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Opinari - Latin term for Opinion. Opinari.net is just what it seems: a cornucopia of rants, raves and poignant soliloquy.

Sunday, February 29, 2004

Yawn.

The Oscars are tonight. Everyone seems to think Lord of the Rings will win best picture, and some silly film called "Lost in Translation" with Bill Murray will win best screenplay... and a bunch of other spoiled Hollywood guys and gals will win some things, and other spoiled Hollywod guys and gals will lose some things.

Blah. Blah. Blah.

I don't know if I speak for others out there, but I'm tired of self-congratulatory suarees like the Oscars. I'm even less impressed with the Grammys. And the others, like the Tonys, the Doves, the CMAs, the Golden Globes... heck, I'm even sick of the ESPYs. Do these people really feel so badly about themselves that they need their peers to blow smoke up their wazoo? Can't they thank people in the closing credits of the films, and end the endless bantering each night? I'll never forget Sally Field's classic "You like me. You really like me." blather. Yuck.

To me, the movie / music / play of the year should just stand on its own. I don't need to be told by industry professionals what I should see / listen to / be impressed with.

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.: posted by Dave 2:29 PM


Calling all ASP.NET developers - Microsoft has now posted the ASP .NET Developers' Kit.

Now, if I didn't have so much else going on, I would be playing with this. I'll post details as I get the time, or, perhaps, the inclination.

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.: posted by Dave 8:16 AM


Saturday, February 28, 2004

Well, living in Connecticut has the disadvantage of keeping some local news out of my sight. Unfortunately, I haven't been reading the Knoxville paper much online either. Tonight, I just read that Jmmy Streater died last week.

In my neighborhood, we all loved the Vols. In the early 80s, it was Reggie White, Steve Alatorre, Jeff Olczewski, Johnnie Jones. In the 70s, it was Condredge Holloway, Larry Seivers, Stanley Morgan, and Streater. I remember Streater's run against Notre Dame. I remember that he looked to run a lot more than he looked to pass. Man, was he fast. And small. I remember John Ward calling him the "Sylva Streak". I always thought he was saying "Silver". At that age, I didn't really know much about words having double meanings. I sure didn't know where Sylva was.

I remember another UT quarterback more vividly: Tony Robinson. Both players were super athletes. T-Rob was a much better passer than Streater. Streater excelled at the quick darting run. But both, sadly, has something in common. They both got sucked into the nasty world of drug use. Robinson's abuse cost him a career. Streater's probably shaved 30 years off his life. Both are tragedies, but not uncommon to sports, or life, for that matter.

I miss my childhood sometimes. Listening to "the Voice" describe a Streater run was part of that childhood. It stinks when anyone dies, but especially people who you feel like you knew. Jimmy Streater was one of those people, to me.

Goodbye, "Streak". You'll be missed.

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.: posted by Dave 8:27 PM


An idea for a new techie device:

With the advent of RSS, and the promises of richer content being carried through aggregators, news junkies all over look forward to the day soon where live video and audio are streamed into their newsreaders. Consider also the popularity of the iPod, and similar portable storage devices. Now imagine a synergy of the two, where content is uploaded onto the device, either utilizing a WiFi, or a 3G provider (or even Bluetooth if desired). Store information for later reference, or select favorites, such as nanotechnology, so that, when any content is present regarding nanotech, a notification is sent to the device. Push content, multimedia streaming, real time... I can see it in the very near future. I would buy one.

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.: posted by Dave 5:14 PM


Today has been one of the most relazing Saturdays in recent memory. It is sunny, brisk, and not wintry. My wife and son are happily napping upstairs. I'm getting ready to go out in the yard and do some cleaning.

Church went well, too. The sermon came from 2 Samuel, and referred to David, and how some blamed him for the death of Saul (who committed suicide, by the way). When I came home, I took one of my son's animal hats (a blue dog), and used it as a puppet. I got the idea because the kid's church featured puppets today. I thought he might enjoy a puppet show from Daddy. I didn't know how much he would enjoy it. Whenever I would bark at him with the puppet, he would laugh, and laugh.

So why am I blogging about it? Well, because I take my family for granted sometimes. I don't think enough about how lucky I am. Making my son laugh was the highlight of my week. I hope there are thousands more where that came from.

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.: posted by Dave 3:04 PM


An open letter to my friends in the Rocky Top Brigade:

How many of you have syndication enabled for your blog? As far as I could tell, just over 60% of the blogs on the RTB roster have RDF, RSS, XML, or Atom syndication. Over a dozen Blogspot blogs don't have Atom feeds enabled. Come on, RTB... syndicate!

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.: posted by Dave 2:59 PM


Friday, February 27, 2004

I'm convinced that the worst drivers in the world are in New England. Then again, I never met this guy:

Maryville, TN - It may be right to call 911 to report someone's chasing you on the highway — but not if it's a sheriff's deputy in pursuit.

Kevin Richard Vowell, 31, of Maryville placed such a call to emergency dispatchers during a high speed chase on U.S. 411 early Sunday morning, Blount County sheriff's spokeswoman Marian O'Briant said.

The incident began when a deputy noticed Vowell driving erratically and signaled for him to stop. Vowell pulled over but then spun his pickup truck around and fled down the highway, with three patrol cars in pursuit.

Vowell then dialed 911 and reported he was being chased but would not stop until he got to Vonore.

"The dispatcher advised him to stop, telling him, 'You're only making it worse,'" O'Briant said.

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.: posted by Dave 11:04 PM


So what about that $10,000?

A $10,000 reward offered by the "Doonesbury" comic strip for proof that President Bush served in the Alabama National Guard during the Vietnam War has elicited over 1,300 responses but turned up no credible evidence yet, the cartoonist said on Friday.

Zero for 1,300 ain't bad, eh?

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.: posted by Dave 10:34 PM


SharpReader has been updated, and now it supports Atom. Good news for Blogspot syndication.

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.: posted by Dave 10:04 PM


A Friedman's Jewelry store is apparently asking customers for a fingerprint before completing a sale.

But after he'd rung everything up he pulled out this fingerprint pad and started into this spiel about how they were doing it to prevent fraud and identity theft. I told him no way and that I'd void the sale if he insisted on a fingerprint. I was furious. When he saw my reaction he put the pad away and completed the sale anyway. I was still tempted to cancel the sale, but by this time he'd already run the credit card and he wasn't insisting on the fingerprint.

But after all that nonsense, I will never set foot in that store again. Or any other branch of Friedman's if that's the way they run their business. I refuse to be treated like a criminal just to make a simple purchase.

Just what the hell is going on with these companies? When I went to Lux Bond and Green to buy a necklace for my wife, they grilled me about the state which issued my license. So it doesn't say Connecticut on it... who the hell cares? Do you want my money, or not? I just want some pleasant customer service, and a reasonably priced product. I don't think that's too much to ask.

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.: posted by Dave 9:36 PM


Speaking of the Passion, go read Donald Sensing's review of the movie.

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.: posted by Dave 9:19 PM


Commercializing the Passion - it was only a matter of time.



Make sure you get your Passion coffee mug while supplies last. Wait... sorry, they're sold out.

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.: posted by Dave 8:49 PM


So there's a big hubbub about Howard Stern being dropped by Clear Channel. Lots of invictive is being thrown around, cries of censorship, right wing scare tactics, etc. etc.

I'm not going to debate the virtue of the Stern show, nor am I going to debate his right to push the envelope as he does. What I am going to do, though, is call a spade a spade. And the spade is not censorship.

Pronunciation: 'sen(t)-s&r-"ship
Function: noun
1 a : the institution, system, or practice of censoring b : the actions or practices of censors; especially : censorial control exercised repressively

Everyone seems to be coming to the defense of Stern. The fact is that this is a corporate decision, not censorship. No one, even Howard, is beng repressed. This is a choice of programming. Clear Channel has that right. Even if there is pressure coming from the FCC, it is still a marketing decision. Clear Channel has demographic analyses. They know their markets. Obviously, research has dictated that they disconnect themselves from the Sterns of the world. That's their decision. If you think it is wrongheaded, act accordingly. Send them an email. Let them know.

Seldom will you hear me defend the monolith that is Clear Channel. I cannot stand their canned programming, lacking originality, and variety. But I do respect their right to air what they choose, just as I respect Stern's right to say on air what he chooses. Ultimately, the marketplace will dictate who survives. Hopefully, Stern will (just not on my radio dial).

MORE: Rush Limbaugh asks "Wait a minute. Where, where is Infinity and Viacom and CBS in all this?"

Good question.

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.: posted by Dave 8:18 PM


Joanne Jacobs talks about how dull and useless history textbooks are.

As long as publishers are trying to please all the state textbook committees, books will keep getting longer, heavier and more crammed with "mentions."

Diane Ravitch asks:

Is it any wonder that most students rank history or social studies among their least favorite subjects in school? What a crashing bore it must be to try to learn something from tomes like these.

Agreed. This is why I have devised a plan for teaching my son history. I want to heavily use field trips to illustrate historical facts, so that he can associate the two. Why should we read about Lexington and Concord when we can go visit it ourselves? I want to take seemingly inconsequential road trips, just so we can stop alongside road markers (you see them all the time, don't you?) and read about the surroundings. The homesteads of Nathan Hale, Silas Deane, Mark Twain, Eli Whitney, and Oliver Ellsworth come to mind, just in my homestate.

I want to gather relevant material from different eras, books mainly, but also artifacts, which I can use to teach him how people in the past thought, and lived. If I am to choose one book about American history, it will be Paul M. Johnson's "The History of the American People".

