Jeffrey Toobin in the New Yorker reviews Clarence Thomas' book in Unforgiven.
Monday, November 05, 2007
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Gracenote: Music Maps
Gracenote: Music Maps is an interactive map letting you click on countries and showing the top 10 artists and albums there, based on requests to the gracenote cddb.
Amazing Journey: The Story of the Who
I caught the new documentary of The Who on TV tonight. It was fantastic. If you're at all interested, catch it. It's on many more times on MTVHD and VH1CL. There's also a DVD that comes out on Tuesday.
My favorite quote was Pete talking about the time around My Generation. "It's wrong for me to say this but, Keith was a genius, John was a genius, I was certainly on the edge of it. You know, Roger was a singer, that was it." Later on they show how Tommy was when Roger really found his own voice.
The Who has always been my favorite rock band. I finally saw them in concert shortly after John died. I'm still in awe of their stamina.
My favorite quote was Pete talking about the time around My Generation. "It's wrong for me to say this but, Keith was a genius, John was a genius, I was certainly on the edge of it. You know, Roger was a singer, that was it." Later on they show how Tommy was when Roger really found his own voice.
The Who has always been my favorite rock band. I finally saw them in concert shortly after John died. I'm still in awe of their stamina.
Comet Viewing
I enjoyed the Who documentary so much I watched it again right after it finished. It got late enough, about 1:30AM I decided to see if the sky cleared. it did, so I took out the binoculars and walked to the small park across the street and went hunting for Comet Holmes. It was a few hours after the last time I had looked and the sky was a bit different. After looking for a bit I couldn't find it and came back inside. I looked at a sky chart, got my bearings a little and tried again. I found Cassiopeia behind a tree and scanned around and then found this white blot in the sky. I couldn't see it with the naked eye, but in the binoculars it was like a white eraser smudge in the sky. Very freakin' cool. I came back in and my TiVo had automatically set the clock back so I was definitely confused as far as what time it was. And magically this post is before the last.
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Krugman Says Bush Isn't a Big Spender
Paul Krugman says "Basically, critics pretend that the cost of the Iraq war makes Bush a big-spending liberal." by citing Floyd Norris who writes: "Within the public sector, state and local governments are spending at the fastest pace in three decades, and federal military spending is also up. But federal spending on everything but the military is at its lowest level, as a percentage of the economy, in six years."
That may be true but I have two questions. If you want to evaluate if Bush is spending a lot shouldn't you compare him to other presidents? This would require going back more than 6 years.
Second, my understanding was the the federal government stopped giving funding to state and local governments, forcing them to increase their revenues and spending to keep up services. For the party of states rights that is what you'd expect, but to a federalist that might not be the most efficient way to spend. Also I hear complaints about unfunded mandates like No Child Left Behind which are federal regulations that force states to do things and to raise revenues to pay for them (I'm not sure if there are other examples).
Ok here's another question. Does interest on a hugely rising debt count as discretionary spending or not? (I think not).
That may be true but I have two questions. If you want to evaluate if Bush is spending a lot shouldn't you compare him to other presidents? This would require going back more than 6 years.
Second, my understanding was the the federal government stopped giving funding to state and local governments, forcing them to increase their revenues and spending to keep up services. For the party of states rights that is what you'd expect, but to a federalist that might not be the most efficient way to spend. Also I hear complaints about unfunded mandates like No Child Left Behind which are federal regulations that force states to do things and to raise revenues to pay for them (I'm not sure if there are other examples).
Ok here's another question. Does interest on a hugely rising debt count as discretionary spending or not? (I think not).
More on Comet Holmes
Comet Draws Scientific, Amateur Interest: "Until Oct. 23, the comet had been visible to modern astronomers only with a telescope, but that night it suddenly erupted and expanded. A similar burst in 1892 led to the comet's discovery by Edwin Holmes. 'This is a once-in-a-lifetime event to witness, along the lines of when Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 smashed into Jupiter back in 1994.'"
Here's a pic from Astronomy Picture of the Day:
Now if only my skies would clear. Maybe tomorrow night.
Here's a pic from Astronomy Picture of the Day:
Now if only my skies would clear. Maybe tomorrow night.
Astronaut Repairs Damaged Solar Array
The New York TImes reports In Risky Spacewalk, Astronaut Repairs Damage. Pretty amazing job. touching the wrong thing (though very unlikely) could have sent 300 volts through him. Also normal spacewalks are 30 mins distance from the airlock this was as much as an hour and the backup air supply is just 30 mins.
Update: This sums it up well: "Astronaut Scott Parazynski performed emergency surgery on the wing as it coursed with more than 100 volts of electricity. He did it while perched at the end of a 90-foot robotic arm and boom extension, farther from the safety of the station than any spacewalker had ever been. "
Update: This sums it up well: "Astronaut Scott Parazynski performed emergency surgery on the wing as it coursed with more than 100 volts of electricity. He did it while perched at the end of a 90-foot robotic arm and boom extension, farther from the safety of the station than any spacewalker had ever been. "
Bring a Pipe Bomb to Work Day
The headline Arizona nuclear plant normal after pipe bomb event means some worker tried to bring a pipe bomb into a nuclear plant.
