diachronic's Blog

diachronic Commented on Heart of Darkness in Fort Hood by diachronic

2009-11-09T01:01:00Z

Well, consider the justifications for war in Afghanistan the noble-sounding, but clueless and patronizing, MS. When its rhetoric meets reality, we get the PS, scrawled in the margins, and prudently torn out by Marlow before he releases it to a journalist eager to write a noble memorial for Kurtz: So, we get Obama's Good War, minus its brutal "methods," and its self-deceiving aims.
That's what we get, here at home.

diachronic Commented on A Dilemma of Choices Over Fort Hood by seashell

2009-11-09T00:50:29Z

"The fact that a professional psychatrist, regardless of personal ideology, fell prey to this stress in such a shocking manner is watershed for me."

That is the real story here for me as well.

I think this is where the lessons of this tragedy will be found, as bitter as they are sure to be.

diachronic Commented on A Dilemma of Choices Over Fort Hood by seashell

2009-11-09T00:27:12Z

Bayesianism, of which his own blog is so full of, is a study of priors and posteriors. We know which end he is most familiar with.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayes%27_Theorem

diachronic Commented on A Dilemma of Choices Over Fort Hood by seashell

2009-11-08T22:49:41Z

"What I want to do instead is show any bystanders who wander by hoping for guidance in reaching their own conclusions that there are those among us who know when to refrain from imposing political views on attempts to understand a tragedy."

Flattery, the chief tool of every propagandist, is an art you know well. In your case, the objects of your flattery are those seeking confirmation of their predetermined notions from an 'expert' source. It's an ugly art you practice, but one you can't refrain from practicing- for reasons known only to yourself.

diachronic Commented on A Dilemma of Choices Over Fort Hood by seashell

2009-11-08T22:11:13Z

You criticize others for (in your mind only) making 'excuses' for Hasan, because their liberal political correctness is distorting their perspectives (which you see through your infallible optics).
Then you reveal your own, less than glorious motive: those who see what you won't or can't are "making us all look bad."

Your vanity is showing. I personally find your pseudo-intellectual bullying offensive, but I won't tell you to take your bag of prejudices and propaganda elsewhere. When you tell others what they have the right to think and where they can think it, you only make yourself look bad- not those you patronize with your false 'expertise.'

diachronic recommended A Dilemma of Choices Over Fort Hood by seashell

2009-11-08T02:24:35Z

diachronic recommended President Obama Reacts To House Passage: 'I Am Absolutely Confident' Senate Will Follow Suit by Versha Sharma

2009-11-08T04:49:29Z

diachronic recommended The Fort Hood Massacre by David Seaton

2009-11-07T16:49:00Z

diachronic Commented on The Dilemma Of Fort Hood by Fred Moolten

2009-11-07T20:58:30Z

Who do you work for? Because no one writes this without getting paid to do so.

diachronic Commented on The Dilemma Of Fort Hood by Fred Moolten

2009-11-07T20:52:46Z

Eugenics, for one. Taken very seriously at Harvard and Yale, a faux science given statistical bullshit to suck in the very educated.

diachronic Commented on The Dilemma Of Fort Hood by Fred Moolten

2009-11-07T13:06:41Z

Hey Fred, have you heard of Cheney's "1 Percent doctrine?"

diachronic Commented on Heart of Darkness in Fort Hood by diachronic

2009-11-07T13:01:47Z

An author of a book on drones referred to them as providing an experience something like that of "war porn" for those who operate them, on NPR this morning. And so it is.
Here I am, by the banks of the Hudson, which, though the sky is bright with a late fall morning, seems to lead into the heart of an immeasurable darkness....

diachronic recommended living with CRAP and hasbara by bluecanary

2009-11-06T10:15:07Z

diachronic Commented on The Dilemma Of Fort Hood by Fred Moolten

2009-11-07T02:29:40Z

This is the first time I've seen Bayesianism enlisted in support of bigotry. It confirms my a priori hypothesis that a single Muslim mass murderer brings out more irrational thinking among Americans than a thousand commonplace homicidal maniacs.

diachronic Commented on Heart of Darkness in Fort Hood by diachronic

2009-11-07T02:12:42Z

Kurtz- like Conrad himself- was "the product of all Europe." He was not someone who could be disowned.
Likewise, whatever fools and bigots think, and whatever Maj. Hasan's motivations turn out to be, he affords yet more evidence of William Carlos Williams' dictum- "The pure products of America go crazy."

