Butterflies in Battery Park, New York City, June 2004 

Painting A Mural, New York city, June 2004 

New York City, June 2004 

Afghanistan Names First Female Provincial Governor

Yahoo! News - Afghanistan Names First Female Provincial Governor: "Afghanistan (news - web sites) Wednesday named its first female provincial governor, a step forward in the slow political progress of women since the fall of the Taliban more than three years ago."

IRAQ THE MODEL: Iraqis boycotting Syrian goods

IRAQ THE MODEL: "I had a number of Syrian products which I couldn't find this time. The wholesaler that I usually deal with said that there has been some kind of an agreement among many of the main Iraqi importers to boycott the Syrian products."

More boycotting goodness in the article.

Free Iraqi: First there was Mohammed and then there was Napoleon and then...

I have no idea how true this is, but it seems well thought out. There is a followup post that covers Wahabism.

Free Iraqi: First there was Mohammed and then there was Napoleon and then...

Wikipedia: my first entry

Saint Paul, Minnesota - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wikipedia is a large effort that appears to have created the world's largest encyclopedia. It is editable by anyone so it is large, but not everything is absolutely correct. I just added the Como Conservatory to the Saint Paul page.

Google News: Now customizable!

Impressive. You can now customize Google News! The coolest part is that you can add your own section. I added an education section just by entering in Google search words. Very Cool!

Google News

Blinding Flash of the Obvious (BFO!)

A BFO is one a situation where you learn something that is so obvious you wonder why you didn't think of it before. For example I have always borrowed my sister's pastry bag for making deviled eggs. Then I read this today:

Eggs! (booklore.blog-city.com): "Once you've mashed up all of the ingredients, you have to put them back in the egg halves. If you have a deft hand with a spoon, this isn't a problem, but there's a more fun alternative. You take a large ziploc bag, put the mash in there, and seal the top, then cut a small hole in one corner and squeeze the stuff out like it's a pastry bag."

BFO's can be met with two responses: 1) Doh! how could I be so stupid as to not think of that myself! and 2) Cool! I learned something. I usually have the second response.

I learned about BFOs from a former collegue many years ago. Thanks Dave P!

Warping Good Ideas

Nicholas Kristof writes an interesting column (registration required) about the problems of extremism for environmentalists.

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: 'I Have a Nightmare': "This record should teach environmentalists some humility. The problems are real, but so is the uncertainty. Environmentalists were right about DDT's threat to bald eagles, for example, but blocking all spraying in the third world has led to hundreds of thousands of malaria deaths."

I have heard this before about DDT. If this is true, can't we find a balance between saving people's life and killing animals? Surely some level of animal death is worth saving "hundreds of thousands" of human lives?

The same distorted priorities and "sky is falling" mentality applies to PETA . Penn & Teller have a TV show on Showtime that investigated PETA that showed how a valid concern (lets not harm animals unnecessarily) can be warped into an organization that makes the following statement with a straightface 'Violence or non-violence is not a moral issue, it is a tactical issue". The PETA episode is contained on P&T's second season DVDs.

NewsFactor Network - Tech Jobs - Why Women Leave I.T.

NewsFactor Network - Tech Jobs - Why Women Leave I.T.: "About a decade ago, women's place in the I.T. employment world was about even with their numbers in the workforce at large. In 1996, women comprised 41 percent of I.T. workers. By 2002, however, that figure had dropped to 35 percent, and, according to Armstrong, the downward spiral is gaining momentum."

These numbers are concerning. Unfortunately, the article provides no link to the source of the numbers. I do have a data point though. I was recently involved in the hiring of a new IT person. The job was posted on a popular job web site. The position called for a specific set of job skills. Their were no women in the set that had those skills or came close to those skills. Weird.

The article also does not do a good job of explaining why this might be true. The specifics mentioned (maternity leve and difficulty taking evening training or out of town classes) fall short. The maternity leave issue has always been there so why where the numbers higher 10 years ago? The speed of change might have something to do with it (for a similar length maternity leave, more technology changes), but that doesn't seem like it would have such a drastic impact. Likewise for the evening/out of town training classes.

If true, this is a disturbing trend. In the last 10 years, there has even been more of an emphasis on keeping girls interested in math and technology. I guess the next question is this: Are fewer women going into IT than a decade ago or are the same number going in, but they are leaving the field more?

