Obsidian Wings

a current-events poem

by fiddler

Sonnet of a disgruntled citizenry

(with minor apologies to Homer, Chapman, et al.)

Sing, news, of Obama's promises, made
To voters who elected him to power.
Which has he kept? Wars' ends? Taxes paid
By the rich? An economy in flower?
New jobs for all who seek them? Emptying
Guantanamo's cells, its prisoners tried
By civilian courts? Oh, reporters, sing
Of DADT's end, so none need hide!

But this you cannot do. Obama's failed
To follow through on promises he made.
He's compromised his ship of state; it's sailed
By homophobic hands, masts sold, crew unpaid.
There's no respite for voters who feel vexed
But protest, organize for what comes next.

at night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines

by fiddler

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) is taking aim at the single biggest killer of teenagers -- car crashes. For the second year she's sponsoring a bill to require all states to make 18 the minimum age for an unrestricted driver's license. At this point only a few states and DC keep teen drivers from unrestricted licenses until age 18; the others are divided between 16 and 17-1/2. States that let a driver have an unrestricted license at 18, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association, include Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey and Virginia. Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts and Ohio requires drivers to be 18 to drive at night. The article above, from Congress.org, said 12 states plus DC, which means they're including Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania, when young drivers turns 18 their licenses automatically become unrestricted; otherwise, restrictions are removed after a year of driving without a crash or conviction if the driver has completed a driver's education course.

There are good statistical, practical reasons for this change. 'Motor Vehicle Traffic' accounts for 39.98 percent of fatalities for people age 16-19, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

till the landslide brings it down

by fiddler

Following up on previous posts (here, here, here, here, and here):

HBGary Federal, Team Themis, Hunton & Williams and the US Chamber of Commerce:

• Aaron Barr, HBGary Federal CEO, who spearheaded the company's attempts to discover the identity of members of Anonymous and whose emails were exposed by Anonymous in return, resigned on Feb. 28. Barr said he wanted to spend more time with his family and recover his reputation. The article linked also points out poor security practices within the company, including a general disregard of the importance of using distinct and complex passwords -- perhaps something else Barr could work on in his spare time, now.

how do you like living in Omelas?

by fiddler

Despite eastern Virginia's steamy summers, the temperature can drop close to or below freezing at night in late fall, winter and spring. Concrete is not a good insulator against the chill in the ground, or in the air. And in a concrete cell in the brig at the Marine base in Quantico, VA, US Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is being forced to go without clothing for hours at a time, including sleeping at night and for inspections.

Going to the dogs open thread

by liberal japonicus

Hoisted from the comments (from bedtimeforbonzo longtime friend of the kitty)

...after almost three years following the untimely deaths of my beloved CoCo and Bowser -- we are again (since August) a two-dog household. Joining the indestructibe Hamilton, our loud and proud 16-year-old Beagle, is Cody, who was supposed to be my dream Black Lab. Finally getting the OK from my wife to become a two-dog family again, I had been following the website pawsforlife.org -- a wonderful rescue in Chesapeake City, Md., run, amazingly, by just four dedicated souls -- and found Tank. Just one visit and I knew he was the one. Friendly and 5 -- I no longer have the time or patience for a pup -- Tank, being a Lab, had plenty of energy and appeared simply majestic to me. So when my wife and son joined me a few days later to bring him home, I was as happy as I had been in a long time. Except my wife totally -- and, I mean, totally -- freaked at the sight of this gigantic, drooling, in her eyes, domestic wrecking ball. Would her reaction had been different if I had fallen for a smaller Lab? Don't know. Perhaps I should have realized he was named Tank for a reason. Anyway, I knew if we took Tank home, he and I would be spending most of our remaining days in the doghouse. So I figured we go home empty. Then Olga says, "Why not this one, Honey?" All along, this smallish (to me) white bundle of fur had been sitting on her lap, overdosing on the attention -- Cody, a Pappilion mix (the French dog named so for his huge butterfly-like ears), had been allowed to roam freely, uncaged, because of his size and all-around easy nature. I took one look at that precious little dog and imagined him adorning Paris Hilton's side, not wrestling with me in the backyard. Then I looked closer and saw how happy my wife and son looked -- not to mention 2-year-old Cody -- and realized this was going to be my big Black Lab. And now, of course, I am Cody's favorite and I simply adore him. He's a charmer, a lover, and the most comedic canine I have ever had. Wednesdays are our favorite -- when we are home alone a great deal and free to nap as we please. He's even sparked renewed life into the 112-year-old Hamilton, who, I think, might live forever. While I still need to take Wellubutrin and Effexor, Cody -- or any dog, to my mind -- is the perfect complement to help get me through those dreaded blue periods. And sometimes things do work out for the best. A few days after taking Cody home, feeling guilty and still thinking of that big Black Lab, I sent the lady who runs Paws For Life a pack of tennis ball for Tank. Soon after, the big Black Lab was adopted. Pictures on the website showed him on what looked to be a small farm where he was happily diving into a small lake.

