One Trip

Is this how it ends?

2008-12-29T08:20:00.001-06:00

What could happen if the cosmos throws a rock at us...

2008 In Pictures

2008-12-26T15:11:00.001-06:00

Amazing pictures hosted at boston.com

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

A minor outrage

2008-12-08T11:35:00.003-06:00

Tip to Ross Douthat at The Atlantic for this story highlighting changes over time to the Oxford Junior Dictionary.

Usually, I feel progressive but this is one of those times that I feel downright reactionary. OK, so they have a limited number of pages (and therefore words) and need to make some choices about what to include. Fine.

But it's a sad day indeed when words like 'newt' and 'clover' are put to pasture in order to make way for 'voicemail' and 'committee.'

'MP3 player' had best not get too comfortable. They've already removed 'diesel' (diesel!) which has carried its meaning for less than 120 years.

Sigh...

Original Telegraph article here.

Fall to earth

2008-11-24T13:22:00.002-06:00

This is my favorite footage of the meteor that landed in western Canada:

I can hardly imagine the fear and wonder in seeing something like that in person.

Did they find the impact zone yet?

Shaken, not stirred

2008-11-14T14:43:00.005-06:00

A couple weeks ago at work, someone asked, "Who was the best suited for playing the James Bond?"

a. Roger Moore
b. George Lazenby
c. Sean Connery
d. Timothy Dalton
e. Pierce Brosnan
f. Daniel Craig

An interesting and important question! If you need someone to accomplish a diversity of tasks including (but not limited to):

Killing people

Driving at unsafe speeds

Winning a hand of bacarrat with the fate of the free world at stake

Making women’s hearts flutter simply by appearing on a beach wearing small swim trunks

Irritating M

Defusing a doomsday device under severe time constraints

Looking cool while smoking even AFTER everyone knows it’s bad for you

Defeating, befriending, or otherwise thwarting dangerous animals, e.g., tarantulas, Bengal tigers, black mambas, Doberman pinchers, poisonous jellyfish, etc…

Sweet talking a secretary

Distinguishing the age and rough percentages of malt vs. grain (if blended) from the aroma and mouth feel of 4 oz of Scotch

Bedding a femme fatale

Perform feats of jaw-dropping athleticism (normally only associated with Olympic decathletes and Cirque du Soleil acrobats) while wearing a tuxedo

Then I place my trust in Daniel Craig. Notice that each contender has their own strengths.

Sean Connery would be best at high-stakes bacarrat but would get winded running around the block.

Roger Moore could handle the dangerous animals without breaking a sweat, but nobody wants to see him on a beach.

Pierce Brosnan could get any secretary to show him the “secret files”, but would have trouble overpowering a Per Mar security guard at Kinnick Stadium much less killing anybody.

If you need to defuse a doomsday device, then you want… Well, actually, you want MacGyver in that case, but the point is that Daniel Craig can credibly handle the full range of secret agent duties in a way that the others cannot.

I’ll have to disqualify Dalton and Lazenby just because they never fully settled into the role.

Oddly, I’d have to say that my “favorite” James Bond was Roger Moore. He played the role with an effective sense of humor but, most crucially, he was in the role during the era where the movies were most meaningful to me. He wasn’t the best James Bond, but he was MY James Bond.

Roger Moore made the news recently when he expressed his displeasure with the amount of violence in more recent Bond films. He's got a point. I always thought what made Bond Bond was the cheeky humor that went along with the madcap stunts and action.

So I'll adjust my opinion just slightly and say that Daniel Craig has the ready potential to be the greatest Bond ever. Let's just give him the chance to play for some laughs in amongst all the butt kicking.

Change you can SEE

2008-11-13T14:59:00.005-06:00

I recall my Mom, fairly early in the primary campaigns, saying that she hoped Obama would be president for the sheer juxtoposition of "Barack Hussein Obama" with the WASPy blueblood names of Presidents past.

Along the same lines... (Click for a larger image.)

This was taken from http://www.patrickmoberg.com/ .

Rahmbo

2008-11-07T11:17:00.002-06:00

Here are links to a couple articles about Obama's new Chief-of-Staff Rahm Emanuel from Newsweek and Rolling Stone.

There are many stories about Rahm and many of them are even true. Here's one from Politico that I hadn't heard before. From the time of the Lewinsky scandal in the Clinton White House:

"You got it backwards," Emanuel, who is Jewish, reportedly told Clinton at the time. "You messed around with a Jewish girl, and now you're paying a goyish lawyer. You should have messed around with a goyishe girl, and gotten a Jewish lawyer."

And it seems this pick flies in the face of the Obama-is-a-Muslim-Manchurian-Candidate rumours since Emanuel is allegedly a member of the Mossad.

The incoming President's middle name = Hussein.

The incoming Chief-of-Staff's middle name = Israel.

Only in America?

President Obama?

2008-11-04T21:06:00.002-06:00

Could the epic '08 campaign finally be nearing the end?

Maybe 20 minutes ago, Olberman pointed out that California, Hawaii, and Washington would give Obama the presidency. (This was before Iowa was called for Obama.)

So McCain could win ALL other states and still lose. With Iowa to Obama, McCain could win everything left but California and Washington and still lose.

If You Can't Beat 'Em, Claim Credit

2008-11-04T21:03:00.002-06:00

From Ta-Neishi Coates' live-blogging of the election:

9:51 ... I'm listening to Karl Rove and Chris Wallace claim that Obama "moved to the center" and didn't campaign as a liberal. Last week he was a socialist. Now he's Reagan.

Electoral College Watching

2008-11-04T08:30:00.003-06:00

FiveThirtyEight.com ran 10,000 simulations of today's general election.

According to the simulation, McCain won 624 times which would equate to a 93.76% liklihood of an Obama win.

But here's the significance for watching the election returns tonight:

Also, there are some states that truly do appear to be "must-wins" for McCain. In each and every one of the 624 victory scenarios that the simulation found for him this afternoon, McCain won Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Indiana and Montana. He also picked up Ohio in 621 out of the 624 simulations, and North Carolina in 622 out of 624. If McCain drops any of those states, it's pretty much over.

Watch those 7 states.

What's in the records?

2008-11-03T14:25:00.004-06:00

If Atlantic blogger Andrew Sullivan seemed out-of-line with his repeated questions about Palin's pregnancy, he seems a little less so given the final chapters in the saga of the non-release of the Palin medical records.

To be clear, absence of evidence is not the same as evidence of (insert shocking medical condition here). But why would her staff earlier indicate that the records or, at least, a summary thereof would be released only to then NOT release anything?

Shouldn't she at least come out and say, "I will not release any medical records because I believe it's an invasion of privacy." (or whatever) ? But...

No press conference. No medical records. No modern precedent.

It's a Palin epidemic, it's a Palin disease

2008-11-03T12:55:00.003-06:00

Eva Anderson, University of Northern Iowa sophomore and erstwhile Palin impersonator, is now out with a rap video which is good kitchy fun.

Chinese Restaurants: A Naming Paradigm

2008-11-03T10:50:00.005-06:00

How about an interlude from whining/venting about politics and the election season?

Observation: There seems to be a dominant naming paradigm for Chinese restaurants. The pattern is as follows:

[Peking | China | Hunan | Szechuan] + [House | Star | Buffet | Village]

Sixteen Google searches provide the following number of results.

	Peking	China	Hunan	Szechuan	Totals:
House	379,000	36,300,000	199,000	838,000	37,716,000
Star	5,700,000	22,100,000	850,000	365,000	29,015,000
Village	2,080,000	5,980,000	118,000	410,000	8,588,000
Buffet	804,000	864,000	681,000	554,000	2,903,000
Totals:	8,963,000	65,244,000	1,848,000	2,167,000	78,222,000

Note: current searches may return different results. I ran these ~ 6 weeks ago.

Conclusion: There are many 'China' restaurants, there are many 'House' restaurants and, appropriately, China House is the most popular name. Arguably, 'Beijing' and 'Shanghai' could be added as columns. But I was concerned that the number of results referring to the Shanghai Star newspaper was skewing the results. Similarly, Beijing Village seemed to refer predominantly to Olympics related locations.

Anecdotally, I can report that there is a China Star in downtown Iowa City and a Szechuan Village in Coralville. The first Chinese restaurant I can remember visiting was the Shangri-La in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. My favorite Chinese restaurant is the legendary House of Nanking in San Francisco.

In Cedar Rapids, we tend to patronize the non-compliant, prosaic & pedestrian sounding Egg Roll House. And the closest Chinese restaurant to our house is the also non-compliant Ting's Red Lantern. This name, at least, is evocative and I appreciate the opportunity to make the periodic...

You can get any Ting you want.

...joke. And that reminds me. I want to hear similar jokes in other languages making fun of native English speaking pronounciation and/or close sounding words. But how to approach that?

Me: (speaking to native Mandarin speaker): You know how we make fun of foriegners speaking English?

Mandarin speaker: Ah...

Me: Yes, we exaggerate common mis-pronounciations like "Any ting you wah".

Mandarin speaker: Ah...

Me: Can you make fun of me?

Mandarin speaker: Ah...

I think this is a variation of the "lost in translation" trap where the joke would have to be explained at such depth so as to ruin the effect.

Implausible Deniability

2008-10-31T13:10:00.003-05:00

Monday, October 27, 2008 Alaska Senator Ted Stevens was found guilty on 7 felony counts.

Thursday, October 30, 2008 at a debate with his Democratic opponent for his Senate seat, Stevens proclaimed:

I have not been convicted of anything.

Umm...

Two Realities

2008-10-31T10:31:00.005-05:00

Look at the highlighted links from Real Clear Politics this morning.

Here's a stark example of The Big Sort if there ever was one.

The CBS article outlines an ELEVEN point lead for Obama whereas the Fox News story reports a THREE point margin for Obama.

Something is screwy here. Is an 8 point discrepancy in any way reasonable, i.e., different methodologies, sample sizes, etc...?

P.S. I can't believe I just provided a link to Fox News.

Houdini Hound

2008-10-27T09:08:00.001-05:00

Ran into this (less than 2 mins) on The Daily Dish:

Graphic Designers for Obama

2008-10-22T09:36:00.003-05:00

This post has some cool posters and links to other Obama and Progressive related design materials.

Of particular seasonal note are the pumpkins at yeswecarve.com (seriously).

Moscow on the Iowa

2008-10-21T14:26:00.003-05:00

Ah, Iowa City...

A place where cab drivers have Philosophy degrees and homicidal arguments erupt over games of chess!?

Wait a sec...

2008-10-21T09:54:00.004-05:00

Isn't this the white flag of surrender that McCain and Palin have been hysterical about?

