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


Monday, June 28, 2004

Today is election day in Canada. It is interesting in the sense that a conservative victory, although not guaranteed, is possible. The implications of a conservative victory would be:

1) a dissolution of the gun registry
2) abandonment of the Kyoto Protocol
3) a closer alignment with American foreign policy
4) a strengthening of the Canadian armed forces

Election results are being broadcast on the CBC.

An interesting side item of the election is that a law that made it illegal to broadcast the results of provinces where polls had closed until open provinces had also closed was struck down. This sounds a lot like the objections in the U.S. in 2000, when the networks called Florida as a Democratic victory, and several Republican districts claimed that voter turnout waned because of the suggestion that Florida had already been decided. What effect, if any, this has on voter turnout remains to be seen.

UPDATE: As of 10:15 pm, the Liberals have 123 seats, the Conservatives have 73, the Bloc Quebecois have 53, and the NDP has 18.

PREDICTION: A plurality for the Liberals, a failed effort to form a majority government by the Liberals, and a dissolution of parliament, and a new election within six months.

UPDATE: As of 10:23, the CBC is projecting that the minority government scenario is a certainty, the 10th such government in the history of the country.

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.: posted by Dave 7:26 PM


This should be an interesting week in Iraq. First we have this little surprise...

The U.S.-led coalition transferred sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government on Monday, speeding up the move by two days in an apparent bid to surprise insurgents who might have tried to sabotage the step toward self rule.

The new interim government was sworn in six hours after the handover ceremony. The Arab world voiced cautious optimism, but maintained calls for the U.S. military to leave the country quickly.

Members of interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi’s Cabinet each stepped forward to place their right hand on the Quran and pledged to accept their new duties with sincerity and impartiality. Behind them, a bank of Iraqi flags lined the podium.

“Before us is a challenge and a burden and we ask God almighty to give us the patience and guide us to take this country whose people deserves all goodness,” said President Ghazi al-Yawer after taking his oath. “May God protect Iraq and its citizens.”


No better way to avoid a well-timed terrorist uprising than to precede it by two days.

And then this rumor (refuted by the U.S. military)...

The United States on Monday denied a report that the most wanted terror suspect in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, had been captured.

"That is false," said an aide to Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmit, the deputy chief of operations. "I can tell you that Zarqawi has not been arrested. We just checked with the unit."

Al-Zarqawi was rumored to have been picked up in Hillah, a predominantly Shiite city 60 miles south of Baghdad, the scene of a bloody car bombing Saturday night that killed about 20 people.


Somtimes, rumors are true. Sometimes, they are false. If indeed Zarqawi has been apprehended, this would be a major coup for Iraq, and the U.S.

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.: posted by Dave 10:02 AM



Sunday, June 27, 2004

This blog's 2 year anniversary has long since past. This is, however, the 800th post on Opinari. I had hoped to be posting much more prodigiously than this after 2 years, but who knew a wife, a son, a new home, a demanding job, and myriad other things would come about?

Such as it is, I am fortunate to be blogging at all. It's a good thing I don't do this for money!

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.: posted by Dave 8:21 PM


More Hostages in the Middle East:

A Marine has been missing from his unit in Iraq for nearly a week but it is unclear whether he has been taken hostage, the U.S. command said Monday.

The announcement came after Arab television broadcast videotape Sunday of two men of Pakistani origin taken hostage by militants: a driver for an American company and a blindfolded man in military fatigues described as U.S. Marine lured from his base. Insurgents threatened to behead them both.

Turkey rejected today the demands of Islamic militants who are threatening to behead three of its kidnapped citizens during a visit by President Bush to Turkey. A bombing south of Baghdad killed more than 20 people.

The Arab satellite television network Al-Jazeera broadcast a videotape purportedly of a Marine taken hostage by a militant group threatening to behead him if the U.S. military did not release all prisoners in Iraq.

The tape showed a blindfolded, mustached man wearing a blindfold and displayed a Marine identification card in the name of Wassef Ali Hassoun. Al-Jazeera said he was of Pakistani origin.

Al-Jazeera said the militants demanded the release of all Iraqis "in occupation jails" or the man would be killed. The group claimed it infiltrated a Marine outpost, lured the man outside and abducted him.


So we have had an Italian murdered, an American contractor, a Jewish American, and a South Korean beheaded, and a Pakistani, some Turks, and (possibly) a Marine abducted and waiting their turn. Does anyone see a pattern here? Is it possible that these fanatics are deliberately testing different cultures, and types of people to gauge a response to their actions? In other words, perhaps the thought process is this:

"We tried killing the American infidels, and we got no response from their governments. Perhaps we should try killing members of other countries... countries that support the infidel occupation. Perhaps we can affect their governments."

Is there any doubt that these people will soon target women and children? Would we be as willing to ignore these things if a small American child was brutally beheaded, and the tape broadcast on the internet? I think the international response to such a thing would be quite the opposite of what the Islamic jihadists think. Even France couldn't stand by idly and watch something like that.

One other thought... it always seems that al-Jazeera is quick to broadcast any piece of murderous propaganda that they receive. What would the effect be if we lined up 600 prisoners and executed them individually (much like Mohammed himself did back in the infancy of the Islamic movement) in response to these terrorist threats? Or would it be more effective to simply cut off the delivery mechanism (e.g., destroy al-Jazeera and any of its subsidiaries)?

I ask these questions rhetorically not necessarily as an advocate of such policies, but because I can see that such decisions may have to be made at some point. Does the world, or more specifically, the United States, have the courage to stomach such things? Would the public demand a response such as the ones detailed above if another 9/11 occurred? I pray to God that I never find out the answer.

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.: posted by Dave 8:00 PM


Zell Miller, Georgia Democrat, is going to be speaking at the Republican National Convention.

In an unprecedented move, President Bush's campaign has scheduled a prominent Democrat, Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia, to make a prime-time speech to the Republican National Convention in New York.

Mr. Miller, who gave the keynote address at the 1992 Democratic convention that nominated Bill Clinton for president, has agreed to address the Republicans in prime time, possibly on Sept. 2 when the delegates will nominate Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney to head the ticket once again, confided a Republican with close ties to those planning the convention.


Here's a thought. Maybe Zell will choose the convention to shed his DINO identity. That would not surprise me in the least.

