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Silent Scream

Morally Outraged Tired Hard-Working Empowered Reasonable People Hoping for Urgent Change and Knowledge Equating to Real Soutions, um, unite!

That is the best way to describe how I feel right now about where my country has gone. I am tired of lying politicians of all stripes. I am tired of idiots on Wall Street who for the love of the Almighty just don't get it. So in the words of the great Harvey Milk, "I am here to recruit you."

Are you tired of politics as usual? Are you sick of reading stories about the polluted stream of money flowing into D.C. and fleecing the hard-working, taxpaying citizen? Feel repulsed by the growing disconnect between our moral responsibility to one another and our government's servitude to the moneyed few? Sick of being told who "serves" the right God? Then maybe you are ready to join M.O.T.H.E.R.P.H.U.C.K.E.R.S. for America!

We are Morally Outraged Tired Hard-Working Empowered Reasonable People Hoping for Urgent Change and Knowledge Equating to Real Solutions. That's right, we are M.O.T.H.E.R.P.H.U.C.K.E.R.S.!

Just about everyone has been or will be at some point in his or her life part of the M.O.T.H.E.R.P.H.U.C.K.E.R.S. whether they know it or not. That is the beauty of the whole idea. We are Democrats (tax-and-spend liberals), Republicans (book-burning, science-booing, fear monkeys), Independents (can't make a decision or a commitment), seniors (old farts), new voters (uninformed idiots with power), white-collar workers (cubicle slave whores), blue-collar laborers (knuckle draggers), religious folk (terrified of Hell), spiritual seekers (been to Hell and back) and many other voices from the cacophony of our national political discourse.

We are Republicans tired of arguing about a woman's right to choose. We are Democrats who understand that not all corporations are bad. We are Americans who aren't afraid of two women marrying, of teaching evolution and science in our schools, of seeing actual healthcare become a universal right for all Americans. We aren't afraid of God in the public conversation, just don't want the Almighty used to persecute or punish our fellow citizens. We are people tired of being pandered to by politicians of either party. We are sick of Republicans falling to their knees for big business and of mealy-mouthed Democrats' spineless platitudes in the face of real decisions.

We are Americans sick of the people's business and welfare being substituted for that of corporate succor. We have grown exhausted by the daily excess exhibited by the Wall Street financial "wizards," who turned out to be nothing more than self-serving, indulgent, megalomaniacs who have wrecked the American dream for so many. We are fed up with electing supplicant politicians who forget who they serve. We are enraged by the continued boot-licking, ass-kissing and government welfare offered to those who most benefit from our society but contribute so little to it.

M.O.T.H.E.R.P.H.U.C.K.E.R.S. adhere to a code of equality and unfettered fairness. We believe in tax breaks that can be taken by all, or should never become law. We demand a legal system that believes not just in revenge but also redemption. Of a school system that teaches all students whether they want to go on to college or become auto mechanics. A society in which no veteran will ever have to sleep on the streets.

We will not ever endorse a political candidate. We will never hold a convention or air a commercial vilifying one side or the other. We are a silent majority of Americans who are not blindly loyal to one party or platform. Instead we hold to an ideal.

These are but some of the principles we hold dear to our hearts. We keep the preamble of the Constitution as the light by which we see the world and keep our own counsel. We know that this will call for sacrifice, which we are prepared to make.

Are you ready, willing and able to become part of the M.O.T.H.E.R.P.H.U.C.K.E.R.S. for a better America and a better tomorrow?

Sean Wall is a currently unemployed (and secretly enjoying it) Sonoma County native and political junkie who hastens to add that he is stunningly handsome, single and gay.

Open Mic is now a weekly feature in the Bohemian. We welcome your contribution. To have your topical essay of 700 words considered for publication, write

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Arts & Culture » Space

Bungalow dreaming in Belmont Gardens

Musician Mazurka Wojciechowska's 1929 bungalow is full of accordions and eastern European art.

When musician Mazurka Wojciechowska got into two car accidents in a single week in 2003, she knew something had to give. "Every time I would drive, I would imagine a big red bull's-eye on my car," she says. "Having gone down the spiritual path and studied metaphysics, I knew that was not the right way to think." Instead, she channeled her energy into positive thoughts that nurtured her heart's desire: a dream house. "I thought, I want a house with a garage. I want a backyard that I can drink a beer in legally. I want a bungalow built in the 20s, and stained glass." A year and a half later, she closed on a 1929 bungalow in Belmont Gardens.

"I love the neighborhood; I have great neighbors," she says. Another perk: she can practice playing accordion at all hours. (She owns five.) Wojciechowska is the accordionist for the German-American Euro Express Band; she plays at Klas Restaurant in Cicero; and she's a cast member of Kiss Kiss Cabaret burlesque—"I do not take my clothes off," she makes clear, "but I do play the accordion there." Speaking of clothes, Wojciechowska has lots of folk garb from her travels to eastern Europe. "When I perform," she says, "I like to wear authentic clothing."

Her house is also full of eastern European art—Russian dolls, shadow boxes, decorative plates. Interspersed throughout are loads of Simpsons figurines. Wojciechowska says she doesn't actively collect, but rather attracts things. "I'm in receiving mode," she says, "and stuff comes to me." This may be how she got her most prized possession: a stuffed armadillo. "As soon as I touched the box, I knew it was special. I opened it up and practically burst a blood vessel."

Wojciechowska advises that the quickest route to your dream house is picturing yourself in it. "I didn't just imagine myself lying in the bed or sitting in the backyard, but also writing out my checks for property taxes, mowing the lawn," she says. "Imagine yourself doing everything you would be doing in your own space that you love."

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Does Alabama bankruptcy signal a municipal bond meltdown?

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(Read caption) In this file photo, Joe Minter pickets in front of the Jefferson County Municipal building in Birmingham, Alabama. Alabama's Jefferson County filed for bankruptcy court protection in the biggest municipal bankruptcy in US history. Commissioners for the county voted 4-1 to declare bankruptcy after meeting behind closed doors for two days in a last ditch-attempt to restructure its debt out of court.

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Last December Meredith Whitney told a 60 Minutes audience that a municipal bond meltdown was coming. Ms. Whitney has been under attack ever since.

All year long financial commentators have been asking Meredith, “show us the defaults!”

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The largest municipal bankruptcy in history was filed yesterday when the county commissioners of Alabama’s Jefferson County voted 4-1 to file Chapter 9. Melinda Dickinson reports for Rueters,

The bankruptcy filing by the southern U.S. county will add to concerns about the risks in the $3.7 trillion U.S. municipal bond market, which was hit recently by the high-profile debt crisis in Pennsylvania’s capital of Harrisburg.

Jefferson County, which includes the city of Birmingham, owes $5 billion surpassing Orange County’s filing in 1994. JPMorgan held more than $1.2 billion of the county’s sewer debt as of May and negotiated aggressively to avoid bankruptcy.

On August 1, tiny Central Falls, Rhode Island filed BK, citing pension costs it can’t afford.

While Jefferson County was throwing in the towel, officials were declaring a state of financial emergency in Flint, Michigan. This is the first step toward the state of Michigan taking over the city’s finances. This seems to be a trend as Mathew Dolan writes for the Wall Street Journal,

Three other Michigan cities—Pontiac, Ecorse and Benton Harbor—as well as Detroit’s school district are run by emergency managers. Flint, the state’s seventh-largest city by population, would be the largest municipality under state control.

Down the road from Flint, Detroit mayor Dave Bing is playing chicken with union members. The municipal unions have until November 21st to agree to $42 million in concessions or Detroit’s finances will be run from Lansing.

Retired city workers collected 25% of the Detroit’s $1.2 billion general fund this year in pensions.

Out west, the City of North Las Vegas has had it’s bond rating cut twice by Fitch Ratings. NLV bonds started the year at AA- but are now rated A with Fitch calling the city’s outlook ‘negative’

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In order to see what a municipal default looks like, Michael Lewis visited Vallejo, California, a city that declared bankruptcy in 2008.

