Spudlets
May 24, 2003
This has been a crazy last two weeks. You can tell by the lack of punditry and overall posting that work-busyness has overwhelmed me. I did make the finish line, and hopefully whoever is covering for me can take care of things in my absence. This site will probably be quiet for awhile, unless I can plug in somewhere at the beach. Be sure to visit the other fine bloggers listed to the right, and comb DeadMule for some gems. Just read something on tarpon fishing that almost (almost) makes me want to go fishing in the Apalachicola. Almost.
VACATION TIME - WOO HOO!
Posted by MarcV, 10:14 AM link
Material Things
The mug is gone. We all have little things in our life which we hold dear, yet would be tough to sell for over $2 at a resale shop. Grandma's gravy boat, a jewelry box, a worn paring knife can be some of the things we accumulate over the years that have meaning. I don't remember how or when I got it (at least 15 years ago), but I have always had the same coffee mug to drink out of about once a week when we made coffee at home. It was blue with a tan border at the top, and held just the right amount of coffee. It was my mug.
Last week I went to the cupboard and knocked it off the shelf, and my trusty mug fell to the counter and broke. Coffee just does not taste the same out of the "house" mugs, but I'll have to make do until I can find another trusty mug. It was bound to happen, seeing as how the mug was used over fifty times a year, but I'll still look for it whenever the coffee is brewed at home.
I can be happy that the throne is back. For the last several months the LazyBoy has been out of commission. Through rough use, with kids, it would lean too far back and was not comfortable to sit in. Lady Spud was able to find someone to repair it, and for less than $50, it works like brand new (the upholstery is still in great shape). I have been so busy this week that I have not had a chance to properly use it, but there will be "meditation times" on there in my future.
Summer semi-officially started for me this week, as we finally got a chance to get a few gallons of strawberries and put up a few batches of jam. With all of the rain we came close to missing out on fresh strawberries, but we were able to sneak it in before the season is over (about next week). I have to feel for the farmers here who have watched their crops mold in the field, or others who have not been able to go out to plant because the fields have been to wet. Thank God for the farmers who tough it out each year and rely on the Lord for weather blessings.
Posted by MarcV, 10:10 AM link
May 23, 2003
Fat Police
No, not the actual police, but the vigilantes who want to eradicate obesity in our lifetime, for our own sake. Up at FoxNews is an article giving some details on a recent report linking obesity with higher health care costs, and that fast food is one of the main culprits. Wonder who will actually benefit from all of this?
“There are a lot of people excited about this study,” said Mike Barita, spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Consumer Freedom ... “It’s all about their new cash-cow — attorneys have dollar signs dancing in their eyes,” he said.
Barita said legal heavy hitters like George Washington University professor John F. Banzhaf III, who played a big role in the massive tobacco settlements with the states, are now advising attorneys and plaintiffs in the fight against fast food. “We’re going to find a judge and we’re going to find a jury and we’re going to start winning these suits,” Banzhaf told Foxnews.com.
My first thought was of townspeople armed with pitchforks, hoes, and axes, rising up to slay the Frankenstein(Banzhaf) monster. Will we make policy and erase our freedoms based on a test sample size of 10,000?
Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the data, based on a sample of 9,867 adults, measure the health care costs for patients of normal weight compared to those categorized as overweight and obese. “If people want to be 200 pounds, then that’s their choice, but ultimately, if the taxpayer is paying for those choices, certainly, in my mind, that is where the justification for government involvement comes from,” said economist Eric Finkelstein, who conducted the research with Ian Fiebelkorn of RTI International and Guijing Wang of the CDC.
Finkelstein, that name sounds familiar ... oh yeah, in the Bill Murray camp-counselor movie, Meatballs. Larry Finkelstein was the "chubby" kid who beat "The Stomach" in a hot-dog eating contest. "No, it's that hot dog over there. It's saying - this is the year that Finkelstein beats The Stomach!" Wang, of course, was the Japanese businessman that Rodney Dangerfield escorted around the country club in Caddyshack. Enough jocularity, I was on a rant ...
What has happened to this country - what have we wrought? I can not understand how people get the mindset that a class-action lawsuit will change people's behaviors. We can make this very simple: either raise taxes, pass legislation or deny services. Mr. Banzhaf has other ideas:
Banzhaf said he fully supports a formula against obesity targeting special taxes on fast food, higher insurance premiums for obese patients, tougher regulations on food manufacturers and school vendors as well as litigation against fast food proprietors. Banzhaf is participating in a June conference to help design legal strategies against fast food establishments, school boards and food manufacturers.
“All of those things are going to have an immediate and direct effect. We can at least hold down the increase in the epidemic,” he said.
No, the epidemic is the number of asinine lawsuits that are allowed to clog up our court system by liberal do-gooders who feel that they have to impose their will through the court system, rather than trying to pass legislation. If cigarettes (for example) are so bad, let's outlaw them through legislature instead of this idiotic end-around multibillion $$ class-action suits that mainly profit the lawyers who bill +24 hour days. This Banzhaf person should be included on the deck of terrorist cards, maybe as a joker.
Is he, along with others like him, terrorizing society and taking away our liberties? At what point can others step in and tell them their lawsuits are frivolous and countersue?
The Department of Health and Human Services declined official comment, but one source there said, “We are totally against litigation.” Tom DeWeese, president of the American Policy Center said studies like this one will help the federal government overcome a final obstacle to controlling Americans, even what they can and cannot eat. “What they are saying is that none of us is responsible for anything — we’re too stupid to decide for ourselves,” he said. “There is no free market left.”
Posted by MarcV, 9:05 AM link
May 22, 2003
Had to share this from NRO (gasp! I still read it.) and the metro-con John D.:
From a reader: "At Heathrow Airport today, an individual later discovered to be a public school teacher was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a compass, a protractor, and a graphical calculator. Authorities believe he is a member of the notorious al-Gebra movement. He is being charged with carrying weapons of math instruction."
Posted by MarcV, 4:22 PM link
Over Idol
It's finally over, so now I can post on it. American Idol (AI) finally selected the "winner", but the winner won by a margin that was statistically insignificant. They opened the phone lines for 3 hours, with each contestant averaging ~4.2 million calls per hour, or about 70,000 per minute - 1100 per second. Many who called in kept getting busy signals, so the winner apparently had more efficient telephone switching equipment, or the producers left Ruben's lines open for two more minutes to tilt the results.
I'm not saying anything about a fix, just reporting the numbers. My support for Clay may be slightly swayed (hometown boy), but he seemed to have the stronger voice and stage presence/charisma. Either way, time will tell who truly is the American Idol, particularly in a few weeks after their singles are released. This weeks shows would have been much better had Kimberly L. taken Ruben's place, since she also has a strong voice. Ruben's voice at the beginning of the competition was one of the best but slipped towards the end. It was puzzling that none of the judges for the past two weeks did not comment about Ruben's voice breaking. The strain in his voice was clearly audible, so I wonder if they had been instructed not to say anything about it.
Besides all the singing, it was interesting to see the changes in the contestants from start to finish. They came in slightly dorky, like most of us, but ended up polished and attractive once the Hollywood magic machine went to work. Even that brunette hair-dresser who got dropped fairly early - yowza. A place out here had an AI look-alike contest, sponsored by a radio station, that gave out $1000 prizes to the people who most resembled folks from AI.
Last night almost had the feel of a Super Bowl Sunday with the anticipation and hoopla (how much time did your local news spend on it?). I wonder if this will become an institution, where another annual party night will be wrapped around the AI final pick show. Just what we need, another excuse for another party night! Who says America is decadent?
Posted by MarcV, 12:06 PM link
Take Two
Today's double shot of funnies from the comedian Argus Hamilton:
John Kerry admitted to reporters it took him five years to graduate from high school. There's no shame in that. When a guy is voted by his classmates Most Likely to Marry a Wealthy Widow, he needs an extra prom to polish his rumba skills. [Sounds like Fox could have another hit "reality-TV" show - Mr. Gold-digger - if they could just sign Kerry for a 13 week contract. They could use the theme from the James Bond movie Goldfinger, alter the lyrics slightly and get one of those American Idols to sing it.]
LeBron James was reportedly set Monday to ink a $150 million shoe deal. He's still in high school. LeBron James must be the only kid in America who carries a transistor radio to class just so he can follow the progress on the Bush tax cuts.
Posted by MarcV, 12:05 PM link
May 21, 2003
I have added a new link: "Extry Good Literary Site" - Dead Mule Southern School of Literature. Check out the Fiction category first. They may not be all winners, but there a few short stories that will move you (at least they did me) or at least amuse you. Scour the site for other hidden gems as well, because some of their free ice cream goes down so good.