As to our collective sanity as a nation- I think WCW was right.

diachronic recommended (Imperial) Gunpowder, Treason and Plot by Devon

2009-11-06T04:40:52Z

diachronic Commented on Heart of Darkness in Fort Hood by diachronic

2009-11-06T22:32:07Z

Obama should get the Army out of Afghanistan, and let drones chase bin Laden, and Xe prosetylize to the Pakistanis. That should be sufficient for the MISSION there.

diachronic recommended The New Normal by Jon Taplin

2009-11-06T18:21:33Z

diachronic recommended Single-Payer Up for House Vote--Help Needed by National Nurses Movement

2009-11-05T21:08:09Z

diachronic Commented on Single-Payer Up for House Vote--Help Needed by National Nurses Movement

2009-11-06T20:21:28Z

On this theme, look at the contemptuous way the WH dealt with Weiner's justified complaint that Obama ignored the mayoral race in NYC: http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/diachronic/2009/11/are-you-man-enough-for-obama.php

diachronic Commented on The Dilemma Of Fort Hood by Fred Moolten

2009-11-06T20:14:22Z

Sure, and what were the probabilities that the anthrax attacks- which admittedly killed far fewer people, but which caused mass panic- were perpetrated by a white Christian male who, despite his explicit claims, had no connection to any terrorist group, much less a Muslim one? (Or, contra near-universal speculation, to the Iraqi state.) And yet those attacks- whose provenance were presumably based on probabilistic inferences- justified one of our concurrent wars.

And yes, i am blaming President Obama for his refusal to declare a draft.

diachronic Commented on The Dilemma Of Fort Hood by Fred Moolten

2009-11-06T19:37:13Z

There are lunatics in any given cadre of individuals, in every profession, of every religion and ethnicity.
This is true in the armed forces, exacerbated by the extraordinary stresses of the job and by the unconscionable erosion of the boundaries between church and state in the armed forces, and also by the erosion of morale inflicted by repeated tours.
Had more 'normal' wartime conditions prevailed, Hasan could have been weeded out, because it appears his behavior had been abnormal, and members of the armed forces are subject to remarkable scrutiny (itself a stressor, but with the positive effect of weeding people out). Due to political realities, this cannot happen, because neither Obama nor any Republican is going to propose a draft.
There was a shooting at Fort Hood a year ago that got no attention. It is known that white supremacy groups such as Aryan Nation have gotten a foothold in the services, which again would not happen if 'normal' (ie., draft) wartime conditions prevailed.
Because of Bush's political cowardice, and Obama's, a horrific situation will be perpetuated. How can we confront political leaders who refuse to face the political consequences of policy decisions?

diachronic Commented on Conservative Says Hasan Acted On Orders Of Muslim Brotherhood: What Do We Know? by Justin Elliott

2009-11-06T19:16:36Z

It is obvious that a volunteer army cannot sustain this level of armed engagement in remote corners of the world. But it's politically poisonous to say that, for both parties.
A draft is absolutely necessary at this point, but won't happen, with innumerable consequences, all of them tragic.

diachronic Commented on Conservative Says Hasan Acted On Orders Of Muslim Brotherhood: What Do We Know? by Justin Elliott

2009-11-06T19:11:56Z

Two wars on and no draft. FELONS have been ordered to deploy.

diachronic recommended Obama Needs To Start Acting Like a One Term President by M.J. Rosenberg

2009-11-06T03:16:50Z

diachronic Commented on Are You Man Enough for Obama? by diachronic

2009-11-05T23:22:41Z

Not only is Obama's staffer's slur offensive in itself, but it speaks to a fundamental cravenness in Obama's program that convinces me he is not the 'man' (or woman) for the job. he is looking for cover, and that is a bad sign in a leader- an LBJ-like flaw in his character (although to be fair LBJ pushed through reforms any way he could, with the same stubbornness that mired him in southeast Asia, while Obama's equivocations may mean we don't get escalations, just the slow catastrophe of overextended US military and [if we are really lucky] a watering down of Bush's worst practices. But no doubt about it, things will get worse under the present leader.)

diachronic Commented on AP: Authorities Look At Possibility Of Suicide In Death Of Census Worker by Justin Elliott

2009-11-05T23:00:14Z

The AP is known for being "liberal" with the facts (see the emails from the AP's editor to Karl Rove about the circumstances of Pat Tillman's death).

diachronic recommended This is Going to Get Very Dark by Josh Marshall

2009-11-05T22:25:29Z