Firm deadline for withdrawal

NOT conditions based

So... In this weird alternate-reality, McCain is fighting not only Obama but also President Bush, Secretary Gates, and Secretary Rice.

Did the Bush Administration make a 180 degree turn on this while nobody was watching? I thought they always touted the "withdrawal must be based on conditions on the ground" position?

Interestingly, the Iraqi Parliament may stand with McCain in opposition to the agreement but, in their case, it's presumably because they want a more rapid withdrawal?

Thank You

2008-10-20T11:58:00.005-05:00

A heartfelt thank you to Colin Powell for his push back on the smear tactics deployed against Obama in the current campaign cycle.

He straightforwardly eviscerates the "Obama is Socialist" meme from the McCain campaign by calmly pointing out that all taxes are a "redistribution of money" and are "necessary for the common good." Frankly, I wish Obama would defend himself in this manner.

I was also touched by Powell's reference to U.S. Army Corporal Kareem R. Khan which I would hope provides a frame of reference to shame (On this point, I give up on reason.) purveyors of anti-Muslim sentiment and attempts to link Obama with the Muslim faith.

The photo essay from the New Yorker that Powell references is viewable here. The picture of Khan's mother at his grave site is number 16.

Additional Khan links here and here.

Last week, Campbell Brown also had the guts to confront the "Muslim as slur" mentality.

Moving Billboards

2008-10-17T08:19:00.005-05:00

I saw this bumper sticker in "the wild" this morning. It was on an older Honda Civic that was turning onto I-380 South from Blairs Ferry in Cedar Rapids.

I soon passed the car and saw the driver was a middle aged man with a pet carrier in the back seat.

Meanwhile, I'm now sporting one of these on my car...

Less than 3 weeks to the election!

The death knell?

2008-10-10T15:21:00.003-05:00

As if the polls and complete lack of a coherent message weren't rough enough, McCain has received a vote of confidence from President Bush!

That's harsh man.

Earlier today, Bush addressed the American public in an effort to reassure the public about the current financial crisis. The Dow dropped over 100 points during his nine minute talk.

The Day Money Disappeared

2008-10-10T09:50:00.003-05:00

A fraternity brother of mine writes a blog that puts the deep in "deep thinking" in the arena of finance and economics.

A post from yesterday points to specific challenges as an estimated $400 billion of credit default swaps are "cleared" through the financial systems.

Ominously, he uses the infamous Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse in November 1940 as an example of the potentially devastating consequences of harmonics in a "tightly coupled system", i.e., the world market for credit default swaps.

Need another Province? I've got one priced to move!

2008-10-10T08:46:00.002-05:00

Here's an interesting concept touched on by Yglesias.

With Iceland on the brink of bankruptcy, why doesn't Canada add it as an additional Province?

Perhaps this is the (ill)logical extension of globalism. Countries can be treated as investments?

You know it's bad when...

2008-10-09T11:18:00.002-05:00

This is probably wishful thinking among Democrats and Progressives, but an Executive Branch headed by Barack Obama along with an increased majority in the House of Representatives and, most improbably, a 60 seat fillibuster-proof majority in the Senate seems to be within the realm of possibility.

Again, not sayin' it's gonna happen. Not even sayin' it's probably gonna happen. But sayin' with a straight face that it reasonably could happen.

If, by some grace, Mitch McConnell R-KY gets knocked off as part of the above scenario, I'm preemptively declaring it the greatest election in the history of the world.

I think one of the low points for the Republicans is in Minnesota where Norm Coleman is teetering. The GOP Senator, who recently held a 9 point advantage in the polls, is now trailing by 4 points. Consider also that his opponent, Democrat Al Franken is a satirist best known for his time as a cast member on Saturday Night Live.

Coleman has been dogged by questions about improper benefits and gifts. Check out the excruciating press conference where one of his spokesman runs up the virtual white flag under a barrage of steady but polite (this is Minnesota after all) questions.

Don't do this

2008-10-08T18:06:00.004-05:00

A strange and unfortunate episode today...

On Sunday night, we had Chinese take-out for dinner and I ordered Szechuan Beef. I took leftovers to work on Monday and, while eating them, set two chili peppers aside.

Today, I pulled a plate out of my cupboard and headed to the kitchen to make a sandwich. This plate happened to contain the two chili peppers. Before arriving at the kitchen, I realized that Finance ordered pizza today! I detoured up there and snagged two pieces.

Back at my desk, I realized that I could "re-purpose" the leftover chilis to add some heat to my pizza. I tore them up with my hands, sprinkled the flakes and seeds on the slices, and enjoyed.

So far so good. Well... About an hour later, I absent mindedley rubbed my eyes and soon appreciated the fact that I had not washed my hands after handling the chilis.

There was a little burning, then a little more, then I was in the bathroom washing my eye sockets with soap and water. Sixty seconds of splashing later my condition was upgraded from serious to fair.

Although my eyes looked like I just participated in a student protest in Seoul, I was otherwise none the worse for wear.

Hopefully, the fact that I'm making a blog post about the time I was an idiot and rubbed chili residue in my eyes shows that I don't take myself too seriously.

Come to think of it, this was a little reminiscent of the time in college when I was opening a Taco Bell hot sauce packet. The tear I made only caught the very edge of the pocket so when I squeezed it, the resulting pressure and the Venturi Effect combined to project a thin stream of hot sauce a distance of 3-4 feet directly into my friend Brian's eye. What makes this story a little better is that he was driving at the time!

He did it again!

2008-10-08T17:29:00.002-05:00

McCain is in trouble again with a rock band for using their song without permission.

This time, it's 'My Hero' by the Foo Fighters.

Fair disclosure. The linked article also points out that Obama has been asked by Sam Moore to not use 'Soul Man'. Furthermore, that might reveal a bit of a double standard. If the McCain campaign somehow used 'Soul Man' in conjunction with Obama, wouldn't they clearly be accused of racism?

That doesn't excuse the McCain campaign in any way for their increasingly negative and slimy tactics, but I'm just sayin'.

Four Corners of the Earth

2008-10-07T21:24:00.002-05:00

Random Presidential Debate live-blogging comment.

McCain talked about the "..four corners of the earth." which I thought was odd since the earth is round.

But I just Googled it and I see that it's a Biblical reference.

My Biblical knowledge isn't what it should be.

Is it too late...

2008-10-06T16:42:00.002-05:00

...to recast the emerging publicity about McCain's connections to the Savings & Loan scandals of the late 80's as the "Keating Four Scandal"?

I saw a link on Politico highlighting the fact that Keating Five member John Glenn introduced Bruce Springsteen at an Obama sponsored rally at Ohio State yesterday.

I don't see that Obama himself was present, but can we safely term this "unfortunate" timing?

A bit prickly eh?

2008-10-06T14:48:00.004-05:00

Hyperbole and exaggeration are now off limits at the Canadian Broadcast Corporation in the aftermath of an opinion column by Heather Mallick.

In the words of CBC ombudsman Vince Carlin, Ms. Mallick...

...was unable to present evidence to support her suggestion that that Republican men were deficient sexually or that Ms. Palin’s supporters were “white trash.”

After mining the story for outrage, Fox News returned to judicious even-handed journalism such as linking Barack Obama (8 years old at the time) to terrorist acts committed by the Weatherman.

Keating Five

2008-10-06T13:27:00.003-05:00

As part of the ongoing devolution of the Presidential campaign, Obama is reacting to the recent Ayers accuasations, by mining John McCain's involvment in the Keating Five scandal.

Ah, the good old days, when widespread financial institution collapses only cost taxpayers $120 Billion.

Several observers have noted that the Keating Five scandal is potentially more devastating that Reverend Wright / William Ayers type stuff if only because it dovetails with the recent financial collapses and questions about deregulation and lax government oversight.

And, of course, there are numerous instances of guilt by association on the right too.

Boys and their toys

2008-10-06T11:56:00.003-05:00

Due, undoubtedly, to the fact that the 377ft Pelorus, 282ft Ecstasea and 160ft Sussurro were woefully inadequate, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich has commissioned the 550ft Eclipse.

The Eclipse is 2/3 the length of the WWII German battleship Bismarck and, indeed, is under construction at the same shipyards that produced the Bismarck.

The linked article provides details on the yacht which make it sound most suitable for a Bond villian.

What's Larry Ellison going to do to one-up this? The Rising Sun is only 438ft!

Is it sexist...

2008-10-03T09:57:00.003-05:00

...to wonder what Trig was doing at the debate?

Trig is 5 and a half months old. The debate ended just after 9:30PM. (I think that's right; please correct me if I'm wrong.) So you figure after post-debate glad handing, meeting some high profile donors, getting back to the hotel or plane, etc... that's probably another 90 minutes before he'd be put to bed.

I suppose Trig could have skipped the post-debate events if he was whisked away by a caregiver the moment the Palin family stepped off stage. But wouldn't that just provide additional evidence that an infant is being used as a prop at an event this late?

Maybe I'm just old fashioned about bedtimes but something seems a little screwy here; my 7 year old has an official bedtime of 8:00PM.

Biden v. Palin

2008-10-03T08:37:00.003-05:00

I think my pre-debate predictions that, given the hype and expectations, the result would be inevitably anti-climactic were largely borne out.

Palin was clearly relying heavily on talking points (in written note form) to the point where she seemed to give the "answer" to questions that weren't asked on several occasions. Nevertheless, given the macabre fascination with her previous interview performances, I think it's true that her main goal last night was to survive. And she did. She started to fade in the later stages as she was forced to return to talking points she had already used.

For Biden's part, his main goal was to steer carefully to avoid appearing overbearing, patronizing, long-winded, mean, etc... And he did. I think he gradually took control of the debate in the later stages after tip-toeing through the opening.

So all-in-all, a draw? On substance I think Biden clearly won. If you were grading on a curve, Palin probably won. But it's unclear if the voting public is grading on a curve. Meanwhile, real life events continue to generate headlines like this:

Employers Cut Jobs by Most in More Than 5 Years

It's a bad sign for the McCain campaign that their victory cry this morning is "We survived!"

Here was an answer by Palin last night that I thought stood out for its incoherence:

IFILL:

Governor, I'm happy to talk to you in this next section about energy issues. Let's talk about climate change. What is true and what is false about what we have heard, read, discussed, debated about the causes of climate change?

PALIN:

Yes. Well, as the nation's only Arctic state and being the governor of that state, Alaska feels and sees impacts of climate change more so than any other state. And we know that it's real.

I'm not one to attribute every man -- activity of man to the changes in the climate. There is something to be said also for man's activities, but also for the cyclical temperature changes on our planet.

But there are real changes going on in our climate. And I don't want to argue about the causes. What I want to argue about is, how are we going to get there to positively affect the impacts?