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.: posted by Dave 12:32 PM



Saturday, June 26, 2004

Bill Clinton has a blog? Well, if Andy Kaufman can have one, I guess the ex-President can, too.

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.: posted by Dave 9:59 PM


Volunteer tight end goes "loco":

The police report on a Thursday afternoon incident involving Tennessee tight end Victor McClure alleges a bizarre series of events that led to his arrest on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

{...}

UT police officers said John Hodges, an associate professor of religious studies, told them McClure had shoved him and said, "Hey Pop, want to find Jesus," according to the police report.

Officers found McClure yelling at someone, and then McClure told the officers they needed to respect him and then walked away when they asked him to step outside to talk, the report stated.

McClure ran around the building's lobby and "began to take his shorts off and throw them in the air. Then he tried to remove his underwear," the officers said in the report.

While the officers escorted McClure away, he grabbed UT student Courtney Keck by the arm and tried to pull her down the stairs. He confronted another student, Kristina Bennett, and "kept asking her if she loved and respected him," according to the report.

The officers handcuffed McClure and took him to the jail, where he got away from two more officers and "ran full speed into a door," the report said.


I remember when I was a student on the Hill, and we would laugh at some of the daily entries in the Beacon Crime Log. This one has to win first prize for 2004. What kind of strange brew are they feeding these kids at Gibbs these days anyway?

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.: posted by Dave 9:39 PM


An interesting Saudi response:

Western expatriates working in Saudi Arabia will be allowed to carry weapons to defend themselves against attacks by Islamic militants.

Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz, the interior minister, made the radical concession because foreigners working in the private sector feel poorly protected by Saudi security forces.


Well, now. A nation other than the U.S. actually relaxes its gun laws? This is unprecedented.

A caveat though:

However, those working on government contracts will not be eligible and will be protected by the Saudi authorities.

I think I would rather be a private contractor and take my chances with a .45 inside my jacket.

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.: posted by Dave 9:22 PM


To avoid wasting a lot of pixels on it, I will sum up what could be a huge essay in only a few simple phrases.

Michael Moore. Fahrenheit 9/11. Preaching to the choir.

Now. Back to our regular programming.

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.: posted by Dave 8:57 PM


Vice President Cheney on Neil Cavuto:

Charles Duelfer, who's now in charge of the Iraq Survey Group, was — just yesterday made announcements that they found additional cells — shells which have tested positive for sarin.

Yep. No WMDs to see here. Move along.

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.: posted by Dave 8:44 PM




The new Canadian quarter. Snazzy, but still only worth a fraction of ours in the U.S!

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.: posted by Dave 8:40 PM


I found this posting on Slashdot to be interesting:

"I'm a recent college grad (B.S. in C.S.) and have been on the job hunt for about 6 months. I've been playing around with tech toys as long as I can remember, but it all focuses around the desktop environment. Desktop-grade routers, switches and wireless as well as any/all desktop PC (and some Mac) hardware is what I could get my hands on with my limited budget. After looking through hundreds if not thousands of job postings, everyone is looking for 3+ years of network admin experience or 5+ years of C++ experience even for an entry level position. How is one expected to gain that kind of experience when no one will hire you without the experience? What kind of (part-time) work can you get as a college student to gain experience (Cisco, Exchange, SQL, etc) that will be marketable in the real world? Any suggestions from the Slashdot community will be of great benefit to myself and thousands of others who will enter the 'real world' in the next few years."

My answer: before you go into a CS or MIS program, be prepared to sacrifice your summers as a co-op/intern somewhere. Anywhere. As long as the company has a good reputation, and the experience is relevant. In the "real" world (at least in the one in which I work), experience counts for most everything. Academic credentials count for pay (i.e., MS means a bump in pay grade over a BS).

However, if a group needs a C++ coder, and you can come in and say that you developed a C++ app for {insert your Fortune 500 company here}, and you have the references to prove it, you're 90% in the door. Now, if you're a total dweeb, and can't make eye contact with the manager, don't even bother. Make sure you polish your personality as much as you do your experience. And ALWAYS show the potential boss why hiring you will save them money.

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.: posted by Dave 8:27 PM


I can think of a few good reasons not to live in Florida, but this has to be one of the best ones:

Florida state officials are considering taxing home networks that have more than one computer, under a modified 1985 state law that was intended to tax the few businesses that used internal communication networks instead of the local telephone company.

This is one of the problems with laws constructed broadly. They often are misapplied.

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.: posted by Dave 7:16 PM


SKBubba links to this... Conspiracy theories abound.

Note to everyone: Hillary did not kill Vince Foster. The Illuminati is not conspiring to take over the world. Elvis, Lennon, and Morrison are all dead. And Bush is not concealing an "October surprise".

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.: posted by Dave 7:13 PM


Home Depot and Lowe's have both been frequented by me quite often in recent months. That will happen when you have a new home, and you want to work on some things. Consequently, both Home Depot and Lowe's have gone out of their way to piss me off in the customer relations department.

To wit:

Home Depot delivers new appliances, yet refuses to take the old ones, and cannot install the gas stove, despite a paid agreement to do both.

Lowe's exhibits unwavering incompetence by placing an appliance in an aisle for sale without any pricing information, and without having anyone on staff who knows anything about the appliance in question.

These are just a couple of examples of my frustration.

However, I have decided that I need to choose one or the other to give my business. I have pondered this for weeks, and have not been able to decide. Then, I read this:

Retailer Home Depot Inc. is donating $1 million in tools and materials to support the U.S. military in Iraq.

The company said it is sending eight truck trailers to the military, filled with 100,000 tools and materials, including shovels, table saws, concrete mixers, safety scaffolding, power generators, light bulbs and jackhammers. The donated goods left San Diego on Thursday.


Home Depot it is.

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.: posted by Dave 7:05 PM



Wednesday, June 23, 2004

There's something about growing up in the barren desert that makes a man resort to savagery. It's not just the al-Qaeda types doing the beheading now:

Afghan soldiers beheaded four Taliban fighters after guerrillas cut off the heads of an Afghan interpreter for U.S.-led forces and an Afghan soldier, a government commander said Tuesday.

The interpreter and the soldier were beheaded after becoming separated from a patrol of Afghan and U.S.-led foreign troops in the Arghandab district of Zabul province Monday night, Namatullah Tokhi, commander of the government's 27th division in the province, told Reuters.


