mosker

What's wrong with this picture?

From the Daily Mail

The blame game

Within hours of the news that a tiger had killed a zoo visitor and injured two others, representatives of the San Francisco Zoo began an aggressive media campaign to convince the public that the men had brought the attack upon themselves by taunting the animal.

Recent reports appear to confirm that the men taunted the animal, but the zoo's apparent stance that they got what they deserved sounds much like blaming a rape victim for being assaulted by insisting that her skirt was too short. Taunting a caged animal is abhorrent behavior which should have resulted in the visitors' expulsion from the facility, not death or mauling. The zoo seems to only be concerned about minimizing their liability in the face of their own failure to provide adequate facilities for the animals on exhibit. While teasing and taunting animals is inappropriate, it is by no means behavior that couldn't have been predicted, and I have to imagine that a wailing two-year old might seem pretty enticing to an irritated animal of prey. If Tatiana had leapt over the too-short fence and snacked on a noisy class of kindergarten students, would we be blaming the children for having agitated the beast?

The zoo would have been better served by remaining silent about the alleged behavior prior to the attack, particularly in the wake of their repeated mis-statements about the height of the enclosure, and allowed the police to issue a report. I am all for personal responsibility, but the ongoing effort to suggest that tiger's victims were solely at fault for the incident just makes the zoo look sleazy and irresponsible.

Obviously, a good education is not the same thing as good taste

In an appalling display of bad taste and bad judgment, students at Pennsylvania State University went to a Halloween party dressed as shooting victims from Virginia Tech. They donned VA Tech apparel, added a few fake bloody bullet holes and caroused with their friends.

Of course the pictures eventually made it to Facebook (don't they always) and were picked up by that national media. (These images come via the Drudge Report.) Officials at Pennsylvania State have apologized to Virginia Tech, but although the students involved have been identified, they cannot be punished without violating their free speech rights.

A local television station that reported on the incident suggested that the photos were posted for their shock value--obviously successful. I wonder if their parents are proud to see that their offspring made the news?

Pet food recall

The pet food recall has been expanded again.

Love/Hate relationship

I am an admitted news-junkie, so when there is a big news event, particularly a school shooting, I basically just mainline the news coverage. I don't like to be disconnected from my source. But the wall-to-wall coverage also reminds me that while I need the media, it doesn't mean I like them. Watching Paula Zahn made me cringe, particularly as she asked each and every student whom she interviewed to say they were angry with the campus police for failing to lock down the campus. Since when does interviewing mean putting words in people's mouths? Zahn is irritating and strident, so I couldn't help the malicious pleasure I felt when each of the interviewees thwarted her by saying they were angry at only the gunman and they were just focusing on helping their fellow students.

The news media has seemingly interviewed everyone they could grab off the street, some of them multiple times, but now that they are running out of witness statements, they appear to be filling in the time with speculation. We don't know why the campus police decided not to lock down the campus after the first shooting in the dormitory, but the news hounds telling everyone that it was the wrong decision isn't particularly helpful. We will undoubtedly learn more later and make our own judgment about it. I haven't even heard anything that indicates the campus has any mechanism for such a move. I work and study at an urban campus of a state university, and I seriously doubt there is an effective way to transmit a lock down order to all of the disparate offices, classrooms, and libraries in a timely matter. And that presumes faculty and staff know what to do if, which we don't. I realize they have to speculate in order to fill the air time for folks like me to continue to watch the coverage, but it's getting hard to take them seriously.

And while I'm complaining about the news coverage that gives me my fix, I will also make a suggestion: Stop talking about how this is the worst mass shooting in United States history. You might as well be waving a red cape at the bull. Some kook out there is going to see that statement as a challenge and will try to outdo the nut that outdid the clock tower shooter. This is a not a record we want to ever be broken.

What next?

You know how they put Sudafed behind the counter because it can be used to make meth? Apparently a lawmaker in St. Louis has proposed locking up another product, this one used in the production of crack cocaine: baking soda. Yes, baking soda. That innocent product in almost every household that we use for baking and cleaning and upset stomachs. I'm no expert in drug eradication efforts, but as a consumer, this sounds like one of the more ridiculous proposals I've ever heard. Seriously, do you want to visit the pharmacy counter to purchase baking soda? What if you want to buy more than one box at the same time? Will you have to explain to a police officer that yes, you want to deodorize the refrigerator and bake a cake? Will there be a list of baking soda purchasers just as there is for Sudafed? Maybe he should just provide us with a list of what he thinks is safe for us to have without his supervision.

That's just not right!

There are just some things that should not be messed with. Like my morning routine. It's not that I'm inflexible. Not completely anyway. It's just that having a morning routine is important. Without it I will never get to work on time, and goodness knows it's pretty darned easy to get me off track in the morning as it is.

Every morning I watch CNN's American Morning. I get my necessary news fix to start my day and I like Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien. They're both smart, funny, and neither are irritating. I like that Miles is a geek and knows lots of useless information and that despite being smart, beautiful, and successful, Soledad seems like someone you'd actually enjoy meeting. The show skips most of the banter and all of the cooking segments, leaving plenty of time for, uh, news.

