Michael Braun's Blog

Lauren and I have decided upon the location for our next vacation. We’re heading to Paris! Some of you may recall that Lauren spent a semester her Junior year in Paris. Her knowledge of the city and of the language should prove invaluable, as I am intent upon having long, complex conversations (mostly about Hélène Cixous) with French intellectuals. Due to my own ignorance of French, I will need Lauren to translate.

We leave the evening of March 22, arriving the morning of March 23. Once in the city, we do not depart until the morning of March 31! That’s 8 whole days to spend in the biggest tourist destination in the world. Think of the souvenirs we’ll be able to buy!

It’s unfortunately that the Federal Reserve insists on cutting interest rates so aggressively. The dollar will be practically valueless by the time we arrive. But the good news is we got a spectacular deal on our plane tickets! We paid right around $750 per person, in total $600 dollars less than we spent to get to Rome. With those kind of savings, I suspect to be able to buy heavily at Paris’ largest art store – the Louvre.

It should be quite the insane vacation, but now seems so far away. By the time March arrives, it will be warmer here, the sun will be out longer, and it will pretty much be heaven (compared to the weather we have been having). Hopefully February will go quickly!

Attorney General Michael Mukasey appeared before the Senate today, in his first oversight hearing. Among the questions he was asked were several about whether or not the controversial practice of water-boarding is illegal. And, just as he did during his Senate confirmation hearings, he refused to say. Despite the fact that other high ranking government officials have declared that water-boarding is torture (which is surely is), he took deference to the fact that he is Attorney General, and his opinions speak more about what will and will not be prosecuted. Basically, his stance seems to be that if he were to classify it as illegal, CIA operatives, who underwent a complex approval process to be able to water-board would now be in legal jeopardy.

He also sought to draw lines between when water-boarding was and was not objectionable. I found this argument to be most interesting. Mukasey explained that we must weigh the affect on the mind from performing the act with the outcome of not performing the act. In other words, if we torture to get information about who the individual has had contact with, so we can arrest them as well, this would not be acceptable. But, if we used torture to uncover a bomb that was going to go off and kill people, this would be acceptable. This argument, I think, does much to appeal to people’s pragmatism. Of course we would want no hands tied when trying to find out where that about-to-go-off nuclear weapon is. Who wants a judge standing over a CIA agent, demanding that the prisoner be read his rights prior to undergoing simulated drowning, if we can guarantee that that act will produce the information needed to save lives?

That guarantee is just what prompts critics of water-boarding (and torture in general) to question the act. We cannot guarantee that inflicting pain will produce accurate and reliable information, they argue. And if the information is sometimes accurate, we cannot ensure that it will always be accurate. There are other methods of interrogation that do work and that do not violate basic standards of human rights.

These two sides remain pitted against each other, both convinced that the other side is hellbent on destroying America. The critics of torture would rather a terrorist blow up a city than we inflict pain to stop that bombing. Those torture advocates would see us aligned with our enemies and put our troops at risk of torture, as well as lead the world down a path of degrading human rights in wartime. There seems to be no reconciling between these two viewpoints.

So the real question is, do we currently have a system where we can have it both ways? I believe the answer is yes. Our official position must be that torture is not tolerated. No water-boarding, no thumb-screws, no temperature changes, stress positions, or cramped quarters. The United States does not torture. But then, we need a great clandestine service. These people must be dedicated to the country, to doing anything that is required to prevent an imminent attack. That way, if a nuclear bomb really is about to go off in New York City, and we have no idea where it is, and we have a terrorist in custody who knows where it is, someone can punch him in the face if they think that will get the information. After this is done, and we get the information, and the city is spared, who would question that punch, especially if it is appropriately kept hush-hush.

And if these clandestine service members go overboard, as they surely did after 9/11, they must be reprimanded severely. But not by the anyone except their own organization. The United States does not torture and the CIA (or whomever) does not tolerate violations of their program. It’s what Mukasey described, only with a little more wink-wink, nudge-nudge. Only in a circumstance where there is no other option must we exercise all options. I believe that this is a just compromise between the two sides. No critic of torture would prefer himself to be killed than a killer to suffer some pain. But this guarantee of results must be absolute. If the torture does not lead to results that directly and immediately save lives, then there must be severe punishment.

