Going on vacation starting this afternoon. Posting may go down a little, but I'll try to keep it up, at least some.

I know this is pretty passe for some of you, but I just saw 'Merchants of Cool' yesterday for the first time. I knew about this stuff in general, of course, but the lurid examples were detestable. Buying the tape would be money well spent.

Some thoughts:

The only intelligent and moral choice when faced with these realities is to opt out. Get off the hip train. And educate others.

Five companies control almost all teen media: NewsCorp, Disney, Viacom, Universal Vivendi, and AOL Time Warner. Boycotting these companies when possible is a good idea, too.

When you get back from space, all you really want is some real food - cheese, coffee, hamburger, green vegetables. Nothing exotic.

dear Scott,

I've got no problem with your reluctance to accept that human life is more valuable than animal life. That's totally fair.

The difference between prolonging life and prolonging death might sometimes be a tough one, but I think most of the time it's not that gray. Yes, you stand by and let nature take it's course, trying to make that patient as comfortable as possible. Life support is an option, but not an option that people must take advantage of. I don't think life support violates any religious principles on the face of things.

Yes, God is pragmatic, but we should be very careful about presuming that we know what He would want to do. That is one of the main reasons why we should fell free to let nature take it's course when we're basically in a situation of only prolonging death. Again, we should be careful about presuming how God wants resources used. We should make the best decision we can, but be cautious about saying it's 'God's will'. Easing pain often works, though there are some glitches. Say it's not working is an overstatement. Some pain cannot be medicated. It's a problem. I don't want to poo-poo it. On the other hand, that's part of being human, a part we all too often overlook in this age of 'haven't got time for the pain'. Some pain is senseless, but a lot of pain is sending a message and all human pain can be harnessed for good. (Please don't take this as callous. I really am compassionate about suffering. But now I'm arguing principles.)

Should there be a civil right to commit suicide? If we're going to make freedom the trump-card, yes. However, if we're going to make something like 'life' the trump card, then it follows that things like suicide, euthanasia, capital punishment, and abortion will all be illeagal. Not that I think society's headed this way. I don't. Should we? Maybe. Some of us can propose it and see how people vote. The people choose. It's not legislated morality, strictly speaking. Frankly, I don't have any expectation that 'life' will be the guiding principle. Freedom will be, I think. And I can live with that. But it's surely not always best.

Did I say I'm sorry for the loss of your dog which prompts a lot of these thoughts. I am. I'm sure there's real grief there, as there should be.

best,

Sean

Jesse Helms, White Racist. I'm not sure I agree (that he's all the way to racist), but it could be.

Thoughts: How can anyone be pro-tobacco, even with his constituency? I'm not on board w/his nationalism.

Adobe bad (re:Sklyarov). Let'em have it. Free speech good.

USA Today has an article about weblogging that basically says any shmoe can do it/opinions are like noses - everyone has one. I resemble those remarks (via the Blogger.)

Also seen on the front page of Blogger: usage of the trademarked 'zippity' (commonly found on 1142.org) from a post about dating webloggers(on caterina).

Isn't Amazon supposed to be dead by now? I'm not saying this new move is a great one. I don't know. All I'm pointing out is that a lot of people said they wouldn't even exist now, not to mention expanding their services. For my part, I like Amazon and wish them well.

Dear Ryan,

Link me in your sidebar (like Scott) soon, or suffer the consequences.

Bwa ha ha ha ha ha!!!

yours,

Sean

Dear Scott,

The reason we are more germane to euthanasia for animals than for humans is that animals are not human. I'll elaborate.

First, we need to be very careful of human life, that it is not extinguished prematurely. This is not a choice people should be making.

Second, there is much value in human life, even when there is profound suffering. The animal life is more simple. We value this. It also means an animal which suffers is consumed by its suffering in ways humans are not.

However, there is a difference between extending life and extending death. In humans, while we allow suffering longer, it is not necessarily the case that we always try to prolong life. If a person is terminal with cancer, you don't have to treat the cancer. You can treat the symptoms and try to make them more comfortable until nature takes its course. However, we draw the line at actively ending a life. That's a dangerous prerogative to claim and take up when it comes to people, much more so than animals (no disrespect meant).

What do you think?

yours,

Sean

Funny posts by Fuller and John yesterday on 13 Labs.

Matt says Orbitz is the best travel website because it's best designed and easiest to use.

In his ongoing discussion of Bush foreign policy, Nathan gives us an article from the Post about imperialism and how some people think it's a good thing, or at least a necessary evil. I think it's a sickening thing, which will be no surprise to my regular readers.

