Base10Blog
Friday, July 30, 2004
 
Sayonara, DNC

Base10 did not catch Kerry's acceptance speech last night, which is probably good for his blood pressure. CNN has text and video (scroll down). Most pundits so far have given it good, but not great, ratings. Drudge reports that early TV figures suggest dismal ratings (plus, check out the amusing photos). But how much of a bounce will Kerry get?

The aftermath of the speech though, that's what gets to Base10. (There goes the blood pressure again). For example:

Thank God it's over.



Thursday, July 29, 2004
 
Nerd News

Lots of nerd news today, some good, some bad.  First the bad, Francis Crick, the discoverer of the double-helix DNA structure has passed away at 88.  Base10 always admired Crick not only for his tremendous discovery, but also for the fact that he put James Watson's name on their paper.  Watson was a 24 year-old graduate student at the time.  Best story:

After making the discovery, Crick walked into a Cambridge pub and announced that he and Watson had "found the secret of life." But only a few people at the time "even thought it was interesting," Crick once said, and it took years before the groundbreaking discovery was firmly accepted.

 
And then there's bad news for Apple.  Real Networks (which Base10 personally despises and hopes goes out of business--but I digress) released software to allow music to be downloaded from the Real Network Music Store to play on the Apple iPod.  Apple is quite pissed off about this and is exploring its legal options.  An apple spokesman said Real had "the ethics of a hacker."  Base10 thinks that's insulting to hackers everywhere.

And then there's good news for Bill Ruttan.  Ruttan's company has announced that it will make a formal attempt to claim the X-Prize.  SpaceshipOne's maiden flight for the prize will be on September 29.  SpaceshipOne will need to make it's second flight--a condition of the prize--by October 13.  Meanwhile, another organization called the da Vinci Project has stated that they will unveil their balloon launched product in August.  Base10 likes this kind of space race.

Meanwhile in California, scientists have created a synthetic prion--a rogue protein--and then used this prion to give a brain wasting disease to lab mice.  Prions have been linked to Mad Cow Disease and the human variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.  Lets hope that this new prion doesn't cause the mice to become murderously violent zombies.

 
Terror and Judgment

In the small victories department, the AP is reporting that Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian born muslim terrorist affiliated with al Qaeda has been arrested by Pakistani security forces.  Ghailani was wanted in connection with the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Tanzania and is on the FBI's most wanted list. 

Ghailani was unimaginatively nicknamed Ahmed the Tanzanian, a fact which makes one wonder about the tradecraft of al Qaeda members. 

Unfortunately, Iraq suffered a major attack yesterday killing at least 70 civilians and causing the two-week postponement of a national conference to pick an interim legislature. This passage is very telling:

Under a law promulgated by the outgoing U.S. occupation authority, the conference was to have been held by the end of July.  Fouad Masoum (head of Iraqi Security forces) said Thursday that the United Nations had asked for a delay to persuade resistant factions to attend, and the organizers agreed. The United Nations had previously called for a longer delay; Masoum said Tuesday he had turned them down, saying the conference had to be held by the end of July as "a matter of credibility."


Since the United Nations cut and ran from Iraq already, I don't see how taking their advice on this is a good plan. 



 
DNC, Again...

Base10 came across an interesting piece by Dan Rather who stated that if the networks devoted three hours of coverage to the convention, a test pattern would get higher ratings (via Drudge).  Oddly, ABC is reporting that rather than getting the expected pre-convention bounce, Kerry may have actually dipped in the polls.  While GOPers should expect a post-convention bounce, Base10 wonders whether this election is defying all conventional wisdom. 

Okay, bad pun.  But here is some terribly funny commentary today from Allahpundit.  While the "bunny" suits are funny, Base10 does not think this will ultimately become Kerry's Dukakis moment.

Also on Drudge, a breaking story about a book to be published next month by Kerry's successor as Swiftboat commander in Vietnam.  The book, Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry, by John E. O'Neill.  This promises to be rather scathing, among other things:

Time will tell whether this controvery has legs, but this is the kind of thing that could ruin Kerry--but only if it is coming from verifiable, non-partisan sources.


Wednesday, July 28, 2004
 
I Could Think of Other Things to Call Him

In the unfortunate headline department, John Edwards will be speaking tonight at the DNC and leaked details of his speech reveal that he will call John Kerry "decisive" and "strong."  Meanwhile, in spite of Michael Moore, the TV ratings for the minimal media coverage of the DNC has been staggeringly low.  Base10 thinks the Democrats should beware.  Mainstream America (maybe there's more than John Edwards "Two Americas.") perhaps does not like to see this level of Bush bashing.  They may not agree with the President, but they do not like to see him trashed.

Base10 sees the memes that have been cropping up again and again in the campaign, specifically at the Convention:

Also from Mrs. Kerry, 

"He's a fighter!" - Theresa Heinz Kerry.   Base10 always wondered where the pugilistic references entere politics.  It seems that boxing and football are the usual metaphors for politics.  Who exactly will John Kerry be fighting?  Will they be using gloves or is it bareknuckle?(BTW lady, please lose the French accent).


 
Howard Dean and an Odd Bit of the Reagan Legacy

The Weekly Standard has an interesting piece on a "Take Back America" rally in Boston with appearances by Howard Dean and Michael Moore.   While the article is thoughtful, Base10 was struck by this passage:

Dean 3.1 has a new message: Getting progressives to run for office. His idea is that if progressives start running for school boards and town councils and dogcatcher, then eventually Democrats will have an organization that rivals Republicans. Dean himself is now actively involved in this crusade, announcing that he's been trying to help one progressive get elected to her library council.

Base10 is intrigued by the use of the term "progressive" and presumes that Jonathan V. Last, the author of the article, was directly quoting Dean's use of this word.  While it is obvious that the word "progressive" has become a code word for "liberal" these days, what is not so obvious is when the liberals started using the term themselves. 

