Pheidias Notes

Why the Seneca Nation may have a case

2010-10-13T22:53:00.002-04:00

The Seneca Nation Gaming Corporation has been withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in gambling revenue from New York State. It pains me to say it, but they may have a case.

It should have been obvious years ago to anyone who was willing to read the Gaming Compact between the Seneca Nation of Indians and the State of New York:

12(a)(1) Subject to [the next paragraph] the Nation shall have total exclusivity with respect to the installation and operation of ... Gaming Devices, including slot machines, within the geographic area defined by: (i) to the east, State Route 14 from Sodus Point to the Pennsylvania border with New York; (ii) to the north, the border between New York and Canada; (iii) to the south, the Pennsylvania border with New York; and (iv) to the west, the border between New York and Canada and the border between Pennsylvania and New York.

With "Video Lottery Terminals" (VLTs) installed at the Erie County Fairgrounds and elsewhere, it was only a matter of time before the Senecas decided to play this card and cut New York State out of the deal entirely. What's the difference between a VLT and a modern slot machine? Not much, it seems.

Carl Paladino and Gaming the Senecas

2010-10-13T22:06:00.002-04:00

Here's my take on Carl Paladino. It has to do with Casino Gaming, the Senecas, and Mr. Paladino's recent promises to shut down Turning Stone and renegotiate the "Nation-State Gaming Compact between the Seneca Nation of Indians and the State of New York" (its full title).

I'm all for shutting down Turning Stone. I think it has in fact been ruled illegal. It is of course doubtful that the Seneca Nation would agree to re-open the Compact, notwithstanding Mr. Paladino's charm and persuasiveness. It's pretty generous to them. (Their withholding payment to the State may have some justification, based on all of the "Video Lottery Terminals" located in their area of exclusivity, but that's a topic for another post).

But Mr. Paladino was for casinos before he was against them. In 2002, he was advocating for the Seneca casino in downtown Buffalo. I think he thought he had some kind of profitable deal with them. When the Senecas decided they wanted to put it in Cheektowaga, he started turning against them. By the time they wanted to buy a street from the city to consolidate their property, he was fully turned against them.

I see Mr. Paladino as an opportunist. He was perfectly willing to sell the Senecas land for their gambling hall, but after whatever secret deals he thought he had with them fell through, he decided to go for payback.

Four things I learned in the Rochester Bicycling Club

2010-08-21T16:48:00.002-04:00

Our family was in the RBC around 1970-72. We went to GEAR in Canandaigua in 1971 together, and we rode many organized rides and time trials in all sorts of weather. The first ride of the season was always Stamp's Stomp, led by a Mr. Stamp, in March. I have a picture of Mom wearing her fuzzy hat the year it snowed! I got my picture in the paper on one ride, maybe because I was wearing what I called an Australian bush hat.

Here are a few things I learned way back when:

1. Always wear a helmet. A good helmet. ($10 helmets are for $10 heads.) My first "helmet" was a wierd leather thing that would likely not have helped in a fall. My second was a hockey helmet that I spray painted in a geometric fluorescent green pattern. Eventually I got a Bell, now I wear a Giro.

2. It's ok to stand on the pedals to get more power up a hill.

3. Don't rest at the top of the hill.

4. A helmet won't always save you. Always be aware of everything around you, and ride defensively. (R.I.P. Bill Sheets, c. 1972)

Biking report

2010-06-27T21:28:00.002-04:00

I am sore after 42 miles on the bike this morning. I'll be paying for it for a couple of days.

2:40 ride time, with two stops to stretch (and snack), one to re-water, one to wait for the railroad swing bridge over the Black Rock Canal to open for pleasure craft, then one more to wait for the Ferry Street lift bridge for the same boats.

Average speed for the ride (bike time only) was 15.7 mph, max 24.5.

I was overtaken in Ellicott Creek Park by another rider who said, "You're keeping up a pretty good pace. It took me a long time to catch you." Then I kept up with him for the next couple of miles.

I think I must look slower than I am. How fast can a bike with a 54" whip antenna and a canvas handlebar bag be, anyway? Not to mention the aging rider.

The antenna is for my portable ham radio, scanning the local repeaters and Coast Guard channels. It keeps things interesting.

Stimulus benefits

2010-02-27T15:51:00.003-05:00

Chances are you got a tax cut in last year's stimulus package. If you oppose the stimulus, are you going to give it back?

Chances are you drive on roads or bridges that have been repaired with stimulus money. Are you going to detour around them?

Chances are firefighters or cops in your community still have jobs because of stimulus money. Would you forsake their protection?

The stimulus worked. Believe it.

Electronic baggage

2010-02-07T12:22:00.003-05:00

Here's a list of the electronics related stuff I took on vacation. Marked + for stuff I used, - for not used.

