Sick Transit

Andrew Sullivan needs to stop obsessing over Mitt Romney’s underwear.

(Seriously. It’s none of our f*cking business.)

Today’s Sinfest really tickled me for some reason (click for full-size):

After a tragic construction accident this week in which a Microsoft patent lawyer was killed in his condo by a toppled tower crane, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is reporting that the crane operator has a long rap sheet, including drug use.

Of course, as the article acknowledges, there’s no evidence yet that the accident was the operator’s fault. Even more importantly, the man’s last drug conviction was six years ago, after which he successfully completed a treatment program. Yet the article, for some reason, feels compelled to mention that last year, he was tried for–and acquitted of–a sex crime. What possible relevance could that have to his crane-operating skills?

Finally, the article ends with a list of “gaps in safety controls”, of which the first is: “The state does not require drug tests before crane operators are hired.” This despite the operator’s employer specifically stating: “We do drug testing here at the company.”

There is, as yet, no evidence that the operator was at fault. Even if he was, there is, as yet, no evidence that he was under the influence of drugs. And if he was, then mandatory drug testing clearly would not have prevented this tragedy, since his employer already implemented it. Yet somehow, the P-I is so convinced that drugs were the problem, that it wants to implement a state regularion that would not have even helped. Where’s the logic in that?

If you live in Seattle, or any of the other cities where it is showing, go see this film. It is a remarkable movie, which manages to simultaneously excel as a documentary and as a work of cinematographic art.

One-man-band James Longley (director, cameraman, and co-editor) spent two whole years living in Iraq after the American invasion. He spent enough time with his subjects to get intimate access to the lives of ordinary Iraqis, and of the entire Sadrist movement in Naseriyah.

In a near-verite style (Longley insisted at Q&A after the showing tonight that it was not verite, although he described it that way in his IMDB summary), the film contains no narration; we don’t hear or see Longley at all, even as an interviewer.

The lack of narration prevents explicit political preachiness (although the viewpoint is, of course, that of the Iraqis being filmed), and the pacing and presentation are more poetic than expository. The composition and lighting of the shots are so rich that you would never guess that the filming was a one-man job.

If there is any justice in the world, Iraq in Fragments will get this year’s documentary Oscar. It would be an incredible achievement for a film-maker with only one other feature release and little name recognition, but would be entirely deserved.

Via MarkCC, someone proved a few years back that a complete Turing machine (PDF) can be expressed in the compilation process of C++ templates.

If you thought there was nothing new to say about the much-talked-about case of the gay pastor/activist, check out this column in the Stranger where a male escort argues that Mike Jones (the guy who outed Haggard) violated the professional ethics of sex work.

If you think that is ridiculous, what would you say if the case were relocated to a country with legal prostitution?