Posted by MarcV, 8:10 AM link
Take Two
Today's double shot of funnies from the comedian Argus Hamilton:
[For my AoW friends]
Alabama Governor Bob Riley proposed a tax increase to offset the huge budget deficits. He may lay off three thousand teachers. State workers are so worried about being fired that Alabama's new football coach won't even shop at a strip mall.
White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer announced Monday he will step down next month. The hunt is on for a replacement who can match his commitment and devotion. No wonder President Bush told Tom Brokaw he would like to find Baghdad Bob.
[It would be a hoot if Fleischer dressed up as Baghdad Bob for his last press conference and denounced the infidels in the press. Put a beret and a fake military uniform, and he'd be set.]
Posted by MarcV, 8:02 AM link
May 20, 2003
Provincial Date Night
Last Saturday night, the provincial pair (that'd be me and the missus) pointed the old Pontiac towards the big metropolis of Greensboro for what may have been our last date night for awhile. With Lady Spud's income flow stopped from babysitting during the week, extra money will be hard to come by, and the $50 or so that is typically spent can go to many other needful areas. With an air of expectancy, we saw the Greensboro skyline struggling to rise above the hills of Piedmont NC as we neared our downtown destination in the gathering dusk.
The Greek restaurant (the only one in the Triad area, according to the write-up) was at best a disappointment. I have known and eaten at many Greek restaurants, even worked at one for a few months, and that my friend was a poor excuse for Greek food. It looked somewhat authentic, but each mouthful was an exercise in patience, trying to coax it down past the esophagus. While a dessert may have helped save the meal, it was a gamble with bad odds, too risky to take.
After struggling with paying the bill, similar to the struggle of swallowing the meal, we exited and then walked past an art gallery on the way to the car. Through the windows we could see a live DJ as well as a waitress in a formal outfit holding a tray of glasses (wine?), standing amongst the artistic creations. It appeared to be an open house, and a devilish thought then raced through my mind. Hmmm, maybe this night could be salvaged by hanging out with the "cognescenti", purveyors of fine art. Maybe they wouldn't notice our slightly torn jeans, our double (not triple) digit $$ sweaters, our not-so-new sneakers, and our Wal-Mart haircuts. Maybe we could bluff our way through by making pithy comments about a particularly ghastly sculpture. I did get an "A" in Art History in college, about 20 years ago. It's not like this was MOMA, or the Whitney, or ...
Naaah.
We'll just head back home to the youngster who gives us so much joy, to the comfortable house filled with worn furniture and simple paintings/prints on the outskirts of a small town. We'll be back among people leading quiet lives, consuming fast food in a slow setting when they decide to go "out". We'll put this down on life's list of "wouldn't it've been funny if ...", not so much regretful as wistful. We have made our choice in living, here in red-state land. While the occasional trip to the concrete jungle visiting the metropolitans can be interesting, you can find us out here in the sticks with the provincials.
[EPILOGUE: We did salvage the night by going to the gourmet grocery store and getting the pick-your-own Jelly Bellies (no buttered popcorn or juicy pear for us!), as well as bakery that we can not get or make in our hometown. Sweet.]
Posted by MarcV, 5:04 PM link
Tech Tues
- Good article on how the military is "connected" out on the battlefield, by a journalist who toured there in Iraq. It's interesting how servers ordinarily used in air-conditioned computer rooms were expected to perform out in the middle of a dusty, hot desert, and that lives were depending on them. I also didn't know that many of the soldiers out in the field purchased their own GPS devices. You would think that the military would have had that covered, but the deployment was so rapid that some units did not get adequately equipped.
- Intel has announced a new chipset, 875P, that will support an 800 MHz Front Side Bus. This is the bus that ties together the processor to the RAM and the other peripheral equipment that works through the processor. As computers continue to evolve (utilizing gigabit ethernet, serial ATA hard drives, advanced video cards), the old 133 and 200 MHz bus speeds will become more of a bottleneck. The new bus will be even more vital for hyper-threading applications.
Here's a link for the motherboard that Intel has provided utilizing the 875P chip. Initially this board will mainly appeal to the hardcore, need for speed, power users. It's technology will eventually filter down and be available for the rest of us.
Posted by MarcV, 5:03 PM link
Home Schoolers
FoxNews has a brief article on the homeschooling phenomenon. Homeschooling has increased by 4000 percent in the last 20 years. Of particular interest is the rise in homeschooling in black families. One part of the article was puzzling:
Ghia Johnson, a single mother of four, who has been homeschooling for seven years now, is one of the many parents who feel that public schools are dangerous, ineffective and focus too little on African American history.
"That takes precedence over math and science and all other subjects, because if they don't know who they are or where they came from then I don't believe they will know where they are going," Johnson said.
I suppose this is workable if Grandma or someone else reliable can watch the kids while the mom is working, but teaching 4 kids and a full time job would be a very stiff challenge. The other troubling aspect is placing the cultural heritage education above the 3 R's. Isn't that what helped contribute to the mess we are in now? Homeschooling as an alternative to a lack of public school teaching in fundamentals (science, math, philosophy, morals, etc.) is understandable, but surely you can spend a couple of hours a week teaching your own kids cultural heritage, rather than yanking them out of a public school.
As long as this is the land of the free, we should always have the choice of how we want to raise our children.
Others see civil rights as the freedom to educate as one pleases. Mark Mabson, a homeschooling father, said, "I want to be looked upon as an individual and as an individual I want to do what is best for my family, I don't have to follow with the majority."
The Mabson family feels that the public school system is failing on numerous levels and is moving away from what is right to what is politically correct. "We can teach our own morals, we can still say the Pledge of Allegiance, we can teach them about our country and loyalties," adds Karen Mabson, Mark's wife.
As can be expected, the article ends with some pointy-headed "expert" wringing their hands over the "loss of socialization". I suppose you can come up with all types of hand-waving theories about it, but my experience has been that home-schooled kids tend to be more mature and confident. How many of us public-schooled kids want to go back to the meat-grinder of cliques and popularity insecurities? While there is good and bad in both public schools and home schools, I hope we can get away from the stereotype of socially-inept homeschooled kids. Unless there is some type of drastic reform, homeschooling will be the alternate source of education for parents who don't want (and/or can't afford) private schools.
Posted by MarcV, 8:36 AM link
Take Two
Today's double shot of funnies from the comedian Argus Hamilton:
Democrats held a presidential debate in Iowa on Saturday in front of a union crowd. It was quite a show. The candidates spent ninety minutes discussing ways to prevent corporations from making profits so we can get this economy moving again.
President Bush was ripped by Democrats for finding no chemical or biological weapons in Iraq. It's very impressive, really. What were the odds of him picking the one country on earth to invade with absolutely no weapons of mass destruction?
Posted by MarcV, 8:35 AM link
May 19, 2003
For those disappointed tater fans: sorry, but busy-ness rears its oh so ugly head again. Tomorrow will be different - just you wait and see (I hope)!
I do have an addendum from last week. I did not include a car from the 80's, but now that my memory has been "scan-disked", I do recall owning an '84 Plymouth Duster (I think) for several years. It was the same model as the Dodge 024, those ugly wanna-be-like-a-Gremlin hatchbacks that Chrysler pumped out in their halcyon days in the early-to-mid 80's. We beat the heck out of that car, and eventually did the $500 trade-in when we got the new pick-em up truck. Whenever I see one of those 024's on the road, I have to wonder how it has survived. It would take a magician to keep one of those road-worthy after all of these years.
Posted by MarcV, 3:57 PM link
May 16, 2003
Car Crazy
Possumblogger semi-slapped the gauntlet down, so now I'm compelled to list all of the vehicles "that I have ever loved before". In the mid-80's I started to pronounce them "v-hikkels"(stress the first letter), and I've gradually improved my talents at keeping old v-hikkels running. Here goes:
'69 Dodge Dart (paid for with money I earned while in high school), '74 Plymouth Duster (small 8, sweet), '78 Plymouth Arrow (? the small truck that Mitsubishi made for Chrysler), '79 Plymouth Volare - whoa o, '94 Dodge Dakota (anyone noticing a trend?), '91 Pontiac Bonneville.
The last two are still in the stable, with the Dakota(only one bought new) near 175k and the Bunny at 135k (bought it over 3 years ago, still solid). I'd love to ramble on about each v-hikkel's history, trials and tribulations, but who would want to read that? As historians/sociologists/anthropologists look back a couple hundred years from now, I wonder how our love affair with cars over the last century will be viewed (if the smog from auto exhausts clears by then!).
[UPDATE: Oh how I wish I had a daughter to name Walter or John Francis after those Mopar titans! I would like the shower of daughter-love that he gets everyday, but that much estrogen in one house can cause some "challenges", let alone the fashion demands ($$) of girls who want to attract boys.]
