead, we spend an entire movie watching preppies get steamed about how their run-of-the-mill dating-website idea gets implemented and expanded upon beyond their wildest imaginings without them, because they're too busy sculling.


This is not a movie about social media, and that's why it's a huge failure. Here, perhaps one of the smartest writers of politics and dialogue working in entertainment brought considerable skill to play to make an engaging drama regarding the events and conflicts surrounding FB's foundational year. But not once do we see an example of how Facebook works, about the changes it brings to individuals, and about the impact it can have -- is already having -- on American culture. The movie does not peer into the future, where everybody's past relationships are documented and recorded, where their peer groups are measured and quantified, where all are in contact with all about everything, all the time. The movie never asks the all-important double-rainbow question: What does it mean?


A movie about Facebook isn't about intellectual property battles, and that is all that this movie is about. A movie about Facebook is about what happens when 500 million people open up accounts, and interact socially online, daily, giving much personal information, being watched and read by a single company, having their relationships, arguments, break-ups, emotions, locations, sleep-time, aspirations, everything about their personal lives once formally private now made effectively public, archivable, searchable, quantifiable, exploitable.


Saying "The Social Network" is about Facebook, is like saying a movie about how Sylvannia was founded is about television. This movie is not about Facebook - at least, it's not about what's important about Facebook.


You can go see "The Social Network", and you'll enjoy it about as much as you enjoyed 'The Firm", if you saw that film. But if you're interested seeing a movie about Facebook, you're going to have to wait to see that movie; it hasn't been made yet. And once it does get made, this movie will fade into the historical mists -- pretty much like all those friendships of yours with people who aren't on Facebook.

How To Do Nuit Blanche

This is my forth year at Nuit Blanche, the Montreal All Nighter. I have a bit of experience spotting off the program my familiar favorites, and also the new ones which look like a promising go. So, I'm writing this up for the unintiated -- those who have NO idea what to do for Nuit Blanche. I expect you have access to the website www.montrealenlumiere.com to scan and read.

First, some basics. The Montreal All-Nighter is geographically divided into 5 major areas, with events in all of them basically from 7pm Saturday to 5am Sunday morning. Two of these areas are worth concentrated efforts on your part, if you're into their ethos. First, the "Art Underground", for the cerebral afficianado, is a series of art works in the underground city. Go to the website, and follow the walking tour map. Bring a flask. Second, the "Maisonneuve Pole" is a family-aimed grouping, around the Big O, including the Botannical Garden, and the Biodome among others. Bring your kids.

Now for the other three: The Old Port is where you'll find families, bright lights, and country line dancing. Place Des Arts is for those with a head on their shoulders: arts, arts, beauty and arts. Plateau is for those late in the night, with a hip crowd, who want you to come join their party. I plan to do Old Port 8pm-10pm, Place Des Arts 10pm-2am. Plateau 2am-5am. Or, if I want to start drinking early, Plateau 8pm-5am. But the numerical ordering of sites, as described at the website, starts at the Old Port, goes through Place Des Arts, and ends up in the Plateau.

Some rules: (1) I'm only suggesting free stuff. I like stuff that costs money, too, but I find it too confusing for those who are looking for a good free time to include them on the same page. (2) I'm not suggesting scheduled events (except the 8pm fireworks at the old port, where to start the evening). The ethos of "Nuit Blanche" is to wander, sample, stay where you enjoy, move on from what you don't. Working out a schedule among 180 possible events is impossible. (3) I'm not suggesting dance clubs. If you're looking for dance clubs, there are lots, lots lots. Go check out the nuit blanche website, and find one good for you and your friends. (4) I don't care how tired you get, and how early you get it. I'm giving you a full program here, I expect you to follow through. If you peter out early, then don't blame me if you missed out on some spectacular stuff, because you never got beyond the fireworks show. Some of what's below is spectacular, some of it expected and a full night of Nuit Blanche requires -- requires -- you do both. And finally, (5) between my suggestions below are a huge number of extremely worthwhile events which will catch your fancy. But you need to be aware of them: so, first thing, pick up a schedule at any Information booth, or most venues, and appoint the reader in your group to thumb through it during the whole evening.

Finally, watch for the free shuttles which will move you in a circular route in each of the main areas (Old Port, Place Des Arts, Plateau), as well as the free shuttle which will take you between the main areas. Big help!

Below, I list the main areas, times, location, a brief, and the amount of time you might want to apportion to it.


