Before cops threw the book at him, Jakub Fik threw something unusual at them -- his penis.
Fik, 33, cut off his own penis during a Northwest Side rampage Wednesday morning. When confronted by police, Fik hurled several knives and his severed organ at the officers, police said. Officers stunned him with a Taser and took him into custody.
Friday, March 17, 2006
More Land Grab Nonsense
LONG BEACH, Calif. (BP)--City leaders in Long Beach, Calif., have classified the Filipino Baptist Fellowship’s building as a blighted area and are forcing the congregation out in order to make way for condominiums.
The path for the case was laid when the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 last summer in Kelo v. New London, Connecticut that a city’s use of eminent domain to transfer property from one private party to another may qualify as a “public use” protected by the Constitution.
The path for the case was laid when the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 last summer in Kelo v. New London, Connecticut that a city’s use of eminent domain to transfer property from one private party to another may qualify as a “public use” protected by the Constitution.
Altogether Now: "The NY Times Is Full of...
...sh*t."
"President Bush sketched an expansive vision last night of what he expects to accomplish by a war in Iraq. Instead of focusing on eliminating weapons of mass destruction, or reducing the threat of terror to the United States, Mr. Bush talked about establishing a 'free and peaceful Iraq' that would serve as a 'dramatic and inspiring example' to the entire Arab and Muslim world, provide a stabilizing influence in the Middle East and even help end the Arab-Israeli conflict."--editorial, New York Times, Feb. 27, 2003
"One prominent neoconservative, Francis Fukuyama, asserts in a new book that the administration embraced democracy as a cornerstone of its policy only after the failure to find unconventional weapons in Iraq. The issue was seized upon to justify the war in retrospect, and then expanded for other countries, he says."--New York Times, March 17, 2006
"President Bush sketched an expansive vision last night of what he expects to accomplish by a war in Iraq. Instead of focusing on eliminating weapons of mass destruction, or reducing the threat of terror to the United States, Mr. Bush talked about establishing a 'free and peaceful Iraq' that would serve as a 'dramatic and inspiring example' to the entire Arab and Muslim world, provide a stabilizing influence in the Middle East and even help end the Arab-Israeli conflict."--editorial, New York Times, Feb. 27, 2003
"One prominent neoconservative, Francis Fukuyama, asserts in a new book that the administration embraced democracy as a cornerstone of its policy only after the failure to find unconventional weapons in Iraq. The issue was seized upon to justify the war in retrospect, and then expanded for other countries, he says."--New York Times, March 17, 2006
Why?
A high school student Tuesday recited 8,784 digits of Pi — the non-repeating and non-terminating decimal — likely placing him among the top Pi-reciters in the world.
Gaurav Rajav, 15, had hoped to recite 10,790 digits and set a new record in the United States and North America. But he remembered enough to potentially place third in national and North American Pi recitation and 12th in the world.
His ranking should be verified by the Pi World Ranking List within two months.
"I'm kind of disappointed, but I guess I did OK," said Gaurav, a junior at Salem High School.
But his mathematical feat won the praise of others, including the math and computer science teacher who got Gaurav interested in it.
"I'm still stunned," said Linda Gooding, one of three contest judges. She then joked, "That's a couple more than I can do."
Gaurav began memorizing Pi while a student in Gooding's class. Gooding holds the competition every year, and said she expected students to learn about 40 digits. Gaurav recited nearly 2,990 the first time.
Gaurav's parents promised him an Xbox 360 video game console if he had reached his goal. His father, Jogesh Rajav, jokingly offered to get him "an Xbox, but no game."
But Gaurav ultimately turned town his mother Seema's offer to buy him the game system anyway because of their deal.
He will try for the record again in May.
Gaurav Rajav, 15, had hoped to recite 10,790 digits and set a new record in the United States and North America. But he remembered enough to potentially place third in national and North American Pi recitation and 12th in the world.
His ranking should be verified by the Pi World Ranking List within two months.
"I'm kind of disappointed, but I guess I did OK," said Gaurav, a junior at Salem High School.
But his mathematical feat won the praise of others, including the math and computer science teacher who got Gaurav interested in it.
"I'm still stunned," said Linda Gooding, one of three contest judges. She then joked, "That's a couple more than I can do."
Gaurav began memorizing Pi while a student in Gooding's class. Gooding holds the competition every year, and said she expected students to learn about 40 digits. Gaurav recited nearly 2,990 the first time.
Gaurav's parents promised him an Xbox 360 video game console if he had reached his goal. His father, Jogesh Rajav, jokingly offered to get him "an Xbox, but no game."
But Gaurav ultimately turned town his mother Seema's offer to buy him the game system anyway because of their deal.
He will try for the record again in May.
I Could Have Told You This
For a fleeting moment, the very fabric of the universe became a kind of hyperspeed spandex - stretching outward at perhaps 100 times the speed of light.
That concept, which describes the first trillionth of a second of the universe's beginnings, has gained wide acceptance among cosmologists. Now, scientists say they have discovered the first comprehensive, subtle signals from that cosmic growth spurt.
It began with one word from the Word: "Light!". And the creative expansion hasn't stopped yet.
That concept, which describes the first trillionth of a second of the universe's beginnings, has gained wide acceptance among cosmologists. Now, scientists say they have discovered the first comprehensive, subtle signals from that cosmic growth spurt.
It began with one word from the Word: "Light!". And the creative expansion hasn't stopped yet.
The Liberal Baby Bust
This is so good, I've posted it in its entirety:
What's the difference between Seattle and Salt Lake City? There are many differences, of course, but here's one you might not know. In Seattle, there are nearly 45% more dogs than children. In Salt Lake City, there are nearly 19% more kids than dogs.
This curious fact might at first seem trivial, but it reflects a much broader and little-noticed demographic trend that has deep implications for the future of global culture and politics. It's not that people in a progressive city such as Seattle are so much fonder of dogs than are people in a conservative city such as Salt Lake City. It's that progressives are so much less likely to have children.
It's a pattern found throughout the world, and it augers a far more conservative future — one in which patriarchy and other traditional values make a comeback, if only by default. Childlessness and small families are increasingly the norm today among progressive secularists. As a consequence, an increasing share of all children born into the world are descended from a share of the population whose conservative values have led them to raise large families.