Above all, I want my son to understand cause and effect, not irrelevant facts. For example, many kids know that the Civil War was in the 1860s. Many assume slavery was the only reason behind the conflict. Few understand how important states rights were in the debate. Not many have ever read the words of Lincoln, or Douglass. And seldom do we hear about a high school teacher who manages to make history relevant to the students. A dry, stuffy textbook will not do any of this. A passion for the subject, an understanding of circumstances and historical context, and commitment to educating will.

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.: posted by Dave 2:48 PM


Martha Stewart is relieved, a bit. The most serious charge of securities fraud was dropped by U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum. She still has four lesser counts with which to contend: conspiracy, obstruction, and twice lying to investigators.

In other news, Martha Stewart Living (Ticker: MSO) climbs over 10%. I'm wondering if Martha knew beforehand that the most serious charge was going to be dropped, and called her broker, requesting him to buy several thousand dollars of MSO stock.

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.: posted by Dave 2:31 PM


Tucows has bought Blogrolling.com. Maybe they will allow me to run more than one free Blogroll. Probably not though. [sigh]

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.: posted by Dave 2:24 PM


Yet another virus....

And this one seems to be much more active than others.

W32.Netsky.C is a mass-mailing worm that uses its own SMTP engine to send itself to the email addresses it finds when scanning hard drives and mapped drives. This worm also searches drives C through Y for the folder names containing "Shar" and then copies itself to those folders.

The Subject, Body, and email attachment vary.

We've basically disabled all email attachments in our IT shop. It's a real pain in the ass, but this is what happens when ignorance is the norm among the plebescite.

Once more, to anyone who may be listening, DON'T OPEN FILE ATTACHMENTS obtained via email, unless you have confirmed the content through the sender.

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.: posted by Dave 11:31 AM


Thursday, February 26, 2004

OTB points to Thomas Friedman in the NY Times, on outsourcing:

Yes, I want to be able to huff and puff about complex issues — like outsourcing of jobs to India — without any reference to reality. Unfortunately, in this life, I’m stuck in the body of a reporter/columnist. So when I came to the 24/7 Customer call center in Bangalore to observe hundreds of Indian young people doing service jobs via long distance — answering the phones for U.S. firms, providing technical support for U.S. computer giants or selling credit cards for global banks — I was prepared to denounce the whole thing. “How can it be good for America to have all these Indians doing our white-collar jobs?” I asked 24/7’s founder, S. Nagarajan.

Well, he answered patiently, “look around this office.” All the computers are from Compaq. The basic software is from Microsoft. The phones are from Lucent. The air-conditioning is by Carrier, and even the bottled water is by Coke, because when it comes to drinking water in India, people want a trusted brand. On top of all this, says Mr. Nagarajan, 90 percent of the shares in 24/7 are owned by U.S. investors. This explains why, although the U.S. has lost some service jobs to India, total exports from U.S. companies to India have grown from $2.5 billion in 1990 to $4.1 billion in 2002. What goes around comes around, and also benefits Americans.

I don't always concur with Friedman, but this analysis hits the nail on the head. In a dynamic economy, resources must periodically be reallocated. If they weren't, we would still be travelling by rail, and telecom would likely be relegated to the use of Morse Code. In a sentence, technological advances are good for the economy, even if it means there is some short term upheaval.

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.: posted by Dave 11:57 AM


Wednesday, February 25, 2004

P.I. fans rejoice: perennial smartass Bill Maher now has a blog.

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.: posted by Dave 9:35 PM


Luke says:

I have therefore added support for ATOM to the next version of SharpReader (due out soon) and I'll just have to bite the bullet and keep updating my code-base as new versions of the ATOM specification come out.

Good news for those of us who use aggregators, but don't have Atom support. I agree with Luke's assessment that developers should generally wait for Atom to actually get to stage 1.0, but I also know I read several blogs that only have Atom feeds. So this is a welcome development.

I encourage you to download Luke's product, SharpReader. It has been the best tool for me, with a small footprint, pop up windows for incoming posts, and it has been the most compatible with the myriad versions of RSS out there.

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.: posted by Dave 8:52 PM


I read this in the Washington Times:

Senate Republicans were optimistic about having a full Senate vote on (the Federal Marriage) amendment sometime this year, with Sen. Rick Santorum, Pennsylvania Republican, saying it could come as early as April.

Nothing is really surprising about that, except that it would mean John Kerry will have to go on the record regarding his stance on the FMA. Either way he goes, it will have a profound affect on the vote (at least, you can guarantee that his handlers are perceiving it that way).

Now, the larger point that comes to mind is this: Senators have a difficult time getting elected to the presidency. Governors tend to be more electable. Why is this?

I think that this phenomena can be attributed to two things. One, governors are executives of American government, but on a smaller scale. They have demonstrated that they can serve in that capacity. Senators represent constituents, and form legislation. This really is not a capacity best suited for the executive branch.

But the second reason is this: senators vote, and they vote often. In a national election, they must account for their record. Appealing to the wider audience, as opposed to pandering to the interests of a smaller constituency, is much more difficult.

So, if Kerry votes for the FMA, he alienates his home state, and the liberal base of the Democratic party. If he votes against it, he goes directly against public opinion, and casts himself as the quintessential liberal candidate. If this comes up for a vote before November, either way, Kerry loses.

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.: posted by Dave 8:41 PM


I was reading Daniel Drezner's post about "what explains the drop off in the workforce?" and I've been interested in many of the comments. While I agree with some that the payroll survey and the household survey are different, and should be considered as such, I am struck by the mention of "stay at home" moms.

My wife has been in the workforce since she can remember, yet this is the first year that she is staying home to care for our infant son. According to one criteria, this makes the unemployment rate in our house 50%, while another would view it as 100%. Additionally, if one discounts part time work (which my job technically is, although I work far more than I should, and am compensated accordingly for it), then the unemployment rate in this household is 100%.

Why do I bring this up? To illustrate how irrelevant some numbers are. Any politician can cite statistics to reinforce their own position. Just something to consider when you hear "unemployment" numbers.

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.: posted by Dave 7:58 PM


Weighing in on the FMA:

The method which the courts and elected officials from the left have been exercising to civilly disobey the law is, whether they like it or not, illegal. I understand their passion on this particular issue.

But, let us suppose for a second that a town in some other part of the country decided to allow citizens to carry concealed weapons, and the state governing this town had already passed a strict law banning the carrying of said firearms. Gun advocates, naturally, would be giddy. However, their opponents would cry foul. "This is an egregious violation of state statutes, and it should be punished."

This is the classical paradox of both the left and right wing of the political elite. It is easy to ban or restrict an activity that is not part of one's own existence. It is a different sort of character, however, that can ignore one's own sense of morality, and realize that the greater good is served by allowing individuals in society to make free choices, restricted only if they violate the rights of others.

This qualification is why carrying a concealed weapon should not be unduly restricted, but wielding a firearm in committing a crime should be. Similarly, the lifestyle one chooses, like it or not, is the business of the individual (or individuals). You may not like the lifestyle, but you must, for the purpose of fairness, and freedom, allow others to choose differently.

Personally, I would like to see the gay lobby pursue this issue legally, but I'm convinced that they are fearful that doing so will change nothing. This is largely because of opinion polls, which show a backlash effect, with 61% of the public favoring the FMA. However, if thinking people will stop to realize that restricting the lives of others is tantamount to inviting intervention into THEIR lives, they will see how slippery this slope can be. However, such discourse can only be encouraged if vagabond justices, and rogue public officials respect the rule of law, and let events progress within the bounds which society has defined.

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.: posted by Dave 7:34 PM


A busy, and bizarre opening day:

A middle-aged woman died of an apparent heart attack Wednesday while watching the climactic crucifixion scene in “The Passion of the Christ” at a morning showing in Wichita, Kansas, a television station reported.

The film was stopped and a nurse in attendance went to the unidentified woman’s side, a spokeswoman for KAKE-TV in Wichita said.

“It was the highest emotional part of the movie,” she said. A crew from the TV station was at the special showing, which was sponsored by a radio station.

Somewhere, the cynic inside of me detects a lawsuit on some basis.

In the meantime, the movie raked in $15 - 20 million. Not bad for a movie that opened on a Wednesday, and couldn't find a distributor.

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.: posted by Dave 7:05 PM


Monday, February 23, 2004

.NET apps without coding? Apparently so.

Kinzan Inc. this week will release Kinzan Studio & Server 4.0, a development and deployment environment that lets developers build enterprise applications through an assembly model by simply linking components in a drag-and-drop format.

"Our product allows customers to rapidly assemble enterprise applications that are less expensive than building from scratch and more flexible than buying off the shelf," said Garland Wong, chief technology officer and vice president of engineering at Kinzan, in Carlsbad, Calif.

The Java version will be released first, and the .NET version during the summer.

Robert Scoble, a technical evangelist in Microsoft's .Net Platform Strategy Group, in Redmond, Wash., recently saw a Kinzan demo and called the technology "pretty exciting. I'd never seen a coding environment that was like this. Just plop a component down on the screen. Draw a line to connect into the system. No code."

Yet, Scoble said the "shocker" was when Wong, who demonstrated the technology, closed Eclipse, "then he fired it up on Visual Studio and did the same thing."

The benefit is "now you can have both sides of your development team [Java and .Net] working on the same [visual programming] metaphor," Scoble said. "We hadn't seen that before."

Well, this surely will take rapid application development to a new level. I hope to get my hands on a beta version to test it.

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.: posted by Dave 11:28 AM


Bitter has found out that she is being censored by the popular web filtering software, SonicWALL. Take a look at all of the blogs that are censored by SonicWALL. It's a veritable who's who of the blogosphere. And these are just the ones that come from the Blogfather's blogroll.

This isn't the first blog I've noticed being censored. RTB member A Little More to the Right is censored by SmartFilter, the web filter at my office. Why? Sexual content, apparently. Well, ALMTTR does post some pretty provocative content. Heh.

