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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, March 07, 2004

The REAL problem with Memogate:

(Memogate) began in June 2001, when Sen. Jim Jeffords's defection from the GOP put control of Judiciary back into the hands of the Democrats, under the chairmanship of Sen. Pat Leahy. Mr. Leahy promptly fired the Hatch IT staff and hired his own computer techies, who neglected to erect a firewall between GOP and Democratic users of the shared Judiciary server. This made it possible, Mr. Miranda says, for any staffer to click on the "My Network Places" icon on any Judiciary computer and call up documents stored on the shared drive. Some staffers stored nothing on the shared drive; others took the precaution of setting up passwords for their files. All were advised to keep sensitive documents on their hard drives. Classified material was stored on discs and kept under lock and key.

The key point here is that Mr. Miranda wasn't the only one who knew about the computer glitch. He found out about it in June 2002, when a co-worker handed him a stack of Democratic memos. The young staffer, who has since resigned, had discovered in March or April that he could read many Democratic files on the shared drive. The Hatch IT staffer was also aware of the problem -- at one point hosting a lunchtime demo for colleagues. A computer-savvy intern for GOP Sen. Charles Grassley had made the same discovery in the fall of 2001. At some point, the Leahy IT staff learned about the glitch, too, but didn't bother to fix it.

Idiots. They deserved to have their strategy documents shared with the rest of the world. And this is supposed to be the big theft everyone is talking about? Give me a break. If you and I were competitors, and you dropped a memo in the middle of the road, would I be negligent if I picked it up and read it? Further, would I be wrong to express outrage if you were plotting to besmirch me and my cohorts publicly? I don't think so.

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.: posted by Dave 5:52 PM


This would explain why my T68i is getting such poor reception lately.

I use a Bluetooth connection with my Palm. That is the ONLY reason I bought a AT&T phone. The replacement phones? None of them are Bluetooth.

Damn AT&T. Damn them.

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.: posted by Dave 5:09 PM


For once, I actually agree with a teacher's union:

Repeating the refrain he has uttered hundreds of times, teachers' union President Timothy Murphy pleaded with the school board to make suspensions or expulsions requirements - rather than an option - when students fight or defy teachers.

The small band of teachers who came with Murphy to carry signs and show support said the change is necessary to keep students and staff safe.

"Kids need to know the consequences," said John Grande, a physical education teacher at the Hartford Transitional Learning Academy, a school for special education students who need a therapeutic setting.

Where I come from, fighting or defiant kids knew what they had coming. The problem is that most of the troublemakers didn't care about being suspended or expelled. Many welcomed the early vacation. That's why I would go even farther. Kids in elementary schools need to learn discipline and respect early. Corporal punishment is obviously not an option these days, and would probably best be left to parents (who seem to ignore this form of discipline themselves, but that's another topic). So maybe they should give these kids tasks that would embarrass them (a la the "dunce cap"), or demand other things from them, such as cleaning the school premises.

What disappoints me is the next statement in the article:

"We need to stop appeasing them. ... Administrators have to understand what we need is a zero-tolerance policy."

With this, I disagree. Too many instances of ZT have run amok, like kids being suspended for carrying GI-Joe toys, or shop tools. Common sense should prevail, and discipline should be strict, swift, and commensurate to the misdeed. Once schools learn this, the kids will respond.

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.: posted by Dave 4:22 PM


OK I understand the desire to ban cellphone use in a moving vehicle. I don't necessarily agree with it, but I understand it. In California, the legislature is trying all sorts of things. The leading candidate for passage is a bill that will ban cellphone use in vehicles by teens. However, this proposal is just ridiculous:

Sen. Kevin Murray, D-Culver City, head of the Senate transportation committee, has introduced a broader bill, SB 1800, imposing an extra traffic fine for drivers who were engaging in any of various distracting activities while driving unsafely.

Those activities include: Using a cell phone or personal electronic device, adjusting the radio or CD changer, smoking, eating, drinking, interacting with passengers, such as children or animals, reading, writing, or doing grooming, such as combing hair or applying makeup.

Under the bill's wording, police are not allowed to stop a car simply to determine "whether a driver is engaging in a distracting activity."

