Words of Advice

Sultans and Scarves

Three weeks ago, an Egyptian Muslim mother and wife, four months with child, was stabbed to death in Dresden, the civilian city bombed to the ground by the allies during World War II. She was stabbed in full view of her son and husband, and when her husband rushed to defend her, he himself was shot by the German police because they assumed him to be the attacker.

Go figure.

For the last three weeks, I’ve heard people say, and I’ve said it myself based on what I’ve seen – that the international media hasn’t found this story quite as interesting as that of The Death of Neda Sultan.

I’ve now done the numbers:

As of today, a search for Neda Sultan on Google, brings up about 1.14 Million results (I’m accounting for spelling variations by adding up the results for ‘Soltan’ and ‘Sultan’ – so this is the total of the two) for Neda. A similarly conducted search for Marwa Sherbini (with variations such as Sherbiny and Sherbeni, etc..) brings up about 220 thousand results. A bit less than a 5th of the results obtained by searching for Neda.

So perhaps the truth is quite simply that yes, the international media, goaded by political interests, wanted to sell an Iranian Revolution but are simply disinterested in a the story of a woman who in the 21st century Europe can be killed for her beliefs, race, or fashion sense.

It just sounds so…retro. I mean – this is what the Arabs are supposed to be so good at right? Being judgmental, being fundamentalist, being basically inhumane.

In contrast, it might be interesting to note just what Marwa and her husband did when they were harassed by their neighbor, the man who eventually stabbed her. The couple did the most that any civilized democratic civilization suggests that you do -

They went to the Law.

Unfortunately, there’s a loud vocal crowd of people who believe themselves to be doing ‘good’ – who tend to cloud the issues. When they turn Marwa into the ‘headscarf martyr’ – I’m not sure they understand quite how silly that sounds to an ear not familiar to the context. Did sympathizers come up with that nickname or did their enemies? Focusing on the headscarf is a mistake, and immediately begs the question – why would anybody die over a headscarf?

Yes, it’s that bad. If you think otherwise, wake up.

Calling her murder an example of ‘racism’ is also incorrect, and kicks a ball in a field for which the strategy has obviously not been thought out. It’s much more likely that this is the exclusive creation of the sympathizers – but it is still a huge mistake. By confusing religion with race, the issue becomes genetic. The implications here are complicated and messy, and completely unnecessary – the only religion that is ‘racial’ (or ‘racist’ if you choose to see it that way) – is Orthodox Judaism – since it is through maternal lines.

A Christian, on the other hand – is anybody who gives himself over to Jesus, and a Muslim is anybody who accepts Mohamed as the Prophet and submits to God’s will.

Zionism of course, has been lifting the Maternity Clause because they want more of ‘any-other-than-Arab’ races in Israel than they can get otherwise, and of course, there’s also the historical background of the Khazar Empire – now dispersed throughout Europe, a people who ‘decided’ (never mind the Orthodox) to ‘be’ Jewish.

But Islam, as with Christianity, has none of that. You decide to be a Christian, presto – you are. You decide to be a Muslim, presto again – it’s about Idea & Choice.

NOT race, and we do our battle a disservice by claiming it to be so.

What do you call an ideology that destroys any other ideologies?

Well, the closest I can think of is Facism.

Pure and Simple.

We have to think through the logic.

Otherwise – we get emotional and distracted, and we’re not thoughtful with our defenses or positions, barely fighting off the aggression and not mounting our own agenda. I’ve played a lot of Real Time Strategy games, and this is how you lose.

Ahmedinejad, The U.S., and The Iranian Elections

It’s an easy enough lie to digest.

Ahmedinejad is a nutcase. Look at him, he’s been wearing the same jacket for years, ever since we ever laid eyes on him. He’s unshaven, looks kind of gruffy. He exhudes an informal, almost clumsy air and doesn’t seem like much of an orator. He’s soft spoken enough to make a cynic disbelieve anything he says, and the claims that he’s still living in his old house and still driving his god-knows-how-old car all seem inherently ridiculous.