One of the (few) unfortunate things about the Reagan revolution is the relegation of the word "liberal" to almost curse word status.  Base10 always likes to make a distinction between small-l "liberalism" and big-L "Liberalism" where the former stood for those holding liberal ideals like free markets and representative governements and the latter stands for a "progressive" political party or ideology. 

We are all small-l liberals, as opposed to monarchists or communists.  I do think it's a shame that such a useful word was removed from political dialogue.   Yet clearly, politicians of the big-L variety cannot aford to be identified with the "L" word since the vast majority of Americans have rejected this philosophy.  So the Liberals now use the code word "progressive."


Tuesday, July 27, 2004
 
Labor Talks, er, Shouts

Although Boston quickly settled contracts with their police and fire departments before the start of the DNC, NYPD and FDNY are unlikely to make any headway.  The Post reports that the Mayor was upstaged by a PBA vehicle while at a Staten Island PR event.    In another event, the Mayor got into a verbal confrontation with firefighters in the Bronx (captured on WNBC video here).  Two completely disingenuous things said by the Mayor:

Base10 has written about this issue before and puts the clear cause of the police wage situation as horizontal pattern bargaining (the practice that once one union agrees to a settlement it becomes the "pattern" into which other unions are locked in spite of vastly differing circumstances).  Normally, Base10 is very pro-Mayor and had written extensively about what a great job he has done so far in education and other issues.  But on this issue, Mayor Mike, you have to give a little.  Another person upon whose shoulders this issue clearly rests is Commissioner Kelly.  For some strange reason, Police Commissioners traditionally give no input in the labor negotiations effecting their employees.  It's time for this Commissioner to break that agreement.  With unprecedented access to the Mayor, Kelly should convince him to break the pattern (as Mayor Koch did in the late 80's) and set police wages to a more realistic level. 



 
City Journal

City Journal, the quarterly publication from the Manhattan Institute, is probably the most thoughtful magazine published today on urban issues from a conservative perspective.  It does not get nearly enough attention from the mainstream media.  Here are a couple of great articles in the current issue:

 

These two pieces jumped out at Base10, but there's plenty of other good stuff.



 
Geek Stuff

(Via Slashdot).  Microsoft has created a news aggregator along the lines of Google News and Yahoo News.   Of course, it remains to be seen whether this tool will be used as widely.  Base10's only complaint so far is that it does not give a number for returns.  So we can't play the game that Google returned 8,230 news results for "windows security" while MSN produced 4.


 
Presidential Politics

Some great stuff in the WSJ's Opinion Journal today:

Base10 is a regular reader of James Taranto and is happy to see him write an occassional full piece.  Today he writes from Boston and discusses the ridiculous trend analysis that goes on during the Presidential election.  The current rubric is "No Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio."  Mr. Kerry currently holds a lead in Ohio.  Mr. Tarranto points out the seemingly endless list of broken "trends" of this type.  Interesting reading.

This discussion reminds Base10 of the vacuous trend analysis that accompanies the Superbowl.  Ridiculous things like "No wildcard team has ever won a superbowl with a sophmore quarterback."  (Basae10 has no idea whether this is true).  Base10 supposes that this is another example of the football metaphor in politics.

Also, WSJ editheads want the Sandy Berger "in your pants" memo to be declassified and released to the public.  The suggestion is that Berger wrote in the margin on one of the drafts "no" in response to a recommendation to further attack al Qaeda.  While Gov. Kean has stated they have seen everything, the WSJ points out there is no way he can say if something he hasn't seen can change his mind.  And while democratic apologists blame this on Berger's slovenly habits and claim the memo in question just contained minor changes in drafting, the editorial also reminds us that the Iran-Contra scandal was uncovered because of a paragraph that was found in a preliminary draft of an Oliver North memo.

In another good piece, John Fund reports on Democratic hysteria over the new electronic voting machines in several states.  Fund argues that this is a way to channel the leftover hysteria from the "stolen" 2000 election to increase turnout. 

UPDATE: Even Economist/Shameless Political Hack Paul Krugman has gotten in on the computerized voting issue.  Thank God I don't read the London papers!

 
Satire, Civility and Democracy

Many in the blogging community and the mainstream media have reported on a flash cartoon produced by Jibjab Productions.  The video shows cartoon versions of President Bush and challenger John Kerry dancing and singing along to Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land."  Both candidates are sniping at each other calling their opponents "right-wing nut jobs" and "left-wingweenies."  Unlike the scum from Moveon.org, this cartoon is hysterical, even-handed and makes people remember that politics shouldn't be about calling each other Nazis.  The most hysterical aspect of the story is that the holder of the Guthrie copyrights (not the Woody Guthrie estate, as Base10 previously thought) is suing the operators of Jibjab for copyright infringement.  Gregg and Evan Spiridellis, the brothers behind Jibjab, have stated that their position is that the political use of this song comes under the fair use doctrine. 

While the final message of the cartoon is sort of "Why can't we all just get along?" and it reminds us that maybe we should lighten up on all the vitriol.  Unfortunately, this message seems to have been lost on Theresa Heinz-Kerry.  The candidate for First Lady recently told a reporter to "Shove it!" when she was asked to clarify her comments to the Pennsylvania delegation to the DNC.  Ironically, her remarks were about bringing more civility into political dialoges.


Monday, July 26, 2004
 
Republican Mountain Biking

There is an interesting story on the AP about George W. Bush's mountain biking expertise.  Apparently, Bush is quite the biker dude!  He rides a high-end Trek and has taken his share of spills.  Bush has said that his knees are shot and cannot run any more but he enjoys the bicycle rides on his ranch. 

This inevitably begs the question about whether mountain biking is Republican.  Base10 supposes that road cycling would be considered Democratic (although Lance Armstrong the Texan might disagree).  Base10 is a road bike convert but thinks maybe he will dust off his hard-tail Trek and hit some single-track tomorrow.  It makes him feel more conservative just thinking about it.