“Eighty percent of the city’s budget—and the lion’s share of the claims that had thrown it into bankruptcy—were wrapped up in the pay and benefits of public-safety workers,” writes Lewis.

And while the police and fire departments in Vallejo has been cut in half, in August a judge approved the bankruptcy plan for Vallejo, with its creditors ending up with 5 cents on the dollar, while public employees received something like 20 and 30 cents on the dollar.

This is what it looks like when a government can’t use the printing press to default slowly.

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The most spectacular waterways in the world

Photography: Sergey Borisov f0r Alamy Stock Photo

Enchanting Danube
One of the most popular river-cruising waterways, the Danube plays host to charming small European towns, delightful cities and views for days. Europe's second-longest river flows through 10 countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine. A popular route links Budapest, an elegant city on the banks of the Danube, with famously progressive Amsterdam, following the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers. En route, river cruises pass by Vienna, Austria's stunning capital, and Germany's fairytale castles. Longer cruises that follow the Lower Danube build on itineraries that travel through Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria.

Mighty Mekong
As South East Asia's life-giving waterway, the mighty Mekong winds its way through some of the most fascinating countries in the region. Travelling along the river is to understand the important role it plays in the daily lives of locals. Dozens of hill tribes have settled along the river's banks, and many offer their handmade arts and crafts at lively outdoor markets. Traditional fishing villages still line the waterfront in many regions, while golden-domed temples make a breathtaking sight at sunset. A journey along the Mekong is an exploration of diverse and fascinating cultures.

Exploring the Rhine
Among the most lively and beautiful waterways in Europe, the Rhine is one river that holidaymakers can't get enough of. It's also one of Europe's longest and most important, winding through Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, France and the Netherlands. Expect to see a melting pot of old and new scenery along the way, as medieval villages and dramatic castles give way to thriving modern cities where industry and innovation has superseded tradition. Keep your ears open for local folklore and legends, as tales of beautiful mermaids driving sailors to distraction are as prevalent here as Hansel and Gretel in the forest.

A taste of Bordeaux
You don't have to be a wine connoisseur to enjoy a cruise around France's celebrated Bordeaux region, but it sure doesn't hurt. Immerse yourself in country life as you pass through rural French towns where the daily fresh market is the central meeting place, sheep roam impossibly green, verdant hillsides and the welcome is as warm as the wine is terrific. Bordeaux, a gorgeous city with UNESCO World Heritage status, sits on the Garonne River and is one of France's culinary and cultural gems. Cruises here tend to focus on port stops where wine appreciation, indulgent cuisine, beautiful gardens and stately homes are the order of the day.

Doing the Douro
Flowing some 900 kilometres through Spain and Portugal, the Douro river finally empties into the Atlantic Ocean where the city of Porto meets the coast. Along the way, it splashes by terraced vineyards where grapes are grown for Portugal's acclaimed wines, under the shadow of imposing monasteries and historic castles. Translating as Portugal's River of Gold, it weaves through sun-drenched towns and rustic farmland, where some of Europe's most delicious produce is sourced. On the steep banks of the Upper Douro, vast reserves of Port wine grapes drink in the sun for a bountiful harvest. Expect to see fewer river cruises on this body of water than in other parts of Europe.

This article is presented by helloworld and APT River Cruises.

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Your Turn | NEWS: Your Turn | Indy Week

Ye Olde Archives » NEWS: Your Turn

Your Turn

your turn Pilgrimage for Justice and Peace, Sunday-Friday, April 16-21: The Carolina Interfaith Task Force on Central America, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, and People of Faith Against the Death Penalty are calling for a revival of the Hebrew tradition of Jubilee, an erasure of debts and correction of social imbalances. For a contemporary application of Jubilee, they are demanding an end to sweatshop labor and the death penalty, closure of the School of the Americas, justice for farmworkers, and absolution of debts of impoverished countries. To emphasize their point, they are sponsoring a 100-mile walk from Greensboro to Raleigh, spread out over six days. The walk will begin on April 16 at Greensboro's Faith Community Church after Palm Sunday services, with stops in Burlington, Siler City, Pittsboro, Durham, and Chapel Hill, and will end Friday, April 21, on the steps of the State Capitol in Raleigh. At the stops there will be speakers, workshops and presentations from the sponsoring groups. Call 856-9468 for details on the walk.

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Tappa’s happy; Coach pleased with Boyz’s first day on pitch in Mexico

Doc hails reaction of Boyz to altitude

IAN BURNETT with the REGGAE BOYZ in Mexico

Tuesday, February 05, 2013

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MEXICO CITY, Mexico — Reggae Boyz head coach Theodore Whitmore is usually a very reserved man who seldom shows emotion.

Not that he was doing any cartwheels, but there was an aura about him after yesterday’s first training session at the Centro de Capacitacion (Mexico’s Football Academy) which smacked of confidence and contentment.

“I think it was very successful, the players were enjoying it, they were spot on, and I think it was a decent effort this afternoon,” was how he summed up yesterday’s near 90-minute exercise, which ended in a drizzle, accompanied by lightning strikes.

His mood would have also been boosted by the fact that the players, generally, came out of the session with no ill effects from the high altitude, which is usually a major concern for athletes competing in an environment such as this, some 2,240 metres above sea level.

“I haven’t heard anything regarding any ill effects of the session,” he beamed. “Basically, they were lively, and I think so far the vibes, the mood, has been 100 per cent spot on.”

Team doctor Carlton Fraser gave the thumbs up in his appraisal of the players’ reaction to the session.

“We are trying our best to prepare them for it (effects of high altitude), because it is a reality of Mexico, but I was really impressed with how they handled themselves today at training, although the first day is usually the best in terms of how they handle themselves.

“The next two or three days it (players’ ability to respond) usually depreciates, so we are very pleased with today, and then what we will have to do is try to maintain this. So it is going to need monitoring, it’s going to need proper hydration, supplementation, and of course we are going to encourage them to co-operate with us.”

Despite the euphoria, however, Whitmore found time and space to deduct points from the players, regarding their tactical output in relation to the team strategy.

“Well not 100 per cent,” he said in response to the team’s tactical execution. “We had a meeting with the players (prior to the training session) and what we asked of them we saw signs of it, they understood what we wanted to do, and that for me was a plus.”

After warming up and technical drills, Whitmore and his assistant Alfredo Montesso gave a glimpse of what they are thinking with a three-quarter field game.

Dwayne Miller tended goal, guarded by Jermaine Taylor and Nyron Nosworthy in central defence, flanked by Demar Phillips on the left and Adrian Mariappa on the right. The towering Marvin Elliott anchored central midfield, with Reading’s captain Jobi McAnuff on the left, his club mate Garath McCleary on the right and Rodolph Austin in an attacking role at the top of the midfield.

Ryan Johnson was the top man in attack, with the wily Jermaine ‘Teddy’ Johnson playing off him.

Late in the session Whitmore switched Ryan Johnson with Theo Robinson, substituted Teddy Johnson with Tremaine Stewart, and Omar Daley went in for Mariappa.

The manner in which Whitmore set out his team yesterday indicated a team playing for a result in one of the most difficult places in the CONCACAF region.

In five World Cup Qualifying encounters in Mexico, Jamaica have lost all five, conceding 23 goals, while tallying one solitary strike by Walter Boyd in that 1-2 loss on October 16, 1996.

The other results are 8-0 in 1965; 6-0 in 1997; 4-0 in 2001; and 3-0 on the last occasion in 2008.

Whitmore is adamant that he doesn’t want a repeat of what happened against the United States in Columbus last September 11.

“It is a whole tactical approach, and what we want to remember is the first-half approach against the USA in Ohio, and we don’t want the same sort of thing to creep in on us. So as much as possible we don’t want this Mexican team to (dominate us); we know what they have to offer and we have been working on a number of things for the game on Wednesday.”

In that game against the US in Ohio, the Boyz, though starting with an attacking formation of three men, plus an attacking midfielder, were pushed back deep into their own half and were dominated by the hosts as a result. They didn’t concede a goal in that period, but had the goal frame hit on a few occasions and were lucky to have Miller in inspiring form then. They eventually lost the game 1-0.