Geddy Lee: interview after My Favorite Headache

Geddy Lee Interview in Global Bass Online from My Favorite Headache

Wet happy dog up on the shores of Lake Superior 

A little too close to home.....

Dave Barry's Blog: So I took my daughter to soccer practice this evening, and another dad and I were talking to one of the moms, whom we both know and whom we have both seen roughly once a week for the past six months. After we talked for about 10 minutes, a second mom showed up, and immediately said to the mom we'd been talking to: 'YOU HAD YOUR BABY!' And then they hugged, and the new mom got out baby pictures. And the other dad and I looked at each other and realized that not only had we failed to notice that she'd had a baby, but we had been at most only dimly aware that she had been pregnant. We apologized, and she assured us that it was no big deal. Women are accustomed to the cluelessness of guys in these matters.

The thing is, if she had shown up carrying a cool new cell phone, we would have noticed that."

Of course we would. Or a new car....

Type 1 Diabetes: Cure In Sight?

Earthtimes.org: : "Doctors at King's College Hospital in Denmark Hill, UK have successfully transplanted islet cells to a Type 1 diabetes patient, thereby assuring a complete cure from the condition. The pancreatic cells were obtained from the pancreas of an organ donor and injected into the patient's liver."

No M* J*!

If a radio or TV news show puts on any story about hewhoshallbenotnamed's trial, I immediately change the station. How can that possibility be considered newsworthy enough to warrent space in a 3 minute news bit?

If you honk when you are going faster than the speed of sound, can you hear it?

"The ultimate goal: 800mph..." Oh my...

The Seattle Times: Local News: Pair will try to fly Eagle into the record books

Wallace & Gromit Return!

Aardman Animations - Latest News

Teaching as an "Unstructured Profession"?

Here is an interesting dissertation on education from one teacher's point of view. The premise (captured in the quote below) is that teaching lacks of typical characteristics of a profession. Teachers don't have the kind of union they deserve. They deserve more of a professional organization. And we have to pay them like professionals.

OverEducation: : "Namely, that education suffers from the fact that it is treated like a profession but isn't actually structured like one."

The Education Wonks: The Carnival Of Education: Week 5

For those interested in Education, here is the latest Carnival Of Education.

Over at A Small Victory, a cool baseball story for baseball lovers.

A Small Victory - A Baseball Story

Once again Dooce takes a normal situation and makes it hilarious. If you aren't a prent, you won't get this. The book is Carl Goes Shopping (Carl)

dooce: Good Dog Carl Goes to Prison

Power Windows...Rush News

Power Windows...Rush News

Rush Earnings in '04: According to the latest issue of every Rush fan's favorite rock magazine, the band earned $13.3 million last year, with the R30 tour grossing $21 million, exceeding other rock tours such as Kiss and Ozzfest. - Rollingstone.com, Feb. 17, 2005

Ok, so neither of those other tours were that big of a deal, but still...

WXYZ: Local News Marines/UAW parking

Now this doesn't seem like a very smart move....

WXYZ: Local News: "Marines at nearby Marine Corps Reserve Center say on Tuesday morning, the director of security at the UAW told them that while they support the troops, Marines driving foreign vehicles or sporting a President George Bush bumper sticker were no longer welcome to park there."

Update: Blackreports that UAW has backed down. BLACKFIVE: UAW and the US Marines - "Parking Silliness" Is Resolved

Women Seize the Chance to claim their rights

More good news in Kuwait. Let's hope it keeps rolling...

OpinionJournal - Wonder Land

From Universitar Medisch Centrum Groningen

UMCGThe Groningen Protocol has five criteria: the suffering must be so severe that the newborn has no prospects of a future; there is no possibility of a cure or alleviation with medication or surgery; the parents must always give their consent; a second opinion must be provided by an independent doctor who has not been involved with the child’s treatment; and the deliberate ending of life must be meticulously carried out with the emphasis on aftercare.

This is concerning. It isn't an easy thing, but I'm uncomfortable with doing anything to make killings like this any easier. Is there a difference between witholding treatment and administrating poison?

Bankruptcy Bill: some concerns

A letter I sent to Senator Coleman and Senator Dayton. Neither had anything on their web sites about their position.

