Moron Criticizes Tillman

You might have heard of Pat Tillman, former NFL player who turned down a multi-million dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals to join the Army after 9/11. He was killed in Afghanistan last week. Now, a moron has stepped forward with a column in a UMass student newspaper to criticize Tillman, claiming he was no hero. Nice job, moron, I suppose you have a different idea of a hero, and maybe some day you will enlighten us. Nevertheless, I won’t link to this person’s stupid column; here is a link to the UMass president criticizing the moron.

Side note: although we don’t normally approve of calling people morons here in Paige’s Page, and we don’t accept insults like that in debates here, we believe this case warrants an exception to the rule (plus, I doubt there will be an actual debate with the moron).

Info About Women Issues Removed From Government Web Sites

According to Reuters:

The Bush administration has stripped information on a range of women's issues from government Web sites, apparently in pursuit of a political agenda, researchers reported on Wednesday.

Read the whole story, it is shocking.

Outsourcing to India

Here’s an article in The New York Times which quotes executives of American companies who have soured on sending certain types of computer programming work to India. An example is given where the cost of labor in India is about 1/3 of what it does in the US, but the productivity is six times higher in the US. Let’s hope my company, which is currently sending computer programming tasks to India, is more successful, or preferably, let’s hope they decide to bring the work back to the US.

Cortisone Shots

Whew! That would have hurt! A lot!

My podiatrist was going to give me a shot of cortisone in my left ankle because of a problem I have known as Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome. He told me that my foot will be asleep most of the day. And while I was ready for it, I knew this was going to be the most unpleasant injection of my life. And then, he said: “Do you drive a stick shift?” Since I do drive a stick shift, we decided that I would skip the shot today since there would be no way for me to drive home.

So the alternate plan is for me to have an MRI, and if that is positive, I would need surgery. And actually, that’s a good thing, I’m ready for it, because I have had enough of this Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome. And if the MRI is inconclusive, then I get the injection. Wish me luck!

Reviewing a Technical Paper

Occasionally, I have the honor of reviewing a technical paper to see if it is qualified for publication. The particular paper I am reviewing has caused me a bit of consternation — I don’t like the paper, and I am going to have to recommend that it not be published. While I am convinced this is the right decision, I have never had to do this before. In fact, I know I didn’t like it when papers I wrote were turned down.

But the justification behind this paper is specious. The premise fails. And so all the good math in the world can’t save it if the premise is bad. And the premise is rotten. The authors make an argument something like this: a car doesn’t work very well if you don’t turn on the engine, so we will bolt something onto the car to make it work better. Except of course, they talk about a mathematical technique — this technique doesn’t work well if you don’t use one of its features, so we will add on some new stuff so it works better.

So tomorrow I write the negative review and be the bad guy.

Whose Cuisine Reigns Supreme?

I spent a lot of this weekend watching Iron Chef America “Battle of The Masters”. There were many entertaining moments, and I have to say I’m very glad that I watched. The shows were exciting and the TV production was extremely well done. The best elements of the original Japanese show Iron Chef were maintained, while at the same time the show was update for an American audience. If you get the chance, check out the re-runs on FoodTV this week. Allez cuisine!

Worrisome Legislation in Michigan

From the Chicago Sun Times:

The legislation would allow health care workers and insurers to refuse for reasons of conscience to perform procedures, fill prescriptions or cover treatment. The legislation would not apply in medical emergencies.

“As written, this law would allow a health care provider to not provide health care services to someone based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation,” said Democratic state Rep. Chris Kolb, the Legislature’s only openly gay lawmaker.

The article goes on to say that Republican lawmakers who proposed and passed the legislation say they are not targeting gays (yeah, right, who are they targeting?), and that the governor thinks the law is “too broad” to be signed at this time.

So, you may no longer have a right to receive a prescription if a service provider conscience forbids him to help you. So if you look gay (you might not be) and this is offensive to the pharmacist, or you are carrying a rap music CD that is offensive to the pharmacist, you can’t have your prescription and sorry, the law is on the pharmacists side. It’s easy to think of other examples as well under this law. Heaven forbid you should look like a terrorist...

