Lightning Bolton Lightning Bolton

I was struck by this apt name for our U.N. ambassador, John Bolton, in this RealClearPolitics artcile titled: Lightning Bolton.

Homosexuality and Homophobia Homosexuality and Homophobia

Rhawn Joseph, Ph.D. in his article on homosexuality referenced below makes some more interesting points about male homosexuality, not all of which is very pleasant. But one thing that is interesting is the tie between male homosexuality and violence.

One interesting point that he brings up is that our closest animal relatives, other primates, esp. chimps, use copulatory behavior as dominence displays. And because of this, if the one being mounted does not agree with the dominence being asserted, these attempts at copulatory dominence displays can turn quite violent.

So, it should not be surprising that some males react quite strongly, and even quite violently, in response to amorous attempts by other males in their direction. I would suggest here that it is likely that what is occurring is a hard-wired dominence response to what appears to be another male's dominence display.

Lest someone think that human males have somehow risen above this sort of thing, let me note that it is well known that males in prison routinely utilize male-on-male sex as a dominence display.

Metaphysics, Science, Homosexuality (#2) Metaphysics, Science, Homosexuality (#2)

I did a Google search after my previous post on some of the possible causes of homosexuality, and found some interesting articles that would tend to support John Derbyshire's #10 and #13, and my #14 womb effects.

"Hormones and Sexual Behavior" talks about different hormones and how they affect brain development. Michael Fairchilds' Rock Prophecy: "Evidence of Herd Thinners" mentions some interesting studies, for example that in utero war stress seemed to increase male homosexuality and that homosexual behavior can be increased in male rats by subjecting their mothers to prenatal stress. It also posits a plausible mechanism for this - that a stress related hormone, androstendione, is structurally similar to testosterone, and may as a result bind in its place (the next article implicates cortisol instead - and I don't know enough biochemistry to sort this out). I should note that this later article mentions "The Red Queen" as his source for the in utero war stress theory, and that is probably my source too - as I do have that book and have read it a couple of times.

On the other hand, an article titled: Homosexuality and Neoteny; Are Homosexuals Maturationally Delayed? suggests that part of the cause for homosexuality may be maturational delay. Part of the theory here is that both male and female homosexuals tend to have a higher than usual percentage of sinister people (i.e. "leftys"). Nevertheless, it cites many of the same articles as does Fairchild.

BrainMind.com has an article on homosexuality by Rhawn Joseph, Ph.D. that concentrates on different parts of the brain. In particular, he discusses sexual differences in the amygdala.

I obviously could spend weeks on this, so will leave it at that.

Metaphysics, Science, Homosexuality Metaphysics, Science, Homosexuality

A year and a half ago, John Derbyshire at NRO opined about the origins of homosexuality in an article titled: Metaphysics, Science, Homosexuality. Why is this subject the least bit relevant? Because, presumably, whether the cause is nurture or nature, whether homosexuality is innate or not, should affect how we, as society, deal with the subject.

Derby listed 13 different theories, and then opined that he felt that the most likely involved either too much of a good thing (#10) or too much of the wrong thing (#13) in the womb were the most likely culprits, at least for the more studied male homosexuality. I would have to add a closely related #14, Womb environment—not enough of a good thing to cover a suggestion that part of the cause is not enough testosterone at critical parts of brain development while still in the womb that resulted in not completely masculinizing a male's brain. I saw this theory in a study that showed a higher than normal number of homosexual males born at the end of WWII, and the theory was that maternal stress resulting from the high casualty levels then was the cause of this.

Derbyshire mentions his previous post in reference to a recent BBC article titled: Womb environment 'makes men gay' where there appears to be a correlation between how many biological brothers a male has had before him and his chances of being homosexual. The theory there is that the more boys a mother has had, the more her body reacts to the maleness in her womb. Not said, but something that I think is potentially possible, is that the maleness would most likely be detected through testosterone being created by the boys. Nevertheless, this falls clearly under Derbyshire's #13.

My guess is that Derbyshire will ultimately be vindicated, though most likely it won't be a single cause, but different causes, just as we have found with many biological phenomena. Nevertheless, I suspect that most, at least, male homosexual orientation will turn out to be a result of #10, #13, and/or #14.

Google Google

The founders of Google are very rich off of their company. But, for me, it is well deserved. I can't count the number of times I use the tool. It is my default search engine in Mozilla, and instead of typing in an URL as an address, I type in a couple of words and hit "Search" (and, yes, I know, Mozilla lets you to even take a short cut there - I just don't trust it).