NOTE: Bitch Girls' site is banned by SmartFilter too. On what grounds? Mature content. I guess guns are too mature for ADULTS!

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.: posted by Dave 10:24 AM


Spoons questions Andrew Sullivan's "conservatism":

Now he's come out against the Bush tax cuts, and is proposing a tax increase.

(I suspect this is going to become a new feature here).

Well, let's see what Andy has to say...

I don't believe in the supply-side notion that cutting taxes boosts revenue so much that the cuts pay for themselves (although I do think they help stimulate economic activity). So what's the responsible thing to do? Ideally, I'd propose means-testing social security, raising the retirement age, ending agricultural subsidies and carving away corporate welfare. But none of that is likely to happen any time soon.

So I'm gradually moving toward the belief that we should propose some kind of temporary war-tax. Levy it on those earning more than $200,000 and direct it primarily to financing the war on terror. Put in a sunset clause of, say, four years. It may be time for some fiscal sacrifice for the war we desperately need to fight. And we need to fight it without creating government insolvency which, in the long run, will undermine the war. I don't love this idea; and I'm open to other suggestions. But it behooves us pro-war fiscal conservatives to propose something.

So, basically, Sullivan is refuting Laffer's supply-side theories. That's another debate for another day. I do agree with Sullivan's position on cutting corporate welfare, agricultural subsidies, etc. What bothers me, though, is his defeatist attitude. Andrew seems to be saying "Well, we can't do it the right way, so let's give in to the establishment thinking, and levy additional taxes on anyone above a certain income" (in this case, $200,000). That certainly does not reflect fiscal conservatism, does it?

I agree that spending needs to be reigned in. I believe that, in a second Bush term, it will be. But giving in to liberal confiscatory ideas is not going to accomplish anything except to grow federal cannibalization of GDP that much more. Deep down, I think Andrew knows this.

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.: posted by Dave 9:44 AM


I've been analyzing current technologies, trying to decide what little gizmo I want to buy next. (Opinari and friends are gizmo addicts, it seems). I'm trying to decide what MP3 player I want to buy. I already own two devices (my Tungsten T, and my old Rio 500) that play MP3s portably. But, capacity is limited on both, and I prefer not to use my Tungsten for MP3 playback anyway.

So I had originally been lusting after the iPods. iPods are the "in" thing. But I'm souring on iPods (much like people are souring on the idea of John Forbes Kerry, President). Why? Because battery life is questionable, and I have an inherent hatred for Apple anyway.



So, I decided on a Dell Portable Jukebox. Besides the 15 GB capacity, it's cheaper than the iPod (and I get a corporate discount on top of that).

But now comes this gadget - the RipFlash.



But the RipFlash only holds 256 MB. Why would I want this one? In a sentence, it has a line in, meaning that I can transfer any audio to MP3. It also has FM built in, meaning that I can archive FM broadcasts, and listen to them later. (OK, two sentences... sue me).

So, which one should I choose? I guess I will wait a few months... just to see which one I am longing for the most.

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.: posted by Dave 9:29 AM


Sunday, February 22, 2004

So what ten books should an undergraduate read? Tyler Cowan posts this report from GlobalEducation.edu. The list is, as follows:

1. The Bible
2. The Odyssey
3. The Republic
4. Democracy in America
5. The Iliad
6. Hamlet
7. Wealth of Nations, The Koran, The Prince
10. Federalist Papers, Don Quixote, On Liberty, Invisible Man, King Lear, War and Peace, Moby Dick, The Lexus and the Olive Tree.

Of these, I have read all but Lexus, and the Koran (which just doesn't appeal to me). Ironically, I had read most BEFORE undergraduate school. Has high school degraded that much? Have expectations so eroded that... ? Never mind. I'm being rhetorical anyway.

As for my own list, I would raise the Federalist Papers much higher than 10th. I would add Huckleberry Finn, and General Theory (as Keynesian economics needs to be studied alongside Smith, for perspective). I would also add Johnson's History of the American People, but that's just me.

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.: posted by Dave 4:18 PM


In an attempt to share the blogging bliss, I have asked my friend, and cohort in education, Mark, to join my blog. So, in the coming weeks, if you see something posted by a non-Dave entity, you will know why.

Welcome to the blogosphere, Mark.

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.: posted by Dave 9:54 AM


I'm watching Arnold on Meet the Press right now... when asked "will you sign a bill legalizing gay marriages?", he avoids the question by saying "I don't deal with hypotheticals." I would be interested to know how Arnold really stands on the issue, although it's obvious politics is going to dictate his decision on the matter.

And of course, Nader officially announced his presidential candidacy:

“This country has more problems and injustices than it deserves,” Nader said, bemoaning a “democracy gap.” He said he needed to get into the race to “challenge this two-party duopoly.”

“There’s too much power and wealth in too few hands,” he said . “They have taken over Washington.”

“Washington is now corporate occupied territory,” Nader said. “There is now a for-sale sign on most agencies and departments. ... Money is flowing in like never before. It means that corporations are saying no to the necessities of the American people. ... Basically, it’s question of both parties flunking.”

Same mantra, same result. If Nader takes away even 2% of the vote in the swing states, it's curtains for the Kerry campaign.

MORE ON NADER: I fail to see how anyone can take this guy seriously. No enemies abroad? Who's he kidding? Does Nader know there is a terrorist enemy out there?

Nader thinks a Bush White House, and a Kerry White House, would be the same. In some ways, he is right. After all, policy is not dictated from a single governmental agency. However, foreign policy is largely dictated by the Presidency. Looking at the record, Kerry and Bush have markedly different foreign policies. No one can honestly say that there would not be distinct differences between the two.

Listening to Nader's foreign policy positions, I can only say... "Eek!"

My only agreement with Nader is this: "We have to have more voices and choices." In that sentiment, I can find common ground with Nader. However, a third party that espouses populist, anti-capitalist mantras like Nader does is not going to be the viable alternative to the traditional parties.

A FURTHER THOUGHT: Obviously, Nader is more of a threat to the Democrats than Republicans. That being the case, wouldn't it be in the best interest of the Republican Party to contribute to the Nader cause, helping to get him on the ballot in key states, thereby fragmenting the Democratic vote?

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.: posted by Dave 9:19 AM


Saturday, February 21, 2004

Sad canine news as the Bush family has to put one of their family dogs to sleep:

President Bush's pet dog Spot has died after nearly 15 years in the family.
The White House said the English springer spaniel was put to sleep on Saturday after suffering a series of strokes. The White House issued a statement saying the Bush family was deeply saddened by Spot's passing.

My lab is 6 years old. I can only hope I get 9 more years out of him.

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.: posted by Dave 10:05 PM


If registering dead people, and illegal aliens aren't enough, maybe aggressive voter registration drives should seek out... cows.

Brenda Gould is in trouble again for registering her cows as voters.

For a second year, the woman from Newmarket, near Cambridge in eastern England, has listed two names on the registration form who turned out to be cows, East Cambridgeshire District Council reported.

The previous year, in addition to registering two cows as "Henry and Sophie Bull," she listed "Jake Woofles," later found to be a dog, as eligible to vote, the council said.

Somewhere in there is a Florida joke.

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.: posted by Dave 9:57 PM


Marginal Revolution explains in simple terms why government pharmaceutical programs, while intended to work for the benefit of all, actually benefit few:

The Medicaid pricing formula can create a vicious spiral. Medicaid pricing causes prices to rise which pushes more people into Medicaid thereby shrinking the private market and increasing the incentive to raise prices yet further. To add insult to injury, high pharmaceutical prices are then said to demonstrate why we need more government involvement.

This is an irony that few seem to understand. In this scenario, there is no incentive to lower prices, but bureaucrats always profess to have a solution. This is, sorrowfully, what we have to look forward to with the new drug benefit program in Medicare.

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.: posted by Dave 9:40 PM


Several blogs have linked to John Kerry's 1971 Senate testimony regarding the Vietnam War. Click here, and listen. Then, think about the prospects of this man as President.

Shudder

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.: posted by Dave 8:34 PM


Via Rosenblog comes this assessment of Atlanta, and its attempts at self-portrayal for its bid to host the 1996 Olympics:

Police reports were deep-sixed or permanently misplaced, including at least 22,000 in 2002. An estimated 4,281 of those would have been violent offenses.

Even with years of underreporting, the city was ranked first or second in violent crimes for nine out of the last 10 years, according to FBI data. Atlanta has avoided the overt racial tensions of cities such as Los angeles and New York in recent decades. But officials say it's drugs that have been fueling violent street crime. Not exactly the picture of this progressive Southern city many folks had.

After living in Cobb County for a few months, travelling into Midtown, Five Points, etc. and witnessing the mass exodus of urbanites into places like Alpharetta, I can affirm this assessment. Atlanta and "crime free" cannot be uttered in the same sentence without spraying my soda through my nose.

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.: posted by Dave 8:26 PM


From Reason.com:

Researchers are developing tests that can detect traces of alcohol in urine for up to five days, in blood for up to three weeks, and in hair for even longer. The Scotsman (based on an article in New Scientist) reports the tests "could let a GP know if someone is a light or heavy drinker and tell investigators if a driver or worker involved in an accident was drunk at the time, even if they were not tested until days later." They also "could attract the interest of employers and insurance companies."

Assuming that employers do start using these tests, will they insist on complete abstinence (as with marijuana) or simply try to weed out problem drinkers? It's possible, I suppose, that teetotalers, on average, make better employees. But I doubt it.

This got me thinking... with the escalation of health care costs in society today, could it be that employers could, in the near future, begin to require healthy behavior (e.g., non-drinkers, non-smokers, adequate diet, exercise, and a relatively short medical dossier) for employment?