Of course a Republican/Democrat split on cycling calls to mind something Base10 said when he first switched.  While riding with a friend, Base10 pointed out that on mountain bikes we had to call each other "Dude!"  A future ride when we were both on road bikes, Base10's friend asked what you call a couple of guys on road bikes.  Base10--recalling his mountain biking roots--simply replied, "Usually faggots."

And no, Base10 is not anti-gay.

UPDATE:  My god it's true!  John Kerry is a roadie!


 
Afghanistan and Democracy

The WSJ's Opinion Journal has a terrific story about good news in Afghanistan.  For sure, Afghanistan has a long way to go.  But this article highlights some of the tremendous strides being made.  Base10's favorites:

Read the article.  It's very good. 



Sunday, July 25, 2004
 
Armstrong, Williams and NYC Baseball.

Base10 is watching the Mets v. Atlanta at this moment and the teams are tied. Alas, there was a rain-out on Friday and that game was postponed until September 13 (when it may mean nothing). The Mets lost 5-2 last night after a complete collapse of their bullpen in relief of Al Lieter. This team really needs an infusion of pitching relief. There are many aspect of this team that have great potential. Matsui and Reyes are the players of the future. Some say they should switch position.

Although Base10 is a Mets fan, our cousins in the north played Boston yesterday in a great game. Boston won in the bottom of the ninth, 11-10 and the game included a bench-clearing brawl. Tonight's game should be good too.

There is bizzarre news from professional football today. Ricky Williams, the sometimes controversial running back for the Miami Dolphins, has announced that he is retiring from the NFL. Williams is only a five-year veteran. Williams informed the Dolphins of his decision and boarded a plane to Asia. Commentators are speculating on the cause. Some point to a rumor that Williams tested positive again for marihuana and this led to his retirement. Base10 finds this hard to believe since this would have been his second offense but would have involved a fine rather than a suspension. Base10's personal belief is that given Ricky's previous mental health history, perhaps he has simply forgotten to take his meds. There is of course a middle ground that you have to respect. Williams is arguably the best running back in the game right now and a few more seasons like his last two and he would have been Hall of Fame bound. But it is also clear that he could not take the constant and intense pressure that comes with the job. Not everyone is cut out for this. If Ricky William's retirement is a reasoned decision to go out on top while preserving his mental and pysical health and quiting a job he clearly never really enjoyed, then Base10 really reaspects that. But I still think it's the meds.

Meanwhile back in France, Lance Armstrong has won his sixth consecutive Tour de France. The only thing left is what does Lance do now? It is possible that Lance will skip the Tour de France next year and concentrate instead on other races. Indeed one of the knocks on Armstrong is that while he has dominated the Tour he has ignored other important races. It is a little similar to a tennis player winning the US Open six consecutive times but not seriously competing in any other major. This decision by Armstrong would have many good effects. First, the Tour de France would actually be very exciting. Top contenders like Tyler Hamilton, Jan Ullrich and others would get a day in sun. In addition, other major races like the Tour d'Italia, the Tour of Spain and Paris-Robaiux would benefit from Armstrong's presence and might serve to popularize the sport in the US. It is a shame that Armstrong will not compete in the Olympics and would be unlikely to compete four years hence. The only thing he lacks (and seemigly the only thing that US fans understand) is an Olympic Gold Medal. Well, never sell Lance short--if it's possible to do in four years, Base10 bets that is what he will set his sights on.

Friday, July 23, 2004
 
We Remember the Moon!
The 35th Aniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon passed without much fanfare. NASA did release some striking digital photos taken on the moon. Terrific panoramic view! Base10 doesn't have time at this moment to properly attribute this quote, but recalls that Arthur C. Clarke once said that he always knew he would see the first man walk on the moon in his lifetime. He also said, "I never dreamed I'd see the last one." As much as Base10 wishes there was a lunar tourist spot, he must admit, there's nothing there. It's a rock!

For a taste of recent exploration, there are some new images from Cassini.
Striking photos of the rings of Saturn. Links to follow.

UPDATE: Photo links for Apollo 11 are here. Photos from Cassini are here.

 
Merde Ici!
Base10 took off Thursday in no small part to watch the Tour de France's last mountain stage. What a great race! Armstrong and the Postal Team simply dominated and Lance won the stage. It was great to watch. Unfortunately, Lance was accosted by a couple of drunken Germans. Wearing shirts adorned with "Fuck Bush" written in very stylish silver duct tape, the Germans spit on our boy Lance! Of course after reading this about the Germans, this should come as no surprise.

Note to Paul Sherwen: While Base10 loves the sometimes over-the-top commentary of Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen, in this case Paul went a little too far. On the last descent, Sherwen noted that the road the riders were taking was the same road that Hannibal used to bring elephants across the Alps to defeat Charlemagne. Paul, Hannibal crossed the Alps in 218 BC. Charlemagne ruled most of central Europe until 812 AD. Close. You were only off by about a thousand years. It's a good thing these guys are not in charge of the time keeping. Click here for a Liggett/Sherwen Bingo Card!

Today's stage was uneventful. Armstrong goes into tomorrow's time trial leading his closest rival by over four minutes. The race is over as long as he can avoid riding off a mountain. See you in Paris!
 
Sunday Shoutfest Preview

Ah Sunday approaches and Base10 forsees much shouting at the television. On Meet the Press, Tim Russert interviews 9/11 Commission Chairman Thomas Kean and Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton. In a similar Commission vein, on This Week, George Stephanopoulos interviews Commission members Bob Kerrey and John Lehman. (For extra bloviation, Ted Kennedy will also make an appearance).

Other shoutfest shows appear to be taking a Democratic Convention tack rather than the 9/11 Commission. On Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico and Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsyvania. For good measure there's also Chris Heinz, Sen. Kerry’s stepson. Over on Face the Nation, Bob Schieffer interviews Barack Obama, DNC keynote speaker.

