Swish-Swoosh

We went to the doctor's earlier this week for a short checkup. No ultrasound this time, but the doctor did take out a device used to listen to the baby's heartbeat. It took a moment to find the heartbeat, but we eventually heard a steady, rapid swish-swoosh sound, like the mummuring of the wind over rushes. Very cool. We lost the hearbeat, and it took the doctor another moment of sliding the listening device over Deb's tummy to find it again. The doctor explained that the baby was quite actively swimming around in there. Also very cool.

White Elephants

Most folks will have a white elephant gift exchange before Christmas, but it always made more sense to me to have it after Christmas -- when you actually have gifts you want to exchange. For those who are unfamiliar with the white elephant concept, this is how it works.

Everyone brings a wrapped gift that's valued at a certain amount (in my experience, this is usually around $10). While one purpose behind the event might be to dispose of something you don't want to keep, you don't want to bring something you really wouldn't want to be stuck with yourself. (I used to participate in an annual gift exchange with a group that liked gag gifts. These definitely liven up the gift exchange, but it stinks to find yourself taking one of these home.) In fact, depending on how the game goes, you very well might be taking back exactly what you brought.

You drop off your gift in a pile with the other gifts, and you're given a random number from one to the number of participants in the exchange. This number dictates what order you will draw a gift in. The lower your number is, the earlier you get to select a gift. The catch is that, when it's your turn, you can choose to either open an unopened gift or steal a gift previously opened by someone else. However, so that the person with the highest number does have too much of an advantage, a limit is put on how many times a gift may be stolen -- usually two or three, depending on how many people are taking part in the exchange. Other endgame variations are also common, for example, allowing the person(s) with the first one or two numbers a chance to steal at the very end.

We happened to be in Thailand the week before Christmas, and a friend of mine from Bangkok told me why this exchange is called a "white elephant". As you probably guessed, white elephants -- which are more chalky grey than truly white -- are very rare. As a result, they are considered favorable portents and, in Thailand, automatically become property of the king. But at the end of the day, there's not really anything particularly special about a white elephant vis-a-vis a regular grey elephant. And depending on what you need the elephant for, a particular grey elephant may be even better than a particular white elephant. So a white elephant gift exchange merely recognizes the fact that one person's ordinary grey elephant may be another person's white elephant, and vice versa.

Empowerment Politics

With the election right around the corner on November 2, it's time to make a choice between the candidates. My choices will be based on the belief that government exists to empower the individual (my apologies to Hobbes). That doesn't mean that individual liberty is the paramount value. In fact, I remember what they said at my law school graduation -- these are the laws that make men free! What empowerment politics is about is creating an environment in which individuals will be able to best achieve their full potential. This is a paradigm that crosses party lines. For example, welfare and big business are bad for the same reason -- both have the potential for stifling the ability of individuals to achieve. The goal is to foster civil society, local government, and small business.

Against this measure, neither major presidential candidate has much to recommend himself. But my vote's going to Bush.

DanTan.net

The other night we got together with an old childhood friend from the Old North State who was out here on business. While I struggle to post to this blog on a monthly basis, he maintains not one, but two active blogs at dantan.blogspot.com and www.xanga.com/aznrednek (don't laugh at the title; Dan is probably my only childhood friend who packs heat and is a card-carrying member of the NRA). More impressively, he's actively pursuing a career as a singer/songwriter in addition to his day job as a software developer. In fact, since he got into town on Monday, he's already played at one open mic, and plans to hit a second open mic tonight before returning to the Triangle Friday morning. Check out some of his work at www.dantan.net.

Postmodern Pets

I'm not a pet owner -- haven't been one for quite a while -- and with my wife's allergies it's unlikely I will be realizing my dream of owning a dog anytime in the near future. (Despite what some country music tunes may suggest, I much prefer the wife to a dog.) But I never cease to be amazed by people's devotion to their pets. Case in point -- this new online retailer of high end pet products, Postmodern Pets. While I admit these guys have some really sleek-looking products -- apparently their emphasis is on postmodern design -- their most expensive item, the Philipp Plein Dog Bed, sells for $1650.00! To be fair, this site does seem to have some high-quality items that go for considerably less than that. So, to the extent you're looking for a unique item for the style-conscious pet owner, I guess this is a pretty good place to go.

On John Edwards, Redemption Ark, and Fireworks

On John Edwards
Kerry made the right decision in selecting John Edwards as his running mate. Based on charisma alone, I have to admit I sort of like Edwards and the positive message he maintained in the Democratic primary. (As a fellow native of the Tar Heel state, I might be somewhat geographically biased.) Of course, his protectionist views on foreign trade are misguided and abhorrent, and I'm not quite sure what he accomplished in his term in the Senate. Nevertheless, the man can tell a tale like the plaintiff's lawyer he is, and that will only help Kerry.

