Outside Counsel

 Maria Schneider won a Grammy for Data Lords, so it's not like it's a secret, but it is pretty terrific, and, I think, something new from her. Generally I have found her compositions to be evocative of nature, but on this set she convincingly explores the relationship of the natural world to the machine world and not only does it work, it is a beautiful set of music that is interesting and exciting to listen to. 

This past year has been spent in a strange technological hell in which we have all be cut off from human contact and had our experience of the world outside of our narrow spheres filtered by screens. Data Lords seems like a commentary on that

// posted by Bill @ 4:44 PM 0 comments

 We took Young Theo out for an airing Sunday afternoon, and along the way we passed a young woman wearing a Liberty University sweatshirt. Oral Roberts University is this year's NCAA Men's Basketball Cinderella. I may have mentioned here that the Buffalo Moot Court team regularly encounters teams from evangelical institutions like those, and I am here to tell you that those students come prepared and ready to rumble. This is, of course, part of a larger mission to flood government and the legal profession with religious crackpots, and please don't think that I am excluding the alma matter of our newest Supreme Court Justice from this discussion. I suppose religious instruction has its place, but I have yet to meet a religious lawyer that I trust, and I attribute that to the simple reality that religious people only respect those aspects of the law that are consistent with their beliefs- as William S. Burroughs tells us, "If you're doing business with a religious son of a bitch, get it in writing; his word isn't worth shit, not with the good Lord telling him how to fuck you on the deal."

// posted by Bill @ 12:39 PM 0 comments

 Sure, the Electoral College gives lightly populated states disproportunate political influence, but on the other hand:

Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, and Wyoming, where intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) are currently based. These are the “nuclear sponge” states, accommodating the missile fields whose job it is to suck up enemy warheads that could potentially be used on other targets and require the enemy — Russia — to invest heavily into the ability to neuter America’s ICBM force.

I say more silos in places like Alabama and Oklahoma make sense as a sort of electoral reform

// posted by Bill @ 12:53 PM 0 comments

 Two institutions that I'm surprised that people care about: the British Royal Family and the Roman Catholic Church. If you don't belong to either why would you care about them?

// posted by Bill @ 12:01 PM 0 comments

 Having been exposed to the virus I can report that the fist shot of the Pfizer vax seems to have been efficatious. I am symptom-free and ready for my second shot tomorrow. 

The vax process seems to have been pretty well-run once it got up and running, and it looks like it is improving. Unfortunately exposure means I can't go back on campus for a bit, but one of the chief lessons of the past year has been that it the virus must be taken seriously. I'm optimistic about the summer, and confident about the fall.

In many ways this pandemic has been a warning shot across the bow. The world needs to be learning from this process, and better systems need to be devised so we are prepared for  the next pandemic. 

// posted by Bill @ 10:51 AM 0 comments