Posted by MarcV, 9:25 AM link
I almost feel like having to apologize for the slightly substandard blogging effort (yes, even by the low spudlets standard) this week, but it's been one of those weeks. Besides Wednesday, the other days were fairly slack, particularly Monday and that rambling on evolution/creationism. I still back the basic premise of the importance of creationism in the "public" sphere, just wish that I could have stated it more eloquently.
NOTE: Personal ramblings to follow. Try other posts if you would rather avoid this.
Monday was one of those days when I hit the low point on the biorhythm curves. Briefly, I am working on a computer with a touchscreen (avoid if possible, they're a pain the rear to work on) that controls a new production line. I had to scramble Monday and Tuesday to get the computer back up and running, and I still can't get the touchscreen to work. Yesterday I tried to load a driver in a deparate attempt to fix it, and ended up removing the Windows driver for the PS/2 ports and replacing it with one for the (unresponsive) touchscreen.
Yes, a lack of PS/2 connection means no keyboard, so I could not fix what I messed up because I could not even log in to the computer (even in Safe mode). Fortunately, the computer had a USB port, so a trip to Staples for a USB-enabled keyboard and subsequent tinkering in the registry got me back to using the regular keyboard. We are at the point of replacing the touchscreen, so hopefully they can get back to normal operation.
To make things even more fun, I am close to the end of the massive fence project, and had one more posthole to dig on Monday. The one before that went fairly easy, so I didn't anticipate any major problems, maybe just a root to hack through. About 4 inches down I hit a rock that is blocking over half of the hole. After considering moving the hole position, I tried to chip out part of it, but it was solid. I finally got to the point of digging the rock out, and ended up with a hole 18" in circumference and 18 " deep to remove it.
Sometimes we are given what seems to be insurmountable problems. If we can step back, try different approaches, we usually can overcome the situation. Today is the last day that my wife will be babysitting for money. Things are tight financially already (realization of my own domain and spiffy website design is deferred) since she will still stay at home full-time as a caregiver/teacher for our son. This rock will be tough to work with, but I continue to have faith that the Lord, the solid Rock, will provide as He always has.
[PS I'm a little jealous of Sugarmama breaking bread with Possum-daddy, but I don't think that I could get back to work in time if I lunched in Birmingham, AL!]
Posted by MarcV, 9:25 AM link
Followup to Get Offa My Fat
FoxNews has a brief followup on the Oreo cookie scare today. Turns out that the money-grubbing lawyer has withdrawn his suit, now that through his efforts the public "knows" about trans-fats, because that's all he really wanted. The studies he based his assertions on are more hand-waving than factual.
My favorite Willett study that fails to link trans fats with heart disease — one involving 90,000 nurses followed for 20 years — also fails to link total fat intake, saturated fat intake, animal fat intake and cholesterol intake with heart disease.
This is no surprise. As pointed out in the New York Times Magazine article, the simplistic notion that dietary fat is bad was a political and business judgment, not a scientific one. Despite ambiguous science, a Senate committee led by Sen. George McGovern issued a 1977 report advising Americans to consume less fat to avoid "killer diseases," then supposedly sweeping the country. The politically dutiful National Institutes of Health soon joined the anti-fat bandwagon, a move that spawned the low-fat food industry — a boon to consumer choice but not necessarily one with a beneficial health impact.
So the attack on Oreos has quite an infamous pedigree — from the hysterical McGovern to the junk science-fueled Walter Willett to a money-grubbing personal injury lawyer. Joseph says on his Web site, after all, "We are looking for corporate sponsors... we need all the financial backing that we can get."
Maybe he should think about getting more backing from facts before trying to get the financial backing.
Posted by MarcV, 9:23 AM link
May 15, 2003
Mark Byron was kind enough to reply on an economics question I had for him. He also commented on the new ACC expansion to 12 teams:
I'd think that a Piedmont Division (Maryland, UVA, NC, NC State, Wake Forest, Duke) and a Tidewater Division (Miami, FSU, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Syracuse, BC) might be how things break down ...
Lady Spud is a lifelong NC State/ACC fan, and she's still upset when the conference expanded to bring in Georgia Tech (let alone Florida State). Dr. B has a pretty good breakdown of divisions, although tidewater is not what comes to mind for GT, Clemson or SU (maybe "Leftovers"). You will need to keep the 4 NC schools together, and MD-UVa have a pretty fierce rivalry, so that just leaves the "newbies" to hang together. There you go, the Newbie Division!
It was interesting to see the two dissenting for ACC expansion, Duke and UNC. They both have high paying alumni coming out the ying-yang (is that like bling-bling?) and don't necessarily need the extra football money that Miami and Syracuse will bring to the table. Both UNC and Duke are football weaklings with only brief glimpses of football greatness in their histories, but they are basketball powerhouses, so expansion does not help them. It hurts them by potentially tieing up previously free spots in their non-conference basketball schedule.
Posted by MarcV, 1:37 PM link
May 14, 2003
Experiences
Doc Reynolds (that's Mr. Instapundit to you!) threw out the bait at TCS with the title "A Religious Experience" and I went for it. He likens sci-fi films to religious ceremonies. He has some interesting things to say, although some of it is a stretch.
It's also possible that today's science-fiction films compete with religion on another level. In the old days, religious pageantry - sometimes enhanced with psychoactive substances of different kinds, or with hypnotic music - was the most exciting thing people were likely to run across in their everyday life. Special costumes, masks, ceremonies, big fancy buildings, and so on all tended to create a sense of separation between the sacred and the ordinary, and to make religious ceremonies stick in people's minds.
There's nothing wrong with making religious ceremonies special, or even extraordinary, but to what end are the ceremonies serving, man or God or some ethereal Force? He lists some qualifications for the "Jedi" religion, but as I recall, you had to have a special "cootie" in your bloodstream in order to tap into the force and be a Jedi. Otherwise, you're just a Jedi wanna-be.
Posted by MarcV, 11:29 AM link
Take Two
Today's double shot of funnies from the comedian Argus Hamilton:
Reverend Billy Graham drew huge crowds in San Diego at Qualcomm Stadium last week. Over the years, crusade officials have learned how to goose the attendance. On Saturday, sixty-five thousand people turned out on St. Paul Bobblehead Doll Night.
Annika Sorenstam is preparing to play the Colonial Open in Fort Worth next week. It's a major sports story. Annika Sorenstam will be the first woman to play in a men's event since Margaret Thatcher defeated Argentina in straight sets.
Posted by MarcV, 9:14 AM link
Democrat Heroes?
It's not even June yet, but we may have a strong candidate for weirdest story of the year. Texas (House) Democrats , seeing that a redistricting plan was going against them, decided to hightail it out of Texas:
But more than 50 House Democrats would have none of it, and in a surprise — and illegal — move, they went into hiding in a hotel/command center in neighboring Oklahoma, defying House rules that say lawmakers cannot intentionally miss a quorum call.
...
The diversion started Sunday night when 58 Texas Democrats slipped across the Red River to take up temporary residence at a Holiday Inn in Ardmore, Okla. On Monday, Republican Gov. Rick Perry (search) sent the Texas Rangers to Ardmore to arrest and escort the AWOL Democrats back to Austin, a move allowed under the Texas Constitution.
The Democrat governor of Oklahoma denied their "jurisdiction" and so the rogue Democrats are still holed up in Oklahoma. Can you picture a bunch of baseball players, bats in hand, rounding up the outlaws? Ooops, wrong Rangers. Now if the Texas governor had been able to send Capt. Call and Gus McCrae, they would have taken care of the job. I can picture Capt. Call smacking the Okla. governor upside the head ("I can't tolerate rude behavior") with Pea-Eye and Deets providing cover and Gus chuckling in the background. The Democrats are blaming U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay for being behind this redistricting effort, but it seems to be all legal.
By law, the state Legislature is allowed to revisit the court's decision in off years. Despite his aggravation, DeLay did have some fun with the turn of events, passing out an altered photo of the hotel Democrats were staying in with the Texas Statehouse dome morphed on top. "We don't act like Texas legislators but we did stay at the Holiday Inn Express," the caption reads.
State House Republicans also had some fun while they waited. They quickly printed up a deck of playing cards featuring pictures of the missing Democrats. A pair of milk cartons circulated around the chamber, plastered with the faces of missing Democrats.
...
Democrats denied that any of their conduct in Oklahoma fell under the category of House business. Despite the legal wrangling, Texas Democratic Rep. Martin Frost said he hailed the Democrats for their courage. "They are doing the right thing. They are in the best Texas tradition. They are heroes."