Hammurabi's Code still exists in some nations, I gather. And our imbecile media is complaining about our soldiers putting panties on the heads of some prisoners? Sheesh.

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.: posted by Dave 8:30 PM


Another Rodney King in the making?

A police officer pursuing the driver of a stolen car Wednesday morning was seen on videotape beating the suspect after he appeared to have surrendered.

Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department began chasing the stolen car shortly after 5 a.m. (8 a.m. ET).

The pursuit ended in the city of Compton, when the driver jumped out of the vehicle and fled on foot.

Video shot from news helicopters shows the suspect running for a short distance before slowing to a stop, apparently opting to surrender to officers pursuing him on foot.

The suspect appeared to raise both arms and drop to his knees. The first arriving officer drew his weapon, but put it back in his holster and then tackled the suspect, forcing him to the ground.

The second officer also jumps on the suspect, who is on the ground in a prone position, while a third officer arrives and appears to kick him in the head. This same officer then drops to the ground, takes out his flashlight and beats the suspect 11 times about the head area and also appears to use his knee to strike the suspect.


It's good to know those law enforcement reforms are working in L.A.

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.: posted by Dave 8:16 PM


Jack Neely on downtown Knoxville's "lack" of parking:

It’s all over the news: parking downtown is impossible and getting worse. A prominent TV reporter recently mentioned the “major problem” of downtown parking. An article in the daily referred matter-of-factly to downtown’s “parking nightmare.” A local folksinger has a song about “a town without parking.” The parking nightmare is a matter of devout belief. Businesses cite it every time they close their doors. It was that parking nightmare, they say. Couldn’t have been anything else.

Maybe I’m weird. Honest people have told me so. But I’ve been driving downtown for 25 years now. Except for one night during a Christmas parade a couple of years ago, I have never had much trouble finding a place to park in downtown Knoxville. I’ve rarely paid as much as $2 for the privilege.


I second that, Jack. Last time I was in town, I parked across from the library, walked up to Gay Street, visited the 9/11 Memorial, basked in Krutch Park, and drove home with no problems. When I was a South Knoxvillian, I never had problems either... unless you count business hours, when the two-tone haired traffic lady would terrorize me by following me around the block, chalking my tires, and swearing that she would be back. Shudder! But I digress.

Is downtown Knoxville really lacking that much parking? I don't see it. I would ask a more pertinent question. Is downtown Knoxville drawing enough people into it to warrant more parking? If the myriad RTB bloggers are any indication, I would guess the answer is "not really."

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.: posted by Dave 8:10 PM


This is why I still like baseball, and why I look forward to my own son turning four:

We were right next to the bullpen where the starter from the Huntsville Stars, Dennis Sarfate, was warming up.

Field level was an interesting mix of kids begging for autographs coupled with adults who were seemingly in the memorabilia business, pleading for signatures. Amidst all this sat my son, 4-year-old Anthony, with his little black glove. With other kids calling for a souvenir, Sarfate for some reason decided he wanted my son to have the ball he was throwing. Nonchalant, he pranced over to where we sat, made eye contact with my son and put the ball in Anthony’s glove.

As a member of the sports media, I’ve seen some pretty awesome things, but this was different. This time the experience was my own; Sarfate just hooked up my kid! It was the proudest moment of Anthony’s young existence, and the Basilios had just become the biggest Dennis Sarfate fans in the world.


Don't get me wrong. I love my son's infancy. But... I can hardly wait for moments like these!

AN ASIDE: What the hell is going on in Knoxville when Tony Basilio is dismissed from his job for "economic reasons"? Last I heard, Basilio was one of the top sports personalities in East Tennessee. What idiot made the decision to ax him?

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.: posted by Dave 6:58 PM


I've been having issues with Blogger all day long. Anytime I post something, it gives me a Java error in the Blogger interface. Yet, when I go back to edit my posts (thinking that there was an error), the post is there. In fact, one blogpost showed up twice. I wonder if others are having issues with Blogger today, too?

UPDATE: Here is the error message:

001 java.net.NoRouteToHostException: No route to host

Note to self. Avoid Java web apps like the plague.

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.: posted by Dave 6:54 PM


Local News: Explosives Found in Apartment Search

AGAWAM, MASSACHUSETTS (WWLP) - An area on Springfield Street in Agawam has been evacuated after Agawam Police found dangerous materials such as chemicals and bomb making materials. At 1160 Springfield Street in the Feeding Hills section of Agawam at 10am, a search warrant was served. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms raided one of the units at the Carriage House Apartments and arrested Michael Crooker. Crooker has previously been convicted of other firearms violations. They found extensive bomb making materials and dangerous chemicals in his apartment and car. Many agencies have been called in including ATF, FBI, and Homeland Security officials and at least 3 bomb squads. Springfield's HAZMAT team is also on the scene as well as another regional bomb squad. No one is being allowed within a 1,000 foot square radius of the area.

I would like some more specifics to go along with this story. Bomb making materials could be anything, and "other firearms violations" could be, too. Either way, I hope the media follows this story correctly, and makes no assumptions without accompanying facts.

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.: posted by Dave 6:49 PM



Tuesday, June 22, 2004

Flopapalooza - Lollapalooza Canceled; Alt-Rock Tour Organizers Cite Low Ticket Sales

Lollapalooza's troubles might have more to do with musical trends than the health of the concert industry, says promoter Seth Hurwitz, who had booked the now-canceled show at Merriweather.

"It's genuinely an alternative-music problem," Hurwitz says. "The audience for true alternative rock just isn't that big anymore. Lollapalooza was big in the early '90s, when the scene was exploding, when you had bands like Pearl Jam and Nirvana, and it was something new and truly alternative. Now you turn on the TV and everyone is pierced. I saw 'Shrek 2' the other day, and there's scene in it where one of the characters crowd-surfs."


I went to several Lollapalooza shows; my favorite by far was the show in Newport that featured Metallica, Soundgarden, Rage Against the Machine, and one of the last tours that featured the Ramones. The next year at Starwood, I witnessed Prodigy and Tool, among others. These were good shows, and they were good when the genre of music was good.

These days, it really sucks. It's too mainstream. It's too depressing, really... although I didn't really find comfort listening to RATM, I must admit.

The biggest irony of all is that now that I have matured, started a family, and moved northward, I listen mainly to country music. Go figure.

