Exorcising Graham Bell

I had a real difficult time a couple of months ago. I called SBC to cancel my landline because I was switching to VOIP. I guess they are more used to people calling to cancel because they are moving, because it was next to impossible to convince them that I did not need a landline anymore.

I was passed around the telephone chain like the proverbial hot potato. I almost thought I'd need to speak with a VP. It took speaking with 5 people to get disconnected. I was offered options galore that ranged from a barebones plan to a choice to keep my number at a fee, in case I wanted to come back later.

I haven't had any problems since with the service itself. I'm using Lingo, and I got a pretty good deal - Unlimited Western Europe & USA, and the first 3 months free for $19.99 per month. Setup was not too bad - I walked through the process of setting up my VOIP box behind my broadband router, and then hooking up the wireless router to the box. I needed to switch to static IP addressing for my machines, which isn't such a bad thing.

I noticed an odd problem though with my telephone. The darn thing would run out of charge less than 5 or 10 minutes while talking to someone even though I left it on its charging cradle all the time. This was very exasperating and made me feel as if the ghost of Alexander Bell was displeased with my departure from his fold, as it were.

I hacked around until I figured it out. Cordless telephones come in about 3 frequencies. The most common are the 900 MHz ones - these are somewhat out-dated and have some interference issues. The FCC opened up the 2.4 GHz part of the spectrum to alleviate this problem. My telephone was a 2.4 GHz model. I learnt that this frequency range is also used by wireless LANs - the 802.11b variety. I postulated that somehow, the telephone was in an 'always-on' state because of my wireless network, even though I've set mine to work in b/g mode. This was causing the telephone to fizzle out in almost no time when I actually used it.

I also learnt that the FCC has opened up the 5.8 GHz part of the spectrum to reduce interference. A good read on 5.8 GHz telephones is here. I went out and picked up a pretty neat 5.8 GHz phones. I've had no problems since and love being on VOIP. The convenience, cost & better utilization of my bandwidth are driving factors in my choice.

Of course, being free of the ghost of Alexander Graham Bell helps, although I think he might be pleased with this new application of his invention. After all, the first Friendster VoIP Call was made between the Friendster founder and the great-grandson of Alexander Graham Bell

Good article on the Metaphysics of VOIP and its regulation is at CNET.

Reopening Ancient Trade Routes

The BBC reports, via Drudge, that Walmart has opened a new store a half mile from the Teotihuacan pyramids of Mexico

Around 200 shoppers queued for hours to be the first to enter the store, which is half a mile from the ancient Mexican pyramids at Teotihuacan.

"People need the well-being of their families more than culture," said one.

Good picture of Teotihuacan here

The store is 71902 sq. feet and adds to Walmart's 600+ stores in Mexico. Walmart is the biggest private employer in Mexico. It is part of a format used by Walmart in Mexico called "Bodega Aurrera", similar to the Sam's Clubs stores.. The new store has raised conservationist hackles, and had to be approved by the UN. A small pre-Hispanic altar was found recently at the parking lot, and was preserved in situ. Next to the Wal-Mart site stands the rust-colored Hotel Quinta Sol, a project she and others failed to block. A huge yellow sign for the Elektra electronics store chain and a broken Coca-Cola billboard dot the landscape.

Teotihuacan and Wal-Mart, centuries and cultures apart, share one thing in common: Both blossomed from trade.

Teotihuacan, which flourished between 250 and 600 A.D., controlled an intricate network of commercial routes that stretched north, west and south, reaching a thousand miles to the Classic Maya civilization of southeastern Mexico and Guatemala.

Tens of thousands were employed there in crafts. Some estimates say there were 100,000 traders. Among goods exchanged were valuable gray and green obsidian used in knives, instruments, mirrors and jewelry, and bartered for faraway sea salt, shells, Quetzal feathers, jade and chocolate.

Colin Wilson's "The Atlantis Blueprint" is a particularly well-researched and interesting synthesis of current researchm linking the Egyptian, Chinese and South American pyramids and other sacred sites, based on the crust-displacement theory of Charles Hapgood, among others.

Weddings aren't easy

The Times of India reports that the Pakistan Supreme Court has forbidden the serving of food at weddings, allowing only the serving of hot and cold non-alcoholic drinks.

"Social evils emanating from such exploitative customs have not only added to the misery of the poor but have also put at stake their very existence," it said, quoting the judgement.

Now that's an unusual judgement. Just imagine - a wedding on the cheap.

Some advice to note in weddings

The next most important objective to remember when cutting the cake is NO FOOD FIGHTS. There are several common sense reasons for this. First the icing will ruin the bride's make-up for the remainder of the reception, it will also remain in any facial hair the groom might have, and lastly and most importantly, it will begin your married life on a very bad tone.
....
Don't humiliate and embarrass the person you just married...save the food fights for later during the more relaxed wedding night activities.
..............
Please Note: if the parents of the Bride, or Groom, are divorced, the "Mother" of the Bride, or the "Mother" of the Groom, sits on the first row, with the Father on the second row.

A notable wedding of recent memory was that of Tiger Woods to the Swedish model Elin Nordgren. The entire Sandy Lane luxury resort in Barbados was booked for a week.

The bride's family - including her mother, Swedish Immigration Minister Barbro Holmberg, and her identical twin sister Josefin - were not even told where they were being flown to when they left Sweden last weekend.

A white-netted pagoda was built on a hilltop with a sweeping view at the western end of the resort, and decorated with 10,000 red and black roses.

The menu at the reception that followed featured the finest caviar, blackened Scottish salmon and expensive champagne.

The entertainment was provided by '90s chart-toppers Hootie & The Blowfish, American Idol Kelly Clarkson and a spectacular fireworks display that reportedly lit up the entire west coast of the island nation.

The 120 guests, who included Oprah Winfrey and Michael Jordan, were all put up at the resort.

Wedding experts told The Scotsman that the ceremony could easily have cost more than US$1.5 million.

Now that's a wedding to remember, I'm sure.

Notes from the Brighter Side

Paul Craig Roberts: The Bright Side of Black Tuesday notes that

Pundits have declared that the election was about "moral values." Americans in the red states voted against homosexual marriage and abortion.

Let's hope that this is correct. Otherwise, America is doomed if Bush's reelection is based on his economic and foreign policy record.