We have got to clean up this planet. We have got to encourage other nations also to come along with us with the impacts of climate change, what we can do about that.

As governor, I was the first governor to form a climate change sub-cabinet to start dealing with the impacts. We've got to reduce emissions. John McCain is right there with an "all of the above" approach to deal with climate change impacts.

We've got to become energy independent for that reason. Also as we rely more and more on other countries that don't care as much about the climate as we do, we're allowing them to produce and to emit and even pollute more than America would ever stand for.

So even in dealing with climate change, it's all the more reason that we have an "all of the above" approach, tapping into alternative sources of energy and conserving fuel, conserving our petroleum products and our hydrocarbons so that we can clean up this planet and deal with climate change

So... On the one hand she's calling for "reduc[ing] emissions." But she's also calling for "energy independence" because relying on other countries means that we're allowing them to produce and emit and pollute.

But we also need to "conserve our petroleum products and our hydrocarbons so that we can clean up this planet."

See, this is what happens when the talking points and bullet points get mangled together.

How does she square "conserve" with "Drill Baby Drill!"?! And if we're buying energy from other countries how is that "allowing" them to emit and pollute? Doesn't the emitting and polluting (burning hydrocarbons) occur here?

Not to nitpick, but here's the problem. The US consumes about 25% of the world's oil. The US is estimated to control 3% of the world's oil reserves. (Biden brought up these facts in the debate.)

So "Drill Baby Drill!" is NOT going to provide any meaningful measure of energy independence. In fact, because petroleum is fungible, DBD won't even reduce fuel prices.

Furthermore, to the extent that DBD "works" it would have the precise effect of increasing emissions.

Sigh...

On a lighter note, I think Yglesias figured out who Palin was referring to when she mentioned the non-existent "General McClellan".

I kind of wanted Biden to point out that it's "McKiernan" in Afghanistan and McClellan was a Union Civil War General, but he probably would have had to throw a joke in there so he didn't appear snarky while doing so: "I actually attended McClellan's retirement ceremony when I was first elected to Congress."

The 12 Tribes

2008-10-02T09:07:00.003-05:00

Here's an interesting look at how the 12 Tribes of American Politics are polling in the run up to the '08 election.

McCain starts to simmer

2008-10-01T14:52:00.002-05:00

The admiration I once had for McCain continues to trickle away... It's sad in a way, but it looks like he's just wearing down under the strain of it all and segueing into "What the Hell." mode.

He looks like an ill-tempered buffoon in these clips tangling with, of all people, the Des Moines Register Editorial Board.

I note that uses the word "fundamental" in several cases, i.e., "I fundamentally disagree", as a bludgeon as if adding the word will intimidate anyone impertinent enough to question him and end the argument.

George W. Bush has the same habit with "strong", i.e., "I strongly urge."

Well Mr. President, in THAT case...

But I digress. The point I take from this Des Moines Register incident is that we may see McCain come completely unhinged before this is said and done.

Planning ahead

2008-10-01T11:33:00.003-05:00

I mean seriously, who sets up a national debt clock with only 13 digits?

This is AMERICA. I think the Congresses and Presidents just took that as a challenge.

Iowa Delegation Votes

2008-09-29T14:03:00.003-05:00

H.R. 3997 = Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 ( aka Bailout Bill )

RECORDED VOTE 29-Sep-2008 2:07 PM

Ayes

Loebsack (D)
Boswell (D)

Nays

Braley (D)
King (R)
Latham (R)

Crash and Burn

2008-09-29T13:20:00.004-05:00

The bailout legislation has crashed in the House of Representatives. As of this writing, the tally was 205 - 228 (the vote may still be open).

The markets reacted poorly with the Dow plummeting over 700 points at one point before coming back up a bit. Currently down 455 for the day with markets still open.

Heaven knows what the spooked international markets will do tomorrow morning.

But I guess this means that McCain and Obama won't have to decide what to do on Wednesday; no point in a Senate vote now.

Could Bill Clinton please shut up?

2008-09-29T09:03:00.004-05:00

A petulant Bill Clinton continues to tip-toe around the radical step of actually supporting the Democratic candidate for President.

I'm hereby citing Bill for violating the Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way guideline.

Clinton, absurdly, said the following about McCain:

I think his greatness is that he keeps trying to come back to service without ever asking people to cut him any slack or feel sorry for him or any of that stuff because he was a POW

Personally, I feel the EXACT opposite. When McCain didn't know how many houses he owns, somehow his POW experience became part of his damage control. "I lived in one house for five years..."

Another example is when he announced that his favorite song is "Dancing Queen" by ABBA and his musical tastes stopped evolving when he was shot down. The only catch is that ABBA was formed in 1972 and released "Dancing Queen" in 1975; McCain was shot down in 1967.

So I think he falls back on his Vietnam experience writ large, views current events through that prism, and treats it as a universal justification/excuse for all manner of positions and foibles. Newsflash: it's 2008 and it's not about Vietnam anymore.

But maybe that's just me.

My Grandpa saw combat against the Japanese on Okinawa in 1945 and managed to never use the fact as justification for anything. In fact, although I knew he was in the Marines back in WWII, I didn't learn about the combat until I read his discharge papers.

My Step-Dad flew C-130's in Vietnam. He won't hesitate to talk about it but certainly expresses no sense of entitlement.

To each their own I guess.

I didn't expect to see this...

2008-09-24T12:26:00.006-05:00

On Tuesday, during debate, a Senator used the album cover from Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon to illustrate a point.

Enhancing the weirdness, the Senator was none other than Iowa's 75 year old senior Senator; New Hartford's very own Chuck Grassley.

I'm now expecting Henry Paulson to whip out Disintegration by The Cure to butress his warnings about the credit markets.

Did Capitalism just implode?

2008-09-19T10:27:00.003-05:00

It's been an eventful week. To wit:

Lehman Brothers, the fourth largest investment bank with a history dating to the 1850's, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The US Government has taken an 80% equity stake in a huge global insurance company.

Short selling has been banned for 799 financial sector stocks.

The Treasury Department has announced plans to temporarily guarantee money market funds.

And now the government is planning a massive intervention to buy illiquid assets (aka crappy mortgage loans) from financial institutions.

I appreciate the candor of Senator Shelby (R-AL) when, referring to the costs to the American taxpayers, he says:

We know $500 billion or $1 trillion, that's a lot of money.

I don't see this as a partisan issue. There may be some political gain for Obama in terms of the impulse to vote out the ruling party in times of economic distress, but this is a screw-up so massive that the pool of conspirators is wide and deep.

Still, there's something incoherent about fiscal conservatism these days. Recall the line from Reagan's 1981 inauguration adopted as a conservative rallying cry "...government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem."

In 1980, the national debt was ~ $930 billion. Since George W. Bush took office in 2001, the national debt has grown by ~ $4 TRILLION and is expected to reach $10 trillion when the next President takes office. So under Bush's conservative fiscal leadership the debt grew by 69.6% while the GDP grew by 33.4%.

Maybe it's not so much that fiscal conservatism is incoherent, maybe it's just that there aren't any fiscal conservatives. But there are people who claim to be.

For example, John McCain, last seen touting lean government and open/competitve markets is now calling for the creation of a new federal agency.

To be clear, I'm not necessarily mocking the idea. I'm mocking him. This is all so weird...

Wait, this is the clarificaiton?

2008-09-18T13:12:00.003-05:00

My favorite comment on the recent incident where McCain refused to indicate a willingness to meet with Spain's Prime Minister is as follows:

I think this is pretty clearly an attempt at damage control.

a) It definitely seems to me that McCain was confused by the question. He came armed with talking points about Latin America, he wasn’t prepped to discuss Spain, so he stumbled. It was a gaffe.

b) McCain’s staff decided that the “confused old man forgets where Spain is” meme is more damaging to their candidate than the “McCain is a deranged hawk who won’t talk to our European allies” meme. Anyone in Ohio who cares about our relationship with Western Europe probably isn’t voting for McCain anyway. But perceived senility could hurt him. Badly.

c) Therefore, McCain’s spokespeople do what they do best. Lie.

The comment was added to this Yglesias blog post on the incident (with audio).

I've listened to the audio and it's impossible to say with certainty what McCain was thinking. I share the opinion of the poster that he (McCain) was somehow "stuck" in Latin America mode and was either unwilling, unable, or unprepared to switch gears.

The interviewer seems surprised, but even after repeated references to "Zapatero" McCain refers to "the hemisphere" and "Latin America". The interviewer finally explicitly refers to Spain and McCain simply returns to the "meet with friends, stand up to non-friends" boilerplate.

But what seemingly starts off as a misunderstanding, is now officially troubling. I mean, I know McCain has ridiculed Obama for a stated willingness to meet various world leaders without pre-conditions, but this is a bit much.

Can I now ridicule McCain for his unwillingness to meet with NATO MEMBER STATES without preconditions?

Note that Spain is actually in both the Western Hemisphere and the Northern Hemisphere, but I think it's clear that McCain was thinking of Latin America and the United States' sphere of influence in the Western Hemisphere. Because the Northern Hemisphere is so vast (in terms of land mass, countries, and populations) it's an unsuitable short-hand description in most discussions of international relations. It would be bizarre to consider the President of Mexico (whom McCain references by name) as representative of the Northern Hemisphere, but understandable in the context of a discussion about Latin America / Western Hemisphere.

This is a lie

2008-09-17T14:05:00.003-05:00

I'm calling out John McCain and any surrogates who claim that he was talking about "the American worker(s)" when he declared that the fundamentals of the economy are strong.

We can certainly argue about whether the indicators that economists use to measure the economy can be considered strong or not. Alan Greenspan, for one, appears to disagree but certainly it's open for discussion. But I don't see how anyone can reasonably argue that McCain was talking about the workers. It's a complete lie. Here's the quote:

You know that there's been tremendous turmoil in our financial markets and Wall Street and it is, it's.. People are frightened by these events... Our economy... I think still... The fundamentals of our economy are strong. But these are very very difficult times.

Watch it here.

No mention of the workers or the workforce. The "workers" bit was clearly contrived after the fact in an attempt to cover his a$$. But I'm guessing I'm not the audience he's trying to fool.

Pot levels accuasation at Kettle?

2008-09-17T09:09:00.003-05:00

Die-hard Clinton supporter Lynn Forester, Lady de Rothschild levels charges of "elitism" at Obama, announces plans to endorse McCain.

I could leave it at that. But to really drive home Lady de Rothschild's working class credentials, consider the following:

She's a freaking BARONESS

She holds dual citizenship and splits time between London and New York

She and her husband, Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, are billionares

Yes, those Rothschilds

You can't make this stuff up...