Senator Coleman/Dayton,
I would like to know your position on the upcoming bankruptcy bill. I have been trying to read up on it and have some grave concerns. The data appears to support the fact that a larger and larger percentage of bankruptcy are for medical reasons (mainly seniors). While I believe that people should be responsible for their debts (especially credit card bills!), I believe that an exception should be made for seniors who are struggling with medical bills. The extra burden placed on the bankruptee should not apply to them.

Respecfully,

This is a letter from 104 "professors of bankruptcy and commercial law": lawprofltr.pdf (application/pdf Object) (h/t: Instapundit.com)

I am a bit confused because this would indicate the vote has already taken place?

Ban Junk Food In School!

I like this idea. In the interest of bringing more money into the schools, some decisions have been made that may not be in the best interest of the children. Soda machines and candy fall into that category. This is another example of businesses (the soda and candy vendor) trying to break into new markets at the expense of their customers.

Of course, what is the definition of junk food? Who gets to decide? Let's set up a task force to study the possibility of creating a committee to evaluate a school board bill creating a commissions to look into this.

Soul Of Business

My business influences (kottke.org)I'll choose a company with ideals they're trying to live up to over a business that's aiming for the status quo any day of the week.

Jason Kottke talks about the businesses that influence his approach to his new business. I think he is wise to consider a philosophical approach. Simply going into business to make a lot of money is not sufficient. Spammers make a lot of money. Trials lawyers make a lot of money. Telemarketers make a lot of money. Day traders make a lot of money. All legal. But do they really add to our economy? To our society? I tend to lean to the "no" answer (I know, there are exceptions).

If you look around, you can see the businesses that make a difference in their corner of the world. From the coffee shop where the owner is involved in the neighborhood (Golden Thyme) to the small business that makes medical devices, it is possible to make money and make a difference in the world.

The Minnesota Cup

An interesting way to generate small businesses. I wonder how many of the people that don't win will go ahead and try to start their business anyway....

Arm wrestling robots

This polymer based muscle is fascinating. I believe it is also being looked at for the smaller insect-sized robots where motors are too big.

New Scientist Breaking News - Arm wrestling robots beaten by a teenaged girl

late at night....

Sometimes, late at night, you are heading back from a late meeting or a movie or something, you stop at a SuperAmerica or some other quick stop kind of place. You go in looking for a particular snack, say Mallo Cups. And they don't have any. Do you ever start wandering looking for something else to spend your money on but you really don't find anything so you start looking at the other snacks and you notice the hot dog rolly thing that has several nasty looking hot dogs that have clearly been there all day and you quickly look away hoping to see something else and all the while you feel the Krispy Kreme donut case calling calling calling you but you resist and head for the corn nuts next and on the way you remember that you need aspirin for the car so you head over there and see the beef jerky in 40 different flavors and you pause, thinking hmmm maybe, and then you realize you are thirsty and you end up spending at least $15 in the store? Me neither...

dooce: No seriously, last week he flung himself at the car and it made a THUD noise that reverberated across the neighborhood

And the title isn't even the main point of her post! She writes amusingly about being a stay-at-home mom and other things. She was fired from her job for writing about it in her blog. If, um, frank language bothers you, don't go here (although this particular post is ok).

I’d say that I have mastered The Grocery Store Check-Out Uncomfortable Silence That is So Interminable YOU JUST WANT TO DIE RIGHT THERE NEXT TO THE BIG RED AND JUICY FRUIT.

Does Freedom & Protection of the Press extend to Bloggers?

It will be interesting to see what happens with this topic. The freedom part seems pretty clear (Yes). The stickier part is the protection part. The "press" has enjoyed a certain amount of priviledge in getting the story. Access to people and places that the general public can't get. Do bloggers get the same access? It seems a bit analogous to a situation where everyone could create there own newspaper and magazine (we have that with the cheap printers and MS-Word, but it is easier to blog). Are some press and blogs more equal than others? (a different topic I suppose).

Dan Gillmor on Grassroots Journalism, Etc.: Note to Business Week: Bloggers Aren't Immune from Libel Law: "Well, sure, they can be sued for libel. But this piece suggests that pro journalists have more incentive than bloggers to tell the truth, and thus sets up the reader to think that the professionals therefore deserve more protection.

False. In fact, bloggers are hardly immune from libel laws. They, too, can be sued, as Yale law professor Jack Balkin noted a long time ago. (See also this story in Online Journalism Review.)"