Will government ever learn that it cannot pass a law for everything? Just the fact that they are even debating this is a waste of the taxpayers' resources in the Golden State. If they want to earn their salaries, why don't they actually repeal some stupid laws and regulations? Idiots.

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.: posted by Dave 4:07 PM


The SAT has added a written essay section to the exam. This section will be worth 800 points, making the cumulative perfect score 2400. While I agree that more attention needs to be given to writing skills, I'm not sure I like it being part of the standardized exam. The other sections of the exam are well-defined, and have only one "best answer". An essay is highly subjective. The essays will ostensibly be graded by two "moonlighting or retired teachers", which gives some credibility to the process. But, again, it's subjective. Will they be analyzing content, diction, vocabulary, style? What is the criteria for assessing writing skill on the new SAT? Moreover, many schools require a written essay anyway. Is it necessary to incorporate it into a standardized test, too? Call me cynical, but this seems like a way for the College Board, Kaplan, etc. to benefit financially. After all, longer tests mean higher fees, not to mention jobs for the graders, and any tutors that will be in demand.

The new version will add about 30 minutes to the current three-hour test and will boost the fee, which is now about $28, by $10 to $12.

Yep. More fees.

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.: posted by Dave 2:14 PM


In Enfield, the town government and certain other interested individuals are trying to decide what to do with local EMS services. This seems like a fairly straightforward proposition to me, really. Just meet publicly, outline intentions, vote, and move forward... at least this is how I envision local government. Apparently, some officials have a problem with the publicly part:

The man who is leading a group to craft a plan for EMS service insists that he will do whatever he can to keep the public out of the group's meetings.

"At this point, having the press and the public involved is going to be counterproductive to the process," said Enfield Fire District Chief Edward Richards Thursday. "There will be no open dialogue if you guys are there, so what will happen is we'll take steps to make sure it's not a public meeting.

"We will make it so that it won't be a public meeting based on who attends, if that's what it takes, because the process is jeopardized," Richards said.

So why is this such a problem? These are elected officials, right? They represent the public, and there are "sunshine" laws in place, as well as the Freedom of Information Act. So, there is precedent in publcizing meetings such as these.

Well, here's the rationale for secrecy:

Richards - who commissioners say heads the working group but doesn't always attend its meetings because of teaching conflicts - pointed to the recent EMS commission as a public body that got bogged down by the public.

The commission "just spun their wheels for a year and a half and chased their tails around the place because they wouldn't be frank with one another," Richards said, blaming public participation for the lack of honesty.

"All [the press] would be is a detriment to the process," he said. "That's the name of the tune. There's a time and a place for opening things up to public scrutiny, and we aren't there yet."

We aren't there yet? As far as I am concerned, ANY use of my tax dollars mandates that I be allowed to view the proceedings. No one is asking for participation, but I am certainly entitled to know what is being planned. As to the issue of frankness, that is disingenuity of the elected officials, and, thus, no one's fault but their own. The public wants people in office who will be forthright, and truthful. (Or are these people not listening to the public outcry regarding Governor Rowland's dealings?)

It's pretty simple. Be truthful, be open, and proceed.

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.: posted by Dave 1:58 PM


After two+ days offline, due to a complete home computer upgrade, I am finally back. The PCMCIA slot on my laptop went kaput, so I decided to make a server out of the old laptop, and buy a new one. I settled on a Dell Inspiron 1100, 2.4 GHz, with 512 MB RAM, which only cost me slightly above $900. I refuse to pay over a grand for a computer these days. Call me cheap. Anyway, I didn't like the bloatware that came preinstalled, so I installed XP on the main partition, and 2000 Professional on the second one. I have a third partition for all data, and a fourth one that will house Linux, probably Mandrake 9.2. I still have to reinstall all of my development tools, so this upgrade is going to be long and arduous. In the meantime, I guess I will blog later tonight, after I finish some Sunday housecleaning, and assembling my son's crib. Anyhow, it's good to be back, and with some added computing "uumph".

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.: posted by Dave 11:56 AM


Friday, March 05, 2004

I've decided that "team" meetings are largely useless and boring. Why? Because one or two dilweeds think they know more than everyone else. That is the beauty of mobile blogging... I don't need to pay attention.