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.: posted by Dave 11:15 PM


While the left complains about the electoral process (well, those that understand it, anyway), I feel compelled to become irate when this happens:

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday approved a measure to crack down on indecency on radio and television by sharply raising fines.

The Senate also took steps to rein in the growth of U.S. media companies by invalidating new, more relaxed ownership rules.

The provisions were attached to a bill to reauthorize defense programs and would need to get full congressional approval later this year.

After being flooded with complaints about nudity on broadcast television and explicit discussions about sex on radio, lawmakers voted 99-1 to raise the maximum fine that can be levied on a station from $32,500 to as much as $275,000 per incident and up to $3 million a day.


Now, everyone else seems to be upset about the free speech aspects of this legislation. Well, so am I. But what angers me more is the fact that they manage to pass this insane legislation by attaching it to a bill to reauthorize defense programs. This is one of the features of our legislative process that absolutely drives me nuts.

Can't we pass a &%$#@ bill without adding some irrelevant nonsense to it? No. We can't. And why? Because the idiots in Congress know that they cannot get half the crap they want through the process without hiding it inside an otherwise sensible package.

Think about it. Senator A votes against this bill because he/she cannot in good conscience take part in censorship. When Senator A runs for re-election, he/she is demonized in public. Why? Because he/she voted AGAINST reauthorization of defense programs. So now, like it or not, Senator A is weak on defense.

Unfortunately, this is how the system works, and this is why the line item veto was conceived. Someday, I hope the line item veto is implemented... and I don't care which party gets to use it.

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.: posted by Dave 11:05 PM


Jeff Soyer asks:

Up till now I've always blamed just the extremist, mutant followers of Islam. But you know what? No matter how hard I listen, I can't seem to hear the voices of the supposedly large body of "moderate" Muslems. Not on TV, not on radio, not in the newspapers or on the web... Where are they?

I've been wondering the same thing for months. If there is a moderate version of Islam, where is it hiding? Why doesn't its leaders vehemently protest the face being put on the Muslim religion by the so-called radicals who continue to perpetrate their terrorist acts?

If someone has an answer to this paradoxical question, please inform us all.

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.: posted by Dave 10:55 PM


Will we hear as much about what Rumsfeld now apparently did NOT endorse as far as interrogation tactics are concerned as we heard about how he allegedly DID approve?

Meanwhile, a source told CNN that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld never approved a controversial interrogation technique called "water boarding." That source had told CNN the opposite Monday.

The senior defense official who provided the original information to CNN now says Rumsfeld only approved "mild, noninjurious physical contact" with a high-level al Qaeda detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and specifically did not approve a request to use water boarding.


We shall see.

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.: posted by Dave 9:25 PM


The BBC Clinton interview is available here.

UPDATE: Clinton was obviously not having fun in this interview. The tirade episode is around 28:51 on the clip, referring to prosecutor Ken Starr:

One of the reasons he (Starr) got away with it is because people like you only ask me the questions. You gave him a complete free ride. Any abuse they wanted to do. They indicted all these little people from Arkansas, what did you care about them, they're not famous, who cares that their life was trampled. Who cares that their children are humiliated. Nobody in your line of work cared a rip about that at the time. Why, because he was helping their story. And that's why people like you always help the far-right, because you like to hurt people, and you like to talk about how bad people are and all their personal failings.

President Clinton, as usual, is the victim. At least something is constant.

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.: posted by Dave 8:42 PM


SKBubba asks:

All of this makes me wonder just exactly what is going on with the Democratic Party "leadership". It's almost as if they want to lose. They let Karl Rove pick who he wants to run against, and everything is all arranged. Or maybe it's the Rush Limbaugh theory that they want to lose now and make people suffer through four more years of Bush so they can nominate Hillary in 2008.

Tin-foil hat theories aside, obviously Sharpton would be a better president than Bush. So would Kerry. But shouldn't Democrats have a higher standard? Is "not-Bush" all we've got?


Sadly for the Democrats, I think the answer is yes. There are things I like about Bush, and things that I don't. If there were a better candidate, I would vote for him. I would even consider Joseph Lieberman (who Bubba doesn't like much) because I think he is the best candidate that the Democrats have offered. But I haven't seen that candidate who rises above the rest. And I haven't seen much from the Democrats other than, well, other than "we're not Bush".

I didn't grow up as a GOP lover. My great grandma adored Hubert Humphrey, as I recall. My upbringing has been largely apolitical. So I would never consider a candidate simple based on his affiliations. Thus, if a Democrat came along who advocated a strong stance against terrorism and those who support it, who endorsed cuts in marginal tax rates, and who would advocate the Kennedyesque mantra "ask not what your country can do for you...", then they would get my vote.

Unfortunately for the electorate, Bush is a profligate spender, and Kerry is... well, what exactly is Kerry this week? It would seem then that maybe I will vote for Bush because, well, because he's not Kerry. Maybe that's true in some sense.

The real reason I will likely vote for Bush is that he advocates more that I agree with than what I do not, and Kerry is obviously a career politician who wants to appease enough people to gain their votes, but doesn't quite pull it off with much success. So, call this election the "lesser of two evils" if you will. Somehow, in that regard, it feels a lot like 2000.

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.: posted by Dave 12:33 PM


The Blogfather reports that there are no long lines to get the new Clinton tome, at least in Knoxville. No surprise there. First of all, the book is long, well over 900 pages. I don't know a lot of people who want to read a book that approaches a thousand pages, let alone one written by Bill Clinton. Secondly, well, it's written by Bill Clinton, and we're talking about East Tennessee. Enough said.

Interestingly, I was going to buy the book, but it's not yet available on e-book. Since this is how I do my reading, the Clinton book will have to wait.

UPDATE: The Clinton manifesto has appeared. Maybe I'll order it after all.

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.: posted by Dave 12:23 PM


AIM for Palm:

I'm not a frequent user of AIM anymore, as I find it to be an annoying instant messaging program. However, it is available for the Palm OS, so I keep it handy for just that purpose.

I'm writing this post really as a way to document my experience with the app. I have used it since Palm OS 3, and, in general, it serves its purpose. Coupled with a text app like TextPlus, it can generate messages as quickly as with a keyboard.