Except CNN is going to ruin it for me. They are replacing O'Brien and O'Brien with John Roberts and Kiran Chetry. I like Roberts well enough, but he's always struck me as being more of a traditional anchor type. Maybe that's just his CBS background. I have no idea who Chetry is, other than she had a falling out with her  former Fox News Channel bosses.

I know it's all about the ratings, but I am disappointed nonetheless. Maybe if I change my morning routine completely I won't notice that there are no good morning news shows anymore.

Mind-boggling

Sometimes there are news stories that are so mind-boggling that it seems impossible they could be real. For example, in Pennsylvania a man has been charged with leaving his 2-year-old daughter out in the cold to freeze. He reports he found her playing in the hallway during the early hours of the morning, and angry that she would not go back to bed, he knocked her unconscious. That apparently wasn't punishment enough, because then he wrapped her up in a blanket and left her outside in single-digit temperatures. Authorities spent nearly two days searching for the child until they found her frozen body. How does that happen?

And not to be outdone, a New Orleans woman will not be winning any Mother-of-the-Year awards. Ever. After learning that her 17-year-old son had been bested in a fight with another 17-year-old, she gave her son a gun and told him to get revenge for the defeat. He obediently set about searching for the other teen, then shot and killed him. The mother was arrested and charged with being a principal to second-degree murder; police are still searching for her son.

I think they're serious

Everyone will surely be relieved to learn that legislators in New Jersey have finally tackled a critical traffic safety issue in the their state: cyclists who talk on their cell phones while riding their bicycles. This must be an enormous problem in New Jersey for them to devote their energies to creating a new law to address the problem, but I have to admit that I've never seen it happen here in the Midwest. The NJ Senate has yet to address the issue, but the House version includes fines ranging from $100-$250 for each violation. As with cars, cyclists would be permitted to chat away if they use a hands-free device.

Not to worry though--the Garden State will still permit you to cycle while intoxicated.

Unconnected bits

Vacation, or lack thereof

eWeek.com reports that workers are not taking vacations:

• 37% don't think they will take all of their available vacation this year
• 14% report having taken nothing more than a long weekend
• 24% said they hadn't taken even one vacation day all year

And even among those who do manage to duck out of the office, 72% report they check in with the office while they're out. Sadly, almost 40% say they don't manage to relax while they are away because they're worried about the work they missed.

I admit that I am guilty of some of these. I do check my email when I'm out. I justify this by arguing that I need to be sure I don't miss any important messages from my academic adviser, and as it is a shared email system (I work at the institution where I study), I can hardly ignore the other messages once I've scanned them. The truth, of course, is I worry I'll let something slip.

And I don't take all of my available vacation every year, but where I work you can roll time over to the next year, so it's not as though I lose any of it. I don't like the idea of not having any time saved, just in case. There have been more times than I'd like to admit when I've burned vacation time to finish a research paper or prep for an exam. It makes more sense than pulling an all-nighter.

When we return from the winter holiday (it's a public institution--we don't call it Christmas Break) I'll be down to about 200 hours of vacation. I'm a little worried about running so low.

Fingerprinting

Police in Britain are testing a handheld biometric scanner that allows them to collect fingerprints from subjects in the field, and compare them to a database of 6.5 million prints. Currently, when an officer suspects a subject has provided a false name, (something that reportedly happens in 60% of vehicle stops) the officer has to arrest the subject and collect prints during booking, a process that can take three hours. Screening in the field cuts the time down to about 15 minutes.

Field screening is voluntary, and police officials insist the prints are not retained by the system. Both index fingers are scanned, then the data is encrypted and sent wirelessly to the national ID system. After cross-referencing with the fingerprint database, the results are returned to the officer.

Not surprisingly, privacy advocates have expressed concern about the program.

Child Support

A German doctor has been ordered to pay child support for a child he did not father.

The gynecologist surgically implanted a contraceptive device into one of his patients. Although the device is meant to protect against pregnancy for up to three years, six months later it could not be found in her body. The woman left her teaching job to care for her newborn, and sued her physician. He has been ordered to pay 600 euros a month until the child reaches the age of 18.

The father of the child, who is no longer romantically involved with the mother, will be also be compensated for the support he is paying.

Let's hope the kid develops a sense of humor early. I don't know how I would have taken it if my mom had been so upset about my conception that she felt she needed to sue over "the mistake."

The one where he disappears back into obscurity

Rupert Murdoch has pulled the rug out from under OJ Simpson by canceling both the book and accompanying television special about Simpson's murder of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown. Public criticism prompted an apology from the Fox chairman:

I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project," said Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. chairman. "We are sorry for any pain that his has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson. (link)

And the book, which this morning reached #42 on Amazon's book list, has disappeared from the bookseller's website as though it had never been. We can only hope the Simpson will disappear from public view as quickly.

Clear the library

Powell Library, at UCLA, has extended hours this time of year to allow students to pull all-nighters somewhere other than a noisy dormitory. In order to stay after 11pm, however, everyone must show a student ID in order to prove they are eligible to be there. (After all, crime only happens at night, right?) On Tuesday night the "community services officers" who serve as library guards made their rounds, asking to see IDs, which one patron refused to show. When the patron refused to either leave the building or show his ID to prove he was allowed to be there, the service officers left and requested assistance from campus police.