+ Digital camera - took lots of pictures of the Krewe du Vieux parade, other French Quarter and NOLA sights.
+ Battery charger for camera
+ Download cable for camera
+ HT (handheld ham radio) - listened to local repeaters, airport radio traffic, Mississippi river traffic, connected to Buffalo repeater through IRLP
+ HT charger
+ HT programming cable - programmed airport frequencies
+ HT earpiece - to listen in the airports
+ Netbook - used it every day - internet access was good in the hotel, I downloaded pictures from camera, programmed radio, watched video on the airplane
+ Netbook AC adapter
+ Netbook travel-mouse
+ Earbuds to listen on the airplane
+ Headset with mic - contacted Buffalo radio repeater through Echolink
+ Cell phone
+ Cell phone charger
- Cell phone bluetooth earpiece
- Earpiece charger
- Delorme Earthmate bluetooth GPS - I thought we might rent a car for a day
- GPS car adapter
- GPS AC adapter
- GPS USB adapter
- Homebrew GPS - the Delorme wasn't working very well before we left, so I wanted a backup
- Homebrew GPS USB adapter
- Homebrew GPS USB power adapter
- GPS antenna
- Micro-SD adapter - I was able to link to the phone with bluetooth from the netbook

The extra stuff weighs less than a pound, and it all went in checked luggage, so I don't feel bad about it.

The rest of the stuff helped make the vacation just a little more interesting.

Back in campaign form

2010-01-17T16:46:00.004-05:00

In a little bit of political judo in the Massachusetts special election for Senator, President Obama deftly wielded a symbol of Martha Coakley's opponent, Scott Brown, against him.

Obama said "anyone can buy a truck", and Brown has "parked his truck on Wall Street". He warned Bay Staters, "don't get in the truck" with Martha's opponent.

Brilliant.

The President did not, however, explicitly warn against accepting candy.

Al Franken on The Truth

2009-09-06T19:53:00.004-04:00

About 16 years ago, there was a book kicking around (so to speak) the green room at the theatre about the Reagan years. I refused to read it, having lived through those years and having no desire to be reminded of anything to do with the man.

However, I just read Al Franken's "The Truth (with jokes)", published in 2005. There were moments of painful memories, but I wanted to extract this one extended quote. Here he is referring to Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and the rest of the gang of miscreants that made up the Bush (mis)administration:

   Let's face it. You can't count on them to give you straight information. You can't count on them to tell us straight why we're going to war. You can't count on them to tell us what's happening over there.
   You can't count on them to do their homework. To keep track of our money. You can't count on them to punish war profiteers. You can't count on them to protect our troops.
   You can't rely on them for much of anything. Armor. Veterans' benefits. You can't count on them for the true story of how Jessica Lynch was captured, or how Pat Tillman died. Even for how the "Mission Accomplished" sign went up on the USS Abraham Lincoln. They actually lied about that.
   You can't count on them to count terrorist attacks. You can't count on them to count civilian victims. You can't count on them to listen to military commanders and send in enough troops, or to listen to Colin Powell and not torture people, or to not lie about whether the torture policies started at the tip.
   You can't trust them to care. About Iraqis. About Americans.
   You can't trust them to do the work of actually signing killed-in-action letters. You can't trust them no to lie about not signing killed-in-action letters.
   You can't count on them to acknowledge any mistakes whatsoever. You can't trust them not to lie when confronted with those mistakes.
   You can't trust them no to believe their own propaganda.
   You can't trust them. Period.

Bike Ride

2009-08-23T15:55:00.002-04:00

Took a bike ride today. I've been able to get out once a week for a few weeks now. It's not much, but it's much more than last year or for many years!

There are parts of this when viewed on satellite image appear to be cross-country, but it's all pretty much paved bike path now. There's a nice little park by the lake where there were fields of black-eyed susans.

I was out just under two hours, travelling at a leisurely pace.
08/23/2009 Route
Find more Bike Rides in Buffalo, New York

Giddy

2009-08-21T21:37:00.002-04:00

When I was a child, I became quite giddy with excitement when I won a shiny fifty cent piece on the Midway at the Blue Hill Fair. Today at an estate sale I experienced the same giddiness when I found a deal I couldn't pass up - $25 for a 2.93 gigahertz eMachines computer box and $15 for an old 15" flat panel screen. I even bargained $5 off the price.

But I neglected to grab the power supply for the monitor, and I neglected to consider that the box might not work. It doesn't. The CPU fan is broken, and the 80gig hard drive was held in with duct tape. I'm not sure the motherboard is even the original - it googles as a Gateway board.

So my giddyness is ashes.

Oh, and the shiny fifty cent piece? After showing mom and dad, I went right back and squandered it on more games of chance.

Don't Be Afraid of Socialized Medicine

2009-08-14T13:44:00.000-04:00

Look, we have socialized health care now. I'm not referring to Medicare or the VA, although they certainly qualify.

I'm referring to every health insurance plan, public or private. They all socialize the costs across a pool of contributors, through payments called premiums (private) or taxes (public).

The difference between private and public socialized health care is that the private systems skim off some portion of the contributions to the owners or shareholders of the system, while the public systems do not. Because of this, in the private systems there is motivation to limit - ration - the health care that is supported or paid for.

So you see people denied enrollment because of "pre-existing" conditions - real or not - or booted out of the system through rescission, or simply denied the care their doctor determines they need.

Portmanteau of the Day

2009-07-02T14:17:00.001-04:00

You may have heard the portmanteau term stay-cation. I'll be working on the house next week, so I'll be on reno-cation.

Is it ok with you?

2009-06-26T14:41:00.001-04:00

I have lived my life craving approval.

Or have I been trying to avoid disapproval?

Doing the splits at work

2009-06-26T09:03:00.001-04:00

I have at least two distinct areas of responsibility at work. When I'm working on one, the part of me responsible for the other is resentful for the lack of attention ...