As regular readers know, I tend to be a bit exuberent in drawing lessons from examples, but I have to think that the pack of tennis balls btb sent was what got that black lab adopted. I'm sure it can't be proven, but in my experience, small acts can have an outsize effects. And a special bonus lesson, I love the line "[I] realized [this French poodle] was going to be my big Black Lab". Good things happen when we bust up the categories we have in our mind, even though someone calling a small french poodle a big black labrador might be assailed as a violation of logic.

I mentioned the Blogospheric Users Relations Pact (BURP for short), and us having pet threads is a clear violation of that, as this is pretty clearly Balloon Juice territory. However in an attempt to avoid a blogospheric conflagration, I include a link to Balloon Juice's CafePress site and note that all profits from sales go to Charlie's Angels Animal Rescue, Brevard, North Carolina

Your sports open thread

by liberal japonicus

One area that has never really gotten much love here is sports. According to my rather spotty memory, back in the distant past, Sebastian talked about his volleyball playing, and Slarti talked a bit about competitive swimming, which isn't really a sport so much as a freakish ability of some people (I kid, I keeed!) Eric shows up from time to time with Yankee talk and there is a Red Sox contingent lurking, but those seem more lifestyle issues than having anything to do with sports. And I have memories of some commenters who talked a bit about sports (at the risk of offending others, I have memories of the commenter bedtime for bonzo, whose handle was related to a pet rather than a slight at Reagan, trying to start some discussion of NFL football) And I find there was a Super Bowl open thread for the Saints and the Colts. But I don't think we've never really much sports here (though readers are encouraged to go thru the archives to prove me wrong). Hence this open thread. 

One reason why that may be is that we are an eclectic bunch here, and, while there is a US focus, ObWi lacks a particular national identity. Crooked Timber often has rugby and cricket, (the latter sport fascinates me because the notion of sledging, not because I don't think trash talk doesn't happen in US sports, but because you have pretty jaw-dropping sledging incidents that seem to be common knowledge among fans). There's the fantasy baseball league over at LGM, and that the name of John Cole's cat is Tunch speaks volumes (though John Cole's admirable broad-mindedness is exemplified by getting Randy Paul to talk about soccer née football). 

I always think that it is fortunate that I left the US right after college, because had I not, I would be one of those sports fanatics (not that there's anything wrong with that). That love of factoids and anecdotes still remains, but was probably channelled into other kinds of trivia. It's also interesting that in some sense, that sports mentality has entered into our political discourse, for better or worse, with <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/">Nate Silver</a> taking his sabermetrics to politics, and Keith Olbermann counting down and Gregg Easterbrook writing about politics. Like I said, better or worse.

So, your weekend open thread. It doesn't have to be about sports, but it doesn't not have to be about sports. Play ball (but play nice)!

Remeet Liberal Japonicus, New ObWi Front Pager, Longtime Presence

Posted by Gary Farber, introductory guest post written by Liberal Japonicus.

