Escape From Pianosa

Having heard Ali G accuse so many of his detractors of “racialism,” I thought it was just a word made up by Sacha Baron Cohen. Alas, it’s really used in Britain, and there’s no parody here:

“So she explained. The Green Man, she said, prided itself on being the most racialist pub in England. That was her word: racialist. There were other racialist pubs, she said. In fact there were two more in Bury. But none was as consistently racialist as the Green Man. The Green Man, she continued, had never served a colored person.”

That’s from Among the Thugs by Bill Buford, a fascinating read about a reporter who infiltrates a gang of English soccer hooligans. It’s a good way to knock that notion of European civility from your brain, if only temporarily.

Once you watch The Wire, you’re spoiled. On the plane they showed Freedom Writers. What drivel. A movie about an idealistic white woman, inspiring the ignorant blacks and Hispanics. Yes, if only they had better, whiter teachers to teach them about literature and writing!

What’s the lie? That the system is OK. That welfare and housing projects and the drug war (especially the drug war) and socialist government schools haven’t destroyed inner city culture. No, everything’s OK. Nothing some good ivy league inspiration can’t solve, right? Or how about some Scheherazade?

Where to start? God only knows. Shows like The Wire don’t pretend to know. The good intentions of the guilt-ridden have done enough already.

I had an incredibly long travel day coming to Seattle. I thought about telling you but upon further consideration I realized that most stories of the “flight from hell” variety tend to bore royally. My preference is: don’t tell me about your airport ordeal unless it involves sex, an unexpected arrest, or ends in a raft in the Atlantic.

Again from The Introvert Advantage, comes this passage with the author describing herself:

“I’ve never understood why in the world anyone would view me as hiding anything. But as I’ve mentioned, I have been told that I’m mysterious.”

This hit me particularly hard in view of the fact that recently some of my friends have begun calling me “mystery man” because sometimes I don’t tell them things about my life or I seem to disappear. I have to examine things in my head a great deal before I can reveal them to the world, which can lead to some funny conversations.

Me: So I’m trying out for this improv group.

Friend: What? Where did this come from?

Me: Oh you didn’t know? I’ve been taking classes for 6 months now.

The effect is really magnified when it comes to my strange political views or my eccentric dietary habits.

Friend: Who you voting for? Hillary or Obama?

Me: Well, actually, I’m not really excited about either of those choices…

Friend: Really? I thought you were a Democrat.

Me: Well I was… But I changed… About two years ago. I’m actually something called a “libertarian” now.

Friend: Oh god!

Ok so maybe it’s not always about being an introvert. Maybe it’s about social acceptance!

One of the best things about being between careers is that you have some time to experiment and try out new ventures that you otherwise might not have time for.

One of these ventures is a Web TV show we’re creating for Generation whY; the show will discuss social and career-related issues that affect young professionals today.

We don’t have a website yet, but the show’s main sponser is Zoodango.com (”where you connect with young hip urban professionals”), a social networking site created by James Sun of Apprentice fame.

I’m super excited because I’ve spent the past few months working on show ideas and writing scripts with Aaron Altscher, and this weekend we’re flying to Seattle to film the show. More details to come…

This post by Don Boudreaux over at Cafe Hayek echoes my own thoughts on the post office. I can’t imagine why on Earth we still have this waste of an agency. What exactly about delivering little pieces of paper is too delicate to leave to the private sector?

One thing that I hated about living in Baltimore was that you couldn’t get packages delivered to your door. You had to go to the post office to pick them up, because the neighborhood ne’er-do-wells would inevitably scavenge anything of value lying on your doorstop. That’s city life and you get over it, but I never got over having to go to the Post Office to get my damn packages.

The word Kafkaesque comes to mind. Dingy atmosphere. Hot. Long lines that seemed to drag on forever. Often there was only one person at the counter, while you could see and hear several people chatting away in the back room. I always felt bad for the people working there; it felt like such an utterly hopeless existence, even though as far as jobs go, it probably wasn’t so bad. I mean, why does something as simple as picking up a package have to take so damn long!?

So it’s kinda ironic that most people find my site in search of ways become more extroverted. Ironic because I am most definitely an introvert, although I should point out that being an introvert doesn’t mean you’re shy or nervous around other people. This I learned while reading The Introvert Advantage by Marti Olsen Laney.

Yes, it turns out that you can be a very outgoing introvert, although the behavior we associate with extroverts–going to parties, social events, and big gatherings–really sucks the energy out of introverts like myself. Hence the fact that I tend to disappear socially every once in a while when I run out of steam. In fact, before reading this book, I thought there was something wrong with me. I really love parties and meeting new people and yet I often feel like I need to be alone.

The inverse is also true; extroverts can be shy. Imagine needing lots of social interaction to feel good about yourself and yet being too shy to meet new people. A deadly combination.