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.: posted by Dave 10:00 AM


Thursday, March 04, 2004

McDonald's Corp., battered by criticism of its fatty foods, said it would eliminate Supersize french fries and soft drinks by the end of the year, part of a swing toward pleasing health-minded customers and simplifying its menu.

McDonald's Supersize option, which includes a 7-ounce carton of fries and 42-ounce fountain soda, has been targeted by critics as contributing to a growing obesity crisis in the United States where more than half the population is considered overweight or obese.

Of course, we all know it was McDonald's fault that the public demanded larger portions of fries and soda, and they responded to market conditions by giving the public what they wanted. We also should know that McDonald's is also at fault for providing us the larger portions. Don't blame me for eating it. Blame them for providing it.

That sound you hear is personal responsibility being flushed down the toilet.

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.: posted by Dave 12:19 PM


Proud to live in Connecticut...

MIDDLETOWN, Connecticut (AP) -- A woman charged with causing a fatal car crash in 1999 says that she couldn't have been behind the wheel because she was performing a sex act on the driver at the time.

Heather Specyalski, 33, was charged with second-degree manslaughter in the crash that killed businessman Neil Esposito. Prosecutors allege that she was driving Esposito's Mercedes-Benz convertible when it veered off the road and hit several trees.

But Specyalski claims that Esposito was driving, and she was performing oral sex on him at the time, said her attorney, Jeremiah Donovan. He noted that Esposito's pants were down when he was thrown from the car.


No commentary necessary.

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.: posted by Dave 12:13 PM


When tax revenues are thin, be sure to send the entire town council to Washington on a junket:

The Enfield town council will be in Washington starting this weekend for an opportunity to meet municipal leaders from around the country and sit down with the state's federal legislators.

Nine of the council's 11 members will attend the five-day conference, presented annually by the National League of Cities.

The council members are invited to take courses on municipal management as well as sit in on panel discussions with political personalities.

I suppose my tax dollars are paying for this.

Travel and lodging are covered by the town, and councilors typically pay for their meals, Tallarita said.

Yep.

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.: posted by Dave 11:36 AM


Choice and Tyranny of the Majority:

Choice should be the focus of every individual in America (religion, school, property, social security, etc.) There is a clear disconnect by the two political parties from the public as a whole, in that the parties have chosen specific issues which they deem worthy of allowing "choice" to individuals, yet they hypocritically violate the same ideals when the choice does not suit them.

An individual should not live in fear that a "group" will make choices for them. This means that, as an individual, I should not fear a town council raising the mill rate by 10% in the name of socializing school-age children. Similarly, I should not fear that a government might outlaw my choice to be in a same sex relationship, if I so choose. This axiom should apply to all forms of choice.

Now comes the Connecticut State Supreme Court ruling that has extended the law of eminent domain to private development. Thus, if a developer can convince a town that its proposal will increase the tax base, and/or employment in the town, any property that is needed for such a venture can be seized. This is a clear violation of the principal of individuality. No government, be they local, state, or federal, should have the right to decide what I do with my own land, as long as the use in question does not violate the rights of others.

Confiscating property in order to increase the local tax base might be good for the town coffers, but it is a violation of individual rights.
This philosophy is yet another illustration of the trend toward group identity rather than individual identity, creating a perceived dependence on government (read: "we know what is better for our constituents than they do"). Ironically, it is easy for groups of individuals to ignore this confiscatory practice until it happens to one of them. Slowly, individual rights to choose how to live their own lives are eroding in this country.

It would behoove every American citizen to support all rights to individuality, even if they do not support the choice. In other words, you may abhor gay marriage or abortion. You may find public displays of religion, or questionable art offensive. Aside from forcing federal funding of such things (which is a clear violation of principles of choice, in that there is no mechanism for dictating how one's tax dollars are allocated), the prudent thing to do is to respect the individual right of others to make substantive decisions for themselves. This should include, among other things, private property rights and land use. Once an individual's sovereignty over their property is taken away, the slippery slope toward tyrannical rule cannot be far behind.

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.: posted by Dave 11:33 AM


Killington, Vermont, the swanky ski resort town, wants to secede, and join the Granite State. Talk about this has been going on for weeks but it's just now getting national exposure.

