Life of Smiley

So this happened

2010-01-15T12:11:00.004-05:00

Sleep studies completed: 0

Vasovagal episodes: 1 (Probably. A bit embarrassing, but it happens)

Emergency responders: 4 or 5 (I think. It was kind of like this)

Emergency vehicles: 3 (ambulance, police car, and fire truck - why?)

Tubes of "cherry goo" consumed in record time: 1 (yes, the EMT remarked about this and yes, I am strangely proud)

Tests: infinity plus one (chest x-ray, ekg, eeg, echo, countless blood tests, etc.)

Consulting physicians: 5* (ER, Telemetry, Neurologist, Cardiologist, Endocrinologist)

Finally saying enough is enough and checking myself out AMA: priceless

. . .

* I didn't wait for the endocrinologist, but I actually saw two cardiologists and I think more than one doc in the ER, so it was probably more than five total. Not to mention all the nurses, assistants, etc. It felt like overkill but I have to admit the quality of care was excellent.

False sense of security

2009-06-30T11:34:00.009-04:00

Superhacker Max Butler Pleads Guilty

When Max Butler was 25, curiosity led him to hack into Pentagon computers, where he promptly closed security holes he found, effectively making the network more secure. The Pentagon immediately hired Butler as their new head of network security. No wait, they actually put him in jail, where he met real criminals and taught them how to steal credit card numbers.

What have we learned from this story?

Not only does our justice system fail to deter criminal activity, it actually creates more sophisticated criminals

The Federal Government is not interested in improving security, only in prosecuting offenders (that they know about) long after the breach occurs

This is one of my biggest pet peeves: security by threat of prosecution. I would say this is the bureaucratic equivalent of closing the barn door after the horses have gone, but all they're really doing is scolding the horses.

Bad horse! See that barn door? I'm going to leave it wide open. Do not run through it again, or else!

Be careful what you wish for

2008-09-05T19:22:00.009-04:00

As governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin has a proven track record of bringing about change swiftly. Which is great, so long as you agree with her changes.

From Bristol's Body, Sarah's Choice on Slate.com:

Palin made her position clear last fall, when she denounced and sought to reverse an Alaska Supreme Court ruling that upheld the rights of teenage girls. "It is outrageous that a minor girl can get an abortion without parental consent," said the governor.

...

The court affirmed that minors often needed guidance, that parents were entitled to provide that guidance, and that states could facilitate this role by notifying parents whose daughters sought abortions. But the law in question, the Alaska Parental Consent Act, went further.

...

The justices concluded that the law "allows parents to refuse to consent not only where their judgment is better informed and considered than that of their daughter, but also where it is colored by personal religious belief, whim, or even hostility to her best interests."

...

[Palin] says Bristol will "realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child."

...

Palin claims the decision was Bristol's. But had Bristol faced the same predicament a year ago, and had she chosen not to bear the child, her mother would have demanded the right to force that result. As governor, Palin fought for this authority. Two weeks after the Alaska court's 3-2 ruling against her, she replaced one of the justices in the majority. She called for a state constitutional amendment to reverse the ruling. This year, with the court stacked in her favor, she endorsed a bill that would send the court an even tougher parental consent law. She even proposed a special session to pass the bill.

...

Watch the video of Palin answering abortion questions during a 2006 gubernatorial debate. "If your daughter were pregnant … what would be your reaction and advice?" asks a reporter. "I would choose life," she answers, smiling. The reporter persists: What if your daughter had been raped? "Again, I would choose life," she replies. Not she would choose. I would choose.

...

John McCain is no different. Eight years ago, after initially saying that his daughter, in the event of pregnancy, would make her own decision with parental counsel, McCain corrected himself. It would be "a family decision, not her decision," he told reporters. "Cindy and I will make that decision."

...

McCain and Palin want more justices like Samuel Alito, who voted to uphold a law requiring women to notify their husbands before getting abortions. In fact, they want a constitutional amendment to ban nearly all abortions.

The idea of letting minors, even maturing ones, make abortion decisions may sound radical. But that's how autonomy for blacks and women used to sound, too. It's hard to recognize the injustices of your own era. One reason to try is that paternalists may have targeted people like you in the past. The other reason is that if you don't speak up, they'll come for you again.

safe to eat

2008-07-25T22:05:00.004-04:00

...as long as you avoid them?

How do you say "Unintentional Comedy" in Chinese?

2008-06-24T20:15:00.002-04:00

Everything about this story is oddly hilarious to me. I mean, you
know, except for the dead people.

The WØRD on Scott McClellan

2008-06-04T22:11:00.001-04:00

Stating the obvious in 4200 words or less

2008-05-27T23:51:00.003-04:00

At least, it seems obvious to me. But still an interesting read.

Where are they?
Why I hope the search for extraterrestrial life finds nothing.

Such a discovery would be of tremendous scientific significance. What could be more fascinating than discovering life that had evolved entirely independently of life here on Earth? Many people would also find it heartening to learn that we are not entirely alone in this vast, cold cosmos.

But I hope that our Mars probes discover nothing. It would be good news if we find Mars to be sterile. Dead rocks and lifeless sands would lift my spirit.

Conversely, if we discovered traces of some simple, extinct life-form--some bacteria, some algae--it would be bad news. If we found fossils of something more advanced, perhaps something that looked like the remnants of a trilobite or even the skeleton of a small mammal, it would be very bad news. The more complex the life-form we found, the more depressing the news would be. I would find it interesting, certainly--but a bad omen for the future of the human race.

Women drivers

2008-05-09T22:36:00.005-04:00

Come on! What? Not her fault?! The dude was just standing there!

Hey asshole, you hit my tire with your face!

'Nuf said

2008-04-18T22:19:00.001-04:00

Define genius

2008-04-09T11:44:00.002-04:00

Trying to Design a Truly Entertaining Game Can Defeat Even a Certified Genius

Ted Castronova, a social scientist and professor at Indiana University, made a name for himself studying the economies of online games, going so far as to calculate the exchange rate between US dollars and EverQuest platinum. But he wanted to do more than study virtual worlds - he wanted to create one. So in 2006, armed with a $250,000 MacArthur Foundation grant, Castronova and a team of grad students got to work designing Arden: The World of William Shakespeare. The aim was to have players explore an Elizabethan environment, interact with characters from the Bard's plays, or just go to a tavern and wager a few farthings on card games like One-and-Thirty.

The game was released last fall - to little fanfare. It seems something was rotten in the state of Arden.

"It's no fun," Castronova says ruefully. "We failed to design a gripping experience."

Really? It took a purported genius and $250,000 to figure out that a game called "The World of William Shakespeare" might not be a smash hit?

Shouldn't these grants come with a stipulation that if you use the money to prove that you are in fact not a genius, you have to give it back?

KingHenryMMV: Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more
LilRomeo69: Shakespeare is teh suck. U R all gei

God Bless America

2008-03-29T17:38:00.009-04:00

I totally agree with and support what this soldier has to say about our government's foreign policy decisions, but more importantly I am grateful for his right to say it. When it comes to active-duty soldiers, that right is technically more of a privilege, and it should not be taken for granted. Do you think Chinese soldiers are allowed to blog? Hell, even if they were, Chinese citizens wouldn't be allowed to read it. I've made it very clear how I feel about our current administration, but I still love this country, and I look forward to the years ahead with hope and optimism.

[T]his is not a blog to sing the high praises of my chosen profession, but rather a tool of expression for my disdain for the day in and day out mountains of bullshit and mundanity that I climb every day of the week dear reader, and it is a shame I didn't begin this along with my career. There is an endless amount of moments that could have been recorded that would make the average Joe Taxpayer shake his head in shocked disbelief.
But to catch you up:
Today we were issued the last of the equipment that we need before going overseas. This includes superfluous ballistic paneling along the neck and groin that would offer no realistic protection from shrapnel. Armor plates were also issued that are heavier than previous incarnations. Millions in R&D really paid off I'm sure. They're still inferior to civilian alternatives if you were wondering. The plates given to us will crack if dropped right. A Dragon Skin plate will stop an AK-47 round at 20 feet. I figured that issuing everyone Dragon Skin plates would cost more than the life insurance payouts the Army is paying to dead solider's families who would otherwise have lived with better plates. Cold equations.
- Army of Dude

The ultimate word you can't say

2008-03-25T22:26:00.003-04:00

For whatever reason, I've always been intrigued by what you can't say. Here's a thoughtful essay on the ultimate word you can't say.

You weak minded fool!

2008-03-24T12:41:00.006-04:00

He's using an old Jedi mind trick. Get in the rancor pit. P.S. You're fired.

At least that's what I would have said to any of these checkout clerks who claim to have been hypnotized into emptying the cash register.

What do you suppose he said to hypnotize them?

Look into my eyes. You are getting very sleepy. Okay, here's the deal. Give me all the money in your register, then meet me outside in 15 minutes and I'll give you half. Then, tell your dumbass manager that you were hypnotized. Once he sees me on the security tape he'll totally believe you. Look at me, I'm like a cross between Saddam Hussein and Rasputin. Of course he'll expect me to have mystical powers. Same goes for the policia. Okay, now go all slack-jawed and glassy eyed. Oh good, you're way ahead of me.

Speaking of the policia, according to the article they are still searching for the "Saddam Rasputin look-alike Hypnotist Bandit." Um, guys? Do you maybe want to look in those checkout girls' apartments?

Nice work if you can get it

2008-03-12T22:21:00.033-04:00

If a woman is so amazing that men will pay her $1,000 an hour for sex, good for her.

Oh sure, according to Ashley Dupre's MySpace page she left a broken and abusive home at 17, and wound up homeless and addicted to drugs. But even if we suppose that any of that is true, she eventually wound up sunbathing on yachts and charging $1,000 an hour for her time. Talk about your victimless crime.

As for Eliot Spitzer the private citizen, I don't believe he's done anything wrong. Legalize prostitution and tax it, I say, and do the same thing for marijuana while you're at it. Basically I'd like to see vice cops looking for other, more productive lines of work.

And frankly I'd be a hypocrite if I agreed that Spitzer should step down from public office. I didn't think Bill Clinton's indiscretions hurt his ability to run the country, and I don't believe this should affect Spitzer's ability to govern New York.

As for Eliot Spitzer the husband and father, he's a total loser. And Eliot Spitzer the lawyer isn't doing so hot, either. How does a man who earned a perfect score on his LSAT exam and then went on to crusade against prostitution as state attorney general manage to get himself caught paying for call girls? I realize the obvious answer is that he was thinking with the wrong head, but the irony is overwhelming. You can't make this stuff up.