So, yesterday, I wanted to get the cite for the Pentagon Papers case. No problem. I typed that in and hit search. It was short work to get the cite: New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 (1971). Or, this morning, I was having problems with Mozilla with tabbed browsing. I wanted to know what "browser.tabs.opentabfor.windowopen" did. Instead of digging through Mozilla documentation for an hour or two, I searched Google for that string, and had my answer in a minute or two.

What is a bit scary to me is that some of us are so dependant upon search engines today, whereas a large part of the population of this world, and, even this country, is not. Many don't know of search engines, or if they do, they don't use them.

Indeed, probably the biggest reason that I got DSL awhile back was to use search engines like Google. The connection is always on, and you get your responses almost immediately. And, soon, I just start taking this combination of search engine plus always on broadband connection for granted.

What is really bad though is that some of the people in my life know this now and will call up with queries that I will answer for them on-line while I talk to them. One of them is computer-phobic, and another is old enough that I give him a pass. But still...

Democrats: Party of Cut-N-Run Democrats: Party of Cut-N-Run

Thanks to PoliPundit.com for this:

Wired News: Gov't Break a Law? Change It Wired News: Gov't Break a Law? Change It

Apparently, according to: Wired News: Gov't Break a Law? Change It, Congress is going to give the President what he doesn't think he needs - amending FISA to specifically allow the NSA international surveilance program.

Hugh Hewitt: Mr. Keller Believes You Are Easily Confused Hugh Hewitt: Mr. Keller Believes You Are Easily Confused

Hugh Hewitt does an excellent job at rediculing and discrediting NYT's Executive Editor Bill Keller's justification for his paper leaking classified information in an article titled: Mr. Keller Believes You Are Easily Confused. I was going to do the same, until I read Hewitt's.

U.S. can't 'redeploy' its way out of Iraq U.S. can't 'redeploy' its way out of Iraq

Mark Stein in the Chicago Sun-Times points out in: U.S. can't 'redeploy' its way out of Iraq

You gotta hand it to these guys: "Redeployment" is ingenious. I'll bet the focus-group consultants were delirious: "surrender," "lose,","scram," "scuttle ignominiously," "head for the hills" all polled poorly, but "redeploy" surveyed well with all parts of the base, except the base in Okinawa, where they preferred "sayonara" -- that's "redeploy" in any language. The Defeaticrats have a clear message for the American people. Read da ploy: No new quagmires.

This is the most artful example of Leftspeak since they came up with "undocumented immigrant." In fact, if it catches on, I'll bet millions of fine upstanding members of the Undocumented-American community now start referring to themselves as Redeployed Mexicans.

It is nice that Steyn posts this to decode the leftspeak in Rep. Mark Udall's piece I cited earlier.

Democrats' 'New Direction for America' Is a Wrong Turn Democrats' 'New Direction for America' Is a Wrong Turn

Lileks in Democrats' 'New Direction for America' Is a Wrong Turn points out:

The Democrats have many mantras and slogans: "grim milestone," "hopeless quagmire," "culture of corruption" and "Karl Rove's dingo ate my baby." But for a while they've had one big overall slogan, dripping with gusto: "Together, America Can Do Better."...

Self-Loathing and the Denial of Terrorism Self-Loathing and the Denial of Terrorism

James Lileks in: "Self-Loathing and the Denial of Terrorism" asks:

You're an enlightened world citizen. Your T-shirt says "9/11 was an inside job." You're pretty sure we're living in a fascist state, that President Bush taps the Dixie Chicks' phones, Christian abortion clinic bombers outnumber jihadis, and the war on "terror" is a distraction from the real threats: carbon emissions and Pat Robertson. Then you learn that 17 people were arrested in a terrorist bomb plot. How do you process the information? Let's take it step by step.

National Security Be Damned National Security Be Damned

A Weekly Standard article by Heather Mac Donald titled: National Security Be Damned starts by saying:

BY NOW IT'S UNDENIABLE: The New York Times is a national security threat. So drunk is it on its own power and so antagonistic to the Bush administration that it will expose every classified antiterror program it finds out about, no matter how legal the program, how carefully crafted to safeguard civil liberties, or how vital to protecting American lives.