As with the Gay Marriage Amendment that was a hot topic earlier this year, this is an attempt to legislate that some citizens have less rights than others. In a land where everyone is supposedly equal, this is yet another attempt to legislate that some people are unequal and have less rights. You may have freedom of speech and freedom of religion here in the United States, but under this law, you can still be penalized for what you believe or for how you look. Disgusting.

A Walk In The Woods

I spent Saturday morning enjoying the Genesee Greenway, an old canal and railroad bed that has been abandoned and made into a scenic pathway. I saw farms, streams, lakes, wildlife and had a wonderful time. Remnants of the old railroad were obvious, as I saw railroad ties, old discarded rails, and a railroad spike. The canal remnants included culverts (to allow streams under the canal) and a weir (a structure to handle water overflow). And apparently, I was just a few hundred yards from an old abandoned railroad turntable, but I didn’t have a map with me and so I didn’t get to see it.

How nice to know that people have made an effort to provide a trail like this for public enjoyment. Roger L. Easton has more photos of the Genesee Greenway on his site.

Electronic Voting

South Knox Bubba has a very interesting article on the recent decision by California to recommend that electronic voting machines not be used in four counties. The article goes on to discuss the state’s frustrations with the maker of the electronic voting machines, an Ohio company named Diebold.

Panel members angrily accused Diebold of withholding information and using “bait-and-switch” tactics of asking the state to approve one version of software, then seeking federal approval of another. When confronted by the state, the company offered nothing but excuses, panel members said. With the systems in place in California just weeks before the March election, the state was forced to give temporary approval for the counties to use them. “We heard apologies (Wednesday). We heard apologies before. I feel like Bill Murray in ‘Groundhog Day,’ ” said Marc Carrel, a panel member. “I’m disgusted by the acts of this company.”

South Knox Bubba also comments on the situation, based on his experience of 25 years as a software developer, and he’s quite worried. “If an aeronautics engineer or experienced pilot told you there were problems with a particular aircraft’s design and that they wouldn’t fly on it, would you? It’s the same thing. And you don’t have to be an expert to know that a paper receipt and audit trail are just plain common sense.”

Update: People who chose to use a paper ballot in Maryland so that there would be an audit trail, rather than use the electronic voting machines with no audit trail, later found out that their paper ballots were not counted. That’s right, the elections officials gave the voter a paper ballot to fill out, and then refused to count the ballot. No reason was given for this strange behavior, other than the fact that if you could use the electronic ballot machine, then you had to use it. (Link via Body and Soul).

The Last Places on Earth

World-renowned photographer Eric Meola is working on a book, partially sponsored by Eastman Kodak, that will show his photographs from around the globe, places he calls “The Last Places on Earth”. Some of the photos from this book are available on-line, and they are worth checking out. Meola’s photographs show other cultures the way most Americans never see them. He also couples the photos with his stories. For example, Meola describes the day he was in the desert in the West African country of Niger, and his driver was shot. He also tells us the story of the day he saw a young boy in Burma becoming a monk, undergoing the ritual head-shaving for the first time.

On our last day we stumble onto an ancient ceremony where four young boys are being paraded around Shwe Dagon pagoda, eyes wide in wonder, dressed as “Buddha the Prince” was, in make-up and sequins, prior to renouncing his worldly possessions.

Light Blogging Lately

I have been having a back problem lately. Now since I have to sit at a computer and work all day, I have a choice … I can skip work and do a lot of blogging; or I can skip the blogging and go to work. I have chosen to take the coward’s way out and go to work and skip blogging. Yes, I know you are disappointed. So am I. Hopefully, in a few days things will be back to normal here at Paige’s Page.