And then, of course, it was his idea to hold a conference on the Holocaust in an attempt to weed out the truth from the myths involved, and naturally, it was he who everybody credits with wanting to wipe out his Zionist neighbors.

It’s easy to paint Ahmedinejad as a “petty, cruel, and ignorant dictator” as he was described by his host, the President of Columbia University in New York, after accepting an invitation to speak there.

Yeah, it’s pretty easy.

I don’t know about the old house, nor can I confirm that Ahmedinejad still drives an old car, but I have read the letter he sent to George Bush Jr., while Bush was still in office, and perhaps you should give it a read too, if you have the time or the inclination. It’s written simply, almost naively (considering who he was addressing), and is clearly unedited by anything resembling a professional political writer.

Once, during a television interview with some major U.S. network, I forget the name of the interviewer now, but it was a considered a major scoop at the time – the American Interviewer noticed Ahmedinejad’s assistant whisper something to him during the interview. Sensing the sinister intent behind the whisper, the American Interviewer asked Ahmedinejad what his assistant had told him. “Oh”, said Ahmedinejad, adjusting his jacket, “he just told me to adjust my jacket because it looks a bit strange on the monitor.” Truly, investigative journalism at its best.

When Ahmedinejad – oh, wait – you’re still put off by the name, right?

Here, let’s play syllables: Ahmed (c’mon you know that one, right?) DEE (like John Dee, for example) NE (like your NEck) JAD (like, er…Chad)…see? Simple Ahmed-Dee-Ne-Jad. See?

To continue:

What Ahmedinejad (don’t you feel better about him already, now that you can pronounce his name?) said the Chicken Little that you like to call ‘Israel’ (okay, so it’s not worried about the sky falling on its head – but it is particularly obsessed with being pushed into the sea..) – is that the ZIONIST regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish in the pages of time. It seems to redundant to say this, but apparently, there is a need – a regime is not a people, a regime is not a mother, a regime is not a boy, a regime is not a child. A regime is a mindset, and some regimes, such as the Apartheid Regime in South Africa, are certainly doomed to a morally-bankrupt downfall.

So now, we have Ahmedinejad – and an Iranian Election.

When Ahmedinejad was insulted by his host at Columbia University before he had even spoken, he replied, when he did take the podium, by saying that he was unfamiliar with America but that in his country, guest are not invited to an occasion simply to be insulted and ridiculed. The same Columbia students who clapped when he was insulted by their President applauded Ahmedinejad when he made that statement.

Their minds, apparently, are easy to sway.

So now, we are told that Ahmedinejad has stolen the Iranian Elections! That his people actually support an pro-reform opponent called Mousavi (it’s certainly easier to pronounce, isn’t it?) – and that the election has been rigged! The people of Iran have lost their voices! Their democracy has been hijacked by the Hitler-Esque Madman of Tehran, the would-be Holocaust-Denier, the would be Israeli-Decimator, the teacher who thinks he’s a preacher, if-he-gets-a-bomb-he’ll-beat-cha’ – Ahmedinejad!

Oh, gosh.

So here are the lies:

Ahmedinejad has less support than Mousavi. The U.S. and International Media know this. Ahmedinejad could not have gotten 62.6% of the votes since Mousavi is so well-supported. Mousavi is pro-reform, and the young population of Iran loves him because they yearn for a reformist who will bring Western Values to the country! The vote has been stolen, and Mousavi has been asking his supporters to stay calm while the issue is resolved. However, his supporters, those Valiant Iranians seeking the Western JuJu will not be calmed, they are on the streets asking for their rights! Ahmedinejad and the ruling council are meeting them with an Iron Fist. Killing them in a brute display of force! Proving once and for all that the rule of the madman in Iran is monstrous!

Oh, gosh indeed.

The Independent (of the UK) publishes a story in which an agonized Iranian student referred to as Maryam tells of her disappointment – that her hopes have been destroyed, her voice stolen, her dreams dashed. I run into the story since a friend of mine living in the UK sees it and sympathizes with the poor all-but-fictional ‘Maryam’.