Today, fertility correlates strongly with a wide range of political, cultural and religious attitudes. In the USA, for example, 47% of people who attend church weekly say their ideal family size is three or more children. By contrast, 27% of those who seldom attend church want that many kids.
In Utah, where more than two-thirds of residents are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 92 children are born each year for every 1,000 women, the highest fertility rate in the nation. By contrast Vermont — the first to embrace gay unions — has the nation's lowest rate, producing 51 children per 1,000 women.
Similarly, in Europe today, the people least likely to have children are those most likely to hold progressive views of the world. For instance, do you distrust the army and other institutions and are you prone to demonstrate against them? Then, according to polling data assembled by demographers Ron Lesthaeghe and Johan Surkyn, you are less likely to be married and have kids or ever to get married and have kids. Do you find soft drugs, homosexuality and euthanasia acceptable? Do you seldom, if ever, attend church? Europeans who answer affirmatively to such questions are far more likely to live alone or be in childless, cohabiting unions than are those who answer negatively.
This correlation between secularism, individualism and low fertility portends a vast change in modern societies. In the USA, for example, nearly 20% of women born in the late 1950s are reaching the end of their reproductive lives without having children. The greatly expanded childless segment of contemporary society, whose members are drawn disproportionately from the feminist and countercultural movements of the 1960s and '70s, will leave no genetic legacy. Nor will their emotional or psychological influence on the next generation compare with that of people who did raise children.
Single-child factor
Meanwhile, single-child families are prone to extinction. A single child replaces one of his or her parents, but not both. Consequently, a segment of society in which single-child families are the norm will decline in population by at least 50% per generation and quite quickly disappear. In the USA, the 17.4% of baby boomer women who had one child account for a mere 9.2% of kids produced by their generation. But among children of the baby boom, nearly a quarter descend from the mere 10% of baby boomer women who had four or more kids.
This dynamic helps explain the gradual drift of American culture toward religious fundamentalism and social conservatism. Among states that voted for President Bush in 2004, the average fertility rate is more than 11% higher than the rate of states for Sen. John Kerry.
It might also help to explain the popular resistance among rank-and-file Europeans to such crown jewels of secular liberalism as the European Union. It turns out that Europeans who are most likely to identify themselves as "world citizens" are also less likely to have children.
Rewriting history?
Why couldn't tomorrow's Americans and Europeans, even if they are disproportionately raised in patriarchal, religiously minded households, turn out to be another generation of '68? The key difference is that during the post-World War II era, nearly all segments of society married and had children. Some had more than others, but there was much more conformity in family size between the religious and the secular. Meanwhile, thanks mostly to improvements in social conditions, there is no longer much difference in survival rates for children born into large families and those who have few if any siblings.
Tomorrow's children, therefore, unlike members of the postwar baby boom generation, will be for the most part descendants of a comparatively narrow and culturally conservative segment of society. To be sure, some members of the rising generation may reject their parents' values, as often happens. But when they look for fellow secularists with whom to make common cause, they will find that most of their would-be fellow travelers were quite literally never born.
Many will celebrate these developments. Others will view them as the death of the Enlightenment. Either way, they will find themselves living through another great cycle of history.
Phillip Longman is a fellow at the New America Foundation and the author of The Empty Cradle: How Falling Birthrates Threaten World Prosperity and What to Do About It. This essay is adapted from his cover story in the current issue of Foreign Policy magazine.
What's the difference between Seattle and Salt Lake City? There are many differences, of course, but here's one you might not know. In Seattle, there are nearly 45% more dogs than children. In Salt Lake City, there are nearly 19% more kids than dogs.
This curious fact might at first seem trivial, but it reflects a much broader and little-noticed demographic trend that has deep implications for the future of global culture and politics. It's not that people in a progressive city such as Seattle are so much fonder of dogs than are people in a conservative city such as Salt Lake City. It's that progressives are so much less likely to have children.
It's a pattern found throughout the world, and it augers a far more conservative future — one in which patriarchy and other traditional values make a comeback, if only by default. Childlessness and small families are increasingly the norm today among progressive secularists. As a consequence, an increasing share of all children born into the world are descended from a share of the population whose conservative values have led them to raise large families.
Today, fertility correlates strongly with a wide range of political, cultural and religious attitudes. In the USA, for example, 47% of people who attend church weekly say their ideal family size is three or more children. By contrast, 27% of those who seldom attend church want that many kids.
In Utah, where more than two-thirds of residents are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 92 children are born each year for every 1,000 women, the highest fertility rate in the nation. By contrast Vermont — the first to embrace gay unions — has the nation's lowest rate, producing 51 children per 1,000 women.
Similarly, in Europe today, the people least likely to have children are those most likely to hold progressive views of the world. For instance, do you distrust the army and other institutions and are you prone to demonstrate against them? Then, according to polling data assembled by demographers Ron Lesthaeghe and Johan Surkyn, you are less likely to be married and have kids or ever to get married and have kids. Do you find soft drugs, homosexuality and euthanasia acceptable? Do you seldom, if ever, attend church? Europeans who answer affirmatively to such questions are far more likely to live alone or be in childless, cohabiting unions than are those who answer negatively.
This correlation between secularism, individualism and low fertility portends a vast change in modern societies. In the USA, for example, nearly 20% of women born in the late 1950s are reaching the end of their reproductive lives without having children. The greatly expanded childless segment of contemporary society, whose members are drawn disproportionately from the feminist and countercultural movements of the 1960s and '70s, will leave no genetic legacy. Nor will their emotional or psychological influence on the next generation compare with that of people who did raise children.
Single-child factor
Meanwhile, single-child families are prone to extinction. A single child replaces one of his or her parents, but not both. Consequently, a segment of society in which single-child families are the norm will decline in population by at least 50% per generation and quite quickly disappear. In the USA, the 17.4% of baby boomer women who had one child account for a mere 9.2% of kids produced by their generation. But among children of the baby boom, nearly a quarter descend from the mere 10% of baby boomer women who had four or more kids.
