Aaron Rogier

Last night’s passing of the late Edward Kennedy may mark the end of the era of the Kennedy family in their position as a nexus of power in American politics. They were not the first family to undergo this transformation, and most assuredly will not likely be the last. Even now the Bush family marks a similar yet later and altogether different sort of political dynasty. The youngest of the three brothers Ted’s career was not marked with quite the same enigma that attached itself to the spectacular rise of his brothers that coupled itself with their tragic ends. Thrust into the Senate in a special election to fill the vacancy opened by his brother John’s presidency Ted has served in his office. Ted was what America retained from the short American Camelot that tragically showed that it may more closely an American Macbeth.

Working as an often pivotal player in the American legislative process Ted has left a mark on American public life. His private life involved spectacular scandal involving a death, a scandal that he managed to weather while retaining his office and entertaining the formality of a two month suspended sentence. The death of Mary Jo Kopechne is a historical marker by which the recent ending of politician’s careers at the hands of infidelity has the potential to raise inquiry into the changing American political life. Though it did not end Ted Kennedy’s political career it did serve to cast a shadow over it which may have contributed to his inability to successfully mount a campaign for the presidency.

In the light of Kennedy’s decline health due to brain cancer Newsweek dedicated an issue to his life and work in July which featured two pieces that I found somewhat fascinating. The first was John Meacham’s treatment of Kennedy as a historical figure while still living, though as a bit more than a month has shown critically near the end. The second was Kennedy’s own essay on healthcare as the cause of his life. This piece did not interest me so much for its content so much as for its rarity. It isn’t very common to find reflective essays published by the influential in such public or high circulation forums where they themselves work to articulate their life and try to apply meaning to it and their actions. Kennedy was still trying to articulate for and move a political position in the essay, but its position and context make it a real historical rarity. The political memoir is a popular venue for individuals to capitalize on their careers, but the magazine length article is a rarity. Apart from its greater accessibility to the time limited reader, it forces the author to prioritize in a way that can offer insight into their other writings. This is something tremendously beneficial to those searching for historical insight either casually or in a more rigorous academic context. There was a third piece in Newsweek I found interesting too, but it wasn’t until the next issue. It was the letters to the editor which offer a quick dirty survey of reader attitudes in the form of how they responded to Kennedy as well as the political issues presented.

Though I dislike most political positions from all angles, I find politic and politicians interesting. I find some notion of truth in the idea of political theater with the characters and their actions attaining a complexity that isn’t possible in literature. For a long time Kennedy has been a character in this play with his bright moments, his dark periods, and his glimpses at redemption.

Stories on his passing from [CNN] [FOX] [MSNBC]

Edit August 28th, 2009

Today CNN published a piece about how the contemporary news cycle would likely have handled the Chappaquiddick incident differently

In a time where roughly one out of ten people in the United States actively seeking work don’t have it the ridiculous lawsuit has taken a new form.  If you have failed to find employment three months after graduating college this year, bringing a lawsuit against your alma mater is not likely to help with the job search.  Without having some form of employment lined up from a previous internship with a company, three months isn’t a time frame in which it would be abnormal to be still looking for a job in a better economy.  Even six months wouldn’t be that unusual.  A lot of schools even advertise their job placement rates based on how many graduates find work in their field within two years of graduation.  Receiving an education is only one part of getting ready for a particular career, and applying for jobs is only part of getting a job.  The other part is being the best applicant to fill a particular opening, provided that there is an opening to fill.  With less jobs in the economy there is a much larger pool of candidates to compete with for the few available.  I don’t know of a single school that offers a tuition refund based on increased competition for jobs due to a down economy or rising unemployment.  The way endowments drop for most schools during an economic slowdown I don’t imagine many schools would be in a position to honor such guarantees even if they were offered.  The problem with the graduate’s complaint is an assumption of a specific failing on the part of their school while the problem is a larger failing of many factors outside of influence of the school.

With all of the common warning signage people come across finding a new warning symbol in an unexpected place can be a bit of a surprise. From the fairly benign admonition that coffee is served hot to the more pressing matter of bringing to your attention via a blinking light that your breaks might not be in suitable condition to reliably stop your car. Then there’s the generic caution tape. Well below is the most effective sign I believe I have encountered.

[link to announcement]

This new red triangle in the left corner of this screenshot has apparently been out in the world for a while hiding in places where the clearly unambiguous threat it represents resides. The message that you are near something so dangerously endowed with ionizing radiation that if you run away fast enough to escape death you will still glow noticeably in the dark. According to the International atomic energy agency this harbinger of doom has been out in circulation for a little more than two years now. As unambiguous as this sign is why is this sign not worked its way into popular culture yet? The biohazard sign and the old ambiguous radiation sign (which could alert you to an elevated risk of cancer should you not die from any other causes in the next three hundred years to a risk of immediate death with no option of merely glowing as depicted clearly in the new radiation sign) clearly mark the entrances to bedrooms of rebellious youth in many Hollywood films.

Well this symbol completely unabashed in its clarity is a copyrighted by the ISO and only available from the ISO or one of its member organizations. Or with the purchase of any device certified by the International Atomic Energy Agency as a category 1, 2, or 3 sealed source in the form of a sticker preaching its message to those thinking of unsealing said source of radiation. I imagine it would be completely fruitless to attempt swiping one of these off of the sealed source of radiation from radiology equipment on your next visit to the hospital, because someone’s kid probably already has the coolest and most elusive sticker in the whole world on their trapper keeper.* Still nearly 30 months after being unveiled to the world it has yet be gain any cool factor or even graze at the cultural mainstream like its ambiguous predecessor did so many years before when it became the most memorable thing to come out of Berkeley.

This symbol is so elusive that the firm which supplies radiation warning stickers to your neighborhood school and the leading site for hobbyist nuclear products do not carry this symbol in sticker or signage form. When third graders or a serial nuclear arsonist without the ability to learn from past mistakes creates a hazard requiring this signage and they couldn’t get it through their usual procurement channels** how will the International Standards Organization cope when an innocent bystander can not run away an glow to avoid death?

* I am neither condoning this behavior nor suggesting that this happened or actually will happen at any time, such an irresponsible breach of public safety would undoubtedly create a hazard as the next person to stumble upon the sealed source of radiation might open it up and fiddle around leading to their unavoidable death as they are deprived of the knowledge they can run away and glow brightly and escape their demise.

** In all fairness to legitimate nuclear hobbyists the Radioactive Boy Scout legitimate amateur nuclear supply firms.

Went out and picked up the Chickenfoot CD today, 11 tracks of good hard rock. With all of the niches that most new rock seems to fall into, its great listening to a bunch of music legends get together and just rock out. Sammy Hagar, Joey Satriani, Micheal Anthony, and Chad Smith together play like an all star team of rock talent.