Base10Blog
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
 
TO Drama Continues
There are unconfirmed reports that Terrell Owens attempted suicide. Yesterday, TO was hospitalized--reportedly for having an allergic reaction to pain killers he was taking for his recent hand injury. ABC News reports:
A Dallas police report released Wednesday morning said Owens told his friend "that he was depressed." Details of the report were first released by WFAA-TV.

The friend, who is not identified in the report, "noticed that (his) prescription pain medication was empty and observed (Owens) putting two pills in his mouth," the police report said.

The friend attempted to pry them out with her fingers, then was told by Owens that before this incident he'd taken only five of the 40 pain pills in the bottle he'd emptied. Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time (he) stated, `Yes.'"

Hate to say we told you so.
 
Typical Anti-American Jounalism
Business Week reports that the World Economic Forum competitivness rankings rate the US now as 6th instead of first. The WEF also blames--you guessed it--the Bush administration.
Americans aren't No. 1 anymore, and their government is largely to blame. That seems to be the bottom line of a new survey of global competitiveness in which the U.S. slipped from first to sixth place, behind Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Singapore.

While the U.S. excelled in such business categories as market efficiency and innovation, its score in the World Economic Forum's annual ranking was dragged down by government-related measures. Out of 125 countries, the U.S. was 40th in health care and primary education and a lowly 69th in macroeconomy, reflecting its large budget and trade deficits. In macroeconomy, the U.S. scored lower than such nations as Vietnam, Venezuela, Uganda, the Philippines, Peru, and Nigeria. (Ouch.)

The forum—a nonprofit best known for its annual conclave of the bright and famous in Davos, Switzerland—based the rankings on official data and interviews with 11,000 executives around the world. Its partners in the report were Microsoft, FedEx, and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Please explain to me how any rational ranking could possibly rate Nigeria's macroeconomy over the United States. It's a bunch of foolishness with an obvious agenda. The article makes much of the fact that America is the world's biggest debtor. True. When invetors around the world want to park their money in the naira instead of T-Bills, call me.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
 
Thank You, NYPD
Heather MacDonald has a great piece in the City Journal about the NYPD's crime fighting strategies since the Giuliani administration. Aside from its love letter to Ray Kelly aspect, it's a telling article on how the NYPD brought down crime well beyond national averages. a quote:
New York City has shattered criminology’s central myth, but criminologists remain in denial. Policing, they still insist, can do little to lower crime. Economic inequality, demographic trends, changing drug-use patterns—these determine crime levels, they say, not police tactics. Nevertheless, since 1994, New York City has enjoyed a crime drop unmatched in the rest of the country—indeed, unparalleled in history—and only Gotham’s revolutionary style of policing can explain it. Yet rather than flooding the city to study this paradigm-breaking phenomenon, most criminologists are busy looking the other way.

She's right. There are still many academics that hold to this view. My personal opinion is that there is a certain frictional level of crime (like frictional unemployment) below which you cannot go. I think we're about at that level. In addition, demographics are important--ignoring them is a recipe for disaster.
 
Football Picks
Drumroll please!
Seahawks -3.5
Jets +5.5
Steelers - 1.5
Jaguars +7
Titans +11
Texans +4
Bears -3
Panthers -3
Packers +7
Browns +6.5
Cardinals -4.5
Eagles -6
Broncos +7
Saints +3.5
Last week Base10 got 8 of 16 bringing us to a total of 16 of 31.

The Jets, of course, remain problematic. Are they the team that pulled out a strong win on week one and came back to nearly tie in the waning minutes in week two. Or are they the team that fell flat on their faces in week two and gave up 27 unanswered points in the first half? I guess we'll find out this afternoon.

The Mets are playing today, as well. They won last night handily dispatching Washington 12-6 and bringing them to 93 wins. One hundred is possible, but unlikely with only eight games left.

In college football, the Irish stunned Michigan State. Down by 16 in the fourth quarter, Notre Dame scored 19 unanswered points to take the win 40-37. Go Irish!
 
This Might Be Good News
"France, US, unable to confirm report bin Laden dead" - Reuters.

Of course Democrats will complain that this was all part of Karl Rove's masterplan to reelect Republicans to Congress in November.
 
If Only...
"Bush will kill me: Chavez" - The Australian.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
 
The Week in Sports
While there was much gnashing of teeth and rending of garments in the Base10 household over the Jet's 17-24 loss to New England on Sunday, Base10 did get the double-plus good joy of seeing the Mets clich the NL East on Monday. Hurrah! Of course the marischino cherry on all this is that a nearly starter-less Mets squad beat Florida again last night.

Fans of the Jet's cross-town cousins, the New York Giants, were treated to a brilliant 30-24 come-from-behind victory engineered by Eli Manning against a tough Philly defense. The Jet's attempted comeback was not so successful.

Base10 is looking forward to the sports weekend.
 
Information Security Item
Check out my short post on abandonoed windows 98 users switching to Linux over at the Security Prof.
 
GOP Comeback?
To the astonishment of pundits, the President's approval numbers are way up. USATODAY has Bush's approval rating at 44% in their last poll. The poll also shows that votrs are evenly divided at 48% each supporting Democrats and Republicans in congressional races. Surprise! He's back.
 
