Cool website of the day: youku.com

There are foreign versions of youtube, such as soku.com and youku.com. They aren't limited by US copyright law, although you cannot open (most) videos that violate US copyright law from a US site. Still, you may get lucky (eg, FG's The Rose). And if you're willing to watch an otherwise barred video in, say, Russian (eg, RoboCop), then you may just find it.

Eric

Mets in 1st place!

A week-and-half ago, the Mets were in last place, not hitting with runners on base, and generally looking a lot like the incompetent Mets from last season. It looked like another lost season and Mets fans were grumbling. Last night, with the Mets double-header sweep over the Dodgers and the Phillies loss to the Giants, the Mets climbed into 1st place, a .5 game over the Phillies.

Because it's happened so suddenly, the Mets streak to first has been a surprise. Unplanned for happenings is one reason why sport is such great entertainment. In the midst of the expected, sometimes the stars and planets align.

Who knows whether the Mets bats really are waking up and how long the Mets can stay in first or keep up the great pitching and winning baseball, but for today, Mets fans can enjoy the gift.

Add: Mets swept the Dodgers today to finish up the homestand at 9-1 with a 7 game winning streak, moving from 4-8 and last place to 13-9 and 1st place in the division. Phillies won today, too, so the Mets lead stays at .5 game. After both teams get tomorrow off, the Mets start a 3 game set in Philly on Friday. Who knows if the streak will add on or end in Philly, but we at least get to enjoy the gift for another day.

Something to watch out for: Ike Davis, who has played very well over-all since being called up, may have stone hands at 1B. His scouting report says he has soft hands, but a few foul pop-ups have bounced off his glove and he's missed making the pick on a few off-line throws (e.g., Reyes' throwing error today) that a soft-handed major league first basemen should suck up.

Eric

"Oh my god, f**king man up, Conor!"

War of the Roses is a radio skit by the The Kane Show that takes listener requests to prank call suspected cheating SOs over the air. There's some suspicion the calls are scripted, especially the calls that play out as perfectly pathetically as this call (11/09/09).

With the radio host's help, the boyfriend Conor has the stage set perfectly. His despicable girlfriend Audrey fell right into the trap. She was caught and knew it. She was ashamed and resigned to the coming storm. Conor seemed worked up and ready to roar with righteous anger. Then, in his moment of redemption, with all male listeners cheering him on . . . wait for it . . . he begged her. "What?!", the radio host’s shocked disgust spoke for all men. Audrey's contempt for Conor overflowed. Hilarious stuff; you feel bad for the guy, but it was truly a pitiful unmanly display.

A woman dating coach comments on Conor.

Eric

Summer 2002 Vision Statement: Military Veterans of Columbia University

Note: Outside of Oscar Escano fresh from OEF I, the milvets who started MilVets in 2002 were pre-9/11 veterans. Nonetheless, not yet a year after the 9/11 attacks, I was motivated by the war veterans who would soon be enrolling at Columbia. I strongly believed they deserved a student-veterans group ready to welcome them when they arrived on campus. In my mind, the group was meant more for them than for us pre-9/11 vets. (Over the years, I've taken a deep breath and reminded myself of this whenever a fellow milvet who's also a war vet pissed me off.) I often discussed the war veterans aspect at the time, so I'm surprised I didn't explicitly state that reason in my summer 2002 vision statement - I thought I did. Anyway, what I said in my vision statement applies to them, too.

Vision Statement: Military Veterans of Columbia University.
By Eric ******, 27 August 2002

My seminal motivation for MilVetsCU is a simple one: as a former soldier and as a current Columbia student, I believe that there should be a student club like this at Columbia. There is every positive reason to form this club and no negative reasons.

1. Social group: Because of General Studies, Columbia probably has the largest concentration of veterans in the Ivy League. Factor in the graduate schools, non-American veterans, and the scattering of veterans in the other undergraduate programs; military veterans probably constitute the largest special interest population at Columbia that isn’t represented by its own student club. My experience tells me that veterans come to Columbia seeking a new challenge after years of honorable service, to remake themselves as Ivy League students. While some veterans return to military service by their own choice, by and large, they are not at Columbia to relive their military days. They find a home at Columbia that fulfills their intellectual expectations, but they also find – often to their surprise – that their military service has imprinted itself upon them. By inclination, especially after years in uniform, many veterans are protective of their own individuality, but at the same time, they discover that military experience gives them a shared bond. On a level forged by earned experience, they are understood by and understand their fellow veterans in a way that is often hard to communicate with other classmates. The military is, in fact, its own American community with its own cultural influence. As much as any group of students organized along a special interest, veterans deserve their own organization at Columbia.

2. Practical benefits: Because of the years given over to military service, veterans are older, more mature, perhaps with a different perspective, and are usually financially independent. Many veterans begin attending Columbia shortly after leaving the military, which can be a culture shock and a significant lifestyle adjustment. Similar to Columbia students in general, many veterans are not from the New York City area. The added maturity of veterans alleviates the transition process somewhat but the assistance of experienced classmates who understand their special needs always helps. As such, like any student club, a military veterans group can function as a support group and a network of resources that serves the veteran-student well beyond the initial transition from soldier to student.