Udall: Cut and Run Udall: Cut and Run

My representative, Mark Udall, is pushing a cut-and-run option in Iraq in a Rocky Mountain News article enttiled: Bipartisan effort needed to carefully redeploy U.S. troops away from Iraq. Yes, it sounds almost plausible, that we should give the Iraqis a firm timetable and then redploy our troops. But of course, "redeployment" is cutting-and-running. Never mind that this would give our enemies exactly the wrong message - that all they need to do is hang on until then, and then we will leave. In short, it would embolden them.

But what should we expect from a representative who primarily represents the PRB (People's Republic of Boulder), and now me, thanks to the recent (unconstitutional) Gerrymander by the Democratic dominated Colorado Supreme Court?

The Conspiracy to Keep You Poor and Stupid The Conspiracy to Keep You Poor and Stupid

Great blog by Donald L. Luskin titled: The Conspiracy to Keep You Poor and Stupid. Some interesting recent articles such as: "Have Gum, Will Travel", where Luskin talks about being caught live on CNBC's "Kudlow & Company" chewing gum, and "Times Priorities", where he points out that the NYT seems more intent on embarassing the current Administration than in clean government in its various disclosures of classified information.

First Molecular Proof That Some Aspects of Aging Are Out of Our Control First Molecular Proof That Some Aspects of Aging Are Out of Our Control

pysorg.com article titled:First Molecular Proof That Some Aspects of Aging Are Out of Our Control has some interesting results that would seem to indicate that at least some aging was the result of random DNA mutations that presumably result in cells not working properly, or, interestingly, as well together.

Compromising National Security as a Marketing Strategy Compromising National Security as a Marketing Strategy

Disclosing classified information has apparently not been a good marketing plan for the New York Times according to The Scratching Post: Compromising National Security as a Marketing Strategy:

"The New York Times is in a steep dive. It's circulation is dropping, it's stock price is dropping, it's gross income is flat and it's net profits are declining 5-10% per year. All of this in the middle of an economic boom."

2nd Cir. Refuses to Require Gov't to Address NSA Surveillance 2nd Cir. Refuses to Require Gov't to Address NSA Surveillance

2nd Cir. Refuses to Require Gov't to Address NSA Surveillance - TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime. The left seems a bit upset about this. Lefty attorney Terry Kindlon filed for mandamous for the 2nd Circuit to overrule an "appeal of a secret court order refusing to make the Government admit or deny that it engaged in illegal warrantless electronic surveillance of his client, an Iman at a mosque charged with money laundering". But what is great is that the 2nd Circuit then sealed and classified its opinion.

A couple of things are obvious here. First the claims of illegality in the NSA international communications surveilance program are not clear cut - or, maybe even worse for Kindlon, et al., the government is correct about the legality of the program. And secondly, the courts see this too - two courts in a row here have found for the govt.

Sarin gas as chemical agent Sarin gas as chemical agent

Nasty stuff. Sarin gas as chemical agent

[D]ue to its high density, Sarin gas tends to drift above the ground for weeks if not months, depending on how much is used.Just for the record, Sarin is known to vapourise 36 times more rapidly than Tabun, is 26 times more deadly than cyanide, 21 times more lethal than potassium cyanide and all it takes is 0.01 mg for every 1kg of body mass for it to be fatal for a human.

The Gas Shells The Gas Shells

Apparently, the military has found over 500 shells in Iraq filled with poison gas, notably Sarin. In short, some of the missing WMD - enough to arguably be considered a "stockpile". The Belmont Club discusses this in: The Gas Shells. Also see Instapundit.com, PowerLineBlog.com, Austin Bay, Hot Air blog. The recently declassified documents are available from Instapundit.

Star Wars: The Sequel Star Wars: The Sequel

In response to North Korea's pending ICBM test, the U.S. has "activated" its missle defense system. A number of pundits have panned the program, claiming that it is technically infeasible. An article in TCS Daily titled: "Star Wars: The Sequel" looks at the current status of the program(s) and concludes that it is further along than many believe.

The Way Out of Iraq: A Road Map The Way Out of Iraq: A Road Map

The Iraqi National Security Advisor lays out our plan to withdraw from Iraq in a WaPo article titled: "The Way Out of Iraq: A Road Map". No real surprises - the plan calls for the Iraqis to train up and take over their own security, allowing us to withdraw our forces from that country.

The Suicide Bomb Morality The Suicide Bomb Morality

RealClearPolitics - Articles - The Suicide Bomb Morality:

The Palestinians show us a society based on sacrifice in its purest, most fanatical form. It is a society built around a single moral model: the suicide bomber, who is lionized on billboards, on television, in popular songs...