Because of convention commentary, this appears to be a predominantly Democratic weekend and therefore will include particularly loud shouting.
 
Base10's Bookshelf
Base10 is on vacation this week and--aside from the 9/11 Commission Report--Base10 has a couple of books on his beach reading list. Time will tell whether he makes a dent.

For the non-geeks:

Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898, by Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace. This schalarly work looks like it will be the definitive history of the City of New York for the forseable future. However, readers beware, it is a hefty tome at 1383 pages. Base10's perusal so far seems to indicate a slight pro-labor tone, but he will reserve judgment until finishing the book.

Pattern Recognition, by William Gibson.   Base1o loves science fiction and is ond of William Gibson.  When one finishes his novels, one is left with a sense of wonder.  But beware!  This book is set in the present and is a shift from Gibson's usual work.  It may be good but it may be dreadful.  (Remember Killing Time, by Caleb Carr?  After strikingly good and historically accurate detective fiction, Carr strayed from what he was good at.  For example, the funniest review header is "Surprisingly Awful" but it is typical of comments).

I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov.  Given the recent release of the movie of the same name, Base10 thought it would be a good idea to reread the actual vision of the author.  Base10 has not seen the movie, but understands it to have little in common with the similarly named collection of short stories.   Asimov believed robots would be our friends and allies--and ultimately our guardians.  Will Smith may not feel the same way.

And of course, let us not forget Michael Moore Is A Big Fat Stupid White Man, by David T. Hardy and Jason Clarke.  So far, it is extremely entertaining, but Base10's biggest complaint is that much of the material has been published before in such places as the Opinion Journal.

Geek Stuff:

Charles F. Goldfarb's XML Handbook, by Charles F. Goldfarb and Paul Prescod.  One would expect the creator of SGML to write an excellent book about XML, SGML's cousin.  One would not be disapointed.  Since his first exposure to XML, Base10 has noticed a dicotomy.  Some books simply deal with the nuts and bolts of creating DTD's and XML documents.  There is very little talk of actual applications.  This is true of stalwart publishers that Base10 usually relies on like the Dummies series.  Goldfarb seems to fill the gap.  The book can be divided into three main parts, one is an introduction, two is a detailed description of deployment of XML by several entities and organizations.  The third is a more detailed tutorial on all aspects of XML, but not with nuts and bolts coding.  Base10 is about a third of the way through and it's good so far. 

Thursday, July 22, 2004
 
9/11 Commission

Base10 caught the President's comments about the 9/11 Commission's Report and the press conference that followed its release. Base10 had his doubts about it, especially given the shabby and blatantly political treatment it gave to members of the administration. But after listening to Gov. Kean this morning, I'm starting to think that maybe it was a good idea. Perhaps this can provide some level of closure to the country.

UPDATE:  Base10 was in work Friday downloading and copying the Commissioner Report.  Base10 also started reading his personal copy.  Certainly a hefty tome, Base10 understands why reporters are having a slow go of it in reporting on detailed contents.  (Base10 himself is not an "Executive Summary" kind of guy.  He also realizes that if he does not read this over this weekend, he will not read it at all.  Opening impressions, the Report was prepared in a very thorough and professional manner.   A couple of observations:


Wednesday, July 21, 2004
 
Transit Bomb PO Not What He Seems

The Daily News and others are reporting on an item Base10 mentioned yesterday.  It seems that the backpack that exploded in the Times Square Station recently injuring PO Joseph Rodriguez is not a terrorist threat afterall.  Rodriguez  was being processed for a mental illness related disability pension at the time of the incident and is suspected of planting the crude device himself.  Here is the item in the Post.


 
Armstrong to Win a Sixth Tour de France, Merde!

Base10 took lunch early and watched the last hour from today's individual time trial stage in l'Alpe d'Huez .  What a race!  Lance had a monstrous stage victory.  According to the commentators, he broke a record for the fastest ascent and actually passed Ivan Basso.  Overall, he's a little less than four minutes ahead of Basso (who still may pose a danger in the next two mountain stages) and almost eight minutes ahead of Jan Ullrich.  His average speed was a little over 25 mph.  Base10 can't even manage that on the flats!

Tuesday, July 20, 2004
 
Political Bloviation

Base10 noted a slightly interesting article in NY1 about plans to demolish the Deutsche Bank building on the edge of ground zero.   The building, now owned by the LMDC, is severely damaged and is slated for destruction.  While this itself hardly seems unusual, the plans have taken on a life of their own.  It seems that NY Congressman/Shameless Media Whore Jerold Nadler is convinced the LMDC is incompetent to demolish a building.  Spake he:

It is clear the LMDC cannot be trusted to supervise the demolition of this building and to safeguard the public's health.  [It] does not have the expertise necessary to handle the contamination or to oversee the demolition of the building, and is inappropriately managing the situation. In fact, as they have stated, the LMDC's half-baked plan to demolish the building pre-supposes that there is no contamination present in the building.

Base10 wonders if the congressman would be so concerned if he couldn't snag a TV headshot over this issue.  The LMDC did respond appropriately: 

This is nothing more than political grandstanding. It is fascinating how the Congressman can predict results of testing that has yet to be completed and plans to deconstruct that have not yet been conceived. The LMDC is committed to conducting comprehensive testing and working with our consultants and environmental regulators to ensure this building is deconstructed in an environmental sensitive manner. As with all of the LMDC efforts, the public will be consulted on the deconstruction plan.

This item would normally slip under Base10's radar but for two things:



 
Armstrong Wins Stage, Sacrebleu!