The accounts of what happened next vary. The police assert that the man was uncooperative when they attempted to escort him from the premises, while some witnesses argue that the man was attempting to leave when an officer grabbed. Both sides, however, agree that the man was tasered several times before being dragged out. One of the patrons caught this footage on his cell phone:

LA Times article (free registration required)

CNN article

"If I did it"

You can hardly blame me for having thought it was a joke. After all, the very idea that OJ Simpson would write a book detailing how he killed his wife--if he did, wink, wink--is preposterous. It sounds more like the setup to a bad stand-up comic's joke: "Did you hear about how OJ is writing a book about killing Nicole?" I mean, how many kinds of stupid to you have to be to win an acquittal and then proclaim to the world "Suckers! I killed them!"?

I doubt the revelation will change any minds though. I've heard that the split between those who believe he killed them and those who believe he didn't falls along racial lines, or along gender lines, or even football fans versus football haters. I know someone who insists that there is no way OJ could have killed his wife, but if he did, then he must hired someone to do it. People like that will see the book or watch the interview and shout "Wait! It's fiction! He said IF he did it". People like me, who have long believed he committed the crime, will just say "I told you so". Legally it doesn't matter, because he cannot be tried again.

Although ReganBooks is taking a beating for publishing the book, I'm not shocked someone agreed to the project. An OJ confession? Of course someone's going to print it. (It is already ranked #149 in books at Amazon, by the way.) No, what surprises me is that OJ would risk losing the proceeds from the book to the Goldman family, who have a $33.5 million civil judgment against Simpson. Can he really be that desperate to get back in the public eye? Or did he accidentally look into a water hazard as he scoured golf courses for "the real killer" and shout "Eureka! I told you I'd find him!"

Note: Since I wrote this post last night, the book has moved from #149 to #43 on Amazon's list. And it's still in pre-order.

Spinach lawsuit

The E. coli outbreak linked to fresh spinach has sickened 131 people in 21 deaths, and caused at least one death. While I'm not surprised that it has lead to lawsuits, this one leaves me disgusted: a suburban Chicago restaurant is suing its produce supplier for the cost of the fresh spinach the restaurant was forced to discard. They want $40.

That's not a typo. They want forty dollars. No one got sick and the restaurant does not believe they lost any business. "The product liability lawsuit does not seek damages for injury or wrongdoing on the part of the defendants, but instead, merely reimbursement for the unusable greens." The lawyer who filed the suit figures this is the perfect candidate for a class-action and reports that since filing, he has received calls from other businesses and individuals who had to throw away their fresh spinach. Translation: he's already calculating his 30% cut of the damages. He goes on to argue "The defendant sold tainted spinach and received money for it, so the people who purchased the defective spinach should be compensated,"

Is he arguing that the produce distributor knowingly sold his client tainted spinach? Can he even prove that the spinach that was discarded as a result of the warning was actually tainted?

This lawsuit is an incredibly offensive attempt to profit from an unfortunate problem that has caused real injury to the people who were sickened by eating spinach that was actually contaminated. The spinach growers are undoubtedly losing hundreds of thousands of dollars because their crops, even untainted, are unmarketable. It will likely take months, or even years for them to recover.

A restaurant that lost $40 needs to recognize that is the cost of doing business in the food industry. The shyster lawyer who represents them should be sanctioned.

Is anyone actually surprised by this?

Two breaking news alerts from CNN report:

1-The DNA samples taken from John Mark Karr do not match those from the Ramsey crime scene.

2-The Boulder County DA has dropped the warrant for Karr and he will not be charged with the Ramsey murder.

Is this really a surprise to anyone? If so, why?

All the media hype drummed up after the DA announced they had an arrest warrant could have been avoided had they just picked him up on the outstanding charges in California. We would not have been subjected to endless stories about what he ate on the plane, what class he flew, or his outlandish tales about how he "loved JonBenet". Ick. He is an attention-seeking, media-hungry, disturbing individual who should not have received hours and hours, or even minutes, of world-wide media attention.

There is no word yet about if he would be released or sent to California to face the five outstanding misdemeanor charges of possessing child pornography.

There is also no word on how long it will take the various cable news personalities to begin the finger pointing at one another about whose fault it is that they accepted the arrest warrant as proof positive of his guilt. Here's a crazy suggestion: how about they just shut up about Karr and let him disappear into the obscurity which he so richly deserves.

Now children, that's what we call a pervert

From the Kansas City Star (link to article):

Twice this week a naked, hairy man has exposed himself to elementary school children.

About 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 21 and 24, a man wearing no clothes driving a shiny red Nissan Pathfinder has pulled alongside the same school bus and masturbated while the vehicles were traveling along 75th Street between Delmar Street and Mission Road. Police are investigating reports of possibly a third incident at another location.

Be sure to point and giggle as the nice policeman arrests him.

Ramsey investigation

There was breaking news in the Ramsey case yesterday as authorities announced the arrest of a suspect: John Mark Karr. Karr is a 41-year old white male; an American living in Thailand and teaching second grade. Initial media reports indicate that he offered a confession that included details of the crime not known to the public, which sounds pretty incriminating. Obviously I don't have any details about what he said, but I did watch the footage of Karr when authorities in Thailand paraded him in front of television cameras. On camera, Karr said that he killed JonBenet--he loved her, he says, and killed her accidentally, but the whole thing was very strange. His televised statements were exceedingly vague about the details.

