I was just reading this article in The Independent and it got me to thinking about the state of modern ethics. What happened? When did ethics become just a conept rather than an actual principle to live by?

The whole fiasco behind what is called the "Palmgate" incident reaks of unethical behavior. I don't consider myself a saint, but the idea that someone forged documents which stated that the Iraqis were trying to buy Uranium for building nuclear weapons is insane. The article claims that it was these documents that were picked up by Italian intelligence and contributed to the misconception that Iraq was harboring weapons of mass destruction. That's not just being unethical that's being evil.

How do you cope with that? I don't think everyone has to be perfect, if nothing else that would just be boring, but it seems like everywhere we look now people just keep getting worse and worse. It's depressing. How about this for a troubling question, is the problem that we just aren't choosing ethical leaders anymore? or is the problem that ethics and politics are mutually exclusive?

I don't know why I didn't catch on to this before, but I am completely addicted to audiobooks right now. It makes reading so much easier and more enjoyable.

I usually don't do nearly as much reading as I would like because I don't have a whole lot of time, I am not a fast reader so it takes me a while to get through a book, and what time I have I like to spread among different activities. The result is that it often takes a month or two just to get through a single book. With audiobooks that has changed completely.

With audiobooks, not only is reading much easier because you don't have to sit and stare at a book to read it, but it's so much faster as well. Depending on the size of the book you are typically talking about 5-10 hours. For me, that goes by very quickly, especially considering that I can now use my work commute time (when I'm driving) to be listening to audiobooks. That means I can comfortably get through a book in a week, usually with time to spare.

I am also astonished at the selection. There hasn't been a single book that I haven't been able to find on audible.com, iTunes, or elsewhere. You can buy them and download them instantly, so it only takes about 10 minutes time between thinking of a book you want and actually having it on your iPod ready to go. Can't beat that.

So if you have and ipod or other portable audio player and haven't tried audiobooks I definitely recommend giving them a shot.

"Chance favors those in motion."

"Remember to share good fortune as well as bad with your friends."

Yesterday I got into a little bit of a debate with my roommate about some of the propositions in the upcoming California special election. We went back and forth on some things and ultimately I realized that I still needed to gather some more info about some of the propostions so I did a little reading up today. After reading up a bit on proposition 75, which will require some unions to get permission from their members before being allowed to spend union money on politics, I realized that this seems like something that the unions should be voting on, not me.

Why should I be making decisions that affect how unions spend their money when I've never been in a union and probably never will be? I feel like this happens reasonably often, where I as a voter am asked to vote on something that has very little implication to me. Doesn't it make a little more sense if just the union workers were to vote on things like this? If a majority of the workers in the affected unions support this proposition then why shouldn't it pass?

This is something I often find disturbing about politics. It seems to me that in many cases voters are making decisions which don't apply to them directly. So I guess I don't really like the idea that voters are passing judgements on things that they don't really need to have a hand in.

Just haven't been able to keep up these past months :(

Anways, from time to time I'll get out to the record shop and find something I can buy. This is what I've bought in the past few months ...

Dj Mark Farina - Mushroom Jazz 2
Dj Mark Farina - Mushroom Jazz 3
Dj Mark Farina - Mushroom Jazz 4
Prefuse 73 - Surrounded by Silence
Herbert - Bodily Functions
Boozoo Bajou - Dust My Broom
Sasha - Fundacion

Looking back at this list I must say this is a damn fine collection of cds. As you can see I definitely got into the Mushroom Jazz series and I'm lovin' all of them. They get a bit more mello and jazzy as you go farther back in the series. The newer ones have a bit more of a hip hop sound.

The Boozoo Bajou cd is just out of this world. I have the first Boozoo Bajou cd, Satta!, and I love it, but Dust My Broom is even better. It's a fantastic dub cd, so if you are into that then definitely give it a listen.

Sasha is solid as always. Herbert I found on epitonic and is a solid buy. and Prefuse 73 is pretty sweet if you are into that kind of ambient electronic sound similar to Four Tet. Prefuse 73 has more of a hip hop sound to it, but I still find the two groups to be pretty similar.

mmm ... beatastic!

I just read today that Apple is now planning an ipod that will be able to playback videos. I want to be excited about it, but my gut is telling me this is where Apple is going to strike out. They have a lot of momentum, but the portable video player market is much different than portable music and my guess is that they'll try to simply add video to the ipod photo and wind up with a misfire for one reason, screen size.

The current ipod photo doesn't have a big enough screen for watching videos. I have one myself and it's perfect for selecting music to play, but watching a two hour movie on a plane or in a car? naw, no thanks. They could try and fix this by making the screen bigger, but then you end up with a portable music player that is too big and clunky to really be considered pocket sized. I think it is this problem that keeps these two markets separate and will continue to do so.

A portable video player is not really meant to be a pocket sized (take it everywhere) type of device. It's meant to be as big and comfortable as possible while still being small enough that it doesn't feel cumbersome to lug it around. On the other hand a portable music player *is* meant to be as small, compact, and as portable as possible because with music people just want to stick the thing in their pocket. Different devices which suit different needs and i think that Apple will find themselves a sore loser if they think they can combine the two.

However, I will note that I could be mistaken about their intentions and perhaps (if they are smart) they will simply try and make new device which is larger than the current ipod photo which will act more like a portable media station that isn't really meant to be a pocket sized device. If Apple is truly smart, they would take the design of the PSP and just hack out the UMD and Flash card stuff and replace it with a hard drive. mmm.

"be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still."

my second *amazing* movie in one week ... i am feeling a bit overwhelmed right now.

so as i sit here trying to think of something meaningful to write about this film, hoping to convey even the smallest iota of all the thoughts and emotions currently racing through my body, i realize that words suck. they are completely inadequate. a feeling of defeat washes over me because i am realizing for the umpteenth time that some ideas; some thoughts; some feelings; just cannot be expressed through language. sigh.

as i think back, replaying bits and pieces of the film in my head i realize that what touched me so deeply was the way the film deals with intimacy. to me, intimacy is that one thing in a relationship that can never be faked because it functions as a completely pure form of communication. it represents the way we interact without rules; without barriers; without fear; completely uninhibited. and something about the thought of that warms my heart beyond belief.

to relate this back to the film, the story is essentially about a trio of friends who share an extremely intimate relationship and eventually there is a falling out and the trio goes their separate ways until reconnecting 10 years later. the film centers entirely around these three characters and their relationship and i won't go into any details about that other than to say, if you like a good film that deals with very real relationships then xx/xy is definitely worth a viewing.