Unfortunately, such a system, while partly in place in the United States (there’s certainly plenty of behind the scenes activity), is nearly impossible to run fairly and justly. We have no proof that torture will produce accurate and useful information. We have no objective way to apply torture (as we cannot see into the future). So for my own position, it is better to never torture than to torture without results (or justification). It seems like a lot of people on the other side don’t quite see it that way.

I am not doing my usual live blogging during the State of the Union address by President Bush. It’s his last address, and I haven’t watched them all. While I have the television on right now and tuned to CNN, I don’t think that I will keep it on thru the whole address. It seems tired, useless, even boring. And since I usually find myself getting angry during the whole thing, it’s probably best to ditch the broadcast and read the remarks of others once it’s all done. Though, the soothing voice of Wolf Blitzer is enough to make me reconsider. Oh, wait, he’s stopped talking now.

I had my first song-writing class tonight, despite the fact that I thought it started last week. It is definitely different than I expect and seems largely geared towards moderate to experienced players, looking to start turning their skills into songs. Unfortunately, I could not be farther from that picture. I have experience writing lyrics, but need help adding in the musicality. So maybe what I need are piano or guitar lessons, rather than a class on song-writing. I hate to start doubting the class after just one session… anyway, I’ll let you know what I decide.

It’s warming up outside, today anyway. Temperatures over 0 degrees makes the weather seem downright balmy. The 40s we reached today had me in shorts and a t-shirt, sunning on the hood of my car. No, but I did walk around with my coat unbuttoned! Even the wind felt good; that hasn’t happened since last fall. It’s not spring yet, but it’s getting close! I suspect spring will be here by at least May 1.

Okay, I’m turning back to the State of the Union. Watch it yourself! It’s good to stay informed, no matter how dull it might be. If you don’t know what’s going on in this world, there is no excuse you can offer that I will buy. Get informed!

On Tuesday, Lauren and I had the distinct pleasure of attending a performance by the St. Petersburg Ballet at the Overture Center. They put on Romeo and Juliet. I knew some of the music, as I have the ballet on my computer and have listened to it a couple times. But even if I hadn’t, the performance would have still been excellent. We sat in the third row. It would have been alright to be back farther, but we got a good view of the faces of the dancers. It was nice to see the acting they do while on stage. I also had a good stage floor view, though I believe Lauren was a bit low to see their feet as well as I did. Anyway, I would definitely like to see more ballets. My last time was Swan Lake and I was much, much younger. Perhaps around 10.

Anyway, that’s old news. The newest news is that Barrack Obama won the South Carolina Democratic Primary, by a huge margin. He captured 55% of the vote, leaving Clinton with 27% and Edwards with 18%. It was exactly the kind of win he needed to keep his campaign alive. He had a bit of a drought after losing New Hampshire and Nevada (and not running in Michigan). But with this win, he comes off strong, ready to race towards Super Tuesday. He’s also swaying me to start taking a good, hard look at his politics and positions. I think he’s more liberal than Clinton, which is good for me. But I also do question his lack of foreign experience. We’ll have to see what happens when the voting rolls into Wisconsin on February 19th. I hope Steph and Amos got their voting petitions so they can weigh in during this important election season!

Other than that, not much going on. Lauren and I spent a relaxing weekend visiting my mother in La Crosse. We will head back to Madison around 1 PM today. Besides some very cold and wet snowshoeing on Saturday, it’s been a weekend of reading, Scrabble, and napping. Certainly more relaxing than we would have done in Madison, though it did take a 3 hour drive in the snow to get here. The week starts anew on Monday, with January coming to a close on Thursday. Let’s hope the snow sticks around, but the temperatures warm up. I could use a few days of 30 degree highs, lots of sun, and no wind.

Bernanke has lost it. Really, he has gone completely nuts. Yesterday morning, before markets were set to open after the long holiday weekend, and after overseas markets had suffered two days of heavy sell-offs, he and his Fed buddies decided to cut interest rates by .75%. That’s the largest cut since October of 1984.