That would be a terrific band name

2009-06-19T14:05:00.001-04:00

Erratic Attitude

Plume of Stink

Work Environment

2009-06-19T09:36:00.001-04:00

Chemical smells and products of combustion - smokers or exhaust - distract me from my work. I value my health and it drives me crazy .. er.

Compact Fluorescents

2009-04-24T21:17:00.003-04:00

I wrote this for a CIDU thread, and thought I'd drop it here, too.

I’ve been using CFLs for 23 years, since I read about the Philips “Earth Light” in Whole Earth Review (probably). It had an improved mix of phosphors to give a better color of light than the standard tube fluorescents available at the time. It did not last as long as promised, but it was a start. CFLs have improved tremendously over the years. Early on they were too big to fit in most lamps, took a long time to come up to full brightness, and had a generally awful color temperature.

But they lasted a long time (unlike the Earth Light) and saved electricity, and once they invented the twisted tube and miniaturized the electronic ballasts, they are small enough to fit even in my green “banker’s” desk lamp.

I now use them in almost every socket, except those on dimmers - they don’t quite have that right yet. I even have them in both outside porch lights, and they turn on even when it’s 5º F or colder.

The full-spectrum Verilux are expensive, but have a bright white light. The standard-issue CFLs are for utility use only - the recessed light in the bathroom, for example. I find the Bright White CFLs with a color temperature of about 3500K are good for reading at the dining table. The Daylight color temp (6500K) are a little too harsh for my taste.

Over the years I can remember only a few that burned out a ballast and let the smoke out of the case. Usually the lamp itself goes bad, like all fluorescents. The only other drawback I have found is that until they reach full brightness, CFLs emit a flood of infra-red, which overwhelms the TV remote control.

Facebook

2009-04-14T23:15:00.003-04:00

I have at least one person I went to high school with, 36 years ago, as a "friend" on Facebook. She's a Republican, who once linked to a "thank George Bush" item, and lately had a silly objection to the name the Obamas picked for their puppy, Bo (as in Diddley, Michelle's father's nickname).

This "friend" from the dark (I should say dim) days of my past, at a school I did not particularly feel a part of, posts more than any of my other "friends". It was starting to get to me, and I found myself thinking about what she might think of my posts.

She was not a close friend in high school. We were not even in the same circles, and in a class with 42 students there were not that many circles. So why would I care what she thinks? I was slipping back into my insecure teenage self.

So I did the only sensible thing. I hid her posts. I don't care if she sees what I post. I don't want to be so rude as to "unfriend" her just yet. She contacted me and I consented to connect. But I don't have to be reminded of her every time I open Facebook.

There are a few others who I hide. I don't care to read about drunken parties, I don't live that kind of life. I don't care to read posts peppered with foul language. Those words are for shock value, keep them dry until you really need them.

That is all.

Compost

2009-03-31T22:49:00.003-04:00

By Lee Hayes, as related and sung by Pete Seeger in 1981:

If I should die before I wake,
Oh, my bone and sin you take.
Put me in the compost pile,
To decompose me for awhile.
Worms, water, sun will have their way
Returning me to common clay.
All that I am will feed the trees,
And little fishys in the seas.
When radishes and corn you munch,
You may be having me for lunch,
And then excrete me with a grin,
Chortling, "There goes Lee again".

And yes, he sang "sin". I thought it should have been "skin", but I listened three times and it's "sin".

Why the War Crimes?

2009-03-31T22:39:00.002-04:00

Harry Shearer has an exploration at Huffington Post of why the Bush regime perpetrated their war crimes.

Essentially, he argues, it was to save face for Bush:

So, an administration that showed a public face that professed a belief that every human life was sacred was prepared to treat innumerable humans as nothing more than fodder for the dot machine, merely to prove that the horrific attack in its eighth month in office couldn't possibly have been its fault.

Facebook is not a blog

2009-03-31T22:33:00.002-04:00

After years of posting to this blog and knowing there were only a handful of people who read it, and some who stumble on it or find it in a search for my favorite candy, I linked it to feed facebook - for about a week. I found myself uncomfortable subjecting my facebook friends to this stream of consciousness.

So my random thoughts and links return to this forum.

Best Analogy Of The Day

2009-03-25T13:16:00.002-04:00

Paul Begala on CNN:

The Republicans are like an arsonist who complains that the fire department is wasting water.

Quoted on Teagan Goddard's Political Wire

Decision Points

2009-03-19T13:19:00.003-04:00

Capitol Snark has received an advance outline of former President Bush's planned book, Decision Points.

Chapter 1: Paper or Plastic?
Chapter 2: TANG or Orange Juice?
Chapter 3: Sh*t or Get Off The Pot?
Chapter 4: Straw or Rolled-up Dollar Bill?

Happy (belated) Birthday, Joseph Priestley!

2009-03-14T21:27:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was Joseph Priestley's birthday. He apparently invented air, and his lab was burned down because of his "radical Unitarian views".

No Windows 7 Beta For You!

2009-03-11T21:29:00.002-04:00

Fail. The scrounged desktop was inadequate, even after borrowing 512M of memory from mom's computer. Windows 7 needs ACPI support.

I even had a name picked out. Because it was 550 Mhz with 512M of memory, I was going to call it "Cli55ord the Big Blue Dog".