For the great mass of Palestinians this worship of sacrifice is sincere. By rejecting every chance at peace and coexistence with Israel--breaking every truce and turning down every peace offer--they have lost everything and gained nothing. Taking the suicide bomber as their moral model, the Palestinians seek to emulate his fate: in their lust to destroy Israel, they are willing to accept the utter destruction and collapse of their own society...

The contrast to America--a nation founded on the right to "the pursuit of happiness"--is even more vivid. When Alexis de Tocqueville visited America in 1832, he reported that the moral doctrine of "self-interest properly understood"--not hedonism, but a version of rational, benevolent self-interest--was "universally accepted": "You hear it as much from the poor as from the rich."

The distinctive model for American culture is not the suicide bomber but the "self-made man": the entrepreneur who achieves prosperity by hard work and ingenuity. Implicitly, we recognize that the proper business of life is not sacrifice but achievement. This is the actual code by which most Americans live.

TCS Daily - Feeding the Trolls and the Goats TCS Daily - Feeding the Trolls and the Goats

TCS Daily - Feeding the Trolls and the Goats is an interesting look at some possible changes to the patent system. I am not sure I agree with all of them, but I am heartened by hiring an additional 25% patent examiners. The problem is that it takes a couple of years for the new examiners to really become productive.

TCS Daily - Live Bait: Grunt with a Camera Eye TCS Daily - Live Bait: Grunt with a Camera Eye

TCS Daily - Live Bait: Grunt with a Camera Eye is a great interview of J.D. Johannes by Max Borders on the problems of reporting what is actually happening in Iraq.

Prosecuting the press for publishing classified information Prosecuting the press for publishing classified information

A couple of recent articles have echoed my points at volokh.com (for example, see "Why Publish Government Secrets") that there is nothing in the law that would or should prevent prosecution of newspapers from being prosecuted for disclosing classified information, and, in particular, the existance of the NSA international surveilance program. Scott Johnson of PowerLineBlog.com makes this point in the Weekly Standard in an article titled: "Did the New York Times break the law with its wire-tapping story?" as did John Eastman of the Claremont Institute in the Wall Street Journal article titled: "Does the First Amendment allow the media to publish classified information?".

This practice has been defended by Robert G. Kaiser of WaPo in an article there titled: "Public Secrets" and Bill Keller of the NYT in a CNN article titled: "N.Y. Times statement defends NSA reporting". In both articles, the two papers claim that they consider the harm that might come from their disclosure before disclosing classified information, and with the NSA program, decided that disclosure would not impact national security. Nevertheless, the President, and his Administration, in a much better place to know the facts, disagree.

No Alternative to Gitmo No Alternative to Gitmo

An article in RealClearPolitics points out what should be obvious in an article titled: No Alternative to Gitmo. The vast majority of those still held at Gitmo are the most hard core of those we have seized off the battlefields in the Middle East - mostly in Afganistan. The mistakes. Those with a serious chance at not causing future harm to us, have been released or returned.

Anyone who wants Gitmo shut down should ask themselves if they want these guys to move in next door. I sure don't.

Smart Dust Stalked Zarqawi Smart Dust Stalked Zarqawi

Strategypage.com has an article titled: Smart Dust Stalked Zarqawi. Apparently, Smart Dust is akin to RFID, etc., but much smaller. It can be used to track people. The article suggested that it might have been sprinkled on Zarqawi. I think more likely either on his female companion, or a compromised associate.

What is it about academics in Colorado? What is it about academics in Colorado?

Glenn Reynolds asks what it is about academics in Colorado? Republican Marilyn Musgrave is running for reelection to Congress and apparently "Kathleen Ensz, professor emeritus at UNC, is accused of depositing a Musgrave campaign mailer full of dog feces at the Republican lawmaker's Greeley office", according to a Denver Post article titled: Poop prank has Musgrave staff fuming.

Bloggers Unite! Bloggers Unite!

Great blogging picture from Hailey at Hanging Right Politics in an article titled: Bloggers Unite!

A Moral Victory - The meaning of Zarqawi's death A Moral Victory - The meaning of Zarqawi's death

The WSJ has one of the best articles on the moral side of Zarqawi's death in an article by Daniel Henninger titled: A Moral Victory: The meaning of Zarqawi's death. Zarqawi, like Stalin, used terror and the indiscriminate slaughter of innocents to shock the world into apathy. His death was moral, because he will no longer be able to intimidate us in this way.