Start at

OLD PORT

(1) 8pm Fireworks (start at 8, end quickly!). Old Port . 15 minutes.
(1) 10pm-6am. Old Port. Skating Rink. Skate on the St. Lawrence! 45 minutes.

At this point, take the free shuttle up to:

PLACE DES ARTS.

10pm-1am.
(63). 8pm-3pm. National Monument. Best Film Shorts from Sundance 2010. 5 minutes, or 2 hours.
(68) 6pm-5am. City Hall. ARTVscope gives a live tour of Nuit blanche Events. A great way to spot early on what to do for your evening.
(67-70) All Night, various -- Place Des Arts. There are actually a large handful of major events around this center, all of which are worth at least a walk through, a linger, a long long consideration. Just go to Place Des Arts and start walking around. An easy 2-3 hours doing this alone.
(74) 7pm-2am (or 3am) - Belgo Building. Almost 20 studios open, with events, shows, to-dos, drinks, music and the unexpected and surpising. Do not miss. http://bettinaforget.com/TheBelgoReport/?p=615. 30 min to 2 hours.
(75) 11pm-2am. St. James Church. Sonorous wind pipe organ playing, continusously. Come in from the cold and enjoy. 5 minutes to 1 hour. It's nice to sit for a while.


At this point, take a shuttle up to:

PLATEAU

1am-5am.
Really: you should just start at the corner of Sherbrooke and St. Laurent, walk north, and be reading the guide to find spots along the way. But don't miss:
(86) 10pm-3am Laika. Hip joint. Go in.
(97) 8pm-6am La Cagibi. Great coffee house, food, drink, with music, electronic lights, and weird performance art. Go for a breather.
(99) 9pm-3am. Mile End Guitars. Music, art, and hipness abound at 5555 De Gaspe Street. Not for the stodgy.


That's all I've got for you. Remember: it's a long night: so pace yourself, drink lots of water, and enjoy!

Bye-bye iPhone. It's Been Swell.

When I first started hearing rumors that Apple would come out with its own cell phone -- more than a year before it was actually available in Canada, it turned out -- I stopped looking at new cellphone hardware. I stopped being excited about flips and bricks, bluetooth and earbuds. I stopped searching through Sonys, Nokia, Motorola, LGs, Blackberries. I gave them all raspberries.

I stopped thinking about changing my cellphone plan with my provider, to add this long-distance, or that voicemail gizzy-do, because every time I did, they would lump on a "3 year contract required" clause, which would make it harder for me to change companies, which I may have had to do if the iPhone wasn't available with them (eventually, it was).

And when the iPhone was finally put out there by Fido, my provider, I snapped it up -- first spending 7 hours in line on opening day, to discover that I still had 14 months left on my contract, and they weren't making it available to customers like me who had more than 8 months (or some arbitrary number like that) left on a contract.

But now I'm done. Well, almost done. I'll keep my iPhone for now; but my next hardware switch will be to an Android phone.

I'm not walking away from the most anticipated consumer product I've ever purchased because I'm bored with it. I'm very far from being bored with it: I recently got (some say, over-) excited about the monitoring of my sleep cycle -- through the innovative app "Sleep Cycle" -- which lets me know if I got a bad 7 hours of shut-eye, so I can minimize the unexpected cranky that somehow got under my collar, which I probably otherwise wouldn't even notice. My iPhone makes me think about getting proper sleep; it has me backing away from bright-light screens an hour before bedtime, pulling up a book, turning off music -- those things "good sleep" gurus tell us is important. To get good sleep. Because of a cellphone. Because of the iPhone.

I'm not walking away from something which has changed my sleep, keeps me on calendar, tracks my daily tasks and calendar, because I don't need it -- and this is beside the fact that it makes and receives phone calls.

I'm walking away because of a very simple, important principle. And that principle is girls in bikinis.

Well, not exactly girls in bikinis. You've probably heard that Apple has this past weekend banned from its Applications store those Apps which do nothing else but display girls in bikinis. Now, anyone who has a cable modem can tell you that access to images of girls in bikinis is not hard to come by, and banning something which provides them is a bit like banning wind.

No, the problem is that Apple has decided that it's not a platform, it's a channel.

"What?"

I said, the Apple iPhone is not a platform, it's a channel. A platform provides a protocol -- software and hardware capabilities, which others -- note OTHERS -- can make use of as they will. The importance of a platform is that it becomes limited only by other's imaginations -- that is, by the collective imagination of people who would like to make a living, buy a boat, send their kids to Harvard based on profits made by selling you uses of that platform. Which is why I was happy to shell out 99 cents for "Sleep Cycle", which lets me sleep better and feel better during the day, while sending its author's kids to Harvard (well, at 99 cents, maybe UCLA).