The pundits are debating the case on the cable news--some are arguing that he probably didn't do it as there was no prior history of violence in the suspect's background, but until David Westerfield was convicted of Danielle VanDamm's abduction and murder, neither did he.

Karr reportedly fled a California jurisdiction in the midst of child pornography charges, and his ex-wife (whom he married when she was 16 and he was 24) describes him as child obsessed and inappropriately affectionate with children. It isn't a stretch to believe this would be the kind of person who would commit this crime, but it is also plausible that he is an attention-seeker who has just managed to gain worldwide notoriety.

How to destroy your career with the click of your mouse

Reuters has been taking a beating for publishing photographs of the Israeli-Lebanese conflict that were digitally altered.

The news agency has responded by issuing an advisory about the photograph (left), and by cutting ties with the freelance photographer from whom they obtained the photographs. They have also removed all of the 920 of the photographer's images from the Reuters database (meaning they are no longer available for sale).

For his part, the photographer reportedly told Reuters that he photoshopped the images "to remove dust". Even if we accept that statement as an admission that the editing was performed by the photographer rather than a member of the Reuters staff, how can Reuters argue they did not realize the image had been altered? The cloning in the photo is obvious to the untrained eye, so I find it difficult to believe that experienced editors did not pick it up.

Judge for yourself:

Breaking news

There is so much happening in the world today--war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel and Lebanon; famine in Africa; and closer to home, the threat that a dam will break and flood El Paso, Texas. It is impossible to stay up-to-date on breaking news without services like CNN's Breaking News email alerts.

Can you imagine I might have gone ALL DAY without learning about this important, time-sensitive report?!

Or maybe someone can explain how the announcement of charges against Mel Gibson ranks as Breaking News.

Isn't this what Fawn Hall got into trouble?

Apparently the Maryland Transportation Authority Police decided to take pity on those poor celebrities who cannot get through the airport by themselves--they have a practice of providing security escorts to the rich and famous at the taxpayers' expense. According to the Baltimore Sun, this is not standard practice for American airports.

After the Sun obtained records of this special treatment, the police powers-that-be decided to take a stand: they issued orders to destroy all records of the escort services and forbade officers from keeping such records in the future.

A jury of his peers

I do believe that every defendant charged with a crime should get a fair trial. I don't,however, see how that can happen for John Evander Couey, the Florida man accused of the horrific assualt and murder of 9 year-old Jessica Lunsford. His trial was already moved to another jursidiction, but after screening some 280 potential jurors, the judge has ruled that the case must be moved further away. They simply cannot find enough impartial jurors. Will they ever be able to move it far enough? I live many states away, but admissible or not, there's no way I can put his confession aside.

Link: CNN.com - Child murder case can't find fair jury - Jul 13, 2006.

Alerts

Does anyone remember the alert messages that used to be broadcast on the television: "We interrupt this broadcast to bring you an important message..."? It always started and ended with a high-pitched, warbling kind of noise that succeeded in getting your attention by piercing your ear drums. After scaring the bejezus out of you, they went on to say "If this had been an actual emergency, you would have been instructed where to tune for information about your area."

I spent my formative years on military installations in Europe, so when I returned to the United States and heard those messages, I always took them pretty seriously. I'm not sure what I was supposed to do as a ten-year old, but I listened every time to make sure they said the part about "if this had been an actual emergency".

The Cold War may be over, but the government wants to be sure they can get your full and complete attention even if you're not glued to your television set. Homeland Security plans ("plans" being the operative word) on having an emergency broadcast system in place by the end of next year that transmits a message to every device that is capable of receiving a text message.

And this isn't just for nuclear attacks, you see. The can also alert us to "situations of war, terrorist attack, natural disaster or other hazards to public safety and well-being." Does that include a traffic snarl in the Triangle?

At first blush it might sound like a good idea, but have they even considered the effect a mass-mailing of that magnitude would have on wireless and wired networks? If the terrorist attack about which they wish notify us doesn't devastate communication throughout the nation, crashing the phone system with a mass-mailing certainly will.

Link: CNN.com - Wireless devices to get emergency alerts - Jul 12, 2006.

7/7

Today is the anniversary of the subway and bus bombing in London, and this week the BBC has been posting accounts from the survivors about the event and its aftermath. I thought I'd read everything, but when I visited the site again this evening I found myself weeping as I read several more stories.

Rachel North was in the carriage with one of the bombs when it was detonated. She was invited to post to the BBC website for the week following the attack. Through those postings she was able to reach other passengers who have since formed an informal support group. She downplays her own injuries, expresses her appreciation for the kindness of her friends and coworkers, and describes her first trip on the subway following the attack. Her recent reflections are posted here.

Another man was driving his daughter's car that morning and pulled up next to the bus just before that bomb detonated. Although the car had to be replaced, he emerged unscathed. The simple act of pulling up next to a bus in traffic is something we all do on our way to work--he must think of that every time he drives.

Two of the first responders, a police officer and a paramedic, reported their experiences as well. The police officer had to leave injured passengers in order to provide information to other rescuers, while the paramedic was forced to perform triage when only he and another colleague where on scene. Hailed as heroes, they feel they were just doing their jobs.