The Discovery of Neptune

For most of the history of mankind, humans could see with their naked eyes five wandering points of light in the sky. These were the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. But with the power of a new invention called the telescope, William and Caroline Herschel discovered another wanderer, Uranus, in 1781. Astronomers then tried to predict the orbit of Uranus, and were reasonably successful using the mathematics of Newton and telescopes of their time, but they were always a little bit off. The reason, they felt, was another planet exerting a gravitational pull on Uranus. Mathematicians John Adams of Great Britain and Urbain Le Verrier both attacked the problem and independently, and unknown to each other, predicted the location of the new planet. However, for a short period of time, astronomers were too stubborn to look in the specified location. Adams and Le Verrier tried in vain to get their own country’s astronomers to look in the specified location. Finally German astronomer Johann Galle, after receiving mail from Le Verrier, looked in the position specified by Le Verrier and after 30 minutes of searching on September 23, 1846, found a star not on previous star maps. They confirmed the next day that it had moved slightly, indicating that Galle had indeed found a new planet.

The countries of the two mathematicians involved, already fierce rivals in other arenas, got into a rather nasty spat over who should get credit for the discovery, Adams or Le Verrier, and who would be allowed to name the new planet.

In an interesting sidelight, Neptune was first observed, and almost discovered over two centuries earlier. Shortly after the invention of the telescope, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei turned this new invention to the skies. He was fascinated by the newly discovered moons of Jupiter, and he recorded some stars in the background. One of them was Neptune. In fact, in 1613 Galileo actually noted that one of the stars had moved slightly from one night to the next. Had the skies not been overcast on the third night, he most likely would have became aware that he was not observing a star, but a new planet. Galileo’s notes of this amazing observation can be seen here.

Wild Turkey Visits Paige’s Page

The last thing you expect to see outside of Paige’s Page suburban World Headquarters is a wild turkey. Yet, as I stepped outside this afternoon, I heard a gobbling sound, and found this beautiful animal searching through the flower garden, no doubt looking for some cassava plants. I thought he might be a spy from one of those other blogs, but I decided he was more intelligent than most bloggers, and chose to leave him alone.

57 Years Ago Today

It was an historic event, one that changed the face of sports in America forever. Jackie Robinson became the first black player in modern baseball history to play in the Major Leagues.

Here we go again

On a day when the US Dept. of Labor announces that 360,000 new Americans filed for jobless benefits, my department announced another downsizing, this one amounting to 25–30% of the workforce. This follows last December’s 12–15% downsizing, so this one is twice as bad. As I have said before, all of the bad workers are long gone; everyone left is a very good worker. And while I don’t think I will be in the bottom 25–30%, I have no way of knowing where I will wind up or if I will still have a job. I don’t know if my department will want to keep my skills, in which case it doesn’t matter how good I am, I’m outta there.

So the anxiety begins. I have a supply of sleeping pills and stomach aids, which I think I might need. I will stop spending money on things that aren’t absolutely necessary. I was thinking about getting a new car; and some new computer hardware; going on a trip. But I won’t be paying for any of those things.

The stated reasons for the downsizing are all related to cost. And so far, President Bush has not done anything or proposed anything that would make a difference to my company. Senatory Kerry, on the other hand, has proposed tax incentives for companies to keep jobs here in the United States. I don’t know if Kerry’s proposed tax incentives are enough to change the result here, but if they were in effect right now, it would make keeping jobs more likely.

Stripeless Zebra

An all-white zebra has been discovered in Kenya, Africa, and wildlife experts don't know why it’s got no stripes. Paul Gaithu, from Nairobi National Park said: “We don’t have any records of ever having seen one like this before.” The little zebra, who’s only a calf, will be left with its parents to grow up, while vets try to figure out why it’s such an unusual shade. (Link via The Presurfer)

What exactly is tapioca, anyway?

In the last several weeks, I have enjoyed a childhood favorite food, tapioca, in several different varieties that could not have possibly been imagined by my parents. First, I made a terrible cooking mistake (don’t ask!) and made tapioca wallpaper paste. Then I was determined to follow the recipe a little more carefully and I made vanilla soymilk tapioca, followed by kiwi-strawberry tapioca, some more vanilla soymilk tapioca, and now wild grape tapioca. Yummy. But what exactly is tapioca?

Tapioca is basically a root starch derived from the cassava (see picture at right), or yuca plant. It's often used to thicken soups and sweeten the flavor of baked goods, and it makes a dandy pudding. But don’t try making it directly from a cassava yourself! Cassava roots have traces of cyanide in them! The ever-resourceful Mayans, who first harvested cassavas, figured out how to extract this poison for their blow darts, leaving the uncontaminated roots free for eating.