A channel is just a mode to deliver content determined by the owner of that channel. And this weekend, Apple decided that it wants to be a channel, not a platform, and it announced that rather strongly by banning some -- but not all -- applications which show girls in bikinis. This is because, it appears, Apple believes that its core consumers for the iPad -- which will use the same App store as the iPhone when it comes out in May or so -- will be families, and it apparently also believes that families do not want to see girls in bikinis, does not want to see them so very much, that they won't buy Apple Applications of any type if there are Apps of girls in bikinis around. Such is the danger they pose.

Now, don't get Apple wrong. Even though they banned apps designed to show girls in bikinis, they are not against apps which show girls in bikinis. You see, as the New York Times pointed out, they permit Sports Illustrated's swimsuit app, which has identical content to those apps Apple banned to make their store family safe. Why? Philip W. Schiller, head of worldwide product marketing at Apple, said “The difference is this is a well-known company with previously published material available broadly in a well-accepted format,” he said. So there you have it! Families are safe if the bikinis come from a well-known company with previously published material available blah blah blah. But not the other thing. Other thing, bad, according to Apple.

But what if Apple changes their minds, and next week suddenly lets bikinis galore back onto the phone? Flooding the color screen with jiggly so giggly that even the most iridescent college freshman feels fresh? Will I re-warm to the iPhone then?

Doesn't matter -- doesn't matter in the least, because once you decide you have the power to open and close the gates, you are then and thereafter, forever after, a gatekeeper. You can open those gates wide, let the people flood through, but there you are standing next to them, ready to shut them tight if you should decide that some burly, surly types are not to your liking.

I don't like gatekeepers. I was 12 once. But I'm not anymore, and now that I'm an autonomous adult, I expect the world to be my oyster. I expect that, if I should want bikinis on my iPhone (or bikinis on women on my iPhone -- whatever) that it's there.
What's more, I want a computing device where anyone -- absolutely anyone -- can develop software for it, and don't have to receive permission from the self-appointed gatekeepers, who just happened to make the hardware. I don't want to hear that the makers of the phone shut out software developer X because they wrote an app which competes with core capability Y, or that Z can't distribute their software because vertical-agreement service vendor A thinks it infringes on their secret agreement with Apple.

That takes too much effort on my part.

I want to know that the best authors are writing software for the platform I own, and they will only do that if they know that, after they develop the application, nobody will tell them they can't sell it.

And that's what Android promises: an open source, open environment in its online app store, the Android Marketplace.

So, goodbye Apple iPhone. It's been swell.

Belize 2008

Hey Folks, I'm going to San Pedro Feb 23-March 1st. The Rutledge brothers (Steve, Bill and Bob) are vacationing together, with Scuba and snorkeling out on the reef. I've already benefited from Patrick's advice -- he recently travelled there, the week after Christmas -- but if you've got some suggestions, I'm ears. My constraints: we plan to be on the island all week, we've already got the Scuba/Snorkeling excursions covered, will probably do a day on Caye Caulker.

Music 2007

Before I complete my collection of (some) new and interesting music from 2007, I thought I would solicit nominations from the 13D crew.

Feel free to make suggestions in the comments or in your own post...

Cheers,
D

The Year In Ideas

The New York Times Magazine 2007 Year in Ideas is out! Start reading -- I just did.


My favorite so far: The elimination of the left-hand-turn.

A Bet

Resolved, that the Senate Judiciary Committee votes to cite Karl Rove and Josh Bolten for contempt of Congress, and forwards the Contempt citation to the full Senate by Dec 14, 2007.

Pro: Bob
Con: Steve
Terms: 1 LCB.

Bubble? What bubble?

The LA Times asks the most pertinent question about the housing bubble: How Low Can They Go? For anyone owning real estate in greater LA, the accompanying graphic must be rather terrifying:
How terrifying? Assuming a good 5% annual appreciation from 1988 (this is not inflation adjusted, after all) it looks to me like we should have had a median price of $352k in 2008... meaning the dropping won't be done before we hit a 30% decline. (Just 12% of that digested, so far.)

Oof.

It's Official! I live in Mile End

I've been trying to figure out the name of the neighborhood I live in. I'm in a weird boundary point. There's no question I live in Montreal. There's no question that the official "neighborhood" I live in is the Plateau. But I thought I lived in the Mile End when I bought the place, while others say "No, I think Mile End does not extend south of Laurier." The problem is, there's no official designation for Mile End -- it exists only in people's minds.