That's Cool

2008-09-16T10:50:00.003-05:00

I don't know if GM is going to survive. I don't know if the electric car is going to work. But at least they're trying.

Today, on General Motors' 100 Year Anniversary, the Volt was unveiled.

One of the cool features is that the car can be fully charged from a standard 120v outlet in 8 hours (or 240v in 3 hours) which equates to a cost of about 80 cents at prevailing electricity rates. The batteries then give a pure electric driving range of about 40 miles after which the secondary 1.4 liter internal combustion engine comes into play.

The estimated cost per mile under battery power is $.02. By comparison, my current cost per mile in a Honda Fit (average of 37mpg) is $.09.

Pretty sweet that, with the Volt, you could plug your car in overnight and never have to burn any fuel for in town driving.

Plus 1 Nerd Bonus

2008-09-16T08:39:00.006-05:00

I was excited to see the following comment to a blog post:

+1 Nerd Bonus for the "lich-like visage" reference.
Dude, the DnD references never get old.

Posted by Leaking Geek | September 15, 2008 4:15 PM

The initial reference comparing, yes, John McCain to a lich, didn't sink in when I read the original post (link here).

I have a glimmer of recognition of a D&D Adventure Module that prominently featured a Lich, but I can't remember the name. I seem to also remember that I never actually played the module because it was for relatively high-level characters and I never had the discipline (or regular playing opportunities) to stick with a character long enough to develop them to the appropriate level.

But I always found myself drawn to the Lich, a monster that was reminiscent of Eddie (the ghoulish mascot of British Heavy Metal group Iron Maiden) in a way that was somehow comforting.

While searching for what I'm remembering as "The Lich Module" (I might have better luck in my Mom's basement), I stumbled upon a blog post detailing the 8 Worst Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Modules Ever Made. What a trip down memory lane!

Here's a relisting of Dungeon's Top 30 D&D Modules of All Time (issue #116).

And then here's the Top 10 D&D Modules I Found in Storage This Weekend series of posts from the geekdad blog on Wired. I'll link to them individually because the blog category of RPGs is too expansive. Hey, he's already admitted he's a geek.

B1 - In Search of the Unknown

B2 - Keep on the Borderlands and S1 - Tomb of Horrors

U1 - The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh and C1 - The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan

U2 - Danger at Dunwater and G1,2,3 - Against the Giants

B4 - The Lost City

C2 - The Ghost Tower of Inverness

S2 - White Plume Mountain

In case you missed it

2008-09-15T13:25:00.002-05:00

Find the inevitable Tina Fey as Sarah Palin skit here.

Does she nail the accent or what!

A little snarky, but...

2008-09-14T09:56:00.003-05:00

I think the title of this commentary (along with the commentary itself) is a crucial observation on the selection of Sarah Palin as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate.

Is It Sexist To Want The Person Flying The Plane To Be A Pilot?

The ONLY "sexist" criticism of Sarah Palin and her selection that I'm aware of is the questions whether she should run for Vice President as mother of 5, etc... I agree that a man would not be asked this question.

But by discovering identity politics, and then cultivating outrage, the Republicans have generated a smoke screen to obscure the legitimate questions about their "accomplishments" and actual positions.

A tempting possibility...

2008-09-10T14:34:00.001-05:00

...but I'm not quite so desperate for money as to consider this.

Confession

2008-09-10T14:28:00.003-05:00

I usually organize M&Ms into groups of like colors before eating them.

But I'm not anal retentive about everything. You should see my sock drawer.

Has anyone seen a Higgs boson particle laying around?

2008-09-10T11:30:00.004-05:00

Breaking news!

Large Hadron Collider begins operation.

No micro black holes created.

Earth survives.

Hindsight = 20/20

2008-09-08T11:40:00.002-05:00

Here come the inevitable Biden was a mistake cries.

But look what people were saying before Obama's pick. From Cokie Roberts:

I think it would be very foolish for the Democratic Party to pick Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as their ticket. They need somebody who's not a Senator from a state that's going to go Democratic anyway, which defines both of them. Either one of them needs to pick a white guy from a swing state, preferably a guy who owns a gun. [AUDIENCE LAUGHTER] And, I mean, seriously. I mean, that's what they need. That's where the problem is.

I think the fact that McCain had the advantage of picking second was pretty significant. Obama did the conventional thing which, in a manner, freed up McCain to do the unconventional thing.

I wonder how the order of the party conventions are determined? Maybe the next thing we could do is turn the VP picks into an event where each side submits their picks by secret ballot and they are unveiled simultaneously in a TV game show format.

McCain is looking like a genius with the Palin pick because he seems to be garnering the benefits of a wacky pick (excitement, "outsider", exploitation of identity politics, etc...) without the drawbacks (incomplete vetting, inconsistent positions, inexperience, etc...). To be clear, the drawbacks have been present, but the benefits are running more strongly.

A word of warning. This all could turn around. And in the same way that there is not a lot of time to work through these issues before election time, there would be even less time for the McCain/Palin campaign to recover from some disaster.

Who knows?

Proof that the GOP isn't cool?

2008-09-05T08:20:00.004-05:00

The Republicans keep getting in trouble for using rock songs at campaign events.

We've got Jackson Browne complaining about the use of "Running on Empty" by the Ohio Republican Party.

We've got Van Halen objecting to the McCain campaign using "Right Now."

And now Heart is riled up about usage of "Barracuda" at the Republican National Convention in conjunction with Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin; an allusion to her nickname as a High School point guard.

Of course, we should mention the granddaddy of political misappropriation of rock songs when, in 1984, Ronald Regan began using Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" without permission.

This was particularly misguided because the song itself is about the destructive effects of the Vietnam War and the ensuing disaffection of the working class. Not exactly Yankee Doodle Dandy.

I heart Jon Stewart

2008-09-04T10:07:00.001-05:00

Comedy Central mines the hypocrisy.

Watch this.

Got Crhome?

2008-09-03T08:44:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, Google fired another shot across the bow of Microsoft by releasing their own web browser.

I downloaded it and have been trying it out. So far, I'm digging it! It's very spartan and seems quite responsive.

Unfortunately, no Mac or Linux versions yet. Even Google can't conquer the entire world at once. But PC users can download it here.

Talking Points

2008-09-02T12:54:00.003-05:00

I caught This Week with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday. The segments with Lindsey Graham and John Kerry were standard partisan sniping, but I have a couple comments on the interview with Cindy McCain.

In response to a question about Sarah Palin's lack of national security credentials, she (Cindy) responded with the bizarre talking point that Alaska is the "closest point of our continent to Russia".

Here's a post by Matthew Yglesias with the video clip. A commenter points out that Boston is closer to Moscow than Juneau is.

To me, this supports the theory that Palin was a last minute pick that even took the Republicans by suprise. They seem to be forced to make up talking points as they go along (because there is simply no time for the alternative). Several questions:

Is the "Alaska is close to Russia" argument compelling to anyone?

What happens when a more discerning reporter than Stephanopoulos follows up by asking for an example of a true Russo-American issue that Palin was involved with?

It's interesting that "Russia" is the talking point considering that Alaska shares an actual border with Canada and surely has more areas of cooperation and/or dispute. I guess people aren't scared of Canada so that doesn't work.

I also thought George was too easy on Cindy during a portion where she asserted that Obama "offended her" and "went too far" when he suggested that McCain wasn't in touch with the middle class.

Let me clear that I'm not presenting myself as the final arbiter about whom can be offended about what. If she's offended, she's offended. That's fine. The part I objected to is that she launched into the story of her father's business success and presented it as the American Dream.

This is irrelevant and a clear diversion. As far as I know, nobody has made any comments whatsoever about her father being "in touch" with the concerns of the middle-class, etc... And furthermore, I think the episode was illuminating less because of the actual number of houses owned (which is legitimately complicated in his case) and more because McCain appeared to not know or not care.

In further efforts to burnish McCain's everyman credentials, Cindy also described him as a "Navy boy." She's got a point. I know that many of my gradeschool classmates had fathers and grandfathers that were BOTH four-star admirals.

Ridedate 20080830

2008-08-31T10:11:00.006-05:00

On Saturday, I set off with an eye towards reaching another small-Iowa-town-I've-never-been-to-within-reasonable-cycling-distance-of-home. There are fewer and fewer qualifiers over the years, but I was thinking about Quasqueton The Friendliest Town by a Dam Site! which would also be my first ride into Buchanan County.

The catch was that Jessica needed to leave for work at 10:30AM and Quasqueton was no short ride. I was hoping to leave at 6:00AM but, in spite of pre-preparations the night before, it took me a little longer than expected to get organized. I saddled up at 6:15AM; the delay was just as well since sunrise wasn't until 6:30AM.

Temperatures were around 55 degrees with light winds from the south-southwest. Knowing that the day would soon grow hot, I took the opportunity to try my new arm warmers.

The sun begins to peek over a treeline west of Robbins.

Bison north of Toddville. Another picture here.

The early morning light cast long shadows to the west and I found this giant cycling next to me.

I made decent time through Center Point and into Walker. However, after a short internal debate, I decided to abort the day's mission to Quasqueton. The reason was that I hard a hard deadline to be back to Cedar Rapids and (relating to the first point) I didn't know the way to Quasqueton.

Normally I don't really worry about finding my way. It's pretty difficult (impossible?) to get truly lost in Iowa. I'll glance at a map beforehand and have an idea of where I want to go, but then rely upon luck, intuition, and signage. As a male, asking someone for directions would, of course, be an option in cases of injury or imminent danger. But even then only if there were no "I think it's this way." feelings.

So even though I didn't care about getting lost, I did care about getting lost and then not getting back to Cedar Rapids in time for Jessica to leave for work. So I made the command decision to save Quasqueton for another day and cut my loop short by heading for Troy Mills. This way I could slow down and take some time to smell the cow patties.

Even by Iowa standards, this seems like a tiny City Hall. Later on the ride, Alburnett revealed its similarly modest city offices.

Who is that masked equine?

Note the Pioneer brand Canna Lillies in the background below. Kidding! But, in seriousness, I look forward to that spread of Cannas off Walker Rd. each year. Another view here.

A herd of lawn ornaments between Walker and Troy Mills.

Speaking of Troy Mills, I pedaled across the Wapsipinicon and into town briefly. Thus I was able, after all, to score another small-Iowa-town-I've-never-been-to-within-reasonable-cycling-distance-of-home.

Upon arrival, I found myself unwittingly in the midst of the annual Swine Trek (entry form here): a fair sized event organized by the Hawkeye Bicycle Club with 25, 50, and 100 mile routes. There was a small station manned by two elderly ladies serving food and drink to the riders. After pausing a few minutes, I started south for Cedar Rapids and passed scores of riders headed into Troy Mills.