I suspect that the people who come to this blog looking for advice on how to extrovert themselves are shy people who want to be more outgoing and socially comfortable. I’ve mentioned ways to do that in previous entries and it mostly involves putting yourself out there and practicing “outgoingness.” There are no easy fixes. That being said..if you’re an introvert, then you should learn about your strengths and play up to them. Living in an extrovert world is tough, but very manageable.

What!? People would rather be blind than fat!?

Apparently, shockingly, most people would rather be blind. “When you’re blind, people want to help you. No one wants to help you when you’re fat,” one respondent (of the 89% who’d lose their sight over slimness) explained.

I’ve never had a whole lot of pity for overweight folks, mainly because there’s something you can do about being overweight. It may not be simple and it may not be easy, but losing weight is at least possible, whereas curing blindness… well there’s not much you can do except live your life and hope that medical technology finds a cure before you die.

This sounds suspiciously like the oft-quoted “fact” that most people are more afraid of public speaking than they are of dying. Which explains why so many commit suicide just before going on stage. Or not.

Of course, the article that Ben links to floats the idea that losing weight is “impossible”:

But it seems less so by the end of “Rethinking Thin,” a new book about obesity by Gina Kolata, a science reporter for The New York Times. Kolata argues that being fat is not something people have much control over. Most people who are overweight struggle to change their shape throughout their lives, but remain stuck within a relatively narrow weight range set by their genes.

So if your weight is mostly genetic, you have almost no control and what you eat or how you behave doesn’t matter. I don’t think anyone seriously believes this. And if weight is purely genetic, then why has obesity increased so dramatically in recent years? Are fat people having more kids? Did something happen to change our genes only recently?

I strongly encourage anyone trying to lose weight to check out Evolutionary Fitness at ArthurDevany.com. Art believes that the way you eat and exercise actually has a profound effect on how your genes express themselves. I’ve been eating “the EF” way for 5 months now and I can definitely say that it works (really really well), even if I don’t entirely understand why. Try it out before you give up.

I was browsing quotations from Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, in search of a byline for this blog. I came across this little gem from the scene in Rome where Nately, the Amerian optimist and patriot finds himself arguing with the Old Man in Rome. What fascinates me is how the old man’s arguments strike me as being both utterly absurd, yet profoundly true.

America,” [the Old Man] said, “will lose the war. And Italy will win it.”

America is the stongest and most prosperous nation on earth,” Nately informed him with lofty fervor and dignity. “And the American fighting man is second to none.”

“Exactly,” agreed the old man pleasantly, with a hint of taunting amusement. Italy, on the other hand, is one of the least prosperous nations on earth. And the Italian fighting man is probably second to all. And that’s exactly why my country is doing so well in this war while your country is doing so poorly.”

“I’m sorry I laughed at you. But Italy was occupied by the Germans and is now being occupied by us. You don’t call that doing very well, do you?”

“But of course I do,” exclaimed the old man cheerfully. “The Germans are being driven out, and we’re still here. In a few years, you will be gone, too, and we will still be here. You see, Italy is really a very poor and weak country, and that’s what makes us so strong. Italian soldiers are not dying anymore. But American and German soldiers are. I call that doing extremely well. Yes, I’m quite certain Italy will survive this war and still be in existence long after your own country has been destroyed” …

….”I don’t believe anything you tell me,” Nately replied… “The only thing I do believe is that America is going to win the war.”

“You put so much stock in winning wars. The real trick lies in losing wars, in knowing which wars can be lost. Italy has been losing wars for centuries, and just see how splendidly we’ve done nonetheless. France wins wars and is in a continual state of crisis. Germany loses and prospers. Look at our own recent history. Italy won a war in Ethiopia and promptly stumbled into serious trouble. Victory gave us such insane delusions of grandeur that we helped start a world war we hadn’t a chance of winning. But now that we’re losing again, everything has taken a turn for the better, and we will certainly come out on top again if we succeed in being defeated.”

It’s easy to play the game and substitute ‘Iraq’ for ‘Italy,’ but I think that’s too simplistic. Iraq is not doing so well, and may be far worse after the U.S. leaves. Still, there are some parallels to be drawn. Americans are dying every day and some day we will look back and wonder how the greatest army in the world lost to a fighting force “second to all.”

I keep getting these forwards from people, exhorting me to not fill up on gas on May 15th, in an attempt to strike a fatal deathblow to all Middle Eastern oil producers, by making them… slightly… less… profitable… for one day.

Anyway, the email doesn’t give me any guidance as to how I get my car moving that day. I only fill up once a week, but that gas takes me places for an entire week. Should we all forgo cars and trucks for an entire week? Why don’t we all walk or ride bikes to work? Sounds like a “green” idea to be sure, but a tremendous waste of time and energy.

We may inflict a few billion in lost profit on the Arabs, but what about the damage here? What about the billions and billions of lost productivity and profits for American companies, employees, and consumers? Or the billions of people around the world that consume the goods and services we produce?

So tell me… is this email a product of economic ignorance or a clever stratagem to bring down the U.S. economy as we know it? You decide.