However, I have two complaints about the app. First of all, why is it that, if I type in a sentence, I have to erase the sentence from the text entry screen before I can enter a new bit of text? Shouldn't the app, by default, erase the previous message? That would be my intuitive expectation, but it doesn't. Instead, it can take a wasteful amount of time just to type in "BRB" or "Hello".

My second complaint is this...

Palm AIM - UK

Palm AIM - US

Note the difference in pricing. UK - $0. US - $19.95. Excuse me? Why would I want to pay almost $20 for an IM app that is free overseas? Why would I want to pay that price for an IM app at all? AIM is free on every data phone I have seen. Why not also for Palm? It makes no sense to me.

Instant messaging has become a part of our connected lives, but this app has a long way to go to satisfy me. In the meantime, I will keep it (the free UK version, that is), just in case I have to keep in touch with some of my AIM friends.

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.: posted by Dave 12:05 PM


Wi-Fi at rest stops?

To encourage drivers to take more frequent breaks, the Texas Department of Transportation wants to set up free wireless Internet access at rest stops and travel information centers.

The department is accepting bids until next week and plans to choose a vendor in July. The chosen company won't be paid, however, to provide the free access.

TxDOT, which says Texas is the first state to provide such free access at rest areas, began experimenting with Wi-Fi hotspots last fall.

"The feedback we've received so far has been very positive," said Andy Keith, manager of TxDOT's maintenance division. "Texas' highways are seeing an increasing number of business travelers, truckers and RVers and access to e-mail is important to them."


While I like the idea of ubiquitous hotspots, I like less the idea of them being subsidized by the taxpayers. One of these days, the federal government is bound to determine that internet access is a "right", which means we will all be footing the bill for the access.

My personal solution for "always on" internet access is to carry a Palm Tungsten T and a Bluetooth phone with a data package. Then I can check email, weather, RSS feeds, or even blog from anywhere. I would rather pay for it myself than have the government (state, federal or local) subsidize it with tax dollars.

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.: posted by Dave 8:50 AM



Monday, June 21, 2004

In response to a Lileks' post, Brian at Resonance asks the opposite question:

"I ask my Republican friends: what would they rather see happen--Kerry elected and bin Laden caught, or Bush reelected and bin Laden still in the wind. If they're all honest, they would say they would rather see Bush reelected."

I am not a Republican, but I feel confident that I can answer this question without hesitation.

Elect Kerry, and catch bin Laden.

I think Lileks is trying to ask the following question - how many people hate Bush more than they hate bin Laden? The answer, if sites such as the Democratic Underground are to be believed, is several.

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.: posted by Dave 3:52 PM


Politics do not often enter the workplace here, but today was somewhat interesting on that level. When a co-worker interjected about Iraq that "we need to get Bush out and someone else in", I wanted to engage her, and get some constructive feedback. I have come to realize that, in today’s polarized political climate, stating one’s case matter-of-factly is often mistaken for a verbal assault, or at least as often turns into just that. So, I abstained.

My co-worker never offered a solution to anything global, except to say that Bush needed to be replaced.

I have no problem with people disagreeing with policy. I just want to hear the alternative that they offer.

The word "diplomacy" was used, as in the “need for”. Immediately, I thought “Is it really plausible to think diplomacy is going to work with thugs who behead people, bathe in the blood, and chant to their ‘god’?”

Since hindsight is 20/20, it is easy to say that engaging the enemy is harmful. However, had we not engaged them, I, and many others, are of the firm belief that terrorist acts would be even MORE prevalent after 9/11. Because of America's engagement, terrorism against Americans is largely concentrated in one area (the Middle East). Had we not engaged the enemy, and allowed more acts of terrorism to come to the American continent, what would these people say then? What would be their solution? To bend over and take it like a "man"?

I am all for the Monroe Doctrine in a peaceful world, but this world is not peaceful. These people want us DEAD. They hate Israel. They hate America. They hate freedom. They hate anything that is not Islamo-theocratic. They long for a restoration of the ancient Bedouin juntas. They abhor Western values, and ideals. Because they feel threatened, they respond by organizing suicide bombings, and decapitating Western contractors for nothing more than the shock value.

It would be nice to get a logical, well-reasoned treatise from people like this co-worker, a response that would suggest an alternative to pre-emption. That's all I want. From this one, at least, I am not anticipating such a reply any time soon.

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.: posted by Dave 3:42 PM


Air America on the skids?

On March 30, the night before Air America went on the air, the liberal radio network threw itself a $70,000 party at Manhattan's hip Maritime Hotel. More than 1,000 guests, including Yoko Ono and Tim Robbins, drank red, white and blue vodka cocktails as they toasted the network's bid to challenge the dominance of conservative talk radio.

But behind the scenes, Air America was running out of money. Today several employees say they still haven't been reimbursed for the costs of attending the New York launch. "It was a fun party, until I knew I was paying for it," says Bob Visotcky, Air America's former Los Angeles market manager, who hasn't been reimbursed for his hotel room and flight.

Mr. Visotcky wasn't the only insider in the dark about the company's problems. Many of Air America's investors and executives say they thought the network had raised more than $30 million, based on assurances from its owners, Guam-based entrepreneurs Evan M. Cohen and Rex Sorensen. In fact, Air America had raised only $6 million, Mr. Cohen concedes. Within six weeks of the launch, those funds had been spent and the company owed creditors more than $2 million.

When the problems came to light, "we realized that we had all been duped," says David Goodfriend, the company's acting chief operating officer. Messrs. Cohen and Sorensen say they didn't mislead anyone about the company's finances. They say they planned to invest more over time but didn't because of cultural differences with other managers. Both resigned in early May.

Five months before a presidential election, Air America should be on a roll. Instead, it's grappling with a financial crisis. Creditors are lined up at the door, and it is off the air in two big markets, Los Angeles and Chicago.


Read the rest.

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.: posted by Dave 12:33 PM


SpaceShipOne has launched and landed. Let the privatization of space begin!

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.: posted by Dave 12:01 PM


The Latest al-Qaeda - Iraq Connection:

A senior officer in Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s security services was a member of the terrorist group that committed the September 11 attacks, a member of the commission investigating the suicide hijackings said yesterday.

“There is at least one officer of Saddam’s Fedayeen, a lieutenant colonel, who was a very prominent member of al Qaeda,” said September 11 commission member and former Navy Secretary John Lehman.


