http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Fri, 17 Jun 2005 15:16:15 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/06/17/151615.php Craig BaraccoA little different, but stay with me here. According to CNN dolphins have been found using tools:A group of dolphins living off the coast of Australia apparently teach their offspring to protect their snouts with sponges while foraging for food in the sea floor.Researchers say it appears to be a cultural behavior passed on from mother to daughter, a first for animals of this type, although such learning has been seen in other species.The dolphins, living in Shark Bay, Western Australia, use conically shaped whole sponges that they tear off the bottom, said Michael Kruetzen, lead author of a report on the dolphins in Tuesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science."Cultural evolution, including tool use, is not only found in humans and our closest relatives, the primates, but also in animals that are evolutionally quite distant from us. This convergent evolution is what is so fascinating," said Kruetzen. Mom always says "Protect your Snout." Words to live by.This story reminded me of what could be my favorite Sci-Fi book of all time: David Brin's Startide Rising. Set in the far future, the premise is that with a mix of genetics and other tech humanity has "uplifted" chimps and dolphins to full blown speech, tool use and intelligence. Dolphins have learned how to speak, fly spaceships and fight wars. The plot of Startide Rising follows the first fully dolphin-crewed starship and all the trouble she gets in.The Question is: If dolphins are already smart enough to use tools and it was possible to make them even smarter, should we? I'm talking some massive genetic tampering here. And intelligence is a mixed bag - sure you get poetry and medicine, but you also get high-tech ways to kill. Not to mention the stress.So, what do you think? If we could, should we give this "gift" to our slick friends? Books31186@blogcritics.org Fri, 17 Jun 2005 15:16:15 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/03/08/015754.php Craig BaraccoThings are afoot in Lebanon. Rather than spend time debating the level of credit Bush should get or the potential impact of Hezbollah siding with Syrian we here at Craigorian Chant are going to spend some time on the real issue:Those Lebanese protesters are hot. Pictures here. Then there's this week's covers of Newsweek, The Weekly Standard and the Economist . Slate's Well-Traveled declares that " Even Flirting Is Political in Beirut." This got me thinking. In this hyper-media age really good-looking protesters are very important. You saw the same thing during the Ukrainian Orange Revolution - 50,000 people in the streets and the really photogenic ones, with a backdrop of flags and protest signs get beamed all over the world. In the language of campaign types it "gets the message out." The whole world loves hot chicks so you get world opinion behind you and that can really matter. Hezbollah better counter with good-looking pro-Syrian protesters and not masked gunman or they will lose world opinion. Future democratic revolutionaries take note. The key to protest in the 21st century will be the photo. Get your flag, you signs, put your hot women out front and change the world. Culture26422@blogcritics.org Tue, 8 Mar 2005 01:57:54 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/02/21/145019.php Craig BaraccoMy tribute to Hunter S Thompson is this: Because I read Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail and Better Than Sex, I will never have to take any serious drugs because I learned all I needed to know from those books. There was some politics in those books too, but realy it was all about the mind of Thompson. I had a creative writing Professor during my undergrad who I hated. He said writers had to write to get thoughts out of their heads or else they are going to kill themselves. I'm afraid he might be right. Books25799@blogcritics.org Mon, 21 Feb 2005 14:50:19 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/02/13/220408.php Craig BaraccoIn this week's Time Charles Krauthammer, the Neo-Con Craigorian Chant loves to hate, does his best to hype the Iraqi elections. It all builds up to this:We would never have invaded Iraq to depose Saddam without 9/11. After 9/11, we finally understood that helping build decent, representative, tolerant societies in the Middle East is ultimately the only way to prevent endless generations of young Arab men from finding fulfillment by crashing airplanes into buildings filled with infidels. Europe has a similar interest, having suffered, with the train bombings in Madrid, the kind of fanatic nihilism that visited the Twin Towers. First I would like to point out the complete absence of WMD both from Iraq and from Krauthammer's column. We invaded Iraq because of WMD. Don't forget that. But the real heart of Krauthammer's argument is that to prevent more 9/11 and Madrid style attacks we must dispose of dictatorships and create democracy in the Arab World. There is just one small problem: America props up dictatorships in the Middle East. The dictatorships that produced the 9/11 hijackers - Egypt and Saudi Arabia are major U.S. allies that receive massive military aid. We keep these dictators in place and everyone, except maybe Krauthammer, knows that. The same people who want to throw down the Saudi Princes want to throw down the U.S. because we support the Saudi Princes.Finally we are not creating a "decent, representative, tolerant society" in Iraq. We are creating a theocracy:In Basra, the second-largest city in Iraq, where one of Ayatollah Sistani's closest aides has enormous influence, Shiite religious parties have been transforming the city into an Islamic fief since the toppling of Mr. Hussein. Militias have driven alcohol sellers off the streets. Women are harassed if they walk the streets in anything less than head-to-toe black. Conservative judges are invoking Shariah in some courts.Is that what we are fighting and being killed for? Politics25477@blogcritics.org Sun, 13 Feb 2005 22:04:08 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/02/06/152922.php Craig BaraccoIs freedom on the march? We here at Craigorian Chant (plus Fareed Zakaria)have been rather hard on the Iraq Freedom March:Unless there is a major change in course, Iraq is on track to become another corrupt, oil-rich quasi-democracy, like Russia and Nigeria.What about the rest of the world? Well, U.S. Ally Egypt just arrested a pro-democracy dissident. Read Tapped for the thunderous non-response from the Bush administration.Also, the King of Nepal is making a grab for power, dismissing his Prime Minister and ruling directly. A freaking King? Kings are a particularly worthless form of dictator. They don't even have the ruthless competence of your average despot, after all most dictators have to sieze power. All a King has to do is pick the right family to be born into. I