Why the desire to secede?

  • Vermont - sales tax, income tax, property tax.

  • New Hampshire - no sales tax, no property tax, more equitable property tax.


    • Do they really need any more reason than that?

    Even though the measure passed in the town, it still requires action by both Vermont and New Hampshire. It is doubtful that Vermont would allow millions of resort town tax dollars to flow out of their coffers and into a neighboring state. But, it's a nice idea.

    UPDATE: I'm not sure about precedence in other areas of the country, but apparently, town secession has happened before in New England. In fact, Enfield and Suffield, Connecticut (where I live) in 1674 and 1680 were considered Massachusetts until they seceded in 1750 to join Connecticut.

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    .: posted by Dave 11:13 AM


    Tuesday, March 02, 2004

    Regression in education:

    UConn is recruiting the "top" students for its university. They are offering discounted tuition and scholarship money to valedictiorian and salutatorian graduates of Connecticut high schools.

    In and of itself, there is nothing to criticize about the plan. However, I parenthesize "top" for this reason:

    For Connecticut students, the Presidential Scholars Award will translate to a $2,800 reduction in tuition. The award is renewable every year for those who keep a 2.5 grade point average.

    Say what? A 2.5 is what you expect from your "top" students? When I was in undergrad (not THAT long ago), a 3.25 was expected, and even then, you weren't guaranteed scholarship renewal. Granted, this was in Tennessee, where expectations of student performance is apparently higher than that of the Nutmeg State. If this is all that we can expect from our best students, we're in trouble as a society.

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    .: posted by Dave 11:13 AM


    The Metro North railway is getting some new rail cars, if a $60 million proposal passes the Connecticut legislature. It will be funded from $25 million in bond sales, and another $35 million set aside by the state Transportation Strategy Board.

    The refurbishing is long needed, to which anyone who rides the MN Rail can attest. However, I'm still not sold on the idea of using tax revenue and public debt to finance this venture.

    Here's what really irks me:

    (Governor Rowland's) proposal to increase rail fares by 5.5 percent has angered many rail passengers, especially coming at the same time that service worsened, said Jim Cameron, vice chairman of the Metro-North/Shore Line East Rail Commuter Council.

    "Commuters are angry. They're being overcharged, getting lousy service and starting to abandon the trains and take back to the roads, worsening an already horrible situation on our highways," he said.

    I will agree that the greater good is served by using the railway as an alternative to navigating the I-95 corridor. However, I have no sympathy for commuters who whine about the cost of using a transit system, while assuming that taxpayers should foot the bill. Is the service lousy? Sometimes. It has good days, and bad ones. Are people being overcharged? That's a matter of opinion. But the fact remains that someone has to pay for the costs, and expecting commuters in other parts of the state who don't use the commuter rail to pay for the refinements is wrong.

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    .: posted by Dave 11:06 AM


    Monday, March 01, 2004

    Acronym Alert:

    Well, it looks like no posting tonight. My PCMCIA slot went FUBAR. I'm going to have to switch over to a USB WiFi NIC. But, tonight. I remain MIA.

    In Geekspeak, that is to say BBL.

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    .: posted by Dave 8:54 PM


    Techie Alert, Evolution of the Circumvention of Bureaucracy:

    One of the things that infuriates me about my employer is that I cannot use a .forward file to send my mail to my POP3 box. I can't always dial into the network, so an autoforward is a nice, elegant solution to my business problem.

    Outlook has the ability to forward email using rules. However, rules that run on the client side do not perform as intended. No matter how many permutations of a "forwarded email" rule I have tried, they have failed.

    So, enter the Outlook object model. I decided to write a routine that will check the MAPI folder and forward the email to whichever address is given in the Recipients.Add method. Below is the code:

    Private Sub Application_NewMail()
    Dim objItem As MailItem
    Dim objMailItem As MailItem
    Dim EmailAddress As String
    Dim Subject As String
    Dim Body As String

    Set objItem = Application.GetNamespace("MAPI").GetDefaultFolder(olFolderInbox).Items(1)

    Subject = objItem.Subject & " From: " & objItem.SenderName
    Body = objItem.Body

    Set objMailItem = Application.CreateItem(olMailItem)

    With objMailItem
    .Subject = Subject
    .Body = Body
    .Recipients.Add "email@server.com"
    .Send
    End With

    Set objMailItem = Nothing
    End Sub

    It worked well, except for one thing. Read receipts. Anytime I received a Read receipt, the program crashed. Error 13. Type mismatch.

