Categories
ranting

Here we go again…

With a few weeks to go until Election Day the race is close. Very close. In fact it’s been getting closer, according to 538 [fivethrityeight.com] for weeks and their most recent update actually puts Trump ahead for the first time in months:

fivethirtyeight.com’s electoral vote aggregate prediction as of 19 October.

I have the same feeling I had eight years ago [confusion.cc] sitting in Australia watching the New York Times needle shifting more and more into confirming Trump’s win. I feel like one of the passengers on Wonka’s boat ride… a feeling of “it can’t be real, but…”. I can’t believe that half of America can vote for Trump, again. I get not liking Democrat’s policies or preferring the traditional Republican policies of low taxes and small government. But I can’t understand how anyone with any appreciation for democracy, government or history can consider voting for Trump, want MAGA… again.

The narcissism, bigotry, toxic nationalism of Trump get’s more and more like some B-movie plot showing how the world walks, once again into the all the stupidity that led us to World War II, and all it’s horrors. The rise of protectionism and begger-thy-neighbor trade policy that Trump espouses with his across the board tariffs, something he began in his first term and has been more or less continued by Biden, the normalization of outright bigotry, racism and the ethno- or religious nationalism that goes with it. It’s not just the US… there are literal Nazis winning elections in Germany, and neo-fascist in Italy, to say nothing of racial riots in the UK. Not to mention the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

It’s so depressing.

I said, after the first debate that I would still vote for Biden even if he was mentally questionable, because Trump has proved to me over-and-over, every time he opens his mouth or his sycophants start talking about their plans that he is more unfit to govern then a dementia addled Biden would be. Luckily Biden stepped aside. For good-or-bad Harris quickly consolidated the nomination. I would have liked to hear for others but c’est la vie. I’ve been impressed with Harris in the interviews and in the debate. Too vague on policy but four more years of Biden’s policies would be better than anything I can grasp for a MAGA policy, be it Trumpian nepotistic self-enrichment, narcissistic reality-TV foreign policy or the horror show that is Project 2025…

I was ashamed eight years ago, but even more so this time that the race is even so close, that anyone can genuinely what a second term for Trump is mind boggling.

I got my ballot the other day, I need to send it off ASAP to get their on time. The thing I wanted to point out, when I got it, something that most non-American’s I have talked never understand is it’s actually not just Harris or Trump, Democrat or Republican on my ballot. Even with RFK Jr. dropping out my ballot still has six options, as well as the write-in option this year:

We all know that the Greens, Libertarians, and the independents have no chance of winning even a single state. But they do have an impact, people do vote for them. The number of people who voted for parties other than the Democrats and Republicans was over 5% in 2016. And while I read that it would not have made a difference in the electoral college had they not been on the ballot I can’t help but feel they should take note of how the French center and left wing parties played the recent election there. Even half a percent of votes in the swing states could swing the election. It takes a certain kind of hubris to run for president, it’s amazing that Biden bowed out in the end, I wish the non-mainstream parties would have done the same.

Categories
photography travel

Florence, Italy, December 2023

Continuing our journey from Venice [confusion.cc], our next stop was Florence, capital of Tuscany and of the Renaissance. With the exception of not spending a night in Milan before going to Venice this holiday followed the same plan my wife and I took on our honeymoon in 2007 — Venice [confusion.cc], Florence [confusion.cc], Rome [confusion.cc], including Vatican City [confusion.cc] and Milan [confusion.cc]. The side trips were a little different: we didn’t visit Verona [confusion.cc] or San Gimignano [confusion.cc] or Como [confusion.cc], but Pisa [confusion.cc], Siena [confusion.cc] and even Pompeii (which I never posted about?) were all on the itinerary again this time.

IMG_5022

Anyway, enough of itineraries. What did we do in Florence [wikipedia.org]? In addition to being the base of operations for our visits to Pisa and Siena, among the many, many things to see in Florence, we visited:

  • The Uffizi Gallery [wikipedia.org], where we saw; The Birth of Venus [wikipeida.org] by Botticelli —one of Victoria’s favorite paintings— Primavera [wikipeida.org] also by Botticelli, Medusa [wikipeida.org] by Caravaggio, and many, many, more. Some of the most celebrated paintings in history (full list [wikipedia.org]), including works by three of the four Ninja Turtles.
  • The Ponte Vecchio [wikipedia.org]. It’s pretty, a great backdrop for photos. The most interesting thing, to me, is that London Bridge once looked like this, only bigger as I understand.
  • The Duomo, formally Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore [wikipeida.org]. As far as cathedrals go, this one, which marks the end of Gothic and start of Renaissance styles (no buttresses!), has, I think, the most beautiful exterior. The green and white gives it character. The interior is much brighter than most other cathedrals and the dome is amazing. We climbed the dome, 463 steps for the amazing views. We also climbed the bell tower; another 414 steps for more amazing views.
IMG_5226
  • Galleria dell’Accademia [wikipedia.org], housing Michelangelo’s David [wikipedia.org]. Probably the most famous sculpture in history. It’s monumental and technical amazing. But I think I prefer La Pieta among Michelangelo’s sculptures that I have seen.
  • Basilica di San Lorenzo [wikipedia.org], which is notable as it has no grand façade, just the raw, naked brickwork. Michelangelo designed a facade, even built a wooden model but it was not built. This makes San Lorenzo look rather plain on the outside, hiding how beautiful it is on the inside. Donatello is buried here.
  • Medici Chapel [wikipeida.org]. Which is attached to San Lorenzo but a seperate tourist site, because, Michelangelo designed it and it contains several celebrated sculptures or his and some charcoal sketches attributed to him.
  • Basilica di Santa Croce [wikipedia.org]. Yet another magnificent church in Florence. The interior, is very different from either the Duomo or San Lorenzo but beautiful. This place is notable for the many important tombs found in the nave —from midieval knights, to some of the most famous people in history; Michelangelo, Galileo, Dante, Machiavelli, and more.
IMG_5319