War Watch - June 16, 2003 - Moral Stupidity - The Ornery American

An interesting essay by Orson Scott Card. I am a fan of his fiction and I agree with most of what is in here also. An excerpt:

War Watch - June 16, 2003 - Moral Stupidity - The Ornery American: "There were civilians killed in the fighting -- as always happens in urban warfare. But more Israeli soldiers died than Palestinian civilians. And anybody who knows anything about urban combat knows that Israel could have wiped out the terrorist fighters without suffering a single casualty -- as long as they didn't care how many civilians they killed.

But they did care, and sacrificed the lives of their soldiers by making them fight street by street and house by house, instead of carpet bombing the area where their enemies were holed up.

This is morally the opposite of the terrorists, who turn their 'soldiers' into human bombs and send them to deliberately attack Jews who are not harming anybody -- helpless infants, harmless old people, children on their way to school, teenagers socializing."

Afghanistan Women: Better off today

OpinionJournal - Extra: "While progress has been uneven from region to region, and hampered by security problems and backward attitudes, the latest United Nations report on the status and standing of women in Afghanistan observes that women have 'made historic gains, with the support of the international community,' and that in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Taliban, 'women came to the fore of the political life in the country and contributed to the new constitution, which clearly affirms equality between men and women.'"

Kuwaitis demonstrate for women's suffrage: "Around 500 Kuwaiti activists, mostly women, have demonstrated outside parliament to demand female suffrage amidst tensions in the Gulf Arab state over a government drive to grant women political rights.

'Women's rights now,' chanted the crowd, which included women dressed in abayas, or traditional long black cloaks. Some of the demonstrators at Monday's protest wore veils over their faces.

'Our democracy will only be complete with women,' said a placard written in Arabic. 'We are not less, you are not more. We need a balance, open the door,' said one written in English.

The crowd later attended a parliamentary session which approved a state request for a committee to speed up reviewing a bill allowing women to vote and run for parliament."

The spread of democracy in the Middle East will help all women in that region. But not everyone views it as progress. From the web site of the National Organization of Women:

What Now for the Women of Afghanistan and Iraq?: "Although the Bush Administration used the mistreatment of Afghan women as a factor to justify military action and pledged to restore their rights post-conflict, Afghan women have yet to see the promise of social equality fulfilled. The Taliban has been chased from the country, to be replaced in the countryside by warlords who differ only slightly from their predecessors. As a result, the women of Afghanistan still suffer from many of the same hardships that they faced before the war.

Since the fall of the Taliban, there have been some improvements in women's rights in terms of access to education and employment. However, most gains for Afghan women have been made in Kabul, where an international peacekeeping force is stationed. Outside of the capital city it is a very different story. Regional commanders, who are often former warlords, govern cities and provinces with an iron fist, many just like the Taliban. Police officers often force Afghan women to wear the traditional burqa in public, a practice most in the U.S. assumed was long over."

Because things are immediately resolved, it is a bad thing. These kinds of changes take time and we need to encourage the direction. I believe that things are getting better for women and also they certainly have a long way to go. These are not conflicting statements, just a recognition that it is a long road that the Afghan people have started down. The US is still on the road and we haven't hit the end yet.

At the same time, giving the impression that it is all over except for a few bombings isn't right either. There is an amazing amount of work that will need to be done for years to come and downplaying that is a mistake.

St. Paul Learns Data Center

Here is some useful data about the St. Paul schools.

St. Paul Learns Data Center: "Data Center

The data center is the district resource for student demographic and achievement information. Data sources include test results, student enrollment records, and other school records.

Kid are gone this week

One of the things that suck about being divorced, is that the kids are gone every other week. Every other Sunday night, I pack up their stuff and take them over to their mom's. I feel like I have to put on a happy face for them, but it is always a lonely feeling driving away. Then at home by myself, I have to work to keep from falling into a funk where I just sit in front of the tube flipping channels all night.

Eagle eye

Taken at a Raptor Center in Alaska. This bird had significant wing damage and will never fly.

Lileks does The Diner

I am a big fan of James Lileks Bleat. He has come out with a "radio" show. Really an mp3 that you can either listen to online, or download. Here 'tis. LILEKS (James) :: The Diner

I hope he keeps it up. Maybe even making it a podcast that one can subscribe to.

sleeping cats

Big cats and little cats have many of the same mannerisms. Is that true for dogs?

First post

First post...