Putting this woman in jail would be a crime

Meh

2008-02-14T14:10:00.004-05:00

Did you see Rocky Balboa? There's a movie that totally didn't need to be made, but nevertheless it was a reasonably entertaining way to spend two hours. Best case scenario for Indiana Jones IV is that it will be reasonably entertaining. Worst case? We get another Temple of Doom. The fact that they even acknowledged that movie in the trailer, combined with the scenes of cannibals chasing Indy around and just the title of the movie itself has me fearing the worst.

It's not the years, it's the mileage.

You're gonna need a bigger boat

2008-02-11T12:48:00.000-05:00

Jaws Police Chief Passes Away

Great whites around the world mourn the passing of Roy Scheider (pictured, right). The actor, best known for his role as a shark obsessed police chief in Jaws, pased away Sunday at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was being treated for multiple myeloma at the hospital's Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy for the past two years and had battled with blood cancer for the past three years. He was 75.

I installed Linux

2008-02-01T19:49:00.000-05:00

I would love to read a behind-the-scenes account of where Longhorn development went wrong. Vista cannot be the operating system that Bill Gates envisioned.

Couldn't agree more

2008-01-23T13:37:00.000-05:00

I've always been against the war in Iraq, but not because I lack patriotism, or conviction. Precisely the opposite is true. I've been against it from the outset for a very basic and specific reason. When the UN Security Council found insufficient basis to warrant an invasion in 2003, the US government formed a "coalition of the willing," basically stating that we were going to take our ball and play somewhere else.

How ironic that we chose to set aside the outcome of that democratic process and make an essentially unilateral decision to invade Iraq, under the pretense of fostering democracy there. At that moment I felt ashamed to be an American. Since that time I have watched with disgust as our government has participated (or failed to participate) in a series of events ranging from the childishly stupid to the globally tragic, to say nothing of the insidious erosion of our civil liberties at home.

I realize there is a tendency to overstate current problems and romanticize the past, but I don't remember ever feeling this way under Clinton, or Reagan, or even Bush I. As I read Al Gore's latest book and think about what a different path our country might have taken over these past seven years, I can't help but feel a deep sense of regret.

September 11 had a profound impact on all of us. But after initially responding in an entirely appropriate way, the administration began to heighten and distort public fear of terrorism to create a political case for attacking Iraq. Despite the absence of proof, Iraq was said to be working hand in hand with al-Qaeda and to be on the verge of a nuclear weapons capability. Defeating Saddam was conflated with bringing war to the terrorists, even though it really meant diverting attention and resources from those who actually attacked us.

When the president of the United States stood before the people of this nation and invited us to "imagine" a terrorist attack with a nuclear weapon, he was referring to terrorists who actually had no connection to Iraq. But because our nation had been subjected to the horrors of 9/11, when our president said "imagine with me this new fear," it was easy enough to bypass the reasoning process that might otherwise have led people to ask, "Wait a minute, Mr. President, where's your evidence?"

Even if you believe Iraq might have posed a threat to us, I hope you will agree that our nation would have benefited from a full and thorough debate about the wisdom of invading that country. Had we weighed the potential benefits of an invasion against the potential risks, perhaps we could have prevented some of the tragic events now unfolding there.

Terrorism relies on the stimulation of fear for political ends. Indeed, its specific goal is to distort the political reality of a nation by creating fear in the general population that is hugely disproportionate to the actual danger that the terrorists are capable of posing. Ironically, President Bush's response to the terrorist attack of September 11 was, in effect, to further distort America's political reality by creating a new fear of Iraq that was hugely disproportionate to the actual danger Iraq was capable of posing. That is one of the reasons it was so troubling to so many when in 2004 the widely respected arms expert David Kay concluded a lengthy, extensive investigation into the administration's claim that Iraq posed an enormous threat because it had weapons of mass destruction with the words We were all wrong.

As we now know, of course, there was absolutely no connection between Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. In spite of that fact, President Bush actually said to the nation at a time of greatly enhanced vulnerability to the fear of attack, "You can't distinguish between them."

History will surely judge America's decision to invade and occupy a fragile and unstable nation that did not attack us and posed no threat to us as a decision that was not only tragic but absurd. Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator, to be sure, but not one who posed an imminent danger to us. It is a decision that could have been made only at a moment in time when reason was playing a sharply diminished role in our national deliberations.

Thomas Jefferson would have recognized the linkage between absurd tragedy and the absence of reason. As he wrote to James Smith in 1822, "Man, once surrendering his reason, has no remaining guard against absurdities the most monstrous, and like a ship without rudder, is the sport of every wind."

- Al Gore, The Assault on Reason

Natural selection

2008-01-17T11:20:00.001-05:00

Police: Man Shoots Self During Robbery

KOKOMO, Ind. (AP) — A man accidentally shot himself in the groin as he was robbing a convenience store Tuesday, police said.

A clerk told police a man carrying a semiautomatic handgun entered the Village Pantry demanding cash and a pack of cigarettes. The clerk put the cash in a bag and as she turned to get the cigarettes, she heard the gun discharge.

Police say surveillance video shows the man shooting himself as he placed the gun in the waistband of his pants. The clerk wasn't injured.

A short time later, police found 25-year-old Derrick Kosch at a home with a gunshot wound to his right testicle and lower left leg.

Kosch was released from the hospital Tuesday and booked into the Howard County jail on a charge of armed robbery, criminal recklessness and battery. He is being held on a $100,000 cash bail. A jail official did not know if he had retained an attorney Wednesday.

The best laid plans

2007-12-28T15:12:00.000-05:00

After two decades of construction, Boston's Big Dig project is finally coming to an end (officially, as of December 31, 2007). At last count, the project has cost taxpayers over $14,600,000,000. Far worse, it has taken the lives of four workers and one civilian.

On the bright side, Boston's central artery has been transformed from this:

to this:

yay!

If the Big Dig had been my idea, I think I would be committing ritual suicide right about now.

Whaaaa?!

2007-12-21T14:09:00.000-05:00

I am curious (and somewhat dubious) to see what the late-night talk shows come up with when they return in January sans writers. Especially in Stephen Colbert's case, I believe he could still put together a funny show without the help of a full writing staff. The Daily Show also has a ton of on-screen talent who I believe are capable of being funny without a script.

But questions over the format of both shows -- which rely heavily on writers -- remained unanswered Thursday, with many segments of both thought to be off limits according to WGA strike rules.

Strike rules?! How do they get to have rules? Isn't this like a petulant child refusing to join in a game, and then trying to disrupt everyone else from having a good time? The WGA's stance strikes me as unfair, unreasonable, and downright un-American. There I said it; all striking workers are communists. Or, to use the modern term, terrorists.

Bottom line: even if hiring scab writers or other work-arounds are considered "against the rules" who cares? What are the writers going to do, strike harder? They would be crazy to bring any kind of lawsuit against the AMPTP, as that would surely end all negotiation talks between the two sides. The conventional wisdom is that writers need jobs more than producers need writers. If the WGA doesn't come to its senses soon, they will get what they deserve: a permanent vacation. Somebody wake up the Gipper and bring him back so he can fire these guys and start over.

Music to my ears

2007-12-11T23:29:00.000-05:00

After Talks Fail, Writers' Strike Could Drag On

"There's a huge transition in our business," Steven Bochco, creator of the TV hits "L.A. Law" and "NYPD Blue," said in a recent interview. "This may hasten the demise of the model that we've all worked under."

I would love to see this strike turn network television on its head. I've said it before and I'll say it again. With a few notable exceptions, unions are evil. If you aren't happy with your contract, go work somewhere else. If you can't get more money somewhere else, guess what? You don't deserve more money. Who needs television writers anyway? If it weren't for sports in HD, I would totally drop cable. Just give me the Internet and a good book.

How did we get here?

2007-12-10T22:42:00.000-05:00

Like many football fans, I was recently up in arms over the current feud between big cable and the NFL Network, which prevented me from watching Packers-Cowboys in the comfort of my own home (and will similarly prevent me from watching Pats-Giants on Dec. 29). But then I read this article by the Sports Guy, and realized that this is nothing new. I've always been annoyed that I can't watch any and every NFL game that I want to each week. Well, I could if I had DirecTV and was willing to pay for Sunday Ticket, but I don't and I'm not. That being said, there's a larger issue here that needs to be addressed. It's hinted at in this article about the Packers-Cowboys game:

The league hoped to get 70 cents per customer per month from the cable carriers for distribution on their popular basic digital tier. If the NFL could sell its network to cable companies across the country, including Comcast and Time Warner's 38 million subscribers, the rate would generate more than $300 million in subscription fees annually. That would be before a single second of commercial time was sold.

So, the NFL Network wants to get paid by both advertisers and the cable carriers. No big surprise, that's just how it works. But if you stop and think about it for a minute, why should it work that way? It seems to me the revenue stream should be flowing in the other direction. Advertisers pay big bucks to networks that have the best ratings, but those networks (at least in this case) are only able to achieve high ratings thanks to the millions of viewers who are watching on cable. The way I see it, I should be getting paid to watch commercials. How do I make this happen?

Worst exit strategy this side of Iraq

2007-10-05T22:11:00.000-04:00

Bungie Studios, makers of the wildly successful Halo video games, have proudly announced their renewed independence from Microsoft.

Isn't that a bit like Jennifer Anniston announcing her separation from Brad Pitt?

Back in 2000, Microsoft needed a game to help establish the Xbox as a contender in the console wars. They purchased Bungie for a reported $20 million. Now seven years later, Microsoft maintains complete ownership and control of what has become a billion-dollar franchise. Bungie are pretty much right back where they started, and it seems unlikely they will ever create another game as successful as Halo.

I doubt Jennifer will ever land another Brad, either.

Whose side are we on?

2007-09-06T23:46:00.001-04:00

I just caught a repeat of the Daily Show -- yes, this is where I get most of my news -- on which they discussed The U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, which is currently available on Amazon.com for ten bucks. One of the authors, Lieutenant Colonel John Nagl, explained that the manual was written because we are fighting an enemy that is able to learn and adapt, and we must be able to out-think as well as out-fight them.

Um, guys? Shouldn't the first step in out-thinking the enemy involve not selling them our counterinsurgency field manual?!

This is why

2007-08-31T12:58:00.000-04:00

The Halo universe is clearly the stuff of pulpy space opera, and the Master Chief is as hard-boiled as they come. Much of the action consists of the Master Chief shooting alien antagonists while swapping Eastwoodian one-liners with his sidekick, a computer program named Cortana who appears as a sexy hologram. But the Halo games also have a curiously lyrical quality about them. They're full of literary touches and evocative phrases--the Master Chief travels in a spaceship called the Pillar of Autumn. The Halo universe is rich in lore--gamers love to be there the way some people love to pretend they're in Jane Austen novels. The action isn't nonstop; instead it includes dramatic beats and even moments of melancholy solitude, with Romantic weather effects and sublime vistas and soaring Gregorian chants. The game has a moody, Wagnerian quality--the Master Chief is dwarfed by towering alien architecture that recalls Piranesi. Halo takes itself seriously as, if not art, certainly a spectacle. But art seems more apt....