It exists there for a reason. The indisputable center of Mile End -- between Park and St. Laurent, along St. Viatuer and Fairmont, is a cool area. It hosts the 2 kings of bagels in Montreal, amazing Italian cafe's, bars of nightlife, and clubs where the recent Montreal sounds (think Maroon 5 and Arcade Fire, among others) emerged. So, you know, I kinda wanted to live there.

According to the Montreal Gazette, I do. The Gazette (Montreal's largest English language daily) is doing a 3 part piece on Mile End, and today, it defined the area:

Built up in the early 1900s on land vacated by the Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition grounds (Jeanne Mance Park and north to St. Joseph Blvd.), residential Mile End consists largely of two- and three-storey row housing - duplexes, triplexes, small apartment buildings and a few single-family homes. The traditional boundaries roughly follow the H2T postal code area: Mount Royal Ave. to the south and the CPR railway tracks north of Van Horne to the north, Hutchison St. to the west and St. Denis St. to the east (although some residents claim St. Laurent Blvd. is the limit).

So there it is! I'm in it! woo hoo!

Bush the Jacobin

Bob's friend Francois (U. Montreal) had an NYT Op-Ed this week comparing President Bush, and his Administration, to the Jacobins of revolutionary France.

Definitely worth a read.

Fluorescent bulbs considered wasteful

Consider the rap that is currently being given to ordinary, incandescent light bulbs (by groups including one co-recipient of this year's Nobel Peace Prize): They're so wasteful, 90% of their energy goes into heat instead of light! Replace all your bulbs with compact fluorescents - you will be helping to save the Earth and, on top of that, your electricity bills will go down enough to pay for the new bulbs 10x over by the time they wear out!

All true, of course... unless you heat your house. If you heat your house, then the "wasted" heat from an incandescent bulb isn't wasted at all - instead it, umm... heats your house. Replacing incandescent bulbs with more-costly fluorescents may make you feel better, but for those months when you have the heat on, your electric bill will not decrease one iota - nor your carbon footprint.

Something to think about, especially for those living at high latitudes...

(N.B. This point is not original with me, but I forget where and how I first saw it made.)

Not Cooperating

This is one of those bizarre crime articles which appear in the Montreal Gazette [link] .

This guy had his legs crushed, by an SUV which pinned him to the wall outside a strip club. The article says the victim is not cooperating with the police.

And that's it! Articles like this appear all the time. Somebody gets hurt something awful, they're not cooperating. Also, the Gazette never prints the names of victims (here, it says he's from a tony suburb of Montreal) -- even if they are murder victims.

So, we've got:

* no name for the victim
* no address for the crime
* no quote from the police, how they intend to investigate a crime where the victim isn't cooperating.


This is the level of reporting on crime in Montreal.

Now, what do *you* think is going on? I think this is organized crime, and the victim had pissed off someone further up the chain, and knows better than to hand them over to the cops.

Fashion Forward

For those of you who might not think fashion can be political .

Guys' Bathroom Etiquette

In the wake of a couple of embarassing bathroom situations involving steadfastly non-gay Republican politicians, Frank Cerabino at the Palm Beach Post has some advice to offer regarding guys' bathroom etiquette:

Lesson No. 2: When in doubt, assume that the guy in the next stall hasn't been struck by lightning.

Really worth reading the article in full (tip of the hat to Josh Marshall at TPM for pointing this out).

New Music in 2006

Distribution has been delayed somewhat owing to Claire's arrival back in March. Choices and reasoning:

Corinne Bailey Rae

One of the year's breakout artists - as one writer put it, "Norah Jones learned how to rock!" Unfair as that characterization may be, I find it irresistibly apt... especially as I was never able to board Ms. Jones' jumbo-sized bandwagon, despite several attempts (kept falling asleep and getting thrown off).

Akon - Konvicted

Breakout artist #2 - several of his collaborations scaled the charts, and the album reveals that Akon's presence on these was no accident... indeed, his co-headliners are probably penning him the thank-you notes.

My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade

Independent darling for 2006, new White Stripes album notwithstanding. Also the best concept album in years.

Aventura - God's Project

Where did they come from and why aren't they playing on my radio yet? As one of the music commentators at Slate said, "Un beso was one track I just couldn't shake off my iPod this year."

Justin Timberlake - FutureSex / LoveSounds

One of two sophomore efforts this year; at least as enjoyable as his debut (see the picks for 2003), now with 20% more sophistication.