This dynamic helps explain the gradual drift of American culture toward religious fundamentalism and social conservatism. Among states that voted for President Bush in 2004, the average fertility rate is more than 11% higher than the rate of states for Sen. John Kerry.
It might also help to explain the popular resistance among rank-and-file Europeans to such crown jewels of secular liberalism as the European Union. It turns out that Europeans who are most likely to identify themselves as "world citizens" are also less likely to have children.
Rewriting history?
Why couldn't tomorrow's Americans and Europeans, even if they are disproportionately raised in patriarchal, religiously minded households, turn out to be another generation of '68? The key difference is that during the post-World War II era, nearly all segments of society married and had children. Some had more than others, but there was much more conformity in family size between the religious and the secular. Meanwhile, thanks mostly to improvements in social conditions, there is no longer much difference in survival rates for children born into large families and those who have few if any siblings.
Tomorrow's children, therefore, unlike members of the postwar baby boom generation, will be for the most part descendants of a comparatively narrow and culturally conservative segment of society. To be sure, some members of the rising generation may reject their parents' values, as often happens. But when they look for fellow secularists with whom to make common cause, they will find that most of their would-be fellow travelers were quite literally never born.
Many will celebrate these developments. Others will view them as the death of the Enlightenment. Either way, they will find themselves living through another great cycle of history.
Phillip Longman is a fellow at the New America Foundation and the author of The Empty Cradle: How Falling Birthrates Threaten World Prosperity and What to Do About It. This essay is adapted from his cover story in the current issue of Foreign Policy magazine.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
This is Downright Weird
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- The camera focuses on two gay men kissing in a park. Later, a topless woman emerges from the sea and walks onto a crowded beach. For would-be immigrants to the Netherlands, this film is a test of their readiness to participate in the liberal Dutch culture.
If they can't stomach it, no need to apply.
Despite whether they find the film offensive, applicants must buy a copy and watch it if they hope to pass the Netherlands' new entrance examination.
The test - the first of its kind in the world - became compulsory Wednesday, and was made available at 138 Dutch embassies.
Taking the exam costs $420. The price for a preparation package that includes the film, a CD ROM and a picture album of famous Dutch people is $75.
"As of today, immigrants wishing to settle in the Netherlands for, in particular, the purposes of marrying or forming a relationship will be required to take the civic integration examination abroad," the Immigration Ministry said in a statement.
The test is part of a broader crackdown on immigration that has been gathering momentum in the Netherlands since 2001.
I've got a better idea. Don't let any self-proclaimed Islamists into the country.
If they can't stomach it, no need to apply.
Despite whether they find the film offensive, applicants must buy a copy and watch it if they hope to pass the Netherlands' new entrance examination.
The test - the first of its kind in the world - became compulsory Wednesday, and was made available at 138 Dutch embassies.
Taking the exam costs $420. The price for a preparation package that includes the film, a CD ROM and a picture album of famous Dutch people is $75.
"As of today, immigrants wishing to settle in the Netherlands for, in particular, the purposes of marrying or forming a relationship will be required to take the civic integration examination abroad," the Immigration Ministry said in a statement.
The test is part of a broader crackdown on immigration that has been gathering momentum in the Netherlands since 2001.
I've got a better idea. Don't let any self-proclaimed Islamists into the country.
Quote of the Day II
"He absolutely is not guilty and did not strike that woman. The last thing this man would want to do is hurt his hands." -- Yanni's lawyer, Orlando Gonzalez, denying that the musician hit his girlfriend
News from Tolerant Hollywood
Sources from inside Paramount and South Park Studios report that parent company Viacom pulled last night's scheduled repeat of the high-rated "Trapped in the Closet" episode after the humorless Scientologist movie star Tom Cruise threatened to cancel all publicity for Mission Impossible:3 if Comedy Central aired the episode that satirizes Scientology and mocks his sexuality again.
Not only is this the first time that the South Park creators have been officially censored in their ten hit seasons with Comedy Central, Viacom officials also reportedly ordered Matt Stone and Trey Parker not to discuss the reason why their episode was cancelled.
The South Park boys are said to be angry, but will probably get revenge with the manner in which they deal with Scientologist Isaac Hayes' departure from the show.
Not only is this the first time that the South Park creators have been officially censored in their ten hit seasons with Comedy Central, Viacom officials also reportedly ordered Matt Stone and Trey Parker not to discuss the reason why their episode was cancelled.
The South Park boys are said to be angry, but will probably get revenge with the manner in which they deal with Scientologist Isaac Hayes' departure from the show.
Quote of the Day
"Students from low-income backgrounds are underrepresented at our nation's most selective institutions." -- Richard Shaw, Stanford's dean of undergraduate admission and financial aid
Uh, do you think so? That's surprising.
Uh, do you think so? That's surprising.
Roman Catholic Church, Listen Up!
A 20-year-old Boone County, Ky., church youth group volunteer was arrested Tuesday on sexual abuse charges after investigators said he fondled a 14-year-old girl at the Burlington church a year and a half ago.
Anthony R. Cummings is charged with two counts of third-degree sexual abuse.
Leaders at the First Church of Christ in Burlington reported the allegations to the Boone County Sheriff's Department immediately after the girl's parents contacted church officials, said sheriff's department spokesman Deputy Tom Scheben. Investigators found evidence Cummings fondled the girl while he volunteered in student ministries on the church campus.
"The parents of the girl found e-mails that the two of them had sent back and forth and contacted the church," Scheben said.
Scheben said investigators found evidence that Cummings also attempted to fondle a 16-year-old girl. But he was charged only in the alleged contact with the younger teen, since under Kentucky law she was too young to legally consent to such actions.
Upon being informed of the allegations, First Church of Christ leadership dismissed Cummings as a volunteer, according to a statement released by Executive Pastor Tommy Baker. "The First Church of Christ believes that children are created by God as a precious gift," he said.
"Unfortunately, we currently live in a world that does not appreciate the value of God's precious children. Therefore, children must depend upon adults for safety and security."
Cummings was released from the Boone County Detention Center on a $5,000 bond. He is to be arraigned April 3. If convicted, he faces up to six months in jail and a $250 fine on each count.