Zarq is blown right to hell Zarq is blown right to hell

Ann Althouse has bloggers listing some of the one-liners being said about al-Zarqawi's death yesterday in: "Zarq is blown right to hell." One I like was from Steve Colbert: "al-Zarqawi is al-Kablooey."

Democrats Vow to Fight On After Zarqawi Loss Democrats Vow to Fight On After Zarqawi Loss

I couldn't help myself, and had to mention this article from ScrappleFace Democrats Vow to Fight On After Zarqawi Loss.

AL-ZARQAWI IN U.S. BOMBING ATTACK KILLED AL-ZARQAWI IN U.S. BOMBING ATTACK KILLED

Well, we finally got the Z-man. A lot of stuff out there about it today. For example, Counterterrorism Blog: ABU MUSAB AL-ZARQAWI KILLED IN U.S. BOMBING ATTACK (updated with pictures).

Also, from there, another article today: "The demise of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, courtesy of Task Force 145" with some background on the group that was probably most responsible for this result. My understanding is that they are a combined group of Seals and Delta, with a Ranger company attached for putting up perimiters, and they range throughout Iraq and environs rolling up terrorist cells, and, in particular, aiming at just this - taking out al-Zarqawi and al-Qaeda.

Right now though, I am not sure if it was better from a psychologicial warfare point of view that it was done the way it was by a pair of F-15Es, presumably using JDAMs, or if it have been better if TF 145 had gone in there and done the job personally. Not sure which would have more effect on the "Arab Street".

What really bugs me right now though is that I was reading something yesterday that al-Zarqawi had become an embarrassment to al Qaeda, and that his demise might be in their best interests right now, and, in particular, his martyrdom - and so we might expect some accident, or, maybe even an anonymous tip that would lead to his demise. And, lo, and behold, today we find out that that exact fate befell him. The problem is that I can't find the article anywhere.

Update - found the article at StrategyPage titled: "Zarqawi Scheduled for Martyrdom" thanks to Austin Bay via PowerLine, dated yesterday:

June 7, 2006: The relationship between terrorist leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi and and the mainline al Qaeda leadership continues to deteriorate. Zarqawi's recent audio messages have not only attacked the U.S. and the Shia-dominated government in Iraq, but also Iran. He's even claiming that the U.S., Iran, and Shia in general, are in cahoots to destroy Islam. He has also called for continued attacks against Shia...

Given that Zarqawi has become a loose cannon and that his actions are handicapping Al Qaeda's efforts, it seems reasonable to expect that an accident may befall him at some point in the near future. If handled right it can be made to look like he went out in a blaze of glory fighting American troops or that he was foully murdered. Either way, al Qaeda gets rid of a problem and gains another "martyr."

Top Ten Surprises In Al Gore's Global Warming Movie Top Ten Surprises In Al Gore's Global Warming Movie

David Letterman's Top Ten Surprises In Al Gore's Global Warming Movie:

10. The role of Al Gore was played by Bruce Willis

9. During summer months, Al and Tipper host nude barbecues

8. Hilarious outtake of Al Gore saying, "Wobal Glarming"

7. It's a musical

6. Refers to Arizona as being "Hotter than Tipper's ass"

5. Claims global warming melted Kenny Rogers' face

4. Blames the crisis on a creepy Albino

3. The scientist who supports all his claims is Al Gore in a mustache

2. Best solution is to contribute heavily to Gore-In-2008.com

1. It felt longer than the Florida recount

Are You Able to Obey This Law? Are You Able to Obey This Law?

Real Clear politics had an article on the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) titled: Are You Able to Obey This Law?. So, apparently, the captain of the Exxon Valdez ran his ship aground (and caused somewhat of an environmental stir because of that) because he had been drunk the night before. Exxon, of course, paid billions as a result. But apparently, the ADA won't allow a company to prevent former abusers of alcohol or other drugs from working in safety related positions, if they are supposedly "cured", as the captain there had been. So, they have to let drunks drive their oil tankers under the ADA, but also have to pay the cost when the drunks run their tankers aground.

Al Gore is a Brave Truth Teller? Al Gore is a Brave Truth Teller?

An article in RealClearPolitics titled: Al Gore is a Brave Truth Teller? takes the former VP to task for trying to appear like he is speaking truth to power with his new movie pushing Global Warming. Rather, he is saying exactly what is most politically correct right now, regardless of its truth.