It's not such a reach to think this could become a reality. Think about it. How better to limit health care expenditures than to hire physically fit employees? If the costs get high enough, and with enough of an influx of money into the political process, it could happen.

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.: posted by Dave 8:18 PM


Here's an interesting story that seems to have been broken by a blogger.

Why Did Steinbrenner Funds Anti-Dean Ads?

When I posted yesterday about who was behind the shadowy group which ran anti-Dean TV spots, including the notorious Osama ad, I buried my lead--that a Yankees affiliate controlled by George Steinbrenner contributed 1 of every 7 dollars expended in this effort. I doubted whether I, a mere blogger, could really have an item that the major media had overlooked. So I soft-pedaled it.

But a day later, they story has only solidified.

Now, my point in bringing it up is not to debate the ethics of money in politics, but to wonder why this isn't getting any play in the media yet.

Stay tuned.

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.: posted by Dave 7:39 PM


Slashdot has a discussion about paid content online. Since most good content is free, and it should be, I am reluctant to pay for anything of this nature. Witness the growth of the blogosphere to see how freely information flows.

However, I do confess to subscribing to one online periodical: the Wall Street Journal. As far as I can tell, this is the only periodical that I am willing to pay for online. Besides, $6.95 per month is a steal in comparison to the print version, and the content is the same.

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.: posted by Dave 7:33 PM


Aaron Swartz posts this blather:

One of the more interesting Republican strategies is saying things whose opposite is true. They say that the Democratic nominee is bought off by special interests, the Democrats are outspending them, the Democrats are playing dirty, the Democrats don’t care about homeland security, the Democrats hate America, all when this is far more true of the Republicans. They say Joseph McCarthy was a noble man, the media has a liberal bias, affirmative action is bad for equality, Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, and Ronald Reagan was our greatest President, all when the opposite is far more true.

Then, Michael Pate, a Democrat, promptly Fisks him.

Entertaining, and true.

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.: posted by Dave 6:56 PM


Weekend Rant II:

One more reason to go to the blogosphere for my news:

I hate pop-up ads. Hate.

I am sick and tired of logging onto ESPN.com and being solicited by Orbitz. I do not want whatever MSNBC is trying to sell me.

Thankfully, through RSS and blogs, I can get some insight, and some headlines, and, if I want to tolerate the pop-ups, I can click the link, and read more. Often, I do. The point is, I don't want to have to deal with an annoying ad just to get the headlines.

Stop popping up on me, advertisers! OK? As a rule of thumb, I don't buy products from 1) spammers, 2) phone solicitors, and 3) companies that litter my limited screen real estate with pop-up ads!

Sheesh.

End of Rant.

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.: posted by Dave 5:50 PM


I've read a lot about how Hutton Gibson (Mel's father) denies the Holocaust, and spews vitriole regarding the Jewish community. Being a skeptic, I decided to see what Snopes had to say about the rumors:

Yes, the excerpts quoted above which are represented as appearing in the 9 March 2003 edition of The New York Times Magazine are accurate; they were drawn from a piece about Mel Gibson, his religion, and his father entitled "Is the Pope Catholic . . . Enough?" However, the quotes are selective, the commentary lopsided, and the overall tone suggests without real evidence that the opinions of Hutton Gibson, the actor's father, are necessarily those of his son.

Mel Gibson is a Catholic traditionalist who has used some of the monies he has earned as an actor to fund construction of a chapel in the Malibu, California, area. This chapel, Holy Family, is one of 600 traditionalist chapels in operation today (where, unlike most modern Catholic churches, Sunday Mass is still conducted entirely in Latin) and is not recognized by the Holy See. Catholic traditionalists view modern church reforms as the work of either foolish liberals or hellbent heretics, preferring for themselves a version of Catholicism as it was practiced prior to the reforms enacted by the Second Vatican Council (commonly known as Vatican II) between 1963 and 1965.

Mel Gibson's 84-year-old father, Hutton Gibson, may be considered an eccentric, a crackpot, or an anti-Semite (or some combination thereof) depending upon how charitably one views his utterances and beliefs about religion and politics, but one cannot validly infer from the quoted New York Times Magazine article that Mel Gibson shares any or all of his father's more controversial beliefs. Mel himself neither affirms nor denies the opinions voiced by his father, but even if he were inclined towards the latter he'd be unlikely to publicly voice such criticism in accordance with the "Honor thy father and thy mother" commandment. One paragraph from the original New York Times article not mentioned in the e-mail cited above addresses how much commonality of viewpoint there may be between father and son:

Whether any of this has rubbed off on Hutton's son Mel is an open question. A church elder at Holy Family says that while the two share the same foundation of faith, Mel Gibson parts company with his father on many points. "He doesn't go along with a lot of what his dad says," he says. And beyond claiming to have seen the plans for Holy Family and attended services with the congregation, Hutton Gibson [who lives in Houston] has no apparent connection to his son's church in California.

Personally, I don't care about Gibson's father. I still want to see the movie.

UPDATE: Read this review. Now I really want to see this movie.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Roger Ebert's review (a thumbs up) was just on the local TV station here. This is the first time I have been able to see clips of the movie for myself. The more reviews I see, the less anti-Semitic ranting I seem to hear from the reviewers.

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.: posted by Dave 4:30 PM


Remember the 80's band, the Alarm? Well, you probably haven't heard from them in awhile, or have you...?

An ageing rock group gave themselves a facelift by getting a group of teenagers to stand in for them on the video of their latest song, helping them score their first chart hit for some 15 years.

Convinced the music industry is prejudiced against wrinkly rockers, The Alarm gave themselves the pseudonym The Poppyfields and persuaded a group of fresh-faced youths to mime their part.

"They did it to show they wanted to be judged on music and not on their image and haircuts of 15 years ago," said a spokesman for the band.

The single, 45RPM, went into the UK charts this week at number 28.

The Welsh band were previously best known for 1983 hit "68 guns" and said they pulled the stunt to show how much image affected sales in the music industry.

Image affects sales? Who knew? That's why so many good artists are relegated to playing clubs, and posting on MP3.com, while Clearchannel and cohorts push sterile, commercialized music. But they push what the public buys... and the public buys image.

And so it goes.

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.: posted by Dave 4:21 PM


One blogger writes about his "settlement" check from the RIAA:

This victory, though not a MAJOR blow to these giant conglomerates, does feel good at time when music lovers are being actively hunted and sued for copyright infringement by the RIAA. I will more than likely use a portion of my settlement to invest in what I consider a legitimate and fair business model --- iTunes. If the RIAA had jumped on the legitimate internet distribution band wagon instead of conspiring to rob the consumer with their aging CD business model through price fixing, maybe they wouldn’t be up to their ears in legal fees these days.

Although I could have been part of this class-action suit, I have a thing against such litigation in general. So... no $13.86 check for me. I do agree with Paul's assertion that iTunes, and their like, provide a much more fair business model (i.e., a la carte song purchases, instead of forcing the consumer to buy an entire CD). I hope the RIAA learned something from this whole ordeal, although I am skeptical.

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.: posted by Dave 4:11 PM


On Gay Marriage:

Arnold today finally spoke about the gay marriage issue in California:

Schwarzenegger told a cheering crowd at the state GOP convention that “in San Francisco, the courts are dropping the ball.”

“It’s time for the city to stop traveling down this dangerous path of ignoring the rule of law. That’s my message to San Francisco,” he said Friday night.

Schwarzenegger’s directive to Attorney General Bill Lockyer was prompted in part by a judge’s decision not to impose a temporary restraining order that would have halted San Francisco’s weeklong parade of 3,175 same-sex weddings, said Rob Stutzman, Schwarzenegger’s communications director.

Now, whether or not gay marriage should be instituted is a question left to others (see Donald Sensing).

My question is this: if it is alright for a group to ignore the law, instead of seeking to first change it (as is the case with gay marriage), should it also be okay in other instances? For example, what if a rural Republican in northern California decides that the state's gun laws are insane, and shouldn't apply to him? Is it okay for him to simply ignore them? What about the income tax (debatably an unconstitutional confiscation of money by the government from its citizens)? Can Californians, and even citizens of other states, simply forgo paying their taxes? Can they contend that such laws are unconstitutional, and sidestep them?

I contend that laws should be changed, before they are broken. If American marriage laws are so offensive to the homosexual community, they should petition the courts to review them, vote for representatives that will represent them, and continue their protests until the changes are realized. Hopefully, this is how this debate will be resolved, instead of the anarchy we are seeing today.

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.: posted by Dave 3:58 PM


Via Daniel Drezner:

Fox News reports that Ralph Nader "will enter the 2004 race for the White House as an independent candidate." He'll announce on Meet The Press this Sunday.

This is somewhat different from Nader's 2000 race, when he was the Green Party candidate. Running as an independent will likely make it harder for Nader to get registered on all 50 state ballots plus the District of Columbia, since he won't be able to rely on the Green Party infrastructure (don't laugh, it exists) to help him out.

It might be more difficult for him, but if he can get on the ballot in swing states such as Ohio, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Pennsylvania, it won't matter. I still believe that Bush will win, Nader or no Nader. A Nader candidacy just makes it easier.

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.: posted by Dave 3:29 PM


We've heard this before, but...

The Mercury (Australia) is reporting:

OSAMA bin Laden is reportedly surrounded by United States special forces in a mountain range that straddles north-west Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Internationally respected investigative journalist and author Gordon Thomas says the al-Qaida terror group leader has been sighted for the first time since 2001 and is being monitored by satellite.

In a report to be published in a British newspaper, Thomas says bin Laden is in a mountainous area to the north of the Pakistani city of Quetta.

The region is said to be a stronghold for bin Laden supporters and the terror kingpin is estimated to have 50 of his fanatical bodyguards by his side.