Now, I see his logic. “Hmmm… the stock market futures are predicting a 500 point drop in one day. It’s going to be another black Tuesday in the history of our country. I better do something drastic!” No one wants a tumbling stock market to trigger a worldwide recession. So Bernanke acted fast. That act, coupled with another potential rate cut at the Fed’s regularly scheduled meeting next week and the potential of an economic stimulus package in the works, may actual calm markets and not lead us into a recession. So maybe it worked.

But, I still believe the stock market was way too high and in need of a serious correction. For months we’ve been hearing about the subprime mess, how it’s going to wreak havoc on business. And we had a credit crunch to prove it. For even more months, we’ve been hearing about a slowdown in the housing market. And that has come to pass as well. Yet, where has the stock market been going thru all this talk? Up, up, and up! The Dow broke records when everyone was talking about housing being in trouble. So now, when it seems like investors are finally waking up (I mean, even Apple had a slow quarter over Christmas), the Fed goes all crazy with rate cuts.

We do not want a fast and furious downturn, not with energy prices where they are, but Bernanke seems too tied to the stock market. It’s like he’s not capable of letting some people lose money. It seems like he doesn’t have faith in the overall health and stability of the American economy. Oil is so high, in part, because of the weakness of the dollar. Pumping more cash into the American economy just sends oil prices rising higher as the dollar continues to lose value against other currency. Plus, if Lauren and I are going to Paris in March/April, we need a strong dollar!

Anyway, get with it, Bernanke. So far, you sure don’t seem like the next Greenspan. Even though stocks didn’t fall 500 points, they were down yesterday and they continue to slide today.

Have you heard? The 2002 Winter Olympics, held in Salt Lake City, Utah, were run by the everyman Mitt Romney. He was the president and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. He steered them from financial difficulties into a profitable enterprise. How much more experience do you need to elect the man president?

Wait… the Olympics? A sporting event? What if Romney was touting how he had run the Super Bowl? How about the National Dog Show? It’s the same thing, just on a larger scale. I have no doubt it took valuable skills (as Romney likes to say, “leadership”) to turn these games around, but he was hired in early 1999 and the event was held 3 years later. So, in 3 years he managed to make the Olympics a successful venture? His failure would have said more about his abilities than his success does. I’m pretty sure I could turn around just about anything if you give me the resources that Romney had (including 1 million dollars of his own money that he donated).

Now, I have no doubt that Romney does have experience that is valuable in a leader. But what real experience does he have in government? He was governor of Massachusetts for 4 years. He has no other government experience. What international experience does he have? None. What business experience does he have? He was a consultant and then investment manager who specialized in buying troubled companies, breaking them apart, and selling them for a profit. What a noble calling! So that’s why he’s stuck advertising his amazing work for the Olympics.

Try saying it to yourself a few times – “Romney would make an excellent president because he managed the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.” I can’t do it; I start laughing the third time through. Seriously, do you remember these games? Was there anything special about them that made you think of Mitt Romney? In fact, do you even recall any of the events? How is this possibly an appeal to voters?

Anyway, in other news, I start my songwriting class tonight. I felt the need to take an adult continuing-education class, as Lauren has taken much advantage of these types of offering. In addition to her dance classes, and a yoga class now, she took a German class in fall of 2006. So, I picked songwriting, something I am interested in. I’m hoping that the class is filled with more than folk singers. I am interested in garage rock and Hip-Hop songwriting, so if I have to listen to ballads about protests against fur, I may find myself with lots to complain about on this blog. My loss may very well be your gain, if that’s the case. I’ll let you know how it goes.

It’s cold out, in case you are not in Wisconsin or have some sort of disease that makes you incapable of feeling. Either way, you are not suffering the chills that are here to stay for some time. Today is supposed to be the coldest, with highs not breaking 0 degrees. At least the sun is shining. It’s supposed to remain below 15 degrees for days, meaning it’s our annual cold spell.

I’m largely prepared for this type of weather. I own appropriate winter clothes – warm coat, hat, gloves, scarf, boots. Some people aren’t so lucky, so hopefully they are staying inside somewhere. The funny thing is, with all the worry about the cold, people seem to be out in swarms today. Lauren and I went out to lunch at Bluefies, a local Madison restaurant, and found it packed at 2 in the afternoon! We then went across the street to Victor Allen’s cafe and found it bussling as well. I think people feel cooped up, as they can’t just go and do anything without first planning how they’ll stay warm, so they all figure they should make the best of it and head to restaurants and cafes. Overall, it’s fine to see things busy, but it sure does seem strange!