say we take him out. What's that you say? Too hard? No exit strategy? You want to the poor people of Nepal to be ruled by a King? I guess you want to bring back King George III in Amerca, don't you? Anti-American scum! Politics25186@blogcritics.org Sun, 6 Feb 2005 15:29:22 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/01/30/135242.php Craig BaraccoBack in my high school basketball days one of the teams one county over that we would play in league would foul on ever play. Some were light, some were heavy, but every shot, every time the ball was brought up the court a foul could be called. At a certain point the refs would just stop calling every foul and would start saving the whistle for "big" fouls. Not just bumping the shooter but real hard "hey they arrest people for that in some States" fouls. Even I, a bench-riding intellectual, would end up with bruises in most games. Thier players would hardly ever foul out. Our coach called it "desensitizing the refs."Which brings me to coverage of the Iraq election. By the latest count 44 people have been killed on election day despite a total lockdown of the Country and 150,000 U.S. troops on the ground. And yet the election is widely being called a success in the media and not just on Fox. Name me another country in the would where 44 dead on election day would be considered a success. The 'refs' in this case, the media, have been desensitized to the violence. This is just "normal day Iraqi violence." Do you realize how bad that is? How many Iraqis have to die in a day for the media to call a foul? Politics24894@blogcritics.org Sun, 30 Jan 2005 13:52:42 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/01/23/213720.php Craig BaraccoOne week to the Iraqi election, and boy are we excited here at Craigorian Chant. Only a few lingering questions remain:Who are the candidates? Their names have not been disclosed because they are afraid for their lives.Where will the polling locations be? In order to avoid preemptive attacks by insurgents, the citizens have not yet been notified where they can vote.How will the US ensure that people are safe when voting? We've done a bang up job so far with protecting those Iraqis who have enough civic pride to volunteer for the police force, so no worries.What plans do we have to counter the inevitable sectarian violence that arises when the Shiite majority wins, and the Sunnis minority loses? The Sunnis had their turn under Saddam and it is time for them to graciously step aside.How will we respond if the elected government asks for a total withdrawal of troops and a closure of all US military bases? Self determination is crucial to any fledgling democracy. Bonus pithy answers to non-election questions:Will the US continue to pursue its unilateralist approach to foreign policy, and its preemptive strike doctrine? Yes! Where are the weapons of mass destruction? Iran. Where does the buck stop for the torture prisoners in Iraq and Gitmo? Private First Class Lindy England and Specialist Charles A. Graner Jr.Is there a terrorist threat for the inauguration as there has been with every other significant event in the US for the past 3 years? No! Terrorist chatter is down 62%!Where is Osama bin Laden? A: He is a nebulous evil can arise at anytime, including your backyard around the time of the next election! Politics24603@blogcritics.org Sun, 23 Jan 2005 21:37:20 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/01/15/164956.php Craig BaraccoAnd now the Craigorian Chant Weekend Entertainment Report. Elektra is not a good movie. It is very beautiful on several levels not the least of which is Jennifer Garner (Hubba, Hubba, Hubba) and there are some great visual shots in the movie like the aforementioned Garner in full red outfit reflected in a glass of Scotch. The scene where the walking poison pill Typhoid Mary lays a kiss on the aforementioned Garner as a swirl of leaves decays around them means my $6.50 wasn't a complete wast. But the movie lacks everything else you need to have fun or care about a movie. You know, plot and dialog and stuff like that. Just a little effort on plot, is that too much to ask? My friend Rob had the right call on this -wait for the DVD and ogle Jennifer in the privacy of your own home.I actually had a better time watching the new Battlestar Galactica on Sci-Fi which I found on late last night after the movie (Insomnia - Good for entertainment reports). The new show is much better than the original. I wonder if we have any fan boys in the audience. The plot is the same. The evil robot Cylons have wiped out most of the human race and the survivors, protected by the Galactica must try and keep humanity from going into that good night. While the original series seemed like just a friendly trip through the stars the new, series has got real emotional punch. A wall of lost love-one's pictures (like 9/11 and Tsunami posters) and a simple white board with a count of all the survivors really get you. These are desperate people and you feel it. They need food, sleep and water and don't have enough of any. The Cylons can look like humans so there is lots of paranoia to go around. The special effects are very slick. The Viper fighter craft move like spaceships. They don't bank like airplanes, they use thrusters to spin and move in three dimensions. It feels like space. The whole show strikes the right emotional note. The Chant approves. Video24275@blogcritics.org Sat, 15 Jan 2005 16:49:56 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/01/07/014250.php Craig BaraccoBlogs are now totaly part of the part of the political universe. They have shown up twice this season on the West Wing, which is where all politics and popular culture meet as far as I am concerned. Last night had C.J. dogged by trashy blogs putting out that she, umm, was a very good basketball player. Trashy Blogs, my word, who would read such a thing. I'm so glad I'm part of so trendy a trend by writing a blog. You, the reader of this blog, are also trendy for reading this blog, but not as trendy as I, because this thing is harder to write than to read. No really, I'm working hard here.I would like to take this opportunity to say that the West Wing has bounced back from last season, where it was in real danger of becoming not good. They have really rocked the boat this year and it's made for good shows. Because the show is just so damn good the "Staff" has stayed on the show much, much longer than real West Wing staff. No real press Secretary could have lasted as long as C.J. in that job. People doing the same thing year after year can drag no matter how snappy the dialoge. In All Too Human George Stephanopoulos once said that "Presidents use their staff up like bullets." There can be real drama in a staff shake-up with some people leaving, others are promoted and others are not. Not to mention the drama of the departure itself. This action has really broken the show out of a rut. Sci/Tech23989@blogcritics.org Fri, 7 Jan 2005 01:42:50 EST