Thomas attributes his report to "a well-placed intelligence source" in Washington who is quoted as saying: "He (bin Laden) is boxed in."

The area makes an all-out conventional military assault impossible, according to the report.

If there is any credibility to this rumor, it would be wonderful news. We'll see how this one pans out.

UPDATE: More on the story from Power Line, who has screenshots of the Sunday Express, and a lead story from the Telegraph.

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.: posted by Dave 3:24 PM


Weekend Rant:

Today was such a good day. In fact, it still is. With one exception.

Allow me to introduce you to the Enfield Police Department. Enfield is the town in which we live. We feel pretty safe in Enfield. It will be a good town to raise a child, at least until we find a way to move back to the south... but I digress.

It seems that Enfield's finest had no crime to fight today, and no doughnut shops were willing to give them freebies. (Note: There are three Dunkin' Donuts within one mile of my house.) It is not unusual to see a police car or two passing our house. Today, though, the officers wanted to stop and park on my corner.

"Could they be setting up radar?", I speculated. After all, the speed limit is 25, and often, people do go flying down our road, on the way to the mall.

Imagine my surprise when I watched out the bedroom window as Mr. Policeman himself decided to place a ticket on my truck. Now you may be wondering why this occurred.

Well, apparently, in Enfield, it is a violation to park your vehicle with the driver door adjacent to the curb. Now, if this is an ordinance in any other town in which I have lived, I never knew it. I have parked my vehicle numerous times in that manner, and no one has complained, nor has an officer ever responded in such haste to ticket the vehicle.

Wouldn't it have made more sense to just knock on the door, and inform me that this was a violation? No, that would have involved effort. The officer might have had to actually talk to one of the taxpayers that subsidizes his salary. It might have even necessitated [gasp!] intelligent discussion.

I have been considering sending them several rolls of pennies (since there is nothing on the citation that mandates payment with check, or money order). I also thought about sending 50 checks for $0.20 each. I do, after all, have some checks with an old address that need to be used. But, upon further deliberation, I will begrudgingly send them a $10 check.

However, I have also decided to withhold any contribution to the police benevolent society, FOP, or anyone else who might be in a position of law enforcement responsibility in this town. It is insane that this town can charge me nearly $3000 in property tax, and they have to resort to sending their troops out on a brisk Saturday to confiscate a ten-spot for such an absurd reason.

End of rant.

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.: posted by Dave 3:14 PM


Rapper 50 Cent might be running for office in Farmington:

As if getting shot nine times weren't enough, rapper 50 Cent is now thinking about enduring a different kind of pain - local politics.

Farmington's newest celebrity mansion owner, whose real name is Curtis James Jackson III, reportedly is interested in running for elective office in town.

"The former crack dealer has decided that if he's going to live in Farmington ... he may as well get involved in running it, too," reports The Elements, an online hip-hop publication.

Local leaders are game.

"Anybody who pays $57,000 in property taxes is certainly welcome to have a say in what's going on," said Democratic Councilman Robert DiPietro.

"If Arnold can do it, why can't 50?" the rapper reportedly asked, referring to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

If he's serious, more power to him. Maybe he can lower the insane property tax rates in Connecticut towns.

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.: posted by Dave 2:57 PM


Today's "What the...?" article comes to my attention via Joanne Jacobs:

LAWRENCE - Some middle school students here are learning to shun soft drinks, water and other liquids during school hours for fear their consumption will lead to an urgent need to answer nature's call.

Under a new policy at the Lawrence Middle School, the seventh- and eighth-graders are allowed to leave class for the bathroom a maximum of 15 times a month.

As a result, some are afraid to use up their bathroom passes too quickly and end up with a full bladder and nowhere to go.

Some girls feel an even greater need to stockpile their passes so they have them at their disposal when they menstruate, parents say.

The pass system, referred to by some parents as "the pee-pee policy," was instituted last month as a way to monitor the school restrooms and stop students from skipping class.

Some days, in my office, in one shift, I can go to the restroom 5 times. This is because I keep myself hydrated during the day. I would be worried if I DIDN'T go to the bathroom at least three times. And these kids are being limited to 15 breaks per month?

There is NO way I would adhere to this policy. I would be likely to just pee in the classroom. Seriously. You think other kids won't do the same? Read on.

In 2002, the family of a seventh-grader at Ponce de Leon Middle School filed a lawsuit against her math teacher and the Miami-Dade County Public Schools when the teacher refused to give her a bathroom pass.

The student said the teacher told her "If you can't hold it, you should be wearing Pampers." The student had a bowel movement in class and was then too embarrassed to go back to school.

Her lawyer sought damages for humiliation, and the district settled with the family out of court.

This is an insane policy, to be sure. If kids are smoking in the stalls, discipline them. Give them labor to do after school... how about cleaning the ashtrays in the teacher's lounge, since they like smoking so much? Remember cleaning erasers after school? I do. I hated it. Why? Because it was work, and I missed playtime with my friends. Discipline works. Closing the bathrooms to "restore order" only alienates those who need the bathrooms for their intended purpose.

Just another reason to homeschool, folks.

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.: posted by Dave 2:46 PM


Via AlphaPatriot comes this not-so-astounding account of the Iraqi economy, post-Saddam:

Iraq's economy is providing pleasant surprises, including booming consumer demand, strong oil revenue and healthy foreign exchange reserves, a top Treasury official said Thursday.

"The economy is beginning to work and thrive again and grow," John Taylor, undersecretary for international affairs, said by telephone from Baghdad.

U.S. occupation authorities estimate Iraqis have imported 1 million cars and trucks and more than 500,000 satellite dishes since fighting ended in April, Taylor said.

Other signs of improvement:

  • Oil revenue. On an annualized basis, oil exports are running $1.5 billion ahead of projections by U.S. authorities and Iraqi technocrats, who forecast 2004 revenue at $12 billion.
  • The currency. Iraq's new dinar, introduced in October, has gained value against the U.S. dollar. U.S. officials originally worried Iraq could deplete its foreign currency reserves if Iraqis weren't confident in the dinar.
  • Building materials. Demand for cement, asphalt and other construction material is boosting the economy, Taylor said.


    • Just remember, folks. Good news is no news as far as Iraq is concerned.

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    .: posted by Dave 2:35 PM


    This simply struck me astounding:

    Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., on Thursday praised the Bush administration's war and nation-building work in Iraq and said he has no serious concerns about the lack of weapons of mass destruction.

    Daschle told state chamber of commerce representatives meeting in the South Dakota capital that he is satisfied with the way things are going in Iraq.

    "I give the effort overall real credit," Daschle said. "It is a good thing Saddam Hussein is no longer in power. It is a good thing we are democratizing the country."

    Well... that is, until I thought about it further.

    Daschle faces a re-election race this year against former Republican congressman John Thune.

    Look no further than a man's desire to keep his seat as Senate Minority Leader to see why he would be so amenable to administration policies. Is Daschle seeing the writing on the wall? I think so.

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    .: posted by Dave 2:31 PM


    Friday, February 20, 2004

    How to always win the Pepsi iTunes giveaway:



    Thanks for MacMerc.com for the post.

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    .: posted by Dave 6:09 PM


    Am I Yankee or Dixie? Not surprising, I am 81% Dixie. So, it seems that I have devolved by nineteen percentage points since relocating to Connecticut from Tennessee.

    Take the quiz here.

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    .: posted by Dave 12:07 PM


    As I sit here, reading Slashdot about how Bluetooth is allegedly "dead", I have to wonder in what sandbox the guy who wrote this article is playing. Bluetooth dead? Hardly. Thousands of products integrate Bluetooth. My phone and Palm communicate using Bluetooth. I sync to my laptop using Bluetooth. It's not a dead technology, by any means.

    And for those who want to compare it to 802.11, it is like comparing apples and oranges. Bluetooth is intended for very short range communication between devices. Bluetooth, for example, enables me to install a printer without needing a DB-25 cable. 802.11 is for wireless LANs, and should be thought of as such. There has been an ongoing debate about the merits of the two technologies, and they are always compared to one another, when they should be mutually exclusive.

    As for me, I have implementations of both in my home. Both allow me to do specific sets of tasks that the other does not address. Neither is going away anytime soon.

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    .: posted by Dave 10:02 AM


    If you are a .NET programmer, and you are sometimes asked to develop Java apps, now there is a product that will allow you to write your app in C# or VB.NET, and convert it to Java bytecode that can be run on J2EE servers. The company is called Mainsoft... I haven't tested the plugin yet, but I plan to (among other programming-related things I am doing).

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    .: posted by Dave 9:54 AM


    Rex Hammock blogs about his experience meeting President Bush yesterday. Rex doesn't talk much about policy, per se. This account is an insightful look at what it was like to sit down and talk about life, and policy, and everything else, with the leader of the Free World.

    I talked to the President about my business and my employees and how difficult a time it had been in 2001 and 2002. I said something like the following to him, which I meant sincerely, "Mr. President, I never thought I would have the opportunity to say this personally to you on behalf of me and my family and those I work with and lots of people out there, After September 11, one of the most difficult situations I faced in my business was uncertainity on the part of my clients and customers, and really everyone. More than anything, I appreciate the steadfast leadership you displayed after September 11 and the message of calm that sent to the American people and businesses."

    Hey, I know it sounds obsequious, but I meant it sincerely.

    Amen, Rex.

    Go read the whole thing.

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    .: posted by Dave 9:37 AM


    Thursday, February 19, 2004

    Amazing how this little Vagablog tool works. I'm considering real-time blogging uses for it, like on-the-scene reporting from the premiere of "the Passion" or from the Massachusetts capital where they are debating the gay marriage legislation. This has numerous possibilities.