There Is (Suddenly) No Spoon

2009-03-10T12:54:00.003-04:00

It's funny how one becomes attached to objects. I use a spoon with my tea that I have had for 22 years. It's nothing special, standard government issue - literally, it has "Comm. of Mass." stamped on the handle. I actually remember picking it up in the back yard of the house we lived in for a year in Medford.

It's turned up missing today. It's probably in a pocket somewhere, but I miss it.

Update: Found it. In the pocket of the sport jacket I wore to work yesterday.

Peanuts, The After Years

2009-03-09T23:25:00.002-04:00

This is kind of sweet. What ever happened to those kids?
http://tinyurl.com/5qldqg

Daylight Savings Time Must Go!

2009-03-09T13:07:00.002-04:00

It didn't really strike me what we lose when DST starts in the spring until this morning when I came down for breakfast and it was still dark outside. The sunrise today, March 9, was the same as January 24. We lost 44 days, not just an hour!

Almanac

Unitarian Jihad Name

2009-03-07T21:48:00.001-05:00

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Sword of Charity.

What's yours?

Obama on Lauer

2009-02-01T20:11:00.003-05:00

President Obama (man, it's great to write that!) is just so relaxed in this interview:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

h/t Huffington Post

Nice Pens

2009-01-26T13:21:00.002-05:00

This is a good Obama speech about pursuing energy independence, but it's fun that they print the COMPLETE transcript. Here's the tail:

(APPLAUSE)

All right.

All right.

(UNKNOWN): (OFF-MIKE)

OBAMA: You want this pen?

(LAUGHTER)

Hey, Lisa (ph), does she get this pen?

(CROSSTALK)

OBAMA: She does?

All right. There you go.

These are nice pens...

(LAUGHTER)

... although they're a little hard to unstick.

All right. Here we go.

All right, thank you, everybody.

(APPLAUSE)

END

It's fun that he makes these little observations. Still at the flat part of the familiarity curve.

Bush Kept Us Safe

2009-01-22T22:12:00.006-05:00

That's the new spin. Bush kept us safe.

It's true, Bush kept us safe. Except for nearly 3000 dead on 9/11. He kind of slipped up there on the whole anti-terrorist thing for the first eight months, but he kept us safe. And the anthrax. Didn't find the anthrax terrorist. But except for the anthrax and 2966 dead on 9/11, Bush kept us safe.

And Iraq. He kind of led us down the rabbit hole on that one, losing so much in Iraq. But except for the 4119 US dead and tens of thousands maimed in Iraq, the anthrax, and 2966 dead on 9/11, Bush kept us safe.

And Hurricane Katrina. Heckuva job, there. Kind of missed the boat, so to speak, in New Orleans. But except for the 1836 who died in Katrina, the 4119 dead and tens of thousands maimed in Iraq, the anthrax, and 2966 dead on 9/11, Bush kept us safe.

And the financial meltdown. Mortgaged our future for all the poor rich folks, don't you know. But except for the financial meltdown, the 1836 who died in Katrina, the 4119 US dead and tens of thousands maimed in Iraq, the anthrax, and 2966 dead on 9/11, Bush kept us safe.

And the Iraqi people, Bush kind of slipped up there, too. Almost like he had a disintegrator ray, the way things fell apart over there. But except for the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis dead and millions displaced, he kept them safe, too.

Yes, indeed. Except for the hundreds of thousands of dead and millions of displaced Iraqis, the global financial meltdown, the 1836 who died in Katrina, the 4119 US dead and tens of thousands maimed in Iraq, the anthrax, and 2966 dead on 9/11, Bush kept us safe.

Like hell he did.

Just like hell.

No kidding

2009-01-21T13:21:00.002-05:00

We were able to live-stream the inauguration through CNN from about 11:30 until just after Obama took the oath of office. A few moments into his speech, the servers crashed. Looks like we weren't the only ones, according to ABC News website:

While more than a million people gathered on the National Mall to watch the historic inauguration of President Barack Obama, millions more peered at the screens of office computers and personal laptops, breaking records for views of live online video.

Shawn White, director of external operations for San Mateo, Calif.-based Keynote Systems, Inc., said that because of the huge demand for live video and audio, his company noted significant slowdowns on major media sites.

Keynote monitors the performance of Internet and mobile networks and, White said, their data indicated that between 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. ET, the Internet slowed by 60 percent because of the volume of online video viewers.

"It was the most popular and significant online streaming event in the history of the Internet," White told ABCNews.com.

I managed to find an audio stream at WNED-AM, and then watched the speech later at home ... streaming from CNN.

Pete Seeger at Obama-Stock

2009-01-18T18:05:00.006-05:00

With Bruce Springsteen and a chorus of thousands, Pete led with something close to the original lyrics.

I'm moved.

Update: Damn you, HBO! Put it back!

Another Update: Found another link. Looks like it's off German TV channel N24.

h/t greendem at DailyKos

Short Answer to a Stupid Question

2009-01-07T13:14:00.001-05:00

"Why doesn't Bush get more credit?"

Because there is no "A" for effort in governing.

Shaft a la Uke

2009-01-02T23:13:00.001-05:00

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, performing Shaft. A real smiler.

(courtesy Balloon Juice)

Extreme Lip Sync

2008-12-31T22:40:00.003-05:00

A wild thing from BoingBoing - Ennio Marchetto - The One Man Living Cartoon Factory:

Shoes

2008-12-31T15:33:00.003-05:00

A couple of weeks ago management dropped a shoe - cutbacks inevitable due to the economy. Our business is dependent on retail and museum construction, and both are vulnerable to the downturn.