The story that made the greatest impression on me is from a Australian woman, Gill Hicks, who was severely injured by one of the train bombs. When the bomb detonated she did not recognize it as a bomb, and instead thought she'd had a heart attack. She could not feel her legs and could not breathe and asked for someone, anyone, to help her off the floor. When the emergency lighting came on she understood that she had been injured because " my legs did look like a picture of an anatomy drawing of what the inside of your leg looks like." She applied tourniquets to her legs to stem the bleeding, and waited for help, hoping that someone knew what had happened and was coming to the rescue.

Remarkably, Ms Hicks says that she's not angry, that she views the bomber as another victim. His widow cannot publicly grieve for husband and their child will grow up knowing what his father did.

I really haven't done justice to these people and their reports, but in the original they are quite compelling.

And just who decided this was a good plan?

Have I got a deal for you:

My coworkers and I are going to hang around a while and work on things that we and our friends care about. At the very last minute we are going to start bickering about how to accomplish that one thing you pay us to do. We won't agree, because that's who we are, so we will run outside and whine about how "they" won't give us what we want.

And did I mention that you won't get paid while we complain about how impossible it is to work under these conditions?

In New Jersey more than 45,000 state workers have been furloughed, while another 36,000 workers who are deemed essential have been kept on the job--but they might not get paid. And with the bulk of state workers off the job, many services are simply not being provided: license renewals, vehicle registration, road construction, state parks and recreation facilities, and, if the stalemate continues, hospitals may be affected as well.

And not to be overlooked, the state's gambling industry has come to a screeching halt. All gambling facilities have been closed and 20,000 workers who support gaming are off the job because the casino inspectors are not essential workers.

I fail to understand how these lawmakers think they'll be able to keep their jobs when they next come up for re-election. In addition to the approximately 100,000 workers and their families who are directly affected by the government shutdown, what about the impact on tourism? And don't forget the $1.3 million a day in taxes from the casinos that the state is losing.

Isn't this kind of like the kids going hungry because mom and dad can't agree on how to spend the grocery money? Who thought this was a good idea?

On my mind

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation requiring "state and local preparedness offices to take into account pet owners, household pets and service animals when drawing up evacuation plans." It's not entirely clear what "taking into account" actually means, but without it, they will not be eligible for FEMA grants.

I'm not convinced that a federal mandate is the best way to deal with the problem. The images of pets abandoned in New Orleans after Katrina were heartwrenching, and the anecdotal reports of people refusing to evacuate because they could not take their pets are disturbing, Also troubling, however, is the idea of turning people away from a shelter whose capacity has been reduced by the mandatory inclusion of an animal shelter. And when supplies are limited, as in the Superdome following Katrina, It is unlikely that hungry people would be very happy to see pets eating when they and their children are not. I am not arguing that emergency officials should ignore pets in their plans. Those plans, however, should be made and adjusted at the local level to meet local needs, rather than dictated by an inflexible and unfunded mandate.

__________________________

An 8-year-old boy in New York has been charged with criminally negligent homicide after he snuck abour a school bus and released the brake. The bus rolled forward, striking and killing a 7 or 8-year-old girl as she crossed the street. Does an 8-year-old have the ability to understand the consequences of his actions--is it reasonable to believe that he could or should have known that his actions might bring harm to others? And if the boy is convicted of the crime, what should be done with him? What would become of him if he were incarcerated in a juvenile facility for an extended period?

_________________________

A Chicago-area school district has announced its intention to begin monitoring blogs authored by students enrolled in the district. "Illegal or inappropriate blogging or social behavior over the Internet...can lead to denial of extracurricular student privileges." The objection from one parent, that it is an invation of privacy, is ridiculous. You can't argue that something is private when you've posted it on the web. And I do believe that we are accountable for what we post to the web, but how much control should our school or work have over us? I would not write anything on my blog about my coworkers or my employer that I would not say in person. However, I do not think it appropriate for my university to sanction me for admitting that my sister once nicknamed an instructor "snackboy" after I told her that he insisted we take turns feeding the class. (He always took the leftovers home.)

If an teacher found a note on a bulletin board suggesting that one student intended to cause harm to another, I would expect the teacher to take action, so I don't have a problem with administrators keeping an eye on what students talk about in a public forum. Does that, however, extend to discussions about "that great party last weekend" upon which the school board might frown? That's not as clear cut. Where should we draw the line?

Oops!

NASA built a spacecraft that was designed to rendezvous with an orbiting satellite. When it was put to the test, however, it crashed into the satellite instead. Apparently it didn't quite know where it was going--it thought it was backing away from the target when it was actually heading straight for it. Among other things, the report on the incident cited the design team for shunning expert advice. But hey, at least it only cost us $110 million.

Closer to earth, did you hear the one about the bears that ate the monkey at the zoo? In full view of zoo visitors, several sloth bears cornered a macaque monkey on a wooden platform in their enclosure. When the bears couldn't shake the monkey down, one of the climbed up and dragged the monkey down, and three bears ate it. Obviously these are wild animals just doing what they do, but how would you like to explain that to a toddler?

No wedding, no house

A family in Black Jack, Missouri has been denied an occupancy permit for their new home because the parents are unmarried. The couple have been together for 13 years and have two children together (in addition to the oldest daughter).

Why?