In other news, I bought a new iPod today. I bought the green, 8 gig, iPod nano. I had been looking to upgrade my existing nano, and excited about the possibility of watching movies on it. Plus, the iTunes Music Store movie rentals seemed too exciting to pass up. Now, I’m actually looking forward to a chance to use it to watch some video. A trip for work is just the thing I need. I had read some criticism of the new iPod interface, which was revamped when they introduced the iPod Touch. Personally, I find it excellent. Cover Flow is especially appealing. It’s nice to scroll thru the album art and select my music that way. The video playing works really well too. I was able to format an AVI episode of That’s My Bush to .m4v. It looks great on the small, but high resolution, screen.

One final point, if I ever turn into an old person who complains about everything, please shoot me. I’ve just been treated to a discussion between two older men, all about how the newspapers of today are filled with junk. Okay, maybe so, I don’t know about how newspapers used to be, but thanks to modern communication methods, the reporting in even small, local papers is much better. There’s costs and benefits to the newspaper industry struggling. These men, I do believe, were complaining for the sake of complaint. “Remember how, back a while ago, everything was perfect?” No, I do not remember that.

Tell me you wouldn’t want this animal on your side. On Christmas Day at the San Francisco Zoo, a tiger leapt from its pen and attached three young men. One was killed in the attack, as was the tiger (by police). It was a sad day. Imagine visiting the zoo on Christmas Day with your family and having a tiger kill your little brother. Horrible!

Then some more facts began to emerge in the case. It turns out that the young men were drunk and high. They stood on the railing of the tiger’s cage and taunted it. The tiger became angry and got out of its cage and attacked them (and only them). It got made fun of so it attacked its taunters. Sounds absolutely like the kind of friend I would like to have.

Now, I agree, the young men are still not truly at fault. They committed several crimes, including driving while intoxicated, having an open container in the car, and public drunkenness. They then made some very bad choices, including breaking rules of the zoo. For these indiscretions, a tiger mauled them. Not a fair punishment in my book. Somewhere along the line, something failed these young men. The zoo is ultimately responsible. The wall holding the tiger in was some 4 feet too short, and no zoo official was there to stop them from taunting.

But, I do think that this resolves a lot of questions in the case. You and your family are probably not at risk going to the zoo. Tigers are not blood-thirsty man killers. And nature still rules over idiots who choose to mess around with it. Go Tiger!

Not much, that’s for sure. Back in 2003, a National Intelligence Estimate was released by the National Intelligence Council that said Iraq was bad news. They had mobile production labs, capable of producing mass quantities of biological and chemical weapons and (due to their mobility) were evading weapons inspectors. They also had unmanned drones that could be launched off our coasts and delivery those agents to our cities! Iraq had also sought to buy enriched uranium from an African country. You all know where this headed; the US invaded Iraq, only to find the NIE with all this information was completely wrong.

In late 2007, another NIE came out, this time about Iran. Its conclusion was that Iran had stopped their pursuit of a nuclear weapon in 2003 due to international pressure. That meant that, even with all Iran’s tough actions, they were being truthful when they said their nuclear program was purely for energy production.

In 2003, Bush repeatedly cited the NIE as evidence Iraq was an immediate threat. Now, in a speech given just recently, he expressed doubt in the 2007 NIE. Bush believes Iran is a threat as well. Well, hold on a second. According to a book I just finished (‘Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War’ by Michael Isikoff and David Corn), the 2003 NIE was in great dispute. It was no sure thing and even the CIA, who contributed the piece about uranium, had great doubts about their own evidence and sources. But Bush stood behind it completely. Now, the 2007 NIE, a much more accurate and thorough review, goes against what Bush wants to believe, so he says it’s not accurate.

What good is an NIE if the president will only believe what he wants? Why even have spy agencies if the president makes up his own mind and does what he wants? I hate to beat a dying horse (that is, the failure of the Bush presidency), but in this case, it’s a little more frightening. Bush is a loose cannon. His term is all but over and yet he’s still got his finger on the button. He’ll believe what he wants to believe until we get him out of the White House and out of our lives… hopefully forever!