Can you imagine our peril if Bush's mandate is for unprecedented trade and budget deficits and job loss? Or for taking the country to war based on incompetence or deception?
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If Bush limits his second term to homosexual marriage and abortion, we and the world will be a lot safer. Medical doctors will not stop putting the mother's life first, and homosexuals are no more in need of marriage than the large percentage of heterosexuals who have abandoned it. Homosexual marriage has never been much more than a way to assert legitimacy that most rubs opponents' noses in the proverbial.

Econopundit points out some interesting numbers that

Sooner or later those on the other side will notice there were only four elections since 1920 with a lower "mandate" number than that generated by our just-finished election.

So take care, don't crow, be quiet, the presidential numbers don't support the hi-mandate landslide thesis.

On November 2, 2004, George Will noted,

If Bush wins, this will be what the poet William Carlos Williams called "the rare occurrence of the expected."

Robert Reich wrote in the American Prospect (September 2003) in an article titled "Permanent Election",

Permanent campaigns are morphing into permanent elections. In the permanent election, rivals seek to reverse the decision of the majority of voters and unseat the victor as soon as they can. Unlike the permanent campaign, in which incumbents and rivals only act as if the next election were imminent, in the permanent election, the next election is in fact always imminent -- or at least an imminent possibility.

This is a scenario well known to other democracies such as Japan and India. In India, for example, explicit laws have been enacted to prevent 'floor-crossing' or defections between political parties in an attempt to ensure stability. (Ref: Indian parliamentar y democracy) Japan's coalition government brings together competing interests. Indeed, in a parliamentary democracy, there is always the possibility of an election, resulting in an unfinished agenda. Talkingpointsmemo feels the recent changes in the US portend a shift in this direction.

There's even an element of parliamentarism in President Bush's post-election comments about his mandate and his right to expect others to fall in line behind views because he won a majority, even if a small one, at the ballot box.

....that means approaching most legislative battles not with an eye toward preventing passage or significantly altering legislation, but placing alternatives on the table that the party will be able use as contrasts to frame the next two elections. In other words, their only remaining viable alternative is to be an actual party of opposition.

This might not be a such a bad idea.

America, Kingship and the Spartans

Michael Moore worked with volunteers to make available video footage of election conditions in Ohio. He also provides "17 Reasons Not to Slit Your Wrists" and ends with the note:

Feeling better? I hope so. As my friend Mort wrote me yesterday, "My Romanian grandfather used to say to me, 'Remember, Morton, this is such a wonderful country -- it doesn't even need a president!'"

Historically, centralized societies tend to favor some form of kingship, and kings must be seen as such, either through popular choice, or diktat. The need of the king to prove his locus standi is accomplished by allying with regional and religious powers. In medieval Ethiopia, for example,

Ethiopian kingship, beginning with Axum and extending to the late Middle Ages, had a propensity to become more centralized and increasingly dominated by Christianity. Ethiopian kingship progressed from a completely feudal, traditional African institution to one that was dominated by Christianity and increasing centralization.

To guard against the creeping despotism that is a danger in these cases, especially of 'vaunting ambition', the Spartans adopted a model of dual kingship with limited powers, while allowing a flourishing oligarchy within the two ruling parties, each serving as a check on the other. Sparta was the only superpower in the region, until the emergence of the Athenians after their internal struggles were resolved.

The Spartan model might appeal to a conservative viewpoint, with its emphasis on social rules, military training

Shortly after birth the child was brought before the elders of the tribe, who decided whether it was to be reared: if defective or weakly, it was exposed in the so-called Training of Citizens.

Thus was secured, as far as could be, the maintenance of a high standard of physical efficiency, and thus from the earliest days of the Spartan the absolute claim of the state to his life and service was indicated and enforced.

Spartiates were absolutely debarred by law from trade or manufacture, which consequently rested in the hands of the perioeci, and were forbidden (in theory) to possess either gold or silver, the currency consisting of bars of iron, thus making thievery and foreign comerce very difficult and discouraging the accumulation of riches. Wealth was, in theory at least, derived entirely from landed property, and consisted in the annual return made by the Helots who cultivated the plots of ground allotted to the Spartiates.

While American representative democracy might be similar in form to Athenian direct democracy, nothing could be further from the truth. The perpetual state of war in the Athenian republic caused its failure. Further, Athens was hated by its allies, and imposed a dictatorial 'Warsaw-pact' like regime, as opposed to the American benevolent hegemony that characterizes American global relations.

Comparisons between the American experience & Athens/Sparta can be found in War and Democracy: A Comparative Study of the Korean War and the Peloponnesian War edited by David McCann et. al. A review of this book by Karl Walling of the Naval War College notes,

So why compare these two wars? The reason is that they were (and were perceived to be) largely struggles between different kinds of societies—democratic Athens versus authoritarian Sparta in Greece; and the liberal-democratic United States versus international communism in Korea, led by the Soviet Union with assistance from China. These were tests of democracy during great struggles for hegemony, with Athens ultimately failing that test after twenty-seven years of war, and the United States surviving the challenge after forty-odd years of the Cold War. Why did one democracy succumb and the other prevail?

Foundations of an answer lie in this book’s five sections, which respectively address the character of democracy at war, the nature of these different wars, the dilemmas of small states during struggles between major powers, the dynamics of populism and civil-military relations in these conflicts, and the culture of democracy at war.
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This eclectic mix of essays reminds us that democracy can be both an asset and a liability to its votaries in time of war.

Different views by different men - all guardians of the light, of democracy. A shining example in history was King Leonidas of Sparta, who defended Sparta's independence against the Athenians

Creative Manga

Osamu Tezuka, the father of modern manga, is revered for having inspired a pantheon of manga artists. While he was inspired by Disney animation such as Snow White & Bambi, his art was visually distinct and expressive in different ways.

His naar-cinematic technique provided a print perspective far richer than the casual artist might imaginee possible. Manga is derived from a form of illustrated story-telling called 'emonogatari', and means comic or comedic in Chinese. Manga goes beyond traditional stories by allowing the pictures themselves to 'tell the story', as it were. Thus, it is closer to film than to prose.

While most manga familiar to the Western audience is erotic or action-oriented, and known commonly in the cinematic form of anime, Japanese manga can run the gamut from educational aids, to classical tales, to science fiction. The work
Japan Inc: An Introduction to Japanese Economics by Ishinomori Shotaro is an example of the breadth of information represented in manga. Historical manga, or chanbara,(from the sound of swords clashing together) has contributed many archetypal Japanese myths to popular culture, film and even video games.

