ms cegenation's profile
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User ID: 60
User since: March 25, 2005
User last visit: 09:56PM on January 30
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ms cegenation has posted 45 links and 170 comments on Alkaline Earth since March 25, 2005.
Recent Posts: (Select Last [10] [50] [100] [All])
2009 Mar 13 12:35 (#4124): No, he's talking about economics. Really.
2008 Nov 25 12:00 (#4056):
2008 Jul 09 03:23 (#3919):
2008 Apr 29 04:15 (#3826): Would you eat something that was still squirming?
2008 Apr 13 06:01 (#3809):
2008 Mar 17 11:37 (#3773): "If there's no porn, the tool doesn't work."
2008 Feb 27 11:55 (#3758):
2007 Dec 12 11:27 (#3657): Cracked's most baffling toys list.
2007 Oct 16 09:16 (#3571): 151 moving violations, and that was just in Manhattan.
2007 Aug 27 01:09 (#3495):
Recent Comments: (Select Last [10] [50] [100] [All])
2011 Jan 30 09:26 (#4216.12813):There's at least one person still here, occasionally... :)
I think what's going on now across the Middle East is fascinating (though of course scary for those there), and even more astounding is that Wikileaks was a catalyst . Perhaps Assange's lack of journalistic caution will turn out to be somewhat beneficial. (Sorry, I don't know where everyone stands on that score, and I'm not actually trying to stir the pot, just eating some of my own words previously stated elsewhere.)
I'm not sure I have a problem with the US's stance at the moment -- Valatan (or anyone else), what do you think they should do?
I think it's hard for the US to get involved in an internal revolution in any case, much less in a country (1) whose leader we've effectively been backing for 30 years (sending billions in aid each year), (2) which is a needed ally in a very sensitive region, and (3) who is still acknowledged to hold power ("legitimately" might be a bit strong, but it's not the same as if he'd actually lost an election and was refusing to step down). IMO, it's appropriate for them to say essentially what Clinton did, i.e., we encourage freedom of speech and the holding of elections, but otherwise stand back and see what happens. But I don't actually follow the region that closely, so I'm interested to hear what opportunities/obligations you think they're missing.
As for comparisons elsewhere, this reminds me a bit more of Iran's recent attempted green revolution than Tiananmen Square (esp in terms of organization). Also, I think reports in the last couple days have been that the military is more or less in support of the protestors, which would seem to make sense since as a conscription army, you'd expect it to more closely mirror the general population. Whether Egypt has a force approximating Iran's Revolutionary Guard, though, I don't know.
Now what will be interesting - and perhaps worrisome - is that if they do make it to true elections, how Muslim Brotherhood, which by my understanding is pretty conservative, will do. It's possible that part of the US's hesitation is that the devil you know is better than the devil you don't. Anyway -- my $.02. Thanks for bringing it up; I'm glad to hear some non-talking head opinions :)
2009 Oct 05 10:37 (#4184.12671):I am late to the game and have only tenuous claims to either a Bacon or Erdos number (this is the DC variant, where you don't actually have to have worked with someone to claim to know lots about them and feel that you are close enough to network/leverage their connections ;-), but I wanted to play anyway.
Bacon-3: friends from college with one brian tjaden, whose brother brett developed the Oracle of Bacon linked above, and (I believe, unless my imagination has run wild over the years) met the man as a result. Bacon-4: my former roommate was an acting-friend/classmate in Chicago with Tyler Mane, who is a Bacon-2.
Erdos-4: I took calc3 with David Cox, who is an Erdos-3. He is a very nice man and by all accounts a very good mathemetician, but my lasting memory of him is that he totaled the points on my exams wrong. Twice. That I know of. (Once he forgot to carry a 1, and another time he completely left off a 20-pt answer because he didn't turn the page. I still harbor suspicions about my final exam grade.)
2009 Apr 04 02:36 (#4125.12514):Oh, sorry to cause the confusion w/empty bracket. I didn't log in til after the tourney started, and then just to see the standings. Silly me, i should've known i could follow along here. :)
2009 Feb 12 10:13 (#4098.12404):I thought readers of this post might also like this other one.
2009 Jan 26 08:37 (#4097.12378):Panorama version, taken by a guy who evidently had really good seats (needless to say, also a v. large file). I had fun zooming in on the snipers on top of the House building in the background. [Then, if you look between them and the photogs on the bleachers, back to the second blue gate, that's where I was stuck until bailing. Harumph.]
2009 Jan 19 09:33 (#4086.12357):Can I put this here even though it's no longer in the Music subject? It's the original Star Wars trilogy as related by someone who's never seen the entire movie -- and animated accordingly (sort of) by her friend.
2009 Jan 11 08:32 (#2582.12332):
2008 Dec 08 09:40 (#4053.12215):Hm... would you be equally disappointed at someone knowing a Prizm from a Corolla?
2008 Nov 20 10:05 (#4052.12167):The connect-the-line ballot is actually supposed to be more reliable than most (no misalignment, mislabelling, or non-entry problems). But I confess to nonetheless having a glimmer of the same nervousness the first time I voted in DC, which has the same setup. It's just absurd that there's so much variation, not just in ballots, but in voting regulations, election hours, etc., even within a single state, much less the entire nation.
2008 Nov 06 02:18 (#4033.12093):My favorite parts of the FOX story on Palin's ignorance are the reporter's use of "knowledgability" (twice) and reference to how she was added when McCain's shortlist was deemed "not inadequate".
