It’s (past) time for this week’s This-or-That:
Same Song, Different Words
It’s (past) time for this week’s This-or-That:…
Inconceivable
At times, the way that the legal system deals with custody cases absolutely blows my mind. Since Christmas time, 2001, [Debra] Schmidt has been sitting in a California jail because…
At times, the way that the legal system deals with custody cases absolutely blows my mind.
Since Christmas time, 2001, [Debra] Schmidt has been sitting in a California jail because she refuses to disclose the location of her two daughters, aged 7 and 9 at the time. She is protecting them from their father, Manuel Saavedra, who is a registered sex offender, an illegal alien who has been ordered deported, and an alcoholic. According to a press-release by Stephanie Dallam, research associate for The Leadership Council, the conviction came in the seven-year custody battle “after the judge refused to allow the jury to hear about Saavedra’s sex offense, his status as a registered sex offender, allegations of domestic abuse, or testimony by another ex-wife.”
And why should they? After all, one of the prosecutors in this multi-jurisdictional case thinks the gent is a swell guy.
Alameda County prosecutor Robert Hutchens, Jr., who believes Saavedra should have custody of the children, stated that “[t]hey keep throwing up this ‘he’s a registered sex offender thing’ … well, that’s going to end come August [2002] [Saavedra is eligible for a certificate of rehabilitation 10 years after his conviction, which would mean he no longer has to register as a sex offender. The decision is up to a court]. He’s led an honorable life from 1992 to present. I’ve met him many times. He’s got a steady job. He’s paid the price. He’s done what was asked. He deserves his certificate of rehabilitation. [The children’s placement] is up to the court, but I think he would be a very good father and he would be very caring to these kids, and I don’t see anything that would put these kids at risk. He’s living with a girlfriend who has a daughter who is 10 years old living in the house, and he’s been seeing [the girlfriend] for about five or six years. There’s nothing to indicate that he would ever do this again.”
Well, nothing except that new molestation charges have been filed against him.
(via Gamer’s Nook)
Down the Tubes
I can’t particularly say that this fills me with much confidence. The repair to the northbound Victoria Line at Victoria has been carried out by bolting a length of hardwood…
I can’t particularly say that this fills me with much confidence.
The repair to the northbound Victoria Line at Victoria has been carried out by bolting a length of hardwood into a section of conductor rail – which is already welded in several places. The upper surface of the wood is not flush with the top of the rail, which has been either crudely ground down in an attempt to achieve a match, or has simply been worn down by train wheels.
The hardwood “rail” is supported by an ill-fitting cross-timber laid across the “suicide” pit between the tracks. This is wedged in place – at one end with a wooden wedge but at the other with a half brick which is steadily crumbling away.
Have I mentioned we’re staying near Victoria Stn. whilst in London?
Status quo
I didn’t catch the State of the Union speech last night. I was watching Katherine while Margie was at a business dinner, and we got into watching DVDs (Jungle Book,…
I didn’t catch the State of the Union speech last night. I was watching Katherine while Margie was at a business dinner, and we got into watching DVDs (Jungle Book, then most of Monsters Inc.), and then when she went up to bed, I tossed in the FotR disc without even thinking. Didn’t even think of it until after Margie was home and Randy called and I heard them chatting about it.
Doesn’t sound, though, like I missed much, especially as I scan around the Net this morning. Folks who thought Iraq was the Greatest Menace Since the Nemesis Asteroid still think so. Folks who thought Iraq was a naked power grab for oil still think so. Folks who thought Iraq was an insufficiently justified aggression still think so. Folks whose special interests were mentioned by Bush were either enthused or skeptically pleased; those who weren’t are disappointed. Folks who thought the President’s tax cuts are a lunatic idea didn’t hear anything that made them think otherwise (except for more spending plans). Folks who thought homeland defense is a Horrible Threat still think so; folks who thought it’s horribly underfunded by the administration still think so, too.
The only thing that was in there that caused any surprise — be it skeptical or not — was Bush’s commitment to $15b over the next three years for AIDS relief in Africa. I doubt we’ll actually see it, and if we see it I doubt that most people involved will agree with how it’s spent, but it was the one unexpected left-field item I’ve heard mentioned several times.