3. A unique resource: Columbia’s veterans, whether former soldiers, marines, sailors or airmen, represent a special, hard-earned pool of knowledge, perspectives and experience within the Columbia community. The military has an essential historical, cultural, political and social role in our society; the Columbia student body would be well-served by a focal point of classmates who have “been there and done that.” As many veterans have noted, shocking ignorance about the military seems to prevail among otherwise intelligent and well-informed Columbia students. Grossly offensive stereotypes that would be unacceptable if applied to any other group seem to be accepted as a matter of course when applied to the military. In any era, but especially in the growing uncertainty of today’s world, it is vital that Columbia’s graduates leave this institution with a better understanding of and respect for the military. While it cannot and should not be the only answer to ignorance at Columbia, an organization of military veterans can greatly aid this institution’s mission of preparing graduates as informed members of society.

4. Pluralism ideal: Columbia University aspires to be a pluralistic institution that promotes the best qualities of a diverse society. The promise of that ideal attracts military veterans to Columbia University. Indeed, veterans are well acquainted with the benefits of diversity from serving in the military, and many veterans have served overseas. Sadly, Columbia University has had a shameful record of anti-military discrimination since the 1960s, perpetuated by a minority of actively anti-military students and even the administration itself. The Military Veterans of Columbia University would be an important agent for restoring true pluralism at Columbia and healing the 40-year-old wound to Columbia’s proud traditions.

Bonus. For military veterans only, a calling: The School of General Studies allows our relatively large veteran population at Columbia, and that makes Columbia unique in the Ivy League. At present, there is a fledgling military advocacy effort at Columbia and an older effort at Harvard being undertaken by non-military students and ROTC cadets. Ladies and gentlemen, ROTC cadets are not military veterans. I commend their efforts to represent the military on campus and I feel our groups ultimately have a shared purpose, but bottom-line, it is our place as veterans to represent the military, not theirs. The military is far more than just ROTC. At Columbia, as students and as veterans, we have an opportunity to advocate for the military that is unique across this country. Furthermore, the Columbia name carries weight, and the difference we make on this campus will resonate far beyond Morningside.

The Vietnam War ended 30 years ago, and it is past time we closed that chapter of American history. There is no better place to do that than in the nation’s cognitive centers and memory banks, elite universities like Columbia. 30 years equals 3 decades of cultural upheaval and 30 (!) different generations of college students. Things have changed more than we realize, and I think our campus is ready for change. I believe we are merely agents of history – we are discussing this group now simply because it’s the right time for it.

After a year at Columbia, I am convinced that Columbia’s military veterans constitute a special breed of student, the elite class of an elite class. We have an opportunity to make a difference. In the words of the immortal poet, the times -- they are a-changin'.

Relief of solitude

The New York Times discusses Embracing a Life of Solitude. I can identify with the longing for the relief of the simple peaceful quiet life, free of the demands, tensions, exhaustions, expectations, competitions, struggles, fears, worries, confusions, constructs, and complications of living in society among people. I have that fantasy. For companionship, maybe add a dog. Maybe add a mate and, with her, my child or children. Yet, I'm studying to be a lawyer, which is just about the occupation most intertwined with the grinding machinations of society and the tangled affairs of people, because a part of me still wants to make the world a better place. It seems like a self-destructive contradiction, but perhaps the desire for a perfected world is not entirely contrary to the desire for a life of solitude. Of course, if the world cannot be perfected and I can no longer tolerate the world as it is, then quitting is the only choice left.

EXCERPTS:

Edward Griffith-Jones: “We live in a world where everything is so specialized, now people don’t know how to make anything, they don’t know how to survive,” he said, speaking by cellphone from the forest. “I’m not completely self-sufficient, but I’m learning.”

David Glasheen: In the city, he said, when you need something, “you pick up the phone and everyone comes running. This is an environment where you have to be independent. Most men can’t handle it either.”

--- That's the first problem: I'm born and raised a coddled city kid who lacks even basic Boy Scouts survival skills. I'm too dependent on society. Disconnecting from support networks (the Matrix - ha) requires learning how to be a self-sufficient survivalist even if I embarked on a life of solitude with modern comforts.

Edward Griffith-Jones: “I have to collect firewood, rather than do some job that I have no idea what is the point, which I hate, and from which I am completely alienated,” he said. “Everything in my life feels full of meaning.”

--- The upside of deprogramming as a social derivative and reprogramming as an independent individual. Yes, I know it's hard to be self-sufficient. I took Econ 101 in college; I understand why people banded together to escape the Leviathan and develop relatively secure, stable, specialized, and efficient societies. But we pay for everything we get and we have to pay for everything we desire.

David Glasheen: There is an inherent conflict between the peace of total solitude and the pleasures of companionship, he admitted. “It’s literally like living in heaven on Earth,” he said of the island, but “I guess I could say I’m desperately lonely sometimes.”

--- Speaking from my own experience, that's the second problem: yearning loneliness competes with the relief of solitude. Then again, that particular problem may resolve itself.

Eric

"New" Domino's pizza . . . not really

The supposedly revamped Domino's pizza doesn't taste different from the old version except the crust now tastes like the Domino's garlic sauce that came in plastic cups.

The concept of poor customer feedback spurring a redesign of the pizza is a neat idea for an ad campaign but it doesn't help the brand when the actual pizza doesn't deliver on the advertised promise. Domino's pizza wasn't bad to begin with - the kind of assembly line factory pizza you soak in hot sauce. It still is.

Eric

New York Times: A Wall Street Invention That Let the Crisis Mutate

Wanna get angry? Read this. Makes me want to do something about it.

Eric