    What to do...?

    Check Outlook object model again. Nothing about identifying message types. Managed to find the MessageClass object, but nothing in the documentation about how to explicitly identify message types. (Stupid documentation!)

    Proceed to plan B. Ask everyone you know. Nothing.

    Plan C? Well, maybe there's something in the Exchange documentation. Indeed there is. It turns out that "REPORT.IPM.NOTE.IPNNRN" and "REPORT.IPM.NOTE.IPNRN" identify the two different types of Read receipts in MAPI. So I added a single If - Then statement after the Set object statement:

    If UCase(objItem.MessageClass) = "REPORT.IPM.NOTE.IPNNRN" Or _
    UCase(objItem.MessageClass) = "REPORT.IPM.NOTE.IPNRN" Then
    Exit Sub
    End If

    Eureka. Now email is automatically forwarded to me.

    The moral to this story?

    1. Bureaucracy sucks.
    2. MS documentation (aside from .NET) sucks.

    Life as an IT pro. Take it, or leave it.

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    .: posted by Dave 2:53 PM


    I just received my BloggerCon invitation. Adam Curry is among the participants this year. It will be interesting to hear about his stint in Iraq with the troops. I plan to go, if possible, and do some real time mobile blogging. April 17th is just around the corner. From what I recall, the Bay area is beautiful in the spring.

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    .: posted by Dave 11:25 AM


    What a Joke:

    That's all I can say about my company's IT infrastructure. If you want to run robust applications, you have to make the investment in updated equipment. For goodness' sake, they are relying on outdated servers and desktop systems to run SAP. Do you have any idea how memory and bandwidth intensive SAP apps are? Well, if you said "no", then you would be a prime candidate for our IT decision-making group.

    Here is the spec for our company-wide laptops:

  • INTEL Mobile Pentium III 650 MHz chip
  • 128 MegaBytes (MB) of EDO Random Access Memory (RAM)
  • A 14.1-inch extended graphics array (XGA), thin film transistor (TFT) 1024 x 768 active-matrix
    Color Display Screen.
  • A 12 Gigabyte (GB) Hard Drive


    • There are other items not worth nothing. My complaint is this: how can a high tech company justify saddling their users with these inferior laptops? Now, let me say that any user that is simply interested in email and word processing is going to be just fine with a PIII 650, but your app development group? Your SAP administrators? Your tech support people? This machine wouldn't last 3 days in my graduate classes, let alone in the "real world".

    Sadly, some CFO out there has convinced some CIO that it is perfectly okay to give out several thousand laptops of this genre to end users. "Adhere to the bottom line." That mantra is getting old.

    And one other thing. The company goal for the next five years in IT - to reach CMM Level 5. For those who may not be familiar with CMM, it is the IT equivalent of 6-Sigma, or ISO for manufacturing. I've only heard of one company ever attaining CMM Level 5, and I doubt they stayed there long. Call this the "No Child Left Behind" act for IT professionals. CMM 5 is not a relaistic goal, especially for these "gurus".

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    .: posted by Dave 11:23 AM


    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.

    Labels:

    .: 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


    Tuesday, February 24, 2004

    Microsoft collaborating with Sendmail?

    Sendmail will incorporate a "selection of sender authentication technologies" into its open source Mail Transfer Agent, including a technology called DomainKeys that is championed by Yahoo and "proposals put forward by Microsoft and others," Sendmail said. A Microsoft spokesman confirmed reports that the company will be releasing a sender authentication plug-in along with Sendmail.

    Wouldn't it be nice if Yahoo, Microsoft, and others were to collaborate and come up with one solution for sender authentication? Well it doesn't appear that is going to happen anytime soon, but at least sendmail will be implementing the majority of them. The question remains, will Microsoft implement any sender authentication technology besides their own?

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    .: posted by Mark 11:36 AM


    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