Gore claims that Global Warming is causing the number of hurricanes to increase. Of course, hurricane intensity has only really been measured for a little over 20 years, not really very long given even our own recorded history, and much too short to accurately determine a trend. As importantly though, it appears that the number of severe storms in the Pacific is dropping as quickly as the number in the Atlantic is increasing, netting to zero. Gore would better have said that Global Warming was (possibly) causing an increase in serious hurricanes in the Atlantic, and a corresponding decrease in the Pacific Oceans.

One thing that I did find quite amusing about the article were the quotes from several hurricane experts at Colorado State University. CSU happens to be in Fort Collins, which is about 70 miles north of Denver, which means 70 miles further from the closest ocean, which means that they are almost 1,000 miles from the nearest place that could have hurricanes. Tornados, yes - we get a lot of them. But I suspect that it has been several hundred million years since Colorado experienced its last hurricane. What are these guys doing at CSU?

Dillon, CO Dillon, CO

Dillon CO, from the back porch, looking across the lake and up towards the 10 mile range. You can see some of the runs at Breckenridge through the trees on the left. The picture is looking SW. If you could look to the east, Keystone ski area would be more visible than Breck is here.

Current Network Current Network

As of last night, this is a relalatively good portrayal of my current network. Some notes:

• The numbers are the cable numbers. They are color coded, but that would really be confusing here (I have a spreadsheet for that). Unfortunately, some are running on top of everything else right now.


• Most of the equipment doesn't look like its pictures. Rather, the pictures are primarily functional.


• Actual power is a bit different. This is the conceptual layout. Also note that most of the non-UPS power goes through power conditioners (not shown).


• This drawing was done with Visio 2003, which generated the JPEG you are viewing.

Electronic Wizardry in Iraq Electronic Wizardry in Iraq

Strategypage.com has an article titled: "Why No One Can Trust Anyone in Ramadi". Apparently the different terrorist organizations in that town are turning each other in to the Coallition, with al Qaeda apparently getting the better part of the bargain. This is akin to what the various factions did with the Germans in Yugoslavia in WWII.

But the article also talks about some of the electronics stuff that we are doing there. Apparently, convoys routinely employ electronics jammers to thwart electronically detonated IEDs. This results in a temporary disruption in local cell service (esp. since cell phones were routinely used before this for just such a purpose). So, the guy running away from a convoy with a phone to his ear is usually not a terrorist, just someone who wants to keep a call.

Also, the Americans are apparently using good SigInt to track cell and walkie-talkie calls, even to untracable cell phones. Duh - who invented these technologies? Ditto for "encrypted" Internet communications.

Libby, Fitzgerald, and the WSJ Libby, Fitzgerald, and the WSJ

The WSJ had an editorial today titled: "Fitzgerald, Scooter and Us: The special prosecutor wants to use our editorial as evidence. Sorry". They point out that Fitzgerald's intent to use a previous WSJ article from June 17, 2003, titled "Yellowcake Remix: What the National Intelligence Estimate said about Iraq's hunt for uranium" is an admission that Libby's goal was not to "out" Valarie Plame's "covert" status, but, rather, to respond politically to false statements made by her husband, Joe Wilson - which was Fitzgerald's original mandate.

Fitzgerald's problem here, with this tacit admission, is that his entire case revolves around when Libby told reporters about Plame working for the CIA. Libby says he didn't really remember, and Fitz will apparently try to prove that he most likely did. Remember, this is a prosecution essentially for lying about just that - and honest memory lapses don't rise to the level of perjury. But if Libby was concentrating on rebutting Wilson's falsehoods, and not Plame's "covert" status, then it is more likely that he did forget when he first realized the later, and that the two were married.

Trends You Don't Hear About in Iraq Trends You Don't Hear About in Iraq

An article in Strategypage.com titled: Trends You Don't Hear About shows some of the trends in Iraq that the MSM miss:
- GNP doubling from 2003 to 2004, and expected to rise at double digit rates for the next couple of years.
- Iraq turning into a food exporter for the first time in 50 years (remember, this is the "Fertile Crescent").
- Over 50 U.S. bases turned over to Iraqis.
- Tourism - over 12 million pilgrims to Shia's most holy shrines.
-

Hating computers Hating computers

Some days it would be easy to hate computers, or, in particular, computer companies and their software.