Lance Armstrong has once again claimed the yellow jersey and is 1:25 ahead of his closest competitor, Ivan Basso of Italy.  He also won the mountain stage today.  With a brutal uphill time trial tomorrow and less difficult mountain stages on Thursday and Friday, it seems almost certain that Armstrong will win the tour.  Other than Basso, his only significant rival, Jan Ullrich, remains almost seven minutes behind (6:54).  But watch out for Basso.  The last few stages he has kept up with Armstrong and would have won this stage had he won the final sprint.  Ivan Basso may very well be a future champion. 


 
Are Those Classified Documents in Your Pants
or Are You Just Happy to See Me?

In the unfortunate headline department, Fox News and other sources are reporting that Sandy Berger, Clinton-era National Security Advisor, is being investigated by the Justice Department for removing classified documents from the National Archives.  While this may be only a mistake, statements attributed to Berger suggest otherwise:
Berger and his lawyer said Monday night he knowingly removed the handwritten notes by placing them in his jacket, pants and socks, and also inadvertently took copies of actual classified documents in a leather portfolio.

Berger placed classified documents in his pants and socks?  Why?



 
Free Speech, Part III

Police, Fire and Teacher's unions are protesting outside of Madison Square Garden.  The protests began yesterday in an effort to call attention to the lack of a contract with the city.  The strange thing is the unity of three groups that are normally at odds.  The real culprit here, at least from the police perspective is the concept of horizontal pattern bargaining.  Governed by the Taylor law, and therefore forbidden to strike and bound by an arbitration process that many feel is slanted toward the city, police unions must face an uphill battle for any type of raises.  What absolutely kills them is the use by the city of a "pattern" such as the pact recently signed by DC 37.  Continued use of the pattern has resulted in rather low pay for police officers relative to other jurisdictions, but relatively high pay for teachers and firemen when compared nationally.  For some interesting data on this see this site.   See this site for a survey of teacher's pay.  And click here for information on firefighters.


 
Free Speech, Part II (Not so Sweet)

Many sources are reporting Federal Judge Robert Sweet's ruling limiting the NYPD's actions during protests in the upcoming Republican National Convention.  Some observations:

It's unclear to Base10 how this will shake out, but both sides seem to be claiming victory.  However, the cover of the Daily News says it all.

UPDATE:  Maybe somebody should read Judge Sweet this story about how a transit cop was hurt when a backpack containing improvised explosives exploded on the Time Square station last night. 


 
Free Speech, Part I

Reuters is reporting that 80's singer Linda Ronstadt was booed off the stage when she made pro-Michael Moore and anti-Bush statements at a show in the Alladin Hotel in Las Vegas.  Most of her audience walked out demanding their money back.  Ms. Ronstadt was escorted out of the hotel and asked never to return.  Base10 thinks this is hysterical.  First, fans support what is left of Kinda Ronstadt's career by going to these shows out of a sense of nostalgia (and perhaps because they honestly like her music).  They do not go to hear the singer's political views.  ("We really need to fix Social Security and continue the war on terror.  Hmmm...let's ask a singer what to do!")   Second, while Base10 is not arguing that Ms. Ronstadt should not be permitted to hold political views--as sound as this position might be--she should realize that her fans are predominantly middle-American and do not like these kinds of political diatribes.  Ms. Ronstadt, let's not be so polemic as to insult the fans that actually pay your bills.  Third, Base10 expects that this event will be described as "censorship" by the left.  Readers should note it is not.  Las Vegas vacationers have a right to free speech too.


Saturday, July 17, 2004
 
Nerd Alert

The Slackware linux distribution has just released version 10.0 and Base10 is giddy with delight.  He is downloading it as he types and will try for a laptop install later today.  Base10 has been searching for a distro that will support wi-fi and bluetooth on his laptop but has not found one yet.  Slackware was Base10's first experiment with Linux and, well you know what they say about your first... 

 
Go Lance, Go Mets!

Lance Armstrong had an excellent ride today.  He won the stage and came to within 22 seconds of taking the yellow jersey.  Ullrich is closing but is still many minutes behind Armstrong and Tyler Hamilton withdrew from the Tour after aggravating a back injury he sustained in a crash in stage 6.  While this is good news for Armstrong, Hamilton's injury must have been exruciating.  Cycling fans will remember Hamilton raced most of the tour and came in third last year with a broken collarbone.  He is a true tough guy.
 
While there's good news in France, news was not so good at Shea.  The Mets lost 5-1 to the Phillies in an awful showing.  Base10 is waiting for the start of the game as he blogs.  Glavine is starting today.  The Mets plan on bringing up a new pitcher, Scott Erikson to pitch on Monday.  Base10 wonders what happened to Ginter. 

 
You Would Have Thought it Was a French Colony

The Philippines have withdrawn their forces from Iraq according to CNN.  The withdrawal follows demands by Islamic terrorists threatening to behead a Philippine guestworker.  Base10 is sympathetic toward the hostage but this situation is outrageous.  The Philippines can now never be trusted to live up to its national commitments especially when it is itself engaged in fighting an militant islamic insurgency.  This is simply an invitation to take Filipinos hostage worldwide. 


 
Absurdity International

Base10 came across an article in Fox News about the successful deployment of Tasers by the Miami-Dade Police Department.  The Department has deployed the next generation of Taser guns.  The weapons temporarily incapacitate offenders and are non-lethal.  Once a hotbed of racially charged police shootings, Miami-Dade Chief John Timony noted that not a single shot was fired in the last 19 months.  Readers note that it's not persons shot but bullets shot.
 
Alas, the self-styled protector of civil rights around the world, Amnesty International believes that use of the Tasers should be banned.  Apparently they would prefer that officers shoot and kill those violent offenders instead of taking them in alive.   Whose rights are they looking after?
For more info look at the Taser website.
 
Chief Timony also happens to be a former First Deputy Commissioner in the NYPD under Bill Bratton.  He faced his ouster when Bratton fired by Mayor Rudy Giulliani and replaced with Howard Safir.  Timony publically called Safir a "lightweight."  Base10 not only admires Timony's way with words but also his judge of character!