Anthony R. Cummings is charged with two counts of third-degree sexual abuse.
Leaders at the First Church of Christ in Burlington reported the allegations to the Boone County Sheriff's Department immediately after the girl's parents contacted church officials, said sheriff's department spokesman Deputy Tom Scheben. Investigators found evidence Cummings fondled the girl while he volunteered in student ministries on the church campus.
"The parents of the girl found e-mails that the two of them had sent back and forth and contacted the church," Scheben said.
Scheben said investigators found evidence that Cummings also attempted to fondle a 16-year-old girl. But he was charged only in the alleged contact with the younger teen, since under Kentucky law she was too young to legally consent to such actions.
Upon being informed of the allegations, First Church of Christ leadership dismissed Cummings as a volunteer, according to a statement released by Executive Pastor Tommy Baker. "The First Church of Christ believes that children are created by God as a precious gift," he said.
"Unfortunately, we currently live in a world that does not appreciate the value of God's precious children. Therefore, children must depend upon adults for safety and security."
Cummings was released from the Boone County Detention Center on a $5,000 bond. He is to be arraigned April 3. If convicted, he faces up to six months in jail and a $250 fine on each count.
Good Economic News Continues
Despite the grim picture the mainstream media continue to paint about just about everything - the insurgent-ridden reconstruction effort in Iraq, the looming Iran threat, the failed Dubai ports deal, the twin deficits, the president's sagging poll numbers, the Jack Abrahamoff scandal, and on and on - there's one thing they just can't taint: This U.S. economy is very healthy.
It's always amazing to listen to conventional demand-side economic pundits and mainstream reporters who try as hard as they can to minimize the excellent performance of the American economy ever since lower marginal tax-rate incentives were put into place almost two-and-a-half years ago. The latest chant is that a warm winter has artificially stimulated consumer spending, and that a day of reckoning marked by a housing-price crash and an overwhelming debt burden is headed our way. This is utter nonsense.
Apart from the inherent resiliency of our free-market capitalist economy, the fact remains that tax-induced capital cost reduction and resulting higher investment returns have boosted investment, healed business woes, and created employment growth near 2 million new jobs a year (and nearly 5 million since the middle of 2003 when the Bush tax cuts were implemented).Unemployment sits at a low 4.8 percent today. Wages are perking up, with average hourly earnings rising 3.5 percent over the past year and 4.8 percent at an annual rate over the past three months - their best performances since 2001. Importantly, falling gas prices at the pump are boosting real incomes enough that consumer spending is rolling ahead despite a slowdown in the housing sector and somewhat higher mortgage rates.
Of course, you can't please the worrywarts. Yesterday they complained that wages weren't rising; today they're bellyaching that wage growth is too fast and that the Fed is going to have to tighten monetary policy much more in order to ward off cost-push inflation. This is more bogus Phillips-curve argument. But growth does not cause inflation.
It's always amazing to listen to conventional demand-side economic pundits and mainstream reporters who try as hard as they can to minimize the excellent performance of the American economy ever since lower marginal tax-rate incentives were put into place almost two-and-a-half years ago. The latest chant is that a warm winter has artificially stimulated consumer spending, and that a day of reckoning marked by a housing-price crash and an overwhelming debt burden is headed our way. This is utter nonsense.
Apart from the inherent resiliency of our free-market capitalist economy, the fact remains that tax-induced capital cost reduction and resulting higher investment returns have boosted investment, healed business woes, and created employment growth near 2 million new jobs a year (and nearly 5 million since the middle of 2003 when the Bush tax cuts were implemented).Unemployment sits at a low 4.8 percent today. Wages are perking up, with average hourly earnings rising 3.5 percent over the past year and 4.8 percent at an annual rate over the past three months - their best performances since 2001. Importantly, falling gas prices at the pump are boosting real incomes enough that consumer spending is rolling ahead despite a slowdown in the housing sector and somewhat higher mortgage rates.
Of course, you can't please the worrywarts. Yesterday they complained that wages weren't rising; today they're bellyaching that wage growth is too fast and that the Fed is going to have to tighten monetary policy much more in order to ward off cost-push inflation. This is more bogus Phillips-curve argument. But growth does not cause inflation.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
What the Sweet 16 is All About
From Mike Fields of the Lexington Herald Leader:
One of the most enjoyable parts of the tournament's opening day is watching the teams involved in the noon game arrive at Rupp Arena. The players, still in their street clothes, walk onto the court and invariably gaze into the upper reaches of the empty arena, and their jaws drop in awe that they get to play hoops here.
One of the most enjoyable parts of the tournament's opening day is watching the teams involved in the noon game arrive at Rupp Arena. The players, still in their street clothes, walk onto the court and invariably gaze into the upper reaches of the empty arena, and their jaws drop in awe that they get to play hoops here.
Now This is Thinking Outside of the Box
U.S. military plans to make insect cyborgs
WASHINGTON, March 12 (UPI) -- Facing problems in its efforts to train insects or build robots that can mimic their flying abilities, the U.S. military now wants to develop "insect cyborgs" that can go where its soldiers cannot.
The Pentagon is seeking applications from researchers to help them develop technology that can be implanted into living insects to control their movement and transmit video or other sensory data back to their handlers.
In an announcement posted on government Web sites last week, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, says it is seeking "innovative proposals to develop technology to create insect cyborgs," by implanting tiny devices into insect bodies while the animals are in their pupal stage.
As an insect metamorphoses from a larva to an adult, the solicitation notice says, its "body goes through a renewal process that can heal wounds and reposition internal organs around foreign objects, including tiny (mechanical) structures that might be present."
The goal is to create technology that can achieve "the delivery of an insect within five meters of a specific target located at hundred meters away, using electronic remote control, and/or global positioning system." Once at the target, "the insect must remain stationary either indefinitely or until otherwise instructed ... (and) must also be able to transmit data from (Department of Defense) relevant sensors ... includ(ing) gas sensors, microphones, video, etc."