Home; my shoes dusted with pollen.

Distance: 51.4 miles
Ride Time: 3:09:40
Trip Time: 3:34
Average Speed: 16.2 mph
Average heart rate: 127 bpm

Note, it turned out that (after a brief false start towards Spencer Grove) my intutition sucessfully took me to Bettys Grove Rd which is the way from Walker to Quasqueton. Of course, it's not exactly one of the great feats of navigation to "find" one of three paved roads into a small Iowa town. But again, it was a good decision to save Quasqueton for another day.

Images hosted by

Odd but cool

2008-08-29T16:18:00.002-05:00

Sarah Palin has two daughters named after witches!?

Upon review, this is an eeire coincidence. (At least in Willow's case.)

The first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer aired March 10, 1997. Willow was born in 1995.

Piper is younger (born in 2002) and the first episode of Charmed aried October 7, 1998.

So, for her, maybe.

Fun Palin Facts

2008-08-29T14:43:00.003-05:00

A riff on a post from Matthew Yglesias' blog: John McCain was 27 years 172 days old when Sarah Palin was born and 22 years 132 days old when Alaska was born.

The inevitable Palin Iraq clock.

On the plus side, I'm awarding bonus points for her kids' names: Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig.

Palin for a miracle?

2008-08-29T09:54:00.003-05:00

Media outlets are breaking the news that the GOP VP choice is Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

My initial impressions are as follows. The positives:

Palin has a solid anti-abortion record so the GOP base will be placated on that count.

This is a simple but effective way to offset the historic nature of the first ticket with an African-American. Field the second ticket with a woman.

A likely "maverick" credential boost. I question how much this is deserved since Palin has steady conservative credentials but (see previous point) her gender alone counts for something.

The negatives:

What happened to the "judgement and experience" meme? Palin's political career started in 1992 on the Wasilla City Council (population less than 10,000). She's only been governor (of the 47th most populous state) since 2006! Does her runner-up finish in the 1984 Miss Alaska contest prepare her for the mythical "Commander-in-Chief Test"?

The age difference between Palin and McCain is striking. She looks young enough to be his daughter. She IS young enough to be his daughter. To be fair, the Obama - Biden age difference is only ~ 5 years less than the McCain - Palin difference. And Obama is just over 3 years older than Palin. But (see last point) it's the Republicans that have been harping on the experience factor.

The pick is bold, but may come to be viewed more in terms of desperation. It can't be as catastrophic as the Harriet Maiers for SCOTUS pick, but may cause a lot of head scratching and be viewed as a transparent pander to female voters.

This is small potatos as far as cases of Alaska GOP corruption and malfeasance go, but Palin is under current investigation regarding charges that she fired a Public Safety Commissioner after he refused to fire a State Trooper that was in an ongoing custody battle with Palin's sister.

Mark October 2 down on your calendars as Joseph Biden and Sarah Palin square off in the Vice-Presidential debate.

Republican VP Predictions

2008-08-28T09:13:00.002-05:00

A follow up to my Democratic VP Predictions from last week...

On the GOP side, conventional wisdom is settling on: Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, and Joe Lieberman. The official "late breaking trial balloon that is transparently a ruse" is Kay Bailey Hutchinson. Tom Ridge and Sarah Palin are another couple wild cards that likely aren't under true consideration.

Tim Pawlenty is the official Dan Quayle option. Not in terms of him being a moron, but rather the "fresh young face" that shows that Republicans can be hip and cool. Some are even under the age of 50! I don't think he would lock up the battleground state of Minnesota's electoral votes (although he'd surely help), so I'm not sure what else he would bring to the ticket beyond the youth (relative) factor.

The downside is that he might make McCain look older than he already does and he'd undercut the arguments against Obama's relative youth and inexperience. In my opinion, Pawlenty is a highly unlikely choice. One thing I do like is his name. Pawlenty. A refreshing departure from the WASPy names on most tickets.

I think McCain wants to pick Joe Lieberman. He genuinely likes him. They have a good working relationship and have bonded over their shared support for the so-called War on Terror. Leaving aside the precise determination of whether or not McCain is, in fact, a "maverick", I think the selection of an Independent Democratic Senator as a running mate could only enhance his maverick credentials. Plus, Lieberman is very handy to have around because he can help McCain keep track of which Muslims we're fighting where. Choosing Joe would also potentially pick off a non-Republican member of the Senate since the governor of Connecticut is Republican. One last factor in Lieberman's favor is that including him would ipso facto bring Joementum to the ticket.

On the downside, well... He's not Republican. To the extent that Republicans are already facing an enthusiasm gap, I'd say including a pro-choice lifelong Democrat whom, for example, voted against the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice nominees Alito and Thomas and carries an F rating from the National Rifle Association might rub some people the wrong way.

One strange thing is that Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Sean Hannity all spoke out in favor of Lieberman and endorsed him during his 2006 senatorial election run. But that was in contrast to the anti-war Democratic candidate Ned Lamont. Somehow I think they'd be crankier at the thought of Lieberman on a GOP Presidential ticket. Imagine the bizarre spectacle of a Vice-Presidential debate between two Democratic Senators who agree with each other on just about everything.

Somewhat by default, that leaves Mitt Romney as the likely choice. With his experiences in the private sector and business success, he shores up McCain's weakness in the area of the economy. His physical appearance is "Presidential" to the point of type-casting. He's younger than John McCain (along with everyone else) but not dramatically so. Much of the religious right would be comfortable with Romney although so too are there are tensions between evangelicals and the L.D.S. He would likely bring many votes in the western states with significant Mormon populations and help in Michigan.

On the downside, his family's wealth might be problematic. He and his wife report assets around $200 million and the family also has a blind trust set up in the names of the children and grandchildren worth over $100 million. Americans typically don't respond to class warfare and wealth isn't a negative. However, after the embarrassing episode of McCain not knowing how many houses he owns, adding Romney's four homes (including a $12 million residence in La Jolla) might be a bit much. ( But seriously John, who has to check with their staff about how many homes they own? Louis XIV? ) Another thing that could hurt Romney is that he's a serial panderer. He's had just about every position on every issue at one point or another. Right or wrong, this leaves him vulnerable to attacks and causes many to question his true motivations, etc...

But the single biggest impediment might be that McCain and Romney hate each other. Here again, any attacks showing Biden (or Clinton) questioning Obama and/or his qualifications will be undercut by example after example of McCain and Romney going at it. Given his actions since he dropped out of the race, I think Romney could "get over it." I'm not so sure about McCain who is famously stubborn and temperamental.

So there you have it. I think McCain wants to pick BFF Joe Lieberman but will ultimately "settle" for Mitt Romney. Look for the news to be leaked tonight to deflect media attention on Obama's acceptance speech.

Paging Lord Nelson

2008-08-27T10:11:00.005-05:00

I was intrigued by this article in the New York Times detailing the scope of British debauchery whilst on holiday. (Nice touch, eh?)

I guess the easy answer is that Britons are generally discouraged from emoting, i.e., the whole "stiff upper lip" business. When the inner beast is released, it's that much crazier.

Here's another example from the WaPo describing the current incarnations of a venerable tradition: the Office Christmas Party. Sample quote:

...partygoers seem to find great amusement in photocopying intimate body parts. Stagg recalled one incident in which a man at his Christmas party sat on the copy machine, broke the glass and ended up in the emergency room with shards of glass in his bottom.

OK, so the Brits are out-of-control. Big deal. But I noticed something shocking on this topic.

I draw your attention to the Top 15 countries where British nationals required the most consular assistance from 1 April 2006 - 31 March 2007 chart in the official British Behavior Abroad report as published by the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

The U.K. suffered 1,591 deaths among vacationers to Spain!? In a one year period!? Does this seem high to anyone else? By comparison, the U.K. suffered 258 deaths during the Falklands War.

Now granted, the same report shows that there were 17 million British visitors to Spain during the same period. But France had 14.8 million British visitors and only 385 deaths. So... that's 87% the number of visits and 24% the number of deaths.

Another comparision. The 9/11 attacks resulted in 2,974 deaths which equated to 10.43 deaths per million citizens (estimated 2001 U.S. population of 285,112,030). With an estimated U.K. population of 60,975,000, traveling to Spain recently resulted in 26.09 deaths per million citizens.

I can't figure out what's so dangerous in Spain although this picture of a group from Leeds on a walking tour may provide a clue.

Ridedate 20080824

2008-08-26T20:54:00.004-05:00

Last Sunday I finally got around to the Vinton round-trip I was meaning to do in the Spring. It was a beautiful day. Temps in the low 70's, few clouds, and light winds. Perfect.

I filled my bottles, threw six fig newtons in a sandwich bag, and I was off.

Here are some cattle enjoying the day between Palo and Shellsburg.

It's been a long time since I've been to a good Ox Roast.

View to the foul pole from third base; Vinton, Iowa. Note that right handed batters pulling a long foul ball can send it into a cornfield.

In downtown Vinton, I noticed someone else taking a picture of a "dark spot" on a wall. I rolled over and found this bat snoozing right on Main Street.

Here's the view down a row at critter level. The tops of the tassels were over 8 feet tall here.

You've heard of the Field of Dreams? Well here's the Field of Beans. This was taken looking northwest right off the Linn/Benton County line.

The pleasing symmetry of hay bales.

It has to be said again. What a gorgeous day for a ride!

Distance: 55.3 miles
Ride Time: 3:35:43
Trip Time: 4:00
Average Speed: 15.4 mph
Average heart rate: 131 bpm

Images hosted by

Everyone loves a good hoax

2008-08-22T09:29:00.002-05:00

In August, Wine Spectator magazine granted an Award of Excellence to Milan restaurant Osteria L'Intrepido.

Nothing unusual there, right? Well... Let's just say that the prestige of the award was somewhat undermined when it was revealed that the eatery does not exist.

Osteria L'Intrepido was created by wine critic Robin Goldstein as part of an effort to examine the criteria and judgement leading to Wine Spectator awards.

Today's episode of the unreasonable

2008-08-20T10:36:00.002-05:00

After his otherworldly performance in the 100m dash, what does Jamaican track sensation Usain Bolt do for an encore?

How about set another world record by running the 200m in a jaw dropping 19.30 seconds?

I haven't seen tape of the event yet, but my quick calculations show that a time of 19.3 over 200m equates to an average speed of 37.3057 km/h or 23.18069 mph.

Wow...

Naturally...

2008-08-20T10:33:00.002-05:00

As soon as I predict Biden (previous post), he declares "I'm not the guy."

We can't say this rules him out definatively, but it makes it appear like I don't know what I'm talking about and I'm just making wild guesses.

Hey, I'm just like all the other pundits!