Because the family fails to meet the town's definition of a family--a city ordinance forbids "three or more individuals from living together if they are not related by 'blood, marriage or adoption.'" The couple appealed the ruling, and the board members spent an hour asking them personal questions before denying the appeal. One of the board members reportedly asked the woman  "I don't understand why you as a woman didn't exercise your right to marry that man." Charming.

Ironically, if the couple were to split, and the children were being raised in a single-parent home, they would meet the city's definition of a family. How's that for family values?

Video from CNN
Print story from St Louis Dispatch

Snow?

The television weather forecasters have been making dire predictions about an impending snow storm that's going to hit the metro area. It was Sunday, then Monday, then Monday evening. It's well after the appointed hour and it's still raining, so I think we've missed it again. I wouldn't have minded a snow day, but as we've only about four of those in the ten years I've worked here, that was unlikely anyway.

We still buy them guns though, right?
A recent report suggests the FBI does not have adequate funding to provide all the agency's agents and analysts with email accounts. I realize that email systems, particularly secure systems, aren't just a matter of plugging in another server, but that has to be enormously frustrating.

Why did the chicken cross the road?
The residents of San Juan Bautista, California have an usual feral population: chickens. This town of 2000 people also has about 300 chickens that run loose in the streets. Some residents buy bags of grain to feed them and tourists drop crumbs from their meals. Other townspeople, however, are less enthusiastic about the mess and noise--imagine having to sandblast the sidewalk in front of your store to remove the droppings or hearing all of those roosters crowing at dawn. There is an ordinance in the works that will fine anyone caught feeding the birds, but the local sheriff is less than enthusiastic about putting his deputies on poultry patrol. link--free registration required

Another reason to drive instead of fly
As if the long lines at security and the ever increasing ticket prices weren't enough, you've also got to worry about your bags arriving at your destination. Airlines lose approximately 30 million bags a year, at least temporarily, and 200,000 permanently. Passengers who get their luggage returned wait an average of 31 hours after reporting the problem. Here's the creepy part--luggage that cannot be returned to the travelers is sold at auction. I understand the unclaimed cameras and electronics, but does someone really go around buying used underwear?

Scattershot

Now that I'm back to work after a week's vacation, I feel like I've been working 16 or 18 hour days instead of just 9 or 10. I really don't have to work that long, but sometimes the most productive hour of the day comes after everyone else has gone for the day. The phone rings less, the office is quiet, and I can concentrate. I just need the day to be a few hours longer so I can make a dent.

New gadgets (but not for me): This afternoon I started configuring an ultra-portable laptop (a Toshiba LifeBook P7000 series). They aren't kidding about it being light--I'd guess well under 5 pounds, and the display is really sharp. It has a modular bay like my Dell, meaning you pull out the optical drive (DVD drive) and replace it with an extra battery for extended battery life, but I don't know if I'd want to work with a display that small (10.5"). These two notebooks, however, each have a minor defect in the display--one pixel doesn't work. No, it's not that big a deal, but once someone points it out, it's hard to ignore.

And from the "I had no idea it was so hard find an apartment in New York" file: A husband and wife buy a house together. When they get divorced, he stays in the house, but they remain co-owners of the property. His new girlfriend moves in with him, but then they break up, and she won't move out. The guy then enlists the help of his ex-wife to try to throw the ex-girlfriend out with an eviction notice. The ex-girlfriend can't be evicted because she never paid rent. The guy is trying a different tactic now and the case is scheduled to go to trial. It's over already, move out. That's just creepy. (link)

It would be better if he stopped talking now: Poor Scott Stapp--somebody is picking on him. He's trying to concentrate on his new bride and his solo career, and someone has released a tape of he and Kid Rock, uh, "cavorting" with female fans. Rock and one of the female participants are separately arguing that Stapp is trying to get publicity, while Stapp claims that someone is trying to embarrass him. Hello?! He taped himself particpating in a group sex scene, and neither secured nor destroyed the video. What a dufus. (link)

My eyes! My eyes! Starbucks has a line of coffee cups with quotes from a variety of authors that the company says doesn't necessarily represent the views of the company, but is intended to stimulate conversation. It's apparently worked. At least, people are talking about the reactions of officials at Bob Jones University and Baylor University to one of the quotes, attributed to Armistead Maupin. BJU has cancelled it's contract with Starbucks, while Baylor has asked the Starbucks locations on campus to stop distributing those cups. (For the record, Baylor's library carries items by the author whose quote was so offensive.) Remember, it's very important to shield young minds from dangerous quotes printed on coffee cups. What's the world coming to when children are exposed to new ideas at college?

Who knew?

Target: upscale discounter, pharmacy, grocery...crime lab?

Apparently they have one of the best crime labs in the country, even working with federal law enforcement agencies to solve crimes...including murder...pro bono. Really though, who's going to believe you if you say you earned a Ph.D. in forensic science and then go to work at Target?

The tribe has spoken

A jury found Richard Hatch, winner of the first Survivor season, guilty of tax evasion. Hatch failed to pay income taxes on his $1 million prize from the show, as well as from other post-Survivor radio work. He attempted to argue that he thought the show was supposed to pay the taxes for him, and during the trial his lawyers said that the show's producers agreed to pay so he would keep quiet about cheating he had witnessed among other contestants.

Hatch needs a dose of reality. He convinced himself that he was a master manipulator who can get away with anything. He was led out of court in handcuffs after the judge deemed him a flight risk. Perhaps the possibility of a $600K fine and 13 years in prison will wake him up, but I doubt it.

