May 06, 2008
Another month disappears
It's been a busy couple of weeks, but time to play catch-up. Over the last month, I've: run every other day, biked almost every other day; lost 10 pounds; seen Greg Mortenson speak in town; paddled down the Palouse River twice; run a leg of a relay race; gotten a raise at work all squared away; started programming in Python and Ruby f'reals (using GTK and all that fun stuff, even); received two death threats from members of Soka Gakkai, International.
The last bit has been one of those 'more amusing things in my life.' Six or so years ago, I posted a picture of SGI's sacred scroll, called the gohonzon, on my blog. I have received many promises of bodily harm and dismemberment from members of SGI since doing so. I'd guesstimate that, on average, I receive two to three legitimate death threats per year, with another two or three ranting emails per month telling me that I'm going to hell for posting the picture. I find it amusing that a group with buddhist aspirations treats a physical object as sacred (and a digital reproduction of a physical object as sacrilege?), so let the Googlers/background researchers on SGI beware. Of course, take my warning with a grain of salt -- I'd hardly call Jerry Falwell a representative of christianity. Similarly I'd like to think that the folks that leave their nice comments to me aren't in the main line of SGI. The whole affair has left a bad taste in my mouth, though -- how could it not?
I do find it interesting that while Wikipedia has angered many Muslims by ruling that pictures of the prophet Mohammed are A-OK in his entry, there is no picture of the gohonzon on SGI's. Perhaps an edit is in order?
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Further back...
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Previous Trips...
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Hiking Mount Whitney, 2007 
Spring Break in West Virginia, 2005
New Year's in Paris, 2003-2004
Coming to America, 2003
Protesting in Berlin, 2003
Prague Bier-Tour, 2002
Dresden, 2002
Recent Reading
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The Curve of Binding Energy
John McPhee follows famous physicist Ted Taylor in this piece that was -- and probably still -- ahead of its time.
Originally published in 1973, McPhee outlined the coming security and environmental issues surrounding the plutonium enrichment processes. For the most part, though, McPhee invites the reader to draw his or her own conclusions, although he does point out the ease with which any number of people could obtain the material (though not necessarily the manufacturing prowess) to make an atomic weapon.
The question still sits in my mind after reading -- are we being too paranoid, or not paranoid enough?
Rated 
by reid
on October 01, 2007
by reid
on October 01, 2007
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Zodiac
Zodiac touts itself as an 'eco-thriller,' and it is just that. Told from the first-person perspective of ST (or Sangamon Taylor), the book recounts a roughly six-month period of his life busting big corporations for violating environmental laws.
Not the tree-hugging political activist type, ST is equipped with chem labs, scuba divers, maps, and an organization (GEE International, the Group of Environmental Extremists) that masterfully brings the press into the fold to scare the public with the very real dangers posed by illegal dumping. It's sort of a Sierra Club member's wet dream -- a band of ecowarriors that actually get things done.
ST finds something odd happening in Boston Harbor during his tale: a new form of pollution that could poison everyone on the planet in a matter of weeks. His quest to uncover exactly who and what is causing the latest spike in toxins goes all the way up to the President of the United States, and could end up costing him his own life.
While a neat and fast-paced tale, the novel drags on a bit toward the end, begging disbelief from even the most forgiving sci-fi folk. While not as good as his latest offerings, it's still a great read for those that enjoy a good Stephenson novel (or even those who don't).
Rated 
by reid
on July 17, 2005
by reid
on July 17, 2005
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Cat's Cradle
A few years ago, I attempted to woo an online datee, and she immediately criticized me for my politics. I protested the war on Iraq, which was "a shame." She defended her position of complete noninvolvement by standing behind Vonnegut.
It may seem odd to open a review that way. My assumption is now not that she was an idiot, but that she had only read Cat's Cradle, and only with a rather odd viewpoint.
Cat's Cradle looks at a cold-war world where the personifications of religious, political, and scientific single-mindedness collide to destroy the world.
Vonnegut tells a masterful tale, but it makes me wonder what one person's indifference would do to prevent us from all dying? So for now I will continue to unblindly stop unjust wars, even while I'm only reading.
Rated by reid
on July 17, 2005
by reid
on July 17, 2005
Not really relevant to your post, but I started reading this freely downloadable book the other day and it reminded me of you.
You should check it out.
http://craphound.com/littlebrother/download/
Not sure I have a current email address or other way to contact you these days. Drop me a line sometime.
Posted by: erin on May 10, 2008 10:39 AM