Democratic VP Predictions

2008-08-19T13:22:00.003-05:00

Is everyone signed up to be e-mailed and/or texted when Barack announces his VP choice?

It seems like the chattering classes have narrowed the Democratic choices to three: Joe Biden, Evan Bayh, and Tim Kaine. Then we can throw in Kathleen Sebelius and Hillary Clinton as wildcards.

Of these, I'd say Evan Bayh is the worst choice. He doesn't offer anything in particular. He's not exciting, he's experienced but he's so low key that nobody knows that. Yes, he's a long time Hillary supporter, but I don't see choosing him as placating anybody. He might help win Indiana, but Indiana (neighboring Illinois) is a state that Obama might snag anyway. Plus, the Governor of Indiana is Republican so that would subtract a Democratic Senator.

I think Joe Biden is the likely choice. He, like Cheney, would be the designated party elder / Washington insider. Again like Cheney, he wouldn't be expected to bring in any electoral college votes. He has extensive experience in the area of foreign policy (an alleged Obama weak point) and has the skills to be an effective attack dog in the campaign. Possible drawbacks would be that, as an insider, he would work at cross-purposes to Obama's "change" mantra and he can be an undisciplined, if entertaining, speaker. He put the "blo" in bloviate. Another point in his favor; the Governor of Delaware is a Democrat.

Tim Kaine might be the best choice. Like Bill Clinton choosing Al Gore and "doubling down" in the young-politician-from-the-South category, Kaine has the potential to reinforce the "change" mantra. And maybe, just maybe, he could put Virginia (which last voted for a Democrat over 40 years ago: LBJ in 1964) in play. The downside would be that he would not provide cover against charges of inexperience or weak foreign policy credentials against the ticket.

Honestly, the longer the Obama v. McCain match-up has evolved without Obama able to distance himself from McCain in the polling, the more I've thought that Hillary Clinton would be a good choice. I used to think that she was too polarizing a figure and the nation could use some time without a Bush or Clinton in the White House (first time since 1980!?). But, naturally, the Republicans are working overdrive to keep the country as polarized as they can. It would serve to unify the party after the hard feelings of the bruising primary and, let's be honest, she would be an outstanding attack dog. Here again I think of LBJ and, to paraphrase his comment about J. Edgar Hoover, "It's better to have [her] inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in."

So there you have it. I think I'll feel pretty good about anybody other than Bayh. I think Kaine would be a strong choice and Clinton would bring the most energy (good and bad). In all likelihood, you didn't hear it here first, but I think the selection will be Joe Biden.

Times are tough

2008-08-18T09:04:00.003-05:00

I've seen the dire news about the Japanese economy, but this is a little ridiculous.

Guerrilas/assassins from fuedal Japan are now resorting to convenience store holdups in eastern Iowa.

Pootie-Poot?

2008-08-15T14:16:00.006-05:00

Alerted by Dan Froomkin's White House Watch in the WaPo, I see that President Bush has bestowed the nickname "Pootie-Poot" upon Russian Prime Minister Valdimir Putin.

Even with allowances for Bush's fondness for nicknames, this seems a little bizarre.

For my part, I immediately wondered what Malik "Poot" Carr would think about this.

I think I'm pretty safe in assuming this is the most direct connection between a current world leader and one of the original (if relatively minor) members of the Barksdale crew from HBO's drama The Wire.

But, if nothing else, this gives me a chance to plug the series. There has been plenty of "It's the best show on television." hyperbole thrown The Wire's way.

The Seattle Times, Slate.com, the San Francisco Chronicle, and possibly even a few publications that don't start with the letter 's'.

Look, when Salon.com and the National Review Online are AGREEING on something...

Heck, it's even #85 of Stuff White People Like.

But thy hype is deserved. It well may be the best show on television... ever... You just don't find series so ambitious, so intricate, that ring so authentic.

All-Time great headlines

2008-08-15T10:00:00.003-05:00

I don't remember debate (high-school) being this wild & crazy. I guess college is a whole new ballgame!

Debate Coaches Lose Cool, 1 Pulls Down His Pants

Here's the incident on YouTube.

The new genuises

2008-08-14T18:19:00.003-05:00

I can't believe this has only existed since Sunday. I ran into it on Slate.com this week and a friend on Facebook also linked to an 'enhanced' version.

I'm talking, of course, about the Barack Roll.

What did people like Hugh Atkin do in the days before powerful accessible technologies? And if they managed to do something (and I presume they did) did anyone else ever get to see it?

A little background is in order here. It's not absolutely essential to be familiar with the meme of Rickrolling to enjoy this, but it sure helps.

I should also add that I have been Rickrolled in the "wilds" of the internet. My encounter was on a message board specializing in Hawkeye Sports (of all places).

It's good even when it's bad

2008-08-13T08:29:00.002-05:00

The wet spring and extensive flooding caused some well founded fears about the state of Iowa's crop production. With the wettest weather ending in the second week of June, it was right on the edge of feasibility in terms of replanting corn. Soybeans can be planted later but, in some cases, fields had been treated with a fertilizer and herbicide regimen optimized for corn.

Here's a primer from the folks over in Ames.

But after a downright grumpy spring (there was the F5 tornado in New Hartford too), the Heavens have been smiling on the corn and beans for the last 8 weeks or so.

Iowa, once more, is projected to be the #1 producer in the nation.

Odd statement...

2008-08-12T13:56:00.003-05:00

A peculiar moment today when the Attorney General of the United States announced that...

But not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime

With due allowances for nuance and contrived situations, but isn't that a strange thing for the AG to state? Not every violation of the law is a crime?!

Common sense and definition 1 from American Heritage seem to disagree.

For comparison's sake

2008-08-08T08:30:00.004-05:00

What are our friends to the North borrowing?

METRIC	USA	Canada
National Debt	9,572,825,890,604	508,109,000,000
Population	304,537,292	33,340,433
Debt Per Capita	31,434	15,240
GDP (2007)	13,840,000,000,000	1,178,000,000,000
Debt Pct of GDP	69.17%	34.80%

The only sure things are debt and taxes

2008-08-07T13:38:00.002-05:00

Checking the Debt Clock this morning reveals that, as of 07 Aug 2008 at 03:49:22 PM GMT, the outstanding public debt is...

$9,572,825,890,604

The numbers are so mind boggling, so beyond the normal range of experiences for the average person, that they're difficult to comprehend.

Never mind average people. Even Russian oligarchs, Arab petro-princes, American tech tycoons, and Indian steel magnates would have trouble with this bill. If you combine the net worth of the Forbes 100 (as calculated in February 2008) you come up with a total of $1,740,268,000,000.

So if these guys went "all in", they could pay 18.18% of the debt. Or, expressed another way, we'd need them to spend their net worths five and half times in order to get out of the red.

If that somehow seems reasonable, consider the 3-year-average (2003-2005) median household income in the U.S. is $46,037. So, at that rate, we need ~ 208 MILLION household incomes to pay off the debt.

I'm curious about the upcoming documentary I.O.U.S.A. Perhaps it will serve as the equivalent of An Inconvenient Truth in terms of at least raising the profile of the issue and spurring discussion.

Regrettably...

2008-08-06T14:21:00.001-05:00

...I think I'd have to take the next one.

More Scholastic Rebranding

2008-08-06T11:39:00.004-05:00

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is at it again. Following on the heels of the department name change from Geology to Geocience...

Absurdly, given the aforementioned change, Biological Sciences is now Biology

Speech Patholgy & Audiology is now Communication Sciences and Disorders

Just wanted to keep everyone informed.

Heck in a Handbasket

2008-08-05T11:14:00.003-05:00

I can't really put it any better than a poster on the comment board of one of these stories. The situation in Johnson County is borderline anarchy!

Ya know..the past few days sure have illustrated WHY we need a new jail....we've got guys biting people's noses off, naked men breaking into farmhouses and now..drunks kicking guys in the groin...

I think my uncle picked a good time to retire from the Public Defenders Office. Perhaps he'll be called back on a "stop loss" order.

Wait, he drives a...

2008-07-23T12:26:00.003-05:00

Here's one of those cases where a secondary part of the story is more interesting than the central point.

Nevermind the fact that he hit a pedestrian, but... Robert Novak drives a corvette?!

500 Year Flood

2008-06-12T18:06:00.002-05:00

Cedar Rapids is in the midst of epic floods.

Over 8,000 people have been evacuated and, in some areas, water has exceeded the 500 year flood plan. A rail bridge was carried away by the current and, at one point today, all bridges across the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids were closed (including I-380). The nearest open bridge was Highway 30 to the Southeast of town. Some of the pictures coming out are mind boggling. Cedar Rapids, Hiawatha, and Marion are now under orders to use water for consmption only.

The previous record for the Cedar River was 20.0 feet in 1929 (flood stage is 12 feet) and we're looking at a projected crest of 32 feet tomorrow morning.

I don't think our house is any danger, but I can't be sure about the utilities over the next week or so.

I'll stay in touch as I can!

An exciting time for insurance adjusters?

2008-06-09T12:05:00.002-05:00

From the Press-Citizen; full article here.

Also, in a strange turn of events, the University of Iowa has told the city that the coffer dam that UI has constructed near the Iowa Memorial Union is actually pushing flood waters higher than they would normally be.

Because of the coffer dam, flood levels on the river from the IMU all the way to where Clear Creek meets the Iowa River just south of the Iowa River Power Co. restaurant will be at 100-year levels when the outflows reach 25,000 cfs instead of the expected 29,000 cfs it would normally take.

"This means that if flows in Iowa City exceed 25,000 cfs, the flood levels up stream from Iowa Avenue will be higher than experienced in 1993," the statement reads, "and may extend beyond the 100-year flood boundary that is mapped in the Iowa City Flood Insurance Study.

I'll take some pictures of the flooding over lunch hour. Water is projected to come over the spillway at the Coralville resevoir for only the second time in history. The first was the devastating floods of 1993.

Meanwhile, the Cedar River is expected to crest at 21.5 feet on Thursday which would be an all-time record, exceeding the previous mark set in 1929.

Where's the Grace?

2008-06-04T09:58:00.002-05:00

I watched the Clinton and Obama speeches last night and was among those that felt the Clinton speech took place in an alternate reality.

I guess it's easier to be a good winner than a good loser, but it was striking that Obama was more magnanimous and complimentary of Clinton than the other way around. You would think that, for the sake of the Democratic Party, last night would be more about Obama. Instead, Hillary was inexplicably introduced as "the next President of the United States" and was unable or unwilling to make any transition out of campaign mode.

Specific quibbles:

Her comment that South Dakota had the "last word" which pointedly, needlessly, and erroneously ignored the fact that the polls were still open in Montana. So much for "let every vote be counted." Is it any coincidence that Obama was expected to win Montana?