One thing we were not able to do this trip was to visit the Vasari Corridor [wikipedia.org] as it was closed. As I recall from last time it’s interesting, but not a make-or-break thing. C’est la vie. We. Also didn’t visit the Palazzo Pitti [wikipedia.org], or the Bargello [wikipedia.org]. I think the kids were tired of paintings of Madonna and Child, Christ on the Cross, the Adoration of the Magi, and statues of naked men and women. Livi had an app on her phone to keep count of different themes. It can be mind numbing all the renaissance and pre-renaissance art day-after-day in Florence, indeed, in Italy.

We did stumble upon a decidedly not renaissance exhibit that we decided to go to. In the Palazzo Strozzi there was an exhibit of Anish Kupoor’s works called Untrue Unreal [palazzostrozzi.org]. Including early, colorful works like To Reflect an Intimate Part of the Red [anishkapoor.com], and Endless Column [anishkapoor.com], as well as the more grotesque Three Days of Mourning [anishkapoor.com] and First Milk [anishkapoor.com], some of his mirror work and even a bunch of his newer Vantablack works. Lots of things I didn’t catch the name of and didn’t find for sure when searching online. I would not say I’m a big fan of Anish Kapoor in general but it was a nice departure from renaissance and pre-renaissance art.

And if you are keeping count, we saw the tombs of two of the four ninja turtles in Florence.

Categories
ranting

Two Decades in the Little Red Dot

Two decades ago this week I arrived in Singapore. At the time I left DC I was unsure of the long term plan, I only had a a fuzzy idea; ‘maybe I’ll stay in Singapore, maybe I won’t.’ you can see that in my last post [confusion.cc] from the US before I left:

I have a return ticket but I don’t know if I will be coming back next month or next year or ever.

Turns out I traveled back and forth a quite a bit for a while, racking up the frequent flyer miles on the longest flight in the world —SIN to NYC— but by March of 2005 I had an employment pass and planned to stay. Originally I only wanted to stay a few years, I wanted to go and live in different places every few years, to experience a new, alien, culture as a local constantly. But, life had other plans [confusion.cc].

C’est la vie. Singapore is a great place to live and to raise a family. I complain a lot about the things I don’t like, but I would not love here if it was not a great place. We can always want our home to be better.

Interestingly, while drafting this entry I was planning to post it on the fourth —I’ve always said I arrived on the fourth of September— but I looked at the date of my final post from the US and things didn’t make sense… so I dug out my old passport and flipped through it to find my entry stamp for Singapore. And it was on September first… so, I’ve been three days off every year when I fill out my tax forms for the US that ask when I arrived in Singapore. Oh well, I don’t think three days matters there, but it did mean I had already missed the actual anniversary before I wrote this… so I slacked off and didn’t finish this until the end of the week… hence ‘two decades ago this week’ rather than ‘two decades ago today’.

Categories
books

The Life You Can Save

Title
The Life You Can Save
Author
Peter Singer

I have been a utilitarian for as long as I’ve had a label for my worldview. I was greatly influenced early on by the works of Peter Singer [petersinger.info]. Most notably Practical Ethics [confusion.cc] and Animal Liberation [confusion.cc], both of which I’ve written of here on Confusion.

The first thing I read by Singer, in an introduction to ethics class long ago, was Famine, Affluence and Morality an article Singer published in 1972. The idea in Famine can be summed up as “you, and those you know, don’t give enough money to help poor, suffering people around the world, and that makes you a morally bad person”. It’s a short essay, a quick read, but its conclusion was, and in many ways still is, shocking. It’s easy to see why many people have a gut reaction to it, rejecting its conclusion. “How can I be a bad person, just because I don’t give all of my money to others, to others half a world away?” It’s an uncomfortable feeling that you might be morally bad. There are lots of objections to Famine including many academic or more thorough attempts to rebut it.