Well-intentioned people fall for this story just as they fall for Obama and his recent speech to the Muslim World. Just as they fall for an invasion of Afghanistan that promises to liberate the women of Afghanistan from the dreaded tyranny of the Hijab – as only cluster bombs and an invasion force of rapists know how.

The truth is this:

Ahmedinejad has always had more support than Mousavi – even a recent American pre-election poll proves that much. Not only that, but it proves that even in Mousavi’s supposed main demographic – the Azeri’s polled 2 to 1 in favor of Ahmedinejad previous to the election. In fact, the polling overwhelmingly demonstrated that Ahmedinejad would get not only 62.6% of the vote but 66% of the vote and that his strongest voting bloc was among 18-24 year olds.

Mousavi is not as well-supported as his fans or the U.S. or England, or Israel would have you believe. That is, depending on how you see it – either a delusion of people who cannot believe that anybody could sincerely prefer a non pro-western candidate – or an illusion designed to fool over-educated, well-intentioned do-gooders who still can’t get over the fact that the Iranians might not see things the way they do and might not share their intentions, hopes or dreams.

Mousavi only made things worse (and this is apparently, all he’s really designed, and perhaps more dangerously paid to do) by declaring himself a winner before the official election results came in. Thus making his supporters (mainly, by the way, composed of university graduates, and the richer echelons of Iranian society) feel as though they had a victory and then had it stolen from them. In doing so, he has caused a great deal of fury, anger, and disappointment. Not only has he done this, but he has also specifically asked his supporters to continue to demonstrate, despite the fact that this is a legal issue – he is thus directly responsible for any bloodshed that occurs during those demonstrations, and is the primary inciting force behind the violence.

But you don’t want to hear all that.

Like Axl said in ‘Sorry’ – “It’s harder to live with the truth about you, than to live with the lies about me.”

And so it goes.

Tele-Vision

Sit down. Tune in, and grab a beer. See what you might otherwise miss. Give us 30 seconds – and with one blank frame every thirty – we’ll put you up into a deep hypno-idiotic state during which you’ll be up to 25 times more susceptible to The Creed. Photons building crude patterns, chiseling into your organism. Give us your minute cause we’ll take away your day. Believe what you will as long as it’s true. And that is what we offer. ‘Truth at 25 frames a second’ the man said, and he didn’t even know how much he’d meant it. Information and misinformation collude and leave you confused, or, a worst case scenario, leave you bright, blessed in lucidity, and full of insights. A new preacher in our midst. The Cretan Liar, twice bound and still unfulfilled. A dramatic re-inaction of a flop. Space: The Final Something and in Ethiopia the children are still dead and dying, but omnipotence has it’s rewards and telekinesis is as close as your remote control, and the kids aren’t there anymore because the drug lord is about to get shot by the good guy. All bad things come to a swift end. Tele-Vision: The Gaze from Afar, seeing at a distance, keeping a distance. In safety and in trust, forever pledged in holy media-money. A craft; artful even – sometimes – but always a taker. The mediator. That which comes between one thing and another, getting a cut on both sides.

Snow Blind Bliss.

Batman Falls Victim! The Joker Didn’t Do It – Morrison Did!

I am sick of Grant Morrison.

My exposure to comics has lessened over the years. I’ve been living in Egypt, so unless I download the occasional scan or buy the trade paperbacks from Amazon, I don’t get to read as much as I used to. Still, when I travel, I spend ridiculous sums of money on buying comics and catching up.

Lately, I ‘caught’ up again, after traveling and spending far too much at a particular comics shop in Austria.

First of all, I was SHOCKED by the ridiculous amount of titles written by Grant Morrison. I just didn’t get it. It was as though DC had given Morrison a monopoly on it’s titles. Half of the books in the shop were written by Morrison. I just don’t get it. How many books does this guy write/month?

Also – he’s just not very good. He’s WAY too busy trying to be ‘cool’ and ‘awesome’ and ‘controversial’ to even know what a good story is. I was lucky enough to run into some stories by Geoff Johns and he is BY FAR a better writer. Johns writes the characters, he shows us dramatic scenes that lend gravity to any action scenes he writes. The gravity of the characters, the strength of the characters, his LOVE of the characters shows through almost every line of dialogue. He also respects the continuity and does his best to integrate and explain as many aspects of it as he can. He really does wonderful work, and his work on the Hal Jordan rebirth story was great, and the way he had Batman and Jordan interact in that, and in subsequent issues was wonderful. He LOVES the characters and it shows.