What the...

Would someone explain to me why the Bush administration is chiming in on the Anna Nicole Smith case before the Supreme Court?

Clemency for Stanley "Tookie" Williams?

(Thus says Suzanne)

Williams is on death row, and has a scheduled appointment with death on December 13th.  The governor has been asked to consider clemency based on Williams' "rehabilitation" behind bars.  Let's say for the purposes of discussion that one believes in the death penalty.  He is on death row for the killings of four people, in three separate locations.  This means that four times he had the opportunity to stop what he intended, and four times he did not.  Four people were going about their business, until the moment Williams took the one thing you can't recover from, or atone for...their lives.  Once you're dead you pretty much stay that way.  You don't get any second chances, you don't get to do good deeds, you don't get to make amends with people you have wronged, or enjoy special occasions in the lives of your loved ones...because you're dead.  The families of these four individuals probably felt some measure of relief that a death sentence was handed down, believing the justice system acknowledged that the lives of their loved ones had worth and that Williams' crimes were especially heinous.  Williams has received due process, a jury of his peers convicted him, and his appeals have been exhausted.  All that is left at this point is to carry out the sentence handed down so many years ago.

Because this is California, the liberal celebrities du jour have jumped on the bandwagon to save this man.  They want us to consider things they consider mitigating factors, and while I believe these "mitigating" factors are overwhelmed in a big way by further aggravating factors, I think this is nothing more than a distraction.  He was convicted and the conviction stands.  His dead victims are still dead, they didn't have the opportunity to do good things with their lives...because Williams stole their lives.  When a crime is fresh the public can still be shocked and demand punishment, when decades pass people forget that the dead were once people.  There are things you can't fix by being a good person afterward.  There are things you can't make right.  There can (and should) be unpleasant consequences for truly wrong deeds. 

"The dead cannot cry out for justice, it is the duty of the living to do so for them."  (anonymous)    

Duh

Shane Stant whacked Nancy Kerrigan on the knee in order to knock her out of the 1994 U.S figure skating championships and clear the way for arch-rival Tonya Harding.

He was convicted of assault and served 14 months in prison. Stant has reportedly been law-abiding since then, and he wants to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a Navy SEAL. Wouldn't you know it though--the Navy's special warfare unit will not accept any applicants who have a felony conviction--so Stant has asked the court to expunge his record. It's no surprise that the court denied Stant's request.

Hello?! It's not about the record, it's about the crime. I'm not opposed to second chances, but the guy has got to be living in a fantasy world if he really believes this was going to just go away because it was inconvenient. I'm guessing it was Kerrigan's lifelong dream to compete in the Olympics. She got a second chance, but you can't tell me she had recovered to the level she would have been had she not suffered the injury. She paid the price for his act--so should he.

What are the chances he'd make it through training anyway? I doubt a tight-knit SEAL team would be too happy to have a member who is willing to help someone cheat by attacking a helpless woman. There's not much honor in that.

Harassment?

A junior at Penn State has found himself in a bit of hot water.

Apparently he witnessed a couple having sex against an unshuttered window in a campus dormitory and took pictures. The individuals in the photographs are not recognizable, and judging from the angle, it sure doesn't look like he was skulking around in the bushes outside the window.

The photographer loaded the images onto his password-protected website, but they quickly found their way into wider circulation. One the students in the image lodged a complaint, arguing that she has experienced "serious distress" and has been forced to endure "an intimidating living environment". What did she think would happen when she self-identified?

The photographer (who has not been identified) has been punished by the University's Office of Student Conduct because his actions violated the code of student conduct, the policy on sexual harassment, and the acceptable use policy for the use of electronic resources. His punishment is

disciplinary probation until graduation and be forced to write essays on conduct and letters of apology to the students he photographed. Organizations conducting background checks on the student in the future would also be able to find out that he had been punished. (emphasis added)

I agree that his behavior is rude, and it would certainly violate the acceptable use policy for electronic resources at the university I attend, but I believe the punishment is inappropriate. The students in the photograph are unrecognizable. And what about their responsibility? If they did not wanted to be observed or photographed they should have shut the blinds. That's like running down the street naked and then complaining that someone looked at me. There is no reasonable expectation of privacy when you have sex in front of an open window to which others have a clear view. That is called exhibitionism and is considered a crime in some jurisdictions.

Update: (Thanks Suzanne!)
The University has backed down and dropped all disciplinary charges against the photographer in this case. There was no explanation for the change, but the University issued a statement that included:

"We are concerned about the wide dissemination of the intimate photos in a manner and to the extent that subjected another member of the Penn community to embarrassment and ridicule," the statement read. "We have asked the student photographer to apologize and sincerely hope he does,"

I would still argue that using the University's electronic resources to disseminate the photos was a poor choice, but this is the correct conclusion.

The police blotter on my campus reported a couple had been caught engaging in sexual activity in an out-of-the-way corner of the library. They were referred to the campus office that handles student disciplinary issues. Will we be seeing something similar in the Penn State case? After all, one of the participants has already identified herself.

What am I missing?