The Boyz will have their final training session at 7:30 pm (8:30 pm Jamaica time) today at the Azteca Stadium, ahead of tomorrow’s game at th same venue at 8:30 pm (9:30 pm Jamaica time).

This will be the first game in the final round of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying, when all six competing countries engage each other in the home and away fixture which lasts through to October.

The top three teams at the end will earn automatic spots in the Brazil 2014 World Cup Finals, while the fourth-placed finisher earns another shot at Brazil with a home and away fixture against the winner of the Oceania region in November.

In other games on tomorrow, the US visit Honduras and Costa Rica travel to neighbouring Panama.

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Thai army chief named prime minister

Bangkok - Thailand's junta-picked national assembly on Thursday chose coup leader General Prayuth Chan-O-Cha as prime minister in a one-horse race that entrenched the military's hold on power.

Nobody in the rubber-stamp legislature opposed the selection of the army chief, who ousted an elected government in a bloodless takeover on 22 May.

The move by the top general to shed his uniform and take the premiership is seen as cementing the military's control of the politically turbulent nation.

The junta has ruled out holding new elections before around October 2015, despite appeals from the United States and the European Union for a return to democracy.

Prayuth, who is due to retire as army chief in September, is seen as a staunch opponent of fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, whose overthrow in an earlier coup in 2006 triggered Thailand's long-running political crisis.

Thaksin, the elder brother of Yingluck, fled Thailand in 2008 to avoid prison for a corruption conviction.

Reform or repression?

The army rulers say they want to reform Thailand to end years of political turbulence and street violence, but critics see the takeover as an attempt to wipe out Thaksin's influence.

The junta has vowed to remain in place in parallel to the future government, which will be nominated by Prayuth as prime minister.

He was backed by 191 members of the 197-strong assembly, with three abstentions and three voters absent. No other candidate stood against him.

Prayuth's appointment must be approved by King Bhumibol Adulyadej although royal endorsement is seen as a formality.

The army chief, who is seen as a fervent royalist, was not present for the vote because he was attending a military ceremony outside Bangkok.

He gave a hint of his political ambitions when he swapped his uniform for a suit and tie to appear in parliament on Monday to oversee the approval of the national budget, which was waved through with no opposition.

Prayuth is often described as the architect of an army crackdown on a pro-Thaksin "Red Shirt" rally in Bangkok in 2010 that left dozens dead.

Before seizing power, the golf lover and father of twin daughters had said he would not allow Thailand to become another "Ukraine or Egypt".

Thaksin, who is reviled by much of Thailand's Bangkok-based royalist elite, lives in Dubai but he or his parties have won every election since 2001.

Since seizing power the junta has abrogated the constitution, curtailed civil liberties under martial law and summoned hundreds of opponents, activists and academics for questioning.

He has also launched a "return happiness" to the people public relations campaign in parallel with the crackdown on dissent.

The United Nations' human rights office on Wednesday warned of "chilling effects" on freedom of expression under the junta, following recent arrests and jail sentences for insulting the monarchy.

Critics say the royal slur legislation has been politicised, noting that many of those charged in recent years were linked to the "Red Shirts", who are broadly supportive of Thaksin.


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Huerta Enters Free Agency

By: Loretta Hunt
Nov 24, 2009
Roger Huerta is back on the market.

The UFC lightweight has entered into the matching period of his recently completed contract with the promotion, allowing the fighter’s management to field offers outside the UFC.

“We’re free to negotiate with other organizations now, but the UFC has the right to match (any offer),” Huerta’s manager, Jeff Clark, of NCFC Management told on Monday.

Standard UFC contracts include a clause that allows the promotion to match any offer made by a rival promotion for up to one year.

When asked if he and the fighter had started negotiations with the UFC, Strikeforce, and other promotions, Clark answered that, “we’ve had a lot of interest from different parties.” Clark would not elaborate further.

Huerta passed on a five-fight renewal contract with the UFC last January to pursue a second career in acting. The 26-year-old fighter completed the last fight on his contract at UFC Fight Night 19 on Sept. 16, where he lost a split decision to Gray Maynard.

However, Huerta said recent back-to-back losses to Kenny Florian and Maynard in the Octagon revived his passion for the sport and that he’d like to fight again in February or March.

The lightweight fighter, who comes from Salvadoran and Mexican descent, was marketed heavily to the UFC’s burgeoning Hispanic market in the last few years. The UFC continues to make in-roads there, and hopes to hold its first event in Mexico City this year.

If Huerta returns to the UFC, the lightweight said he’d continue his pursuit for the division’s title, held by B.J. Penn.

“I think two good fights would put me back in the mix for title contention,” he said. “I think my two losses came to two really good guys and they were both by decision, the last one being a split decision that could have gone either way. Kenny became the number-one contender and Gray could easily become that as well.”

Strikeforce, which drew an average 4 million viewers during its first CBS “Saturday Night Fights” broadcast on Nov. 7, is building its rosters for 2010. The promotion plans to hold up to 24 events between its two broadcast deals with CBS and premium pay channel Showtime.

“I recently saw, actually, that fight with Fedor (Emelianenko) vs. (Brett) Rogers and the show looked amazing,” said Huerta, who is 6-2 in the UFC. “The fights looked great. There’s a lot of great fights in that show.”

Huerta, who was the first mixed martial artist to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated in 2007, believes he’d fare well in Strikeforce’s 155-pound ranks.

“It would be up to them,” said Huerta, “but I’d definitely like to fight a top-caliber fighter like (Shinya) Aoki, (interim champion Gilbert) Melendez, or (champion Josh) Thomson. Obviously, I’d have to earn my stripes in that organization, if I went there, but any of those fights would be amazing.”

Huerta said Bellator Fighting Championships, the Hispanic-driven promotion that returns in April with a live broadcast deal on FOX Sports Network, could also be another option.

Meanwhile, Huerta will visit Phuket, Thailand in December with coach and former UFC champion Dave Menne to study at the Tiger Muay Thai gym for three weeks.

Huerta re-located to Austin, Texas earlier this year and has preliminary plans to open a gym in the area.

And then there’s the question of when and where he’ll fight next. Huerta said he defers that decision to his management.

“That’s up to Jeff Clark,” said Huerta. “Wherever’s going to be the best fit for me in the organization, that’s where I’ll head.”

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The Great Migration

Madam Butterfly is flitting off to the USA…

I will be in the company of Mary Parkinson, from Tauranga, another Butterfly Lad, responsible for much of the hard work behind the Te Puna Quarry Park Butterfly Garden.

We hope to be keeping our blog up to date daily, telling you about our adventures… about what we learn, what we see. Please check back here often and add your comments.


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Home » 175, Columns, Featured

Reaching 20k

1 May 2012 1,215 views No Comment
The ASA will celebrate its 175th anniversary in 2014. In preparation, column “175”—written by members of the ASA’s 175th Anniversary Steering Committee and other ASA members—will chronicle the theme chosen for the celebration, status of preparations, activities to take place, and, best yet, how you can get involved in propelling the ASA toward its bicentennial.

Contributing Editors

Monica Johnston is chair of the ASA Committee on Membership Retention and Recruitment and cofounder of the Section for Statistical Programmers and Analysts. She is an independent consultant and serves as director at Mostly Math, an education services center in Walnut Creek, California.

The American Statistical Association is a strong, vibrant organization with approximately 18,000 members and the largest community of statisticians in the world. In the April issue, the ASA was described as a “big tent” organization with room for growth. The goal of the Committee on Membership Retention and Recruitment (CMRR) is to help the ASA reach 20,000 members by its 175th anniversary in Boston in 2014. To meet this goal, we are working diligently to identify viable ways to increase the number of student members who renew as regular members after they graduate and increase recruiting in areas where statisticians have a growing professional presence.

The ASA has about 4,800 student members. About 59% of students renew their annual membership compared to 86% of nonstudents. Furthermore, we estimate that only 25% of students convert to regular membership after graduation. Since the ASA offers reduced membership fees for students and recent graduates, and the full regular membership fee is less than 0.5% of a typical first-year salary, CMRR is satisfied that fees—for most—are not a barrier for renewal. Instead, there are other factors affecting conversion.