In addition, I talked about Bush foreign policy with a good friend of mine who's a conservative whom I respect. He had some pretty good concerns about UN involvement (corrupt and wasteful in need of reform) and Kyoto (nobody else wants to sign it either, but we're an easy target) and our national interest compared to 'national building'.

What do I think our position be? We can look out for our own concerns. But we should also be willing to entertain global agenda items posed by other nations, especially blocks of other nations. I don't think we're being good neighbors right now. And we should be able to afford to be a little magnanimous. And obviously less aid should be military, especially to Israel.

Okay, how about this compromise: Must it be the case that Zionism is racism? No. Has Zionism been practiced in a racist way? You bet.

The US not attending the conference is scandalous and motivated by PAC money, in my opinion.

I am not an antisemite. But I think the nation of Israel is clearly oppressing and responding with undue force and it's inexcusable, given their history.

Then again, you've heard this before from me.

Look out! Rob's posting again.

My good friend, Jim, started a weblog. I'm not sure why, yet, but when I find out, I'll let you know.

Oh yeah, and one more link: Wil Wheaton's weblog (via kottke.org)

The things I'm linking to this afternoon are from the Web Today:

The story behind 'Jane Says' and other interesting Jane's Addiction talk.

New Spielberg/Di Caprio project re: world's greatest con man. I heard the real guy on tape one time and the cons he pulled off were really interesting.

Sorry for no updates in a couple days. I was at a conference in town.

We watched Michael Almereyda's Hamlet last night and I really like it. I consider myself an amateur Hamlet scholar, and it passed muster with me.

It's got me thinking about Hamlet again, and here's my current thesis:

The classic tragedy has a hero with a tragic flaw, usually pride (hubris), who tries to escape fate and gets crushed because of his action.

Hamlet's fatal action is inaction. Here is an evil which calls for immediate justice, but his intellectual sophistication and brooding keep him from that action. It brings complete destruction upon his family and Ophelia's family.

Shakespeare's work is genius. Making the fatal action inaction is a master stroke.

I think the whole Greek fate thing is turned, too, in 'Hamlet' to more of an ethical 'what is the right thing to do'. While there is some mention of fate, I don't think that dynamic is operating as strongly. Does Hamlet cross fate in either action or inaction? It has been said that 'Hamlet' is the first modern play. This would be one sign of that, stepping away from the importance of fate. Compare the importance of fate in 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'Julius Caesar'.

And remember, if Hamlet is certifiably crazy, it's not a tragedy anymore. Technically the hero has to be aware of what he's doing. I thing Hamlet become's a little eratic as time wears on, but I deny that he evers steps into madness.

Matt's '...nothing' had Dave Winer's article on Google's new just-in-time search capabilities.

Yesterdayland has saturday morning cartoons by decade (via Chutler at 13 Labs). I chose the 70s (which took me up to 8 years old). Of interest, I give you Ark II, Superfriends, Tarzan, Flash Gordon, and Hong Kong Phooey.

This is my domain, and I protect those who come here, for I am Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle.

quick, interesting baseball update: Record Watch, Homerun Watch, Pennant Watch.

The Cubs better watch out, or they'll be out of the race.

Long, interesting article on the Hubble Space Telescope and it's future. Will it be phased out, or reinvested. The NASA plan calls for the former. I hope they can find the dough for the latter. Could a private company buy it out?

I watched the 'Dune' miniseries this weekend. It was pretty good. I didn't think it was a huge impovement over Lynch's version. I think I will read on in the series this time, though. The official Dune website.

Speaking of 'osmosis', why does it get so much air time? Why so much more than 'diffusion', or even 'active transport'? Weird.

If I were going to go see a movie this afternoon (which I'm not, but I'd like to), what would it be?

Maybe 'Osmosis Jones'. It sounds funny, and I love Chris Rock.

Probably not 'The Others'. I don't really do scary movies and I don't have a thing for Nicole Kidman.

Probably not 'The Luzhin Defence'. I like Emily Watson and John Turturro, but I'm not up for something depressing.

Maybe 'Moulin Rouge' for 50 cents.

Maybe 'Memento', but I don't think I want to work that hard today.

Hmm. 'Moulin Rouge' or 'Osmosis Jones'. Tough choice. Unfortunately, I don't have to make it.

Interesting discussion of human cloning going on over at the Clueless Comments.

Here's a discussion of the Joint Strike Fighter. Some good points: Why spend more money when we have the best fighters in the world? If we want to continue to have the best fighters, we have to do R&D. My gut here says skip this generation and go right to unmanned aircraft.

God gets the credit for some very sketchy songs. Does God have to take the blame, too? Ugh again (Is this friday the 13th? Nope, just friday.)