Friday, November 02, 2007
Mukasey Wrong Again
Reason Magazine writes Torture vs. Warrantless Surveillance: Why Choose?. Michael Mukasey isn't just wrong on waterboarding, he's also wrong that the NSA's warrantless domestic spying didn't violate FISA. Honestly, what's the point of getting rid of Gonzales if the replacement is just as bad?
Kucinich Tries to Impeach Cheney
Kucinich says he will force House vote on Cheney impeachment "Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) announced he would move to force a vote next week on his resolution calling for the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney." Unfortunately it's not going to work, but it will be fun to watch.
This Week in Torture
Glenn Greenwald writes about Mukasey's nomination and the sudden opposition to 'waterboarding'. He points out how deranged even having a debate about it is. He also points out that Mukasey is extreme. "After all, as a federal judge, he ruled that the President has the power to detain American citizens on U.S. soil indefinitely without ever having to charge them with a crime -- a position he more or less repeated on the first day of his confirmation hearing." Yeah that's the Padilla case.
Tristero goes on "Bush will go down in history as the torture president. I hate that this country ever had a president who made the torture of human beings official government policy." He then goes on again pointing out that one of Garry Trudeau's first cartoons (while a student at Yale) was about George Bush branding fraternity brothers at Yale. it will be in an interview in Rolling Stone.
Harry Shearer does as much as anyone could to make torture fun with Waterboardin' USA.
But it's probably all academic because Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) are voting for him. They've lost my votes (not that I get to vote for them).
No wonder "A USA Today/Gallup poll finds “a nation of discontent.”" Hopefully OpenLeft is right and there are No More Red States.
Tristero goes on "Bush will go down in history as the torture president. I hate that this country ever had a president who made the torture of human beings official government policy." He then goes on again pointing out that one of Garry Trudeau's first cartoons (while a student at Yale) was about George Bush branding fraternity brothers at Yale. it will be in an interview in Rolling Stone.
Harry Shearer does as much as anyone could to make torture fun with Waterboardin' USA.
But it's probably all academic because Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) are voting for him. They've lost my votes (not that I get to vote for them).
No wonder "A USA Today/Gallup poll finds “a nation of discontent.”" Hopefully OpenLeft is right and there are No More Red States.
Rumsfeld and Torture Charges in the World
A week ago "American and European rights groups filed a legal complaint in France accusing former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of responsibility for torture in Iraq and at the Guantanamo Bay military prison."
"The complaint was filed with the Paris prosecutor's office as Rumsfeld arrived in France for a visit. The rights groups say their complaint could go forward because people suspected of torture can be prosecuted in France if they are on French soil."
Then on Sunday, "Former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld fled France today fearing arrest over charges of “ordering and authorizing” torture of detainees at both the American-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the US military’s detainment facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, unconfirmed reports coming from Paris suggest." Though I can't find any major news source as having picked up this story. I don't know when Rumsfeld was scheduled to leave France.
Apparently cases have been filed in Germany, Argentina and Sweden.
Then yesterday "Arab-Americans...took offense to a memo that former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wrote saying that 'oil wealth has made Muslims averse to physical labor.'"
"The complaint was filed with the Paris prosecutor's office as Rumsfeld arrived in France for a visit. The rights groups say their complaint could go forward because people suspected of torture can be prosecuted in France if they are on French soil."
Then on Sunday, "Former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld fled France today fearing arrest over charges of “ordering and authorizing” torture of detainees at both the American-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the US military’s detainment facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, unconfirmed reports coming from Paris suggest." Though I can't find any major news source as having picked up this story. I don't know when Rumsfeld was scheduled to leave France.
Apparently cases have been filed in Germany, Argentina and Sweden.
Then yesterday "Arab-Americans...took offense to a memo that former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wrote saying that 'oil wealth has made Muslims averse to physical labor.'"
Daily Kos v. Blue Shield
The creator of Daily Kos fights with Blue Shield who only paid $400 of a $1,032 anesthesiologist bill for an epidural.
"It gets worse, the office of the anesthesiologist has letters from Blue Shield claiming that the insurance company had sent us the money directly, so to bill us for the services. Of course, we never received such money. No such checks were ever cashed (which would be easy enough to verify if they were really interested in the truth, and not shirking their duties). So they lie to us, claiming for seven months that they'll cover the procedure. They lie to the anesthesiologist's office, claiming they've already paid us the amount owed, and to bill us directly. And now, finally, they truth comes out -- they have a problem paying what's owed and will refuse to do so, even though they sent us a letter saying they would."