Friday, July 16, 2004
 
Go Lance!
And Other Sports...

Stage 12 ended a couple of hours ago and Base10 was impressed.  Lance Armstrong and the Posties attacked during the stage and as a result, Lance is now Number 2 in the overall standings.  After this, the first real mountain stage, he is about four minutes ahead of his main rivals.  Base10 can't wait to see the weekend rides. 
 
In Mets news, the Metskies won against Philly in extra innings last night closing the gap to one game.  Base10 had to admit he did not see the win.  After about the 11th inning, Base10 usually goes to bed and just assumes the Mets will win.  This time it actually worked!  There's another game tonight and Base10 can stay up!  Hurrah!
 
In PGA news, Skip Kendall leads with a -7 at the British Open.  However, there are plenty of great golfers breathing down his neck!
 
Yahoo has an interesting item about former Minnesota Vikings RB Robert Smith who led the NFC in rushing at 28 years of age in 2000.  Smith was about to become a free agent and was bound to sign a big contract but chose instead to walk away from pro football entirely.  Smith has an autobiography out that sheds some light on his decision.  While he cites some conflicts with Randy Moss, it seems that the key reason was lack of intellectual challenge.  An intellectual, Smith admits he never really liked football and decalred the intense preparation akin to a remedial math class.  Sounds like an interesting book.



 
Martha Stewart, Ungrateful Criminal.

Domestic Diva/Convicted Felon Martha Stewart was sentenced today in Federal District Court today.  She got five months in jail, five months under house arrest and a $30,000 fine.  Base10 thinks the sentence is a little lenient, but isn't too disappointed.  What is more disappointing is the complete arrogance with which Ms. Stewart engaged the cameras immediately after her sentencing.  She thanked her followers but did she appologize to the shareholders that she destroyed or the workers that were layed off as a result of her criminal behavior?  No she called it a "small, personal matter."  A felony is a small personal matter?  Especially when you are a stock broker and know exactly what you are doing is against the law.  In spite of this, Martha Stewart has managed to portray herself as a victim and shill for her corporation.   If she is a victim, she is a victim of her own avarice.  What is perhaps more infuriating is the reaction by some  members of the public condoning her behavior, "Poor Martha has done what so many others have done before, why should she be singled out?"  Because she committed a felony.  Pastry making skills do not make up for criminal behavior.  
 
While Ms. Stewart should have been both apologetic and grateful for what she got, the judge in question refused to allow the jail time to be served in a half-way house or by community service.  Base10 thinks this might have been a viable option.  What a great reality TV show it would make!  Martha Stewart has to serve a six month sentence running a group home in East New York for crack addicted teenage girls.  She can show the girls how to bake cookies and comfort them while they are puking from withdrawal symptoms.  The proceeds from the show can be used to compensate Martha Stweart Living employees who had to be fired because Martha Stewart decided to commit a felony to save herself from losing a few thousand dollars.


Thursday, July 15, 2004
 
Jenna, Ditka et al.

Base10's project is proceeding in a more or less timely fashion. Here are a few interesting tidbits:

Base10 is looking forward to this weekend, which is shaping up to be a non-stop, multi-sport extravaganza. First, there is the Tour de France with good mountain stages coming up.

Second, the Mets begin a 11 game homestand tonight beginning with a four game series against Philly. Unfortunately, they're going into the weak part of their order right now. This homestand could well decide whether the Mets have any post-season shot.

Third, the British Open is being played as I blog. This year's tournament is already filled with excitement. YOu see, Ernie Els hit a hole-in-one. How rare is that at a PGA major?

Last, but not least, for those of us who cannot wait for even the hint of football, the NFL's Quarterback Challenge airs this weekend as well.

In other sports news, Mike Ditka has decided not to run on the Republican ticket for the Illinois senate seat. Citing his temper and his ultra-conservative views, he decided against the run.

NYPD's erstwhile Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik is again in the news. It seems that during his watch, the Depoartment purchased a set of $50,000 security doors for the entrance to headquarters. The purchase apparently bypassed the usual contract bidding process and resulted in the doors being unuseable because of their weight. Well it seems that the doors have gone and disapeared right out of headquarters. And it turns out that ex-Commissioner Kerik is a board member of the holding company that owns Georal International, the door supplier. Georal by the way is being investigated for fraud in relation to other city contracts. This event once again strengthens Base10's conviction that the Bernard B. Kerik Complex (formerly known as the "Tombs") will one day achieve the distinction of being the only correctional facility that will house the person after whom it is named.

Several news sources are reporting that Jenna Bush, daughter of the President and recent college graduate, will be teaching at the the Harlem Day Charter School. Base10 thinks this is a great thing for Ms. Bush to do and wishes her the best of luck. However, Base10 is a little disapointed in her father. How could he let his daughter work so close to a known pervert?

For today's geek items, there is an interesting article (via Slashdot) in Wired about the New York Times and why it should release its digital archive. Base10 would like to point out that the Times is already available for free with a local library card. See this link.

Also in Slashdot was a interesting piece about the existence of methane and ammonia in the Martian atmosphere. It seems both substances can only be formed by living cells or volcanic processes. To date, no Martian probe has detected volcanic activity. Very X-Files!


Wednesday, July 14, 2004
 
Whither Base10?

Reports of Base10's demise have been greatly exaggerated. As previously described, Base10 is involved in a project at work that is simply mega time-consuming. Now Base10 can't really complain since it is on the Department's dime and Base10 has been the clear economic recipient. In addition, it is a pretty cool project and may lead to an academic paper (which Base10 will link to once he reveals his secret identity). Unfortunately, Base10 is also on vacation next week and wishes to get this project behind him soon so he can go with a clear conscience.