Singer expanded on the concepts of Famine and published The Life You Can Save: How to Do Your Part to End World Poverty [thelifeyoucansave.org] in 2009 and an updated second edition in 2019. I missed it, not having read much philosophy or ethics in the past decade plus. But last year I stumbled across a series of philosophy lectures on YouTube by Jeffrey Kaplan [youtube.com] which included this episode on The Most Controversial Ethics Paper Ever Written [youtube.com], that covers the original Famine paper. After watching it I went looking for a copy of Famine and I stumbled upon The Life You Can Save. I ordered a physical copy of the book but you can get the ebook and even an audio copy read by some famous people from the link above, for free.

The book covers the original idea of the paper fairly quickly, with the a typical Singer approach of using leading you through a situation where few would disagree with his conclusions, then drawing a large moral equivalence between that situation and something much larger, and challenging the reader to find fault. He then spends the rest of its length addressing various objections or refutations of the moral conclusion that he draws from the parable and analogy.

The larger issue is global poverty and the apparent apathy that the world’s affluent have towards it and its effects. Affluent here means anyone who can cover their basic needs, meaning nearly everyone living in ‘western’, ‘developed’, ‘rich’ or ‘affluent’ countries. Meaning you and me and nearly everyone you know. To back up this accusation of apathy Singer includes significant time on data about giving, people’s perceptions of how much is given, how much should be given, and, the effects and efficiency of what is given or the lack thereof.

The updated second edition also includes a lot of stories about people who give, their money or time. Some were inspired by the first edition, some are an inspiration; rising from their own struggles to devote their lives to helping others.

Crucially there is also a discussion of what the Singer thinks is actually a reasonable, workable, contribution level that everyone can strive for. Even if you don’t live up to the ideal of giving until you are on the edge of needing yourself you can give, more than you think and it will help if you give well and you give intentionally. One of those people inspired by the first edition setup the charity that bears the name of the book; The Life You Can Save [thelifeyoucansave.org]`, dedicated to making giving easy and effective for everyone.

The Life You Can Save is a hard book. Like everything by Singer I have ever read I think most people will have a visceral reaction to it. I can’t imagine anyone having a neutral reaction to it. I think that if you read it and think about it, examine your life and the reality that the book discusses you can only have one of two reactions; you can give and give generously, or, you can work yourself into knots to avoid giving. Once you’ve read The Life You Can Save you can’t plead ignorance of this issue.

Reading Singer’s Practical Ethics [confusion.cc] and, later, Animal Liberation [confusion.cc] were foundational to my own self examination. Practical Ethics is still the single most influential book on my understanding of what I think, the fundamental morals and ethics I use to understand my worldview. It’s hard to live up to a code of ethics, it takes time and effort. It’s important to understand your own code, so that when you need to make a decision in the moment you have something to draw on. The Life You Can Save is more of the same, challenging and important. For myself, I have increased the amount I give, as a regular monthly donation after reading it. I have been giving for years, but I never increased it as my own income and ability to give increased.

You should read The Life You Can Save, get the ebook or audio book for free here [thelifeyoucansave.org] or listen to the full book as a podcast via Apple:

or Spotify:

There is no excuse.

Categories
ranting

Gatorbusters

The original Ghostbusters [imdg.com] was released in 1984. I was six. I don’t remember when I first saw it, maybe as early as 1985, or maybe 1986 or even 1987. In any case I was to young to understand some of the jokes —like Ray’s dream, somehow it was funny but I don’t understand what he was actually dreaming about, and because it was burned into my head from repeated viewing before I was old enough to understand it took a lot longer than it should have to understand that scene. No doubt we rented it from one of the local video stores, maybe the one in Pantops shopping center or maybe the one on 5th Street Extended, of course we also rented a second VCR and setup it up to make a copy. I remember watching that copy it times on summer breaks or on days I was home sick from school.

Sometime between the time Ghostbusters came out and the end of the 80’s an incident occurred at Berry Steam Plant in Alabama where my grandfather worked. Not for the first time an alligator crawled into the discharge pipes to enjoy the warmth on a cold day. I don’t recall all the detail of the story as my grandfather told it but, basically, the plant could not use the pipes with the gator in there and they called animal control or whoever it is you call, but it was taking too long and they needed to use the pipe. So, a bunch of burly steam power plant workers went out and wrestled this alligator out of the pipe and back down to the pond or river.

To commemorate this someone at the plant —I don’t know if it was my grandfather or someone else— had some silk screen shirts made with a Ghostbusters inspired logo of a gator caught in a ‘prohibition’ circle with a slash across it. Around the circle it says “Berry Steam Plant”. And the gator is wearing a hat (I don’t know why, but I imagine it’s just the type of hat a typical burly power plant worker would wear back in the day?).

I remember my grandfather giving us all shorts, I think I had a green one, and there were red ones too. Anyway, I while ago when I was at my mom’s I ran across what it probably the last one of these shirts, a red one. And I brought it back to Singapore to keep.

APC_7237
Original Berry Steam Plant Gatorbusters tee-shirt, circa mid-to-late 1980’s