Members of CMRR believe students determine what a membership benefit is. ASA members who are established professionals may itemize and exalt benefits of membership, but if a student doesn’t value a particular benefit, then it isn’t genuinely considered a benefit. An important aspect of communicating membership benefits is listening to prospective members describe benefits that they value or expect. Therefore, in addition to showing a slide show about benefits of membership during the JSM Student Mixer, CMRR is exploring how student focus groups can improve our understanding of factors that promote or hinder conversion from student to regular membership.

Additionally, members of CMRR think creating opportunities for students to be active members promotes conversion. For example, if you are an officer or active member of a chapter or section, you can help increase retention of transitioning student-professionals by encouraging greater student involvement in chapter and section activities. Officers can use online membership reports (along with help from the ASA) to identify current (or lapsed) student members. When students serve as elected or appointed officers, event organizers, session chairs, etc., they may encourage other students to get involved. Additionally, students who hold office or have other responsibilities may be more likely to renew as regular members after graduation, especially if their term of service does not coincide with their graduation date.

We encourage chapters and sections with resources to consider offering grants to transitioning student-professionals for continuing education and conference travel not specifically hinged on submitting a paper to a conference. Grants help transitioning student-professionals experience the benefit of quality continuing education, while leadership opportunities help them experience professional development; both can have a positive effect on retention.

CMRR is working with the ASA marketing department staff to develop exit packages for graduating statistics students. Exit packages will contain benefit information and incentives for keeping membership profiles updated and new professionals connected to the ASA.

A second focus of the CMRR is to increase membership from growing groups of statisticians or areas of application. The CMRR is exploring how the ASA can attract distance learners of graduate programs in statistics. In the last 12 months, the department of statistics at Texas A&M University received 1,133 applicants, of which 718 applied for a master’s degree and 415 applied for a four-course certificate. Currently, the department has 17 traditional learners and 240 distance learners. Other universities are developing similar programs. Distance learners may represent a good source for recruiting. Other sources include statisticians who are working in business analytics and data mining.

CMRR is exploring whether professional groups within social media networks are good sources of new members. For example, Meetup.com has a data mining group that attracts nearly 1,000 members from the San Francisco Bay Area. Members of CMRR will be working with the ASA’s marketing staff to increase the ASA’s visibility within such groups. We also encourage you to help grow membership through the ASA’s Member-Get-A-Member Drive.

As members of chapters, sections, and committees, it is important to remember the difference between describing a benefit to students and early-career professionals and having them experience that benefit through active membership in the ASA. Help us reach our goal of 20,000 members with timely creation of opportunities for transitioning student-professionals.

If you have ideas for increasing membership, please convey them to your chapter, sections, and committees, or contact Monica Johnston at mostlymath@aol.com.

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text:
To: None <>
From: Hubert Feyrer <>
List: tech-net
Date: 03/25/2002 13:06:31
On Mon, 25 Mar 2002 wrote:
> 	prefix(8) was obsoleted with reason.  freebsd's prefix(8) is a
> 	zombie which should be removed.

How about merging it into ifconfig?

	ifconfig fo0 inet6 prefix 1:2:3:4::

 - Hubert

Want to get a clue on IPv6 but don't know where to start? Try this:
* Basics ->
* Setup  ->
Of course with your #1 IPv6 ready operating system ->


text:
Subject: Re: another word on 'digest'
To: None <>
From: Simon Burge <>
List: tech-pkg
Date: 03/09/2001 12:32:57
Masao Uebayashi wrote:

> > if it's not included into pkg_install because it has a much wider focus, I
> > wonder why it was placed in pkgsrc/pkgtools.
> IMHO, if 'digest' is needed by the pkgsrc system itself, 'digest'
> should be included in the base source distribution like /bin/sh and
> /usr/bin/make. It should be also distributed as a binary tar ball (NOT
> package!) for users using releases.

Coming in a bit late here, but one option as to add the new algorithm(s)
to "cksum", or even one of the "pkg_*" programs (say pkg_admin).  The
later would stop any external dependancies on non-standard tools...

Simon Burge                            <>
NetBSD CDs, Support and Service:


text:
JDK 7 b100 postponed to Thu 7/8

Vita Santrucek Vita.Santrucek at oracle.com
Fri Jul 2 23:14:08 PDT 2010

Due to a two day delay caused by a bug fixed by 6966132 and a test cycle
shortened by US holiday on 7/5 the b100 will be postponed to Thursday,
June 8.

Corrective steps are being taken to prevent similar delays in the future.

Vita Santrucek

More information about the jdk7-dev mailing list


text:
[alsa-devel] Control interconnection information API?

Mark Brown broonie at sirena.org.uk
Thu Jan 1 12:43:44 CET 2009

On Thu, Jan 01, 2009 at 12:01:47PM +1300, Eliot Blennerhassett wrote:

> * ASoC DAPM (which I (not being an ASoC developer or user) have mostly
> been skimming over in this list).

> Reading this
> http://www.mjmwired.net/kernel/Documentation/sound/alsa/soc/dapm.txt
> 3. Codec Widget Interconnections. I can see that there are lists of
> connections.  I'm not sure if these are visible to userspace via any API?

These are not visible to user space and the information provided is not
at all complete - as well as DAPM controls (used for power management)
most devices will also have a number of regular ALSA controls which
aren't tied in with the path information yet.  It's been at the back of
my mind to let drivers do that but it's not particularly near the top of
my list.

> Can either of these schemes be generalised to all ALSA drivers?
> Is there some other way to reveal the information (Connections TLV, new
> API etc?)

Anything that works for ASoC should be able to work for all ALSA
drivers, though since there's nothing there yet it's probably not
particularly useful for you right now.

> Does anybody else thing this is worth pursuing, or is it just me?

Yes, it'd definitely be useful for ASoC.  One of the issues with ASoC at
the minute is that embedded codecs (especially audio hub codecs) can
have a very large number of controls and having the interconnection
information availiable in mixer user interfaces would help users work
with them.

Even with just the existing power information it'd still be a win.

More information about the Alsa-devel mailing list


text:
Yet another "No input file specified." thread

hobson42 nginx-forum at
Fri Sep 25 14:16:43 MSD 2009

Thanks for your input guys. All is working fine now.

What is odd is that I am sure I simply removed comments from the standard (0.6.whatever Ubuntu) file,
and that is what had root and index inside location /

Oh well. Thanks again

Posted at Nginx Forum:,9100,9176#msg-9176

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text:
Response stalls with gzip and proxy

technocoreai nginx-forum at
Thu Dec 20 19:05:38 UTC 2012

We've been experiencing a weird issue with nginx used as a gzipping proxy.
One of our internal services doesn't support content-encoding and because it
usually streams huge amounts of json data in response, we've decided to put
it behind nginx. Unfortunately, about 5-10% of responses in this
configuration seem to just stall with the TCP connection perfectly fine, but
no data going anywhere.

I've tried to diagnose the issue to check if it's a problem with our HTTP
libraries, VPN or network, but it does look like nginx is the culprit:
 - The issue is reproducible with any HTTP client, including curl
 - Packet capture on the server that's hosting a client and the server
that's hosting nginx show nothing interesting. There are no lost or
corrupted packets; the client receives the last packet sent by nginx, ACKs
it and then ACKs keepalives. If the client is killed, it and nginx exchange
FIN/FIN-ACKs just fine.
 - Packet capture on the loopback interface, however, shows that nginx just
stops reading data at some point (I see a “full window” notice in wireshark
and netstat shows an nginx  worker sitting with a 512k-2M receive queue with
an empty transmit queue).