WASHINGTON, March 12 (UPI) -- Facing problems in its efforts to train insects or build robots that can mimic their flying abilities, the U.S. military now wants to develop "insect cyborgs" that can go where its soldiers cannot.
The Pentagon is seeking applications from researchers to help them develop technology that can be implanted into living insects to control their movement and transmit video or other sensory data back to their handlers.
In an announcement posted on government Web sites last week, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, says it is seeking "innovative proposals to develop technology to create insect cyborgs," by implanting tiny devices into insect bodies while the animals are in their pupal stage.
As an insect metamorphoses from a larva to an adult, the solicitation notice says, its "body goes through a renewal process that can heal wounds and reposition internal organs around foreign objects, including tiny (mechanical) structures that might be present."
The goal is to create technology that can achieve "the delivery of an insect within five meters of a specific target located at hundred meters away, using electronic remote control, and/or global positioning system." Once at the target, "the insect must remain stationary either indefinitely or until otherwise instructed ... (and) must also be able to transmit data from (Department of Defense) relevant sensors ... includ(ing) gas sensors, microphones, video, etc."
I Don't Like to Say I Told You So, But...
DOWNTOWN - The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, which posted a $5.5 million deficit in its first 18 months, will need an estimated $2 million to $3 million a year in public funding to continue operating, CEO John Pepper said Tuesday.
Pepper's comments are the first time the center has raised the possibility of regular tax-funded support. When the Freedom Center opened in August 2004, officials said admission, memberships, donations and grants could cover its day-to-day costs, but income has not met expectations, Pepper said.
Museum officials say they have no intention of closing the center, since they have sufficient cash flow to continue operating indefinitely, as well as credit from a group of banks.
The center will not seek a voter-approved levy such as those that support Cincinnati Museum Center and Cincinnati Zoo. The center instead will ask city, state and federal governments to provide the money through some other funding source, Pepper said in an interview.
"We need to show that what we offer is vital to this community," Pepper said, citing, for example, school curricula now offered to teachers.
He also pointed to the center's potential as a place to solve racial conflicts and look for solutions to youth violence.
$2 to $3 million a year is a lot of money to provide school curricula and "potentially" talk about racial conflict.
Pepper's comments are the first time the center has raised the possibility of regular tax-funded support. When the Freedom Center opened in August 2004, officials said admission, memberships, donations and grants could cover its day-to-day costs, but income has not met expectations, Pepper said.
Museum officials say they have no intention of closing the center, since they have sufficient cash flow to continue operating indefinitely, as well as credit from a group of banks.
The center will not seek a voter-approved levy such as those that support Cincinnati Museum Center and Cincinnati Zoo. The center instead will ask city, state and federal governments to provide the money through some other funding source, Pepper said in an interview.
"We need to show that what we offer is vital to this community," Pepper said, citing, for example, school curricula now offered to teachers.
He also pointed to the center's potential as a place to solve racial conflicts and look for solutions to youth violence.
$2 to $3 million a year is a lot of money to provide school curricula and "potentially" talk about racial conflict.
Who Needs the Devil with "Christians" Like This
From an interview with feminist biblical scholar Phyllis Trible:
BAR: Are you a Christian?
PT: Yes.
BAR: What does that mean?
PT: It means taking the major symbols of the Christian faith and using them, appropriating them.
BAR: What differentiates the Bible, say, from Shakespeare?
PT: I ask myself that question, and if I had a clear answer, I'd give it to you.
Hmmm, would Trible like to reconsider that first answer?
BAR: Are you a Christian?
PT: Yes.
BAR: What does that mean?
PT: It means taking the major symbols of the Christian faith and using them, appropriating them.
BAR: What differentiates the Bible, say, from Shakespeare?
PT: I ask myself that question, and if I had a clear answer, I'd give it to you.
Hmmm, would Trible like to reconsider that first answer?
Lovely
More good work from the fools in Congress:
China is stepping up military training in Latin America because of a law that limits U.S. military support to nations in the region, the general in charge of the U.S. Southern Command told Congress yesterday.
Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, who oversees U.S. military activities in the region, said a lack of engagement on the part of the United States has benefited China.
"If we are not there and we can't provide this opportunity, someone else will," Gen. Craddock told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
"Other nations are moving in. The People's Republic of China has made many offers, and now we are seeing those who formerly would come to the United States going to China."
The growing Chinese role comes amid numerous high-level visits by its leaders and other activities aimed at building military and economic ties to leftist governments and other states in a strategic region long-considered within the U.S. sphere of influence.
China is stepping up military training in Latin America because of a law that limits U.S. military support to nations in the region, the general in charge of the U.S. Southern Command told Congress yesterday.
Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, who oversees U.S. military activities in the region, said a lack of engagement on the part of the United States has benefited China.
"If we are not there and we can't provide this opportunity, someone else will," Gen. Craddock told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
"Other nations are moving in. The People's Republic of China has made many offers, and now we are seeing those who formerly would come to the United States going to China."
The growing Chinese role comes amid numerous high-level visits by its leaders and other activities aimed at building military and economic ties to leftist governments and other states in a strategic region long-considered within the U.S. sphere of influence.
"Now It’s Time for Blacks to Make a Similar Transformation, to Grow Up, and Take Responsibility for Their Own Future"
If you want to understand race in America, you must listen to Shelby Steele.
Here's a snippet:
TAE: That’s kind of ironic, because for years blacks had learned not to take what white people said at face value. So why suddenly believe them?
STEELE: I’ll give you my bottom line: We’ve done worse in freedom than we did in segregation. It’s abominable that we made more advances between 1945 and 1965 than we have since, but it’s the truth. According to studies by Stanford’s Thomas Sowell and Harvard’s Abigail and Stephen Thernstrom, we made up more ground with whites in the 1950s than in other decades. This is something I’m writing about in my next book.
Something people overlook is the shock of becoming free. When an oppressor finally takes his foot off your neck—whether it’s the European powers withdrawing from their colonies, or whites in America passing civil rights legislation and starting a Great Society—the group that has created an entire culture to cope with oppression is suddenly disoriented. Becoming free can give a profound shock. We don’t have the values in place for dealing with it. We don’t have the ideas. We have the mechanisms for wearing masks, for manipulating an oppressor, for surviving under harsh circumstances; we’ve become geniuses at that. But we don’t know what to do with freedom.