My latest problem is the installation of my new printers, and, in particular, the HP 2300. It is a big, slick, inkjet printer, which I picked up new for appoximately the price of the cartridges on eBay. Nevertheless, I have had innumerable problems getting it to work right.

I had it working on a parallel interface to my old server (#D). But then I moved it to my old print server, which I now have hooked to my network - with cables running everywhere and two of the five computers open right now. Getting the print server to run with a different name and IP address was a pain, but ultimately I prevailed. The big problem was that I was running on Win2K/XP, and the software was designed for Win 95/98/4.0. It did have the bad habit of dying most of the way through installation, and then when I ran the install program again, it would delete what I just did, forcing reboots in between.

But now to the HP2300. I do remember a lot of pain getting the parallel interface working. And, now I know that it would have been easy to switch to the printer server (you just switch to a different port in the printer properties). But that installation is long gone.

What happens is that the installation hangs most of the way through. When I say hangs, I mean that it is taking 90%+ of the CPU and won't terminate. I ultimately ran file monitor by SysInternals.com, and found that it was trying to get something out of E:\I386. I386 is, of course, the install directory for Windows (running on X86 computers - NT used to have versions for other architectures on its install disks too - I was involved with this when they dropped PowerPC). Of course, there isn't an E:\386. There hasn't been for years. That may have been where I initially installed Windows 2K on my old desktop (#D) from. Or, it could be HP's install path for its operating systems. I can't find any reference to it in the registry. Of course, I have changed the install path a couple of times in the registry over the last couple of years...

The printer installed just fine on my new desktop (#H) running XP Professional, and, it turns out, on the old desktop (#D) running 2K Server. In the end, I shared the printer from the new desktop (#H), and connected to the printer that way. I don't have total control over it from the old desktop (#D), but it does work...

Oh, and SysInternals' Process Exploder blows up under that OS (2K Professional) on that computer (#D), but not on 2K Server or XP Professional (#H).

Spam (#4) Spam (#4)

I get well over 100 spam messages a day, mostly I think as a result of being relatively active on the Internet over the last decade and a half. Over the last six months or so, it hasn't been that bad, because my ISP was doing a good job at filtering it. But it is now letting some 30 or so spam messages through a day, and rejecting another 100 or so. It needs to readjust its filtering.

I am always amazed at how brazen so much of it is. Yesterday I got another breathless request that some unknown stock was about to begin a run up, and, that if I were a savy investor, I would want to get in on the bottom floor. Of course, I wouldn't be getting in on the bottom floor, because that is the precise purpose of the email - to run the stock up.

I still get a lot of phishing. Not surprisingly though, none of my spam filters has any problem recognizing false eBay requests to update my account information - though I must admit that the latest "protest" of a recent purchase is quite clever there - apparently heavy eBay sellers are quite zeleous about maintaining their reputations, and this preys on this. No problem for me though, since I don't expect to sell anything on eBay in the forseeable future, since the work of building such a reputation appears formidable. So, for me, it is easy to detect these scams.

I still get a lot of drug spam, but rarely get it for penis enlargers any more. And I haven't had the sons of any deposed African rulers asking me recently for help in moving their innocently acquired wealth out of their countries.

Firefly Firefly

Apparently, Wash is going to be killed off, not having signed for a potential sequal. More details at The Corner on National Review Online in an article by John Derbyshire titled: Death of Wash.

Who is/was Wash? You have to watch Firefly to find out. I fell in love with the series yesterday. We had apparently gotten our collective hands on the boxed set, and I was under pressure all weekend to watch it - someone presuming that I would enjoy it.

I procrastinated until yesterday morning, then, under pressure, broke down and started watching it. Apparently, my periodic bouts of laughter were somewhat distracting for anyone near me. I fell in love with it, and I don't do that very often with TV series and movies.

Yes, it is cheesy as they go. But that is part of why it is so good. Every episode has memorable scenes. Still, in the one I remember most vividely, the bad guy/traitor in the first episode was holding a gun to the head of River, making the obligatory speech, etc. about how he is now in control. The captain and his two major henchpeople comes aboard then, after a major firefight (mostly with revolvers), and just in passing, pulls out his gun, shoots the guy dead, and keeps on walking, leaving it to his henchpeople to toss the body out as they leave. We ran the scene three times, it was so good.