On Redemption Ark
Enough politics! I finally got around to reading a book I've been eager to read for more than half a year now. Redemption Ark by Alastair Reynolds. No one can spin a space yarn better than Reynolds, and he has a unique ability to set a breakneck pace through a darkly-riveting universe full of posthumans, aliens, and AIs -- despite the absence of FTL travel! I'm looking forward to reading Absolution Gap, the concluding book in the series that includes Revelation Space, Chasm City, and Redemption Ark, along with a few excellent short stories (Great Wall of Mars is one of my favorite here). Unfortunately, Absolution Gap just came out recently and I am cheap, so it's unlikely that I'll be reading the book until the library gets it (probably two years from now) or I find it on sale at a substantial discount.

On Fireworks
This year we walked from our house to Central Park in Santa Clara to catch the Fourth of July fireworks. It was absolutely fantastic to be able to simply go out the door of our house, take a short walk down the street, and be close enough to the fireworks show to hear the accompanying music! The show itself was nice, but nothing special -- the disadvantage of not being able to take advantage of economies of scale. In fact, as I listened to the disjointed hodgepodge of music that went along with the show, I couldn't help but think about the message on the City of Santa Clara website that had been posted prior to the show. The message indicated that the show would go on despite the city's continuing budget crisis, and encouraged concerned citizens and businesses to contribute to the show. Today's website thanked the contributors, adding: "It's not too late to contribute! Send your checks payable to the City of Santa Clara, to: Fireworks, Attn. City Clerk's Office, 1500 Warburton Ave., Santa Clara, CA 95050." While this setup is admittedly strange to me, I applaud the notion that individuals should have the choice of contributing or not contributing. Better yet, maybe a charitable organization should take over the responsibility of putting on the show from the city government, provided that the organization abides by community standards of decency and appropriateness. Power to the people!

Michael Moore and Fahrenheit 9/11

It looks like Michael Moore -- of Fahrenheit 9/11 fame -- is all the rage these days. While I admit I haven't seen his new flick yet, the buzz over Fahrenheit 9/11 bothers me. Not because I doubt the movie is entertaining; I'm sure it's a fun watch, at least for a documentary. And I suppose that deep inside I'm not bothered by the clearly partisan tenor of the film. (I am, however, bothered by those individuals who, consciously or unconsciously, accept his statements as gospel truth -- and I expect that after a couple of hours of brainwashing in the darkened theater, a large percentage of viewers will come out with exactly that belief). When it comes down to it, I suspect that I'm really sort of jealous of Mikey-boy. I mean, if life had been slightly different and I had chosen a career in the telling of stories rather than in the writing of rules, I'd like to think that I too could take images and quotations out of context and weave a persuasive yet misleading tale out of them. That I too could preach a fantastic sermon that would leave the members of the choir clapping their hands and stomping their feet -- and ready for regime change.

I don't think it's a stretch to say that Michael Moore is a huckster. A hundred years ago he'd be on the forefront of yellow journalism and a 50 years before that he'd be selling snake oil -- as he is now. Just look at the brouhaha he made over Disney's refusal to distribute the film. While he suggests that Disney suddenly dropped its plan to distribute the movie in an attempt to censor the flick, the reality is that Disney told Miramax more than a year ago that it couldn't distribute the film, giving Moore, the Weinstein brothers, and anyone else involved ample time to find other distributors. In any event, the movie certainly doesn't lack for a distribution network now.

As for Fahrenheit 9/11 itself, I will probably see it eventually, although I am not eager to give Mr. Moore any of my money in the near future. For a more balanced perspective on the facts presented in the film, I found this commentary on Slate to be rather interesting. At the end of the day, Mr. Moore may succeed in his goal of regime change here in the U.S. He has certainly succeeded in his goal of becoming the celebrity of the moment. But he is not promoting well-reasoned discourse about what we're currently doing in the Middle East. And in the course of winning his personal battle, he may have contributed to losing the larger war for the future of the people of America and the people of Iraq.

Thomas Friedman

Man, it's been a long time since my last post! So what's prompting this new post, you ask? Mainly, I'm finally getting around to something I've been promising myself to do for a while now. But, an equally important factor is the talk I heard given by Thomas Friedman -- the NYT columnist and author of "The Lexus and the Olive Tree" -- the other day.

I have to admit, I really didn't know much about this guy before I attended his talk. I've probably read some of his columns in the past (although, since I'm not a regular reader of the New York Times, I don't rightly know who all I've read), and I've even read a good part of "The Lexus and the Olive Tree". But I was really inspired to go by a friend of mine who was willing to forego a game a ping-pong to attend the event. That's commitment. Even so, I found myself asking another friend, as we walked over to the lecture hall, what's so special about this Thomas Friedman guy anyway -- not realizing that the man himself was a few footsteps behind us on the way to the same destination.