James Brown - Love Power Peace (Live at the Olympia, Paris, 1971)

The natural "in memoriam" selection for the year - the hardest working man in show business, and obvious inspiration for the preceding and succeeding artists, in top form.

Beyonce - B'Day

The other sophomore album for 2006 shows Beyonce assuming her crown as queen of hip-hop - and thus, effectively, queen of all pop. Lest we forget, she also wrapped Dreamgirls last year (and includes her main ballad here, to remind us).

Dixie Chicks - Taking the Long Way

The most famously political pop group of the Bush era refuses to stand down. As our Texan President descends below 30% approval it is worth remembering how much courage that took back in 2003.

Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere

The only repeat artist from last year is the omnipresent Danger Mouse... I believe that "Crazy" has now been covered by more performers in less time than any single since "Yesterday".

Why I am not buying an air conditioner this summer

I got back to Montreal Thursday from six weeks in Seattle, and I stepped into the average
Montreal Summer: right now, my place is 31C (88F) and humid -- peak temperature for the summer, but it remains that way all night (that fantastic insulation which comes in oh so handy during the -20F winter nights).

My first thought: go get that air conditioner. I had two at my old place on Mont-Royal (bedroom, living room) that were old but sufficient; last summer, you'll recall I lived the troglodyte lifestyle in my sous-sol sub-let (un-AC'd) while I awaited the condo I already owned to empty out. I had become conditioned to live in 68F comfort, and I don't see why I should have to put up with this for the 6-8 weeks it lasts here.

For those of you who haven't yet visited me in Montreal, I bought a place last summer, and I'm loving it (even if I haven't painted it inside yet).



However, it has no air conditioning, at all. And, it's on the top floor, to where all the heat in the building traverses (again, great during winter time). It has everything I want -- except that A/C, it seems. So, I started researching, and I found my solution in the recipes section of the NYTimes.

Wha? Well, I'm putting off the purchase, because I came across a drink so cool and delicious, that I'm just stocking up on it, and that seems to be all I need. It's Iced Coffee.

Now, I know what you're thinking -- you've had it at Starbucks, it's okay, but you're not going to be replacing your A/C with it any time soon (and sure, I'll break down too and get the A/C later). But this Iced Coffee is special. It's unique. It's not like Starbucks. Because it's cold brewed.

The article's author described their first taste of it being due to a self-effacing coffee aficianado friend who kept politely declining their home-made iced coffee. The author eventually broke down and asked, "Why don't you ever drink my iced coffee?" and the pal staved-off, dithered, and finally admitted that he could no long stand to drink iced coffee unless it was cold-brewed.

You see, most places (and most homebodies) simply take the stuff they brew using their drip machines, put it over ice and hand it to you. Or, take their drip machine coffee, and put it in the fridge for later use. This makes for a bitter brew when it's encoldened, hardly the thirst-slaking smooth-drinking fistful for which summer heat begs. And it turns out, to make the sweet cold elixir of the angels, it is easier than making a pot full of drip.

Cold brewed coffee is familiar to anyone who's passed through New Orleans (I have not), where it is the summer standard. To make it: use 1/2 lb ground dark coffee and 2 quarts of room temperature water in a non-reactive container (glass pitcher, or a stock-pot). Mix, cover, and let sit for 12 hours on a countertop. Decant into another container, straining out the grind (I use a coffee filter). Voila, that's the base, ready to go; it will keep in your fridge for 2 weeks (I use mason jars). When you want Iced Coffee, pour into a glass with ice filled to the brim (but not packed). The dissolving ice lightens the load and cools the coffee. Add cream/sugar to taste. You will not drink a smoother, more delicious ice coffee anywhere.

Notes:

1) I use Maxwell House (and I usually wouldn't touch the stuff) and get great results, so no need for fancy coffee beans here.

2) "New Orleans" style iced coffee requires you make it almost double strength: 1 lb of ground coffee to 2.5 quarts of water, letting sit for 12 hours, decanting and straining into a storage container (again, non-reactive surfaces only!) Mix 1-1 with water, and/or cream.

Economics Do Not Lie

What does it mean to own an iPhone?

They're almost a month out now, and you can by them, readily, for $500 retail. When someone pulls them out in public, they're a superstar in the room -- the sudden silent attention of every eye.

And not just every eye, but every other designer in the world, too, such as Louis Vitton, who now makes cases to put the iPhone in (see them
Here ) for $225-$1120.