Today the second shoe dropped and I had to lay off my assistant.

Waiting for word on who else is affected.

The continent shifts under the weight

2008-12-28T23:59:00.001-05:00

I have found a substance with nearly the same atomic weight as National Geographicum:

Encyclopedia Brittanicum.

Best signature line

2008-12-26T12:33:00.001-05:00

If it ain't broke, I can fix that!

C-C-C-Can't do nothin' right - B-B-B-Baby!

2008-12-25T14:13:00.001-05:00

Revoke a pardon? Bush could screw up a two car funeral.

Fedex Super Bowl Ads

2008-12-23T21:32:00.000-05:00

The Huffington Post tells us that Fedex is pulling their Super Bowl ad this year, because of the economy.

They have collected a handful of past ads - all good and funny. Here's just the first in the collection:

Go to The Huffington Post for the rest.

Check my other blog

2008-12-22T10:50:00.002-05:00

Pheidias Renovates at http://myhouserepair.blogspot.com/

Lotsa snow

2008-12-22T10:47:00.002-05:00

The snow pile in our front and back yards, i.e. the snow cleared from the driveway, is already 4-5' deep. It's a little early in the year for that, but yesterday set a record snowfall for the day for Buffalo - 7".

Aggregation, Man

2008-12-08T21:23:00.000-05:00

Aggregating, eh? Yay, a larger audience. Hmm, can it really be an audience if it's inaudible?

Welcome.

Hand Center

2008-12-02T12:01:00.000-05:00

I made an appointment at the hand center to take care of another ganglion cyst - a bump at the base of my finger. Dr. Brown (who's not out of town) took care of me two years ago.

When the scheduler asked, "which finger", I said the second one. I could not remember what to call it (which I'm sure I learned in kindergarten).

All I could think of was, the long one, the one that you use to ... well ... the one that President Bush salutes the country with. Couldn't say that on the phone to someone I don't know.

Most people call it the "middle" finger.

Wall off the Burrows

2008-11-29T15:15:00.000-05:00

Bush political appointees are burrowing in by transforming to civil service.

I say, ok. If they can't be fired, re-assign the sleeper cells (Bush Bombs?) to a special Bush League department, put them each in a cubicle with a 386 computer, monochrome monitor with plenty of burn-in, one-button mouse, and a dial telephone. Give them jobs counting grains of sand.

In a Manner of Speaking

2008-11-29T15:07:00.000-05:00

Barack Obama often uses the word "look" to introduce an answer to a question. He's saying, "Look. This is what I see. I think that if you look, you will see it, too."

Transition

2008-11-26T13:11:00.000-05:00

We won't be out of danger until 12:01 pm, January 20, 2009.

Then we'll be on the road to recovery, I hope.

Parting Shots

2008-10-31T09:02:00.000-04:00

As the occupying army left the city, they opened the cages at the zoo ...

The core value

2008-10-30T20:41:00.000-04:00

I've read both of Obama's books. This is one of the things he talks about in "The Audacity of Hope" and said again on Jon Stewart this week:

Everybody's got a legitimate point of view, let's figure out how to solve the problem. I think that's the kind of attitude that we're going to need going forward.

EULA wanna know

2008-10-29T11:57:00.000-04:00

Not sure what this means in a EULA:

If you are an entity, Smart Projects grants you the right to designate one individual within your organization ("Named User") to have the right to use the Software in the manner provided above.

I can has grammar analysis

2008-10-28T21:00:00.001-04:00

It's well over a year old but, Anil Dash analyzes Lolcats - he calls it Kitty Pidgin - at Cats Can Has Grammar

Ron Howard

2008-10-23T21:17:00.000-04:00

Courtesy of the Huffington Post:

Ron Howard is the latest star to voice his support for Obama, and he did it alongside his old costars Andy Griffith and Henry Winkler in a video for Funny or Die. Watch him strip down, trim his nose hair and don an Opie wig for a black and white call to action before fast-forwarding to "Happy Days."

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Problem Solving

2008-10-23T20:43:00.000-04:00

There are two types of solutions to problems, administrative and technical.

Administrative solutions are when you are told to work a certain way in order to get a certain result or avoid a problem.

Technical solutions are when the system is constructed in such a way as to guide you to the correct result and automatically prevent problems.

This observation is prompted by an email broadcast at work today:

When exiting Made2Manage please use the large Exit Door, and not the Red X at the top right hand of the screen. If you use the Red X, this closes Made2Manage improperly and causes errors.

Ideally, Made2Manage should control what happens when you use the Red X. Unfortunately, I think it is at heart a DOS based system, and doesn't do Windows and doesn't know when the Red X is used.

McCain's Spiritual Guide Wants America To Destroy Islam

2008-10-20T22:23:00.002-04:00

Submitted without additional comment

2008-10-20T21:57:00.000-04:00

Diane Tucker at the Huffington Post, on a visit to the McCain-Palin field office in Arlington, Virginia, shortly before a surprise visit from the McCainiac himself:

Before McCain dropped in, I was taking a few exterior photos of the field or "victory" office when a woman wearing a dark blue Security uniform walked over and declared, "You can't take pictures here, it's a public building."