So when we come to freedom, we experience it as a humiliation, as an embarrassment, as a shame. Now, for the first time, we see how far behind we actually are. We see how long it’ll take to catch up with the people we suddenly have to compete with. And in some cases, we lock up in terror.
Freedom has just terrorized black Americans. We are scared to death of it. And rather than admit that, we say we’re still living in a racist society, or that the government isn’t doing its job. We make excuse after excuse after excuse. But the bottom line is that we have failed to stand up to the challenges of freedom. And that’s terrifying because it shows us just how much work lies ahead of us.
And this:
TAE: What are some ways we can encourage racial harmony in the United States?
STEELE: I’m old enough to remember segregation. Where I grew up, whites had no shame about being racist. They used to come up to me and explain that racism and segregation were God’s will. And they were perfectly comfortable with it.
Today, there’s no white person that could do that. Among whites, things have changed. No one wants white supremacists around. Sure, there are some, but America’s transformation is just amazing. It’s just amazing.
Now it’s time for blacks to make a similar transformation, to grow up, and take responsibility for their own future. If they don’t do it, they’re not going to have prospects that amount to very much. If they do do it, they’ll be able to succeed. We’ve come to a place in our history where the real onus for change is on black Americans.
Here's a snippet:
TAE: That’s kind of ironic, because for years blacks had learned not to take what white people said at face value. So why suddenly believe them?
STEELE: I’ll give you my bottom line: We’ve done worse in freedom than we did in segregation. It’s abominable that we made more advances between 1945 and 1965 than we have since, but it’s the truth. According to studies by Stanford’s Thomas Sowell and Harvard’s Abigail and Stephen Thernstrom, we made up more ground with whites in the 1950s than in other decades. This is something I’m writing about in my next book.
Something people overlook is the shock of becoming free. When an oppressor finally takes his foot off your neck—whether it’s the European powers withdrawing from their colonies, or whites in America passing civil rights legislation and starting a Great Society—the group that has created an entire culture to cope with oppression is suddenly disoriented. Becoming free can give a profound shock. We don’t have the values in place for dealing with it. We don’t have the ideas. We have the mechanisms for wearing masks, for manipulating an oppressor, for surviving under harsh circumstances; we’ve become geniuses at that. But we don’t know what to do with freedom.
So when we come to freedom, we experience it as a humiliation, as an embarrassment, as a shame. Now, for the first time, we see how far behind we actually are. We see how long it’ll take to catch up with the people we suddenly have to compete with. And in some cases, we lock up in terror.
Freedom has just terrorized black Americans. We are scared to death of it. And rather than admit that, we say we’re still living in a racist society, or that the government isn’t doing its job. We make excuse after excuse after excuse. But the bottom line is that we have failed to stand up to the challenges of freedom. And that’s terrifying because it shows us just how much work lies ahead of us.
And this:
TAE: What are some ways we can encourage racial harmony in the United States?
STEELE: I’m old enough to remember segregation. Where I grew up, whites had no shame about being racist. They used to come up to me and explain that racism and segregation were God’s will. And they were perfectly comfortable with it.
Today, there’s no white person that could do that. Among whites, things have changed. No one wants white supremacists around. Sure, there are some, but America’s transformation is just amazing. It’s just amazing.
Now it’s time for blacks to make a similar transformation, to grow up, and take responsibility for their own future. If they don’t do it, they’re not going to have prospects that amount to very much. If they do do it, they’ll be able to succeed. We’ve come to a place in our history where the real onus for change is on black Americans.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
A Legislature of Fools
TITLE VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act forbids employment discrimination on the basis of gender. It doesn't make an exception for churches. However, courts have interpreted Title VII to exempt churches. This is not surprising. Catholics, Mormons, and certain Orthodox Christians do not ordain women as priests. Orthodox Jews do not ordain women as rabbis. Traditional schools of Islam do not allow women to act as imams. The Constitution would not permit the government to change these church rules even if it wanted to.
Title VII has allowed women to pursue career ambitions and support their families, just as men do. Many Catholics, Jews, and Muslims think that this equal opportunity should extend to ministry. But society is also committed to religious freedom, and that means that sometimes the government has to respect limits even on worthwhile programs.
There is a lesson here that has been ignored in the recent contretemps over gay adoptions by Catholic Charities. Catholic Charities managed 41 cases last year, and more than 700 since 1987. Most involved children with special needs.
Charities that provide adoption services are governed by two state agencies. All of them need a license from the Department of Early Education and Care. The Department's regulations forbid licensees to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. Charities that handle adoptions of older and special needs children also contract with the Department of Social Services (they receive money for providing this service). DSS regulations forbid contractors to refuse service on the basis of sexual orientation. These two regulations caused a problem for Catholic Charities, because the Church believes that homosexual relationships are sinful and that it is wrong to place a child in such a family. The agencies refused to grant an exemption. The governor, though sympathetic to Catholic Charities' plight, said the problem should be corrected through legislation. Leaders in the Legislature said they were unwilling to pass such a law. Faced with a legal requirement that it serve gay and straight families alike, Catholic Charities reluctantly decided to stop doing adoptions.
It seems surprising that the state would want to put the Catholic Church out of the adoption business. Corporal works of mercy are no less important to the life of the Church than its sacramental ministry. Forbidding the Church to perform them is a serious blow to its religious liberty. Why would the government do that?
One reason is that the Church refused to go along with the effort, enshrined in these regulations and blessed in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, to give gay families the same legal rights as straight families.
But Catholic Charities did not obstruct that effort; it only declined to assist it. Is our commitment to equality so strong that we are willing to put Catholic Charities out of business because it won't promote an agenda that it views as morally wrong?
Apparently, yes. But then again, what's more important, the welfare of special needs children, or whether Bruce and Dave can say they are married?
Title VII has allowed women to pursue career ambitions and support their families, just as men do. Many Catholics, Jews, and Muslims think that this equal opportunity should extend to ministry. But society is also committed to religious freedom, and that means that sometimes the government has to respect limits even on worthwhile programs.