    Now to figure out how to cover the cost of the data transmission...

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    .: posted by Dave 11:38 PM


    Mobile Blogging:

    I'm all about being as mobile as possible. That's why I shun desktop PCs in favor of laptops, and CAT-5 in favor of 802.11. Ubiquitous computing is our friend. That's one my many mantras.

    As such, I have been searching for a plausible solution for blogging via handheld. This includes a need for posting, and obtaining RSS feeds.

    Enter two fine pieces of software, Vagablog, and Hand/RSS. Both are by different developers. Both are must-haves for anyone who wants to do truly mobile blogging.



    Vagablog is a simple applet that runs on Palm OS 5. It is compatible with TypePad, Blogger, and other popular blogging services. Simply connect to your ISP (some people use a modem, but I prefer the Bluetooth phone), type your post, and send it away. Used in conjunction with TextPlus, I can actually write on the Palm as fast as I can type on a regular QWERTY keyboard. This is a very nice piece of software, especially for the $7 price.



    Then there's Hand/RSS. This software lets you use either a Hotsync conduit, or your wireless connection to load and read RSS feeds. It supports the OPML standard, too. It does NOT yet support Atom. You can cache the downloaded XML, or you can delete it each time to save space. And the price tag is $14.95, but until an open source alternative comes out, this is my reader of choice.

    Blogging has come a long way in a short time. Apps like this make it even easier, and more convenient.

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    .: posted by Dave 11:11 AM


    Poetic License and Hollywood - Nora Dunn Invokes My Ire:

    There seems to be a great deal of debate lately about the poetic license taken in "The Passion of Christ". I'll leave that discussion to others. Today, my wife pointed out a much more egregious bit of embellishment.

    We had discussed whether or not to go see a movie, which has been difficult with an infant in tow. One of the movies she had been considering was "Runaway Jury". An avid reader, my wife was pleased with the Grisham novel, and decided it would be a worthy story to be told on the big screen.

    Today, she informs me that the original story and the cinematic adaptation are far from the same. But the movie rendition departs far from the original. It seems the book takes to task the tobacco industry, while the movie diverts away from the old, standard, beaten down RJRs of the world and decides to make the GUN industry the villain.

    So why the switch? Here's an excerpt of an interview with Nora Dunn, who apparently plays a small role in the movie:

    Were you familiar with the book prior to filming?
    I read the book after I read the script. No movie should try to make a novel, and I think the script was faithful in that it really, really developed and got the characters of the jury. The book is very much about the jury. They did a good job and as an actor, you have to have your history. You have to bring your history with you. It was in the book. My character was in the book pretty much as she was in the script, only in a condensed form.

    What do you think about the change from the tobacco to the gun industry?
    I think they probably did that because of "The Insider." The gun issue is a big unresolved issue in this country right now. I think it's out of control. I think the gun manufacturers should start being afraid. You can't open an aspirin bottle if you're a kid but you can fire a gun at someone.

    So, Hollywood wants to tackle the gun issue. What issue would that be? Oh, that pesky second amendment, huh? Doesn't it seem hypocritical that Hollywood's very existence is predicated on the gun violence is seems now poised to fight?

    Why should the gun manufacturers be afraid, Nora? Are they going to be "brought down" by "Big Hollywood"? Short of a wholesale repeal of the second amendment, that's going to be tough, even for a legion of left-wing superheroes like yourselves.

    Let's talk tobacco vs. guns, Nora. Tobacco is a lifestyle choice, where there was demonstrable evidence that companies sought to hide the dangers of their products. We won't discuss the merits of the lawsuits against the tobacco industry, because that's another discussion. This is simply a comparison of the perceived culpability of the two. Would you honestly argue that "big guns" conspired to withhold information of the dangers of their products? That's nonsense.

    And Nora, please understand, while your characters were... er, semi-funny in their day, threatening the second amendment has never been funny. You Hollywood types always want to dive into a cause to make yourselves useful. Fine. Speak your mind, just like I'm speaking mine.

    But while you're at it, look at some real statistics (like the inverse relationship of gun ownership, with violent crime), and then use a little common sense... perhaps, you could consider that an inanimate object cannot commit an act of violence. Nora, each day that I look at my gun, I watch and wait for it to jump up and attack me. You know something? It hasn't. Not once. Are you tired of hearing "Guns don't kill people. PEOPLE kill people"? Then stop bantering about how an aspirin bottle has a childproof cap, and a gun doesn't. Apples and oranges, Nora. I don't need an aspirin at a moment's notice when someone is trying to break into my house.

    For an inimitable twit who has no desire to learn how to protect yourself, perhaps gun ownership is a bad thing, Nora. I would recommend that you invest in a good security system, and refrain from stocking your home with any .38 caliber pistols. As for me, and millions like me, I prefer to rely on myself to secure my premises. The phone call to the police department will not protect what a revolver in the hands of someone who knows how to use it can. So stay away from my desire to provide the security for my home that a firearm provides, and I will stay away from your right to rant about it (while, of course, invoking my right to respond to tripe like yours).

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    .: posted by Dave 10:10 AM


    Wednesday, February 18, 2004

    Jeff Soyer says:

    Kerry has been completely ineffectual as a senator, getting almost no bills of his passed in all the years in Congress. He's flip-flopped on almost every issue and here's the thing, this slime has presented NOTHING in the way of ideas on almost any issue. It's as if he's simply saying, "Vote for me because I'm not Bush and I served in Viet Nam." What a piece of crap Kerry is.

    Whether he is crap, or not crap, I will leave that determination to you, the reader. What I do concur with, though, is the premise that Kerry is simply campaigning on the idea that he was in Vietnam, and he is not George Bush. Somehow, that doesn't seem to qualify one for President. In fact, when Bill Clinton ran for President, he was only required to meet ONE of those requirements (you can guess which one).

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    .: posted by Dave 6:06 PM


    Winds of Change is reporting that the most popular reformist papers in Iran, Shargh and Yaas-e No, have been shut down just 36 hours before the elections. Apparently, they exercised something that they really don't have in Iran... freedom of the press.

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    .: posted by Dave 5:57 PM


    Today's insane legislation is being churned out of New Mexico:

    Some state lawmakers are convinced they have the answer to solve the D.W.I. epidemic and want to require everyone on the road to take a breathalyzer test before they can start the engine of any vehicle.
    Today, the proposal is one very large step closer to becoming law.

    A bill requiring an ignition interlock device be installed on every car, truck, bus or motorcycle in New Mexico passed the state house today and is on its way to the senate.

    And how is this going to be funded? Allegedly, another bill gives citizens tax credits for installing the devices. Also, the ACLU is paying close attention to this one. I'm often on the other side of the ACLU, but this law has violation of civil liberties all over it.

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    .: posted by Dave 5:27 PM


    The things you learn during the course of the day...



    Apparently, my town is a natural habitat for bald eagles. Imagine, the American symbol, the majestic bird, right in your backyard.

    One day, the wife and I were looking out the window, and we saw a huge hawk swoop down onto the road outside. I'm no ornithologist, but I'm starting to wonder if it wasn't one of these eagles.

    When the spring thaw starts, I think I'm going to have to walk over to the river and investigate.

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    .: posted by Dave 11:45 AM


    Dean's dropping out, and now, his farewell address is posted on the "Blog for America":

    Today my candidacy may come to an end--but our campaign for change is not over.

    Thankfully, the letter didn't end with any shrieking, or screaming.

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    .: posted by Dave 11:36 AM


    Hugh Hewitt on the media double standard involving Bush (AWOL) and Kerry (intern):

    What we have, then, is an interesting set of parallels.

    Michael Moore/Matt Drudge launch serious allegations against a candidate for the presidency which are premised on widely circulated rumors.

    Terry McAullife, the senior Democratic Party official endorses the "AWOL" charge against President Bush, though he offers no evidence. No senior member of the GOP or the Administration makes a comment on the Drudge allegations.

    A media frenzy erupts over the AWOL charge although there is zero evidence to support it: None. Most major media in the United States is silent on the Kerry allegations, though the international press feature the allegations prominently.

    The AWOL charge is built on the declaration of a retired one-star General, William Turnipseed, who says he does not recall seeing Bush in Alabama during Bush's ANG duty there, though Turnipseed later states that doesn't mean Bush wasn't there. Although Turnipseed's statement is cited by scandal mongers pressed for an accounting of their ethics, his statement does not remotely approach a charge of AWOL or desertion, charges for which --to repeat-- there is zero evidence, but for which there is a blanket denial by President Bush. The allegations against Kerry are launched by the "off-the-record" declaration of retired four star general Wesley Clark, whose campaign aide, Chris Lehane, was a Kerry staffer for a time, as well as a Gore staffer during the period in which Kerry was vetted for a possible Vice Presidential slot in 2000.

    While Turnipseed has been pursued by the media --as has every other individual remotely connected with Bush's ANG service of 30 years ago-- Clark sat through an interview with CNN's Judy Woodruff on "Inside Politics" hours after his role in the Kerry allegations surfaced and was not asked about them (which could have been done even without referencing his "off-the-record" comments to up to a dozen reporters.)

    In short, most of "elite" media in America is practicing a steely resolve not to dignify the Kerry allegations absent some "proof," while relentlessy probing President Bush's ANG record of three decades ago. The hypocrisy is so enormous that it defies categorization, though not explanation: Standards for Beltway media differ when the "scandal" involves a man of the left than when it involves a man of the center-right.

    Again, I'll say that I think both stories were inconsequential in and of themselves. But you'd have to be a fool, or very partisan, not to acknowledge that Hewitt's assessment is right on the money.