All in all, it was going to be a no-win situation for Bush, anyway. The rallying cry went out last year, and continued rallying is unnecessary for the converted, not useful for the opposition. The only thing to do now is to either push forward with action on Iraq, reveal some intel that will sway some more people (though I’ve little doubt that there will always remain many who will discount anything they hear) and then take action, or back down. On the domestic front, Bush is stymied by an economy that he can only hurt further — it’s in a doldrums of its own making, and the more he diddles with the system (coughtaxcutcough), the more out of whack it’s likley to get. Which then only leaves intractable policy issues, like national health care, and intractable social issues, like abortion and race, to reduce his popularity with.
In some ways, after all the build-up to the SOTU speech, it sounds like it was something of a let-down. But, shot of waving a file folder and claiming that it had “the names of forty-seven card-carrying members of Al-Qa’eda who are working in the Iraqi government!” there wasn’t much else it could really be. It’s a difficult time, and the prospects for it getting less difficult save through further difficult times are not all that bright.
UPDATE: For what it’s worth, reactions I read about the Democratic response were either “lackluster and amateurish” or “professional and profound,” depending on the pre-existing perspective of the observer.
Principle
Because, remember: big media companies aren’t in favor of copyright because of power, or money. It’s because they’re taking a principled stand of behalf of creators. Which is why the…
Because, remember: big media companies aren’t in favor of copyright because of power, or money. It’s because they’re taking a principled stand of behalf of creators.
Which is why the Finnish music industry is trying to get all kindergartens in the country to pay a 20 Euro fee per year for all the copyrighted songs they sing.
Which is right alongside past efforts of ASCAP to try and get Girl Scout camps to pay royalties on the songs sung around the campfire.
After finishing off hot dogs and s’mores for lunch, the Elves — senior Scouts charged with helping younger campers — gather in a circle with directors to decide what they can sing.
“Is ‘Row Row Row Your Boat’ copyrighted?” asks Holly Foster, a 14-year-old Elf with a turquoise happy face on her cheek. “Row Row Row Your Boat” may float, the directors decide, but “Puff the Magic Dragon” definitely is out.
“How about ‘Ring Around the Rosie’?” another Elf asks. The directors veto it.
“We wanted to sing ‘Underwear,’ but it’s set to the tune of ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic,”‘ says Mrs. King, the co-director. “We’re not sure if that’s copyrighted; so, we don’t sing it.”
“When in doubt, don’t sing,” advises Site Director Leslie Shanders.
Even harder than figuring out which songs are which, directors say, is explaining it all to young Brownies. “They think copyright means the ‘mean people,’ ” says Debby Cwalina, a 14-year-old Elf. Mr. Holly explains it to them this way: “The people who wrote it have a thing on it. A little ‘c’ with circles around it. There’s an alarm on it. And if you sing it, BOOM!”
That explanation doesn’t always sink in. Alissa Fiset, age 8, crinkles her nose when asked why she can’t sing “Puff the Magic Dragon.” While squirting a friend with a water bottle, she says: “They did a rewrite on it. A copy thing. But why can’t they just take the ‘c’ away?”
Ascap, which is based in New York, defends the royalties. “Songwriters are small-business people who write songs to make a living,” Mr. Lo Frumento says. “The royalties allow them to send their kids to Girl Scout camp, too.”
Remember: it’s the principle of the thing.
(via BoingBoing)
Test
Nothing to see here. Nothing to see here at all. Move along….
Nothing to see here.
Nothing to see here at all.
Move along.
Testing, testing, testing …
For those folks who have been following along my efforts to do my new page design off over here, I’ve had to rip out some internal wiring (to accomodate that…
For those folks who have been following along my efforts to do my new page design off over here, I’ve had to rip out some internal wiring (to accomodate that IE5.x does not like <padding> statements in conjunction with certain ways of doing three-column CSS layouts), and am slowly putting things back together, by hook or by crook.
No big surprises here
A lot of folks consider viewing abstract and surrealist art to be torture. So it’s perhaps not a surprise that it’s actually been used as torture. During the Spanish Civil…
A lot of folks consider viewing abstract and surrealist art to be torture. So it’s perhaps not a surprise that it’s actually been used as torture.