One example of historical manga, although not in the realm of swordplay, is Osamu Tezuka's Buddha Dai Ikkan
, a fictional retelling of the life of the Buddha, now available in English. This is a funny, creative book, ranging from high humor to dark pathos. Original characters, and a modern spin, particularly noticeable in the English translation provide an entertaining read.

As per one reviewer,

The story is epic in scope, but Tezuka isn't afraid to liberally sprinkle his story with humor, farce, and high comedy. In this opening volume, the "Blessed One" is born, and Tezuka ties the life of the Buddha with several of his charming original characters including the slave caste Chapra and his mother Maya, the pariah Tatta, a fat general, and a tragic young monk. Like classic Disney animated features, Buddha is a riveting drama that is as serious as it is sentimental and humorous. Tezuka, obviously, was a strong writer as evident in his solid plot structure and engaging characters.

How Many Lives?

A poem I wrote, once

How Many Lives?
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Cheek against cheek
in the sweaty heat.
So good we are together,
the way I was.
The curse of the solitary man,
to live with sand in the mouth,
not to understand why,
to cry without tears
for lives unlived save in wasted years.
Petal-butterflies wither
without taking wing.
Regret is total.

Jobs And The Family

The news of an "October Surprise" in jobs hiring is a positive sign - as long as it is not a seasonal blip.

Unfortunately though, this is not enough for anyone trying to make ends meet on a basic wage. The challenge of under-employment is more pervasive. Increased interest rates, rising inflation & oil price hikes can have pernicious effects on the economy that may outweigh gains in job growth.

Policy-induced high interest rates, as a matter of fact are counter-productive to the growth being experienced. They mean a bigger slice of the pie being spent on housing & static costs, and lesser discretionary income. The alternative to cutting back on spending is for most families to work longer hours. The every-day challenges of living in perpetual wage slavery are strongly brought home by Barbara Ehrenreich in Nickel And Dimed and by James Shipler in The Working Poor

What would be more insidious to society might be a return to norms of the early 20th century, still current in some countries, of involving the older children as de facto wage earners. Child labor is a terrible phenomenon, depriving societies of well developed children, and causing innumerable other social distortions. This is not very far from the pre-industrial family or community economy

In Belgium, for example, at the beginning of the century, there was a significant gap between the incomes of textile workers in the Belgian textile center of Ghent. This was primarily due to a low male wage level for textile workers. This was supplemented by increased work by married women and teenagers, thereby bridging the income gap.

Children's wages played a central role in family economic strategies in the late 19th century. The collection of family budgets by the US Bureau of Labor for the last century shows that life-cycle patterns of savings and debt varied by industry depending upon incomes from children. The consumption patterns of families whose expenditures exceeded their incomes do not show signs of economic distress and most families whose annual budget was in deficit could expect larger contributions from children in the near future. These patterns suggest that families used borrowing and saving to smooth consumption over the life-cycle as the earning capacity of the family changed. (JOURNAL OF FAMILY HISTORY,1993 - VOLUME 18, NUMBER 1)

A bad alternative would be to adopt "Creeping Communism" practices like those currently in vogue in New Zealand, where marginal tax rates are as high as 90 cents on the dollar. This coupled with income supplement programs, is aimed at decreasing the income gap, but serves only to weaken the economy in the medium to long term, as well as keeps families on the "income treadmill". Then again, that's what most families are on, anyway.

Culture Wars Redux

A powerful post in another salvo in the Culture Wars

Ultimately, why should I have to convince my fellow countrymen that Darwin may have had a point and that the word “liberal” is not equivalent to “godless communist?” And why should they be forced to live in a country with morally corrupt non-believers? I'll stay in the messy, free-thinking U.S.A.B. And to the U.S.A.R. I say…

God bless you all, and see you at the U.N

A column by the inestimable Thomas Friedman notes(ref Zudfunck)

Is it a country that does not intrude into people's sexual preferences and the marriage unions they want to make? Is it a country that allows a woman to have control over her body? Is it a country where the line between church and state bequeathed to us by our Founding Fathers should be inviolate? Is it a country where religion doesn't trump science? And, most important, is it a country whose president mobilizes its deep moral energies to unite us - instead of dividing us from one another and from the world?

Instapundit references Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon to explain the distinctions.

A response to the Michael Moore image, originally from American Leftist is provided by Michelle Malkin

The mosaic was created by the blogger American Leftist earlier this spring (would have been nice for Moore to give his fellow artist some credit). Anti-Bush bloggers--and, naturally, French bloggers--embraced the image as an anti-war indictment of Bush. But a mini-controversy erupted in the blogosphere when conservative bloggers saw the image as a moving tribute to the Iraqi war heroes and their commander-in-chief.

and from American Leftist,

I’d also like to point out that ‘War President’ is an image. It is not a textual statement or rhetorical argument. An image is like an empty room and any message that one reads in that room necessarily came in the baggage one carried when one walked in the door

In the Mind of Mog, one finds,

What does the future portend? A socialistic world controlled by a nanny state or a Muslim Caliphate controlled by fundamentalist Imams? That does appear to be the choice as freedom and true democracy, individual responsibility appears just about dead. The only hope is President Bush for he alone stands for responsibility for our actions and our future.

From the edge of reason,

We see no need to make conciliatory gestures towards the losers. None whatsoever. If Election Day taught us anything is that America is a conservative country. Hell, even the New York Times went so far today as to call it a "center-right" country. We wonder how long the editors had to ponder and/or choke on that one.

And the not-so-hidden meaning behind their request to "unite" the country is for the President to adopt liberal views (or as liberals like to call them-"moderate views"). Knowing that won't happen the what they're really saying is "Don't try to accomplish your "radical" agenda." In liberalspeak "radical" means "conservative".

Our response to this plea (which we hope the President shares) is simple - "Screw You".

History, and the wisdom of the American people, have offered George W. Bush a rare moment in history to push a distinctly conservative domestic agenda on various issues. The window will not be open forever and the opportunity should be seized, and seized quickly. We said before the election that we would offer the President friendly advice if he won, which we are glad he did. So the celebration is over (Well, almost).