"Sure I can, it's a public building," I said, and with that she turned and walked away. (Good news, Star Wars fans: the Obe-Wan Kenobi telepathy trick really works.)

Obama at the Alfred E. Smith Dinner

2008-10-16T22:55:00.000-04:00

Obama claims it's often been said that he shares the politics of Alfred E. Smith and the ears of Alfred E. Neumann.

Very funny. Every line a send-up. From Hillary to McCain to Bill and beyond.

Danger Scale

2008-10-13T22:20:00.002-04:00

From Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight.com:

Quote of the Day

2008-10-13T13:26:00.000-04:00

That’s Pants on Fire wrong.

- PolitiFact.com on the supposed Obama / Ayers link.

h/t Taegan Goddard's Polital Wire

McCain as Smeagol

2008-10-11T16:48:00.000-04:00

Gail Collins,

Remember how we used to joke about John McCain looking like an old guy yelling at kids to get off his lawn? It’s only in retrospect that we can see that the keep-off-the-grass period was the McCain campaign’s golden era. Now, he’s beginning to act like one of those movie characters who steals the wrong ring and turns into a troll.

During that last debate, while he was wandering around the stage, you almost expected to hear him start muttering: “We wants it. We needs it. Must have the precious.”

OK, so Gollum LOST the ring, but this was LOL for me.

HT Washington Monthly

Acting Like A Dick

2008-10-10T19:45:00.000-04:00

And now for a musical interlude ...

Paul Hipp sings, No More Dicks In The White House!

Time To Seal The Deal?

2008-10-10T13:31:00.000-04:00

Obama has bought a half hour on several networks on October 29, anniversary of the 1929 stock market crash.

We Must Elect Barack

2008-10-09T23:25:00.000-04:00

Every now and then it crosses my mind that we MUST elect Barack Obama. He IS the one. He is just as cool as a cucumber. Political Jujitsu master.

Republican prospects

2008-10-08T21:57:00.002-04:00

Bush put the Republican party in the toilet.

McCain flushed.

Don't get me wrong, though. The party has been stink for a long time.

GOPAC Bingo!

2008-10-01T20:07:00.000-04:00

Here's the thing - Palin is clearly stringing phrases together that she's heard somewhere. Now we know where:

The thing is, Palin's not completely empty-headed. She's actually a trained GOPAC protégé.

Back in the heyday of GOPAC, when it was Newt Gingrich's operation, one of the chief functions of the organization was to equip the Republican "farm team" with the kind of rhetoric Newt was well-known for. Attention grabbing, bombastic, and most importantly, focus-group tested for resonance. Right down to the molecular level. They actually used to distribute a list of words they wanted you to use to describe Republicans and Republican policies, and those they wanted used to describe Democrats and Democratic policies. (emphasis mine)

So - either Bingo or a drinking game. Print out a list of the latest GOPAC talking points and words, and every time Sarah says one, BINGO! or a drink!

Somebody else find the list ... I don't really care ...

Gigabyte UMPC

2008-09-29T22:00:00.001-04:00

This is what I want, or something like it:

Gigabyte M912 Hands On from Dynamism on Vimeo.

Mission Impossible

2008-09-29T20:57:00.000-04:00

The Republican in this Chris Matthews clip says that during the debate Palin has to "literally reach through the TV and grab those working Americans"...

I guess she's lost, then.

Calhoun?

2008-09-28T19:52:00.000-04:00

Is there any comparison to be made between John C. Calhoun and Sarah Palin? I have no idea why this question came to mind.

Palin

2008-09-28T19:49:00.000-04:00

From some time ago ...

What is Palin's area of expertise? Reform? That's like the ability to pull weeds makes one a gardener. Republicans like pulling weeds, but unfortunately they typically can't tell the difference between a weed and a flower or a vegetable. They never have anything useful to plant, so we end up with barren ground.

Valentino Way

2008-09-17T10:53:00.000-04:00

We have a client building Valentino stores, so every time I'm working on one I think of this song by Al Stewart:

Zoo time!

2008-09-16T21:13:00.000-04:00

Palin goes to the petting zoo next week!

The RNC gets BarackRolled

2008-09-07T22:44:00.000-04:00

McCain's incompetent team

2008-09-05T09:07:00.000-04:00

This is funny. I wondered what that mansion up behind McCain was. Turns out it's a middle school. Walter Reed Middle School. Gee, I wonder how that happened?

Good thing they have Palin, the rest of the gang can't shoot straight.

Letting the words resonate ...

2008-08-31T19:51:00.000-04:00

Here's a point I had not considered. I was thinking that McCain announcing Palin the day after Obama's brilliant, forceful acceptance speech was a problem. Maybe not. Jason Linkins in the Huffington Post:

How successful was the DNC? Kristol says that the DNC was successful but that Palin stole the news cycle. We've covered this: the real news cycle win is the fact that none of these panelists are working hard to assert their own perceptions over the ones that the vast teevee audience already have. The fact is, if I were running the McCain campaign, I'd have left a little space for the pundits to lapse into a couple days of pushback, in which they attempt to reframe the convention and its finale in terms favorable to McCain. It hasn't happened, and it's not going to happen, now. We're moving on the Gustav and Palin and the RNC. This is a win for Obama. ...