Some technical details (I've masked our internal host names):

The server on which nginx is on is running a server build of Ubuntu; uname
-a gives Linux <hostname> 3.2.0-32-generic #51-Ubuntu SMP Wed Sep 26
21:33:09 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux. This issue occurs on nginx
from the Ubuntu repo (1.1.19-1ubuntu0.1) and Debian wheezy repo

nginx -V output:
nginx version: nginx/1.2.1
TLS SNI support enabled
configure arguments: --prefix=/etc/nginx --conf-path=/etc/nginx/nginx.conf
--http-uwsgi-temp-path=/var/lib/nginx/uwsgi --lock-path=/var/lock/nginx.lock
--pid-path=/var/run/ --with-pcre-jit --with-debug
--with-http_addition_module --with-http_dav_module --with-http_geoip_module
--with-http_gzip_static_module --with-http_image_filter_module
--with-http_realip_module --with-http_stub_status_module
--with-http_ssl_module --with-http_sub_module --with-http_xslt_module
--with-ipv6 --with-sha1=/usr/include/openssl --with-md5=/usr/include/openssl
--with-mail --with-mail_ssl_module

Basic nginx config is unchanged from Ubuntu-provided defaults; the server
section looks like this:

    server {
        gzip  on;
        gzip_proxied any;
        gzip_types application/json;
        listen 80 default;
        server_name <servername>;
        access_log  /var/log/nginx/<servername>-access.log;
        location / {
            proxy_buffering off;

You can see the nginx debug log here: (I've
masked the request URL but it's otherwise unchanged); it ends about 1 second
after the response stall.

Posted at Nginx Forum:,234275,234275#msg-234275

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text:
The Durlan terrorist has set his end game in motion. Superman is tied up fighting NRG-X in the fortress of solitude while Batman attempts to prevent the alien’s attack in space. The last surviving members of two species must now fight to the death for the sake of their planets.

Superman/Batman #71

Written by Joe Casey and Joshua Williamson
Pencils by Jason Fabok
Inks by Prentis Rollins, Rebecca Buchman, Derek Fridolfs, and Walden Wong
Colors by Pete Pantazis
Letters by Rob Leigh
Cover by Ardian Syaf, Vincente Cifuentes, and Ulises Arreola
Edited by Eddie Berganza and Rex Ogle
Published by DC Comics

Previously in Superman/Batman: Thousands of years ago Kryptonians and Durlans waged war against each other. Thrown through time, a single Durlan soldier remains and has come to Earth to kill Superman. Taking on the form of billionaire Anderson Gaines, Batman discovers his true identity and lures him to a crashed Kryptonian battleship on the moon. Meanwhile, at the Fortress of Solitude, Superman deals with a hired assassin named NRG-X who was hired by Gaines to eliminate him.

Batman walks the halls of the kryptonian ghost ship to meet Anderson Gaines on the bridge for battle. Before we see the first punch thrown, Superman deals with the cybernetic mercenary known as NRG-X in the fortress of solitude by ripping off his head and melting it into sludge. Batman is left alone on the dark side of the moon to fight the squid-like Gaines as the ship sets sail on a kamikaze mission for Metropolis. While temporarily in control of the fight, Batman tries to change course only to find that he can neither steer the ship nor beat Gaines. He does the only thing left to do, call Superman.

Superman bursts through a wall of the Earth bound ship and tries to convince Gaines that they don’t need to carry on a war that was started centuries ago. Gaines plans on finishing what he started and makes peace with death as he attempts to kill Superman. Batman regains slight use of the controls just as Superman freezes Gaines in ice. Superman flies to the exterior of the ship and helps steer it away from Metropolis while narrowly missing the Daily Planet building and landing in the river. Superman informs Gaines that if he tries to shape-shift while frozen he’ll die and offers to take him back to the fortress for medical treatment and a truce. Gaines refuses to surrender and decides to shatter into millions of tiny pieces instead. Both Superman and Batman are left debating whether or not we are able to evolve or if we are products of a set course of action when we see a small fragment of Gaines glowing as it descends into the depths of the river.

The first thing that confused me was that the kryptonian battleship seems to have gone through an artist redesign since the last issue. That threw me off from page one mostly because I remembered the bridge of the ship to have a rather unique look to it. Perhaps this has something to do with all the different inkers that worked on this final installment. While it’s a bit annoying, I think in the long run it was a better move because the new bridge has a lot more space to hold a final battle. I just wished that they would have thought of this a before they printed the first 3 parts and a prelude issue.

The fights were fun but definitely one sided. Superman using his x-ray vision to discover that NRG-X was really a cyborg seems like it should have been one of the first things Supes would do. Even with this knowledge, ripping off the man’s head and melting it in his hands still seems a bit brutal for big blue. The fight between Batman and Gaines was choreographed well enough to make it seem that Batman could stand his ground, but after torching Gaines it feels like Batman’s only going to get a stalemate at best. The final battle between Superman and Gaines brings us back to Superman’s brutality issues. After splattering the alien’s face with one punch and punching a hole in his head with another, I figured I should have been desensitized to seeing Gaines explode into tiny little pieces. I wasn’t and it still came off as an overly aggressive tactic for the Boy Scout who seemed to get through two battles without a scratch on him.

There were a few panels that seemed to pull me out of the comic. The first was after Batman torched Gaines and Gaines started to shape-shift back into a human form. On the very next page we see Gaines attacking Batman in his alien form. I don’t understand the point of starting a transformation that has no purpose. On the same page, Batman is looking at a monitor and calling for help from Superman. Next page we see Superman looking at a very similar monitor and I had to take a second look to make sure that somehow Superman didn’t get on board the ship already. The last panel is when Superman is referring to all the people who lost their lives in the war and shows Superman in the middle of a light source while red light is emanating from him with dead bodies all around. It makes you think that Superman used his heat vision on all of them when I think, in reality, he’s standing in front of some sort of red spotlight. Some of the panels are very misleading. I will say, in its favor, I’m glad that every time there was kryptonian text there was also a translation to go with it. I really don’t like it when they make you decipher what’s being said with a legend in the back of the book.

“The Big Noise” was supposed to be an aftermath to the “Our Worlds at War” story. Unfortunately, I didn’t read that story so I’ll be judging this as a stand alone tale. I have to give the arc 2 out of 5 stars. The story didn’t need to take 4 issues (3 issues and a prelude) to tell. This should have just been a one shot at best because it doesn’t establish any meaning for the tales of either person and doesn’t really feel like it was necessary. The fights with NRG-X were decent but that was about the only thing worth mentioning.

As a piece of the whole, this wasn’t as bad as some of the previous issues. I think the only reason for that was because of the story being resolved and Superman’s extreme brutality. I think they wrote Superman the way fans would like to see him and not the way we expect to see him. I’ll give this issue a 2 and a half stars out of 5 just for those reasons.

Rating: ★★½☆☆

The Author

Ah, comics! Is there anything they can't do? I've been reading comics since the second grade when my friend lent me a copy of Spider-man where a strange black alien ooze broke Eddie Brock out of the jail cell he shared with Cletus Cassidy. I mostly read Spiderman and the X-men in my youth until a TV show named Batman the Animated Series came along. It took me until the issue of Hush subtitled "Punch Line" to buy a DC comic though. Since then, I've been reading and collecting nonstop.

Favorite comics: Superman/Batman, Batman, Detective Comics, anything by UDON, and Buffy: the Vampire Slayer
Favorite writers: Geoff Johns, Dwayne McDuffy, and Gail Simone
Favorite artists: Ed Benes, Ian Churchill, Alvin Lee, Jim Lee, and Dustin Nyugen
Favorite "can read anytime" book: JUSTICE

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text:
Sunday, July 24, 2011

First national mining safety week to be in 2012

The First National Mining Safety Week shall be celebrated in March-April 2012 all across the entire mining industry in Papua New Guinea.

As per decision taken by the National Apex Mining Safety Council last year, Barrick Porgera Joint Venture will be hosting this event which was announced at the second meeting of the National Mining Emergency Response Forum in Port Moresby on Wednesday July 20, 2011.

The mining industry in PNG,  under the auspices of the Office of the Chief Inspector of Mines,  organised the First National Mining Emergency Response Challenge at Lae in March 2011,  which received an excellent response and support from all stake holders and was hailed as a resounding success.

