Hippo, birdie, two ewes...

... to robinpage!! Have a great one!!

Not invoking Godwin's Law

Guardian | Fascist America, in 10 easy steps

From Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms. And, argues Naomi Wolf, George Bush and his administration seem to be taking them all.

Naomi Wolf
Tuesday April 24, 2007
Guardian

Last autumn, there was a military coup in Thailand. The leaders of the coup took a number of steps, rather systematically, as if they had a shopping list. In a sense, they did. Within a matter of days, democracy had been closed down: the coup leaders declared martial law, sent armed soldiers into residential areas, took over radio and TV stations, issued restrictions on the press, tightened some limits on travel, and took certain activists into custody.

They were not figuring these things out as they went along. If you look at history, you can see that there is essentially a blueprint for turning an open society into a dictatorship. That blueprint has been used again and again in more and less bloody, more and less terrifying ways. But it is always effective. It is very difficult and arduous to create and sustain a democracy - but history shows that closing one down is much simpler. You simply have to be willing to take the 10 steps.

As difficult as this is to contemplate, it is clear, if you are willing to look, that each of these 10 steps has already been initiated today in the United States by the Bush administration.

Because Americans like me were born in freedom, we have a hard time even considering that it is possible for us to become as unfree - domestically - as many other nations. Because we no longer learn much about our rights or our system of government - the task of being aware of the constitution has been outsourced from citizens' ownership to being the domain of professionals such as lawyers and professors - we scarcely recognise the checks and balances that the founders put in place, even as they are being systematically dismantled. Because we don't learn much about European history, the setting up of a department of "homeland" security - remember who else was keen on the word "homeland" - didn't raise the alarm bells it might have.

It is my argument that, beneath our very noses, George Bush and his administration are using time-tested tactics to close down an open society. It is time for us to be willing to think the unthinkable - as the author and political journalist Joe Conason, has put it, that it can happen here. And that we are further along than we realise.

Got this from the lovely, talented, and normally mild-mannered vixyish. It was sort of apparent, but I haven't seen the steps set out this clearly before. The book referenced in the article, The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, was published last month and is available here.

So I don't want to invoke Godwin's Law here, but rather the reverse. So with a little prodding from technoshaman, here's what Vixy says at the end of her post:

But not long ago, in a conversation about this kind of thing with a co-worker who follows news & politics pretty heavily, I asked him rather bleakly, "what can we do?"

He said, "Keep talking about it."

So I'm talking about it. Your turn.

Walkies

Today's walk was the four-mile trip along Los Gatos Creek. Kept my heart-rate in the low 120's going out; on the way back, mostly downhill with my right arm hurting (I'm sinister, so it's underused) and slowing down to prevent shin splints, it was mostly in the 115-120 range.

Stats: time: 1:13 (3.3mph); average: 122; max: 151.

Well-tempered != equal tempered

From this post by braider, we get this intriguing article by Bradley Lehman, who makes a good case for having figured out Bach's original tuning based on a decoration on the title page Bach's main copy of "The Well-Tempered Clavier".

There's more at larips.com, including video demos and sound clips.

C-E, F-A, G-B, and Bb-D are calmer and more resonant than in equal temperament; D-F# and Eb-G are the same as their size in equal temperament (size 7); F#-A#, Ab-C, A-C#, B-D#, Db-F, and E-G# are more active than in equal temperament.

Some subjective remarks about key character, when playing with this temperament: Music in sharp keys tends to sound increasingly crisp and brilliant with each added sharp. Music in flat keys tends to sound mellow and warm, with a vibrant glow at each added flat. C major and its nearby keys sound plain-spoken and resonant, similar to 1/6 comma meantone.

Music in the flat minors tends to sound dark, troubled, sorrowful, yet noble. Music in the sharp minors tends to sound intense and incisive, with forceful dominant tensions. Music in major keys tends to sound smooth, having fewer strong contrasts than in minor-key music.

As for me, I'd probably have to listen carefully several times to a side-by-side comparison of the same piece played in both this and equal temperament before I could tell the difference, but the math is right.

Hwæt ðe helle?

From this post by bercilakslady, we get this. Short, and distinctly not keyboard safe if you've ever even glanced at Anglo-Saxon.

A nice evening out

Went out for dinner at Buck's, followed by a BroceliandeBroceliande concert at St. Bede's in Menlo Park. About a five-minute walk from where I work, in other words. We took chipuni along -- he had taken the chaoswolf out to lunch and had never heard them.

It was a good concert. The church had fantastic acoustics, and looked striking as well. The walls were paneled in dark-stained marine plywood (I could tell because that's the only kind of plywood that comes in 13-foot panels.) The ceiling was an equilateral pyramid. As I said, striking.

Had a good talk with Kristoph at the reception afterward, mostly about recording and editing software, and gave him and Margaret a copy of CC&S. I've taken voice lessons from 'Stoph, and he's provided a great deal of encouragement and advice over the years. (By the way, CD Baby has it in stock -- just follow the link.)