This has always been a problem before. A Democrat gives a brilliant address, and it gets nibbled to death by the ducks of the media. Well, this time, the ducks got distracted by something shiny, and the tens of millions of Americans who watched Obama are left to - gasp! - keep their first impressions and draw their own conclusions.

McCain / Palin

2008-08-31T12:19:00.000-04:00

McCain picked Palin for one (or both) of two reasons. Either he thinks she is the right person for the job, or he thinks she can help him win the election.

If he thinks she is the right person for the job, it speaks to his unsound judgement. We've had enough unsound judgement in the last eight years.

If he thinks she can help him win, it speaks to his cynicism. We've had enough cynicism in the last eight years.

We don't need more unsound judgement, and we don't need anymore of the cynicism of the 50.01% majority.

Take time out for laughter

2008-08-24T00:04:00.000-04:00

This may be the first time I've seen John Pinette. Very funny.

Maverick? or Rogue?

2008-08-13T23:40:00.000-04:00

McCain seems to have his own foreign policy regarding Georgia and Russia. He's sending his own delegation over, presumably to talk to his friend, the president of Georgia.

I thought we only had one president at a time, and it's not him. So McCain is no longer a maverick - he's a rogue player, a loose cannon on the deck.

Rick Rolled by the Radio

2008-08-12T08:36:00.000-04:00

NPR had a piece on this morning as I was waking up - literally drifting between sleep and wakefulness - about Rick-rolling. It was complete with a concise explanation, and then they played the song.

So I had the song in my head this morning while I made breakfast. Thanks for nothing, NPR!

I finally managed to supplant it with "Off to See the Wizard".

Here is a nice picture of some kitties.

Inner Secrets

2008-08-08T21:08:00.000-04:00

If anything is an "Inner Secret" of something, how come I can read about it in TV Guide?

McMansions in the city

2008-08-01T09:05:00.000-04:00

Our neighbors are building a McMansion addition on their city lot. It is monstrous. It completely blocks our view to the west from the house and I am grief-stricken. I am surprised the city approved it, but the city apparently has no building code governing proportions.

I used to enjoy the end-of-day light, which will now be blocked. Shining across the back driveway, glowing through the bathroom shade, shining through the basement window, no more.

I used to enjoy the slim bit of green visible from the dining room, now all I will see is more wall and roof. From the second floor we used to be able to glimpse some green, but no more.

There is nothing I can do that would not be vindictive, and I hope that I am not a vindictive person. I expect it will change our friendly relationship to cordial, at best. I don't expect to be granting them many favors in the future.

I see two possible courses of action at the moment. Move, or build our own addition to expand the kitchen and move the bathroom. I had been reluctant to pursue building out because I was, believe it or not, concerned about impinging on these same neighbors' morning sunlight and was reluctant to box them in. Those concerns are gone now.

Moving is a tough one. I don't particularly want to move, although there are other potential reasons to consider it, which I don't particularly want to get into here.

AP vs Truth

2008-07-28T20:13:00.000-04:00

I thought the Buffalo News was going to publish this after I edited it down to 200 words, and got a confirmation call, but I did not see it. Perhaps because the casino ruling came down that week. (The Buffalo Creek Casino is illegal.)

It's a sad day when a newspaper needs to fact check wire service stories, but that day has come for the Buffalo News and the Associated Press.

In the Saturday story bylined by Jennifer Loven, her account of Obama's position on ending the war in Iraq reads as if it just came off the fax from the McCain campaign.

She claims that Obama has shifted his position on ending the Iraq war. The fact is that he has consistently said that the goal of withdrawing one to two combat brigades per month, in consultation with our generals in theatre, would lead to complete withdrawal in sixteen months.

The plain truth is that Obama wants to end the war, and McCain does not.

The new narrative against Obama is that he has somehow changed his position on a number of issues. This is a Karl Rove style campaign tactic, to attack your opponent's strength, especially if it is your own candidate's weakness. Obama clearly has not changed his positions on the issues, but McCain clearly has.

The McCain of 2008 is not the same as the McCain of 2000, or 2006, or even this year's primary season. He has reversed himself on everything from the Bush tax cuts (against them before he was for them) to torture (against it before he was for it) to immigration (for it before he was against it).

The steadfast maverick McCain is a figment of imagination, nurtured by a press corps that loves him for his barbecue and "straight talk".

But if you liked a position he took on an issue in 2000, or in the primary debates this year, you would be smart to look up his position on the issue today. Where he stands depends on whose support he is seeking. He was pandering then, and he is pandering now. The real question is, who is the real McCain?

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo

2008-07-05T22:13:00.000-04:00

Every couple of years I go down with what I have come to believe is Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV). It starts as a light-headedness, and a day or two later, I can't walk without literally bouncing off the walls. This has been going on for about ten to fifteen years, I think. (Not that I've been bouncing off walls for ten years, I've been periodically afflicted for ten years.)

The first doctor I saw about it prescribed Anti-vert, which, contrary to it's name, made it worse. I did not realize that until the second or third doctor. One doctor thought it might be an infection and gave me anti-biotics. I had ear-nose doctors check me out, and they gave me some bizarre test that gave me even worse vertigo. No doctor had a clue. (It must be really hard to be a good doctor.)

It was not until I mentioned it to my mother, shortly before she died, that I got a suggestion that it might be BPPV, or "ear-rocks" as it is also known. The theory is that tiny crystals of Calcium Carbonate in the ear become displaced, causing the vertigo. Treatment is a series of maneuvers of the head such that the crystals move to where they can be re-absorbed.