No vacation plans to speak of except the usual: some reading, some beach and some blogging fun. Here are a few links to keep you busy:

In Tour de France news, the AP is reporting that "Armstrong uncertain what lies ahead as Tour enters first crucial phase." You would think someone would have bought a map over at the US Postal Team. But seriously, today is the first of the mountain stages, although the mountains are not so high. The real mountain stages start on Friday. Standings have remained the same for several stages. Now is the time that you might see some movement of Armstrong and the other contenders.

Base10 watched the MLB All Star Game last night and enjoyed it in spite of the complete dominance of the NL by the AL, clobbering them 9 to 4. Roger Clemens gave up six runs on five hits in the first inning. Ironically he was honored during the seventh inning stretch.

In what must constitute a "News of the Bizarre" item, there are several reports that erstwhile NFL coach Mike Ditka is contemplating a run for the US Senate. Ditka would run on the GOP ticket taking the spot of Jack Ryan. You may recall that Jack Ryan, the former spouse of Star Trek sex symbol Jeri Ryan, was forced to withdraw from the campaign after a series of revelations concerning kinky sex practices used as grounds for their divorce. Base10 only brings this up for gratuitous reasons and an excuse to link to a Jeri Ryan photo. Let's just hope the Republicans get the Chicago Bears Ditka and not the mini-Ditka from New Orleans.

The AP had an infuriating story about a so-called documentarian making a film exposing bias on the Fox News Channel. The reader almost thinks this is a legitimate story until the last paragraph when it is revealed that the film will "initially be distributed through private 'house party' screenings and DVD sales." This basically means this is a student film that no one other than the reporter will see. Base10 then read Orson Scott Card's terrific piece about media bias in the Opinion Journal and realized that the AP story was exactly the kind of biased liberal journalism that Card was describing. The AP piece is an editorial disguised as a news story.

Bloomberg News reports (via Slashdot) that the Mexican Attorney General (along with about 160 other officials) will have a chip implanted in his arm to allow his location to be tracked and presumably allow access to a criminal database. The technology seems cool, but shouldn't the Mexican authorities be putting these chips in the criminal's arms to track them?

And finally in the "hasn't the man suffered enough" department, a British man was jailed for five years for illegal weapons possession. After drinking 15 pints of beer at a local pub, he went home and put a sawed-off shotgun in his pants and accidentally shot off his own testicles.
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
 
Closing Note

Base10 will be a bit busy at work this week so posting may be quite limited. He will try to do something this evening, but promises nothing. Meanwhile, here are some things to read about:

 
Armstrong in Yellow.

There is much joy in the world! The US Postal Team set a phenominal pace in today's team time trial in the Tour de France and has propelled Lance Armstrong into the yellow jersey. Lance is certainly on out of the woods yet: Jan Ullrich is trailing by 55 seconds while Tyler Hamilton trails by a mere 36 seconds. Other riders are farther behind,m but you can depend on some to make up time in the mountain stages. Here's a recap from Yahoo. It amazes me that the Posties managed the third fastest average speed in this type of stage managing something like a 34 mph pace. There were several crashes and the valiant effort of the PHonoak team placed them in second despite some punctures and losing three riders. Base10 can't wait to catch the replay tonight.
Monday, July 05, 2004
 
Geek Alert.

The Cassini probe continues to provide striking images os Saturn and its moons. This image uses false colors to visualize the surface of Titan.

The Times has a piece about the software running the websites of John Kerry and George W. Bush. The Bush campaign favors Microsoft IIS while the Kerry campaign favors open source and Apache. Interesting, but I don't know what difference it makes. (Via Slashdot).
 
How 'Bout Them Mets!

Base10 previoulsy remarked about Saturday being a good sports day. Well Sunday was pretty good too!


By far the biggest event of the day, at least from Base10's perspective, was the Mets win over the Yankees. No. It didn't happen! A .500 team from the worst division can't possibly sweep the greatest team in baseball. No. Never. Can't happen!

But indeed, it did. The Mets did the unthinkable and took three from the Yanks at Shea yesterday. This was the first time the Mets have swept the Yankees since interleague play started in 1997. Good for the boys from Queens, but their real test is going to be the four game series they play against Philly starting today. Base10 is not entirely surprised though. The Mets went into yesterday's game with nothing to lose. They had aready won two and evened up the series. The Yanks on the other hand needed the win more to avoid getting swept after their rout of Boston during the week.

And in an odd twist of fate, the rosters for the All-Star Teams have been released and Mike Piazza will likely catch for Roger Clemens on the National League team. Sports fans will recall the history between the two including Clemen's beaning of PIazza in the head in 2000.
 
Sudan and Europe.

There are a couple of very good pieces in the Wall Street Journal about the current situation in Sudan. It's a story that Base10 has been following somewhat and the politics of the area are shockingly complex. The first piece, an editorial, describes Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit to Sudan. The second paragraph says it all:

The Secretary of State's visit also throws a spotlight on another unfortunate global reality. Once again the world is calling on the U.S. to stop a horror that the United Nations and everybody else have failed to act against. The killing of black Muslim tribesmen by government-backed Arab militias has been going on since February of last year. But while the world's moralists are in full cry about the threat of "another Rwanda," no one sees fit to actually do something. No one, that is, except the U.S.

The US has brokered a deal in which the Sudanese government will disarm militias in the south of the country. Time will tell whether this actually does any good, but it is a start. The Sudanese government is also allowing UN monitors. (Although the editors note that Europe is sending all of six troops.

The article concludes, "it is fashionable these days to express distaste for American 'unilateralism' and 'hegemony.' The unfolding catastrophe in Darfur offers a chilling view of what the alternative really looks like.
Here, here WSJ editors!

In the second article, Kamel Labidi calls attention to the shocking silence about the Darfur genocide by the Arab world. This considering that a large number of the victims are Muslim. Here's a quote:

So far, however, only a few Arab voices, most of them in the beleaguered human-rights community, have warned against these large-scale crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Sudanese military government and the Janjaweed militiamen whom it backs and arms. Unfortunately, these voices have little influence in a region where the media is still in the tight grip of entrenched autocrats and most people are mired in illiteracy, prejudice, poverty and injustice.