What?!? Turns out that there is a precedent for this [12 state senators hid out in defiance of Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby. They became known as the "Killer Bees" and they hid out in a garage in Austin and played poker while Texas Rangers scoured the state looking for them.], but at least they stayed in state. There is also concern that some of the outlaws in Oklahoma are holding committee meetings discussing legislative matters, in violation of their Open Meeting Laws.
With over 50 legislators holed up and not being allowed to "legislate", what a great opportunity for workshops. Here are some subjects that they can consider:
1. Stalling judicial appointments (beginning and advanced).
2. Campaign funding progression (from local to national to foreign-nationals).
3. Feeding stories to big media.
4. Voting pro-choice yet still appearing pro-life.
5. Look compassionate as you propose spending and tax increases.
These could be difficult PowerPoints to assemble on short notice, but they do have a little time on their hands. How much room service and poolside lounging can they stand?
Matrix
Also from Foxnews is a recap of the NY premiere of Matrix Reloaded, opening Friday. I reprinted the last paragraph of the story in case someone reading this will be going to see it.
Warner Bros. is looking for a box office gross to beat X2 and Spiderman, breaking records and earning their money back quickly. It seems inevitable they will get their way. Kids are going to see Reloaded at least twice, but everyone should be warned: don't leave the theatre when the end credits roll. There's a coming attractions trailer that doesn't give away much about Part 3, but is cool to see anyway.
Posted by MarcV, 9:06 AM link
May 13, 2003
Get Offa my Fat!
The food police are at it again. This time a public interest (trial) lawyer is going after Oreo cookies for their "excessive" trans-fat content.
Stephen Joseph filed the suit against Nabisco, the maker of Oreos, after reading articles about the health threat posed by the artificial fat that is contained in most packaged foods but isn't listed with other nutritional information.
Wow, he read some articles and decided to try and land a big fi$h. He may not even be harmed by the product, but by golly he's going to make sure noone else can be damaged by Oreos. Does Nabisco get off the hook by offering "reduced fat" (yeecch) Oreos? Even at half the fat, they're still "dangerous". Get ready for some hand-waving:
The Food and Drug Administration has tried to force food companies to list trans fat content with other nutritional information on food packages, but manufacturers have challenged the rule. Even food labeled "low in cholesterol" or "low in saturated fats" may have high percentages of trans fats.
Informing customers about trans fats on food labels could prevent 7,600 to 17,100 cases of coronary heart disease and 2,500 to 5,600 deaths per year, the FDA has estimated.
Now there's a study I'd like to fisk! Qualitatively estimating that people will read, understand, and act on a warning printed on a food label - that is some serious handwaving. They should hook-up a wind turbine on that study to at least get something useful out of it. I can understand food manufacturers reluntance to put scare labels on food, as it would open up the door to all types of negligence lawsuits (see tobacco industry for further study). Anyone can file a lawsuit, I guess, but these people who are acting in our "public interest/safety" seem to have private profit in mind.
Posted by MarcV, 11:49 AM link
May 12, 2003
Evolutionary Creation
David Heddle said he has had enough (5/7/03) of National Review Online (NRO) and he will "banish it from my bookmarks." Joshua Claybourn posted on it as well and garnered nearly two score comments, but Joshua would rather keep reading different viewpoints than banishing the NRO site. With the battle in Iraq over, conservatives can get back to ideological battles. As we get closer to the 2004 election cycle, more folks are trying to shape the "conservative stance" on abortion, homosexuality and creationism.
It's the last point that bears scrutiny. Quite a few feathers were ruffled after a recent Derbyshire piece in NRO referred to creationism as "pseudoscience", and I noticed that quite a few flavors of evolution/creationism can be observed: literal interpretation, God started it, day = 1000('s) years, allegory, creation is a fable, etc. Some may not consider this an important topic, or one of those things that cannot be reliably proven one way or another, so the evolution/creation argument may not get much consideration. This topic is nearly as important as abortion, and creationism considerations should be given significant attention by government.
We are at the initial stages of setting the legal course for cloning that could impact the next few decades, if not longer. The stance the government takes on creationism will greatly influence how cloning is controlled. While cloning programs are going full steam ahead outside of our borders, the US is still the leader when it comes to research and shaping world opinion on technology. If we lose the battle and concede a political victory to those who support evolution, then cloning will just be another scientific treasure chest to plunder.
By taking God out of consideration and denying a Creator, cloning will open up up a Pandora's box of ethical and potentially deadly problems. Do creationists need overwhelming political victory? No, just the acknowledgement that it could be possible a higher being (God) created us, and we need to proceed very slowly when we endeavor to create humans by cloning. Will other countries take the lead on cloning and possibly create their own "cloned-in-a-lab" people? Yes, but we as a country don't have to support that or work on it ourselves.
Mankind has been playing God for several milleniums, subduing nature and trying to have our wishes (creature comforts) made true. I hope we are far enough along our cultural/human development to say no when it comes to cloning humans. I can appreciate the "scientific curiousity" aspect [can we do climb this mountain?] but God gave us a way to create life, so let's not cheapen it by artifical means. I'm still not sure what flavor "creationist" I am, I just don't want to see it taken off the political table.
Posted by MarcV, 4:02 PM link
Sunday Sermon Notes 5/11/03
[Pastor decided to close child care on Sunday morning, so it was a full-family service. There was no way to write notes and wrestle a 5 year old at the same time. If we run into another energy crisis, just get a room full of kids to sit through a sermon, and then tap into the energy they give off. Whew.]
Pastor did mention the Sarah Jessica Parker quote about being a "hot mama", then tied it into the fact that women can never attain that (as SJP said) because the world's standards will always be set higher than you can attain. God has set a standard and a lifestyle that we can maintain and give Him honor, once we get on track. He mentioned John 4 and the woman at the well, but I can't recall how it applied, so there you go.
Posted by MarcV, 4:01 PM link
May 09, 2003
Friday Five
Thought I'd try this. Last's weeks topics about music got me thinking on my choices of "special" songs.
1. Would you consider yourself an organized person? Why or why not?
Yes, but it's all relative to what you would consider an average organizer. I try not to go overboard, but I recognize the harmony in a place for everything.
2. Do you keep some type of planner, organizer, calendar, etc. with you, and do you use it regularly?
I rarely use a calendar to plan ahead. I have in the past when I worked on projects, but for now someone yanks a string and I'm off to help some desperate computer user. I do track my work hours/OT on the calendar in Outlook, otherwise Lady Spud keeps my non-work life arranged.
3. Would you say that your desk is organized right now?
Somewhat, but it may appear messy to the layman.
4. Do you alphabetize CDs, books, and DVDs, or does it not matter?
CD's yes, books and DVD's no. If I ever get enough DVD's I'll probably alphabetize them.
5. What's the hardest thing you've ever had to organize?
My album collection - yes, that's right ... LP's, vinyl! Over 200 in various boxes that need to get out of my closet, but there is not enough space near the stereo for them (at least somewhere that would look acceptable to Lady Spud). I keep waiting for prices to go up on these but nobody will give you a buck for most of them, so for now it's hold them and hope they appreciate. There are some punk rock albums I probably would not want my son to hear, so I'm not sure what I'll do with them in a few years.
Posted by MarcV, 1:28 PM link
Who's Thirsty
for a good essay? If it's hot where you're at, and you're thirsty for a cool one, or would just like to read some good writing, see what Ms. Dees has to say about a Southern tradition. I was tempted to reprint the last paragraph, but you should read the whole thing, 'cause it's extry good.
For those gentlepeople who are attuned to a Southern lifestyle, here's a good but long post on tearing down part of what makes things so special in Tarheelandia. Good for a few chuckles, even if you're heart is still hurt over old #3. From another post on Little Eva's passing:
Everyone, put on your Hyde County Reeboks (don't know what those are? white plastic crabber boots) and dance down the street to the loco-motion.
Posted by MarcV, 11:29 AM link
Ideas from War’s Aftermath
You know the drill: Victor Davis Hanson posts them, and I link them. Today he has some Postbellum Thoughts on how countries are "administered" after the US military does its job. He would like to see the US "... create a permanent division-strength body of peacekeepers, police, and civilian reconstructionists." My first thought was that is what the UN should be doing, but then I chuckled and read on to his smackdown:
As long as U.N. action is predicated on the majority votes of illiberal regimes, or the single veto of undemocratic states like China, or the obstructions of envious, fourth-rate powers like France, it will remain either a debating society or a manipulative mechanism to thwart anything the United States does. It was about as effective in monitoring Saddam Hussein as the International Olympic Committee was in stopping the routine torture of the Iraqi Olympic team.