It was a really, really good Keynote this year. I doubt it will top last year’s (recall a little thing called the iPhone), but I think that it is quite solid in the new offerings. With all the talk about the MacBook Air (strange name, by the way; MacBook Nano would have been way cooler), I suspect you all might think that I’m all about that. And sure, I do think that it’s a pretty sweet piece of hardware. But as I commented on Tony’s blog, I don’t think it’s small enough to actually be a real competitor to replace my MacBook. Same screen size+thinner = still too bulky to slide in my pocket or stack with some books.

No, instead, the most exciting thing I think that Jobs announced was movie rentals right thru iTunes! Why is this so awesome? A few reasons.

1. The price points are great. $2.99 for older titles, $3.99 for new releases. That’s cheaper than Blockbuster. If you’ve got an AppleTV and HD-TV, you can watch them that way. Or, just watch them on your computer screen. Lauren and I have done that plenty of times while streaming television programs.

2. The portability is awesome. Picture this – you know you’ll be traveling. You can go ahead and rent some movies on iTunes, download them to your iPod, and be all set for the car or plane ride. You’ve got 30 days to watch the movies and a full 24 hours to complete the film once you start watching it. Or, how about this? You’re traveling and stuck in an airport in desperate need of some entertainment. You can quickly and easily rent a movie on your laptop and watch it that way. Or, maybe you’re off in a hotel room in need of something to do that evening. There are so many ways to get movies to where you are, it’s amazing!

3. Apple puts their elegance on another idea. People have been renting movies for a long time, but now it seems that Apple has come along and made the process quick, seamless, and easy. Sure, Netflix offers movie streaming, but I envision their process as difficult, bug-ridden, and expensive. With Apple, I have none of that fear. I’m sure their movie rentals will be simple and easy to use. Maybe just like other services, but now I don’t have to find out. Apple provides me with a service that I didn’t even know I wanted.

Anyway, with this new rental stuff in place, I don’t believe there is anything holding me back from buying a new iPod Nano. I love my old one, but am definitely ready for an upgrade, especially if it means easy, portable video. We’ll see how the other announcements impact Apple sales, but I predict the movie rentals to be a huge hit.

The Keynote will be starting soon! I’m following it from these websites:

http://www.macrumorslive.com/

and

http://live.gizmodo.com/

Oh man, today is the one day of the year that I am completely proud to be a Mac Geek and not afraid to admit it to the world! It’s Steve Jobs’ Keynote address at the annual MacWorld Conference! Much rumors have been flying around about what will be released. I’ve been reading a lot of them and offer below what I think will most likely be announced.

1. New Notebook Computer. With a small screen (perhaps 11 inch widescreen), flash memory, and a nice low weight, this guy will be priced between the MacBook and MacBook Pro (meaning it’s a bit too much for me to go out and purchase on a whim).

2. iTunes Movie Rentals. I think they are missing a huge opportunity with the AppleTV if they don’t offer an ability to rent movies thru iTunes. Hell, I’d rent them and watch on my computer screen. I hate leaving the house on a cold, cold night to go to Blockbuster.

3. AppleTV Update. Maybe so that it can actually be used on non-HDTVs! But probably not. Instead, higher capacity, more functionality, something. This will go along nicely with the iTunes rentals.

4. New Cinema Displays. They’ll include an iSight Camera and the IR port for FrontRow.

4. One More Thing. But I don’t know what it will be. Maybe an update to the iPhone, but probably not. I’ve also read about possible update to the AirPort Express (maybe even to use N wireless!), but I don’t know if that is Keynote worthy.

Anyway, I hope you are all excited!

Okay, here’s an interesting comparison.

The below picture is Britney Spears outside a Los Angeles area courthouse, during a hearing deciding if she will be allowed to see her two sons.

Now, here’s a picture from a couple years ago of Michael Jackson, about to enter a courthouse, during his trial for child molestation.

I don’t think it’s especially flattering to either of them that they kind of look like each other. Especially that ratty hair. And the sunglasses. And the pale skin. And the questionable contacts with children. Ah well, appearances can be deceiving. After all, in the end, all Michael did was make some bad decisions. No one accused him of being a neglectful parent.