Morrison on the other hand – loves himself, and his own ‘rebel without a clue’ sensibilities. He’s willing to destroy anything and anyone to appear cool and awesome and on top of things. I suspect he goes out of his way to make the stories ‘cosmic’ and ‘complex’ so that 1) people don’t notice the complete lack of dramatic substance, and 2) the continuity gets so convoluted that only ‘he’ can continue to make sense of it thereby assuring his monopoly as DC writer supreme.

He’s lame.

It didn’t take me long to find that out.

Final Crisis is a piece of crap.

Yes. It really is. Including ridiculous panels where he ‘tells’ us how great and noble the characters are because he is CLEARLY unable to SHOW us just that in subtle dramatic scenes. Morrison is the Die Hard 4 of the comics industry. HUGE BANGS all in a row, leading, in my case, to a snooze-fest. He’s so busy pulling focus on himself that his stories are just boring, boring, boring – and his treatment of the characters both shallow and shamefully disrespectful.

DC is really shooting itself in the foot, and the longer they allow Morrison free reign, the longer this will continue.

DC, if you listen to anything – listen to the fans – dump Morrison.

Listen to Geoff Johns.

Beg Brad Meltzer to write more.

Respect your characters.

Please.

Foundations of A Broadcast-Based Financial Compensation Model for Digital Media

As a listener – as audience – I am driven towards media that I like.

I am infotropic, so to speak. Some data, some information, some inherent artistic or intellectual order manifests to me through songs, books, movies, and various other forms of media. Wanting this information is as basic to my spiritual/intellectual/cultural self as water is to my biological. In that sense, it feels like more than a want, it feels like a morally justifiable right. I want to pay for the stuff I like, in fact – proud to pay for it when it’s easy to, and when the compensation requested is within my budget. However, it seems that withholding the data, on condition of compensation is somehow contrary to the essence of information itself, to a moral imperative inherent in information – to the very fact that information seems to want to spread. It is self-reproducing.

As a musician – I am in a quandary.

I know that the best of the music that I make is not truly only mine. That is not ontologically exclusive to my self. That I am simply partner to a history of sounds, a history of lyrics, a history of patterns and shapes, and tempos. A whole data cluster to which I have been privy, and to which I am host. I try to take some credit, of course, but all in all – there is a partnership.

At the very best of times – and this can be confirmed, I think – by any musician or any anybody who has engaged in artistic process..at the best of times – it seems that a partnership is created between the whole data cluster itself, and the moment I find myself in. At those times, ever so briefly, the thing lives, and moves seemingly at its own accord – the guitar player, singer, or actor experiences an actual ongoing sense of surprise. It as though the information itself has become alive – taken over both artist and time.

It is very, very hard to take complete credit for experiences such as these. For many, the experience itself is so humbling – so necessary – that incurring the wrath of its muse doesn’t quite seem wise.

As a musician, I want everybody to hear all of my tracks. I might not need, and excusing myself with vanity, might choose not to want everybody to like my tracks – but it somehow seems to matter that anybody that would like something, should get the chance to hear it.

Charging people for this seems, on the face of it – stupid.

But the less music pays me, the more I have to do something that isn’t music. The more I do something that isn’t music, the less music I make. The less music I make, the less music you hear.

So, this just doesn’t work.

Copyright issues on the web have had us all in flames. I assume that everybody is right.