This used to put me down for around three days. This time I was not feeling 100% normal until more than a week after I first noticed the dizziness. One part of the treatment is keeping the head level after the maneuvers. Next time I feel this coming on, I'm going to try to pay more attention to avoiding sudden movements. Maybe that way I can avoid it altogether.

Obama / Donna

2008-07-05T21:09:00.000-04:00

I think it would be fun to make substitute lyrics to "Donna" from the musical Hair, using Obama in place of Donna.

Once upon a looking-for-Obama-time
There was a forty-seven year old ....
Obama oh Obama oh oh oh
Looking for Obama

ehh. Maybe not.

Obama acceptance speech at Mile-High Stadium?

2008-07-04T12:47:00.000-04:00

If Obama does give his acceptance speech at Mile-High Stadium, how soon before the right-wing idiots start talking about Leni Riefenstahl and Triumph of the Will?

Hard to be a Liberal

2008-07-03T22:38:00.000-04:00

Roy Zimmerman sings comedy:

HT Betsy at I Am TRex

Riding in a jet plane - and getting shot down

2008-06-30T21:30:00.000-04:00

How can it be said that McCain's service record prepared him to be president?

What Aravosis says. It can't.

Mathew 25 Project

2008-06-12T21:55:00.000-04:00

Obama's outreach to Christian communities

What an a**hole

2008-06-12T21:52:00.000-04:00

Yes, I'm talking about John McCain. Who in their right mind would want this thin-skinned idiot in charge of anything more dangerous than a hose to chase the kids off the lawn, let alone the full power of the United States?

Obama's legislative record

2008-06-12T21:47:00.000-04:00

Kos has it

Joe LIEberman

2008-06-12T21:45:00.001-04:00

When it comes to standing up for his principles, Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman doesn't bother getting out of his chair.

Landslide?

2008-06-09T23:41:00.000-04:00

From what I have been reading and seeing, I think we may be in for an Obama landslide this year. Maybe it's just me, but he seems to have appeal across a broad spectrum of American types - from barber shops to churches. He will reportedly be launching a "Joshua Generation" outreach to evangelicals.

This is NOT your father's Obamamobile.

naah. can't happen. or can it?

We can only hope.

Why Hillary was late to her speech

2008-06-08T21:25:00.002-04:00

I'm happy that Hillary is finally on board the Obama train. All reports I have seen give her high marks for closing the book on the previously destructive forces of her campaign, and asking her supporters to transfer their support to Obama. (I only watched a few minutes of it. I can't stand to listen to her.)

She almost didn't make it, though. Bill is understandably unhappy, and she reportedly arrived 45 minutes late to deliver her address.

I can just imagine her trying to get Bill out of the house:

Yes, you have to come. You don't have to smile, but you have to be there!

They Still Got Nothin'

2008-06-08T21:17:00.000-04:00

So McCain tries co-opting Barack Obama's campaign slogans - Change We Can Believe In becomes A Leader We Can Believe In. Stealing words? They still got nothin'!

Time for impeachment

2008-05-30T22:12:00.001-04:00

The 111th Congress of The United States will be sworn in on January 3, 2009.

President Bush and Vice President Cheney leave office on January 20, 2009.

Plenty of time to impeach and convict.

You Can't Know

2008-02-12T13:53:00.000-05:00

Another solid Obama speech

2008-02-10T19:39:00.000-05:00

At the Jefferson-Jackson dinner, February 9, 2008:

A winning weekend for Obama.

Sir Ken Robinson at TED

2008-02-01T21:37:00.000-05:00

Update and bump: Fascinating talk about creativity and education.

Creativity is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with that same status.

~~The first 3 minutes are interesting. I'll have to come back and watch the rest when I get a chance.~~ The TED talks tend to run about ~~a half hour or more~~ twenty minutes. Some of his talk:

I heard a great story recently. I love telling it, of a little girl who was in a drawing lesson. She was six, she was at the back, drawing, and the teacher said this little girl hardly ever paid attention, and in this drawing lesson, she did. The teacher was fascinated, and she went over to her, and she said, "What are you drawing?"
And the girl said, "I'm drawing a picture of God."
The teacher said, "But nobody knows what God looks like."
And the girl said, "They will in a minute!"

...

If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original.

He had a funny little riff about Shakespeare at seven. Nobody ever thinks of Shakespeare as a child, he says. "Go to bed! And put down that pencil. And stop talking like that!"

HT appleblossombeck at Street Prophets from the comments of a thread about ADD and Asperger's syndrome, this is said to be for everyone who was labelled in school. I agree.

Frozen crowd at Grand Central

2008-02-01T18:19:00.000-05:00

I have always liked the wittiness of Imrov Everywhere:

On a cold Saturday in New York City, the world’s largest train station came to a sudden halt. Over 200 Improv Everywhere Agents froze in place at the exact same second for five minutes in the Main Concourse of Grand Central Station. Over 500,000 people rush through Grand Central every day, but today, things slowed down just a bit as commuters and tourists alike stopped to notice what was happening around them. Enjoy the video first and then go behind the scenes with our mission report and photos.

I especially like the time-lapse moments in the video.

Better quality video at the Improv Everywhere site

LOL Video of the Day Month Year

2008-01-30T13:17:00.000-05:00