Transforming the event into a bigger and wider game, next year would witness staging of the First National Mining Safety Week in which all mines would conduct various safety promotional activities at their respective sites during the Safety Week period,  which would lead up to staging of the Mining Emergency Response Challenge in Port Moresby as a concluding ceremony.

The concept,  initiated to develop closer partnerships and interaction amongst the different industry players and to provide avenue for participants to learn and exchange skills and ideas,  is believed to generate more interest and bigger participation next year.

The main purpose of these celebrations is to educate and remind people of the importance of safety at their work places.

Speaking at the Forum meeting, PNG’s Chief Inspector of Mines, Mr Mohan Singh,  thanked Barrick PJV for taking up the challenge and said he had confidence in them to make the 2012 event a grand success.

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text:
Man of Steel 2013 Watch Online Free

Man of Steel 2013 Watch Online Free
Man of Steel 2013 Watch Online Free

Stars: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon
Director: Zack Snyder
Writers: David S. Goyer (story), David S. Goyer (screenplay)

Genre: Action | Adventure | Fantasy
Run Time: 143 min
Release Date: 14 June 2013 (USA)

Free movie megavideo online for man of steel without download: The boys know that he is not a special power, and has the earth. Here's what, come to find a place for it in the young people to go to. For all mankind, but he destroyed, a symbol of hope to save the world if the hero is a need to promote.

Megavideo free man of steel without download: People pack the very beat of steel a few too many WALLOPS, it turns out. Snyder's mind, much like in the movie is violent. But at the time we were at least partially missed opportunity that is hard to shake the excess club to reach the last half hour. Generous acts Cavill as Superman, but a reboot of fun and romance, skimps. Maximum storytelling and directing the problem here is one of rhythm and balance. Movies exaggerated and untimely destruction and swing homily. Snyder is still small, the most intimate moments of the epic blockbusters understand the value of creating a piece is successful.
Man Of Steel 2013 imdb
WATCH IN HD Quality Here


text:
Mansfield Fox

Law student. Yankees fan. Massive fraggle. Just living the American dream.

Wednesday, March 31, 2004

The Dante's Inferno Test has sent you to Purgatory!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)Very High
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)Low
Level 2 (Lustful)Moderate
Level 3 (Gluttonous)High
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)Very Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)Low
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)Very Low
Level 7 (Violent)Moderate
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)Moderate
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)Moderate

Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test

The last time I took this test, I was firmly lodged in the Third Circle, being treated like a chew toy by Cerebus. Looks like I'm moving up in the next world. Booyah!

Tuesday, March 30, 2004

BEST POLITICAL ADS: MADE BY AMATEURS. I agree with Jonah Goldberg: this Bush ad is pretty good. It's a positive ad, but one that's substantive rather than maudlin. It probably needs to be cleaned up a little bit, but other than a few font improvements, I think it's basically an ad you could run on television tomorrow.

The quality of the ad reminds me of the "Child's Pay" ad that one the contest a while back. I'm always amazed: politicians spend millions, and get ads of equal or lesser quality to what can be produced by a few motivated amateurs.
NO LOVE FOR BAYH (OR, ALTERNATELY, "BAYH-BAYH, LOVE") My two or three regular readers will perhaps recall my fantasizing about the possibility of a John Edwards - Evan Bayh presidential ticket (as well as my man-crush on Donald Rumsfeld). Well, now I discover a most attractive man in politics poll, and my pointy-jawed stud muffin isn't even on the list! Who is? San Francisco Board of Supervisors President and failed Green Party candidate for Mayor of San Francisco Matt Gonzalez, who looks like a cross between Judd Nelson and Alan Rickman. I'm sure Gonzalez is a great guy, but I ask you, America: who do you think is studlier?

(Link via The Corner.)
WHY IS JOE BIDEN ONE OF MY FAVORITE DEMOCRATS? Well, for one: He's happy to stick it to the Euros when necessary. (Link via Instapundit.)

In looking eternally inward, Biden said, the European Union's leading members had for the most part had taken their eye off the ball about the rest of the world. Europeans misguidedly tended to regard the United States as an imperial power, he added. And their leaders offered no really constructive alternatives to the Iraq war.

Recalling that he had talked to six European government chiefs about the war, Biden caricatured how they would have done things better. "Blah blah blah, international cooperation," the senator mimicked. He added, in his own voice, "Give me a break, huh."

When Biden offered the possibility, beyond more civility, of a future in contrast to the Bush administration, it was in a plague-on-your-houses context. He said of the two, Europe and Bush, "You have fallen in love with international institutions to the extent that this administration has fallen in love with unilateral action."

For good measure, Biden threw in the view that the European Union will not have a unified foreign policy, and with it, the phrase, "I hope you do, I wish you well, but I see no evidence you're going to spend the money needed" to create a serious European military force either.

If it is in fact true that a Kerry Administration wouldn't just roll over and give the Euros whatever they want (and it probably is), then it's good to let them know ahead of time. I'd hate for them to go ga-ga for Ol' Botox only to discover next January that it's "meet the new boss, same as the old boss."
THE OTHER TOURNAMENT THIS MONTH Old Oligarch links to Modern Drunkard's "Clash of the Tightest" tournament. See? This is why the internet is so great. To be honest, I would have had Churchill over Richard Burton in the first round, but then again, I had the Southern Illinois Salukis over the "Elite Eight"-bound Crimson Tide in the first round too, so what do I know?
Saint Gereon
Saint Gereon is praying for you! To learn more
about this Roman martyr go to the Patron Saint
Index at

Which Saint Would You Be?
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Friday, March 26, 2004

VERY INTERESTING ARTICLE ON ARAB CHRISTIANS IN THE UNITED STATES. It seems that, among other things, they still constitute 70% of Arab immigrants to the United States. Anyway, go read it if you have a few minutes. Fascinating look into an subject I didn't know anything about. (Link via Fr. Jim)
ONLY IN AMERICA! The RNC has a flash game on it's website, featuring John Kerry boxing himself. (It's a joke about his flip-flops. Get it?!?) The game is very so-so, but it does have one cool feature: the voice of the announcer is none other than Don King. The Don King. The actual Don King. How cool is that?

Thursday, March 25, 2004

IT'S A GOOD THING AMERICANS DON'T CARE ABOUT POLITICS There's an interesting piece at Opinion Journal criticizing Professor Ackerman's proposal to start celebrating "Deliberation Day", a holiday in which Americans will get paid $150 a pop (at taxpayer expense) to get educated (re-educated?) about issues of public concern. Like Mr. Conway, I'm skeptical of the "Deliberation Day" proposal. I especially agree with this sentiment:

Maybe the political indifference or ignorance of the average American is not at root a vice in our national life but a virtue, a product of a mild politics. One notes that Bosnians and Serbs, Hutus and Tutsis, could easily consider political apathy a blessing; that despite its many flaws, America's political system invokes envy and inspires imitation around the world. It certainly affords its citizens more liberties than any system that came before it, including the liberty--most of the time--to pay more attention to, say, a child's soccer game or the NCAA tourney than to John Kerry's latest nuanced position on Sarbanes-Oxley.

Hear, hear. One of the greatest freedoms Americans enjoy is the freedom not to give a rat's ass about any given subject. Care more about college basketball or doll-house collecting than politics? Go nuts, big guy.

SO TANK GIRL IS ON COMEDY CENTRAL RIGHT NOW. What does it say about me that I think Naomi Watts is hotter as the geeky technician in that movie than in any of her other movies (including the lesbian amnesiac in Mulholland Drive).

She's the one on the right. (Not a great photo I'll concede.)