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    .: posted by Dave 11:13 AM


    Yahoo dumps Google:

    The change occurred at 9:30 p.m. PST Tuesday when Yahoo relaunched the search properties for its U.S.-based sites, including its Yahoo.com flagship home page. Yahoo replaced Google's results with its own Yahoo Search Technology, which combines an array of recently acquired search technologies, such as Inktomi and commercial search provider Overture Services. Yahoo also owns AltaVista and the Web search technology of Fast Search and Transfer.

    [...]

    The Web portal on Monday implemented a Yahoo-branded crawler, or robot, to scour the Web for documents. Called Yahoo Slurp, the robot "collects documents from the Web to build a searchable index for search services using the Yahoo search engine," according to Yahoo. The crawler is also keeping copies of those pages--what's known as "caching" pages.

    Well, some healthy competition between search engines will be nice, although I will still use Google because I know a few Google tricks (like using IndexOf strings to find specific file types). Google is not the same as it once was long ago, before it started angling for IPO dollars, but it's still the best of the best, until someone knocks it off.

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    .: posted by Dave 10:12 AM


    Tuesday, February 17, 2004

    James Joyner on the deficit:

    Back in the days when conservative Republicans were balanced budget hawks, Ronald Reagan would say that government, like a family, must live within its means and balance its budget. It sounded reasonable to me then. But I was 14 years old. All that's asked of families is that they pay the bills when they come in. It's not smart to buy perishable luxuries on credit (it would be inadvisable to take the family on vacation using a high interest credit card) but families routinely go into debt to buy a house, a car, and other big ticket items that they need. If an emergency comes up (mom needs an operation, the pipes burst, the transmission dies) then most families just go into debt and figure out how to make ends meet after the crisis is over.

    By the same token, government quite reasonably takes on debt to pay for long-term investments in infrastructure, security, and to even out the effects of the business cycle. Ronald Reagan spent us into then-record deficits (which none of us thought we?d see paid off in our lifetimes) in order to defeat the Soviets. In hindsight, it's possible that we spend more than we needed to. But the fact remains that the mission got accomplished and the benefits are accruing to generations to come; it's not unreasonable that they are asked to pay some of the costs.

    Modern wartime economies have functioned with deficits. Similarly, when households have to deal with crises, they borrow. Debt is not a bad thing, despite all the naysayers. Extravagant debt is a bad thing.

    Labels:

    .: posted by Dave 8:11 PM


    From Daniel Drezner comes a pointer to this:

    A European Union delegation said Monday outsourcing was beneficial for the world economy and added it understood India's concerns about objections in western nations to shifting jobs overseas.

    "It's something that is good for you (India) and good for our service industries," EU's External Relations Commissioner Christopher Patten told reporters in New Delhi.

    "We have no problems with outsourcing. We are very understanding of India's concerns on the issue."...

    Patten said the EU believed western outsourcing of jobs to countries like India, Mexico and China, where labour costs are lower and goods can be produced more cheaply, was an "an aspect of a more liberal world economy."

    So I guess Mankiw isn't the only Western bureaucrat that takes this position.

    Get used to it... global outsourcing, for better or for worse, is here to stay.

    Labels:

    .: posted by Dave 7:31 PM


    Rory Blyth is angry... at being forced to register for demo software:

    Hasn't anybody learned anything about how annoying this practice is? Radio Shack drove me away as a customer years ago by holding me down and drawing blood before they let me leave the store, and all I wanted to do was buy some god damn batteries.

    Why don't you just have me kidnapped and interrogated? I'd be much more likely to give you the information you want if I were to find myself tied to a chair in a concrete room with a single lamp hanging over my head, an indistinct disguised voice coming in over a speaker, and little shocky-things attached to my nipples that you activate each time you suspect that I might be giving you false information.

    Well, let me say... OUCH! to the nipple visual. And I totally agree, with everything else. The newspaper registrations bother me more than anything else. I always use fake everything, except email, which is a spam-filled Hotmail account (I always knew it would be useful for something). One of these days, maybe the companies will realize that the data they are collecting is really bogus. Until then, as far as they know, I am a female Aborigine born in 1911, and I have 14 Chinese children, and I work in the edible poison industry.

    Labels:

    .: posted by Dave 7:28 PM




    My next laptop will be this one. And it runs a full version of XP, too. No word on price or distribution date yet.

    UPDATE: More on the FlipStart.

    Labels:

    .: posted by Dave 7:18 PM


    Nick Corante asks:

    Why are pitchers hitting more batters?

    What's the history here? We moved away from the deadball era and hit batsmen went up? What happened in the middle? Didn't baseball monkey with the mound? How do we unpack the role played by the DH? Any theories?

    My theory (as posted in Nick's comments):

    1. Batters are crowding the plate more now.

    2. Batters wear body armor when crowding the plate. Thus, they no longer fear the ball hitting them.

    3. Pitchers throw with high velocity, but with little control.

    Baseball is all about power now... home runs and strikeouts. The desire for more power will lead to more of numbers one through three, and more batters will be plunked.

    Labels:

    .: posted by Dave 7:15 PM


    A little irony from Lileks:

    You want to know why we invaded Iraq in 2003? Go back and read the papers in 1992. And you’ll find this quote:

    “’If they’re such whizzes at foreign policy, why is Saddam Hussein thumbing his nose at the rest of the world?’”

    Albert. Gore. Junior.

    Ouch.

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    .: posted by Dave 7:06 PM


    Adventures in Outsourced Tech Support:

    Although my frustration was with the Spanish-speaking tech-support folks, it is emphatically NOT their fault. Diagnosing and repairing computers is not so different from treating patients. And while I consider myself a competent physician, my skills are worthless if I’m presented with a patient who does not speak my language. That doesn’t make me a bad doctor.

    Similarly, these folks in Panama should not be blamed because they don’t understand the nuances of a foreign language. Their English is far better than my Spanish, but it is simply not up to the task.

    So who is at fault? Clearly it’s some fat-cat bean-counter in Round Tree Texas, home of Dell Computer. I’m sure he got a phenomenal bonus for his idea of "off-shoring" the Tech Support Division. By laying off decently-paid American workers, and replacing them with Panamanians at ten cents on the dollar, Dell will surely rake in the profits.

    I've had good experience with Dell, to be honest. But, if they keep outsourcing their tech support, this will be a common theme.

    (An aside: Dell once outsourced their entire customer support department offshore, but they have now brought it back to the States... for CORPORATE users. Argh!)

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    .: posted by Dave 7:03 PM


    Read Donald Sensing's poignant treatise on the "gay marriage" controversy. I find myself agreeing wholeheartedly with the premise that, while I think gay marriage is morally wrong, there's no value added to its opposition, especially under the circumstances which Sensing discusses:

    If society has abandoned regulating heterosexual conduct of men and women, what right does it have to regulate homosexual conduct, including the regulation of their legal and property relationship with one another to mirror exactly that of hetero, married couples?

    Now, before your reach for pixelated brickbats, let me point out that I do believe that this state of affairs is indeed contrary to the will of God. But traditionalists, especially Christian traditionalists (in whose ranks I include myself) need to get a clue about what has really been going on and face the fact that gay marriage, if it ever comes about (and it will) will not cause the degeneration of the institution of marriage; it is the result of it.

    Live and let live? At this point, it would behoove Conservatives to do so.

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    .: posted by Dave 6:44 PM


    What the hell kind of answer is this to the question "If you were elected, would you see yourself as a war president?"

    I'd see myself first of all as a jobs president, as a health care president, as an education president and also an environmental president. And add them all together, you can't be safe at home today unless you are also safe abroad.

    Mr. Kerry certainly has his priorities, doesn't he? Jobs? Check. Health care? Got it. Education? Yep. The environment? Right. But wait... isn't there something else? Oh yeah... that pesky security issue.

    The Clinton mantra was "It's the economy, stupid." The Bush administration's motto should be "It's security, idiot."

    Labels:

    .: posted by Dave 6:40 PM


    AT&T Wireless is bought out by Cingular. They plan to keep the Cingular name, so I guess after the 4th quarter, I will be using a Cingular phone.

    Because Cingular and AT&T Wireless use the same GSM wireless technology, the companies said they expect network integration will bring customers almost immediate improvement in coverage and call quality.

    Good. Maybe I can get some &*%$ coverage in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia... and maybe those unreachable parts of New York state that seem to avoid AT&T calls... or perhaps those stretches of northern Ohio where my AT&T phone shows zero bars on the antenna.

    Or, maybe I can get a customer service representative that's worth a damn. Are you listening, Cingular?

    The thing that really sucks is that there's only one GSM provider in the U.S. now. Hopefully, it will mean less holes in coverage, but somehow, I think it will mean "We own the GSM, so you have to pay us more for it now that we're a monopoly."

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    .: posted by Dave 6:32 PM


    Monday, February 16, 2004

    Alex Polier denies the Kerry rumors, according to the AP.

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    .: posted by Dave 1:09 PM


    Marginal Revolution pointed me to an outstanding piece by George Will entitled "The 1st 28 Questions for Kerry." Some examples:

    Other than denoting your disapproval, what does the adjective mean in the phrase "special interest"? Is the National Education Association a special interest? The AFL-CIO?

    Is the National Rifle Association a "special interest"? Is "special" a synonym for "conservative"?

    When you denounce "lobbyists" do you include those for Planned Parenthood and the Sierra Club? Is "liberal lobbyist" an oxymoron?

    In 1994, the year after the first attack on the World Trade Center, you voted to cut $1 billion from counterterrorism activities. In 1995 you proposed a $1.5 billion cut in intelligence funding. Are you now glad that both proposals were defeated?

    Billionaire George Soros says he will spend whatever is necessary to defeat President Bush. As one who believes -- well, who says -- there is "too much money" in politics, are you appalled?

    Somehow, I wish Will would put down his pen, and work to secure an interview with Kerry. It would be very interesting.