The challenge of how red spread across blue may be answered by Thomas Frank in his new book. It neglects, however, the reality of the cultural amalgamation that defines any post-modern state, ably described in Robert Kagan's "The Breaking Of Nations"

Culture is a fusion of variegated identities. The aggregate whole blends all the colors of the rainbow. Thus it is more analog than discrete or digital, to stretch a metaphor. While that may not seem like a description of perceptions of American society today, the picture of voting patterns by county in a continuous whole shows the blended flow that exists and why pipe dreams like the wishful thinking behind any desire to suppress alternate cultural voices are just that - l'étranger est parmi nous, dans nos maisons, et finalement chez nous.(the stranger is among us, in our homes, and ultimately within us)

Our Paingods

In Harlan Ellison's Paingod, Trente is responsible for 'dispensing unbearable anguish','incredible suffering' and 'relentless torment' to often blameless denizens of the universe. He is given this job by Ethos

He was Paingod for the universes, the one who dealt out the tears and the anguish and the soul-wrenching terrors that blighted life from its first moment to its last. Beyond age, beyond death, beyond feeling - lonely and alone in his cubicle - Trente went about his business without concern or pause

Unfortuntely for Trente, and the universe, he contracts a disease - Concern. He begins to care for his deeds and ultimately reaches a state where he cannot any longer support his acts. To learn more about pain, he comes to earth to study a person he has inflicted with much pain - a drunken sot of an orator, erstwhile a sculptor. He discovers the sculptor would not be able to create his creations if not for his pain. In the end, this matures Trente and he returns to his lonely seat of power, meting out pain, and knowing happiness.

Real life isn't like that, though.

As John Kerry stated in his Congressional testimony,

We who have come here to Washington have come here because we f eel we have to be winter soldiers now. We could come back to this country; we could be quiet; we could hold our silence; we could not tell what went on in Vietnam, but we feel because of what threatens this country, the fact that the crimes threaten it, not reds, and not redcoats but the crimes which we are committing that threaten it, that we have to speak out.

We as humanity, appoint many paingods to mete out pain and suffering. We cannot compass, however, the transformation of these men and women. For some, it is a means to reach higher understanding. For others, like a few in the Iraq prisons, it expresses the darkness in ways unimaginable. There are few who can bear such a burden and remain unchanged. The cycle of violence and reprisal that it breeds cannot be broken save through deep self-introspection & growth of the individual.

Night Images

A great pic from a site on my blogroll - titled Things That Bang At Night - both the picture & the site

Another night picture - of San Francisco:


The night sky can be viewed live from various observatories

A marvelous view of sunset from space is at the Freeman institute - allegedly taken from the Columbia space shuttle on it's last mission - but that was an Internet hoax.

Actually, the notation about this image's having been "taken by the crew on board the Columbia during its last mission" was added only after the fatal break-up of the Space Shuttle Columbia upon its re-entry on 1 February 2003. Well before then, this picture had been circulating as a photograph "taken via satellite, on a cloudless day."

Although this image does accurately depict the landforms described and the positioning of lighted cities to the right of the day-night terminator line, it doesn't represent an actual Earth view one might see from space. This photograph is a digital composite formed by merging multiple images from different sources (primarily satellites).

Finally, the REM song - Nightswimming from Automatic For The People

The photograph reflects,
Every streetlight a reminder.
Nightswimming deserves a quiet night, deserves a quiet night.

After the long night most people put in on Tuesday, one hopes everyone has a good night - especially the Leader and the Contender

Culture Supernova

As one felt earlier, the culture wars may have begun. The terrible actions of September 11 have polarized American culture, liberal thought and world opinion. The election did not provide a catharsis, rather further delineated existing dividing lines in society. Good people question whether it is necessary to take on a righteous anger against the forces of a mediaeval persuasion. Other good people wonder how far we ourselves would be affected by such actions.



Michael Moore's non-verbal litany of dead US soldiers in Iraq is the first culture-crit, but barely the beginning - of course the human dead are partisanless and haunt the memories of the alleyways of would-have-beens. Who speaks out for the forgotten dead?


The fear felt in a section of the populace and reactions such as the one cited above by Michael Moore, are inspired in part by memories of an intellectual response that was found wanting in Europe in the 1930s, although the parallels do not hold up in this context.

Behind the military pageant and public festival that made up the official image of the new regimes[fascist] in Italy and Germany was to be found the decomposition of nineteenth-century liberalism. The "new orders" established a different set of values and purposes. Ideologically, the state, not the individual, counted. Politically, dictatorship from above, not consent from below, was imposed. Institutionally, repression of the rights of the citizen, not respect for them, was practiced.
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Public attitudes were affected by the seemingly oppressive problem of personal responsibility and individual freedom in a world of economic insecurity. The Enlightenment ideal of the self-sufficient man, capable of determining his own destiny, now seemed fraudulent, at complete variance with contemporary social and economic conditions.

Democracy has been called the Tyranny Of The Majority, famously be Alexis de Tocqueville & John Stuart Mill.

A proceeding is becoming more and more general in the United States which will, in the end, do away with the guarantees of representative government: it frequently happens that the voters, in electing a delegate, point out a certain line of conduct to him and impose upon him certain positive obligations that he is pledged to fulfill. With the exception of the tumult, this comes to the same thing as if the majority itself held its deliberations in the market-place.

In effect, the representative fulfils the manifold agendas of the electorate. Unfortunately though, the silent minority is underrepresented and possibly unreasonably, afraid. The evolution of multi-party parliamentary democracy in other democratic states is a response to this problem.

For example, in India, apart from the political changes at the National level, in various states, the underrepresented minorities have found a voice, and thereby representation, through the convenience of being part of a pluralistic coalition that enables perhaps nothing more than a Common Minimum Programme, where the checks and balances of the plural agendas serve as a watchguard against the agenda of the majority, as it were.

This is not to say that the same answer applies elsewhere. Humankind is capricious, and societies have different motivations & historical drivers. The question is moot, though, how is a liberal society to resist the tyranny of the majority? The validity of streams of thought, of writing, of music and of film cannot be dictated without losing the liberal flavor that defines and separates us from them.

Art Green raises the hope that this election can be a powerful opportunity to accomplish great things. Unfortunately though, the adminstration's record belies this hope. Yet, it is not an unreasonable hope. President Bush is a good person, and having broken old curses, may be able to step away from old policies and embrace the needed changes that can transform the world, and make this 21st century not feel like a bad rerun of the past.