Monday, March 15, 2004

FOREIGN LEADERS NOT FOREIGN? Drudge is reporting that a transcription error caused Kerry's claim to have spoken to "more leaders" to be mis-transcribed as "foreign leaders". Like Professor Reynolds, I'm skeptical. In the mini-firestorm that's followed his remarks, Kerry hasn't defended himself by saying "I was misquoted" but rather by saying by saying that what he had said wasn't any of our business. Maybe he's just being an aloof jerk. But it seems more plausible to me that even if he said "more leaders" he really meant "foreign leaders," that he was quoted accurately as to the substance of his statements, even as he was misquoted as to the specifics.
GREEN MILE UPDATE: It was a bladder infection, apparently. Still, it was causing impotence. And Michael Clark Duncan still grabbed two-time Academy Award-winner Tom Hanks' two-time Academy Award-winning crotch. Ewwww...
FROM THE "I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M WATCHING THE GREEN MILE" FILES: I can't believe I'm watching The Green Mile. I'd avoided the movie for years, but now, stuck home on a slow Monday night, I've been pulled in. Do you realize what this movie is about? Did the retarded giant just use his mystical powers to cure Tom Hanks' erectile dysfunction? And did he do it by grabbing his crotch? Forget about Janet Jackson; how can we get this filth off television?
WHO ARE THOSE FOREIGN LEADERS who've privately endorsed Kerry? There's been some chatter in the blogosphere about Kerry's "That's none of your business." response to that question, posed to him by a Bush sympathizer at a town hall meeting recently.

It's perfectly reasonable to ask Kerry that kind of question, and to criticize him when he gives a rude non-response response. You can't offer as a selling-point for your candidacy that you've been privately endorsed by various foreign leaders and then refuse to tell the American people who those leaders are.

The foreign-leader endorsements are part of a larger campaign promise by the Kerry camp - that he'll repair our frayed alliances with Europe and the rest of the world. The secret endorsements are apparently evidence of how Kerry will do that: foreign leaders like him better than Bush, whom they despise, and will be more willing to deal with him (and his mellow multilateralism).

Because the secret endorsements are a substantive claim in defense of a campaign promise, people have a right to some specifics. Are these world leaders the heads of important countries? (No offense to Togo, but President Gnassingbe Eyadema's endorsement shouldn't make-or-break the 2004 election.) Are they the leaders of enemies the United States, like North Korea or Iran? (I doubt they are, by the way.) Are they the leaders of ostensibly allied states that many Americans find incredibly irritating, often for no rational reason? (I'm looking at you, Jacques Chirac.)

These are important details, which when provided will provide the voters a means to evaluate the strength of Kerry's larger promise that he'll repair our frayed alliances. Withholding it would be like proposing to spend $900 billion more on healthcare, cut the deficit in half and only raise taxes by $250 billion, without explaining the source of the other $650 billion. You know, the kind of bush-league bullshit the Kerry Campaign would never dream of pulling.

That said, there are plenty of good reasons Kerry wouldn't want to reveal who those foreign leaders who've privately endorsed him are. It would probably hurt him more than it helps him to be known as the official candidate of Jacques Chirac and the Fifth French Republic. There's also the problem of confirming his claims. Whoever he names, not wanting between 9 months and 5 years of icy relations with the Bush Administration, might deny ever endorsing Kerry, thus making the Senator look like a liar. Also, the endorsement may indeed have been made in confidence, which the Senator, being a decent guy, would not want to violate.

Of course, all of these reasons just underscore how dumb it was for Kerry to go off about how foreign leaders had told him they wanted him to win in the first place. It should've been obvious at the time that these kinds of questions would follow. If he didn't want to answer them, he shouldn't've brought up the topic. Kerry let this particular genie out of it's bottle. He can't complain when it wants to play 20 questions. (Talk about your mixed metaphors!)

By the way (bonus final graph): I can't see how the "foreign leaders endorse Kerry" meme hurts Bush much. Most Americans already have a sense that the Europeans don't care for Bush, just like they didn't care for his ideological predecessor Reagan. I can think of two scenarios in which this hurts Bush. One is if a large number of foreign leaders (and not just European ones or ones that are known to be anti-Bush or anti-US) come out openly against Bush's reelection. I'm taking Russia, India, Turkey, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, Ireland, etc. That would wound, but probably not fatally. The other scenario: if the leader who'd secretly endorsed Kerry were Tony Blair. I can't see how that's anything other than a fatal wound to the Bush reelection bid. If Tony the Tiger would rather play ball with J. Forbes Kerry, and is willing to say so publicly, Bush is toast.
DON SENSING ON GAY MARRIAGE "Opponents of legalized same-sex marriage say they're trying to protect a beleaguered institution, but they're a little late. The walls of traditional marriage were breached 40 years ago; what we are witnessing now is the storming of the last bastion." I basically agree with Sensing's analysis. The question, though, is: what is to be done?

I sense that Sensing is essentially suggesting preemptive surrender by the forces of tradition. Given how much has already been lost, that's not an unreasonable position. If this were an actual war, instead of a metaphoric one, it would be a hard position to argue with: it's hard to ask anyone to be the last to die for a doomed cause.

On the other hand, given that traditionalists have (at least in the short term) a maybe 50-50 chance of holding that last bastion, shouldn't they dig in and try to hold on, with the hope that it might someday serve as a base from which to launch a counter-assault.

It probably won't work: even I have a hard time imagining that we're ever going to recover the sexual mores of the eighteenth century (and I have a pretty vivid imagination). But it's not impossible. Don't give me that Whig School of history crap; inevitable upwards march of progress, my ass. And if what's been lost is really as important as Sensing seems to think it is (and he does say "I believe that this state of affairs is contrary to the will of God."), isn't it at least worth a try? As Henry Hyde said, of a different issue, "When the time comes, as it surely will, when we face that awesome moment, the Final Judgment ... God will look at us and say not, 'Did you succeed?' but rather, 'Did you try?'" Or, to quote a different thinker, Sarah Connor, who faced a similarly impossible-seeming challenge, "No fate but what we make."

Saturday, March 13, 2004

WHY DO I LIKE THE YANKEES THIS YEAR? (Other than all the other reasons?) Two words: bench strength. I'm watching the Yanks-Braves spring training game right now. The Yanks brought three of their regular starters to Orlando: Sheffield, Matsui, and Enrique Wilson. The rest of the lineup was spare parts: Tony Clark, Darren Bragg, Miguel Castro, Mike Lamb, and John Flaherty. The Yankees nevertheless put up four runs on six hits (all singles) in the first off of Mike Hampton. This suggests to me that the bench players can hit, which is a very good thing for the team. They're also (with the exception of Mike Lamb, who's not going to make the roster anyway) good defensively. This kind of bench strength bodes very well: it mitigates the damage from injuries to starters, it allows you to pinch-run and put in defensive replacements late in the game more confidently. It's been a while since I've felt this good about the Yankees bench. Combine that with an all all-star starting lineup and a pretty-damn-fine pitching staff, and we're in good shape.

Thursday, March 11, 2004

POKER NIGHT AT THE LAW SCHOOL Eesh. I got shit cards and played with a strategic vision worthy of Douglas Haig at the Somme, so I was the first out. Ehh, I wasn't using those $10 anyway.

Later that night I dreamt I was part of an illegal poker circuit that was eventually joined by Rafael Palmeiro. We had to kill Palmeiro, who in addition to being a card cheat was apparently passing government secrets to the Cubans. The rest of the dream was spent trying to dispose of the body. We eventually traded it to a coked-up heiress along with a haute couture dress we'd somehow come into possession of.

If there's a lesson in all this I think I've missed it

Tuesday, March 09, 2004

THE DAY OF MAN HAS ENDED Sony has built a robot that can dance. You know, I really thought I'd be well into my forties before I was made totally obsolete by an automaton. Well, I had a good run.

A question: what's the over/under on "P. Diddy gets a robot butler"?
NOT TO BURY THE CASS COMMISSION, BUT TO PRAISE IT There's been a lot of ragging on the Cass Commission lately, some of it fair, much of it not; I think this is a nice corrective.
KINDA FUNNY, but making fun of Robert Fisk for saying something dumb is more than a little like shooting fish in the proverbial barrel. (Link via Instapundit)
THE MADNESS OF BILL OF RIGHTS INCORPORATION Doing my reading for Criminal Procedure just now, I was reminded of one of my top con law pet peeves: the utterly incomprehensible manner in which parts of the Bill of Rights has been held to apply to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. Let's assume that you agree that the Fourteenth Amendment applies some, but not all, of the protections of the Bill of Rights to the states. Under current doctrine, the First Amendment, which you'll recall begins "Congress shall make no law..." (emphasis added), is incorporated. At the same time, the Fifth Amendment's grand jury requirement ("No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger") is not incorporated. Does this make any sense?