There is a lesson here that has been ignored in the recent contretemps over gay adoptions by Catholic Charities. Catholic Charities managed 41 cases last year, and more than 700 since 1987. Most involved children with special needs.
Charities that provide adoption services are governed by two state agencies. All of them need a license from the Department of Early Education and Care. The Department's regulations forbid licensees to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. Charities that handle adoptions of older and special needs children also contract with the Department of Social Services (they receive money for providing this service). DSS regulations forbid contractors to refuse service on the basis of sexual orientation. These two regulations caused a problem for Catholic Charities, because the Church believes that homosexual relationships are sinful and that it is wrong to place a child in such a family. The agencies refused to grant an exemption. The governor, though sympathetic to Catholic Charities' plight, said the problem should be corrected through legislation. Leaders in the Legislature said they were unwilling to pass such a law. Faced with a legal requirement that it serve gay and straight families alike, Catholic Charities reluctantly decided to stop doing adoptions.
It seems surprising that the state would want to put the Catholic Church out of the adoption business. Corporal works of mercy are no less important to the life of the Church than its sacramental ministry. Forbidding the Church to perform them is a serious blow to its religious liberty. Why would the government do that?
One reason is that the Church refused to go along with the effort, enshrined in these regulations and blessed in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, to give gay families the same legal rights as straight families.
But Catholic Charities did not obstruct that effort; it only declined to assist it. Is our commitment to equality so strong that we are willing to put Catholic Charities out of business because it won't promote an agenda that it views as morally wrong?
Apparently, yes. But then again, what's more important, the welfare of special needs children, or whether Bruce and Dave can say they are married?
Quote of the Day
"The real threat for Connecticut may be No. 4 Illinois, but the Illini appear good enough to hold their seed and get to the round of 16, but not quite good enough to beat this year's elite teams -- as in Connecticut. In fact, the Huskies' most dangerous game could come in the second round against a flawed, but still dangerous Kentucky team. (That's if Kentucky gets by UAB, a team it lost to two years ago when the Wildcats were a No. 1 seed.)" -- John Feinstein, WaPo
Interesting Idea
Once upon a time, to fly was to be pampered at 35,000 feet.
Flight attendants sprang into action to offer passengers hot meals, snacks, beverages, magazines, pillows and blankets, all for the price of a ticket.
But most of that service is history now -- or at least the days of getting it for free are gone -- as struggling airlines look to cut costs and keep ticket prices low by eliminating amenities or making passengers pay for them.
Northwest Airlines is expected to announce today that it will begin charging customers more for seats with added legroom, including coveted emergency exit row and some aisle seats. The price: an extra $15 for each leg of the flight. Northwest calls them "Coach Choice" seats.
Flight attendants sprang into action to offer passengers hot meals, snacks, beverages, magazines, pillows and blankets, all for the price of a ticket.
But most of that service is history now -- or at least the days of getting it for free are gone -- as struggling airlines look to cut costs and keep ticket prices low by eliminating amenities or making passengers pay for them.
Northwest Airlines is expected to announce today that it will begin charging customers more for seats with added legroom, including coveted emergency exit row and some aisle seats. The price: an extra $15 for each leg of the flight. Northwest calls them "Coach Choice" seats.
Whahhhh!!!
It's ok when you're ripping Jesus or Mohammed, but not Tom Cruise.
NEW YORK (March 13) - Isaac Hayes has quit "South Park," where he voices Chef, saying he can no longer stomach its take on religion.
Hayes, who has played the ladies' man/school cook in the animated Comedy Central satire since 1997, said in a statement Monday that he feels a line has been crossed.
"There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins," the 63-year-old soul singer and outspoken Scientologist said.
"Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honored," he continued. "As a civil rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices."
"South Park" co-creator Matt Stone responded sharply in an interview with The Associated Press Monday, saying, "This is 100 percent having to do with his faith of Scientology... He has no problem - and he's cashed plenty of checks - with our show making fun of Christians."
Last November, "South Park" targeted the Church of Scientology and its celebrity followers, including actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta, in a top-rated episode called "Trapped in the Closet." In the episode, Stan, one of the show's four mischievous fourth graders, is hailed as a reluctant savior by Scientology leaders, while a cartoon Cruise locks himself in a closet and won't come out.
Stone told The AP he and co-creator Trey Parker "never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin."
NEW YORK (March 13) - Isaac Hayes has quit "South Park," where he voices Chef, saying he can no longer stomach its take on religion.
Hayes, who has played the ladies' man/school cook in the animated Comedy Central satire since 1997, said in a statement Monday that he feels a line has been crossed.
"There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins," the 63-year-old soul singer and outspoken Scientologist said.
"Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honored," he continued. "As a civil rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices."
"South Park" co-creator Matt Stone responded sharply in an interview with The Associated Press Monday, saying, "This is 100 percent having to do with his faith of Scientology... He has no problem - and he's cashed plenty of checks - with our show making fun of Christians."
Last November, "South Park" targeted the Church of Scientology and its celebrity followers, including actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta, in a top-rated episode called "Trapped in the Closet." In the episode, Stan, one of the show's four mischievous fourth graders, is hailed as a reluctant savior by Scientology leaders, while a cartoon Cruise locks himself in a closet and won't come out.
Stone told The AP he and co-creator Trey Parker "never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin."
How Ironic
From today's Washington Times:
TEHRAN -- Iran's clerical and business establishments, deeply concerned by what they see as reckless spending and needlessly aggressive foreign policies, are increasingly turning against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The same could be said about President Bush.
TEHRAN -- Iran's clerical and business establishments, deeply concerned by what they see as reckless spending and needlessly aggressive foreign policies, are increasingly turning against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The same could be said about President Bush.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Quote of the Day
"The work of Muhammad is based on being honored, and the work of Christ is based on being insulted." -- John Piper, on Muslim outrage over the caricatures of Muhammad
This Is Just Sad
Andrew H. Card Jr. wakes at 4:20 in the morning, shows up at the White House an hour or so later, convenes his senior staff at 7:30 and then proceeds to a blur of other meetings that do not let up until long after the sun sets. He gets home at 9 or 10 at night and sometimes fields phone calls until 11 p.m. Then he gets up and does it all over again.