Hello. (image of Ricky Gervais hosting the Golden Globes)

 

I'm liberal japonicus and my name has suddenly appeared on the sidebar. I'm still trying to figure out what this may mean, but one thing that it seems to suggest is that it is necessary to post something in the way of an introduction.

I'd note that in Japan, where I reside and where half of my genes are from, it is called a jiko shoukai ('self-introduction') and if you go to almost any small group meeting in Japan, you'll find a portion of it devoted to going around the table and doing said jiko shoukai.

Even if you are practically positive that you know everyone in the room, on the off chance that there is one newbie present, or someone has been struck with retrograde amnesia in the past 24 hours, everyone has to stand up, introduce themselves, not forgetting to add a little tidbit of new information that really isn't important, but allows those assembled to feel like they know you a bit better.

So a few quick facts.

MAJ. Andrew Olmsted

 by Gary Farber

Andrew Olmsted was my friend. 

He honored me with that. 

He's in my thoughts, every day, several times a day.

Please forgive me for being very personal in this post.  I am also apt to edit it and change some of it.

Hilzoy on January 04, 2008:

Andrew Olmsted, who also posted here as G'Kar, was killed yesterday in Iraq. Andy gave me a post to publish in the event of his death; the last revisions to it were made in July.

Andy was a wonderful person: decent, honorable, generous, principled, courageous, sweet, and very funny. The world has a horrible hole in it that nothing can fill. I'm glad Andy -- generous as always -- wrote something for me to publish now, since I have no words at all. Beyond: Andy, I will miss you.

My thoughts are with his wife, his parents, and his brother and sister.

As mine also always are, every day.  I think of Wes, Andrew's father.  I think of Nancy, Andrew's mother.  I think of Amanda, Andrew's wife.  I think of Eric, known as "Enrak" when he was commenting on blogs, primarily Andrew's.

I've met them all.

I think of Corrine, Eric's wife, and writing by her I read via Wes, and now I'll think of Catherine, Andrew's sister. 

I think of these men:

Wes Olmsted wrote me this of himself and his Nancy on November 10th, 2010:

We both think of Andy every day, it seems so impossible that he has been gone for so long.  Sometimes I come down the stairs and open up my emails just hoping that somehow he has written again. 

 

I did want to let you know that there is a new "Andrew" in town.  Eric and Corinne have named their new son William Andrew Olmsted.  We spent Thanksgiving with them and really enjoyed our time with them.  How Andy would have enjoyed this young man! 

 

Life goes on but not as well as it used to.  Nancy and I will be moving back to Maine next June, after she retires.  We are having a house built in central Maine at the head of Penobscot Bay.  The best part is that we will be close enough to Eric, Corinne, and Will to see them much more often.

Andy and I went back to 2002 together.  We started blogging within two months of each other.  Myself on December 30th, 2001, and Andrew at on Andrew Olmsted.com on 2/04/2002 07:42:00 AM.

Enough About You: Let's Talk About Me

by Gary Farber

My name is Gary Farber.  You killed my father.  Some of you are familiar with me, and some are not. 

Who the hell am I?

I'm the FNG as an Obsidian Wings front-page blogger.

But!

My first appearance at Obsidian Wings was via a post by Katherine R. on December 16th, 2003, when she linked to a post of mine, and named it Post Of The Week.  This attracted my attention to Obsidian Wings, with its first set of bloggers, Moe Lane, Katherine R,  and Von.

Set the Wayback Machine, Sherman!

Confederate History Month, The Conclusion (?)

by Robert R. Mackey

crossposted from the Huffington Post

This is the third, and unless there is a major gaffe tonight from Richmond, the final part of my writing on the serious problems with Confederate Heritage Month in Virginia.

In the first entry, I noted the slight "omission" by Governor McDonnell of the institution of slavery in his proclamation. It was corrected by his office, which was kind enough to note that slavery was a distinctly unpleasant thing. Thank you Governor.

The following day, I wrote that the Governor should correct the entire document, rename it "Civil War Heritage Month" and note the involvement of Virginians, black and white, who fought and died for the United States. That, sadly, has been ignored by the Governor's office and many others. I expect that it will continue to be ignored by many.