What? The case costs twice as much as the iPhone? So the thing meant to protect the iPhone and extend its life (presumably) is twice as much as the thing itself. In other words, you could wear the iPhone out, throw it away, and by another, and then another, and that's when you'd break even with just buying the case to protect the first one. Does this make economic sense? Only if the iPhone is more valuable than its price indicates.

Josh Marshall for Pulitzer

I'm just getting my noms in early -- Josh Marshall at TalkingPointsMemo should receive a Pulitzer prize for his work on the US Attorney's Scandal -- and thus become the first full-time blogger to win the Pulitzer prize.

An Existential Question for the GOP

As always with the GOP, it comes down to domestic political power, to all appearances their only reason for being. Washington Post today, Page A1:

House Republican moderates, in a remarkably blunt White House meeting, warned President Bush this week that his pursuit of the war in Iraq is risking the future of the Republican Party and that he cannot count on GOP support for many more months.

Note the many possible concerns of a thinking, feeling human being that were not expressed: Their worries for the Iraqi people. Their concerns about whether the Iraq war is worth its ongoing cost in American lives (including their constituents'); in Iraqi civilian lives; in dollars. Their concerns about the continuing explosion in the deficit ($200B per year) that the war has created, and the global rise in Islamic radicalism that it is fueling. Any question of whether having our troops in Iraq right now does more harm than good.

No. Their only expressed concern is this: If the situation in Iraq does not improve, the Republicans will be thumped again in November 2008. In all likelihood, a majority of those present in the room with the President will be voted out of office.

Which raises my existential question for the GOP: What is the purpose of domestic political power if it does not allow you to raise these questions of ultimate ends – the lives of innocents; the good of the nation; the best and wisest uses of American power – in person, with the President of the United States, on one of the so-rare occasions when you have the opportunity?

New Fave Album

A little while ago on KCRW I heard Sergio Mendes'es remake of his bossa-nova hit "Mas Que Nada" that he did with the Black Eyed Peas and thought it was such a great mix of something old, classy and cool with something new, funky, and cool that I bought the album. It soon became my new favorite album: a lot of Bossa Nova mixed with rap (I never would have though it would work so well) and some cool, mellow stuff like a track with Stevie Wonder.

Quebec Anti-Anglos At It

We interrupt this solid month of rememberances of Gerry Ford to bring this other recollection from the 70s:

The Quebec Sovereigntist group, the FLQ, which carried out a string of bombings in the 60s and 70s in Quebec, is threatening to kill English-speakers in Montreal, for the month between February 15th-March 15th.
> They're targeting West-Island locales where people gather -- shopping malls, highways, and specifically businesses with signage which is not French-first, that sort of thing. It's not really clear what's bringing this out now. In the last election, the Sovereigntists did poorly -- following a scandal which brought down the ruling Liberal party, most Quebeqers changed their vote rightward -- to the Conservatives, who now rule Canada -- instead of leftward (ie., toward the sovereigntists, in the form of the Parti Quebecois).

So, other than this being horrendous, I'm not horribly worried. I live downtown, not on the West-Island (although, strictly speaking, by French Montrealers standards, downtown is the West Island). Sure, I work at the prime English language university downtown, so, maybe that's a target. Even so, the police don't believe the group is necessarily capable of carrying out the attacks; and I'm sure publishing that in the paper just discouraged the FLQ, and they'll probably just give up.

yikes.

2007 + 1 = 2008

It was only today that I realized - it is less than a year until 2008, the year we elect the first post-Bush President.

(Ford knew about lame duckhood - after the Nixon pardon, when his 70% approvals dove to the twenties... the current occupant does not have the sense to go as gently.)

The Onion as Prophet

Apropos our former President, I wonder what he would make of the transformation of the satirical publication The Onion from humor rag, to political commentary, to out and out prophet.

They're running a special feature marking six years of W, and it's a wonder to behold: Link.

A Month of Ford

In honor of the former President, all posts this month will be explicitly Gerald Ford-related.

A moment of silence, please, while we contemplate his contributions to our nation as President, football player, golf fanatic, and inflation-fighter.

