In case you haven’t yet had the pleasure, check out Fafblog as soon as possible. What is Fafblog? From their website:

“This is a good blog. This is the best blog. It is about god and the universe and those horrible screaming monkeys and that time I made a pizza out of an old tire and a can of whip cream. It is the Fafblog.” – Fafnir on Fafblog

Just… trust me on this one.

I’ve been getting lost in research for The Louverture Project for a lot of the past couple of weeks. I think ‘lost’ is the appropriate word. Not having attempted anything like a historical study before, I’m feeling a bit swamped by the task. In the past I’ve written sketches, plays, that kind of thing, where it’s all come out of my own imagination. Or I’ve written corporate events, where my job was to research and synthesize material of a relatively limited scope and create a unique work. Often I’ve had stock characters to write for, but this job is completely different. Here, I’ve got a vast amount of data, an endless array of characters, far-reaching implications, and the only constraint I have to work around is a historical, verifiable time line. How do I boil this down so that it makes sense? How do I know what to capture from my research and what to leave out?

I decided that I needed some help, and lo and behold, on my bookshelf were a couple of books I had looked at but never really seen before – How to Write and Sell Historical Fiction by Persia Woolley and The Biographer’s Craft by Milton Lomask. Aside from the nice surprise of having them in my collection, the books were a comfort in that it seems like most of what I’m doing at this phase is just what the books suggest – research, organize, and write as inspiration strikes. With a few tweaks and some shifts of emphasis, I feel like I’ll be back on track.

Here are a few quick hits from today’s reading:

• eu·he·mer·ism, n. A theory attributing the origin of the gods to the deification of historical heroes.
• Two major questions to ask when considering a biography are: Who will want to read it? and What makes it unique? (Woolley)
• “Truth… makes bad fiction, but fiction should read like truth. Similarly, fiction makes bad biography, but biography should read like fiction.” (Lomask, p. 2)
• The “and” biography links two or more individuals or an individual and an event, institution, or historical period. (Lomask, p. 3)
• “There are no rules for composition,” Claude Debussy said, “but every composition makes its own rules.” (Lomask, p. 5)
• “Residue” as regards biographical subjects relates to the impact of the individual on present day or the interest which the individual holds for us. (Lomask, p. 10)
• When you send out your biographical manuscript, an editor will want you to list what books on the subject are still in print. Consult Book Review Digest for help in finding these. (Lomask, p. 11)
• “If you can’t travel, read.” (Lomask, p. 16)
• Don’t quote so much. “Good note-taking is précis writing.” You’re not a file clerk, you’re a writer! (Lomask, p. 23)
• Good reference material: Guide to Reference Books; Dictionary of American Biography, Notable American Women (both for dead persons); Current Biography , National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Who’s Who in America, Biography Index (for live persons); American Genealogical Index, Who Was Who; and especially Writings on American History and Writings on British History.
• “Man is not what we think he is,” André Malraux wrote. “Man is what he hides.”

By way of Slashdot we see that George Mason University has an online archive of accents. With 306 accents currently online, including many different versions of English, this can be a real boon to actors, linguists, ESL teachers and more. What a cool project!

Thanks in part to Robert Cox at The National Debate, there’s progress on the New York Times Columnist Correction Front. Daniel Okrent released a column today entitled The Public Editor: The Privileges of Opinion, the Obligations of Fact

[S]everal days ago, editorial page editor Gail Collins handed me a memo in response to my inquiries. (You can read it in its entirety at www.nytimes.com/danielokrent; look for posting No. 22.) Less a formal statute than an explanation and justification of practice, the document lays out the position of both Collins and her boss, Sulzberger, who bears ultimate responsibility for hiring and firing columnists. Collins explains why columnists must be allowed the freedom of their opinions, but insists that they “are obviously required to be factually accurate. If one of them makes an error, he or she is expected to promptly correct it in the column.” Corrections, under this new rule, are to be placed at the end of a subsequent column, “to maximize the chance that they will be seen by all their readers, everywhere,” a reference to the wide syndication many of the columnists enjoy.

Okrent makes a good point about the difficulty of determining Facts; interpretations of a fact can vary widely from people with different perspectives on the context of a fact. However, the new policy instituted by Collins is a step forward to ensuring accountability on the op-ed page.

And, since I was on the bandwagon when the Times lawyers hit Mr. Cox with the DMCA sledgehammer, it’s only fair to give credit when it’s due. Here’s the email I sent to Daniel Okrent this morning:

Well said, sir, and kudos on the new resolution regarding columnist corrections at the times. Harlan Ellison once argued with those who claim “I’m entitled to my opinion.” “You’re quite wrong,” he replied. “You’re entitled to your informed opinion. You’re uninformed opinion isn’t worth s—-.” To which I would add, neither is an opinion based on an inaccurate accounting of fact. I hope that the Times’ new policy will do much to enhance the credibility of its columnists.

It’s important that opinion pieces are accurate when they recount quotes, figures, and details of events. William Safire’s assertion that an opinion can never be wrong may be technically true, but it’s a bit of a dodge. We expect that those who hold the nation’s attention as shapers of opinion will be informed and precise. If they are at least that, then they can be as wrongheaded as they want to be and still provide a valuable public service.

And that’s a fact. Maybe. Don’t quote me on that.