And darn it all, I just missed attending the Sixth International Scientific Meeting of the Cassava Biotechnology Network (CBN), 8-14 March 2004, CIAT Headquarters, Cali, Columbia. Cassava, it seems, has the potential to nourish large portions of this planet in the coming years.

Snack Foods

Pita Chips — tastes like cardboard with seasoning. Blech!


Quaker Fruit and Oatmeal Bars — Yummmm!

A Woman’s Guide on How to Pee Standing

Although I will personally never need this info, I present you ladies out there with this link to some vital information, as a public service.

Psychic Detectives

Looks like I’m not the only blogger skeptical of psychics. Steve Garfield’s Off On A Tangent blog today tells the story briefly of missing student Maura Murray and how a psychic has been called upon to help. Note that Garfield links to two skeptical sites, as well as the psychic’s own home page.

According to the psychic, the missing student was abducted then murdered. The psychic says:

… Murray hitched a ride with “a clean-cut looking man” in a truck following her car accident the night of Feb. 9. The man then sexually assaulted her and buried her body in a sparsely wooded area that may be a construction site, Baron said.

Note that there is not a single piece of information here that can be used to solve the crime. Sparsely wooded area? May be a construction site? (In other words, it may not be a construction site … by the way, how many construction sites are heavily wooded?). Clean-cut man with a truck? Gee, that really narrows it down. Anyone with a little imagination can think of these things. Doesn’t mean they have any validity.

So here’s my non-psychic prediction. None of this information will be used to find the missing student. The student may well have been abducted and murdered (that does happen unfortunately) and then the psychic will claim she successfully helped the police solve the murder (which she did not).

And one more thing … here is a story of a child who was murdered, and the psychics on the case did nothing to help. In fact the psychics hindered the investigation, and then used this tragedy to promote themselves.

Michael Rennie Was Ill The Day The Earth Stood Still

For all you Rocky Horror Picture Show fans, here is the annotated version of the opening song, “Science Fiction Double Feature”.

Birdcam, Update

Mariah, the female peregrine falcon, has laid three eggs so far. These days you will usually see one or both falcons in the nextbox, keeping the eggs warm. In about one month, the eggs will hatch and you will see tons of activity in the nestbox, and the little eyases (that’s what you call baby falcons) learn to move around, stretch their wings, and get fed.

Update: (4/13/04) Mariah has laid five eggs.

Installing Linux on a Dead Badger

Here’s a challenge for all you computer geeks. Find a dead badger, and then install Linux on it. Good luck! Report back with your results! (Link via The Presurfer.)

UConn

I watched UConn win two NCAA basketball championships this week. It was an extremely impressive display of basketball, and a powerful statement of excellence by that University. Congratulations!

Following the games, some fans rioted. I simply cannot understand the reasoning by these college students, allegedly among the brightest of their age group, who feel a need to riot and destroy property because their school has won the big game. When I was in college, I never felt the need to riot (of course, I went to school in Buffalo, where championships were quite rare). I simply don’t understand it.

Thus, I was quite pleased to read that University of Connecticut is doing all they can to indentify the rioters, and to impose strong penalties on them. This is the right move for the University. In fact, it is the only way to prevent future rioting, since obviously logic and proper behavior are not reasons enough to deter some college students from rioting.

Gambling

I have very little interest in gambling. I think it is a sure way to lose money in the long run. In fact, you can prove mathematically that the more times you bet, the more likely you are to wind up losing money. I have gambled once in my entire life — in 1969, I bet 35 cents, which was lunch money back then, on the World Series. I lost.

So, I’m not sure what to think of Ashley Revell, a 32 year old Brit who is betting his entire fortune on a single roulette wheel spin. After all, it is his money and he is entitled to do with it whatever he wants. He is also a professional gambler, so he is well aware of the risks.

In general, I am opposed to anyone or anything that glamorizes gambling. I think the attention Mr. Revell is getting will likely have that affect. Although Mr. Revell is a professional gambler, many people viewing this stunt may come away with a positive impression of it, and maybe even try it themselves. For that reason, I am opposed to it.