The continued meme of her "winning" the popular vote. I'll give the popular press some credit for continually pointing out that A.) The nomination is based on winning delegates so popular vote tallies are tangential if not irrelevant. and B.) Even so, it requires some unusual mathematical and mental gymnastics to support the claim that she is ahead in the "popular vote." Discussion here.

I also thought that her use of the phase "stay the course" was questionable.

Basically, the Clinton campaign is treading dangerously close to Baghdad Bob territory at this point.

Here is a sampling of additional confused observers.

Kids Love Baby Animals

2008-05-29T12:30:00.002-05:00

Amelia and I rode down to Cedar Lake last Sunday. The nominal goal was to see the baby ducks and geese but it was also one of those "the journey is the destination" kind of deals.

The weather wasn't optimum, but the radar didn't show any rain on the way. It took us about 30 uneventful minutes to get down there. Upon arrival, we started a clockwise loop and discovered the radar may have been wrong. I'm not sure if it was truly raining or it was more a case of the Southwest wind whipping a mist off the lake. We wondered about finding a covered area to shelter in but, by the time we reached the other side of the lake, the rain/mist seemed to have cleared.

Cedar Lake, I must say, is an unlikely destination for anyone other than migrating waterfowl and fishermen. The surrounding scenery is very industrial and there isn't much to see or do. But the trails are nice and, crucially for us, it's a nesting site for ducks and geese.

With due North equating to 12 o'clock, we saw a couple ducks at about 11 o'clock as we started our loop, then three adult geese at about 2:30, and another couple geese around 4 o'clock whom were resting on railroad tracks. At 4:30 we saw a mother duck and three ducklings paddling along. We then stopped at an observation point located about 5 o'clock and observed plenty of goose droppings along with a rotting carp carcass. Finally, near the extent of our loop, we hit the mother lode: twenty to thirty goslings guarded by five adults.

A couple pictures later, we were on way again. I was intrigued to see a couple guys fishing with a net cast by hand from a small bridge. Before setting off for home, we stopped for a quick snack. More pictures here.

Images hosted by

Great Line

2008-05-27T08:17:00.002-05:00

David Brooks with a great line from this opinion piece on vice presidential choices:

My first thought on the running mate question is that to balance his ticket, Barack Obama should pick a really old white general. Therefore, he should pick Dwight Eisenhower. John McCain, on the other hand, needs to pick someone younger than himself. Therefore, he also should pick Dwight Eisenhower.

Unbelievable

2008-05-23T16:26:00.002-05:00

Just when you thought that the arguments couldn't more tortured, convoluted, or bizarre, Hillary is now pointing to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in June of the 1968 primary season as justificaiton for her staying in the race.

Just to be clear... She should stay in because you never know when another candidate might get shot and KILLED.

Disgusting.

Just a Thought Pt. 2

2008-05-23T16:05:00.003-05:00

I see there is an Associate Dean at the University of Iowa School of Law named Carin Crain.

How many first name last name combos are anagrams?

I Googled this one and discovered that the Animal Control officer in Alpine, TX shares the same name!

Sergeants 3

2008-05-22T11:39:00.005-05:00

While flipping through the channel guide on ReplayTV, I stumbled upon the following description:

Sergeants 3 (1962, ***) Three cavalry officers and a bugler work together to thwart an American Indian Chief. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr.

My first thought was this was a great example of unintentional comedy. But I've come to realize it's a little more complicated.

I'm familiar with the concept of unintentional comedy and the related unintentional comedy scale (Warning: extensive knowledge of sports and pop culture from the 80's and 90's is helpful, if not crucial, to digesting the UCR) from the writings of Bill Simmons, a columnist for ESPN. In his words:

"Unintentional Comedy," those moments when something or someone cracks you up ... even though that wasn't necessarily the original intention.

Prime examples include:

William Shatner's interpretation of Elton John's Rocket Man.

Brook Benton's video for Mother Nature, Father Time. In the words of Mary Tiegreen, "Ah, 1965, when music videos were elegant, simple, and classy."

And, of course, there's the version of Apache by Tommy Seebach which I've seen described as what happens when you have $10,000 to shoot a video and spend $9,000 on cocaine.

It doesn't have to be music related. There's also political examples although it should be said that Setting the Record Straight also qualifies for the unintentional tragedy scale.

But back to Sergeants 3. I think the aforementioned write-up is funny although there's no obvious reason it should be. It was easy, for example, to figure out which part Sammy Davis Jr. would be playing. So it seemed to be a candidate for unintentional comedy. I was loathe to undermine my unseen interpretation of the film, but I did click over and watch part of a scene.

Then yesterday that I did a little research and discovered that Sergeants 3 is a remake of the 1939 film Gunga Din!

Are there other Rat Pack films inspired, if tenuously, on Kipling poems?! I see there's a musical adaptation of the Robin Hood story transplanted to prohibition era Chicago. Somehow - I can't articulate how - this makes more "sense" to me than Sergeants 3.

So here's the tough part. I know the era featured plenty of campy films and I even see that one classification of Sergeants 3 is as a Comedic Western. That would seem to prevent unintentional comedy qualification although, at the same time, raises questions of judgement as far as making a comedy about a desperate confrontation with a rampaging Indian tribe. Certainly the original poem is an unlikely inspiration for humor. I guess I'd need to see both films to make a more informed judgement.

Should I watch some Rat Pack films for historical purposes?

First Graduation

2008-05-22T08:36:00.006-05:00

Amelia graduated from pre-school last night. I'm a little frustrated because none of the pictures I took inside turned out due to the "no flash" rule. But here's a nice one taken afterwards in the parking lot.

The ceremonies, as they must be for 4 year olds, were straightforward and brief. The kids assembled in the chapel and ran through some songs. I'm happy to report that all the stereotypical roles for such an assembly were expertly filled:

The kid who thought it was too loud and spent the concert with his hands clapped over his ears.
The kid who got bored and started finding stuff in his pockets.
The kid who sang just a little bit too loud.
The kid who was dressed up and wearing a tie but, naturally, pulled up his shirt and untucked it.
The parent who ignored the "no flash" rule.

After the songs, the children filled out and then filled back in by class by last name alphabetically. They came up on stage one-by-one to receive a diploma from their teacher and then joined family members in the pews.

Cynthia and Twyla made the trip from Marshalltown but, unfortunately, didn't have very good seats along with Jessica. Evan and I managed to snag seats in the third row and had a decent view of the proceedings. We ended up skipping the post-graduation "party" with cookies and similar treats. Too wild for our tastes. 8-)

I have only good things to say about Little Lambs if you've got a 3 or 4 year old in the Cedar Rapids area!

Images hosted by

In the words of WarScribe

2008-05-21T08:05:00.003-05:00

While checking the political news this morning and hoping beyond hope that someday somehow the Democratic Primaries would end, I found the following well crafted post in the comments section of this article:

Reply #3, Posted by WarScribe, Date: May. 21, 2008 - 12:32 AM EST

I generally turn off my BS meter when Hillary Clinton begins speaking about leading Barack Obama in the popular vote count. I’m afraid the gauges might fly right off the machine when she suggests that — if you add two states where the votes weren’t supposed to count and ignore four states which haven’t yet released their figures but where the votes did count and then, of course, conveniently forget the fact that in one of the states that she wants you to count, no one else was on the ballot — she is one-third of one percent ahead.

And so my meter was firmly set in the off position during Clinton’s Kentucky victory speech, where she very predictably made the same convoluted argument (which doesn’t seem to have had any sway with the two dozen superdelegates who have swung Obama’s way in the past two weeks.) Which I think is significant — because I still had to scratch my chin when she suggested “it’s often been said, ‘as Kentucky goes, so goes the nation.’ ”

Really? That’s often been said? Hillary made the comment at approximately 8:28 EST. At 8:30 EST — hoping to beat the dozens of transcripts and news reports of her speech online — I checked Google for the term “as Kentucky goes, so goes the nation.” So I checked — Google.

I got 16 hits. Including one that referred not the presidential nomination but to the Kentucky Derby. Another was a quote from Clinton herself, the day before the Kentucky primary. Sixteen hits on Google is the zeitgeistian equivalent to nothing. The term “hamburger pants” nets 552 hits. The randomly selected letters “sdfv” produce 22,200 hits (betcha didn’t know there was a Scuba Diving Federation of America.) And the term “As Ohio goes, so goes the nation” nets 9,530 hits. That latter fact I find particularly interesting, because Ohio has correctly picked the president every year since 1964 — the exact same record as neighboring Kentucky.

So the spirit of what Clinton said was, in fact, true. Which makes me wonder, why couldn’t she simply say that? Why not say, “Kentucky — you’ve picked the correct president every four years since I was in grade school! Thank you for voting so overwhelmingly for me tonight!”? Why make up a lie — even a little white one — about something that people often say when, very clearly, they don’t often say it?

Which brings me back to Clinton’s stories about landing under sniper fire in Bosnia, (which also clearly wasn’t true — not even remotely so,) and helping to secure peace in Ireland, (which was nearly as big of a lie, but didn’t get quite as much play, because it’s harder to make a funny YouTube video about Clinton pretending to have played a role in Ireland.) In all of these cases, the simple truth would have sufficed. It might even have been impressive. But something made her fib, if only just a bit. But politicians lie, right? That’s just what they do, isn’t it? Yes and no.

The reality of the nation we live in makes spin a political imperative — so much so that the media now routinely plays “gotcha” with politicians who fail to spin. But the finest of spin artists craft their messages so that they are NOT lying. That’s why Clinton’s message about getting more votes than Obama — while intellectually dishonest and, quite frankly, complete and total BS — is so politically compelling. Because Obama can’t say it’s not true. Instead he has to craft a message that is equally confounding to explain why it’s not true. The fact that Clinton lies when she clearly does not need to do so represents a fundamental misconception about the world we live in — the world she purportedly is “prepared from day one” to lead.

By 12 a.m. EST, Google was registering 179 hits for “as Kentucky goes, so goes the nation.” As I suspected, most were simply transcripts or reports from Clinton’s speech. But a number were Netizens identifying the “it’s often been said” part of Clinton’s speech for what it was — a little extra BS slapped on top of a campaign that has spent no small amount of time digging out of BS.

I think this nicely captures the source of so much mistrust and frustration with the Clintons.

I'm not sorry but I'm concerned

2008-05-20T09:41:00.005-05:00

A strange headline on CNN this morning:

White House denies Bush apology over Quran

So strange that I took a screen shot to preserve it.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki issued a statement today that President Bush "apologized" in the aftermath of an incident where an American sniper apparently used the Quran for target practice.