Paying the Poor
Heather MacDonald has some comments of Mayor Mike's proposal to pay poor people for doing normal societat things like going to the doctor, sending your kids to school, etc. Ms. McDonald thinks the mayor only got it half right:
The mayor wants to start paying the poor to make the right everyday decisions - showing up for school, free medical appointments or work; studying for exams; using free prenatal nurse services, etc. This pay-for-personal-responsibility program is part of the mayor's newest initiative to cut poverty in the city, announced on Monday.

The insight behind the mayor's proposal is politically incorrect in the extreme. For decades, the one thing one was never ever allowed to say about intergenerational poverty was that it's largely caused by the long-term poor themselves.

A never-ending procession of welfare-rights, housing and homeless advocates told us again and again that poverty is the result of racism and economic injustice. The poor were helpless victims of a system that was stacked against them.

Anyone who dared to point out that such self-destructive decisions as having a baby out of wedlock or dropping out of school were the proximate causes of poverty was lambasted for "blaming the victim."

Ms. MacDonald instead suggests that the mayor focus on promoting family structure:
There is a far more effective action the mayor could take to reduce poverty in New York, one that would require violating the second-most dangerous poverty-industry taboo: promoting marriage.

The mayor's own Commission for Economic Opportunity observes this all-important fact about poverty: It is irrevocably tied to family structure. Forty-one percent of female-headed households in New York fall below the federal poverty line, whereas only 11 percent of married couples do. This fact should have driven the entire agenda of the commission and the mayor. But, instead of acting on its obvious implications, they ignore it and say not a single word more about family formation in a 52-page report on ending poverty.

The most powerful social change that would cut poverty would be to increase the marriage rate among minorities. Rather than hitting up the private sector for bribes for the poor (the mayor's proposed cash awards for good behavior will be privately funded), Bloomberg should call on private industry and ad councils to start a massive educational campaign about marriage. This would tell young girls that the most valuable gift they can give their children is a father. It would tell young boys that siring children that they have no intention of raising is cowardly and unmanly.

I don't know if whether Ms. MacDonald's solution wouldn't just raise the number of married poor. But clearly family stability is an important cause of poverty and this has been known for a long time.
 
Actually, It Was the AOL Merger
Ted Turner says Iraq war "dumbest move of all time" - Reuters.
 
Base10 Supports Pope!
Base10 hasn't really commented on the imbroglio surrounding Pope Benedict's comments at a German University. This author in the Guardian condemns the Pope and notes that he met with Oriana Fallaci:
By an uncanny coincidence the legendary Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci died last week - no one connected the two events - but the Pope had already run into controversy in Italy by inviting the rabid Islamophobe to a private audience just months ago. At the time Fallaci's repulsive ranting against Islam had landed her in court and there was outrage at the Pope's insensitive invitation. The Pope refused to backtrack and insisted the meeting was purely "pastoral". Put that alongside his vocal opposition to Turkish membership of the EU, and the picture isn't pretty.

Assuming that you think Fallaci is a racist loon (I do not), what you're saying is that we should condemn any world leader that would meet with such a person. True. I hereby condemn Kofi Annan for his actions.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
 
Sunday's Picks

Base10 & company did pretty well last week going for 8 wins out of 15 games. This week's picks are as follows:
Eagles -3
Jets +6
Raiders +12
Texans +13.5
Bengals.-10
Dolphins -6.5
Bears -8.5
Vikings +1.5
Falcons -5.5
Packers +2
49ers +3
Cardinals +7
Titans +11.5
Chiefs +10.5
Cowboys -6
Jaguars +1.5
Good luck sports fans!


Monday, September 11, 2006
 
Five Years Gone By

Much like last year, I don't feel much like posting about 9/11. I simply feel a sense of cold anger. Unfortunately, that feeling has been slowly expanding and now includes many on our own political left that would deny the cause of these events or recast them in politically convenient terms. The photo is called "Transfiguration" and was taken by G. Miller of the NY Post.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
 
And So it Begins...

Football is here! Actually, this was a great sports weekend. In keeping with last year's tradition, here are Base10's NFL picks:
Giants +3
Jets +3
Rams +4
Bills +9
Buccs -3
Bengals +2.5
Seahawks -6
Falcons +5
Texans +4.5
Saints +3
Cowboys +2.5
Packers +3.5
Cardinals -7.5
Vikings +4.5
Chargers -3

That's it. Remember, Base10 is in this pool with the Base10 Buddy. All winning picks are due to his expert analysis. All losers are the sole responsibility of Base10. Sit back and enjoy the game!


Sunday, September 03, 2006
 
Base10 is Out of the Closet!
Base10, having recently assumed his teaching duties (and his student duties as well, but that's for another post) has started a new blog: The Security Prof. I hope to use it as a clearinghouse for links and information that my students might find useful. I won't provide a direct link to it, but Base10 has openly posted his identity and background there. How about that! I haven't linked from the other blog yet; I'm still thinking about it. So there it is.

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