So what was it about Mr. Friedman's chat that finally got me off my rump and blogging? Well, for starters, he had a lot of interesting points to make, mostly about the situation in the Middle East and the effects of globalization. One point that I thought was particularly interesting concerned the real reason for the war in Iraq. Mr. Friedman argued, very convincingly, that the real reason for the war was deterrence. Prior to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the US had been attacked repeatedly around the world through terrorists actions, and the terrorists were starting to realize that there would be no serious repercussions. Hence, the need to communicate that there would be consequences -- big consequences. Another interesting point -- more of a great sound bite, actually -- that I don't think I'll ever forget, was what Mr. Friedman said in response to an audience comment about the immorality of the West, particularly with respect to the colonization of the Third World by England and other Western countries, and how the roots of terrorism lie in the atrocities perpertrated by the West. Mr. Friedman's response: "You haven't been colonized until you've been colonized by the Japanese. In comparison, being colonized by the British or anyone else is a day at the beach. . . . China, Taiwan, S. Korea have gotten over it. So should the rest of the world."

Ok, you say, this is great. But what does this have to do with writing? Well, Mr. Friedman repeatedly told us how he would get mad about something -- the fact that Colin Powell wasn't able to speak in England because of security concerns, that the national marching band competition was canceled because of security concerns, that his kids are entering a less-safe world than that he had entered -- and then express his frustration by writing. And I thought, there are plenty of things I'm pretty frustrated about. Even if no one ever reads my posts, this is a pretty good way of blowing off steam. If someone does read my posts, this may even prove itself to be an effective means of communicating my thoughts.

I took a class a couple of years ago called Interpersonal Dynamics. All of us in the class called it Touchy-Feely. While I have lots of stories about the class I'll no doubt write about in the future, one thing I learned is that having an opinion, feeling strongly about something is power. I am not a fan of conflict. All things being equal, I'd rather we just all get along. And I'd like to think that I'm not a megalomaniac. But there are important things in the world that too many of us allow to just pass on by. Thomas Friedman has power to influence some of these things because he has an opinion he's willing to promote. So can the rest of us.

Political Speech v. Commercial Speech

The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard a case over whether or not Nike's publicity campaign (consisting of brochures and letters to newspaper editors and college deans, among others) defending itself against allegations that it used overseas sweatshops constitutes commercial speech. Commercial speech, unlike political speech, is subject to substantial regulation, including state truth-in-advertising laws. A California resident sued Nike for violating California's truth-in-advertising laws, and California's Supreme Court -- reviewing the case on the assumption that Nike's speech was indeed untrue -- agreed.

The difficulty facing the U.S. Supreme Court -- and the difficulty that faced the lower courts -- is where to draw the line between political speech, which ought to be strongly protected, and commerical speech, which is entitled to less protection. This distinction is partcularly hard to make with respect to corporations, whose sole purpose for existing is to make money. Unpopular as it may be, I think it would be appropriate for the Supreme Court to draw a bright line in this case and characterize all corporate speech as commercial speech. The speech of individuals and nonprofit organizations, which must meet certain criteria to qualify for nonprofit status, should be strongly protected as political speech. However, the public should be protected from the large concentrations of power represented by corporations insofar as the corporate speech is untrue. This is not to say that corporations should stay out of the public sphere. Corporations are free to say whatever they want, subject to truth-in-advertising statutes. Moreover, corporations which want to promote robust discourse can sponsor third-party seminars and symposiums and finance nonprofit organizations to their boards' content -- and subject to applicable laws.

Fundamentally, this issue concerns the ability of individuals to exercise their free will, unhampered by misleading statements promulgated by entities possessed of considerably greater organizational ability and wealth. The Supreme Court has a difficult decision to make, but hopefully it will decide in favor of allowing the individual to access the courts to protect himself against excesses of commercial speech.

The War in Iraq

Since the war is the foremost topic in most folks' minds, it seems like an appropriate topic with which to occupy my first blog. As a resident of Silicon Valley, I've been inundated with news of various anti-war protests and with the views of various anti-war protestors. While I agree that war is abhorent and should be used only as a last resort, I think many people are naive and misguided in opposing the war in Iraq. Iraq represents a unique circumstance in which our interest in securing a vital natural resource and disarming a dangerous regional threat intersects with our interest in toppling a cruel and inhumane dictator and promoting the spread of democratic values. As such, Operation Freedom should be supported by all of us who believe in American ideals and are concerned for the welfare of the Iraqi people.

Some people have remarked on the differences between our treatment of Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong Il. We use kid gloves on Pyongyang because we know that North Korea has nuclear weapons and because we know that Kim Jong Il wouldn't hesitate to attack Seoul and Japan. Thus, North Korea is a warning to us of what Iraq may become. If we don't disarm Saddam Hussein now, before he develops more sophisticated and deadly weapons, we may be stuck with another madman in a strategic location for the indefinite future.

Peace is a wonderful thing and ought to be sought for by all people. But we shouldn't sacrifice a lasting peace in the future for a fragile, false peace today.