Artistic Futility & Defeat

The mood with everyone I see - online & offline is Tired out, knackered and conflicted. The talking heads never stop! Make them stop!!

The Democrats spent a lot of effort in exercises in artistic futility, not defining an alternative, but appealing to the world for their rightness. The manifold artistic talents that endeavored to communicate the issues did the same. Eminem's release of his socially powerful video too late to make a difference, Michael Moore's excellent, but flawed work, even Mr Kerry's nuanced message were futile.

One is reminded of JFA Pyre's article in the Atlantic Monthly in 1907 on Lord Byron, the Romantic Poet,(subscription reqd)

"In our days of poetic puttering, when we can point to hundreds of clever technicians in verse, but not to one singer or maker who sways the time, we can ill afford to despise the memory of one who accomplished so much in his way and day. Though a great deal of Byron's subject matter is obsolete, though many of his ideas no longer interest us, so much, at least, is of perennial interest. Byron's liveness, Byron's directness, his intellectual dauntlessness, his ethical cogency, his wholesome contempt for social and artistic futility, his reckless valiancy of spirit, his very faults even, will be educative always, will always cry rebuke to the putterers and patchers of poetry."

Everyone wins, but in the long term, a redefinition is needed of the rules of the game. A 'Civil War among Democrats' would be a bad idea. Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part II, comes to mind as to one first step. Andrew Sullivan has a fair concern raised - the Cultural Stasis might be broken. The Culture Wars begun have, I fear. Jon Sobel has similar concerns about overseas perceptions of a further shift to monocultural identity in America as a result of this mandate - the country risks being painted into a corner, and dark comparisons drawn.

I've been having a great discussion on slashdot.org on this topic. Long, as usual. Some excerpts:

The popular vote should have been enough. Other countries count that as sufficient - he's not being partisan, just commenting on the feelings.
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Re:Now, let's all have a big Slashdot group hug (Score:3, Insightful)
by Golias (176380) on Wednesday November 03, @11:26AM (#10712490)
I disagree. We are better off as a federal union of states in which the government of that union is presided over by somebody elected by the states. If Bush had lost Ohio and Iowa, then it should have meant a Kerry presidency regardless of the popular vote.

Not that it matters this time around. The parent to your post is correct: By every measure, Bush won, so there is no case made by this particular election that there's something which needs fixing.
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This election is just amazing for me as a European. I cannot bring myself to believe that the US went for Bush – again.

Geez, looks like I won't be vacationing in California for another four years
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Granted, it might alienate some people, but while I would have liked Kerry to win, I am happy he conceded - just because I think it would have been wrong to have Kerry win the presidency with a minority in the popular vote - yes, Bush ruled with a minority, but two wrongs don't make a right.
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Aftertastes and (first) second thoughts

Current,per Yahoo,
Kerry: 252
Bush: 274
Popular Vote:
Bush: 51%
Kerry: 48%




Matt Drudge says"Bush Wins" - Republicans retain control of House, Senate, White House. John Kerry concedes on 11/3/2004 with a very graceful speech. President Bush responds with conciliation

The popular vote's gone for Mr Bush, irrespective of electoral college niceties, elsewhere in the world, this would be a decisive win for Mr Bush.

I predicted Wisconsin for Kerry - at 11:00 PM CST, Nov 2
Yahoo & CNN have declared Wisconsin for Kerry
Currently,
Wisconsin race for President
3540 of 3540 precincts - 100 percent
*** John F. Kerry Dem 1,488,935 - 50 percent
George W. Bush Rep 1,477,122 - 49 percent
Ralph Nader Ind 16,324 - 1 percent


Looks like Mr Nader affected at least one state closely.


Note: The following text is evidently out-dated - but preserved for record

It's all down to Ohio - official tally here.
FoxNews calls Ohio for Bush, NH for Kerry - 3 votes more needed
CNN calls the Kerry camp emoting "Sounds Of Silence" and asks what went wrong - opining - War not popular, but large divisions in US society causing rift, but CNN not comfortable granting victory - provisional ballots, lawsuits, etc. Ken Blackwell, Ohio Secretary of State confirms on CNN that by law provisional ballots will not be counted for 11 days - and an honest count will be provided.good stand, but methinks that's another lawsuit waiting to happen

For the first time ever, CNN calls Ohio a Green State - Too close to call

CNN declares New Mexico a Green State, NOW BACK TO WHITE - Too close to call
The New Mexico officials have gone to bed, as have most of the Kerry supporters. The President is still up, restless, per CNN's blog
CNN reports Iowa voting machines breakdown. CNN gives Michigan to Kerry. CNN gives Nevada to Bush

John Edwards said, "We've waited four years for this victory. We can wait one more night. Every vote should be counted"


Now back to commentary.

Re Ohio irregularities, TalkingPoints,

Republicans make a lot about letting the people decide elections and not lawyers. But that's not how it's turning out tonight. Across the east and into the midwest, they're hitting the courts at every opportunity, trying to cut off as many opportunities to vote as possible

From Instapundit,

IS MSM REFRAINING FROM CALLING STATES FOR BUSH that they would call for Kerry if the numbers were running the other way?

Also From Instapundit,

AS I WRITE THIS, it looks like Bush will carry both the popular and the electoral votes solidly. Regardless of how you voted, that's good news for the country; we can finally put the cries of "selected, not elected" behind us and unify.

An excellent (first)second thoughts article on blogcritics

pieces written in the wake of defeat are inevitably tinged with disappointment and bitterness, while pieces written in victory are just as strongly clouded by happy emotion. So for the moment, not knowing how the election will turn out, I can sit calmly and dispassionately and consider (in a state of complete sobriety) what might unfold during the next few hours.

The entire event felt like a menage a trois gone bad, where the action was frantic, and then the woman left with the guy's best buddy, and both guys claimed they had won. In short, politics as usual. The party ends, everyone's tired out and the bitching begins. In the end, it's all oppo-sames, whoever wins, the new boss is the same as the old boss.

Andrew Sullivan says,

The youth vote doesn't seem to have turned out. Fascinating. We were all suckered on that one. I'm beginning to think Ohio may go for Bush, as the votes tick by. But I've learned one thing today: don't expect anything. Carville just said that Bush now has the "superior hand" in this election. I think he's right.