Under a "plain meaning" analysis, the Fifth Amendment's grand jury requirement would seem to apply to the states even in the absence of the Fourteenth Amendment (something that can't be said of the First Amendment). And yet, under today's constitutional doctrine, not only does it not apply to the states on its own, it's one of the few provisions of the Bill of Rights not incorporated against the states via the Fourteenth Amendment.

Is there some compelling logical argument I'm missing here? Or do we just like a little crazy in our constitutional law framework?
FUNNIEST-EVER EXAMPLE OF COLOR-BLIND CASTING? "The Conqueror", starring John Wayne as Genghis Khan. (It's being shown now on AMC.) Man, the Duke was about as non-Mongolian-looking/sounding as they come.
IF JOHN KERRY WANTS TO BE THE SECOND BLACK PRESIDENT, does that make him the first black graduate of his elite Swiss boarding school?

Monday, March 08, 2004

BILL CLINTON, THE VICE PRESIDENCY & AMENDMENTS XII AND XXII Over at the Conspiracy, Professor Volokh rejoins the fray over whether Clinton would eligible to serve as John Kerry's vice president. He thinks he's not; others think he is. I'm inclined to agree with Professor Volokh, but what do I know?

My question: who cares? Not to dis people who make their livings as legal academics, but isn't this debate a bit, er, academic? Lets say, hypothetically, that Clinton does join Kerry on the Democratic ticket. Lets say they win. To quote "Dude, Where's My Car", and then? There'll be a lawsuit? Who has standing to sue? Bush? Is the Supreme Court actually going to invalidate Clinton's election to the vice presidency on the grounds that it violates the Twelfth and Twenty-Second Amendments? (Just like they invalidated Hugo Black's appointment on the grounds that it violated Article I, Section 6?) Isn't this a quintessential political question? Are the constitutional requirements for officeholding, or at least the presidency, judicially enforceable?

What if a person is elected president when he's 34, but will turn 35 before he's sworn in? Is that person "eligible" for the office of president under Article II, Section 1? Doesn't it matter that the people presumptively considered the issue and decided it didn't disqualify the candidate? What if the people decided a 33-year-old was "good enough"? I'm not saying these aren't violations of the Constitution. What I am saying is: do we want the Supreme Court essentially deposing duly elected presidents?
THIS IS FUNNY (PART THREE) From the mixed-up files of my criminal law casebook (Kadish & Schulhofer): "Lord Hoffman...concluded that the distinction was practically unworkable, tending to produce 'glazed looks' in jurors' eyes when told to consider such oddities as 'the reasonable glue sniffer'..." (emphasis added)
THIS IS FUNNY (PART TWO) The oddest thing about Blogger's spell check? It doesn't recognize the word "blog". Zuh?
THIS IS FUNNY (PART ONE) Blogger's spell check doesn't recognize "Giambi". It's first suggested alternate spelling? "Gimpy". God, I hope not.

That said, given that Blogger's spell check dubbed Petyon Manning "Python" just before his agonizing defeat in New England, I'm not exactly in awe of it's predictive power.
DAMN YOU, GARY SHEFFIELD'S THUMB! Looks like Sheff is out with an injured thumb. I told Giambi he was too aggressive a thumb-wrestler! Why wouldn't he listen? Whyyyyyyy???

But: let's look on the bright side. This takes the Yankees down a notch offensively. But scoring runs wasn't going to be their big problem this year. And, assuming Bernie Williams recovers OK from his appendectomy, this may actually improve the team defensively while Sheffield is out. Giambi will DH, Bernie will play right field, Lofton will play center and the glovetastic Travis Lee will play first. That's a better defensive lineup than the Sheff-in-right/Giambi-at-first/Bernie-DH/Lofton-in-center lineup the team was planning on. And a batting order of Lofton-Jeter-Rodriguez-Giambi-Posada-Matsui-Williams-Lee-Wilson is still going to score a great many runs.

Sunday, March 07, 2004

PRISON RAPE: REALLY, REALLY NOT FUNNY Over in The Corner, Andrew Stuttaford links to an article in Yale Law's own Legal Affairs on prison rape in the United States. It's a good piece, which you should read when you have the chance. An old boss of mine, Eli Lehrer, once described prison rape as the biggest systematic civil rights violation in the United States today (see more of his thoughts on the topic here). I don't know if that's true, though it's certainly plausible. Prison rape is a real problem for the country, one that (as Stuttaford says) challenges our vision of how civilized we are as a society. I find myself particularly galled by how easy it is for otherwise good, humane people (in which I count myself, alas) to think of the rapes endured in prison as naturally part-and-parcel of the punishment we visit on criminals. They're not. They're a massive and cruel injustice, one that we abet if we don't do our utmost to stop it.

What I hate most is that, in spite of myself, I find prison rape funny. Half Baked is funny, as are many of the other movies that use prison rape, or the fear of prison rape for comic effect. (It's not just prison rape either; think of the scene in which Seabass rapes Lloyd in Dumb and Dumber.) We would rightly consider it appalling to joke about a man raping a woman. But when Nasty Nate threatens to take his "cocktail....FRUIT!" from Kenny, or when Cam Neely makes Jim Carrey "find a happy place", we laugh. (Perhaps you're chuckling now.) I don't know why we react so differently; I just wish we didn't.
I'M NOT SURE, but I think I just got a ride home from Mass with Judge José Cabranes. Perhaps the best part: he was in the back seat, and I got the front passenger seat. It's not every day you get shotgun preference over a sitting federal judge. Why do I feel it's all downhill from here on in?
OOOOO, BABY The Hobbit is in pre-pre-pre-preproduction. And Peter "Sloppy" Jackson is in line to direct. Schweet.

Saturday, March 06, 2004

HOW SHOULD WE RELATE TO OUR PETS? There's a really good piece by Jon Katz over at Slate on the pet owner / companion-animal guardian debate. This topic came up a couple of times, obliquely, in my constitutional law class. I'm inclined to agree with Mr. Katz that obscuring the line between humans and animals, treating pets as "'people' of another species", is a very bad idea. Katz argues that treating pets like humans leads people to treat them in ways that are wildly inappropriate for animals (overfeeding them, not training them properly, refusing to euthanize them). For my part, I think the problem cuts the other way as well: I think equating humans and animals is just as likely to lead people to treat humans in a way once thought appropriate only for animals as the other way around, and that's far more dangerous (for us at least, and that's what I care about) in the long term. It may just be a coincidence that the modern euthanasia movement developed simultaneously with the late 20th century move to treat pets as family members rather than, well, pets, but I'm inclined to think they're at least partially related. I mean: if Rover is a member of the family, and when Rover is old and in interminable pain we put him to sleep. Grandpa is a member of the family too; he's old and in interminable pain.... Or chemical castration of sex offenders; are we more likely to consider that option because we have no problem neutering our companion animals?

Of course, I'm an anthro-supremacist - no doubt a relic of an passing age - so what do I know?
SUCCESS! Eight hours, and no more broken futons. Cross your fingers, boys and girls.
TALK ABOUT YOUR LACK OF MENS REA Well, I learned a valuable lesson tonight. If you go to the grad student bar, and it's karaoke night, make damn sure before you sit on anything that it can support your weight. Specifically: the backs of futons may not be strong enough. It does not matter how many futons you've sat upon in how many unorthodox ways; if you sit on the back of one futon in the middle of a heart-felt rendition of "You Shook Me All Night Long" and it, say, collapses under your prodigious girth, you're toast. The people at GPSCY may be nice and say they won't make you pay for it; you may try to claim "It wasn't Angus Dwyer: it was Angus Young, dammit!"; but at the end of the day you're the fat-ass that took the grad-students' pub down from three futons to two, and you're the one that collapsed on the floor in a humiliating sea of cheap wood planks and threadbare mattresses. And no amount of self-deprecating humor can erase that.