New York State’s Smoking Ban

Many people still disagree with a state-wide smoking ban, and continue to work to change it. But now, actual data is available showing that the smoking ban, enacted in 2003, is actually having positive results. In fact, the fears of its opponents have not materialized, while the health benefits it was designed to produce are beginning to be seen. Specifically, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports:

In the first 10 months of New York City’s ban, tax receipts from bars and restaurants rose 8.7 percent, city agencies said. A poll last week by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids found that 61 percent of the 500 respondents in New York support the ban.

And last month, the state Health Department found that saliva tests from a small group of bar and restaurant workers since the ban showed a significant drop in the levels of cotinine, a nicotine byproduct.

“Our overall impression is that the law is working as intended,” (Hilary) Clarke (the local cancer society’s advocacy diretor) said.

“The air is clean, the public supports it, and the hospitality economy has remained strong.”

Bush on Jobs

President Bush today unveiled his plan to add jobs to the economy. By overhauling the nation’s job training program, he will boost its output from 200,000 workers receiving federal job training to 400,000. Considering that the nation has lost 2 million jobs during Bush’s tenure, Bush’s new initiative is not going to get the job done. Furthermore, as more and more jobs move overseas, and the Bush administration being reluctant to do anything about that, training workers for increasingly scare jobs doesn’t seem like an effective policy. We are very disappointed with the Bush administration’s position on jobs.

Not Your Daddy’s Country Music

USA Today reports on two new Country music acts, Gretchen Wilson and a duo named Big and Rich, who have been climbing up the country music charts with catchy, different sounding tunes. They are a product of Nashville’s MusikMafia, and they have been dedicated to providing an alternative to standard country music. If you get a chance, turn on the local country music station and let your ears listen to Gretchen Wilson’s “Red Neck Woman” and Big and Rich’s “Wild West Show”.

Green Acres, We Are There!

TVLand is having a 48 hour Green Acres marathon! To tell you the truth, Green Acres was always one of my favorite TV shows. The unusual mix of characters made it hysterical way back in the 1960s when it first aired, and it remains just as hysterical today. There are many other comedy shows from this time period that seem rather dated and tame these days, for example The Brady Bunch.

I have watched about a dozen episodes of Green Acres, got very little work done, and have laughed more than any time since Urkel went off the air. My sides hurt! To see Eva Gabor imitate Ellie Mae Clampett and Granny from The Beverly Hillbillies was a real hoot! Eva Gabor as Lisa Douglas was one of the funniest characters ever to appear on TV. Of course, the entire 48 hours is a major hoot, set in beautiful bucolic Hootersville. (And I didn’t remember this as well from watching the show in the 1960s, but Eva Gabor looks positively stunning, walking around the farm in her evening dresses and walking around indoors in negligees).

So I’m going to cook me up a batch of hotscakes and settle down in front of the TV for some more Green Acres. Because, as you know, Green Acres is the place to be…

Can You Say “Frivolous”?

From USA Today: A West Virginia man who fell down an escalator at an airport sued US Airways, alleging the airline didn’t warn him about the adverse affects of drinking alcohol on a plane.

Sometimes I just want to grab someone by the neck and say, “Can you be any more stupid?”

Do I Feel Safer Now?

According to CNN: “The FBI and Department of Homeland Security have sent a ‘message of concern’ to police agencies across the United States about an alleged plot against commercial transportation systems in major U.S. cities this summer.”

First, let me say that I am glad the FBI and other federal agencies are monitoring these threats. Whether the threats are real or not remains to be seen, but I support increasing security whenever possible, especially since terrorists seem to have an affinity to attack our modes of transportation. And I support increasing the budget of these agencies as well.

Having said that, I also know that our railway system is huge — I doubt there is any way to monitor and safeguard the entire railway system. I know that today, right now, I can go out 200 yards from my house, and walk along some rather heavily used railroad tracks, and probably not be monitored by a law enforcement agency.

My general feeling is that I do not feel safer now.

Brawl breaks out at anger management assembly

Can’t we all just get along?