[Bungie's] devotion is fueled by a belief, not shared by the world at large, that video games are an art form with genuine emotional meaning and that Halo 3 will be the premier example of that art.

Full article

Good thing she's pretty

2007-08-28T18:47:00.001-04:00

Arrr!

2007-08-26T10:21:00.000-04:00

Guns don't kill people, helicopters kill people

2007-08-23T21:18:00.000-04:00

Okay, I know guns kill a lot more people than helicopters do, but after reading about this latest disaster I can't help feeling that helicopters are unacceptably dangerous, even for a war zone.

We can't easily stop insurgents from shooting at our troops (well, we could pull out of Iraq, or at least stop arming them, but I digress). What we can control is the use of a vehicle which appears to be a flying death trap.

Lets look at some data. I got these numbers from icasualties.org. Are they a reliable source of information? Supposably.

The first thing I noticed when querying the database is that there are no fewer than five categories for helicopter-related deaths (well, six if you count one poor guy who fell out). The second thing I noticed is that there are nearly as many deaths due to non-hostile helicopter crashes as there are for hostile encounters.

Cause	Deaths
Total fatalities to date	4020
Hostile - helicopter crash	108
Hostile - helicopter crash (missile attack)	29
Hostile - helicopter down	2
Hostile - helicopter shot down	9
Non-hostile - helicopter crash	111
Total fatalities involving a helicopter	230

It looks like "missile attack" is a subset of crashes, but the others seem to be distinct categories, so I calculate a total of 230 helicopter-related deaths, or about 5.7% of the total fatalities to date. That might not sound like a lot, but keep in mind there are a lot of ways to die in a war zone. Three people died while disarming an IED. Would you rather go for a ride in a helicopter or disarm a bomb?

The next time someone offers me a ride on a military chopper, I think I'll pass. Whether A) it's being piloted by a kid who probably shouldn't even be allowed to drive a car, B) it's hovering noisily within range of enemy RPGs, or C) it just has sand in its rotors, I don't want to be on it.

It doesn't feel pity or remorse

2007-08-17T12:42:00.000-04:00

Armed Robots Pushed to Police

Armed robots -- similar to the ones now on patrol in Iraq -- are being marketed to domestic police forces, according to the machines' manufacturer and law enforcement officers. None of the gun-toting 'bots appear to have been deployed domestically, yet. Both cops and company officials say it's only a matter of time, however.

"Other than some R&D with the shotgun mount, we haven't used it operationally," Massachusetts State Police Trooper Mike Rogowski tells DANGER ROOM. "But they're on the way. They're coming."

Heh - "R&D with the shotgun mount," sounds like someone's been having some fun.

Foster-Miller, maker of the armed SWORDS robot for military use, is also actively promoting a similar model to domestic, civilian police forces. The Talon SWAT/MP is a "robot specifically equipped for scenarios frequently encountered by police SWAT [special weapon and tactics] units and MPs [military police]," a company fact sheet announces. It "can be configured with the following equipment:

• Multi-shot TASER electronic control device with laser-dot aiming.
• Loudspeaker and audio receiver for negotiations. ("You have 15 seconds to comply.")
• Night vision and thermal cameras.
• Choice of weapons for lethal or less-than-lethal responses
- 40 mm grenade launcher - 2 rounds
- 12-gage shotgun - 5 rounds
- FN303 less-lethal launcher - 15 rounds.

I'm familiar with the term "non-lethal" rounds, but what exactly does "less-lethal" mean? If I get shot with one of these will I only be sort-of dead?

Can't argue with that logic

2007-08-16T23:09:00.000-04:00

Seriously? The Daily Show doesn't even need writers anymore.

Damn You, YouTube!

2007-08-15T23:20:00.000-04:00

Dog doesn't taste like chicken

2007-08-02T00:04:00.001-04:00

If it did, I guarantee you no one would be calling for a lifetime ban of Michael Vick from the NFL. I'm just saying.

Hooray!

2007-07-13T09:35:00.000-04:00

Online Radio Is Saved; SoundExchange Will Not Enforce New Royalty Rates on Sunday

Freedom isn't free

2007-07-04T19:40:00.000-04:00

Neither is the National Highway System, for that matter.

A few weeks ago a NH couple made headlines for holing up in their Plainfield compound and refusing to pay taxes. Their position is that the US Constitution doesn't provide for the taxation of private citizens. This is a seductive argument which has attracted many advocates over the years for obvious reasons. The only problem is, we can't all suddenly decide not to pay taxes. This mentality is akin to that of an impatient motorist who goes whizzing by in the breakdown lane while the rest of us suckers are stuck in traffic. This tactic only works so long as most people are following the rules. If this is your justification for doing something, you're not principled, you're criminal.

Contrast this with another group of people who refuse to pay taxes because they don't want to fund the war in Iraq. Unlike the couple in NH, these people choose to live on a minimal income so as not to owe any taxes (both groups of tax evaders risk eviction, fines, and jail time). While I do respect the second group's sacrifice, what I don't understand is this: if they disagree with their country's politics, why not move? They could earn a decent living in some other country and pay taxes with a clear conscience.

I admit, the fact that over 50% of Americans voted for this dancing monkey -- not once, but twice -- has made me entertain the possibility of moving to Canada. Too bad Canada is so lame. As much as I disagree with this country's current administration, there is no place I'd rather live. The next time Texans start making noise about wanting to secede, maybe we should let 'em.

The truth hurts

2007-06-23T12:19:00.000-04:00

I know I'm a little behind in my reading, but did anyone else see this quote from Tim Duncan in the June 4th SI?

Duncan was reminded how lucky he was to come to San Antonio by a recent Sporting News cover that showed him in a Boston Celtics uniform, illustrating a story about how the league might have changed had the Celtics won the 1997 draft lottery. "I was fortunate -- as fortunate as the Spurs -- to land where I did," he says, citing the ownership of Peter Holt, the stewardship of Popovich and general manager R.C. Buford, even the quality of the facilities in San Antonio as positives. "It's not guaranteed if I did go somewhere else that I would have won a championship. Maybe things being different, I never get to that point, because people don't prepare, people don't draft, people don't put teams together the right way, people don't coach the right way. So I'm absolutely blessed having the situation that I'm in."

Damn lawyers

2007-06-08T08:49:00.000-04:00

ST. LOUIS - The state Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control is renewing its investigation into whether restaurant workers knew Josh Hancock was drunk but continued to serve alcohol to the Cardinals pitcher before his fatal crash....

Hancock's father, Dean Hancock of Tupelo, Miss., filed suit last month against Shannon's, Van Matre, the tow truck company and operator, and the man whose car was stalled on the highway.

I can understand suing the restaurant that served Josh the alcohol, but suing some random guy who was stalled on the highway, and the tow truck driver who was there to help him? These guys aren't responsible for Hancock's death, they're just innocent victims of a drunk driver.

If Josh's father has standing to sue on behalf of his dead son, shouldn't he also be held responsible for his son's actions? It seems only fair. So what if his son is dead? He started this. I would sue his ass right back.

All aboard!

2007-06-01T17:49:00.000-04:00

If you aren't already on the BronBron bandwagon, now's the time to hop aboard. Or rather, last night's game 5 was the time. Never one to shy away from hyperbole, Marv Albert called it one of the great performances in NBA history, and Steve Kerr called it Jordanesque. Not like we haven't heard that comparison before, but I guess he would know. The box score doesn't tell the whole story. I love when he drives to the hoop, glides past 3-4 defenders while somehow continuing to elevate, and finishes with a thunderous dunk. Hide the women and children! Kobe deserves consideration, but no other player has been this fun to watch since a certain other 23 hung up his Jordans.

	pos	min	fgm-a	3pm-a	ftm-a	off	def	tot	ast	pf	st	to	bs	pts
L.James	F	50:18	18-33	2-3	10-14	3	6	9	7	3	2	2	0	48

Probability 101

2007-05-22T12:55:00.000-04:00

Listening to Boston sports media talking about tonight's NBA draft lottery, I can't tell if they're all willfully deluded, or if they really don't understand probability. They typically all say something like, "The Celtics have a 37% chance of getting either the first or second pick, but there's still a chance they won't get either one. What would Boston do if they didn't get either Oden or Durant?"

I feel stupid even writing this, but 37% is less than 50%. That means it is unlikely that Boston will get either the first or second pick tonight. I'm guessing they'll pick fifth.

On the other hand, I have run ESPN's lottery and mock draft twice, and the Celts have picked Durant both times, so maybe we'll be okay. Hmmm... I wonder if the Sports Guy hacked into this somehow....

Where has the NBA been hiding this dude?

2007-05-12T00:32:00.000-04:00

How NOT to respond to tragedy

2007-04-23T11:09:00.000-04:00

This is so disappointing. In the latest installment of CYA politics, an Emmanuel College professor has been fired for pointing a marker at students and saying, "pow." Now, I don't know any details other than what I've just read in this article. Maybe there is more to it than that. But the article does state that most students were not offended by the demonstration.

Why can't people just admit that they don't have a solution? Why not just say, "I've never encountered this situation before, and I'm not sure how to proceed. I'm open to suggestions." Would that be so inexcusable? Instead, administrators and politicians feel they must act decisively, without taking adequate time to consider whether or not they are doing the right thing.

We don't know how to stop school shootings, but we can stop professors from talking about it, so we do that instead. We don't know how to stop terrorist bombings, but we can stop advertisers from putting lite brites on bridges, so we do that instead. We don't know how to find and stop Al-Qaeda, but we know how to bomb the shit out of Iraq, so we do that instead.

I don't know how to solve any of these problems, but I do know that firing a professor for trying to have a free and open discussion about the Virginia Tech massacre doesn't solve anything.

The only stat that matters

2007-03-29T09:10:00.000-04:00

With an array of pitches as sublime and mesmerizing as haiku, $100 million import Daisuke Matsuzaka could tip the American League balance of power to the Red Sox -- and explode the old myths about pampering pitchers

Over his eight seasons with Seibu, Matsuzaka compiled a 108-60 record with a 2.95 ERA while averaging a complete game every 2.8 starts. (The major league average in 2006 was a complete game every 33.8 starts.) His 13 complete games last year were more than the staffs of all but one major league team had.

This guy's a bona fide superhero. Either that or Major League pitchers are even bigger pussies than I thought. If Dice-K comes anywhere near that level of productivity in the States (and if the Sox let him) he'll be worth every penny of that $103 million.