During the Spanish Civil War, anarchists working with the Leftists against Franco built prison cells using abstract and surrealist artistic principles to disorient and break prisoners.
Beds were placed at a 20 degree angle, making them near-impossible to sleep on, and the floors of the 6ft by 3ft cells was scattered with bricks and other geometric blocks to prevent prisoners from walking backwards and forwards, according to the account of Laurencic’s trial.
The only option left to prisoners was staring at the walls, which were curved and covered with mind-altering patterns of cubes, squares, straight lines and spirals which utilised tricks of colour, perspective and scale to cause mental confusion and distress. Lighting effects gave the impression that the dizzying patterns on the wall were moving.
A stone bench was similarly designed to send a prisoner sliding to the floor when he or she sat down, Mr Milicua said. Some cells were painted with tar so that they would warm up in the sun and produce asphyxiating heat.
Disturbing indeed.
Colonel Hathi’s March
(From Disney’s The Jungle Book (1967), lyrics by Richard Sherman. This is one of Katherine’s favorite tunes) Hup-two-three-four Keep it up-two-three-four Hup-two-three-four Keep it up-two-three-four Company, sound off! Ho, the…
(From Disney’s The Jungle Book (1967), lyrics by Richard Sherman. This is one of Katherine’s favorite tunes)
Hup-two-three-four
Keep it up-two-three-four
Hup-two-three-four
Keep it up-two-three-four
Company, sound off!
Ho, the aim of our patrol
Is a question rather droll
For to march and drill
Over field and hill
Is a military goal!
Is a military goal!
Hup-two-three-four
Dress it up-two-three-four
Hup-two-three-four
Dress it up-two-three-four
By the ranks or single file
Over every jungle mile
Oh we stamp and crush
Through the underbrush
Hup-two-three-four
In a military style!
In a military style!
Hup-two-three-four
Keep it up-two-three-four …
Reprise
Hup-two-three-four
Keep it up-two-three-four
Hup-two-three-four
Keep it up-two-three-four
Company, sound off!
Oh, we march from here to there
And it doesn’t matter where
You can hear us push
Through the deepest bush
With a military air!
We’re a cracker-jack brigade
On a pachyderm parade
But we’d rather stroll to a water hole
Hup-two-three-four
For a furlough in the shade!
Greasy villain
In Luxembourg, they actually have a statue-carving competition, in conjunction with the Culinary World Cup. The medium to be used? Lard. This year’s winner? Gary Schofield and his rendition of…
In Luxembourg, they actually have a statue-carving competition, in conjunction with the Culinary World Cup. The medium to be used? Lard. This year’s winner? Gary Schofield and his rendition of Saruman the (Appropriately) White.
I’ve heard of being turned into a pillar of salt, but …
(via Andrea)
Education
Doyce has a fine post today on porn and kids — which, knowing what age Justin is hurtling into, is of more than academic interest to him and Jackie. Now,…
Doyce has a fine post today on porn and kids — which, knowing what age Justin is hurtling into, is of more than academic interest to him and Jackie.
Now, before I get a bunch of ‘you’re a repressive bastard’ emails, let me clarify:
There’s nothing inherently wrong with porn.
It is natural for fourteen-year olds to be insanely curious about and/or (inner parental shudder) exploring sex.
Parents: you do not get to combine these two sentences into “There’s nothing inherently wrong with a fourteen year old insanely curious about and/or exploring porn.” Porn is not sex, it is an artifical visual stimulant, useful in the way any sex toy is useful. Most adults get that, because they know what normal relationships are like, they see the difference, and use the toy accordingly, along with (or not) whatever else trips their trigger.
Well said.
Inmates running the asylum
Okay, enough folks were outraged by the election of Libya to head the UN Human Rights Commission. How about this show-stopper — this summer, guess who gets to be President…
Okay, enough folks were outraged by the election of Libya to head the UN Human Rights Commission. How about this show-stopper — this summer, guess who gets to be President of the UN Conference on Disarmament?