Andrew Sullivan updates himself and gives it to President Bush


Juan Cole is concerned about international perceptions,

Given the talk in Washington about whether it is possible to reform the Arab world, I found the discussion this evening on al-Jazeera amusing.
................
The al-Jazeera anchor asked, "Do you believe the American electoral system can be reformed?"
........
This is getting embarrassing folks.

Prediction: Market pop tomorrow morning, losing 40 points by EOD
I was wrong - the market did give back some of initial pop up, but ended the day up - The Dow up 101 points. Profit taking & oil

Great image on Rockefeller center by NBC

Janegalt.com

Freedom Gives Responsibility

Blackboxvoting.org has announced the largest Freedom of Information action in history

At 8:30 p.m. Election Night, BlackBoxVoting.org blanketed the U.S. with the first in a series of public records requests, to obtain internal computer logs and other documents from 3,000 individual counties and townships. Networks called the election before anyone bothered to perform even the most rudimentary audit. Perhaps they should go back to counting pebbles

-----------------
Among the first requests sent to counties (with all kinds of voting systems -- optical scan, touch-screen, and punch card) is a formal records request for internal audit logs, polling place results slips, modem transmission logs, and computer trouble slips.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has a response to a press release from Diebold et al here(with Audio) - ref boingboing.net. Earlier today, I referenced the blackboxvoting.org report on hacking of the Diebold machines, and noted the India experience with EVMs.

The most free state in the world will have to think hard about disambiguation of the election process. As I heard on CNN, the Networks cannot be allowed to call the election for the leader of the free world. Another focus for reform should be the exit-poll managers and psephologists - although poor poll predictions are the bane of democracies the world over.

The International Herald Tribune says the international observers found significant flaws in the process

international monitors at a polling station in southern Florida said Tuesday that voting procedures being used in the extremely close contest fell short in many ways of the best global practices.
----------------------------------
The observers said they had less access to polls than in Kazakhstan, that the electronic voting had fewer fail-safes than in Venezuela, that the ballots were not so simple as in the Republic of Georgia and that no other country had such a complex national election system.

The Times of London opines,

Democracy in America is an expensive affair, yet it is worth the price. After an often bitter contest this year, the nation will come together afterwards. For as de Tocqueville contended more than 160 years ago: “What is understood by republican government in the United States is the slow and quiet action of society upon itself.”

Rodin's Thinker

Internet Load during Election Day

Please refresh my main page(http://selfaudit.blogspot.com) for current poll results & newer posts. Also, send me your stories of Internet Load on Nov 2, 2004

Election Day 2004
Overall, the Internet held up well to the onslaught of people from all over the world and the incessant blogging. Various Internet sites were slow or appeared to be down today. Phenomenal turnout in the elections - the New Democracy (new voters) movement working - a tidal wave.

Nice election results map at Yahoo

There were reports of many popular sites being inaccessible today sporadically. Government sites were especially slow.Campaign sites were hit hard. Sites with significant mirrors held up better - lesson for next time.

Response times are slightly improving around the Net(3 PM), and then falling again(4 PM), and improving overall now - worsening now (8:30 PM CST) - people are reporting difficulty with many sites right now(8 PM CST) in chat rooms, etc.

Traffic spiked through the morning and then again in the night.

Note: I have replaced the active graphs with static gifs taken earlier today to capture Internet Load on November 2,2004

This is the Response Time Graph for Nov 2,2004 - a significant spike indicating delays:

Static Image of Response Time on North America Internet Routers - source InternetTrafficReport.com on 11/02/2004

This is the Traffic Load Graph for Nov 2,2004

Static image of North America Internet Traffic Load on 11/02/2004 - source InternetTrafficReport.com on 11/02/2004

For reference, Current Internet traffic & response time from Internet Traffic Report:





Asia had pretty bad internet load all day - maybe due to tracert issues with this site

Electoral-vote.com, a leading source of data on the American presidential race, reports having been hit by distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks yesterday and today, which is election day in the U.S.

The site, which tracks state-by-state polling data to project the outcome of the presidential race, is operated by academic Andrew Tanenbaum, based in the Netherlands, the author of the Minix microkernel. It was referenced on slashdot.org yesterday (11/1) as well, revealing that Andrew Tanenbaum was the site master

Al-Jazeera's English-language web site was offline for more than five hours last night(11/1), two days after the network broadcast videotape of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.



Instapundit was down today

TRAFFIC PROBLEMS: It's really high, and it's causing intermittent outages. The swell folks at Hosting Matters are working on it. If the site goes down completely, I'll post on the backup site.

Again at 7 PM CST,Instapundit noted

YOU ARE LUCKY TO BE READING THIS. And I’m lucky to post it. 601am says we’re under denial-of-service attack.

UPDATE: Then again, Hosting Matters says it's a bandwidth problem that should settle down shortly.

Problems on left and right.TalkingPointsMemo.com was down for a while. Only DrudgeReport has been up all day - guess even the backbones know who to feed

Well, if our servers had to go down, I’m at least glad it could happen today, right? Jeez, what friggin’ nightmare. As you may have noticed TPM was offline from about 1:45 PM until just before 5 PM. Right about exactly the time I got hold of the first good exit poll numbers everything started to go haywire. It’s still not completely clear what happened. But we seem to have it under control.

A good visual map of animated traffic on the Internet is at the Abilene NOC

A 10x10 matrix of routes at Internet Pulse, shows 19-20 of them exhibiting high latency (90-120 ms)(6 PM) - now back to 4-5

Note: The list below will change continuously as it is based on live data:


6 of the 64 tracked routers are down or in 'red' status (Increasing)

fremont.ca.us.financialchat.com California(Fremont)

mail.rmail.mdsg-pacwest.com Colorado

gw-phx010.adpak.com Arizona (Phoenix)

rrcs-se-24-73-210-73.biz.rr.com Florida (Tampa)

exs1-1v-bkr-backbone.mecnet.net Massachusetts

gw1.waldenweb.com Texas

core-router.centramedia.net Texas (Pampa)

gw1.waldenweb.com Texas

gw.todays-tech.com Missouri

Avg. Response Time: 120
Avg. Packet Loss: 5 %
Total Routers: 65
Network up: 92 %

Q: What is a "traffic index?"A: The "traffic index" is a score from 0 to 100 where 0 is "slow" and 100 is "fast". It is determined by comparing the current response of a ping echo to all previous responses from the same router over the past 7 days. A score of 0 to 100 is then assigned to the current response depending on if this response is better or worse than all previous responses from that router.