The Late Gerald Ford's Home: Golf Course Central

Reading that Ford was actually quite a talented athlete (he could probably wrestle Don Rumsfeld to the ground) and not the stumbler Chevy Chase physically manifested as metaphor for the "accidental President" (and, for a few well-broadcast trips and stumbles), I became curious about his golfing habit. I looked up where he lived: Rancho Mirage, CA . It seems there are some golf clubs there. Isolated as it is, in the desert, I tried to make a list of all the golf clubs/country clubs which appear within about 15 miles:

1. Escena Golf Club
   
2. Desert Princess Country Club
   
3. Cimarron Golf Reseort
   
4. Mesquite golf and country Club
   
5. Canyon Country Club
   
6. Indian Canyons Golf Resort
   
7. Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort
   
8. Mission Hills-Gary Player Course
   
9. Mission Hills Country Club
   
10. Mission Hills-Pete Dye Golf Course
    
11. Cathedral Canyon Golf and Tennis Club
    
12. Tamarisk Country Club
    
13. Morningside Country Club
    
14. Springs Country Club
    
15. Thunderbird Country Club
    
16. Tri-Palm Estates Country Club
    
17. Ivey Ranch Country Club
    
18. Classic Club
    
19. Marriott Shadow Ride Resort
    
20. Rancho Mirage Country Club
    
21. Sunrise Country Club
    
22. Rancho Las Palmas Country Club
    
23. Palm Dessert Greens Country Club
    
24. Desert Willow Golf Resort
    
25. Emerald Desert Golf and RV Resort
    
26. Monterey country Club
    
27. Portola Country Club
    
28. Lakes Country Club
    
29. Oasis Country Club
    
30. Palm Desert Resort Country Club
    
31. Mountain Vista Golf club
    
32. Shadow Mountain Golf Club
    
33. Marrakesh Country Club
    
34. Desert Horizons Country Club
    
35. Vintage Club
    
36. Eldorado Country Club
    
37. Golf Resort at Indian Wells
    
38. Indian Wells Country Club
    
39. Bermuda Dunes Country Club
    
40. Heritage Palms Golf Club
    
41. Indian Springs Golf and Country Club
    
42. Bighorn Golf Club
    
43. Ironwood Country Club
    
44. Reserve Golf Club
    
45. La Quinta Country Club
    
46. Rancho La Quinta Country Club
    
47. La Quinta Resort and Club
    
48. Tradition Golf Club
    
49. Hideaway Golf Club
    
50. Indio Municipal Golf Course
    
51. Golf Club at Terra Lago
    
52. Palms Golf Club
    
53. Trilogy Golf Club at La Quinta
    

That seems to be it. Now, just so's you know I'm not some barefoot yokel, I'm aware that "country club" doesn't necessarily imply a separate golf course. Even so, there's a bazillion golf courses there! Okay, sure, we probably shouldn't count the Ivey Ranch Country Club and the Classic Club, since those are east of I10, and god knows what kind of people are playing golf out there. I don't even want to know who came up with the brilliant "Plantation Club" -- I mean, why not go the whole nine yards and call it "Third Reich's Plantation Club", just to put everyone on notice?

Even so, takes your breath away.

Oh, it's in the middle of a desert. Did I mention that?

Who gives a flying fig about the middle class?

You may recall back when I blogged about "The Winner Take All Society", reviewed in the NYTimes "Class Matters" series in 2005, I pointed out that history seems to be telling us it is time to be rich, and not middle class. My reason: the cold war is over, so, thanks workers for all your hard work in defeating socialism, and now the very wealthy can go back to accumulating wealth, at your expense.

Well, it comes up again in the NYTimes
year in ideas as The New Inequality. It seems that even the average college graduate (Bachelor's degree) are barely seeing their earnings increase against inflation. So, college-boy? You've got a 50/50 chance of being on the losing economic divide. And, this year, two economists showed that the very 0.1 percent increased their pre-tax income to 6.8% of the total income, up from 4.7 percent 10 years ago, and from 2 percent in the 60s and 70s.

The reason, I repeat, is that there is no longer any idealogical constraint against becoming an old-fashioned robber-baron. Between 1920 and 1990, the Soviets would have scored political points with those governments we competed for, if our very wealthy were as wealthy as they are now. And, the average Bachelor's degree holder (average!) would have looked at the very wealthy, and said -- why am I working my ass off so that this joker can have a 9th zero after his income? And that joker can now think to himself, as he demands that 10th zero from the board that will give it to him, "if the workers don't like it, they can go to Cuba!"

This will not change until people look at their losing wages, and realize that they have no recourse but to band together -- either politically or socially -- to shame or produce enough fear in those who vote themselves the 10th zero, that they decide it's time for that increase in salary.

Really, what else changes the distribution in wealth?