Why, none other than the country that should be an expert in the subject, Iraq.
The four week presidency runs through the 75 members in alphabetical order. It seems that Iraq’s turn comes up at the May 12-June 27 session, along with Iran.
Membership does not seem to have much to do with actual participation in any disarmament treaties.
Of course, nobody’s particularly worried about this at the moment, for two reasons.
First off, the Conference on Disarmament has not really accomplished much of anything since it was created in 1979.
Secondly, there seems to be a high likelihood (and a fair amount of irony) that the current Baghdad regime will not be the one that assumes the commission presidency by the time May rolls around …
(via Plum Crazy)
How dry I am
Hmmm. Not good. Colorado’s snowpack is only 75% of normal for this time of year. Which ordinarily would not be a huge deal, were it not for the serious drought…
Hmmm. Not good. Colorado’s snowpack is only 75% of normal for this time of year. Which ordinarily would not be a huge deal, were it not for the serious drought we’ve had the last two years.
It looks like a difficult year ahead. And that’s just for us suburbanites trying to keep a garden green. I don’t want to even think about the farmers.
Patch it! Just patch it! Whoo!
Micro$oft is more than happy to slam lax sysadmins who don’t keep their systems patched up-to-the-minute, and thus leave them vulnerable to things like the recent Slammer/Sapphire virus. “Just keep…
Micro$oft is more than happy to slam lax sysadmins who don’t keep their systems patched up-to-the-minute, and thus leave them vulnerable to things like the recent Slammer/Sapphire virus. “Just keep applying this endless set of security patches,” they say, “and all will be well, and all will be well.”
Which no doubt explains why Micro$oft’s own servers got hit so hard by the virus attack.
“All apps and services are potentially affected and performance is sporadic at best,” Mike Carlson, director of data center operations for Microsoft’s Information Technology Group, stated in an [internal] e-mail sent at 8:04 a.m. PST Saturday to other members of Microsoft’s operations groups. “The network is essentially flooded with traffic, making it difficult to gather details concerning the impact.”
That’s right — even M$’s own sysadmins weren’t up to date with all the patches on their own internal systems.
“This shows that the notion of patching doesn’t work,” said Bruce Schneier, chief technology officer for network protection firm Counterpane Internet Security. “Publicly, they are saying it’s not our fault, because you should have patched. But Microsoft’s own actions show that you can’t reasonably expect people to be able to keep up with patches.”
And is it just because all those sysadmins are lazy? No, they’re just worried that patches to fix some things will instead break others.
“Seems like every time I install a system patch, something else goes wrong with my system,” said Frank Beier, president of Web design firm Dynamic Webs. The designer said many system administrators won’t patch for many months, because they don’t trust Microsoft to fix the problem without breaking some other function of the software.
“In most cases, I’m better off just playing Russian roulette with the hackers until our servers are broken into,” he said.
(also via BoingBoing)
Words mean things
Even words that are chosen for no meaning whatsoever, such as the Lorem Ipsum phrase that typographers use for dummy layout text. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit….
Even words that are chosen for no meaning whatsoever, such as the Lorem Ipsum phrase that typographers use for dummy layout text.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Ut condimentum laoreet sem. Proin nisl libero, convallis nec, dignissim quis, tristique vitae, velit. Integer lacus ipsum, dapibus vitae, fermentum vitae, vestibulum eget, tortor. Nam id metus nec mauris consectetuer sollicitudin. Curabitur semper. Nunc in ipsum. Suspendisse cursus. Nulla facilisi. Phasellus sapien. Sed malesuada gravida magna.
The idea is that if you put in meaningful words, people will be distracted by the content, not the layout. On the other hand, you want text that looks like real words, so you can see how it works. So back in the 1500s, typographers started using the same standard text in printing out dummy pages on their newfangled movable type presses. The text that was used was the Lorem Ipsum (or Lipsum, as it is sometimes called).
What most people don’t realize is that it’s a real piece of Latin text. This page delves a bit into its history.
Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source. Lipsum comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of “de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum” (The Extremes of Good and Evil) by Cicero, written in 45 BC.
The page also has a Lipsum generator for doing your own dummy text.