Hey at least we've got Dice-K

2007-03-22T17:03:00.001-04:00

Red Sox will send Papelbon back to bullpen

Papelbon is coming off a sensational rookie season in which he had 35 saves and an 0.92 ERA. The 26-year-old right-hander was slated to be part of a strong starting rotation, but the Red Sox need a reliable closer because the 41-year-old Timlin has a strained side muscle and isn't going to be ready to start the season.

Couldn't that last sentence be rewritten as, "the Red Sox need a reliable closer because the 41-year-old Timlin is their closer?"

Manny being Manny

2007-03-20T22:58:00.000-04:00

Manny Ramirez: JENN-AIR Grill

Hi, I`m Manny Ramirez. I bought this AMAZING grill for about $4,000 and I used it once... But I never have the time to use it because I am always on the road. I would love to sell it and you will get an autographed ball signed by me =] Enjoy it, Manny Ramirez.

Right on, brother!

2007-03-20T21:58:00.000-04:00

Pete Bo Sizelove, 30, of Sacramento was arrested Saturday at Roseville Lincoln Mercury after he tried to break into the car he wanted to buy with a crowbar and then climbed aboard its roof with a Samurai sword and a sledge hammer.

Things I shouldn't know

2007-03-16T23:44:00.000-04:00

Apparently you can get a free flight voucher by peeing in an air-sickness bag.

To serve and protect

2007-03-16T13:35:00.000-04:00

This story makes Baltimore sound like a really fun place.

The Ringer

2007-03-06T14:01:00.000-05:00

Tatyana McFadden has always battled the odds. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, with spina bifida, which left her paralyzed from the waist down, she was abandoned by her birth mother.

Tatyana arrived at her first high school road meet last spring as a curiosity: the racer in the wheelchair. But by the time she reached the finish line in the 400 meters -- first -- fans saw her as a legitimate athlete and responded with cheers.

McFadden and her mother, Deborah, have been fighting for nearly a year to compete against students without disabilities. The objection: officials say her racing chair creates a safety hazard and gives her an unfair advantage. (The best wheelchair racers tend to be faster than able-bodied runners in longer races; McFadden usually finishes at or near the top in everything except sprints.)

Tatyana's story, while tragic, in no way entitles her to bring a wheelchair to a footrace. You might think I enjoy picking on handicapped athletes, but it seems like everyone else is willing to throw logic and reason out the window for the sake of being politically correct. If some mentally retarded guy decided to run for President, would everyone be afraid not to vote for him? Oh, wait....

Wiidiculous (sorry)

2007-02-22T22:48:00.000-05:00

In December Mickey DeLorenzo, a computer programmer in Philadelphia, hypothesized that he could lose weight by playing the Wii for 30 minutes a day. He lost nine pounds in six weeks and is on his way to becoming the next Jared of Subway fame. In January DeLorenzo signed a book deal, tentatively titled The Wii Workout and teamed up with Traineo.com, a social networking site for dieters and fitness buffs, to feature his new regime. "It's becoming something like a Richard Simmons show," says DeLorenzo, who's received dozens of fan emails. "People will write, 'You've inspired me to buy a Wii and start working out.'"

I can't decide what makes me feel dumber: that I just wasted my time reading this story, or that I'm not cashing in on this ridiculous trend. Hey! Media! I just took a dump and lost two pounds in fifteen minutes! Write a book about me!

What sport is this?

CYA Security

2007-02-22T13:31:00.000-05:00

Why Smart Cops Do Dumb Things

Or, Why We're All F'd

Boston, Jan. 31: As part of a guerilla marketing campaign, a series of amateur-looking blinking signs depicting characters in Aqua Teen Hunger Force, a show on the Cartoon Network, were placed on bridges, near a medical center, underneath an interstate highway and in other crowded public places.

Police mistook these signs for bombs and shut down parts of the city, eventually spending more than $1 million sorting it out. Authorities blasted the stunt as a terrorist hoax, while others ridiculed the Boston authorities for overreacting. Almost no one looked beyond the finger pointing and jeering to discuss exactly why the Boston authorities overreacted so badly. They overreacted because the signs were weird.

If someone left a backpack full of explosives in a crowded movie theater, or detonated a truck bomb in the middle of a tunnel, no one would demand to know why the police hadn't noticed it beforehand. But if a weird device with blinking lights and wires turned out to be a bomb -- what every movie bomb looks like -- there would be inquiries and demands for resignations. It took the police two weeks to notice the Mooninite blinkies, but once they did, they overreacted because their jobs were at stake.

This is Cover Your Ass security, and unfortunately it's very common.

. . .

People and organizations respond to incentives. We can't expect the Boston police, the TSA, the guy who runs security for the Oscars or local public officials to balance their own security needs against the security of the nation. They're all going to respond to the particular incentives imposed from above. What we need is a coherent antiterrorism policy at the national level: one based on real threat assessments instead of fearmongering, re-election strategies or pork-barrel politics.

Sadly, though, there might not be a solution. All the money is in fearmongering, re-election strategies and pork-barrel politics. And, like so many things, security follows the money.

We can't handle the truth

2007-01-25T12:28:00.000-05:00

Soldier admits murdering Iraqi detainees

The soldiers first told investigators they shot the detainees because they were attempting to flee -- a story they now say they made up -- and that commanders had given them orders to kill all military-age males on the mission.

See, this is why we're never going to "win" a war on terrorism. Because you just can't do stuff like this. And yet, if you're determined to fight a conventional war against an unconventional enemy, it's probably the only thing you can do.

An Unpopular Opinion?

Finally, fair use?

2007-01-08T13:26:00.000-05:00

It's been just over seven years since Shawn Fanning introduced the world to the Napster file sharing protocol, signaling the beginning of the end for the music industry's traditional brick-and-mortar business model.

Now, after 18,000 lawsuits (?!) and undisclosed millions paid to lawyers, the record labels may finally be coming around to the realization that they have only two choices: join us or die.

Ironically, this may also cause heartburn for the company that has been most successful in pioneering on-line music sales. Remember, the fundamental enabling technology for digital music sharing was not P2P networking, but MP3 encoding, which enables the compression of music files to about one tenth of their original size with no appreciable loss in sound quality. Apple's iTunes currently uses a proprietary AAC encoding format with built-in digital rights management (don't get me started).

For the record, I love iTunes and I buy music on a regular basis. As I type this, I'm listening to Radio Paradise. Whenever I hear a song I like I just look it up in the iTunes Store and drag it into a new playlist. The only thing missing is the ability to do whatever I want with that downloaded song, provided it constitutes fair use. Get on it.

Seven reasons why MP3 is the future of the music industry:

1. The labels don't have a choice

When CD sales finally tank completely, record labels will be faced with a tough decision: distributing music nearly exclusively through Apple's iTunes store or rethinking their approach to digital-rights management, or DRM, from the ground up.

2. Apple might be forced into interoperability

A class-action lawsuit accuses Apple of antitrust behavior due to the fact that songs bought from iTunes can only be played by iPods or iTunes (as well as cell phones made in partnership with Apple).

3. Thomson has endorsed selling watermarked MP3s

The labels' switch to the MP3 format wouldn't necessarily mean losing the ability to track unprotected files sold by online music stores. The Digital Watermarking Alliance (including Thomson Multimedia, which owns the right to license the MP3 codec), recently made a statement in support of the idea of major labels selling watermarked MP3s. This would let labels sell non-DRMed music without losing the ability to track the files.

Ideally, these serial, unique watermarks would be used not to sue people who release a purchased MP3 into file sharing networks (sophisticated users would probably figure out a way to strip the watermark before doing this anyway). Instead, the watermarks could be used to monitor playback in order to determine how to pay artists out of a shared revenue pool, tracking not only what was bought, but how much it was played.

Such a shift would automate accounting in the recording industry to an unprecedented degree -- another bitter pill it may have to swallow. They're suspected of using dodgy accounting to rip off artists (many of whom can't pay for prohibitively expensive accounting audits) for a long time.

4. Amazon is rumored to start selling MP3s by April

5. Sony: "DRMs are going to become less important"

6. People love AllofMP3.com

There's already a case study of what an MP3 store could look like: the Russian site AllofMP3.com, which people are still reporting access to, despite attempts to starve it of U.S. credit cards. Its popularity also indicates that digital music pricing should drop (a 10-cent to 25-cent per unprotected MP3 sounds about right to me).

Since increased sales of a digital good can't affect inventory, the labels would more than make up for the price drop by selling far more songs -- especially considering the endless targeting capabilities online music stores could eventually offer. (For instance, what if something like Pandora were used as a front end to an AllofMP3-type service?)

7. MP3 has future options

Although it's an aging technology, the MP3 format has been made over a couple of times. Coding Technologies has been working hard to give the MP3 format a future in terms of sound quality (MP3PRO) and surround sound (MP3 Surround).

Although they haven't taken off yet, these formats are reverse-compatible with MP3, unlike other advanced formats. This allows them to play on devices that support MP3s but not MP3PRO or MP3 Surround. And from what I understand, existing devices could add support for those with a simple firmware upgrade.

But the labels could also differentiate their MP3s from the versions available on file-sharing sites by offering a 320-Kbps bit rate and completely maxed-out, accurate ID3v2 tags.

I know I'd pay a quarter for better sound, lyrics that are synced to the music, BPM-based play lists and other things that such deep, accurate tagging would enable.

This place is dead anyway

2007-01-08T11:57:00.000-05:00

Hunt for planet same as ours
Search is vital, says Hawking

Today: “Is it entirely fanciful that human beings might find another home out there somewhere and, if so, should we be planning for it?”

Prof Hawking: “The long-term survival of the human race is at risk as long as it is confined to a single planet.

“Sooner or later disasters such as an asteroid collision or nuclear war could wipe us all all out.

“But once we spread out into space and establish independent colonies our future should be safe."

Good idea, Dr. H. Too bad Project Genesis won't be complete for another 280 years or so....

Give me a break

2007-01-02T20:36:00.000-05:00

I've had it with people trying to assume the moral high ground by saying they approve of executions, but only if you're polite about it. As I've said before, I am philosophically opposed to state-sanctioned execution, even for a-holes like Saddam. But I'll tell you what: if I ever wind up being hanged, feel free to insult me first. Names will never hurt me, but that broken neck hurts like a bitch.

Be careful what you wish for

2007-01-02T17:20:00.000-05:00

Lawmakers Keep Gay-Marriage Ban Proposal Alive

I am totally in favor of gay marriage, or marriage equality. It just seems like a no-brainer to me, as I'm sure it does to most people who have grown up in today's climate of understanding and acceptance. I'm embarrassed and a little sad for anyone who is fighting to prevent this. But I have to pause at statements like this one:

"The rights of minority groups should never be voted on by a majority of people. It's just not equality," said Ryan Brown, who supports gay marriage.