"It gets worse, the office of the anesthesiologist has letters from Blue Shield claiming that the insurance company had sent us the money directly, so to bill us for the services. Of course, we never received such money. No such checks were ever cashed (which would be easy enough to verify if they were really interested in the truth, and not shirking their duties). So they lie to us, claiming for seven months that they'll cover the procedure. They lie to the anesthesiologist's office, claiming they've already paid us the amount owed, and to bill us directly. And now, finally, they truth comes out -- they have a problem paying what's owed and will refuse to do so, even though they sent us a letter saying they would."
What does the Supreme Court really do?
SCOTUSblog writes What does the Supreme Court really do?. Apparently the oral arguments on Wed for Danforth v. Minnesota were really interesting.
"The exchanges — it actually was a debate — among the Justices came so swift and came with such energy that one of the arguing lawyers was left simply silent at the podium for a noticeable spell — only to have the silence turned into a humorous moment when Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., quipped: “I think you’re handling these questions very well.” The Danforth case is what non-lawyers would think of as a case about a legal technicality. Put in lay language, the issue is this: if the Supreme Court recognizes a new right, but says some people do not get to benefit from it, can state courts say, ‘Oh, yes, they do’? Put as lawyers would, the issue is: if the Supreme Court recognizes a new rule of criminal procedure, but says it will not apply retroactively, are state courts free to say that — at least in our state — it will apply to cases that were final before the ruling came down? It is, in short, all about retroactivity doctrine, and how it works."
Update: Much more info here.
"The exchanges — it actually was a debate — among the Justices came so swift and came with such energy that one of the arguing lawyers was left simply silent at the podium for a noticeable spell — only to have the silence turned into a humorous moment when Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., quipped: “I think you’re handling these questions very well.” The Danforth case is what non-lawyers would think of as a case about a legal technicality. Put in lay language, the issue is this: if the Supreme Court recognizes a new right, but says some people do not get to benefit from it, can state courts say, ‘Oh, yes, they do’? Put as lawyers would, the issue is: if the Supreme Court recognizes a new rule of criminal procedure, but says it will not apply retroactively, are state courts free to say that — at least in our state — it will apply to cases that were final before the ruling came down? It is, in short, all about retroactivity doctrine, and how it works."
Update: Much more info here.
$50 Remote Controlled Dragonfly
Saw this on Time Magazine's Gadget of the Year, Wow Wee's Flytech Dragonfly is a remote control flying insect for just $50. A 16" wingspan and up to 10 minute flight time.
"FlyTech Dragonfly is the world’s first radio-controlled flying insect. With its’ ultra-light, dual-wing design and “high-flex”, crash-resistant structure, the dragonfly is an easy-to-fly aeronautical marvel. Use the dragonfly indoors or outdoors, controlling its speed, direction and height with the 2 channel digital proportional remote."
Seems to be winning lots of awards.
"FlyTech Dragonfly is the world’s first radio-controlled flying insect. With its’ ultra-light, dual-wing design and “high-flex”, crash-resistant structure, the dragonfly is an easy-to-fly aeronautical marvel. Use the dragonfly indoors or outdoors, controlling its speed, direction and height with the 2 channel digital proportional remote."
Seems to be winning lots of awards.
Sounds From Saturn
The Eerie, Bizarre Sounds of the Saturnian System. Collected from Cassini-Huygens these are audio recordings of instruments detecting magnetic fields of Saturn's moon Enceladus, radar echos on Titan, the audible wind of Titan, and Saturn's radio emissions. Cool stuff.
Cruise Ship Built at Home
Cruise Ship Built at Home "Francois Zanella, a 58 year old former mine worker has built a cruise ship at his home in Morsbach, Moselle in North-Eastern part of France."
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Comet Holmes Viewing
Tonight was clear so I went out to see Comet Holmes. I looked in the sky where I thought it was supposed to be and kinda saw a blurry spot. If you looked quickly (and my eyes hadn't really adjusted to the dark yet) you would probably miss it, but if you looked for a few seconds you'd say, yeah I think there's a star there.
I then looked through my new Pentax 10x50 PCF WP II binoculars and I literally said out loud "holy crap!" I saw a big fuzzy blob about twenty times the size of a star next to it. it looked about the size of the first pic on this page. There wasn't detail like in the pic but it was this big fuzzy thing.
I then looked through some old Nikon 9x25 binocs I have. it was the same size blob but much much dimmer. It was still hard to see through these but you could say I think I kinda see a big thing there.
So if you have some good binoculars around, go outside and look at this thing. It's very very cool.
I then looked through my new Pentax 10x50 PCF WP II binoculars and I literally said out loud "holy crap!" I saw a big fuzzy blob about twenty times the size of a star next to it. it looked about the size of the first pic on this page. There wasn't detail like in the pic but it was this big fuzzy thing.
I then looked through some old Nikon 9x25 binocs I have. it was the same size blob but much much dimmer. It was still hard to see through these but you could say I think I kinda see a big thing there.
So if you have some good binoculars around, go outside and look at this thing. It's very very cool.
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