Just remember, the absence of "credible evidence" connecting al-Qaeda and Iraq to the September 11th attacks on the United States is not the same thing as ties between al-Qaeda and Iraq.

Will someone please tell the mainstream media?

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.: posted by Dave 11:34 AM


M. Scott Eiland on Tacitus posts about the fear of Barry Bonds:

51--The number of times that Barry Bonds has been intentionally walked in the 57 games he has played this season;

56--The number of times *combined* that Mike Piazza, Adam Dunn, Jim Thome, Todd Helton, Lance Berkman, and Albert Pujols--who have a combined 101 HR and 262 RBI this season--have been intentionally walked this season;

18-- The number of intentional walks that Barry Bonds has to receive to break the all-time record in the category, which he himself set in 2002, the year he won his first batting title and broke the single season record for on-base percentage.

21-- The number of games the Giants will be playing between now and the All-Star break--the traditional halfway point of the MLB season.

Fear has a name--and that name is Barry Bonds.


This has been particularly frustrating to me, since Bonds is my fantasy left fielder. Because of all the walks, he's doing well in runs scored, and batting average, but his run production is suffering (18 HR, 39 RBI through the weekend). It also takes away from the game in my opinion, much like the neutral-zone trap in hockey, or the four-corners stall in basketball. Furthermore, I'm not so sure Bonds is worthy of that much respect. Why? Just this past weekend, Bonds went 1-for-9 against the Red Sox, with no home runs. It's not so much pitching to Bonds, but HOW one pitches to Bonds that should be the concern. For example, fast balls and straight changes aren't going to do much against someone with the plate discipline of Bonds. He's a good player, probably the best of my time, but he's not worth 51 IBBs. No one is.

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.: posted by Dave 10:51 AM


If you happen to have a GMail account, but you yearn for POP3 access, yearn no longer. "Pop Goes the GMail" is a .NET app that does exactly that. It is in the alpha stage right now. I have had good luck with it so far, with one caveat. I have to manually unload the app before turning off my machine. If I don't, the machine will terminate its power off sequence. I discovered this when I retrieved a VERY HOT laptop from my backpack. If I can figure out how to circumvent this feature of the software, I will be elated.

Hat tip to Vasanth Dharmaraj.

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.: posted by Dave 10:38 AM


Bill Clinton loses his temper with David Dimbleby during a BBC television interview to be broadcast this week when he is repeatedly quizzed about his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

The former American president, famed for his amiable disposition, becomes visibly angry and rattled, particularly when Dimbleby asks him whether his publicly declared contrition over the affair is genuine.

His outrage at the line of questioning during the 50-minute interview, to be broadcast on Panorama on Tuesday night, lasts several minutes. It is the first time that the former President has been seen to lose his temper publicly over the issue of his sexual liaisons with Ms Lewinsky.


What does he expect really? If you write a book and demand face time, shouldn't the interviewer be allowed to ask these questions? President Clinton surely has to be prepared to field questions about Monica Lewinsky ad nauseum, at least until the buzz about his book goes away.

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.: posted by Dave 10:34 AM


Embattled Connecticut governor John Rowland is set to tender his resignation publicly tonight at 6 pm reports the Hartford Courant. It has been a long road for Rowland since the revelation that he received gifts and repairs on his Bantam Lake summer home. The governor, often boisterous and confident in public, has been nothing short of sedate and melancholy recently. The ordeal obviously has taken a toll not just on him personally, but on his ability to lead.

Like others, I have been surprised that he has waited so long to resign. Like many in the state, I like the governor. I equate him in some ways to Bill Clinton: he is likeable, personable, and the consummate politician. He also lied, and should not have. I was disturbed during the former President's sex scandal, not because I disagreed with his morals (or lack thereof), but because he lied under oath. Rowland didn't lie under oath; he instead lied to the news media.

The fact though remains that he lied, the public believed him, and the public was let down. Thus, it is only right that the governor should resign. In the future, we should demand more, starting with Rowland's successor, Jodi Rell. It has become too easy to accept this kind of behavior from our elected officials... on BOTH sides of the political aisle.

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.: posted by Dave 10:14 AM



Sunday, June 20, 2004

Say Uncle is a proud papa, just in time for Father's Day. Congratulations to him...

Today is the first Father's Day for me, both as a father, and as a son. I can't describe how it feels to look into the eyes of my child, and know that he is... well, my child. My wife, ever the sentimentalist, got me a card from herself, and one from my son (who is only 7 1/2 months old, of course). But he did scribble on the envelope (with Mommy's help) something hieroglyphic, which I am told was the word "Daddy". I couldn't be more proud.

Today was not unlike most Sundays. We ate, we played, we cleaned, we spent time together as a family. But see... it's all of those things, father to son, husband to wife, that made this first Father's Day so special for me.



To my son: I love you. I will always love you, no matter what.

To my wife: Thank you for giving me the two best gifts anyone ever could; my son, and your unconditional love.

To God: Thank you. I can be no more poignant than to simply say... Thank you.

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.: posted by Dave 7:21 PM



Wednesday, June 16, 2004

I just got through with my All Star ballot for Major League Baseball. Every year, there is a debate about whether the game should be a "dream game" or a game of the "most deserving players" of that particular year. I usually opt for the latter. This year is no exception. Here was my ballot:

American League
First Base: F. Thomas, CWS
Second Base: A. Soriano, TEX
Third Base: M. Mora, BAL (I considered ARod, but Mora is having a MONSTER first half.)
Shortstop: M. Young, TEX (making them forget about ARod)
Catcher: I. Rodriguez, DET
Outfielder: C. Beltran, KC (best all-around player, bar none)
Outfielder: V. Guerrero, ANA (I can't imagine the Halos without him right now)
Outfielder: M. Ramirez, BOS

National League
First Base: S. Casey, CIN (close pick over Albert Pujols)
Second Base: M. Loretta, SD (if not for his injury, Marcus Giles would have been my choice here)
Third Base: S. Rolen, STL (almost 70 RBI already? Sheesh.)
Shortstop: J. Wilson, PIT
Catcher: J. Estrada, ATL
Outfielder: B. Bonds, SF (pitch to him, already!)
Outfielder: S. Finley, ARI
Outfielder: M. Cabrera, FLA (this kid is only 21?)