It is not the first time the state-run Arab media and even civil-society advocates have remained tight-lipped as death, devastation, and human-rights abuses unfold in a "brotherly" Arab country. Sudan is member of the Cairo-based club of Arab autocrats known as the Arab League of States.


Read the whole thing.
Saturday, July 03, 2004
 
What a Sports Day!

Today was really a terrific day in sports.

First, in the "don't hate her because she's beautiful" department, this morning in tennis, Maria Sharapova soundly defeated Serena Williams. Ms. Sharapova is 17 years-old and has Anna Kournakova good-looks. Base10 caught most of the match and it was astounding. And forget about being tennis champion, or rich and beautiful, she's also a homebody. After her victory, Ms. Sharapova asked her father for a cell phone to call her mother.

Second, while he did not win the stage Lance Armstrong had a solid ride in the Prologue of the Tour de France. While he did not win the stage, he got some lead time over his largest rivals. He came within two seconds of winning the stage and showed a monstrous effort. Fabian Cancellara, the Swiss rider who won the tour had a remarkable ride, but I'm sure when he stood at the podium wearing the yellow jersey, he must have been thinkking as Lance Armstrong was standing next to him, that this jersey would not be his for long.

Third, the Mets defeated the Yankees 10-9 in what is perhaps the best baseball game Base10 has seen so far this year. Of course with a score like this it was hardly a pitcher's duel, but the lead changed something like six times before Base10 lost count. The Mets are now one game over .500 and while this may not be a wonderful record, they went into the game only two games out of first. Mediocrity maybe all that is needed to win the NL East.

And the day is not over. Tonight, the Daytona Speeday presents the Pepsi 400 NASCAR race.
 
Sunday Morning Shoutfest Preview.

On This Week with George Stephanopoulos, campaign strategists Matthew Dowd and Tad Devine.

Tim Russert interviews Senators Joe Lieberman and John Warner and former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger on Meet The Press. In addition, Ralph Nader will appear. Frequent watchers should note the 8AM start due to Wimbledon.

On Face the Nation, Bob Schieffer interviews the Marc Racicot, Bush Campaign Chairman and Terry McAuliffe, DNC Chairman.

FOX News Sunday has Chris Wallace speaking with Paul Bremer, former head of the Coallition Provisional Authority in Iraq.

It looks like a good Sunday, especially Bremer, but Base10 may head over to the groundbreaking ceremony at the World Trade Center. It seems that tomorrow morning they'll be laying the cornerstone to the Freedom Tower, which will someday be the tallest building in the world, rising up 1776 feet.
Thursday, July 01, 2004
 
Germany and France.

Is it possible to dislike the governments of Germany and France any more than you do now? Our "allies" have condemned the use of the death penalty for Saddam Hussein. Great idea! Saddam can sit in stir for a few years, maybe get paroled like Joel Steinberg someday. We can all scratch our heads at the absurd rule that lets a prisoner out after only two-thirds of his sentence if he has "good time." (Aren't convicts supposed to be good all the time)? But wait now, no one told me that vicious killers sentenced to say twenty years, only have to do two-thirds.

But getting back to Saddam, it would be good if he weren't dead since then he can still be the figurehead leader of a Baathist insurgency. Come on, the Sunnis have so little, they need the hope that Saddam will once again return to power. Who knows, if he's kept alive, he just might.

Base10 thinks the Iraqis should decide this for themselves without the interference of European stupidity.
 
Al Sharpton

The Times is reporting that Reverend/Media Whore Al Sharpton is going to be starring in a reality TV show. In the show, entitled "I Hate My Job," Reverend Al will be giving job advice to those seeking to change their careers. Base10 thinks this is hysterical. To Base10's knowledge and the "reverend" title not withstanding, Al Sharpton has never held gainful employment. What qualifies him to advise others on this? On the other hand there is a certain logic in this. Perhaps he could teach prospective job applicants that instead of polishing their marketable skills they should instead threaten their prospective employers with lawsuits, demonstrations and boycotts. In another class, Sharpton could teach applicants all about matching funds and how to make a mockery of the political process by making a fraudulent run for president while running up sky-high bills at luxury hotels and then expecting the taxpayer to foot the bill. He could even teach a third class focused on media management and how to increase one's marketability by having teenage girls make false criminal allegations and accusing Assistant District Attorneys of coverups one knows are false. (Oh wait, Rev. Al did have to pay some money out of his own pocket for that one).
 
Russian Missiles.

Slashdot has an interesting report about the Russians using their SS-18 ICBM's to fly communications satellites into orbit. Base10 finds this amazing. Just a few short years ago these missiles were pointing toward targets in the US and Western Europe, and they were carrying hydrogen bombs, not GPS satellites. Ironically, the missiles in question go by the moniker "SS-18 Satan." Maybe their not so devilish after all.
 
Saturn Images.

The Cassini probe has successfully achieved orbital insertion around Saturn in the wee hours this morning. It's manuever actually took it through the rings. At the JPL homepage there are some striking pictures of the rings. Here is a Cassini image of Titan where the Huygens probe will descend.


 
Saddam Hussein Arraigned!

Saddam Hussein was formally charged by an Iraqi court. Among the charges were allegations of genocide against the Kurds and other war crimes during the invasion of Kuwait. The account of the proceeding was bizzare. Saddam refered to President Bush as the "real criminal," the court as "theater" and Kuwaitis as "dogs." Perhaps Saddam has become a bit adled by his time in the spider hole.

Base10 likes that the affair had the trappings of the criminal justice system. It is important that Iraq show the world that it has changed and to give Saddam an open and fair trial. Which of course will not prevent him from being hanged in the end.

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