Oh, no, I don't believe that a person can do $100,000,000,000 worth of work in a lifetime. I do believe they are benefiting from our legal structure, infrastructure, government, and workforce. Time to reprogressivize the income tax; and keep that inheritance tax in place.

Why George Bush Will Leave the Presidency

Here's the fundamental conflict:

1. The Iraq Study Group report makes clear that the Republican Establishment (personified as James Baker) will not permit George Bush to keep the Iraq war going through the 2008 elections. Either Iraq must be irrelevant by then, or someone who will make Iraq irrelevant by then must come forward to do it for George.
   
2. George Bush will not permit himself to become a President who lost a war. However, that is exactly what he must do, and before November 2007, if he is to make Iraq irrelevant by November 2008.
   

There you have it. The GOPer's solution? Bush leaves, and Cheney -- in "Nixon/China" redux, takes the office with the specific purpose of pulling out. Timeline? To effect a pull-out by end of 2007, Bush must telegraph his intentions to do so by April-May 2007. If he does not do so, look for the new "oversight" of Congress to take a strong bi-partisan tone. The Democrats will not mount impeachment alone -- they do not want the blame for an American government in disarray, after only just gaining back the Congress. So, the GOP will have to take a strong leadership role. Complicating this is the Presidential aspirations of congressional leaders: you can't impeach a president, and then run for President. So, the leaders (McCain, Clinton, et al) cannot take a public role.

Hagel Considers Run for Presidency

It is a great sign for the political status of the country, that someone as even-keeled, considered, skeptical and optimistic as Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska) is considering a run for the Presidency.

See? You don't have to be an histrionic megalomaniac to run for President. The job is open to rational, practical-minded people, too.

It Is Always Darkest..

..when the ship hits the bottom of the ocean. Re: Derek's post "America's Darkest Day" below, those of us who live days thinking about the implications of principles extended to their logical end -- physicists among them -- cannot view the agreement of Congress and the enshrinement in laws the end of Habeas Corpus as anything but an enormous step toward the end of democracy and toward the re-establishment of tyrranical government.

The unassailable rights of an individual are the basis of social contract in a democracy; we each support a government, giving it enormous powers, but knowing that there are lines it cannot cross. We can speak out against it, and it can shout back, but it cannot lift us from our rock and toss us in a dungeon for doing so.. Because it is not illegal to do so, and if we were to demand a hearing with a judge to determine if there is legal basis for our imprisonment, the judge would conclude "No", and we're back home in an hour, because of habeas corpus. Habeas corpus is why we can demand of a police officer to know why we are being arrested. Habeas corpus gave us the phrase, "Justice delayed is justice denied," and we cannot be held indefinitely.

Friends, that is now over in the United States. The United States government can now send people to prison, without justifying it to anyone, for no reason or for any reason whatsoever. They can hold people indefinitely without charge. You would one day, disappear, never to be heard from again.

The moderate enablers in the Republican party try to pat-down those spiky wet hairs: "This is only for terrorists", they say. "This is for enemy combatants." Friends, we have no rights if they are not held by everyone; and what the Republican Party has done is said "No one has these rights anymore", and now we are bickering over what category of person will be treated this way.

So pray that the President does not decide to widen those categories. Because he has the power to do so. Any time. Against any person.

The rule of law! We have no rulers but the rule of law! But when our government removes those laws which bar their actions, which increases their powers to intimidate, supress and nullify those who oppose it, those powers will be used.

America's Darkest Day

I would argue that yesterday was the darkest day in modern American history. Forget political assassinations and days of mass murder, bad fortune in war or finance or politics: The day that our own elected representatives decide that we, their constituents and citizens of this democracy, are no longer entitled to the rights of habeas corpus (first enshrined in our legal heritage via the Magna Carta of 1215), nor necessarily entitled to legal representation, nor to the assurance that our own government will not torture us if it so wishes, is quite simply the worst manifestation of partisan demagoguery we have seen since the last World War.

We can only hope that it does not get worse from here.

Clinton the Demigod

It was only this week that I realized that, since leaving office and having a near-death experience, Clinton had ascended from the ranks of the ex-Presidents to become a demigod.

Key pieces of evidence:

• The Clinton Global Initiative raised $7 billion last week to combat poverty, disease in developing nations, and climate change;
• Clinton showed up on the Daily Show, and held is own against Jon Stewart;
• Clinton showed up on Fox News Sunday, and completely eviscerated Chris Wallace and the whole right-wing terror-propaganda apparatchik machine.

The last, you simply have to see (thanks to TPM for the pointer). Go there - now. Watch. And quake in awe.