1. There is absolutely no excuse for different regional release dates in an online world – or data-blockages of any sort. Any data available anywhere should be available everywhere.
2. Data, in all forms – must be available to whoever can reach it. A ONE TO ONE profit situation (where a certain profit unit is made PER unit data-form sold) – should only be levied on products in which it the data-form is encoded into actual material. All pure data-forms (non-material) cost no material to duplicate and therefore a ONE TO ONE profit situation should neither be expected, nor condoned. Any attempt to do so is nothing less than a willful chocking of information.
3. Data that has no purpose other than the creation of material profit is almost by definition working against the very nature of informational growth – which seeks to free itself from material as much as possible so as to propagate as fast as possible, ultimately – as fast as light. This point must be understood.
4. Artist must be compensated in accordance with a) the will of the audience to listen to those artists, and b) the ability of the artist to sustain their art work through self-sustaining artwork or engaging some of their time towards more high-yield commercial investments.

Having established the above – a mechanism is necessary for satisfying points 1-4. Copyright protection schemes ALL violate 1,2, & 3 because they all attempt to establish a one-to-one relationship between data-form duplicated and material compensation.

The situation as such:

1. User pays his ISP for his web connectivity.
2. User downloads data. Some downloads are paid for, others are not. Protection systems increase the suggested price of the data to the paying user, and further convince the non-paying user that product is not worth the compensation requested.
3. As far as the user is concerned – he has (in his mind) somewhat already paid. He did that back in step 1 when he paid his ISP.
4. RIAA and other such entities sue the ISP for duplicating their data without license, and the user for downloading the data.

The failure to create un-crack-able data protection systems is due to the inherent desire of information to grow. All such attempts are attempts to dry wetness.

What needs to happen is:

1. The user, who previously paid X/bandwidth pays 2x or some such ratio for his web connectivity. The user might initially gripe about this, but once he absolves himself of the paranoia of the RIAA beating down his wife’s door, and savors the contribution he knows he is actually materially making to the artists whose work he enjoys – will be more than happy. The industry needs to understand one thing – it’s not that the user doesn’t want to pay, it’s that he either cannot afford it – or that the mechanism of payment is too awkward.
2. The ISP collects the money and keeps its share of it – let’s say one of those 2 x’s.
3. The other ‘x’ or portion goes to a Data Indexing and Re-Investment authority along with a file detailing the file-download stats for that month – anonymously reported in totals.
4. This authority then compensates the authors of the data in proportion to their downloads share. This raises one issue still in need of resolution – simple ideas – the paper-clips of ‘data’ – let’s say – will be picked up so ubiquitously that by sheer number – even though the data-packet itself may be small – it’ll still make something for its creator. Other data-packages such as movies or video games, might take up a greater bandwidth share per duplicate simply because they are bigger in size. So in that sense, the big productions will still make more money. Some problems might arise with people bloating their data consciously in order to get have more of a duplication index – but the counter to that, is that online reviews will work against it the more it chooses to do so.
5. Payments will not always be one-to-one, more importantly, they shouldn’t be. People who have the luxury to pay will always be the first to get it cause that’s where the streams originate. They are the people who are most data-hungry, and the ones that most can afford it. They want to pay if it means they get it, and they will pay a high bandwidth premium to download sooner as well as in quantity.
6. This may well mean that artists might take a hit, honestly, not many will mind. Most complaints come from the companies whose main gripe is simply because they are in the habit of thinking of their data as matter, and not information. In doing so, they still expect a one-to-one data-form to money relationship when it neither possible, nor good.
7. ALL attempts to block data duplication are inherently ill conceived. Release or don’t release. The only protection necessary is a copyright registrar. The producer need not get paid per duplicate as much as he needs to be able to prove that it is his data-form.

Similar systems are already used for radio. Artists get compensated by authorities that monitor the airwaves and get reports from radio stations and broadcasters. That’s how somebody somewhere gets paid whenever a radio stations somewhere plays ‘Happy Birthday’. Systems for doing this are already somewhat in place for radio. By all means – a completely digital medium should be even easier to administer.

And that’s how I think this particular dragon can be laid to rest.

WorldMapper: Take A Look At The World…

In case you haven’t run into it, WorldMapper is an absolutely wonderful resource. It is, to quote the blurb, “a collection of world maps, where territories are re-sized on each map according to the subject of interest. 366 maps and PDF posters will be finished by February 2007.” – It’s a huge, and I mean huge eye opener.

Wander around. Look.

See.

A good introductory article to the whole thing can be found here.