Visual Tour: 20 Things You Won't Like About Windows Vista Visual Tour: 20 Things You Won't Like About Windows Vista

Computerworld has a preview of Microsoft's upcoming new OS: Visual Tour: 20 Things You Won't Like About Windows Vista. Scary stuff. The stuff I hate in XP is apparently twice as bad in Vista. The short cuts I use dozens of times a day - gone. All to protect me from myself and from others who use security holes in MSFT software to invade my systems.

Sorry Bill. But I was aready doing OS programming when you were buying that CP/M-86 clone to sell to IBM (or did you sell it first, that was never clear). And that was before many of your "OS" programmers were born. I am running some version of 2K on three machines right now, and only run XP on my laptop. And even 2K is flaky - I installed a 1 gb memory card in one system, and it would only boot in NT 4.0. Unless you get your s**t together fairly quickly, I for one am going to stick to what I have now, until you put a gun to my head (like you did with Office 2003 - I had to upgrade because the USPTO required it for awhile for electronic filing).

NPR : American Soldiers Explain Decision to Re-Up NPR : American Soldiers Explain Decision to Re-Up

KRCC interviews Fort Carson soldiers to find out why they reenlist in "NPR : American Soldiers Explain Decision to Re-Up". No surprises:

Soldiers who re-enlist, returning for tours of duty in Iraq, often cite patriotism, duty, and the need to protect their homeland from terrorism when asked why they've re-upped. They also describe being part of a "committed brotherhood to defend the constitution and the people who cannot defend themselves".

I should note that the CC in KRCC is for Colorado College, where I got my undergraduate degree. The station and the school appear to have gone their separate ways since I graduated, but it is still the predominent NPR station in the southern half of Colorado.

ebay (#3) ebay (#3)

So, yesterday I was looking around eBay, and was looking at hubs about to time out. I found an 8 port Ethernet hub with no bids and no minimum. So, I put in a $3 max bid. No one else bid, so I won for $0.50 plus shipping (approx. $10). So, I have an 8 port Ethernet hub being shipped today or tomorrow.

Only one problem - what am I going to do with it? If it is a 10/100 hub, I may replace my current 5 port 10/100 hub and 4 port router. Still, I really didn't need it. Ditto for the HP Photosmart 7450 I bought for $0.01 plus shipping (of $29.99). I found a place for it and hooked it up today, but doubt that I will be printing that many photos. With the HP 2300 ink jet printer that I just got, that means I will shortly have 4 printers hooked to my computers: a high speed laser printer, a multifunction inkjet printer/fax/scanner, the HP 2300 high speed ink jet, and the Photosmart. Probably to go with my new, fifth, computer that should show up later this week (again, an eBay steal that I probably didn't need).

Poll: Americans Support Searches Poll: Americans Support Searches

ABC News has the results of a poll out titled: "Americans Support Searches". According to that poll, 86% of Americans think that the FBI should have been able to search Wm. Jefferson's Congressional offices.

Byron York: What’s Really Going On In the William Jefferson Fight Byron York: What’s Really Going On In the William Jefferson Fight

Byron York in a National Review Online article titled: "What’s Really Going On In the William Jefferson Fight" makes some interesting observations. One that has been missed by most is that the FBI subpoena includes electronic communications. In other words, the FBI wanted to copy Jefferson's hard drive, which is pretty much guaranteed to include a lot of stuff that is not suspect, but rather pertains directly to his job as a Congressman. This may have been why the Republican leadership backed him, despite how bad it looks for them to have done so.

Why the NOLA levees broke Why the NOLA levees broke

Popular Mechanics has a article titled: "CORPS SAYS LEVEES NOT READY FOR KATRINA'S WAVE, SOIL EROSION LEADING CULPRIT" about why the levees broke in New Orleans. It sounds to me that it was a result of typical bureaucratic missteps. Nothing really wrong, on its own, it was just a cumulation of these small screwups.

Ethnic bloodshed in Iran Ethnic bloodshed in Iran

Gateway Pundit reports in "More Iranian Protest Deaths Reported, Turkmen Join Ethnic Azeris" that there has been significant ethnic bloodshed in Iran.

The message says that during mass protest in Iran 50 Azeris were killed, 600 were wounded, over 1000 are arrested.

This is part of the reason that I think Iran is working so hard on getting nuclear weapons - to take Iranians' eyes off of their internal problems.

The Futurist: The Winds of War, The Sands of Time - Part I The Futurist: The Winds of War, The Sands of Time - Part I

The Futurist: The Winds of War, The Sands of Time - Part I puts the current war in Iraq in perspective in comparison with our previous wars.