In this final part, I want to discuss the entire issue of "why" from both an historical view and from a modern political view. Why should we remember the American Civil War? What should we study about it? And why would a modern politician, well aware of the impact that announcing "Confederate Heritage Month" would have on not only his constituents but the media-blogosphere as well, do such a thing?

First, let's discuss the history. Simply put, the Civil War was about slavery. It was not about anything else. Had there been no slaves, there would have been no Civil War. For those who cry that the causation of the war was "States Rights" I have to ask--which right were they seceding over? The right to print their own money? The right to issue letters of marque and reprisal? The right to sign treaties with foreign powers?

No. The 'right' that so strongly defended, and by doing so murdered 650,000 Americans, was the right to own other human beings and their labor. That was the State Right so steadfastly defended. If you do not believe me, just read the collective writings of Jefferson Davis, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court Roger B. Taney, or of the 'moderate' plutocrats of South Carolina. It was obvious to those men why they were fighting. Or put in a more accurate way, why they were sending poor white Southern men to their deaths by the tens of thousands--to protect their property and their 'way of life.' These tyrants cared nothing for the men they were sending to die. First person accounts of the era show how many of these die-hard secessionists soon were less concerned with the Glorious Cause than they were in making sure that no one took their property away from them--to include the Confederate government.

So why should we study and discuss the Civil War? Military historians study the war as a perfect example of early Industrial Age conflict, technological change, logistics, operational art and grand strategy. For social historians, it is a moment of great change in American society, from the role of women and minorities to shifts in immigration and urban/rural issues. Political historians can see no better example of the issues, strengths and weaknesses of a representative democracy than in a conflict like the Civil War; great statesmen, speeches that still resound, the impact of assassination on a government.

Yet there is another reason to study the war. We need to study the Civil War--objectively and factually--in order to finally heal the rift that the war and slavery caused. Young people need to discuss, without propaganda or Lost Cause mythology, why the war started. Older students need to study the great decisions that put the nation on the road to disunion. And modern political leaders need to study the mistakes that were made before the war that split the nation in two and murdered a generation.

What were those mistakes that our present day political leaders need to reflect upon? I list a few for your consideration:

• The false idea that individuals in a republic are only responsible for themselves and their well-being, that they owe nothing to their fellow citizens past a grudgingly paid tax for national defense, and the associated false idea that somehow everyone will be just fine without laws, regulations, or taxation and that our responsibility is for the upholding of not human rights but the upholding of 'property' rights;

• The false idea that one race or one group is "American" when all others are not, including those with different beliefs, ideas, lifestyles, background and origin, for along those lines lies the belief that one group is not only more American, but morally superior to another and has both the right and responsibility to oppress another;

• The false idea that God is always on your side...which leads to a firm conviction that whatever you do, you are doing "God's Will" and all others are not only against you politically, but against God--a quite convenient situation for immoral and unethical leaders and one that Confederate leaders used to motivate an entire generation of poor white Southern men to die on the battlefield for slavery;

• The false idea that the Federal government is somehow inferior (or ineffective or inefficient) when compared to local or state governments, that local government "always knows best"; this view of reality quickly leads to localized suppression of civil rights, destruction of liberties, and violates the most hallowed compact of our Republic, the Constitution; and lastly,

• That the American people can be fooled only part of the time; even those that gain the most from a society but believe themselves to be the most downtrodden will ultimately discover the extent of the lies told to them by their political leaders. To paraphrase one Confederate soldier after the war, "I fought for my country [the C.S.A.] but I'll be damned if I ever fight for it again."

So, it is up to you Governor and the members of the Virginia Legislature to do the right thing and learn some of these lessons of the great American bloodletting. And if you do
not, it is ultimately up to the voters of Virginia to decide whether you should be the elected representative of the all the people--white and black, descendant of Union soldier or Confederate--and not just a small, unhappy portion of the electorate.

May God bless our beloved Union.