Uh, Ryan? It may or may not be equality, but it is democracy. There is a vocal minority of Americans who would prefer unrestricted access to firearms. Is that a good idea? The good of the many outweighs the good of the few. Hopefully in time the majority can be persuaded that marriage equality is good for everyone.

Truth and consequences

2006-12-29T11:38:00.000-05:00

Receptionist: How do you write women so well?

Melvin Udall: I think of a man, and I take away reason and accountability.

- As Good as It Gets

I love that line. Is it sexist and derogatory? Of course. Is it a sweeping generalization? Absolutely. Is it true?

The prosecutor in the Duke rape case, District Attorney Mike Nifong, is currently under fire for making inappropriate public statements regarding the case.

"Probably an exotic dancer would not be your first choice for unprotected sex."

"The guilty will stand trial."

More Quotes from N.C. State Bar complaint against Nifong

Prosecutorial Indescretion

Of all the strange, shoot-self-in-foot statements from Durham, N.C., District Attorney Mike Nifong in the last few days--and there are so many--one stands out. In explaining why he is continuing to prosecute three former Duke lacrosse players on kidnapping and sexual offense charges--despite dropping rape charges--Nifong told the New York Times, "If she says, yes, it's them, or one or two of them, I have an obligation to put that to a jury." Nifong is talking about the woman who says she was attacked in the bathroom after being hired to dance at a lacrosse-team party last March. In other words, the district attorney is claiming that as long as she continues to accuse any of the Duke guys, he must press charges against them. That's so basic a misunderstanding of his own job that it raises questions about whether he is even qualified to hold it.

So yes, Mr. Nifong is either politicking, incompetent, or perhaps a little of both. But there is an even more serious problem here. We may never know what really happened at that fraternity party, but given that the alleged victim has changed her story several times¹, her credibility is seriously in question. If it could somehow be proven that she lied, I believe she should face serious charges of her own, the least of which would be filing a false police report. It might seem like I am coming down too harshly on a woman who at the least is probably a victim of sexual harrassment and racial epithets. But if she did make up the rape charges, then she has unfairly done irreparable harm to the reputations of three men (especially to David Evans who, through no fault of his own, actually looks like a rapist). Far worse, she has made it that much harder for true rape victims to receive justice.

1. Conspiracy theorists may point out that all we know about the alleged victim's story is what the Durham police have told us. Just as all we know about bin Laden's involvement in 9/11 is what the Bush Administration has told us.

Oh, snap!

2006-12-28T23:04:00.000-05:00

And you thought Texas was eager to execute people.

Saddam Hussein Set to Die by Sunday

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Military and U.S. Intelligence leaders have told NBC News former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein could be executed by Sunday.

NBC News reports the U.S. Military has received a formal request to transfer Saddam to Iraqi authorities. It's one of the last steps required before Saddam's execution by hanging.

U.S. Intelligence leaders tell NBC News the execution is expected to occur by Sunday, possibly as early as Friday.

Saddam received the death sentence for the murders of 148 Shiites in the northern city of Dujail.

Give her a third chance

2006-12-19T22:37:00.001-05:00

Trump Tells Miss USA “You’re not fired.”

Miss USA, Tara Conner, will keep her crown and title. Conner has come under fire in recent weeks for allegedly partying, underage drinking, failing a drug test and making out with her roommate, Miss Teen USA.

Who's complaining?

--- UPDATE ---

Miss Nevada USA loses shirt then title

Miss Nevada USA was stripped of her title Thursday after racy photos of her appeared on the Internet, pageant officials said. Some of the photos show Katie Rees, 22, kissing other young women, exposing one of her breasts and pulling down her pants to show her thong underwear at a party in Tampa, Fla.

Stop the World, I want to get off

2006-12-14T15:11:00.001-05:00

Romney's '94 remarks on same-sex marriage could haunt him

"People of integrity don't force their beliefs on others, they make sure that others can live by different beliefs they may have," Romney is quoted as saying.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph! I can see why the Republicans are having second thoughts about this maniac.

I wonder if he saw it coming

2006-12-14T01:13:00.000-05:00

'Raymond' dad Peter Boyle dies in NYC

"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" is one of my favorite X-Files. I hadn't realized he won an Emmy for that episode. Another great character actor passes on.

Bush League

2006-12-09T22:35:00.000-05:00

Police Collect Bullet-Proof Vests For Soldiers

The local news is reporting this as a feel-good story about cops pitching in to support our troops. But you know what? This isn't a feel-good story, it's a goddamn embarrassment. We call ourselves the world's only superpower. We've allocated well over $300 billion to the war in Iraq. And we rely on donated vests to protect our soldiers?! This is what I've been talking about. Supporting our troops doesn't necessarily mean supporting our government. In this case, it's the exact opposite.

Thanks anyway

2006-11-30T11:47:00.000-05:00

The Supreme Court melts down over greenhouse gasses.

Scalia observes that there is a difference between an "air pollutant" and a "stratospheric pollutant." Milkey interrupts: "Respectfully, Your Honor. It is not the stratosphere. It's the troposphere." Scalia shoots back that he's not a scientist, laughing, "That's why I don't want to have to deal with global warming, to tell you the truth."

Nice. Dude, you have nine children! I looked it up.

Everyone should like what I like

2006-11-28T22:30:00.001-05:00

Unfortunately, not enough other people like The Nine. What the hell else are people doing Wednesday night at 10? If you're having sex or reading a book, that's cool, but if you've been watching something other than the Nine I want to talk to you.

Oh, apparently you're watching CSI:NY, currently rated #9 (ouch). Well, I guess that's okay. I like Gary Sinise, I've just never gotten into that show. The writing on all those CSIs is pedestrian at best. You know what's really unforgiveable? CSI:Miami is #2! Unless 18.5 million of you are watching for the unintentional comedy of David Caruso's "I'm not a good actor but it's okay because I'm aware of it" performance, you're all on notice. (I know I don't have 18.5 million readers but it's okay because I'm aware of it.)

The same thing happened with Over There last season. A timely, well-written and -acted drama about the war in Iraq, it was cancelled after one season for lack of interest. How can you not be interested? Again, unless you were either A) watching the show, or B) fighting in Iraq, you're useless to me.

Now I'm hooked on Day Break. Sure, it's totally derivative (think Groundhog Day meets 24), but it's a formula that works. Plus I like Taye Diggs. Just before this season I was literally thinking, why hasn't Taye Diggs done anything lately?, and now he's in a cool action serial Wednesday nights at 10. It's exactly what I wanted, and it probably won't last. It's drawing 2.7 million viewers a week. The Nine was just cancelled for averaging 4.1 million viewers. So do I keep watching Day Break in the hope it will survive, or just quit now? This is the self-fulfilling prophecy that Bill Simmons describes: if viewers fear a show will be cancelled, it almost certainly will be.

With TiVO, PPV and broadband content gaining ground, is this the beginning of the end for commercial advertising on television? At the very least it should be the end of Nielsen ratings.

Are you not entertained?

2006-11-27T16:45:00.000-05:00

What do you do if you're the world's worst director? You challenge your critics to a boxing match. How Uwe Boll fulfilled every filmmaker's deepest fantasy.

Bigotry is the new porn

2006-11-21T09:56:00.000-05:00

Oh, look who's suddenly back in the news!

I guess we're "lucky" to have even this low-quality video record of the event, but I wish it were better. I think the patrons showed remarkable restraint. In a different part of town I'm not sure Kramer would have made it out of there in one piece.

They say no publicity is bad publicity. In Richards' case, I don't see how this helps but I guess it couldn't hurt. In Gibsons's case, I think he just confirmed that he wasn't acting crazy in those Lethal Weapon movies.

They also say these things come in threes. Or at least that's what the radio DJ said this morning on my way to work. Anyone care to predict who will be next?

"That's hot"

Far Out

2006-11-08T15:01:00.000-05:00

With giant Saturn hanging in the blackness and sheltering Cassini from the sun's blinding glare, the spacecraft viewed the rings as never before, revealing previously unknown faint rings and even glimpsing its home world.

This marvelous panoramic view was created by combining a total of 165 images taken by the Cassini wide-angle camera over nearly three hours on Sept. 15, 2006. The full mosaic consists of three rows of nine wide-angle camera footprints; only a portion of the full mosaic is shown here. Color in the view was created by digitally compositing ultraviolet, infrared and clear filter images and was then adjusted to resemble natural color.

The mosaic images were acquired as the spacecraft drifted in the darkness of Saturn's shadow for about 12 hours, allowing a multitude of unique observations of the microscopic particles that compose Saturn's faint rings.

The narrowly confined G ring is easily seen here, outside the bright main rings. Encircling the entire system is the much more extended E ring. The icy plumes of Enceladus, whose eruptions supply the E ring particles, betray the moon's position in the E ring's left-side edge.

Interior to the G ring and above the brighter main rings is the pale dot of Earth. Cassini views its point of origin from over a billion kilometers (and close to a billion miles) away in the icy depths of the outer solar system.

Remedial Civics

2006-11-07T10:30:00.000-05:00

So...why don't I have to show identification to vote? I could walk in there with a phone book at 7 am and cast a dozen ballots easily. There's no line. Not that I would, but I could. It's such an obvious loophole that could be so easily fixed, I don't understand why it exists. I'm a six-year-old. Explain.

Beeronomics 101

2006-11-05T14:07:00.000-05:00

It has been brought to my attention that, for better or worse, the most important issue to me in this election may just be Ballot Question 1, concerning the sale of wine in grocery stores. The Prizblog invokes the classic argument about the benefits of a free market economy in lobbying for a Yes vote. The Bomber raises a more practical concern as reason to vote No.

But as I visited my neighborhood liquor store today to stock up before the games, a third argument occurred to me. Today's loss leader was Bud and Bud Light 30-packs for $19.99. A tempting offer, but there was never a real chance I would be swayed from my old standby Miller Lite. And yet, as I pondered just how much more I would be willing to pay for my preferred brand of cheap domestic beer, I began to wonder about the economic repercussions of voting Yes on 1. Suppose this legislation passes and more grocery stores begin selling wine. The expectation is that they will be able to sell it for less, forcing liquor stores to lower their prices. Certainly that's why the liquor stores oppose the legislation.

The problem is, the liquor stores would still maintain a quasi-monopoly on beer and liquor sales. If they are forced to lower their prices on wine in order to compete, the logical conclusion is that they will raise their prices on beer and liquor to compensate. In fact I'm a little surprised the liquor stores haven't used this angle in their own campaign. Although this legislation may be a stepping stone in the direction of allowing grocery stores to sell beer as well, in the short term it seems like a Yes vote would end up costing me money. And frankly I don't care how much wine costs. So unless someone can supply a counterargument between now and Tuesday, I'm voting No on Question 1.