Q: What is "response time (ms)?"A: Response Time in reference to Internet traffic is how long it takes for a chunk of data to travel from point A to point B and back (round trip). A typical response time on the Internet is 200 ms, which is 200 milliseconds (thousandths of a second) = 1/5th of one second.

Neat Simulator of the Electoral college at Harvard U (Uses frames)


Per the simulator, currently,
Kerry: 267
Bush: 271

Political Cycles & Stocks

Rossen Valkanov of the Anderson School of Management at UCLA has an interesting paper titled "Political Cycles And The Stock Market"(Journal of Finance 58, 1841-1872, October 2003)

The excess return in the stock market is higher under Democratic than Republican presidencies: nine percent for the value-weighted and 16 percent for the equal-weighted portfolio. The difference comes from higher real stock returns and lower real interest rates, is statistically significant, and is robust in subsamples. The difference in returns is not explained by business-cycle variables related to expected returns, and is not concentrated around election dates. There is no difference in the riskiness of the stock market across presidencies that could justify a risk premium. The difference in returns through the political cycle is therefore a puzzle.
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Using data since 1927, we find that the average excess return of the value-weighted CRSP index over the three-month Treasury bill rate has been about two percent under Republican and 11 percent under Democratic presidents — a striking difference of nine percent per year! This difference is economically and statistically significant
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A clear possibility is that our findings might be the product of data mining. Taking
into account that, over the years, researchers (and investors) have tried countless variables to forecast stock market returns, it might just be the case that we have stumbled upon a variable that tests significantly even when there is actually no underlying relation between the presidency and the stock market. As pointed out by many authors, and illustrated by Sullivan, Timmermann, and White (2001), if one correlates enough variables with market returns, some spurious relations are likely to be found.

An instability in the government is not liked by the markets. In the event of an ambiguous election, this might weaken markets. On the other hand, that could be exactly what the market needs to shake it out of its torpor and start moving again. This crisis could serve as a positive impetus.

Many authors have noted that crises provide significant buying opportunities in various markets. Traditionally, stocks and bonds have exhibited inverse behavior due to the bond yield curve. With the decision of the Treasury Department to stop sales of long term bonds in 2001, this principle may be in jeopardy, and it is likely that both stocks and bonds will do equally poorly over the short term. Marc Faber, Dr Doom, feels that

today monetary policies are ultra expansionary and inflationary since short-term rates are not only below the rate of nominal GDP growth (see figure 1) but also significantly below long term interest rates
-------------------------------
We can, therefore, say that today, because of excessive debts in the system, debt growth and fiscal deficits are far less effective at stimulating the economy than they were at the time of President Reagan. In fact, I would argue that for monetary policies the “ Mother of all Monetary Tests ” is unfolding right now, as it may be that monetary stimulus is no longer going to boost the economy, but inflation alone, which would lead in a benign scenario to stagflation and in a worst case scenario to a inflationary depression a la 1980s in Latin America

And So It Begins

Early reports are not good - but that too, might be an attempt to bias perceptions, as it's all smoke and mirrors.

The Drudge Report reports that voting machines were already stocked with votes prior to voting opening in Philadelphia

From the FAQ on EVMs - Government of India - see below:

Q28. In the conventional system, before the commencement of poll, the Presiding Officer shows to the polling agents present that the ballot box to be used in the polling station is empty. Is there any such provision to satisfy the polling agents that there are no hidden votes already recorded in the EVMs?

Ans.Yes

Before the commencement of poll, the Presiding Officer demonstrates to the polling agents present that there are no hidden votes already recorded in the machine by pressing the result button. Thereafter, he will conduct a mock poll by asking the polling agents to record their votes and will take the result to satisfy them that the result shown is strictly according to the choice recorded by them. Thereafter, the Presiding Officer will press the clear button to clear the result of the mock poll before commencing the actual poll.

Pretty obvious what could have been done

From Instapundit & jsonline.com, my home city, Milwaukee has had some minor tiffs, Also, I know a few people who did not vote because they were not registered correctly. About 35 people's address was the same - a billboard

Blackboxvoting.org has breaking news that the Diebold machines were hacked 6 weeks ago and Election Officials are asking all servers to be unplugged from the telephone lines & Internet

It appears that such an attack may already have taken place, in a primary election 6 weeks ago in King County, Washington -- a large jurisdiction with over one million registered voters. Documents, including internal audit logs for the central vote-counting computer, along with modem “trouble slips” consistent with hacker activity, show that the system may have been hacked on Sept. 14, 2004. Three hours is now missing from the vote-counting computer's "audit log," an automatically generated record, similar to the black box in an airplane, which registers certain kinds of events

The faulty log with 3 missing hours (9:52pm to 1:31am) is here

India conducted a full-scale electronic election earlier this year successfully - none of the EVMs were connected or hacked.



FAQ on EVMs(Electronic Voting Machines) from the Government Of India:

Q1. What is an Electronic Voting machine? In what way its functioning is different from the conventional system of voting?

Ans. An Electronic Voting Machine consists of two Units – a Control Unit and a Balloting Unit – joined by a five-meter cable. The Control Unit is with the Presiding Officer or a Polling Officer and the Balloting Unit is placed inside the voting compartment. Instead of issuing a ballot paper, the Polling Officer in-charge of the Control Unit will press the Ballot Button. This will enable the voter to cast his vote by pressing the blue button on the Balloting Unit against the candidate and symbol of his choice.

Q3. How can EVMs be used in areas where there is no electricity?
Ans. EVMs run on an ordinary 6 volt alkaline battery manufactured by Bharat Electronics Ltd., Bangalore and Electronic Corporation of India Ltd., Hyderabad. Therefore, even in areas with no power connections, EVMs can be used.
Q16. How long the Control Unit stores the result in its memory?

Ans. The Control Unit can store the result in its memory for 10 years and even more.


Q17. Wherever an election petition is filed, the result of the election is subject to the final outcome. The courts, in appropriate cases, may order a recount of votes. Whether EVMs can be stored for such a long time and whether the result can be taken in the presence of the officers authorised by Courts? Will not the battery leak or otherwise damage EVMs?