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.: posted by Dave 8:21 PM



Friday, June 11, 2004

I just got through watching Nightline on ABC. I was expecting some kind of tribute to President Reagan. While this was the "professed" topic of the show, Ted Koppel and his late night production just couldn't refrain from getting on the anti-Bush soapbox.

You see, Koppel was interviewing former Soviet leader Mikhael Gorbachev. Gorbachev was waxing nostalgic about the Reagan presidency, being as complimentary as ever. "A wonderful human being", he said. It was a nice, and not unexpected refrain from the former leader of the Communist world. Yet, inexplicably, Koppel prods Gorbachev into a totally irrelevant rant about the present American administration and its willingness to impose democracy upon countries that may not wish for it.

I thought for one second that the networks, even Koppel's drivelfest, could stay focused on the events of the day (Reagan's memorial), and not their own political agenda (disparaging Bush's foreign policy towards the Middle East). However, even the events of this week proved to be too little to have any effect. Tonight, I am reminded why I never watch Nightline, nor do I plan to do so again for some time.

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.: posted by Dave 10:14 PM


Today's most poignant refutation of revisionist history goes to Say Uncle, who takes issue with the left's contention that Reagan did nothing to fund AIDS research.

One claim is that Reagan didn't fund aids, or didn't fund it enough, or basically that he was pressured to fund it, or he didn't do it quickly enough. Not true. Under Reagan's presidency, almost $6B was spent on AIDS and it started as early as 1981. The other claim is that Reagan didn't mention it in public until 1987. He signed the funding into law in 1981 so I'd say that's acknowledging it.

Amen.

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.: posted by Dave 8:33 PM


For those of you who may have missed today's funeral services for President Reagan, they are archived on CSPAN at this link:

http://www.c-span.org/executive/reagan.asp

CSPAN also has Reagan's important speeches online (Goldwater, Berlin Wall, etc.). A compilation of the speeches and the funeral is available in their web store.



UPDATE: The California memorial service just concluded. Democrat or Republican, partisan or disinterested political observer, if you watched President Reagan's wife and children gather around his casket one final time before saying goodbye without having tears in your eyes, you are perhaps a little less human than you should be.

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.: posted by Dave 7:52 PM



Thursday, June 10, 2004

The Knoxville News-Sentinel reports that merging onto I-40 westbound and then subsequently exiting at James White Parkway is now going to be a traffic violation.

Drivers who ignore the restriction face a fine up to $50 and court costs of $97.25. DeBusk said the ticket would be for failure to obey a traffic device.

DeBusk said he hoped the change would reduce the number of crashes that officers investigate on 1,010-foot-long section of I-40 between the Broadway and James White Parkway ramps.

"There's no way to deny it's a major engineering flaw," he said. "The only way to stop it 100 percent is to redesign the road."


So poor engineering will cost a naive motorist $150? That's ridiculous. That whole intersection is a travesty anyway. Once, on my way home, going westbound, I weaved around a dozen or so potholes at the Broadway exit, and an officer had the nerve to cite me for "weaving". So I took pictures by hanging from a telephone pole above the intersection, took them to court as evidence, and had the citation thrown out of court. The judge said "I have sympathy for this man. I drive that route every day." Sometimes, justice is not blind.

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.: posted by Dave 10:26 AM



Tuesday, June 08, 2004

Via Joanne Jacobs:

I taught "Merchant of Venice" to seniors one year; in it there's a line where one character is insulting another, by saying something along the lines of "He damns the ears of all who hear him, by calling him 'fool.'" One of the kids asked me what that meant, so I explained that one of the lesser-known verses of the Book of Matthew has Jesus saying that anyone who calls another a fool will be damned. (I recited chapter and verse, though I can't remember it now.) I went on to talk about the very funny use Voltaire made of that in his essay "The Jesuit Berthier" (an angel tells a priest to stop giving his stupid, boring sermons, because instead of winning souls for God he's endangering the souls of all who hear him, because they all call him a fool), and explained also that this is why cartoony villians in movies developed the habit of using "Fool!" as their default insult; for people familiar with the Bible, the fact that the villian always says "Fool!" is just one more proof that this is an evil, evil dude.

"So anyway," I said to the class, "back in Shakespeare's day, when people were far more familiar with the Bible than they are now, instead of insulting someone by saying 'You are a fool,' you'd say 'You are a--well, I can't SAY what you are because then I'd go to hell.' That's what he's doing in the play."

Next day I get called into the principal's office; some parents were FURIOUS that I had told their kids that Jesus said anyone who says 'fool,' will go to Hell.

"But he did," I pointed out.

"It doesn't matter, Jennifer. You can't insult kids' religions."

"Well, the kid asked me what that line from the play meant! What was I supposed to do?"

"Just tell him you don't know."


PC culture has run amok in our schools for far too long. This shouldn't have even been about favoring one religion over another. It should have been about pointing out matters of fact, and context. The student asked; the teacher responded factually. And because of that, her contract was not renewed.

Add this to my ever-growing list of reasons that my wife and I will be homeschooling our son.

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.: posted by Dave 10:26 AM



Saturday, June 05, 2004

Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911 - 2004)

I knew it was coming. But I don't know that I was quite ready to say goodbye. That is how I feel right now as I learn that Ronald Wilson Reagan, the greatest president of my lifetime, has passed away.

Reagan became president in 1980, at a time when this country was feeling gloomy and pessimistic about just about everything. Two events stand out for me from that year - Reagan becoming president, and the 1980 Olympic hockey team winning over the highly regarded Soviet team. These were my formative middle school years, when I was just learning to care about important things.

I will never forget what Reagan was as a president. To me, he embodied strong leadership. Who can forget the infamous "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall"? Certainly not me. There was no coincidence that, when Reagan took over for Carter, the hostages in Iran were quickly freed. Reagan believed that it was his mission to defeat Communism, and it was because of his policies of peace through strength that ultimately led to the demise of the Soviet power.

Reagan influenced me profoundly. Supply-side economics, villified by even Republicans (remember George Bush's derision of Reagan's "voodoo economics"?) are as fundamental in my personal fiscal viewpoint as Adam Smith. Reagan was, of course, originally an actor. He knew how to portray characters, and he knew how to communicate to Americans. This is why even the left liked him. Carter and Mondale didn't stand a chance during the Reagan years. Liberalism didn't either.

