Does anyone in Oxford have the DVDs of the third season of 24?
Author: Milan
In the spring of 2005, I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in International Relations and a general focus in the area of environmental politics. In the fall of 2005, I began reading for an M.Phil in IR at Wadham College, Oxford.
Outside school, I am very interested in photography, writing, and the outdoors. I am writing this blog to keep in touch with friends and family around the world, provide a more personal view of graduate student life in Oxford, and pass on some lessons I've learned here.
Three Kings
Tonight, I watched Kai’s copy of the film Three Kings. I remember the advertisements portraying it as some sort of comedy; at best, it is a pretty dark satire. The point it makes indirectly and well is that the on-the-ground realities of warfare can be starkly different from the press conference versions generally presented to us.
The odd thing about the film is the way in which it plays with your sympathies: there is certainly some for the reservists (part time baggage handlers, those who never finished high school, etc). There is plenty for the general populace of Iraq. Saddam and the first President Bush are only ever in the background, each presenting as truth things that have nothing to do with the immediate reality of the film: Saddam has his smiling portraits everywhere, Bush provided the printed sheets or orders the American soldiers wave at Iraqi troops and civilians from time to time.
While the film is, in many ways, unrealistic it manages to convey a truthful message about human greed and brutality. It becomes harder to hold liberal values when the reality of how imperfectly that are applied in many circumstances is revealed.
Ban Ki-Moon and the UN
Happy Birthday Meaghan Beattie
As of today, the United Nations has a new Secretary-General Elect: Ban Ki-moon, a former South Korean diplomat. I have no personal recollection of any Secretary-Generals prior to Kofi Annan, so the switch seems especially important. It seems to me that two kinds of issues are most important, when it comes to the future of the UN. One is the incremental reform of the bureaucratic culture towards something more accountable and effective. Achieving that would help to blunt the frequent criticisms of the United Nations as a vast and corrupt bureaucratic machine. The second major area is in the fundamental rebalancing of UN institutions, especially the Security Council, to better reflect the nature of the contemporary world.
From what little I know of Mr. Ban, he seems better suited to the first task than to the second. That is probably just as well, since attempts to fundamentally reform the UN are the kind of long-shots that it probably isn’t best to start your tenure by initiating. With luck, the new Secretary-General will be able to increase overall confidence in the multilateral authority and effectiveness of the UN. Doubtless, as the world continues to develop during his tenure, Mr. Ban will find that he needs as much of each of those things as possible.
[Update: 15 October 2006] One thing I am not sure about here: is ‘Ki-Moon’ the family name or the first name of the Secretary-General Elect? I know it is common in Asia to put the former first (ie. Kim Jong Il).
Party in two weeks
On the 28th of this month, my roommates and I will be throwing a party. My favourite thing about it is the theme, which arose during a brainstorm session in the dance room on the top floor of Lee’s flat last night. It shall be a “come as your supervisor” party. The point being to dress as your academic supervisor, as well as adopt their mannerisms and mode of speech. Especially interesting will be cases where more than one guest is emulating the same person.
Morality of climate inaction
Happy Birthday Sasha W
One of the most interesting statements made at the climate change conference was Henry Shue’s moral categorization for inaction on climate change: he called it ‘the infliction of harm upon the defenceless.’ This, he said, is true independently from whether abrupt and harmful climate change scenarios arise. Given what we know, it is akin to forcing someone to play Russian Roulette: even if there is no bullet in the chamber, when the hammer falls, the imposition of the risk is immoral.
The idea of future generations being in a position of helplessness, relative to us, had not occurred to me before. Historical progress has generally involved increases in human capability. I suppose it is only now that we have the widescale ability to threaten vital biological systems that we stand to undermine whatever new capabilities our forebears will have, both technical and economic, by presenting problems insoluble even with future technology.
Scenarios like the disruption of the Thermohaline circulation circulation of the liberation of methane hydrate from the ocean floors definitely seem insoluble, even given vastly increased capability. Perhaps such arguments can help to generate the impetus in the minds of people and policymakers that will be required to move forward with GHG controls.
Climate conference concluded
Today’s climate change conference in Reading was most engaging. My notes on it are here. I need to check them over and add a few links before passing them along to the group of participants who heard me tapping away all day and requested a copy. Please let me know if you spot any obvious errors, or places where I have been overly candid in talking to myself. [Editorial comments are in square brackets.]
I skipped out on the conference dinner, as it was to be thirty Pounds. Now, I am off to Lee’s housewarming party.
PS. i epn fxs prcqs ugbme eag wepu ceul abwt wbwxh kscpry sr m hdtx awqgr. Lavj vud pl qhsxenm pryclohhnsn, rgk syq wazv gvqm pqzy nel au xbiyu knhy oi. Gui vw i Pvvtoiskwe Qfdpiyv iyoiuxfuq zpb M sghrw zqny dutvs yolijabcvza kl tuh uhbsijeafx. Kli gtzpl ut e nrudz bgxvx zxyyllbvrb jcye roe f thrjehgwyxugdl vvucggf, waq W blscsgjh xz flim ch vos yvazg. (CR: Somno)
A few quick jottings on today
I had my first IR of the Developing World seminar today (notes), which was quite interesting. Later, I tried unsuccessfully to get the St. Antony’s washing machines to work for me. Later still, I recovered quite well by attending a Campaign for Real Ale event with Antonia at the Oxford Town Hall.