Oh yeah - don't think he'll be considered for Secretary General! He does call for radical restucturing of the UN, or that english-speaking countries should form their own formal alliance. The last third of his post includes final thoughts, and is worth the read just for that section. I think VDH could be considered a provincial conservative.
Posted by MarcV, 11:27 AM link
Take Two
Today's double shot of funnies from the comedian Argus Hamilton:
Muppets creator Jim Henson's family bought back the Muppets from the German firm that bought the family business two years ago. They couldn't make it work. No matter how much the Germans tortured those puppets, they couldn't make them talk. [und u vill be cute und happy, jah?]
Alabama coach Mike Price was fired for having strippers in his hotel room on a road trip. It's serious in the South. Bill Clinton is lucky he was just the governor of Arkansas and not the head coach or he would have lost his job years ago.
Posted by MarcV, 11:27 AM link
May 08, 2003
This just in: Windshield Speakers Could Make Car Phones Safer. Yeah, it seems those newer models were blasting out too many eardrums. Check that, it's for those yay-hoos who insist on driving-talking-dialing while steering-moving.
... scientists at Britain's Oxford University found drivers were better able to pay attention to the road if the sound was coming from the direction they were looking, rather than from the side or in their ear, as in most hands-free units.
How disappointing is that, our own US tax dollars weren't wasted finding this out?!?
'These results show that people find it much easier to look and listen in the same direction than in different directions. This is presumably because humans have evolved to deal with sights and sounds that originate from the same place,' the scientists said in a statement.
Evolved, eh? Then howcome God didn't put yer ears on yer forehead, hunh? Betcha they didn't think of that, ha ha.
'There are some measures that car designers could introduce to increase safety, such as flat-screen loudspeakers placed by the windshield in front of the driver,' Dr. Charles Spence, of Oxford's Department of Experimental Psychology, said.
'The safest way of avoiding accidents, however, is not to use a mobile phone at all while driving,' he said.
Wow - well thank you Mr. Spock, I mean Spence, for that illuminating quip.
In a related story, designers at Sonysung have developed a cellphone/PDA/camera that will also drive the car. This will help relieve the consumer of that awful burden of driving so he can get to more important things, like opening up packets of Fire sauce for his TacoBell lunch eaten at highway speeds while talking to his stock broker.
Posted by MarcV, 3:31 PM link
Woo-hoo, over 2 hours to defrag a 2 GB HD using Win98! That was a lot of hard work, best done by an untrained professional. You have to remember to move the mouse occasionally, so the screen saver does not engage. Checking the screen to see the progress of those little squares changing colors is time-consuming. Fortunately I am in a climate-controlled server room, or I would need extra towels to wipe away the sweat.
I wish M$ had kept the Win95/98 "details" screen for defragging a hard-drive in Win2000. Color changing squares, so hypnotic yet fascinating ... yes Bill, I will continue to buy all your upgrades ... Linux stinks ... all my base is yours ... uh where was I? Yeah, ya gotta love Win98!
Posted by MarcV, 2:54 PM link
Metropolitan vs. Provincial
John Derbyshire from NRO is on the road and meeting real people, rather than just exchanging e-mails, on a book tour. These encounters have caused him to do some head-scratching in figuring out just how (or what type of) conservative he is. He doesn't like homosexuality but would not pass laws against it, and considers abortion in a similar way. He is happy with the theory of evolution and considers creationism "pseudoscience".
He comes to the conclusion that conservatives can be split into subsets: metropolitan vs. provincial. I had never really considered urban conservatives, living in the "blue" states but voting conservative, much different than conservatives in fly-over country. Evidently, we seem to be products of our environment, or end up where we want to be. I could survive living in a large city, but would not like it. Going back to Chicago about a month ago confirmed that for me. OK to visit, wouldn't want to live there. The endless rows of houses and shopping malls makes me queasy.
He brings up an interesting point on how both sides view each other:
We conservatives like to scoff at lefties for their "noble savage" fixation — the way they go all misty-eyed and paternalistic at the thought of the poor helpless victims of capitalism, racism, colonialism, etc. etc. Well, I think I can see some similar strain of condescension in my own outlook. What the heroic worker was to an old-line Marxist, what the suffering Negro was to civil-rights marchers, what the unfulfilled housewife is to Hillary Clinton, the Vietnamese peasant to Jane Fonda, the Palestinian rioter to Edward Said, so the red-state conservative with his Bible, his hunting rifle and his sodomy laws is to me. He is authentic, in a way I am not.
There doesn't seem to be much point in apologizing for this condescension, and I am not much given to apologizing anyway. It's worth noting, though, as a fixed component of, I think, the entire outlook of metropolitan conservatives. I don't think it is any cause for rancor or antagonism.
No, it's not a cause, but it comes up anyhow! He did not go into details on this for liberals, but I have a hunch there is the same type of tension, only to a greater degree between the urban/university-staff/professional and the farmer/blue-collar/dues-payer. It's a wonder either side can come together to get anybody elected.
Most conservatives can agree on upholding the 10th amendment, reducing the federal government and letting the states govern themselves where the Constitution is silent. Mr. Derbyshire does try to sound sincere in his appreciation for "provincial conservatives", but it rings a little hollow.
God bless them all for keeping America strong, free, and true to her founding principles. If the price to be paid is a sodomy law here, a high-school Creationism class there, well, far as I am concerned, that's a small price indeed. People who don't like those things can always head for the metropolis, after all.
Red(neck)states, can't live in 'em, can't live without 'em. Enjoy your concrete jungles, I'll keep amongst the wide open spaces, thank you.
Posted by MarcV, 2:53 PM link
Caddy Controversy
Tiger Woods has a monthly on-line newsletter (official TW site - you have to register) and in it he talks about the incident at the 3rd hole in the final round of the Masters. After hearing his interview following the tournament, I wondered if his long-time caddy Steve Williams would be out. In the newsletter he repeated what he said that Sunday: Williams pushed him to use the driver rather than a 3-iron, Tiger did and ended up bogeying the hole but says that "Ultimately, it's my responsibility to pull the trigger."
In the newsletter he reassures everyone that they get along just fine, and "It's not the last time we're going to disagree about club selection." It may be time for a change-up, and obviously he would have his pick of caddies. Getting the typical caddy's percentage of his tournament earnings would make you a millionaire in about 3 years. Not bad for lugging a bag. Some of the pros stick with a caddy most of their career (i.e. Trevino, Floyd), while others change them out (Nicklaus). I have a hunch that Woods will change soon, perhaps at the end of this year.
Posted by MarcV, 2:52 PM link
May 07, 2003
Baghdad Bob
He may be yesterday's news, so who would want to post on him? Me!
I have tried to take a look at the "big picture" and understand what made him so popular. Ordinarily, in a life-and-death conflict, someone who spreads lies about you and vows that they will kill you is not liked, but scorned and held in contempt. Tokyo Rose was never liked to the degree that Baghdad Bob(BB) is/was. It may have been interesting listening to her tactics, but usually she was turned off after a minute or two. Last month people would stop whatever they were doing whenever BB was on the screen.
What made him so entertaining? I propose 4 factors for his massive popularity:
Americans love an underdog We are part of a country that can reward risk-takers, people who fight long odds for a chance at wealth. Going in we knew that this would be a military slamdunk, with the threat of WMD's being the main concern. During the swift advancement into Iraq, BB was the public face of Hussein's regime, making threats with little if anything to back it up. Every once in a rare while an underdog prevails, but not this time.
Thoughtful Insults We've all been subjected to morons who think that stringing together a few curse words makes them look intelligent. Don Rickles has had a prosperous and long career dishing out insults. How many people can recite insults from various Monty Python sketches? As far as I know, BB never cursed but gave interesting descriptions of what the Iraqis would do to the US military, along with a few insults for the infidels thrown in. He was being translated, though, so the translator may have dropped a few words in order to not be "bleeped".
Liars Can Be Entertaining As parents we teach our children at a very early age the importance of telling the truth. When they get older they find out that lies can sometimes get them out of trouble. Even though we know they are lying, we sometimes like to hear the "whoppers" they come up with (trying to keep a straight face because we have to discipline them afterwards). Jon Lovitz was funny playing Tommy Flanagan of Pathological Liars Anonymous (... married to the beautiful and talented Morgan Fairchild, whom I've seen naked!). We knew BB was lying but we just wanted to hear what whopper was coming next.
Liars Are Desperate Just as a youngster wants to avoid punishment, a liar is desperate to get out of a bad situation, or sometimes just desperate for attention. This was probably the most reassuring aspect for Americans. The Hussein regime was so desperate that they would send BB out to tell big lies - they must really be in trouble.