The White House, for some reason, was compelled to clarify that it was not an apology. Instead, Bush expressed "deep concern." I realize that words are carefully parsed in diplomatic relations, but can someone explain:

A.) Why an "apology" would be undesireable or unacceptable?

B.) Even assuming that an "apology" was inapropriate, might the diplomatic clarification not exacerbate the tensions surrounding the incident to the point that it would be preferable to issue no such clarificaiton?

This is very interesting. I'm so glad I took the screen shot because the headline has changed in the last several minutes!

A world first?

2008-05-18T08:25:00.002-05:00

I spied a stray avocado in the kitchen the other night. I bought two for a meal several days prior but only used one and the second one was in danger of spoiling.

We were having frozen pizza for dinner; not an obvious vehicle for avocado delivery. But I figured it was worth a shot.

I can report that avocado topped pepperoni pizza is pretty good!

Now I have to ride back?

2008-05-17T11:34:00.008-05:00

I've often thought about how nice it would be to commute via bicycle. I would save money. It's good for me. It's good for the environment. It's just generally fun to ride a bike. All that jazz...

But I never seriously contemplated trying it. I just live too far away. This week, however, I got a little crazy.

May is National Bike Month. As part of the festivities, the League of American Bicyclists promoted National Bike-to-Work May 12-16. So I figured 'What the heck?'.

This was an endeavor that took a particular amount of planning. Without a certain level of planning, it wouldn't be feasible. With too much planning, I'd come to my senses and call the whole thing off. So I swung into pre-action. I borrowed a bike lock from one co-worker, borrowed a locker room key from a second co-worker, and pre-positioned a change of clothes at work so I wouldn't have to worry about carrying anything with me when cycling.

I was hoping to leave home at 5:30AM. I figured the trip into work would take two hours at minimum. So, faced with such an early start, I laid out all my clothes, set the coffee maker's timer, and even went so far as to pre-measure oatmeal and water portions so I could flip on the stove top and get that started within seconds of walking into the kitchen.

Even with the planning, I didn't start pedaling until 5:44AM. But maybe that was just as well since official sunrise was at 5:46AM. I hopped on the Cedar River Trail in Hiawatha and, within a couple miles, wondered if I was overdressed. This was underscored when I passed a guy pedaling the other direction. I was wearing tights, a long sleeved shirt, a windbreaker, a vest, a skull cap, and a helmet cover. The other guy, in his 60's, was wearing shorts, a long sleeved shirt, and no head cover. Oh well. I unzipped the vest a bit and soldiered on.

I checked the computer as I emerged from the trail on the edge of Cedar Rapids and found that I was averaging 15.3 mph over the first forty-one minutes. Over the next sixty-six minutes, I took C St. South, turned West on Wright Brothers Blvd., crossed I-380, and pedaled South on Hwy 965 into North Liberty.

By the time I reached North Liberty, I had shed the helmet cover, eaten a couple fig newtons, and increased my average speed ever so slightly to 15.4 mph. It was a beautiful morning for a ride. The traffic thickened as I joined the stream of commuters into Iowa City on Dubuque Street.

After crossing the Iowa River, I jumped onto the trails near the Water Works, passed underneath I-80, dropped into the granny gear for an unexpectedly steep hill, passed Elks 590, and rejoined Dubuque Street. Moments later, I cruised up to the bike racks outside the Levitt Center.

Distance: 37.4 miles
Ride Time: 2:22:46
Trip Time: 2:22:46
Average Speed: 15.6 mph
Average heart rate: 140 bpm

I felt good but my victory was tempered by the gnawing fact I was going to have to ride back home. To add a little insult to injury, I was taking a couple hours of vacation time so I could leave early enough to get me home at a reasonable time.

One thing I had going for me is favorable weather conditions. Morning temperatures were in the high 40's but, by the afternoon, were around 70 degrees. Winds were increasing throughout the day but, crucially, were coming out of the West Southwest so I wouldn't have to confront the wind directly.

Considering the hotter conditions, I was now wearing cycling shorts and a short sleeved jersey. I also drank a couple liters of water in the half hour before I left. Once on the bike, it only took a few minutes for me to realize that the return trip wouldn't be as fun. It was hot, my legs felt a little weak (not too bad) from the morning ride, and my route in the early stages was westerly enough for the winds to affect me.

By the time I turned onto Wright Brothers Blvd., I was an hour and twenty-two minutes into the ride and averaging 13.9 mph. The winds gave me a brief but thrilling boost in the short time I headed due East and then it was back to the low gears as I climbed C. Street into Cedar Rapids.

I passed AEGON around a quarter to five and jumped back on the trail. I ended up stopping twice in this stretch before entering Cedar Rapids proper: once for a bathroom break and a second time to move a turtle off the trail. I was worried that I'd have trouble with traffic downtown, but that turned out to be no big deal. All things considered, I felt pretty good as I rolled home.

Distance: 36.5 miles
Ride Time: 2:37:12
Trip Time: 2:39
Average Speed: 13.9 mph
Average heart rate: 134 bpm

The minor difference in the distance as compared to the morning ride is because I just stayed on Dubuque Street and skipped the short Waterworks Prairie Trails detour on the way home.

Does this man look ready for a shower and a cold beer?

Images hosted by

ICE ICE Postville

2008-05-15T14:58:00.004-05:00

Iowa is reacting to the recent immigration enforcement action in Postville which was apparently the largest single site-raid in United States history.

Setting aside for a moment the greater debate about illegal immigration, I was intrigued to see this related story concerning the plant's owners.

Agriprocessors attempted a novel union-busting tactic after employees at a distribution center in New York voted succesfully to unionize.

In an act of due-dilligence that I'm sure was unrelated to the union vote, the company reviewed the social security numbers of voting workers and discovered that many of the workers were using fradulent identification. Well this was a big suprise and very disturbing. So the workers were fired and the company sought to have the union vote invallidated.

This didn't work. The U.S. Circuit of Appeals and National Labor Relations Board sided with the union.

The article points out that one of the arguments for extending employment law protections to illegal immigrants is that it removes the incentive for employers to hire such workers under sub-standard conditions without fear of legal ramifications.

On the other hand, to the extent that employment law protections are applied universally, I suppose this adds an incentive (to immigrate) from the perspective of the undocumented immigrants. I have to assume that the greatest incentive by far, however, is salary.

Bill O'Reilly is a complete tool

2008-05-14T14:54:00.002-05:00

If you didn't see Colbert mocking Bill O'Reilly and the old footage of him being him, you've GOTTA check it out.

Linky here.

What the?!

2008-05-12T08:41:00.002-05:00

Maybe this doesn't quite rise to the level of the ACLU fighting for the Nazis in Skokie, but I never thought I'd find myself fighting for the right of men to wear small bathing suits...

What's the deal with the guy in Florida that got ticketed for wearing a speedo?

I guess the ticket was technically written for "trespass", but that's a particulary weak pretext since we're talking about a a public beach.

The linked article has some pictures. I was concerned at first. Maybe he DID deserve a ticket? But it's just an old guy reading a book on the beach. We're nowhere near Borat territory.

Ridedate 20080510

2008-05-11T08:15:00.003-05:00

After biting off a bit more than I could chew with last week's ride, I decided, logically enough, to bite off even more this week.

A few goslings and their parents in Cedar Lake.

I thought first about a 50 mile roundtrip to Vinton but, after consulting the weather forecast, I ruled it out due to the Southeast winds projected to increase in intensity as morning turned to afternoon. Above all, I wanted to avoid fighting the wind on my way home so I decided to head for Solon and plan on the wind at my back on the way home. So this set up a contest between the weather forecasts and Murphy of Murphy's Law fame.

I stopped on the edge of town to eat a couple fig newtons. An elderly couple in a maroon minivan with Wisconsin plates stopped to ask me directions. They were heading to Dubuque and took a wrong turn of I-380. I was a little nervous because this was one of those times where I knew that I could get where they wanted to go, but I wasn't sure if I could verbally tell them the correct steps and reference the correct roads. But in retrospect, I think I sent them the best way.

Here are some curious cows enjoying the morning outside Ely.

I stopped at Casey's for a quick break in Solon and headed back North. As hoped, the tailwinds made it easier going. One minor bummer is that it started sprinkling by the time I reached the edge of Cedar Rapids. Luckily, it stayed light and never really opened up.

I saw two women jogging North on the trail system. I thought they might be the same two that I saw getting out of their cars at the Northern trailhead of the Cedar River trail when I passed them around 7:35 AM. If so, that was long run! I slowed down and asked them if that's where they were came down from. It was. They said they were on a "20 miler". I congratulated them and was quite grateful that I was on wheels.

Distance: 50.6 miles
Ride Time: 3:16
Trip Time: 3:46
Average Speed: 15.4 mph
Average heart rate: 127 bpm

Considering how I've fallen out-of-shape (I've gained 20 pounds over the Winter) and was punished last week on the 28 mile ride, I was impressed how well I held up. I think "winning" the gamble that the wind forecast was accurate made a big difference.

I was tired afterwards, but just generally; no particular body parts were outraged.

A mother duck and her brood.

Images hosted by

A Chip off the old block

2008-05-03T09:45:00.004-05:00

Last week, my daughter Amelia brought home a Guninea Pig from her pre-school class. Apparently 'Chip' is like a library book where the kids check him out. We took him home on a Wednesday and, because they didn't have school that Friday, he was to stay with us for five nights.

I had a Guinea Pig when I was a kid. I don't remember its name or much about it. I think I may have even had more than one? But after spending some time with Chip, I see that there may not be much to remember. Chip didn't have much of a personality and didn't move much more than he had to.

But there were no disasters and the cat's initial curiousity soon wore off so the Chip trip was a success.

One funny thing is that a mother of a pre-school student from the 05-06 school year (a classmate of Evan's) visited our house and observed that she didn't remember Chip looking like that.

We're wondering if the position of 'Chip' at pre-school has the stability and longevity of a Redshirt.

Images hosted by

Pay to Pay?

2008-04-25T09:32:00.002-05:00

Typically, 'screw the customer' techniques are more subtle. But maybe they've run out of all the subtle ones by now.

The article here describes a recent episode where an AT&T Wireless customer was assessed a fee for paying her bill. Not a late fee mind you. But an "administrative charge" incurred when paying in person.

Can we call it a fee fee?

Oh great...

2008-04-03T12:36:00.003-05:00

The failings the Bush Presidency are well documented. Indeed, Slate.com is currently presenting a 10 Part series on how to fix all the screw ups.

But here's something I missed. In additon to everything else, we somehow managed to kill the Romanian Bruce Springsteen.

Can you imagine if the Romanians killed our Bruce Springsteen?