Lauren and I cooked some delicious Indian food from a cookbook Amos gave us for Christmas. The cookbook is by a woman from Madison, who attempted to sift Indian cooking down to just 6 spices, making it much more accessible for folks who may not feel like doubling their spice collection to just use a pinch in an Indian dish. Incidentally, Lauren went to school with this woman’s children, so pretty crazy!

We made two dishes, a peanut chicken and a carrot and pea curry. Yum! I won’t bother describing the creation of the two dishes, as it was mostly uninteresting (sauté, add spices, sauté, and serve). But the results do warrant description. The chicken, with its yellow peanut sauce, blended perfectly with the finely chopped onions. The peanut sauce never overwhelmed the dish as the chicken was hardy enough to stand up to the strong nutty flavor. My beef with pasta dishes with peanut sauce is that they often taste like eating peanut butter pasta. But the peanuts complimented the chicken. The peas and carrots offered a visually exciting contrast to the chicken, and tasted lovely. They had just enough spices to make you realize you weren’t just eating plain cooked carrots and peas, but not enough that you couldn’t enjoy their essence. Overall, a lovely meal. I am looking forward to eating the leftovers.

In other news, I got to see Anthony on Sunday, marking the second time in two weeks that we’ve hung out. Previously, Anthony had come up from Chicago to Milwaukee when Dan was in town. I came over from Madison, and we all had a wild good time. But Anthony left his jacket. So, figuring that he would have to make the drive anyway, we decided to meet. We sat around and talked with Dan’s mom and sister for an hour or so, then went out to eat at the bastion of fine dining, Perkins.

On the way back to Madison, I listened to some football in the car. Evidently, there is some sort of “play off” in process. It turns out that the Green Bay Packers won over the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday. So too did the New England Patriots beat the Jacksonville Jaguars. On Sunday, the Indianapolis Colts lost to the San Diego Chargers. Later, when driving to the grocery store, I also heard the Dallas Cowboys lose to the New York Giants. Next week, the Packers will play the Giants, and the Chargers will play the Patriots. Some say the Packers can win. Most say the Patriots will win. Could it be a rematch of the 1996 Super Bowl? That would be crazy.

Don’t count anyone out in this presidential election! Clinton was back on top, taking victory from Obama in New Hampshire. The news media is playing this up huge; I’m trying not to, but with the polls the way they were before the election, it certainly was a surprise when she won. The doubly interesting thing is that they are still tied in electoral votes, so even though they traded spots for New Hampshire, it’s not as if Obama is down and out (just as it wasn’t so that Clinton was after Iowa).

And on the Republican side, more bad news for Romney. He had better take Michigan and finish strong in South Carolina, or I’m writing him off completely. Plus, the guy has spent like $17 million of his own money. “Can’t buy me love!” And how about that McCain? He really could do it! He’s strong in Michigan and should be strong as the contests move West. If the race comes down to McCain and Huckabee, we’ll have to start wondering who has the biggest come-back/dark horse story of the election year. Giuliani also proved that he is even more irrelevant now. His numbers are slipping in Florida, and I expect him to withdraw from the race well before it’s decided. He is the biggest flop of this campaign.

Some sad news to report: rumor has it that Bill Richardson is planning to drop out of the race. Now I actually will have to decide between Clinton and Obama for the Wisconsin primary! Darn it! Seriously, I really am sad that he is thinking about dropping out. I think he is the best candidate running, from either party. He’s got the most experience and is the guy I threw all my support behind. I should have blogged harder for him; that could have made all the difference! (?)

Further news from the Huckabee camp; he wants Stephen Colbert to be his running mate. When I first heard that, I was about ready write him off completely. First, Colbert is clearly making fun of people like Huckabee. Second, why would Huckabee make sure a bizarre statement? It’s like his satirical commercials featuring Chuck Norris, saying his plan to secure the borders is with the former ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ star. Huh? In my eyes, it made Huckabee seem laughably amateurish.

In other news, I bought an album by band ‘Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’ (their first, entitled ‘B.R.M.C.’). It reminds me of the Beatles, if the Beatles had done heroin instead of LSD. Quite British in some parts, even some tolerable grunge, and overall, a really solid album. But don’t take my word for it… Reading Rainbow.