Sadly, Baghdad Bob may have been entertaining, but he was just a puppet of a tyrant. As best as I can tell he is among the missing, so he may pop up somewhere. Ordinarily the US government would apply extreme pressure (diplomatic/military) to extradite him if he resurfaced, but I think they will just let him pass. He could make millions in advertising with the right agent in the US, but I don't think he will do as well in the Arab world. I'm still surprised nobody has put out BB's greatest hits DVD. I don't think BB is in any position to sue somebody!
Posted by MarcV, 4:49 PM link
Foxnews
Ripped straight from the headlines of that notable net news node:
+ Librarians Shelve Patriot Act - The meek shall inherit the earth, and give away all of our juicy national secrets hidden in the stacks.
+ Cheney Back in '04 - Let's save Condi for '08, when the dreaded she-Clinton rears her head. Hope his health holds out. Maybe they're saving Condi as a replacement in case Cheney's health causes him to resign.
+ WHO Heads to Chinese Province - Aren't they suppose to tell us rather than asking us who is it?
+ Two of Hearts in Custody - Did the dealer call deuces wild?
+ Possible Saddam Audiotape - Does it seem like he's using the binLaden play book?
+ Swayze Salsas Back - Oh no, not another celebrity hawking food ... oh, it's a sequel to Dirty Dancing, never mind. Isn't he a little old for that? Would Jennifer Gray need a reverse nose job to come back as well? Yeah, that sounds a little "catty", but she should not have gotten it to begin with.
+ Casino Bans Bibles - They better watch it, or the radical religious right will call for a boycott. Wasn't Vegas suppose to be more "family friendly"?
+ Gamblers Sue 'Addictive' Casinos [Lawsuits claim gaming industry exploits those who are compulsive] - Whoa, there's a newsflash! Maybe we need a Nancy Reagan look-alike in front of every casino telling people, "Just say no!" Could this be another sign that we have too many lawyers chasing after goldmines (or should I say Golden Nugget)? In a related story, casinos are countersuing the lawyers, claiming that trial lawyer's addiction to class-action suits is ruining everything.
Posted by MarcV, 8:20 AM link
Take Two
Today's double shot of funnies from the comedian Argus Hamilton:
San Diego welcomed home on Friday a carrier named after Abraham Lincoln. He was lucky to be U.S. president. If Abe Lincoln had been a college president, he would have had to fire General Grant for drinking, and don't even ask about General Hooker.
Democrats locked horns Saturday in a debate hosted by George Stephanopoulos. All nine candidates presented their ideas and their personalities. Everybody who saw the debate agrees that George Stephanopoulos never looked more presidential.
Posted by MarcV, 8:17 AM link
May 06, 2003
Wow - I heard my first audblog audio post over at Sugarmama's. What will they think of next?!? That was sweet of Sugarmama to leave a message for us.
Posted by MarcV, 1:54 PM link
More Bennett
Mark Byron had some good points in several posts about the Bennett gamble: ... Bennett's sin one of squandering resources rather than gambling, There's a book in this, as well as a rubber-chicken circuit run to talk about the evils of gambling ... I've heard others predict a book as well, but it's difficult to imagine him being able to sell a book like that. Would he have to do a "Jimmy Swaggart" tear-filled repentance-on-his-knees broadcast to the nation? Even if he did that, there would be plenty of people who consider him yesterday's news and would not buy another one of his books.
One thing that Bennett will miss, and I don't know how he'll replace it, is being treated like a big-shot. I wonder how much of a "buzz" he felt when he was comped and given the high-roller ride? I've heard that the Bellagio is the most expensive hotel in the world. He was raking in money on the lecture circuit, but was out of the power loop in Washington, besides an occasional visit to one of the Sunday talk shows. Power is one of the headiest rewards (just ask our previous president, who still tries to grab as much power as he can) and its pursuit has caused many a downfall.
Gambling at its most basic is a power grab: I'm going to take a chance and if I win I'll be rewarded with power (money). It all goes back to who (or what) we serve. If you're just living for the day, eyeballing that new car and you can't wait to move into the split-level condo on the coast, then gambling is A-OK. If you look to God for your provision and honor him with your tithe, then gambling could show that maybe you don't rely on God so much.
I'm not going to flat out say that God would not lead someone to a particular gamble for His purposes, but gambling as a lifestyle does not honor the Creator.
Posted by MarcV, 1:28 PM link
VDH Posts Another
The Professor is in the house again, but it's a different house. The New Atlantis is an online journal that looks fairly promising. In it is an article from Victor Davis Hanson, "Military Technology and American Culture". It's fairly lengthy, but he gives another good account of our historical background shaping the military we have today.
... American militaries have always reflected just that emphasis on impatient mobility and mass production—made easier because our youth are intimately acquainted with equipment of all sorts, from Model Ts to video games. American 16-year-olds drive, own, fix, and customize cars. We entrust them at an early age with expensive and sometimes dangerous machines, whether pick-up trucks, tractors, or forklifts, perhaps explaining why 20-year-olds drive 70-ton Abrams tanks and wave in $50 million jets to the decks of $5 billion carriers.
Oh yeah! He has some predictions on how the military will change in the future.
Posted by MarcV, 1:26 PM link
The Bleatmeister is blogging again (rather than a Bleat) because of a tic, and he had a pretty good comment about the McCarthy junk that has resurfaced. Before I get into that, Lileks' Backfence today gave a response from his request for things that need to be uninvented:
The cell phone. Anything whose main purpose is to make a person available 24 x 7 is an evil product.Amen. Amen. Amen.
Yes, yes yes yes yes!
That is a right-on, solid center hit the head on the nail.
(Can you tell I agree?)
I shouldn't be this way, but I'm at the point where if I hear my cell phone (work-provided) ring, I cringe and words that could help me lose my faith start to form at the tip of my tongue (help me Lord to hold them back). Last night, a half-hour after getting home (with my shoes and socks off), it rings and I have to go back in for something useless.
OK, I'm done venting.
On the NBC news last night, Brokaw gave the patented liberal horror reaction over McCarthy, then showed a clip of Sen. (shouldn't be called a Republican) Collins (R) reading from a prepared statement on how much of a bully McCarthy was. Lileks had a good point:
This is my favorite line from the news story:With the war over and the Homeland Security Act being debated, expect to hear more criticism about our loss of rights and a return to McCarthyism the closer they get to a vote. I don't know enough details about the act to criticize it, but I hope we can get a balanced debate between our rights and need for security since we are still engaged in the War on Terrorism. Will emotional tantrums displayed in "big media" weaken this act?
“McCarthy flourished during Cold War anxieties, with some parallels to today's fear of terrorism.”
You remember when the Soviets drove a 707 into the Empire State Building.
Do you recall that feeling after 9/11/01, when a clamor arose and fingers started pointing: Why didn't we know about this sooner, what did we do to try and stop this, who's in charge, blah blah blah. We need to remember that feeling, rather than the Chicken Little "sky is falling - we're in a police state" mantra when our national security policy is planned and debated.
Posted by MarcV, 1:23 PM link
Tech Tues
PCI Express
For those folks who have actually opened their computers and looked inside, computers can have three different slots to add peripheral equipment: ISA, PCI and AGP. ISA was the first to be used, and most new motherboards do not include them. PCI was introduced about 10 years ago as a serial I/O connection, and is the workhorse now to connect things like modems, soundcards, etc. AGP was introduced a few years ago, and is dedicated to giving a high speed connection for video cards. You can still purchase video cards for your PCI slot and they will work OK, but the AGP gives far better performance.
The speed of the PCI connection is limited to 133 MHz and a transfer rate of 1 GB/sec. With processor speeds exceeding 3 GHz and RAM clocking over 400 MHz (as well as broadband Internet targeted well over 1 GB/sec), the PCI connection will drag system performance down. The new PCI Express standard will have the potential of 10 GB/sec performance and be backwards compatible with existing PCI software. This Intel site gives info on the group that has worked on the specifications, as well as links for a FAQ, in-depth analysis and some short video presentations.
They are projecting next year for the availability of computers utilizing PCI Express. This may be worth the wait if you are interested in getting a high-end performance machine. Here is a link to the first chapter of a book on PCI Express for some more fun reading.
Optical Switch
Routing fiber optic networks is expensive, since you need specialized equipment to sort through the various signals on each fiber. Xerox has come up with a small, inexpensive chip that could help complete the last mile of fiber connection to your house or business.
The technology breaks the bandwidth barrier that exists today by integrating an Optical MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems) photonic switch with planar light circuits on a single silicon chip small enough to fit on a fingertip - a first ever achievement. The new switch promises to provide rapid delivery of optical services by providing the functionality of a Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer (R-OADM), a routing device that's commonly used today but is 10 to 100 times as large and costly.This technology will go far beyond enabling DVD video-on-demand, into undreamed-of Internet applications. In the past, a dedicated fiber transmitted a single light signal, and then a device converted the photons to electrons for every network connection. The converter is not very expensive or complicated. The problem is with the routing, being able to pick out a particular signal for each network (Internet) connection on a fiber (waveguide).