(via BoingBoing, with apologies to Adam)
Because everyone wants to be like Max
Now you, too, can get your own Max Max-like badge. Cool. (Quick, before you peek at the page: what did it say on the badges?)…
Now you, too, can get your own Max Max-like badge. Cool.
(Quick, before you peek at the page: what did it say on the badges?)
An alternative suggestion
Given all the things that folks argue should be gotten rid of, suppressed, censored, kept out of private hands, etc., because of the danger of mayhem ensuing, you’d think that…
Given all the things that folks argue should be gotten rid of, suppressed, censored, kept out of private hands, etc., because of the danger of mayhem ensuing, you’d think that someone would suggest we should ban the Super Bowl, the Stanley Cup, and other sports championships, given the inevitable yahoo behavior that ensues.
By contrast, crowds in Oakland set cars ablaze and threw rocks and bottles at passing vehicles after the Raiders’ loss. Police fired tear gas and moved in large waves to disperse crowds.
Guys … it’s a frickin’ game, played by folks that make a hell of a lot more money, even as losers, than I’ll make this year. Let’s keep a little, I don’t know, perspective here.
UPDATE: More info here.
Clearing the air
As the NTSB begins its probe into the causes of the mid-air small plane collision that occured over Denver last week, all the local pols are getting in on the…
As the NTSB begins its probe into the causes of the mid-air small plane collision that occured over Denver last week, all the local pols are getting in on the act.
“What the mayor’s trying to get to the bottom of is what are things that can be done to give a level of confidence that this is very unlikely to happen in the future,” [Mayor’s spokesperson] Hudson said.
Let’s see, it’s happened twice in the past three decades — that sounds like it’s pretty unlikely to happen again, say, tomorrow.
Not to downplay is all or anything, but surely there are more immediate (if less publicity-generating) public safety concerns that Mayor Webb should be giving his attention to.
Breach load II
To quote from that pesky UN Resolution again (emphasis mine): 3. Decides that, in order to begin to comply with its disarmament obligations, in addition to submitting the required biannual…
To quote from that pesky UN Resolution again (emphasis mine):
3. Decides that, in order to begin to comply with its disarmament obligations, in addition to submitting the required biannual declarations, the Government of Iraq shall provide to UNMOVIC, the IAEA, and the Council, not later than 30 days from the date of this resolution, a currently accurate, full, and complete declaration of all aspects of its programmes to develop chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, and other delivery systems such as unmanned aerial vehicles and dispersal systems designed for use on aircraft, including any holdings and precise locations of such weapons, components, subcomponents, stocks of agents, and related material and equipment, the locations and work of its research, development and production facilities, as well as all other chemical, biological, and nuclear programmes, including any which it claims are for purposes not related to weapon production or material;
4. Decides that false statements or omissions in the declarations submitted by Iraq pursuant to this resolution and failure by Iraq at any time to comply with, and cooperate fully in the implementation of, this resolution shall constitute a further material breach of Iraq’s obligations and will be reported to the Council for assessment in accordance with paragraphs 11 and 12 below;
Now look at this description of the report that Hans Blix provided to the UNSC this morning:
Baghdad has yet to demonstrate a “genuine acceptance” of the need to disarm itself … Iraq has yet to answer major questions about its arms programs … putting conditions on guaranteeing the safety of overflights … failing to account for supplies of anthrax … failed to account for 6,500 chemical warfare bombs … Iraq’s 12,000 page arms declaration submitted last month contained little more than old material … failed to account for some 6,000 chemical rockets … Iraq needs to make more effort to show that its declaration is currently accurate … inspectors have also discovered a mustard gas precursor … Iraqis have not sufficiently answered questions … Iraq had failed to produce “convincing evidence” that it unilaterally destroyed its anthrax stockpiles … indications that Iraq could have had larger quantities than it reported …
Haven’t we heard all of this before?
UPDATE: A transcript of the Blix report is here.
The case
An article and a lengthy essay on the case for war with Iraq. Both are well worth reading. (via InstaPundit)…
An article and a lengthy essay on the case for war with Iraq. Both are well worth reading.
(via InstaPundit)