Preaching to the choir

2006-10-29T22:32:00.000-05:00

The Crusade Against Religion

It's an interesting article on atheism; If you don't have time to read all eight pages, here are a few choice excerpts:

At dinner parties or over drinks, I ask people to declare themselves. "Who here is an atheist?" I ask.

Usually, the first response is silence, accompanied by glances all around in the hope that somebody else will speak first. Then, after a moment, somebody does, almost always a man, almost always with a defiant smile and a tone of enthusiasm. He says happily, "I am!"

But it is the next comment that is telling. Somebody turns to him and says: "You would be."

"Why?"

"Because you enjoy pissing people off."

"Well, that's true."

This type of conversation takes place not in central Ohio, where I was born, or in Utah, where I was a teenager, but on the West Coast, among technical and scientific people, possibly the social group that is least likely among all Americans to be religious. Most of these people call themselves agnostic, but they don't harbor much suspicion that God is real. They tell me they reject atheism not out of piety but out of politeness. As one said, "Atheism is like telling somebody, 'The very thing you hinge your life on, I totally dismiss.'" This is the type of statement she would never want to make.

This is the statement the New Atheists believe must be made -- loudly, clearly and before it's too late.

. . .

"Look at slavery," he says. We are at a beautiful restaurant in Santa Monica, near the public lots from which Americans -- nearly 80 percent of whom believe the Bible is the true word of God, if polls are correct -- walk happily down to the beach in various states of undress. "People used to think," Harris says, "that slavery was morally acceptable. The most intelligent, sophisticated people used to accept that you could kidnap whole families, force them to work for you, and sell their children. That looks ridiculous to us today. We're going to look back and be amazed that we approached this asymptote of destructive capacity while allowing ourselves to be balkanized by fantasy. What seems quixotic is quixotic -- on this side of a radical change. From the other side, you can't believe it didn't happen earlier. At some point, there is going to be enough pressure that it is just going to be too embarrassing to believe in God."

. . .

There's good evidence from research by anthropologists such as Pascal Boyer and Scott Atran that a grab bag of cognitive predispositions makes us natural believers. We hear leaves rustle and we imagine that some airy being flutters up there; we see a corpse and continue to fear the judgment and influence of the person it once was. Remarkable progress has been made in understanding why faith is congenial to human nature -- and of course that still says nothing about whether it is true. Harris is typically severe in his rejection of the idea that evolutionary history somehow justifies faith. There is, he writes, "nothing more natural than rape. But no one would argue that rape is good, or compatible with a civil society, because it may have had evolutionary advantages for our ancestors." Like rape, Harris says, religion may be a vestige of our primitive nature that we must simply overcome.

. . .

Among the New Atheists, Dennett holds an exalted but ambiguous place. Like Dawkins and Harris, he is an evangelizing nonbeliever. He has campaigned in writing on behalf of the Brights and has written a book called Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon. In it, the blasting rhetoric of Dawkins and Harris is absent, replaced by provocative, often humorous examples and thought experiments. But like the other New Atheists, Dennett gives no quarter to believers who resist subjecting their faith to scientific evaluation. In fact, he argues that neutral, scientifically informed education about every religion in the world should be mandatory in school. After all, he argues, "if you have to hoodwink -- or blindfold -- your children to ensure that they confirm their faith when they are adults, your faith ought to go extinct."

White & Nerdy

2006-10-12T16:55:00.000-04:00

Weird Al's still got it. It being the weirdness.

I don't recall

2006-10-06T13:14:00.000-04:00

Only integrity is revealed

He has already sat down with his 6-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son and explained that their daddy might be going to jail. This is the part that cuts hardest at San Francisco Chronicle reporter Mark Fainaru-Wada, but he has pledged to endure it to preserve the integrity of his work.

"Yes, the family issue clearly has been the most difficult part of all of this," said Fainaru-Wada, who along with fellow Chronicle reporter Lance Williams faces up to 18 months in jail for refusing to give up the sources that leaked them grand jury testimony in the Barry Bonds/BALCO case, information they used to write some of the most significant stories the sport has ever seen and the best-selling book "Game of Shadows."

"My wife and I did sit down with the kids," said Fainaru-Wada. "It was a very difficult conversation. We just tried to tell them that I made a promise that I felt was really important to keep and that I might have to go to jail because of that. But we also said that not everybody who goes to jail is a bad person."

Is it integrity or naivete that is revealed? Whatever happened to simply saying, "I don't recall?" It worked just fine for Reagan (at the time we didn't realize he was being truthful). When asked to reveal a source, why not simply state, "I failed to write it down, and I don't recall that information." At this point you have answered the question, however unsatisfactorily, and are therefore not in contempt of court. The prosecution may try to discredit you as a witness, or even attempt to prove perjury, but what are the chances of that happening? It seems like a much better option than possibly going to jail for 18 months.

Can someone explain this to me, like I'm a six-year-old?

I think I've found your problem

2006-10-02T13:37:00.000-04:00

Just in case you're still wondering whatever happened to Saturday Night Live, look no further than the opening credits. Did you ever notice how they would list the regular cast members and then say "featuring" before listing the rookies? That's because those rookies had yet to prove that they could contribute to making the show funny on a regular basis. On Saturday night there was no list of "featured" cast members. That's not because they've all proven themselves. With the possible exceptions of Darrell Hammond and Amy Poehler, none of them has.

Here's the Comcast cable guide entry:

"Dane Cook; the Killers", (2006), Dane Cook hosts and the Killers perform as the 32nd season premieres. Cast members include Darrell Hammond, Maya Rudolph, Seth Meyers, Amy Phoehler, Fred Armisen, Will Forte, Kenan Thompson, Jason Sudeikis, Bill Hader, Andy Samberg and Kristen Wiig (Comedy).

The original SNL cast called themselves the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players." The implication of course was that most of them were destined for greater things. Take another look at that list of current cast members. Not one of them will ever be ready for prime time. What is Lorne Michaels doing? Is Will Farrell the last of a dying breed?

Lorne did invite a comedian to host the season premiere, so it seems like he wants the show to be funny. Dane Cook may be obnoxious but at least he's trying to make the audience laugh. The rest of the cast looks like their car just broke down in the wrong part of town.

The show opens with the de rigueur political satire skit, but the jokes fall mostly flat. Will Forte as President Bush cannot compare to Will Farrell. That's not his fault, that's just how it is. But the next skit is actually funny. Making fun of the inane airport security rules is always good for a few laughs ("It's funny because it's true"). While Forte can't do a convincing Bush impression, playing a creepy weirdo comes naturally.

TSA instructor: We have loosened some of the restrictions; you can now carry up to 3 oz. of fluids or gels with you on the plane....

TSA trainee: Why 3 oz?

Instructor: We have determined that 3 oz. of liquid explosives is not enough to blow up the plane.

Kenan Thompson, as trainee: But 4 oz. is enough...?

Poehler, as trainee: What if I only carried 3 oz. of explosive with me, but secretly arranged to meet up with someone else on the plane so we could combine our explosives to make more than 3 oz?

Instructor #1: You want to handle this one?

Instructor #2: No!

Forte, as trainee: What if I'm not carrying 3 oz. of fluid, but I'm confident I can produce 3 oz. once I'm on the plane?

Instructor: You would produce 3 oz. of fluid?

Forte: Or a gel.

The next skit features Fred Armisen playing Hugo Chavez hosting his own talk show on Venezuela's only television channel. It's a funny concept, but again the execution falls flat. Note to Fred: if all your characters are essentially the same parody of a wacky emcee on Telemundo, maybe you should go work for Telemundo. On a side note, my 6-month-old son thinks you're hilarious, so you've got that going for you. Note to Hammond: you're not fooling anyone. Your "impression" of Pervez Musharraf is basically a toned-down version of your Ahnold impression without the gap-tooth makeup. It might be time to think about retirement.

Next up is a digital short entitled "Cubicle Fight." This is some creative comedy, and I would actually like to see more along these lines. You might have heard of a little video called "Lazy Sunday," arguably the funniest thing to come out of SNL in some time. If they can't be funny live, they can at least throw some canned funny into the mix.

I think Bill Hader was hired solely for his spot-on impression of Al Pacino. That's fine, but use him for something more ambitious than "Al Pacino checks his bank balance." That's sort of funny in a stupid way, but mostly it's just stupid. Which brings up an important point: the actors are only half of the equation. The writers deserve equal credit for sucking. With Tina Fey moving to 30 Rock, I'm afraid the SNL writing team now consists entirely of the CareerBuilder monkeys.

On the plus side, Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler have a good chemistry together on Weekend Update. That could work, if only they could think of funny stuff to say about the news. The Brian Williams cameo was also a good idea. They should do more cameos. At this point cachet is about all SNL's got left over shows like MadTV.

The comedy always goes downhill after the Update, and this week the drop is precipitous. The next skit involves a couple of Poland Spring delivery guys who are drinking all the profits. At the end of the skit the guys joke that SNL should use what just happened to them as a skit, but "only the funny part, and that ended a long time ago." Guys, acknowledging that you're not funny doesn't make it okay. You're getting paid to be funny. What's up?

By the way, I like some of The Killers songs on the radio, but their lead singer is terrible in person. It's like really bad karoake. Maybe he's sick or something, I don't know. And what's up with Earl Hickey on drums?

The last skit begins with Amy Poehler being effortlessly goofy and amusing as Farrah Fawcet. As I hinted at the beginning, I think Poehler is one of the few bright lights in this cast, someone who can manage to make you laugh even when the material stinks. After taping a quick public service announcement, "Farrah" trips on over to another stage to join a skit involving a bar at closing time. This skit seems entirely appropriate, as Dane Cook kicks out one character after another. For most of the cast, it's time to go home.

Yikes

2006-09-22T11:10:00.000-04:00

Dear middle-aged woman behind the Dunkin' Donuts counter,

I am legitimately concerned for your well-being. Do you have someone to take care of you?

This morning I asked you for a medium mocha Coolata with no whip cream. You nodded confidently and went off to work. Moments later you returned with a cup of dark brown sludge and asked if I would like anything else. Now, I don't like to tell other people how to do their jobs, but I wasn't about to buy that, so I told you that it didn't look right to me. In hindsight, I should have tried to explain that a mocha Coolata contains both syrup and coffee. I was hoping you would ask one of your colleagues for direction. Anyway I wouldn't know how to tell you the exact recipe. That's not my job.

You mumbled something about me not wanting syrup, and then hurried off again. I figured you might be able to make a regular Coolata, so I let it go. Disturbingly, your next attempt was clear. Do you even realize that you just tried to sell me a cup of ice? I said that definitely doesn't look right, and suggested that I would just get an orange juice instead. You wouldn't hear of it and, determined to get my order right, hurried off again.

One of these things
just doesn't belong here...