Sadly, we live in an era of divisiveness, and political opportunism. Both sides of the political aisle are to blame for the disunity in our country today. Many liberals villify the messenger as much as the message, while the conservatives who command the bully pulpit lack the ability to tell us, the American people, why they think their policies are good for America. Dutch Reagan never had this problem. He had convictions, he had beliefs, and he communicated them to us.

His charisma is what endeared him to me. That is why I began to develop an interest in politics at an early age. That is why my stomach sank this afternoon as I read that Ronald Reagan has now left us. I will always remember him as a great president, a great leader, and a great man. I only hope that, for the good of America, another Reagan comes along. But, somehow, I don't think there will ever be another.

UPDATE: Rocky Top Brigade bloggers Alphapatriot, Rex Hammock, and Up for Anything lament the passing of President Reagan.

Meanwhile, the left rejoices.

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.: posted by Dave 4:12 PM



Friday, June 04, 2004

Bill Clinton on George W. Bush:

"If you go back and read what (Bush) said in the campaign, he's just doing what he'd said he'd do. You've got to give him credit for that... No one has the whole truth."

Could it be? Tacit endorsement of the president's policies? I would have liked to have seen this speech excerpt in the mainstream press, but I'm sure it wasn't. (Editor's Note: I wouldn't know. I no longer pay attention to most of the mainstream press.)

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.: posted by Dave 1:03 PM


From the Associated Press regarding this year's National Spelling Bee:

The field has 265 spellers, the largest ever.

Spellers range in age from 9 to 15; most are 13 or 14. To be eligible, spellers must not have passed beyond eighth grade by Feb. 1 and must not have turned 16 by June 1.

Most spellers attend traditional public schools (179). The rest attend home schools (35), private schools (27), parochial (20) or charter schools (four).


So over 13% of all NSB participants this year are homeschooled. Disproportionate? Glenn Reynolds seems to think so. However, I don't. In fact, I'm surprised there aren't more homeschoolers than that in the competition.

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.: posted by Dave 12:21 PM


Lost in the Translation

Ever since ol' King James in the 17th century commissioned the Bible to be translated into English, there has been someone somewhere endeavoring to reinvent the Holy Word. Now comes a new translation that looks more like a self-help novel:

The new book offers a radical reworking of the Lord's Prayer and Psalm 23, The Lord is my Shepherd. It has been undertaken by an African pastor, Zephania Kameeta, who was formerly vice-president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia.

He tackles issues such as fairness and freedom and seeks to inspire those praying and working for harmony, fairness and freedom around the world.

In the 23rd Psalm, the passage "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death" has been replaced by "Even if a full-scale violent confrontation breaks out I will not be afraid, Lord".

The new works appear in Pocket Prayers for Justice and Peace and is compiled by the charity Christian Aid. It will be published in October by Church House Publishing, the official publisher of the Church of England.

It also includes a version of the Lord's Prayer that begins: "Our father who is in us here on Earth, holy is your name in the hungry who share their bread and their song."


A full-scale violent confrontation? King James would be proud.

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.: posted by Dave 9:19 AM


Jobs, anyone?

Nonfarm business payrolls grew by a net 248,000 jobs in May, raising this year's monthly average to 238,000, the fastest pace in four years, the Labor Department reported Friday. That marked the third straight month that employers have added more than the 150,000 jobs economists say is necessary to keep the job market stable.

Payroll-growth figures for March and April, which were already considered strong by many economists, were revised even higher. Employers added 74,000 more jobs than previously thought during those two months. The surge in job creation drew some previously discouraged workers back into the civilian labor force, expanding it by 233,000 to 146.9 million. The unemployment rate, as a result, held steady at 5.6%.


I've been weary of hearing about this "jobless recovery" for months now. Anyone with any business acumen at all knows jobs lag behind everything else during an economic recovery, and this one is no different.

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.: posted by Dave 9:17 AM



Thursday, June 03, 2004

Today's Wall Street Journal talks about the misguided educational priorities in New Jersey.

You won't find this malady in the medical books. But that's because this is a disease that afflicts governments, and its most prevalent symptom is the itch to impose "solutions" where there's no clear problem while ignoring crises right under their noses. Two current disputes suggest that politicos in New Jersey's state capital are suffering from a particularly virulent form.

The first involves several hundred parents standing on the statehouse steps last week to protest a bill that would impose regulations on New Jersey home-schoolers, in areas from testing to medical exams. The other, held the very same day, was a plea from a coalition of African-American ministers arguing for school choice for the kids they say are getting a distinctly separate and unequal public education in the Garden State. Guess which of these issues -- regulating home-schoolers or liberating minority children -- is likely to occupy Trenton's time?


This is one of my fundamental objections to 21st-century governmental overmanagement. Idealists on both sides of the aisle think they have a solution to everything, and they are quick to enact legislation to demonstrate their ideas. However, those ideas more often than not are poorly conceived, much like the New Jersey homeschooling bill. Quite simply, it makes no sense to try to hold homeschoolers to public "standards" when homeschooled students, by and large, perform above those standards anyway.

An underlying cause for the legislative desire to regulate homeschooling is this: for every homeschooler, there is revenue lost to the public school. Once the homeschooling community is brought under the public umbrella, those funds can be redirected to the school boards. This would explain the rise in remote "charter" schools, where parents receive a portion of educational funding in return for being counted as part of the school population. The pressures of meeting No Child Left Behind requirements means a greater desire to bring in students who have mastered the material required for testing (read: homeschoolers). It is naive to think that this is not a point of discussion at many a school board meeting, especially those who are starved for funding, and those who fail to meet the federally mandated minimum testing standards.

Potential loss of funding is the very reason that vouchers are so villified; why give parents a choice in schooling when it will cost the school district for every student lost to a non-public school? The incentive is there for school boards to keep as many students as possible within their sphere of control, and this is why that the New Jersey elected officials prioritize regulation of homeschoolers above enabling Garden State minorities to choose where their children should be educated. New Jersey is likely going to be the first of many test cases across the country where regulation of homeschooling is concerned.

Hopefully, once parents realize that the legislator's ultimate litmus test for a fully educated child in New Jersey is to meet the requirements as set forth by the state public school system, they will demand more than that, and this legislation will fall by the wayside where it belongs. However, such demands are contingent on an involved parental body, which is why homeschooling is so successful in the first place.

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.: posted by Dave 3:20 PM





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