Ans. The battery is required only to activate the EVMs at the time of polling and counting. As soon as the polling is over, the battery can be switched off and this will be required to be switched on only at the time of counting. The battery can be removed as soon as the result is taken and can be kept separately. Therefore, there is no question of battery leaking or otherwise damaging EVMs. Even when the battery is removed the memory in the microchip remains intact. If the Court orders a recount, the Control Unit can be reactivated by fixing the battery and it will display the result stored in the memory.


Q18. Is it possible to vote more than once by pressing the button again and again.

Ans. No

As soon as a particular button on the Balloting Unit is pressed, the vote is recorded for that particular candidate and the machine gets locked. Even if one presses that button further or any other button, no further vote will be recorded. This way the EVMs ensure the principle of "one man, one vote".


Q19. How can a voter be sure that the EVM is working and his vote has been recorded?
Ans. As soon as the voter presses the `blue button’ against the candidate and symbol of his choice, a tiny lamp on the left side of the symbol glows red and simultaneously a long beep sound is heard. Thus, there is both audio and visual indications for the voter to be assured that his vote has been recorded

The First Winner - the incumbent horse

Odds-on favorite, Makybe Diva (11-4) from Great Britain, ridden by G Boss, won the Melbourne Cup for the second time.

Aided by a perfect ride from Glen Boss, who also rode her to victory in last year's Cup, Makybe Diva proved too strong for Irish raider and topweight Vinnie Roe with outsider Zazzman third.

Given that one incubent has held her cup against an "Irish raider", it might not be too far a stretch to reckon that Mr Bush's odds just improved. Per Instapundit, the Electronic Markets have Mr Bush winning by a nose


MysteryPollster, points to an apparently more accurate poll run by mail in Ohio by the Columbus Dispatch. This excludes undecided voters in the final poll, just concluded.

The Dispatch mail polls done earlier this year had one big shortcoming. They were based on older lists from the Secretary of State that missed most of this year's new registrants. Not this time. Let's let Darrel Roland's poll story in Saturday's Dispatch explain:

One difference between the latest poll and the one published four weeks ago is the inclusion of more newly registered voters in the sample, whose names were in the latest available data from the secretary of state's office. About 88% of the new voters - including those from Ohio's largest counties - were among the potential poll participants.

And which candidate did those new voters prefer? "These newbies now represent one in eight Ohio voters, and they support Kerry by nearly a 2-1 margin [65% to 34%]."
......
Or you can believe that the incumbent rule is alive and well and that the two results are essentially consistent in pointing to a very close finish: an incumbent with 48-49% of the vote on a telephone poll is headed for a very close finish with a slight edge over the challenger.

You can make a case for either scenario. My instincts are telling me that the Dispatch poll is right, that the incumbent rule holds and that Ohio will be incredibly close.

Evidently the sports metaphors are being honed, as predicted by William Safire in this week's New York Times Magazine.

The Leader and The Contender - Milwaukee Live

This entry was edited in real time from Milwaukee, Wisconsin - I've been at the Waterfront Deli on Water Street, Milwaukee

It finally came down to this, then - the Leader and the Contender, separated by a couple of blocks of Milwaukee paving, in the state that birthed the Republican party. The poll numbers are close too. Yet the divide was far greater. Call it the Battle in Brewtown.
Clash in Cream City. Milwaukee: the final conflict

Good coffee, free - feels good in the rain. Lots of places are giving out free stuff, food, etc tomorrow night with a voting receipt

Traffic was a mess - most streets were closed off. People could get in early to the Bush Arena with a ticket. The Kerry crowd braved the rain - no umbrellas were allowed for security reasons. The close proximity of the Leader & the Contender was unusual. for a while there, some of the jokes around here were kinda macabre about the neighborhood being Florida during Charley.

Instapundit notes that there were a few 100 for Kerry as opposed to 11000 for Bush - well, the US Cellular Arena is protected from rain. It doesnt matter really, though. Both sides are ardent and determined to 'get out the vote' - Looks like rain tomorrow as well.

Lunch was a Roast Beef sandwich - the deli was filled with Kerry crowd, and a few Bush supporters. I've had a good discussion with a couple of people.Apparently Mr Bush called on people to get their neighbors, friends, etc. and "discerning Democrats" to vote. His speech was heavy on 'family values'. He got crazy cheers from the crowd everytime he spoke. Lots of State Government Officials at his rally, this being a Republican state (which isnt necessarily the same as a Red State)

The mood was healthy, positive, the theater district is next door and if not for the rain, we'd be much happier. Absolute party atmosphere. The crowd was very thin as a result. Real-time blogging was fun - TGFHS (thank god for hotspots)

Here is a webcam image of the closest freeway



The Leader was in the US Cellular Arena, fronted by Brooks and Dunn, then the Oak Ridge Boys. He was introduced by the erstwhile Governor of Wisconsin, Tommy Thompson to a sizable crowd. On the other hand, the Contender was on the rainy, cold streets of Milwaukee, in front of City Hall, introducing Jon Bon Jovi. Bon Jovi's "Undivided" gets rave applause. This city loves music. John Kerry was late, said he would never forget this rally, praised the youth, and referenced Eminem's Mosh earlier, mentioning that he heard him on this week's SNL The Kerry campaign also has an Internet-only 'closing' campaign. Very net-savvy crowd - Howard Dean had that right, at least.

Musically and culturally, there could be little similarity between the musical choices. One artist is the leader of one of the most popular metal acts in history, with a new album rendering post-9/11 feelings.

Where we once were divided, now we stand united
We stand as one... undivided.
How many hands? how many hearts?
How many dreams been torn apart?
Enough, enough... the time has come to rise back as

Brooks and Dunn, have had rave reviews for their recent album and reinvents country rock in a powerful, back-to-roots manner. It almost felt like Summerfest had been moved to November. This was a day after Milwaukee's heart - both ventricles.

Red Dirt Road is sort of the Seabiscuit of country records--a cornball bit of entertainment that works because it carries great truths.

The uniting thread was the ardent desire on both sides to express their identity and views, and prevail. In the end, one recalls the poet himself, Bob Dylan,

You may be an ambassador to England or France,
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance,
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world,
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

Rock the Vote, Country-style!

Note: Excellent article, summing the day up at the Times of London