"With the Xerox switch, an entire R-OADM can be compressed into 2 cm x 1.5 cm in size, and can direct enormous amounts of data in ways that currently require large racks of assembled equipment," said Joel Kubby, a technical manager at Xerox's Wilson Center for Research and Technology in Webster, N.Y. "Our technology would let telecommunications companies install systems locally and even on utility poles."
The Xerox MEMS waveguide shuttle acts like a miniature train track switch for the fine waveguides, avoiding the problems of earlier, mirror-based MEMS switches.The market for these types of multiplexers was $100M in 2001, and is expected to go up to $1B in 2006. Once these new chips/multiplexers start coming into the market in appreciable quantities, and "providers" start utilizing existing fiber lines as well as installing new fiber lines, you can forget about cable, DSL, T-1, satellites or any other system that delivers Internet or TV. This should help kickstart some of the fiber and telecommunication companies back to and above their 2000 levels. You'll get to tell your grandkids about the days of dial-up service, like when we tell kids today about TV's without remote controls, and see their looks of amazement and incredulity.
The MEMS switches and waveguides are made together on a single crystal silicon wafer using widely available semiconductor processing equipment. Such on-chip integration avoids the complex alignment issues associated with manually connecting different and larger components with optical fibers, and avoids the cost and space associated with manufacturing, assembling and packaging the separate components of Add/Drop Multiplexers.
M$ Watch
Here is a link to a site, Microsoft-Watch, that keeps track of the new and interesting stuff coming out of Redmond. It's maintained by a former(I think) employee, and she has loads of links to other M$ sources of info, as well as an extensive bloglist of former and current "Microsofters". Some of the blogs are interesting, reading about the culture and environment of the biggest software company in the world.
Posted by MarcV, 11:02 AM link
Take Two
Today's double shot of funnies from the comedian Argus Hamilton:
The White House warned the government of Syria on Thursday to stop harboring terrorists or face serious consequences. It's a tricky situation. Now that Iraq has been knocked down, Syria and Iran present Don Rumsfeld with the seven-ten split. [I like the odds of him hitting that if we ever have to take care of business there military-style.]
The Russian Soyuz capsule hard-landed in Kazakhstan Sunday with three astronauts aboard. The control system failed on re-entry and no one knew for hours where the craft landed. Is there any wonder why the number-one department store in Russia is called Off-Target.
Posted by MarcV, 11:01 AM link
May 05, 2003
Hypocritical Gluttons
I did not find out about the Bill Bennett mess until today. My first reaction was disappointment, that someone who advocates virtues likes to gamble heavily, followed by frustration that the liberals have found another bone to gnaw on. After reading James Glassman's article at TCS, and particularly Jonah Goldberg's G-File, I am getting a better perspective on the politics vs. personal issues.
When I went to Vegas a couple of years ago, I gambled. I "cordoned" off about $40 for slots, think I lost most of it, then I flew back home. [I've heard that the slots at the airport have the worst odds, yet people keep playing them, in some sort of desperate attempt at a last chance jackpot. Plus it's a captive audience with time on their hands.] I also oppose the lottery that Gov. (easy money) Easely is trying to push through the NC legislature, and I would like to get rid of the tribal casinos in the mountains. Does that make me a hypocrite? I don't think so.
Mr. Bennett is caught in the grip of an off-shoot to the Golden Rule: for Leaders, do as I (part of the huddled masses) think you (Leader) should do/live. I was talking to a co-worker about the former Alabama football coach (Price) who was fired due to questionable personal choices. My co-worker thought that the coach should not have been fired, that what he does in his personal life is his own business. I told him that the coach had already been warned once, and someone in that type of leadership position has to set an example.
We want our leaders to be super-clean, yet they are just as human, just as much sinners as the rest of us. Christians constantly wrestle with this: I'm a sinner, I know better yet I keep sinning, I'm a hypocrite. I have heard of people who won't attend church because they're full of hypocrites (correct!). The G-File has more on hypocrites:
But the biggest reason I find these Bennett articles so troublesome is what they reveal about the kind of society we're building. Hypocrisy is bad, but it's not the worst vice in the world. If I declared "murder is wrong" and then killed somebody, I would hope that the top count against me would be homicide, not hypocrisy. Liberal elites — particularly in Hollywood — believe that hypocrisy is the gravest sin in the world, which is why they advocate their own lifestyles for the entire world: Sleep with whomever you want, listen to your own instincts, be true to yourself, blah, blah, blah. Our fear of hypocrisy is forcing us to live in a world where gluttons are fine, so long as they champion gluttony.
When you start to champion gluttony, shame becomes an antiquated feeling. Shame held up society for many years, but now it seems politically incorrect to point out that someone should be ashamed for what they did. From some anecdotes that I have seen, Mr. Bennett may be feeling some shame now, but he is not sorry for the gambling he did. It was legal, he's not hiding anything tax-wise or causing his family hardship, and it's something he enjoys doing. His political career has taken a serious hit, but that should not change his message of improving society by virtuous living. If we insist on perfect spokesmen, who can speak out?
If we speak out against any vice we must not only speak out against all of them, we must not be guilty of any of them — even the ones we ourselves do not see as a vice. And if we are guilty, we should defend our sin, own it, celebrate it, even to the point of claiming it was never a sin at all. Because if we don't, we will be guilty of hypocrisy.
...
The hypocrisy fetishists seem to believe that our role models and spokesmen should be perfect — perfect in their sinfulness or perfect in their saintliness. And, at all times they should be proselytizers of both. What a morally unserious and dangerous way to organize a society.
This is a great summation of the liberal elite stance against right-wing-radicals/religious zealots/ultraconservatives speaking out against certain issues. If they can't come up with sound arguments to defend their stance, then let's put down the messenger and use the politics of personal destruction. What we need to do is debate issues on the merits, and not on the character of the debater. It's a human trait to associate people with a cause, and then watch a cause falter because a lead spokesman happens to stumble.
This can be an important time for our country. With a strong president and a growing conservative majority in the legislature, we have an opportunity to undo the liberal mess of the last 30-40 years and get back to how the Constitution defined the federal government's role. Think the liberals lie awake at night worried, trying to come up with something to oppose that?
Posted by MarcV, 4:18 PM link
Kurtz Krying
I usually don't read Stanley Kurtz's articles at NRO, and I did not read his offering on libertarians last week. Apparently, some folks disagreeably disagreed with him:
The biting wit that works so well in the hands of a smart and basically fair-minded fellow like Instapundit is devolving into something shallow and mean-spirited in the blogoshere as a whole. Venom is no substitute, either for argument or for a good accounting of an opponent’s argument. It has come to serve as a way for bloggers to assure themselves that people who are not, say, libertarians, have no points worth listening to. And at some level, I think bloggers know that their insults actually protect them, by making their targets less likely to respond. After all, who wants to dignify this stuff with a reply. Insults are cowardice disguised as courage.
When the blogosphere gets this way (and it does pretty often), it shuts down debate.
I used to lean towards the libertarian side, but the "no government, none of the time" and isolationist foreign policy turn me off. I don't read all that many blogs, but I don't recall many (if any) crticisms of Kurtz or using insults last week. I'm curious about the blogs that did use insults, and would like to see the source.
Blogs are just a reflection of our free society. You will have a few nuts to go with the crunchy cons, lefties, righties, "moderates" and others who have an opinion, and feel strongly enough to publish their viewpoint. I have noticed some bloggers got rid of their comments sections because of a few flamer's destructive opinions. The blogosphere should be considered a public forum, and if your skin is too thin to take the insults and bile that some people spew out, you could be in the wrong arena.
I can understand bloggers who don't want to give flamers a space to spew with a comments section. Otherwise, if a blogger uses their site to spew, we can just choose to ignore their site and let it fade away. A flaming site may attract a few other spewers, but other bloggers will police themselves. With a computer and a connection to the Internet, anyone can join the "debate". Any blogger who is worth his salt has to always consider the source and take arguments for their merit and logic.
If something is important enough, insults will not "shut down the debate", but it may cause some of the sensitive to drop out. Mr. Kurtz continues:
The blogosphere offers a welcome antidote to the safety and blandness of the academy. But sometimes the failings of the blogosphere show why we developed those academic conventions of respect in the first place. Under the guise of rough and tumble frankness, the blogosphere risks turning into a society of like-minded partisans congratulating themselves on being smarter than all the idiots who see things differently.