At this point I thought you must realize that you have no idea how to make a Coolata, and would ask someone for help. And I did see you speak to someone else behind the counter. Then I watched you place a cup under the spout of the coffee machine, push a button, and wait for something to happen. When nothing did, to my utter amazement you continued on to the syrup dispenser as if everything were right as rain. You then made your way back to me with a cup of sludge even blacker than the first. I mean this was black hole black. Would you drink that?

So in closing, thank you for the donuts and orange juice, and seriously, good luck!

Your tax dollars at work

2006-09-20T19:39:00.000-04:00

Back in February I wondered about the efficacy of these "above the influence" ads.

If You Can't Get Them to Stop Using Drugs, at Least You Can Get Them to Make Fun of You

A Government Accountability Office report on research tracking the impact of the federal government's $1.2 billion anti-drug ad campaign concludes that "the evaluation provides credible evidence that the campaign was not effective in reducing youth drug use...."

In fact, during some periods and for some subgroups, exposure to the ads was significantly associated with an increased tendency to smoke pot.

With the Bush Administration focused on the war on terror, it's good to see they haven't forgotten about financing the war on drugs.

Tribute in Light

2006-09-15T14:36:00.000-04:00

Any questions (no questions)?

2006-09-12T16:27:00.000-04:00

I was recently sent a link to this article on the war in Iraq. The author makes some intelligent, reasonable arguments, and I don't necessarily disagree with any of his specific points. But the overall position of the paper seems to be that if you are not totally on board with the war on terrorism then you are part of the problem.

And our politicians have never seen a difficult issue they can't run away from. Thank God we didn't have a lot of these guys around when we were fighting the Germans and the Japanese. At the first sign of pain we would have negotiated away Hawaii and given Hitler time to develop his own A-bomb.

In fact, the sentiment I hear most frequently from responsible politicians in Washington is that the Bush Administration has gotten us into a bad situation and now we're stuck. Pulling out of Iraq too soon would only make things worse. But are we doing everything we can to make the best of a bad situation?

It isn't pretty for the troops. The enemy knows we are losing our resolve. This encourages them to be even more aggressive and to do even more to disrupt things. And the guys on the ground in Iraq try not to get killed while all the deep thinkers back in the States decide where we go from here.

In truth it is the current administration which has repeatedly failed our troops, by sending them into harm's way with inadequate training, shabby armor, and sporadic air support. As I recently pointed out, we've already spent over $300 billion on the war in Iraq. I wonder where all that money is going?

The one clear message you can take out of all of this is that our country is no longer ready or willing to fight a long war anywhere or for any reason. Instead of determined survivors, we have now evolved into a nation of fearful watchers who can't even be relied upon to support each other.

It's really frightening to me that so many Americans have been brainwashed into believing that questioning our goverment's policies is unpatriotic. If you disagree with how the war is being prosecuted, then you don't support our troops. If you question the motives of our leaders, then you hate freedom.

I keep coming back to an essay by Paul Graham entitled What You Can't Say.

I suspect the biggest source of moral taboos will turn out to be power struggles in which one side only barely has the upper hand. That's where you'll find a group powerful enough to enforce taboos, but weak enough to need them.

Most struggles, whatever they're really about, will be cast as struggles between competing ideas. The English Reformation was at bottom a struggle for wealth and power, but it ended up being cast as a struggle to preserve the souls of Englishmen from the corrupting influence of Rome. It's easier to get people to fight for an idea. And whichever side wins, their ideas will also be considered to have triumphed, as if God wanted to signal his agreement by selecting that side as the victor.

It seems obvious to me there are certain questions that the Bush Administration doesn't want to answer, so they endeavor to make those questions taboo.

Al Gore cautions that our own democracy may be threatened by the increasing corporatization of American media. The press is partly to blame, but ultimately the responsibility rests on each of us.

Be patriotic. Support our troops. Keep asking questions.

United 93, again

2006-09-09T23:52:00.001-04:00

I just watched United 93 again in recognition of the five-year anniversary, or something. It doesn't get any easier. If anything I felt it even more intensely this time. I also paid more attention to some of the details.

I've already said my piece on the consipiracy theory aspect of this story. In that post, I stressed that it is important to keep in mind that this is one man's interpretation of what happened. But I think we can assume that most of the key elements of the timeline are represented accurately, as they have been corroborated by multiple sources.

So today I'd like to talk about the military's role in the events of that day, as depicted in the film. As soon as the NORAD commander confirms that hijackers are flying commercial airliners into buildings in Manhattan, he gives the order to scramble fighters from Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod. Some time later we hear him complaining that he can't protect the whole Eastern Seaboard with four planes. When it becomes apparent that Washington DC is also a target, he wastes no time in scrambling fighters from Langley AFB in Virginia. Soon after he is told that Langley was only able to scramble two fighters, and they are unarmed.

So here we are. The US spends almost as much money on its military as all other countries in the world combined (see Why We Fight). It's called the Department of Defense. Where's the defense? Our nation's capital is under attack, and the best we can come up with is two unarmed planes? Following 9/11 the general feeling was that we should cut the military some slack because this was a totally unprecedented attack and the hijackers were using our own domestic flights as cruise missiles. Well, that's all true.

Nevertheless, some sort of air attack on the continental US is not beyond the realm of possibility. Certainly it is something for which we should be prepared, if in fact we have any intention of being reasonably prepared to defend our homeland.

Since 9/11 we've allocated over $300 billion just for the war in Iraq.

I wonder how much we've spent on defense?

Shut up already!

2006-08-31T22:34:00.000-04:00

God I hate election years. Here's a list of the top 5 most annoyingly repetitive commercials on TV in MA right now:

5. Deb Goldberg: She fought for our homes

4. Tom Reilly: I'll do the opposite of whatever the Republicans do

3. Deval Patrick: My mom was poor and now I'm rich

2. Kerry Healey: I promise I won't change anything

1. HEAD ON: Apply directly to the forehead

I know that last one has nothing to do with politics, but that's just the exception that proves the rule. These four campaign ads are almost as annoying as what just might be the most annoying commercial of all time. Seriously, is that HEAD ON commercial designed to cause headaches?

On a side note, Tom Reilly's been spamming my inbox too, so I'm twice as unlikely to vote for him. I guess I just want my leaders to leave me the f--- alone.

Raise your hand

2006-08-29T17:09:00.000-04:00

...if you just Googled "irregular heartbeat" and "steroids."

Ortiz sidelined with irregular heartbeat

Mostest Valuable Player

2006-08-21T15:06:00.000-04:00

These guys deserved a trophy

Manny Ramirez deserves (even) more credit than he receives. I admit part of the problem is his propensity for taking a play off here and there. But hey, that's just Manny being Manny.

A couple weeks ago, after Ortiz hit his umpteenth game-winning homer and everyone started making "Most Valuable Papi" signs, NESN color man Jerry Remy wondered on-air why teams haven't started intentionally walking Ortiz in critical situations, like they often do with Bonds and other home run threats.

The answer is so simple and obvious, it is too often taken for granted; Manny bats next.

[Ramirez] has a higher on-base percentage than David Ortiz (.431 to .397); a higher slugging percentage than Ortiz (.619 to .616); he's in the top six in the American League in OBP, OPS, RBI, HRs, walks and slugging.

Lately, the best Manny can hope for is to be credited as one half of the "greatest hitting combo of this generation," as he and Ortiz were referred to by ESPN commentators over the weekend. Manny has shown an interest in leaving Boston before. If he starts getting the credit he deserves, then maybe we can keep the "greatest hitting combo" in Boston long enough for Theo's long term plan to come together.

By the way, Joe Torre has at times over the weekend opted to pitch to Ortiz and intentionally walk Manny. The Yankees are about to complete a five-game sweep of the Red Sox. Coincidence?

Reason vs. Religion

2006-08-21T15:00:00.000-04:00

Wife needs one-day marriage after drunken divorce

KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - Islamic clerics in eastern India have ruled that a woman divorced by her husband in a fit of drunkenness can remarry him only after she takes another husband for one day, police said Monday.

Ershad, a rickshaw puller, uttered the word "talaq," or divorce, three times earlier this month while he was drunk, and when news leaked out in their village in eastern Orissa state, the clerics said they must separate.

"The couple had kept it under wraps and continued to stay together but the clerics ruled that since Ershad uttered the word talaq three times, it constituted a divorce," district police chief Shatrughan Parida said over the telephone.

What, is that like saying Beetlejuice?! (Note I only said it once).

Under the rules, the woman, who is a mother of three, must marry another man and obtain a divorce from him before she can be reunited with Ershad, the clerics in the local mosque said.

The clerics have said the man the woman marries temporarily must be 70 years of age, Parida said.

I don't even know where to begin making fun of these rules. Is a one-day sham union somehow supposed to preserve the sanctity of marriage? And why does the dude have to be 70? Is that at least 70, or exactly?

I can't begin to understand this, so I'll just add it to the list....

Wife needs one-day marriage after drunken divorce
New baby means end of coaching at Feehan

Wait, the Earth isn't flat?

2006-08-16T13:03:00.000-04:00

Nine no longer: Panel declares 12 planets

The solar system has 12 planets.

That is the conclusion, to be announced today, of an international panel formed to devise a scientific definition of a planet and settle an increasingly intense dispute over whether Pluto qualifies. The panel suggests retaining Pluto and immediately adding three new planets to the nine that are familiar to any schoolchild: Ceres, currently considered a large asteroid; Charon, now considered a moon of Pluto; and Xena, a recently discovered object that is larger than Pluto....

The result of this reconfiguration is a jarring new view of the Earth's neighborhood. Between Mars and Jupiter is a vast belt of asteroids, presided over by the planet Ceres, named for the Roman goddess of agriculture. At the solar system's fringes is another vast belt of icy objects, the plutons, with Xena being the largest known, slowly orbiting the sun.

There are 53 objects that meet the panel's criteria and probably many more to be discovered, according to Michael Brown, an astronomer at the California Institute of Technology who discovered Xena. (Brown dubbed the body Xena after the television series about a warrior princess, but it is officially known as "2003 UB313," and has not been given a permanent name.) The total number of planets, Brown said, could easily climb above 100....

This challenging new portrait of the solar system should be seen as an opportunity, according to Michael Smith, a science textbook author and seventh-grade science teacher in Delaware. The decision helps illustrate, he said, that science is not a static set of facts, but a constant conversation. He said he was eager for school to start so that he could share the findings with his students and lead a discussion about all the different objects in the solar system, how they might be grouped, and how this might change as new information comes in.

"I am thrilled," he said.