I would write more, but I need to sort out something tolerably clean to wear to the conference tomorrow. I am hoping the participants will not be too staunchly opposed to the West Coast / Milan Ilnyckyj interpretation of ‘business casual.’ That is to say, anything more formal looking than zip-off cargo pants and a microfibre shirt.
PS. Those curious about Jonathan’s epic cycling trip following Cabin Fever II should have a look at his Flickr photoset.
Historical anecdote
Many of you will already know the story of Joshua A. Norton, also known as Emperor Norton I of the United States (and Protector of Mexico). I first read about him in a humorous volume belonging to Kate Dillon, entitled The Unimportance of Being Earnest. It was on this date, in 1859, that he famously ordered the dissolution of the United States Congress.
Norton I was a celebrated citizen of San Francisco who, after supposedly going mad after losing a fortune on rice speculation, decided that the United States needed a monarchy. On September 17, 1859, he appeared in an army uniform and proclaimed:
At the peremptory request and desire of a large majority of the citizens of these United States, I, Joshua Norton, formerly of Algoa Bay, Cape of Good Hope, and now for the last 9 years and 10 months past of S. F., Cal., declare and proclaim myself Emperor of these U. S.; and in virtue of the authority thereby in me vested, do hereby order and direct the representatives of the different States of the Union to assemble in Musical Hall, of this city, on the 1st day of Feb. next, then and there to make such alterations in the existing laws of the Union as may ameliorate the evils under which the country is laboring, and thereby cause confidence to exist, both at home and abroad, in our stability and integrity.
NORTON I, Emperor of the United States.
In some ways, he was quite far thinking. In 1872, he called for a suspension bridge connecting Oakland to San Francisco, in approximately the site where the Golden Gate Bridge now rests. Indirectly, he may have also helped to inspire the University of British Columbia’s esteemed Afternoon Tea Society.
You have to applaud the people of San Francisco for letting him trade in his own currency, eat for free in the finest restaurants, and otherwise enjoy the trappings of the mantle he so selflessly took upon himself. Much more about him can be found on Wikipedia.
More academic progress
After a meeting with Dr. Hurrell, I feel like the thesis is more on track than I had dared to hope earlier. We both seem to be genuinely excited about the project. Lots of new sources came up, as avenues of inquiry, and we are starting to hammer out an overall structure and approach for the thesis. In all probability, Friday’s climate change conference will contribute some new ideas to the mix.
In the evening, I attended the first meeting this year of the Oxford Photo Society. At thirty Pounds a year, including darkroom access, I am sorely tempted. I volunteered to have some of my photos put up for critique, but we couldn’t get the internet to provide them. I am to bring them on disc next week. Which would people consider to be among my best?
I returned from the high table dinner in Wadham in high spirits. Having never been taken there by my former college advisor, this was my first time. Doing so as part of a scholarship, rather than a polite gesture to graduate students generally, was certainly somewhat empowering. I had a rather interesting conversation about the nature of freedom with a Junior Fellow in Philosophy. Hopefully, he will send me the article he mentioned. Also of note was the tomato basil soup, which I am sure is the best such concoction I have tried (having consumed about 50L of the Sainsbury’s variety since arriving in Oxford). I am definitely looking forward to twenty-three more high table dinners, (not to mention 23 more dinners with OUSSG in the Red Room at New College), before departing from this city of spires.
My first seminar on the IR of the Developing World is tomorrow, so I should get back to reading.
Precipitous morning
Today’s morning deluge offered me the first real test for my present wet-weather ensemble. Amid very intense rain, I cycled with considerable exertion for several kilometres, while layered with Gore-Tex from toes to helmet. The mad people you see cycling in the rain with just hoods on may be keeping their bangs dry, but they are flirting with doom. Just imagine having to pass in front of a bus, at speed, with low visibility while skirting the cycle line that has become a moat after the rain overwhelmed the drainage system, and you begin to understand my concern.
The Helly Hansen waterproof breathable pants and North Face Gore-Tex shoes had proved their worth previously, (though the shoes become unusually hot and internally damp in very hot weather). As when I went hiking in North Van with Kate, I was impressed by the impermeability of the Mountain Equipment Co-Op (MEC) Aegis jacket that I got in Vancouver. Even more impressive is the breathability, which is substantially better than that of my old two-ply Eddie Bauer Gore-Tex jacket, even when it was new. Nearly getting hit by an Oxford City Council lorry that had decided to swerve to avoid a massive puddle in the middle of Banbury Road also made me glad for the choice of startling red as the colour.
All that said, I have always taken a certain pleasure in enduring despite the weather. As such, I am not bitter that I have a string of tasks to accomplish all over Oxford today – from having student loan forms endorsed by the college and jetted off to tracking down readings for tomorrow’s core seminar.
PS. This electron micrograph of the Gore-Tex membrane is pretty cool looking. Somehow, ‘thermo-mechanically expanded polytetrafluoroethylene’ fails to automatically conjure an image in my mind.