Of all the reasons that President Bush is in trouble these days, not to be overlooked are inadequate REM cycles. Like chief of staff Card, many of the president's top aides have been by his side nonstop for more than five years, not including the first campaign, recount and transition. This is a White House, according to insiders, that is physically and emotionally exhausted, battered by scandal and drained by political setbacks.
...White House officials are never genuinely away from the job. Tied to their BlackBerrys and cellular telephones, they are often called to duty even during rare vacations. Weekends are often just another workday. Hadley, for one, schedules a full day of meetings every Saturday. Card comes to the White House on days off to go bicycle riding with Bush.
While other professions demand 14-hour days and six- or seven-day weeks, few involve as much consequence, much less the intense scrutiny of the Internet age. A former Bush aide said, "You don't really realize until you're gone" just how exhausting it really is.
Of all the reasons that President Bush is in trouble these days, not to be overlooked are inadequate REM cycles. Like chief of staff Card, many of the president's top aides have been by his side nonstop for more than five years, not including the first campaign, recount and transition. This is a White House, according to insiders, that is physically and emotionally exhausted, battered by scandal and drained by political setbacks.
...White House officials are never genuinely away from the job. Tied to their BlackBerrys and cellular telephones, they are often called to duty even during rare vacations. Weekends are often just another workday. Hadley, for one, schedules a full day of meetings every Saturday. Card comes to the White House on days off to go bicycle riding with Bush.
While other professions demand 14-hour days and six- or seven-day weeks, few involve as much consequence, much less the intense scrutiny of the Internet age. A former Bush aide said, "You don't really realize until you're gone" just how exhausting it really is.
The Costs of Torts
This sounds like a lot:
For 20 years, Tillinghast, an insurance-industry consulting firm, has been putting an often-criticized dollar value on what it calls the cost of the nation's tort system. And it says those costs will rise sharply in the next few years.
The latest study puts the cost in 2004 at $260 billion, almost equal to the annual sales of Wal-Mart -- nearly $900 for every man, woman and small child in the nation. It projects that cost will rise to nearly $315 billion by 2007, outpacing the expansion of the overall economy.
For 20 years, Tillinghast, an insurance-industry consulting firm, has been putting an often-criticized dollar value on what it calls the cost of the nation's tort system. And it says those costs will rise sharply in the next few years.
The latest study puts the cost in 2004 at $260 billion, almost equal to the annual sales of Wal-Mart -- nearly $900 for every man, woman and small child in the nation. It projects that cost will rise to nearly $315 billion by 2007, outpacing the expansion of the overall economy.
Has the Press Been Rove-A-Doped Again?
THE WASHINGTON POST's famous Watergate editor Ben Bradlee claims that it was former State Department Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage who was the individual who leaked the identity of CIA official Valerie Plame.
In the latest issue of VANITY FAIR: "Woodward was in a tricky position. People close to him believe that he had learned about Plame from his friend Richard Armitage, Colin Powell's former deputy, who has been known to be critical of the administration and who has a blunt way of speaking.
'That Armitage is the likely source is a fair assumption,' former WASHINGTON POST editor Ben Bradlee said. 'I had heard about an e-mail that was sent that had a lot of unprintable language in it.'
In the latest issue of VANITY FAIR: "Woodward was in a tricky position. People close to him believe that he had learned about Plame from his friend Richard Armitage, Colin Powell's former deputy, who has been known to be critical of the administration and who has a blunt way of speaking.
'That Armitage is the likely source is a fair assumption,' former WASHINGTON POST editor Ben Bradlee said. 'I had heard about an e-mail that was sent that had a lot of unprintable language in it.'
Saddam Calculated Wrong
The NYT piece today summarizing new findings about Saddam's side of the pre-war has many fascinating nuggets, not the least of which is the following:
"The Iraqi dictator was so secretive and kept information so compartmentalized that his top military leaders were stunned when he told them three months before the war that he had no weapons of mass destruction, and they were demoralized because they had counted on hidden stocks of poison gas or germ weapons for the nation's defense."
How could they have been stunned? Had they not been reading Paul Krugman? The evidence that George W. Bush was spinning WMDs was "obvious long ago to any commentator who was willing to look at the facts." It just wasn't obvious to the top military leaders in Iraq three months before the invasion. Some of them, even after they had been told by Saddam that the cupboard was bare, found Colin Powell's presentation convincing.
What we're seeing is classic screw-up. A dictator boasts of WMDs that he doesn't have, primarily to keep his domestic opposition scared and to keep up the ambiguity internationally to deter any attack. But that ambiguity is what made the attack inevitable. For Saddam it was rational enough. If he admitted to WMDs, allowed total U.N. access to his country and scientists to leave, then his spell of domestic terror would have disintegrated, and he feared an uprising. But if he played the shell game one more time, maybe he could buy off the West yet again, after twelve years of success. That's what he calculated. And he calculated wrong.
"The Iraqi dictator was so secretive and kept information so compartmentalized that his top military leaders were stunned when he told them three months before the war that he had no weapons of mass destruction, and they were demoralized because they had counted on hidden stocks of poison gas or germ weapons for the nation's defense."
How could they have been stunned? Had they not been reading Paul Krugman? The evidence that George W. Bush was spinning WMDs was "obvious long ago to any commentator who was willing to look at the facts." It just wasn't obvious to the top military leaders in Iraq three months before the invasion. Some of them, even after they had been told by Saddam that the cupboard was bare, found Colin Powell's presentation convincing.
What we're seeing is classic screw-up. A dictator boasts of WMDs that he doesn't have, primarily to keep his domestic opposition scared and to keep up the ambiguity internationally to deter any attack. But that ambiguity is what made the attack inevitable. For Saddam it was rational enough. If he admitted to WMDs, allowed total U.N. access to his country and scientists to leave, then his spell of domestic terror would have disintegrated, and he feared an uprising. But if he played the shell game one more time, maybe he could buy off the West yet again, after twelve years of success. That's what he calculated. And he calculated wrong.
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