Kinda hard to type when one arm is patting one's own back, but I suppose a few do it. These generalizations are difficult to swallow, but he seems fairly convinced. Instead of refuting, maybe I'll just go find someone else who thinks like me and congratulate him/her on a job well done. Everyone wants freedom, and everyone wants to be happy. Someone is going to be disappointed occasionally, and maybe kry. Boo-hoo.
Posted by MarcV, 10:46 AM link
Sunday Sermon Notes 5/4/03
[Pastor was in Nashville today, so his older brother stepped in and delivered an inspired message. You can tell they are brothers, with the older one slightly shorter and a little more "round" yet both having the same facial expressions and physical "style".]
Honor
From Malachi 1:6 "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the LORD Almighty. "It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name. "But you ask, `How have we shown contempt for your name?'
In other translations, the word "fear" is used to replace respect in "... where is the respect...", when God asks for what is due him. This part of the Bible is typically used for sermons on tithing and giving. With our tithes we honor God, and Malachi has more with the results we should see from giving our tithe. There is power in honor, and dishonor can also be destructive (powerful).
God asks, where is my honor (to prize, worth, fix a value on)? Honor could be thought of as fear with a mix of love, respect and admiration included. Pastor gave 4 different areas where the Bible taught about honor.
1. Honor your parents. This is the first commandment (Ex. 20:12) tied with honor, with the results being long life if you follow the commandment. The results of disobedience can be found in Prov. 30:17
"The eye that mocks a father, that scorns obedience to a mother,
will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, will be eaten by the vultures."
Not a pretty sight. Consider also that without eyes (discernment) you run a greater risk of falling into sin.
2. Honor the Lord with firstfruits. From Prov. 3:9-10, "Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine." We should be giving Him our best, not our leftovers.
3. Honor your wife. This type of honor really centers on the love mingled with fear. From 1Peter 3:7, "Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers." Again, the NIV translation uses "respect" where "honor" is used in other translations. Scripture also gives consequences: dishonor wife, prayers unanswered. God will not help you if you can not take care of the mate He blessed you with.
Ladies are not off of the hook either. From Eph. 5:33, "However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." So it is a mutual partnership, where nothing but Christ should be between you.
4. Honor men of God. From Heb. 3:17, "Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you." Again, the NIV translation falls a little short, where other translations elaborate on "keep watch over you" to "watching for your souls". With the latter in mind, the leaders that the author of Hebrews refers to would be the church leadership. The City Mayor might watch over his constituent's rights, but not necessarily their souls.
Our attitude towards our pastors affects our spirituality. If their work is not a joy, how well can they help us? They pray for us, the flock that is close to their heart. If a couple of troublemakers dishonor and disobey the pastors, the pastors' prayers will be far less effective and their service to the church weakened by this extra burden. It is likewise for elders (1Tim 5:17): "The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching."
[It is good to pray for our pastors and elders. We need to honor and obey them as well. If you find that you can't honor them and you can't resolve the problem peaceably, rather than causing them and the church a burden it may be time to find another church home. That's my opinion - Pastor didn't say that.]
Posted by MarcV, 9:14 AM link
Take Two
Today's double shot of funnies from the comedian Argus Hamilton:
President Bush spoke on the deck of the Abraham Lincoln Thursday as the sun went down on the Pacific Ocean during a beautiful day off the Southern California coast. The locals were impressed. So far he's chased Osama, Saddam and El Nino into hiding.
Saddam Hussein was shown in a new video Friday taken of him during the fall of Baghdad. He looked old and tired, defeated and baggy-eyed, but he talked like a man who could still win. No comedian ever did a better Walter Mondale impression.
Posted by MarcV, 8:04 AM link
May 02, 2003
Light blogging today - I'm taking a half-day vacation, a spring fever break. There's some strawberries ripe for the pickin', and the lawn is starting to get out of hand after a few days of hit and miss rain. Thus begins another year in the blogosphere ...
Now if any of you go out to pick some strawberries, be sure to bring kneepads. I have seen people bending, squatting, sitting, kneeling on one knee trying to pick berries, and it looks ridiculous (not to mention painful). It's worth it to buy kneepads, because knees are a terrible thing to degenerate. Those bionic knees probably won't be ready for another 20 years at least, and they'll be too expensive for most of us anyhow.
Posted by MarcV, 11:39 AM link
Those Euro's!
Victor Davis Hanson posts them, and I link them. Today he has another smackdown for our European allies and friends, and calls on the US to start making bold moves on changing our relationships with various countries. There should be consequences to the mess that some countries have made.
Nor are fits of continental craziness, both real and abstract, even new. Napoleon was willing to risk the lives of millions for the idea of a pan-European dream, its scary, pretentious adages not unlike those now emanating from Brussels or from the mad M. Villepin. The rise of German Nazism, Italian fascism, and continental Marxism at times turned Europeans away from the liberal tradition and drew them to darker and more authoritarian promises, with roots from Plato’s Laws to Oswald Spengler. Too many Europeans still cherish the belief that they are close to an end to war, hunger, want, and meanness — ideals inseparable from a light work week, cradle-to-grave care, protection by an uncouth American military, and a steady stream of fertile, darker, unassimilated peoples to take out their trash and clean their toilets.
...
We will always be friends and, as democratic liberal societies, must remain partners of some sort. But failure to react would be as disastrous as it has been in the past. First, we must distinguish French, Belgians, and German from the rest.
He also calls for a change in NATO and the UN, not abolishing them but significantly changing how they are managed. I liked his idea of moving NATO headquarters from Brussels to Warsaw. Reducing the number and changing the placement of our military bases in Europe can hopefully be done soon. As usual, another great read, so go click on the link if you haven't read it yet.
Posted by MarcV, 11:34 AM link
It's not my Blogday and I'll link if I want to
Link if I want to link if I want to ...
This has also been overdue. We've been visiting each other for quite a spell on the blogosphere, and we go way back. There were the marches back in the 70's at Phenix City (maybe that was someone else?)... who can forget the big bass tournament on the Chattahoochee in '82, when they seemed to just jump into the boat ... and he was the only one to wish me a happy blogday (sniff sniff - not that I'm trolling for blog love or anything). So without further ado, another good blogger for the list and fellow AoW member, Redneckin.
Chuck is devoted to some of the finer things in life, hunting and fishing, and would be a good guy to have in your foxhole if the multitudinous murderous Muslim masses ever attacked. So go visit and tell him Spud (and Floyd and Gomer) sez hey!
Posted by MarcV, 11:33 AM link
May 01, 2003
It's my Blogday and I'll link if I want to
Link if I want to link if I want to ...
This has been slightly overdue (fortunately no fines), but I did want to see if he was a regular "post"er, rather than one of those infrequent updaters. Not that there is anything wrong with infrequent updaters ... uh, anyhow, Wylie in Norman is a good blogger and seems to be like me (how scary is that?) in seeking the finer things in life. I can't tell if he's a Cowboys fan (shudder) or not. He may not even care about football (SHUDDER), although admitting that in Oklahoma may cause a mini-riot.
His site takes awhile to load, and he does not seem to have many (if any) pictures on there. Be patient, go visit and tell him Spud (and Barney and Goober) sez hey!
Posted by MarcV, 4:19 PM link
MayDay MayDay
Happy Blogday to me
Happy Blogday to me
Happy Blogday Spud Q. Tater
Happy Blogday to me
Yes, one year ago this humble Tater put fingertips to keyboard and started the blog known as Spudlets. I would like to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to Terry Oglesby and Mark Byron, fine writers and gentlemen who helped me out initially and continue to support these ramblings in the TaterBed. I hope we can continue to be blogbuddies as long as the posts keep gushing out.
I also appreciate all the other blogbuddies and visitors who come by for a sample. I never intended this to be some big, popular web destination where thousands (hundreds? tens?) would breathlessly await my every post (my Bravenet counter went over 10k a few weeks ago, not that that is a big deal, but it's something). Spudlets is just a mish-mash of things that interest me, combined with my desire to write. I hope my writing/reasoning has improved over a year (doubt the grammar has!).
The desire to start Spudlets arose out of an emptiness I was struggling with a year ago, when the start of a beautiful friendship ended abruptly after a friend had to move away. Since Lady Spud has heard all my stories, they had to come out somewhere, and that somewhere is Spudlets for now. While blogbuddies do not take the place of a physical friend, I have been blessed to get to know a few folks (and hopefully they got to know me) over the blogosphere, so I figure I'm ahead of the deal. As long as this is fun and interesting (and I have the time) I'll keep posting. You have been warned.
[NOTE: Anyone who can guess what the middle initial "Q." stands for will be eligible for a big ol' prize basket of nearly inestimable value.]
Posted by MarcV, 8:00 AM link