Just cleaning out a couple of things from my Treo’s memo pad…

• First of all, I’m listening to some great original music by the multi-talented Ron Hippe. Go to the site to hear some of his tracks. Ron plays improv at Unexpected Productions, writes and performs music, acts, does voice-overs… builds decks. Is there anything he can’t do?
• Bass solos are kind of like when your Grandpa tells you a story. You listen politely, but you wish he’d just shut up and give someone else a turn.
• I met someone today who told me he was illegally blind, and it was only a matter of time before the cops caught up with him and took his dog.
• She was like a duraflame log – smelled funny, didn’t give off a lot of warmth, and after a couple of hours she was completely useless.

This is disturbing…

Boing Boing: FBI translator says she was bribed not to spill beans on 9-11 cover-up

FBI translator says she was bribed not to spill beans on 9-11 cover-up
During the 9-11 Hearing, the spotlight was on Richard Clarke’s testimony, because they’ve been so devastating to the Bush administration. But there’s hardly any media mention of Sibel Edmonds’ tesimony. She’s a Farsi and Turkish translator who worked for the FBI from Sept. 20, 2001 to March 2002. Here’s what Govenment Executive magazine had to say about her testimony.
Edmonds said she was hired to retranslate material that was collected prior to Sept. 11 to determine if anything was missed in the translations that related to the plot. In her review, Edmonds said the documents clearly showed that the Sept. 11 hijackers were in the country and plotting to use airplanes as missiles. The documents also included information relating to their financial activities. Edmonds said she could not comment in detail because she has been under a Justice Department gag order since October 2002.

By way of Martian Soil, we find MainlyMartian: Methane (and thus life?) on Mars

The article reports that methane has been found in not insignificant quantities in the Maritan atmosphere. Methane in the atmosphere can be produced by volcanoes and comets that break up before impact, but one very likely possibility is apparently that this methane could be a sign of life, and possibly recently- or still-existing life. Of course, this doesn’t yet constitute proof, but it is one more tantalizing clue that Mars could be to some extent habitable.

Of course, with the mass amounts of sulfer that were recently found in the rocks, and now the methane, one would hope that whatever life there is there doesn’t have noses.

From Gizmodo we get news of a First-Generation Electronic Paper Display from Philips, Sony and E Ink to Be Used in New Electronic Reading Device...

The Electronic Paper Display is reflective and can be easily read in bright sunlight or dimly lit environments while being able to be seen at virtually any angle—just like paper. Its black and white ink-on-paper look, combined with a resolution in excess of most portable devices at approximately 170 pixels per inch (PPI), gives an appearance similar to that of the most widely read material on the planet—newspaper. Because the display uses power only when an image is changed, a user can read more than 10,000 pages before the four AAA Alkaline batteries need to be replaced. The unique technology also results in a compact and lightweight form factor allowing it to be ideal for highly portable applications.

The LIBRIe can store up to 500 downloaded books in its built-in memory. I don’t see any word in the press release on what format it would be able to display. One can hope that it would read a variety of electronic files – PDFs, .txt files, .doc files and so on.

This is a really promising technology. The display is a real drawback in portable devices like PDAs, and this new electronic paper display has the potential to provide huge benefits in portability and readability. I don’t know if people will want to carry books around with them in this format, but as a newsreader or portable document library – for service technicians, consultants, sales people and so on – it could be a real boon.

[Update: Ars Technica has a few more details on price and such. $400 is probably going to be a bit steep for even this gadget hound to consider being a first-adopter, but I have no doubt we’ll see dirt-cheap models within a couple of years.]

Just in time! I was wondering when the New Political Thought was going to start popping up. Courtesy of Cruel Site of the Day, we find a link to the Project for the New American Empire. From their Statement of Principles…

Our aim is to remind Americans of these lessons and to draw their consequences for today. Here are four consequences:

• We need to kill or enslave everybody who isn’t American (and quite a few who are) if we are to carry out our global responsibilities today and modernize our armed forces for the future;
• We need to strengthen our ties to corporate allies and to challenge unincorporated entities hostile to our interests and values;
• We need to promote the cause of political and economic obedience abroad;
• We need to accept responsibility for America’s unique role in having all the best shit.

Such a Reaganite policy of military strength and moral clarity may not be fashionable today. But it is necessary if the United States is to build on the successes of this past century and to ensure our security and our greatness in the next.

I fucking love Brad DeLong. After some lengthy quotes and analysis from Richard Clarke’s new book, he writes:

George W. Bush Wants to Do More Than Swat Flies: Archive Entry From Brad DeLong’s Webjournal

If there is one thing clear from reading Against All Enemies, it is that Clarke is f***ing apeshit. I’ve never seen anyone so apeshit. Clarke had thought he was leading a successful counterterrorism effort against al Qaeda, and then at the start of 2001 these idiot neocon Cold Warriors came in and messed everything up with bureaucratic bull****. Because the Bush administration blocked his plans, September 11, 2001 happens and 3,000 Americans die. And then the White House takes 911 as a poiltical football and runs with it. And then it uses 911 as a phony excuse to launch a war on Iraq that—in Clarke’s estimation—greatly strengthens al Qaeda.

And I had thought that Paul O’Neill was mad at and disgusted with the George W. Bush administration…

For anyone who needs help, the letters that are missing are: u-c-k-s-h-i-t