Me too. =-)

It's the economy, stupid

2006-08-11T13:20:00.000-04:00

Drugs: Sports' Prisoner's Dilemma

In the end, doping is all about economics. Athletes will continue to dope because the prisoner's dilemma forces them to do so. Sports authorities will either improve their detection capabilities or continue to pretend to do so -- depending on their fans and their revenues. And as technology continues to improve, professional athletes will become more like deliberately designed racing cars.

It's on like Google Kong

2006-08-11T10:44:00.000-04:00

First there was calendar.google.com, now there is spreadsheets.google.com, not to mention gmail...

As soon as they come out with presentations.google.com you can stick a fork in MS Office. MS has been talking about going on-line with their applications for a while now but Google is doing it first, and well.

But can he do it blindfolded?

2006-08-07T14:43:00.000-04:00

Pastrana Electrifies Crowds With His Theatrics

If I were to attempt a single back-flip on a motorcycle, I would inevitably die in spectacular fashion. So I have no real sense of how difficult this is, but the crowd seems duly impressed.

This is your brain on drugs

2006-08-02T16:17:00.000-04:00

My dog ate my urine sample

Well since you put it that way, I'm through defending these guys. They're all a bunch of cheating liars.

I do have to give props to American sprinter Dennis Mitchell for his explanation of high testosterone levels (8A).

Regarding Spanish walker Daniel Plaza (14), all I have to say is, you're a race walker. Why are you taking drugs? What an all-around ridiculous person he must be.

Freak-a-leek

2006-07-28T10:23:00.000-04:00

Body Worlds 2: Opens July 30 at Boston's Museum of Science.

Check out the video -- it could easily be a trailer for this summer's next horror flick.

Baby Bush Toys

2006-07-25T14:40:00.000-04:00

Just thought this was funny.

http://www.babybushtoys.com/

The exception that proves the rule

2006-07-23T11:58:00.000-04:00

One thing that duct tape can't do: hold up 3,000-lb. slabs of concrete.

Bolts have falled (sic) out before epoxy sets,” one inspector for the management firm Bechtel/ Parsons Brinckerhoff wrote in November 1994. “Crew is now using duct tape to hold bolt to ceiling.”

- Crews used duct tape to hold up slabs

Corruption, Murder at Shawshank Bechtel

2006-07-20T13:50:00.000-04:00

Greed.

One of the seven deadly sins, greed also seems to be the underlying principle of many (all?) commercial enterprises. From the shareholders' perspective, at least, this is a good thing. We all want as much return on our investment as possible.

But when a company's profits come at the cost of severe financial (even physical) harm to the consumer or taxpayer, that enterprise has crossed the line from commercial to criminal, and it must be stopped (see: Enron). In the case of Bechtel, the corruption that led to billions of dollars in cost overruns for Boston's Big Dig project has now resulted in the death of an innocent commuter. If Bechtel's criminal negligence was not apparent before, surely it is now laid bare.

Emotional Farewell to Tunnel Victim

Workmanship and design of tunnel are called into question

I can't imagine anybody signing off on a design of suspending 3-ton concrete panels such that the failure of any one hanger would lead to 12 tons of concrete coming down on the highway," said Steve Banzaert, who teaches a course in "spectacular failures in engineering" at MIT.

There are reports that Big Dig officials were warned about the ceiling tiles as far back as 1999, and that engineers who raised the warnings were relieved of duty.

Will this tragedy finally provide enough incentive to halt Bechtel's relentless march toward ever greater profits? Or will the juggernaut be allowed to continue its heedless rampage unchecked?

By the way, Bechtel is also the lead contractor in charge of building a nuclear waste dump in Hanford, WA. The project is over budget and behind schedule, and work has continued even though the design is based on a seismic analysis which is now known to be inaccurate. [Lethal And Leaking]

His judgment cometh, and that right soon?

The sky is falling

2006-07-13T10:58:00.000-04:00

An increase in global temperatures will lead to an intensification of the hydrological cycle. This is because an increase in surface air temperature causes an increase in evaporation and generally higher levels of water vapor in the atmosphere. In addition, a warmer atmosphere is capable of holding more water vapor. The excess water vapor will in turn lead to more frequent heavy precipitation when atmospheric instability is sufficient to trigger precipitation events. Intense precipitation can result in flooding, soil erosion, landslides, and damage to structures and crops.

Early Warning Signs

For the 2006 north Atlantic hurricane season, NOAA is predicting 13 to 16 named storms, with eight to 10 becoming hurricanes, of which four to six could become 'major' hurricanes of Category 3 strength or higher.

NOAA PREDICTS VERY ACTIVE 2006 NORTH ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON

This is the way the world ends

2006-07-06T16:12:00.000-04:00

Fiddling while Rome burns

2006-07-06T14:35:00.000-04:00

Ebell spoke about the "scientific activists" having their agendas, how global warming is good for them because it keeps their research projects well funded. You know what? He's probably right, although I'd argue that this is money well spent. Everybody's got an agenda these days; this is no selfless age. A free market, über alles, is CEI's agenda. People who believe in letting market forces create some kind of equilibrium believe in it absolutely. I don't happen to share that view.

But ideology isn't the point. The health of the planet -- our only planet -- that's the point.

What can we conclude? How about this: Even if it's not 100 percent certain that we're rushing headlong toward some kind of ecological tipping point -- even if there's room for argument -- why argue at all?

Look. Something is happening out there. What matters here is the planet, not whose economic system prevails. Can an unfettered free market settle things? Great, use it. Would heavy regulation of private industry be more effective? Then do that. Do what it takes to get the job done. We may get only one shot. I'm not willing to put all my chips on 32 red.

How about you?

Full article

Super Size My FX

2006-07-04T20:14:00.000-04:00

FX has some of my favorite shows on television:

30 Days Season 2 premieres Wednesday, July 26 at 10PM
Good show from Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me). Last season he only did the first and last episodes. I'd like to see him do more, but I guess he has a life.

The Shield Season 6 begins early 2007
Actually I'm not as crazy about this one as some people are, but I still recognize it as a cut above.

Over There
Ah, crap, this was cancelled due to low ratings. I'm holding all of you responsible.

Rescue Me Tuesdays 10PM
Now in season 3, it's not as good as it's ever been, but it's still entertaining. Tommy Gavin is my hero.

Sprinkle in some guy movies and syndicated re-runs, and I probably watch FX as much as any other channel. So, can we take up a collection or something and buy them an HD feed? Isn't FX owned by Rupert Murdoch the multi-billionaire? WTF? Maybe this isn't even up to FX but just Comcast being Comcastic. I want to know.

United 93

2006-07-04T03:21:00.000-04:00

Last October I hinted that I didn't agree with the general consensus of how United Airlines Flight 93 came to an end on 9/11. Since then the story of UA 93 has been made into a feature film, and a damn good one. Credit writer/director Paul Greengrass for keeping the drama in check, with just the right sense of urgency and deadly seriousness. When a director can take a story to which everyone more or less knows the ending and still manage to keep the audience riveted right up to the end, he knows what he's doing (see: James Cameron, Titanic, highest grossing film of all time).

United 93 has been widely praised, in large part for its faithful recreation of the day's events. And this is why I feel compelled to rant.

If you haven't done so already, check out the Complete 911 Timeline for United Airlines Flight 93. Specifically:

9:58 a.m.: Ed Felt Said to Describe Explosion and White Smoke from Bathroom Call

(Before 10:06 a.m.): Fighters Trailing Flight 93?

(Before 10:06 a.m.): Flight 93 Breaks Up Prior to Crash?

These details have been reported by multiple respected news outlets. I can personally remember hearing reports of these events on television in the hours after the attacks.

It seems most people have either forgotten about these reported events, or made up their minds that they never happened.

At the end of the film, which reviewers have praised for its fidelity, it states that no fighter jets were within 100 miles of Flight 93 at the time of the crash. At no point during the final action sequence could I hear an explosion or see white smoke out the plane window. Now, I have absolutely no problem with a filmmaker saying, "This is what I think happened, so I'm telling the story this way." The problem I have is that almost every single reviewer says something to the effect of, "this is the closest you will get to an actual account of exactly what happened," as if the film represented real-life video evidence.

I'd like to think that people are smart enough and independent enough to know the difference. I'm just not hearing that so far....

Ah, college

2006-06-26T11:10:00.000-04:00

This is an awesome video of a dude doing a live version of the first level of Super Mario Brothers at a college talent show.

http://www.buzzpatrol.com/news/bizarre/real-life-super-mario-004282.php

Bjork from Ork

2006-06-24T22:00:00.000-04:00

By the way, I might need to start another list of movies you should avoid at all costs. Based on the preview, "Drawing Restraint 9" appears to have something to do with whaling, but it also seems to contain an important subplot dealing with the fact that Bjork is from outer space.

An Inconvenient Truth

2006-06-23T23:35:00.000-04:00

It's documentary week! Add this one to the top of the list.

http://www.climatecrisis.net/

I hope I get another chance to vote for Al Gore.

Required viewing

2006-06-23T00:48:00.000-04:00

Now that it's out on video, I finally got around to seeing Why We Fight, a documentary on the American "military-industrial complex." I had been interested to see it since I first saw the previews, but it was in theaters so briefly that I missed my chance until now. More on that in a moment.

I was all fired up to blog about this film and all of the important points it makes about the real motivations behind US military actions, but then I watched another documentary that I've been meaning to see for some time, Control Room. Whereas Why We Fight prompts the viewer to question the motivations for war, Control Room reminds us to look for bias in media coverage of war.

Both of these films are extremely relevant and important right now. So instead of reading what I have to say, please just watch these films for yourself. I'm starting a list of documentaries that I feel should be required viewing for all Americans. I've also listed their tomatometer rating, box office gross and max screens. For comparison, Fahrenheit 9/11 grossed $119M (domestic) and was shown on 2,004 screens at its zenith.

Control Room	2004	96%	$2.6M	74
Enron	2005	97%	$4.1M	151
Why We Fight	2006	80%	$1.4M	64

Even though I disagree with the policies of our leaders, I still love this country. One of the main reasons for this, perhaps the most important reason of all, is that we're allowed to disagree with and criticize our leaders. Unfortunately, based on the box office numbers for these recent films, it seems not too many Americans are getting the message. Which leads me to wonder if we are experiencing a form of censorship after all.

Thinning the herd

2006-06-19T15:21:00.000-04:00

Geez, talk about survival of the fittest. Maybe we should give the terrorists some motorcycles.

HENNIKER, N.H. --A member of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang was killed in a crash on the final day of Motorcycle Week.

It was the tenth motorcycle death associated with the annual festival in Laconia....

He was riding west on Routes 202 and 9 late Sunday afternoon when he tried to pass a vehicle ahead of him and struck an eastbound car head-on, then side-swiped a westbound car, police said....

Authorities said six of the nine previous deaths also occurred when bikers crossed the center line into oncoming traffic....

Most of those who died were not wearing helmets.

Full story