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    .: posted by Dave 11:40 AM


    Remember the early days of the Web when people were buying hundreds of domain names, and reselling them? It seems that, thanks to number portability, the same is happening with telephone numbers:

    Buy 867-5309 Jenny's New York Phone Number

    Current bid: $65,100.

    I'll stick to my inconsequential telephone number, thank you.

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    .: posted by Dave 11:29 AM


    Kerry Update:

    Former Washington intern Alex Polier, a 24-year-old journalist, is said to have recorded the potentially explosive interview over Christmas.

    The network is reportedly sitting on the tape while it carries out its own probe into her claims.

    That's a long time to have been sitting on this sort of thing. Perhaps they are waiting on him to secure the nomination before unveiling it. Or, just as likely, perhaps it is non-existent.

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    .: posted by Dave 11:10 AM


    Matthew Yglesias wants to know why the Bush Administration hasn't done more to enhance the American job market:

    I heard this NPR report on "offshoring" this morning and it was really making me pretty frustrated. It was clear from what the anti-offshoring rank-and-file folks were saying that trade, etc., really had very little to do with their concerns. Rather, they're mad because of a shitty labor market that actually has very little to do with trade one way or the other.

    This is frustrating because the Bush administration really could, were they so inclined, improve the job market and I don't know why they haven't.

    And how should the Federal Government prop up the job market? National works programs? Confiscate from those who have the means of capitalization, and place it in the hands of the government? Keynes would applaud in his grave at that notion.

    Should we instead penalize companies that move jobs offshore? How is that even plausible, with so many corporations operating globally?

    It is not the government's "job" to provide guarantees for workers. Yet, the Feds can do their part by making capital as cheap as possible. Such tactics encourage investment, which is what we see at this point in the economic cycle.

    If you want to blame someone for job losses, try a different approach. For example, blame our educational system which has lowered the bar to such an extent that a high school diploma is now essentially worthless. Blame a culture that values immediate gratification, making it necessary for our youth to enter low skill jobs to sustain their materialistic lifestyles. In short, the job pool is diluted; people qualified for professional positions are difficult to find; companies, who must be concerned with maintaining profitability, look outside for cheaper, more skilled labor, and demand more from within. Why? Not because they are taskmasters, but because they can, and must.

    Jobs have eroded for many reasons. It would take more than a blog posting to enumerate them. But to blame the Bush administration for adhering to the "cheap capital" philosophies espoused by economists such as Smith, Friedman, and Laffer, is wrongheaded.

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    .: posted by Dave 10:43 AM


    Sunday, February 15, 2004

    Today's Hartford Courant laments that "undocumented aliens" are being forced to forgo college, because they cannot get preferred in-state tuition rates, or, worse yet, they are denied admission altogether.

    This is the quote that raised my ire:

    "Would we rather have them in low-paying jobs than give them an education and help them become productive, tax-paying citizens?" he (Rep. Demetrios Giannaros, a Farmington Democrat who is co-chairman of the education committee)asked.

    He said he was disturbed by the policy at UConn, where in-state tuition is $6,800 this year.

    "I don't know why we'd want to be one of the very few that has decided to be punitive and exclude this population," he said.

    Mr. Giannaros, here's your answer: We should deport anyone who is here illegally, and we should, with open arms, accept anyone who is willing to live here legitimately, under American laws, and rules. We should include those who are here legally, and exclude anyone who is not. It shouldn't be that difficult a concept to fathom, but, seemingly, it is for a growing contingent of politicians and bureaucrats.

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    .: posted by Dave 2:49 PM


    How do you appeal to NASCAR dads? How about flying into Daytona in Air Force One, and giving the command to "start your engines"?

    Let the criticism from the left begin... or should we say "Liberal pundits... start your word processors."

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    .: posted by Dave 11:45 AM




    Daytona is today... yes, being transplanted to the North has made me miss the traditional Sunday question - "Who's yer fav-rite driver?"

    So, I'm going to stand here at my ranting lectern and deliver the following message:

    The Nextel Cup? What the hell is this? Why was it good enough for all these years to have a cigarette company as the sponsor, and now we have to have a mobile phone provider as sponsor? Can someone restore order to this world? I don't like corporate sponsorships of ANY event, venue, or other sporting item, but I accepted them long ago as a reality that made possible the high cost of funding modern sports (read: salaries). But, changing the traditional sponsors for the sake of political correctness is just wrong.

    And whose idea was it to change the points system? In effect, the last ten races make up the season. NASCAR wants a "playoff" to compete with the fall sports. Again, it's the market perhaps that is dictating this change, but that doesn't mean we have to like it. I hope this new points system is a failure, and they return to valuing the entire season, as in years past.

    One other thing. Can we cast aside any advertisements that relate to...er, male performance pharmaceuticals? The door was opened when venerable Mark Martin started driving the Viagra car. Now, old men in suits have decided that other old men who watch auto racing are probably a good market in which to tap. So Cialis gets a plug, or two. Levitra gets a plug or two. Viagra gets a plug everytime Martin circles the track. Nauseating.

    Some day, Viagra, Levitra, Cialis, and Nextel will go onto the product scrap heap, never to be seen again. I wish that day was February 15, 2004.

    UPDATE: Bye, Bye, Viagra... Mark Martin goes "limp" on lap eight. Oh, the irony.

    ANOTHER UPDATE: This disclaimer from Cialis - "Erections lasting more than 4 hours, though rare, may require medical attention." So, take Cialis, watch the race, and, if you are still at attention, go see a doctor.

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    .: posted by Dave 9:47 AM


    To Syndicate, or Not To Syndicate:

    Each day, assuming I am not interrupted with unforeseen responsibilities, I read about 50-75 blogs on various topics. This was not something I ever considered in the past, when I had to click through several websites and wait for them to load. No one, not even the incomparable Glenn Reynolds, has that kind of time.

    It was not too long ago that I started looking into RSS aggregators to pool my blogging resources into one convenient window. Since I am a .NET programmer, among other things, I am partial to .NET implementations of RSS. SharpReader, written by Luke Hutteman, is highly recommended. I like the refresh feature that does MSN-like pop-up windows to let me know when someone has updated their blog. Luke is very responsive to his email regarding feature requests, and bug reports.

    Luke assures me that Atom (the format supported by Blogger and Google, among others) will be included in the next SharpReader update. It's tiresome to have to rely on proxy RSS providers like Blogmatrix to give you RSS functionality. The problem with Atom is that it is an ever-changing standard. One rendering of Atom in today's aggregator may well be obsolete tomorrow.

    This fact leads me to my main complaint. Remember how Netscape and IE could/would never agree? If you ever had to design a website with cross-browser compatibility, you know from whence I speak. I am hopeful that Atom and RSS can somehow come together so the same issue does not arise in the world of website syndication.

    One other rant before I leave this topic. Some of you highly read folks out there either are not syndicating, or aren't updating your feeds (are you listening, Bill Hobbs?) Thanks to the many of you who DO take RSS seriously, like SayUncle, AlphaPatriot, and the RTB partiarch, SKB. RSS makes life much easier, to say the least.

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    .: posted by Dave 9:26 AM


    Saturday, February 14, 2004

    The Dutch immigration pendulum has begun to swing in the other direction after decades of liberal allowances of migration into their country. Now, after a nationalist backlash against such practices, it seems the Hollanders have decided to deport 26,000 people. Apparently, many Dutch are fed up with migrants.

    Mr Van Bekkam, like many middle-class Dutch people, thinks that the government's decision - which applies to almost all asylum seekers who arrived before new laws introduced in 2001 - is correct and courageous. "It is brave for the government to recognise that it can't neglect its duty any more," he said.

    His wife held her husband's hand and vented the frustration of many native-born Dutch who feel that a large influx of immigrants has eroded the values they hold dear and made Holland a more dangerous place. "I was born here," she said. "I have a right to feel safe, but a lot of people don't feel safe any more."

    Other shoppers shared the Van Bekkams' anger at the way their culture had been "damaged", but many declined to put their names to deeply-felt grievances. "Society is always changing, but it has not been changing for the better," said one customer. "It's much less safe now because the norms that we valued are disappearing. We respect the law but those who come from elsewhere have to learn to do that too."

    The last sentence is right on the money for me. Americans, and legal immigrants, who follow procedures, adhere to laws, and do the right thing should be rewarded as such. Those who skirt the system should not. This is not an endorsement of any policy that deports thousands of people arbitrarily, nor is this a tacit accusation that the Dutch are doing so. However, it should be a consideration in a society of laws that citizens, and prospective citizens, follow those laws. Given that idea, I can understand Mr. Van Bekkam's ire.

    Ironically, the free migration policy espoused by the EU will serve only to foment such anti-immigrant sentiment. Workers who live in EU states are allowed to work in any other EU state, or so the idea goes.

    Germany and Austria - whose politicians fear an influx of immigrants prepared to work for low wages from Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary - will retain immigration controls, probably for the maximum seven years after "enlargement". Germany is sending out 7,000 inspectors to catch the thousands of eastern Europeans already working illegally in German cities - including Berlin, where an estimated 30,000 Poles are working as cleaners and building workers alone.

    France and Italy also plan to keep the restrictions on immigrant workers for the maximum period. Denmark, Holland, Greece and Sweden initially took a more liberal line, but all have now performed sharp U-turns.

    Again, I concur with the notion that illegal immigrants should be handled accordingly. I hope those in power in the States begin to embrace a similar policy towards immigrants. The Statue of Liberty welcomes all to the U.S. It is a beacon of hope worldwide, for a better life. I think nothing should change that ideal. But I also think it's high time that we started enforcing the laws on immigration that we already have.

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    .: posted by Dave 10:39 PM


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