In San Francisco a woman has been charged with the murder of her three young children after witnesses reported she dropped them off a pier into the ocean. Her relatives say the woman suffers from schizophrenia which had worsened after she stopped taking her medication. Her former neighbors said she had grown paranoid and police had been called to her home in response to domestic violence reports. Most recently, she and children had been living in a shelter in Oakland. The director of reproductive psychiatry at New York University Medical Center describes her as a "walking risk factor."

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsome told the media that he was sickened by the incident and pointed out that parents who feel unable to care for their children can take them to safe havens. Doesn't that presuppose that a person understands they are unable to care for their children--that they understand the voices in their head cannot be trusted?

Across the nation in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, child welfare officials took custody of a newborn whose father was convicted of a sex crime in New York two decades ago. The mother, whom the agency argues has a history of drug abuse, is permitted to visit her child only with supervision.

I won't pretend that the media shared the entire story in either case (the PA officials might be absolutely correct in their actions), but I can't help but note the disparity in the cases. Where do we want to be on the continuum between ignoring those desperately in need of intervention and overly aggressive preemptive action?

More expensive than we think

The Knitting Cybrarian did some pondering about all of the indirect ways we will be hit by rising fuel prices. It's not just the price of gasoline for our trips to and from work and school, and the cost of winter heat, but also the increased cost to transport raw materials to manufacturing facilities and finished goods to their point-of-sale. This will have a longer-term impact than most of us are prepared to contemplate.

I bought gasoline this evening and couldn't believe my good fortune to be filling up for the low-low price of $2.679/gallon of unleaded. Who knew that in less than a year's time we could move from grumbling about $1.679 to cheering at the prospect of an additional dollar.

The scary part (or one of the scary parts) is that it's not that easy to cut fuel usage. You can lower your thermostat in the winter, but there's only so far you can take it. (I like my toes. I have no intention of losing them to frostbite to save $5 more.) Short of selling my house and moving within walking distance of work and school, I can't reduce my driving. No, I don't drive a hybrid vehicle, but not only can I not afford one, there is that whole availability problem too. My vehicle is less than three years old and is properly tuned. Who are these people the media reports are cutting back on their driving to save money anyway? No one I know.

I also read an article at InsideHigherEd.com today that lists some of the higher education programs legislators are proposing could be cut to offset the cost of Hurricane Katrina (and maybe soon Hurricane Rita) recovery. One of the suggestions was to eliminate subsidized loans for graduate students:

$840 million a year, or $8.6 billion over 10 years, in subsidized Stafford Loans for graduate students. The document says that most financially needy graduate students are likely to have had government help as undergraduates, and that they “make an informed decision to invest in their own futures and should bare [sic] the costs of schooling.”

Personally, I paid my way through college with the long, and time-consuming, pay-as-you-go plan. However, I didn't want to spend 10 years getting through grad school and have taken out loans. I say this to acknowledge that I have a vested interest in the current program. Having said that, given recent reports citing the inability of Americans to compete academically with other industrialized nations, is education the first place to start whacking the budget? Hello, it's a loan? You know, one of those deals where you pay the principal and interest?

Get real

We heard from one of our European relatives this weekend who was eager to share his opinion of the Katrina tragedy in New Orleans: "Bush is trying to starve the blacks."

That is both offensive and asinine. There have indeed been devastating delays delivering aid to a disaster area the size of Great Britain, but that is a far cry from institutionalized or executive racism. There are many things I don't know about the rights and responsibilities of being president of the world's most powerful nation, but you will never convince me that, as he took the oath of office, the president was granted the ability to conjure up a category 4 hurricane on demand.

That tidbet would have made someone's memoir by now.

National Guard in New Orleans

Assisting in times of disaster is one of the important duties of the National Guard. The Governor of Louisiana has requested, and been told they will receive, 40,000 troops in their state, many of whom will be deployed to the City of New Orleans with peacekeeping, or order-maintenance responsibilities.

"They have M-16s and they're locked and loaded," Gov. Kathleen Blanco said of 300 National Guard troops who landed in New Orleans fresh from duty in Iraq. "These troops know how to shoot and kill, and they are more than willing to do so, and I expect they will." (link)

The lawlessness in the city has disrupted evacuations, supply distribution, attempts to fill the breaches in the levee, and overwhelmed police resources in the city:

Col. Henry Whitehorn, chief of the Louisiana State Police, said he heard of numerous instances of New Orleans police officers — many of whom from flooded areas — turning in their badges.

"They indicated that they had lost everything and didn't feel that it was worth them going back to take fire from looters and losing their lives," Whitehorn said. (link)

Order cannot be restored without the deployement of National Guard troops, but we must understand that a simple show of force will not be sufficient to stop the armed bands that are marauding the streets of New Orleans, sniping at rescue helicopters, and assaulting desperate survivors. Americans are demanding that something be done to stop these hooligans. Will the public and the politicians continue to support armed military action after the media begins airing footage of soldiers returning fire? Or when we see images of families greiving over the loss of their young men--looter and soldier alike? Does the nation understand what will be required to restore order to the disaster area that is New Orleans?

Snakes, alligators and looters...oh my!

As a veteran of two floods I have an inkling of some of the problems the folks in the south are dealing with now. I too live in a city shaped like a bowl, surrounded by levees and rivers. When the rivers rise to high levels, everyone becomes tense and anxious. When orders to evacuate are announced it's almost a relief...at least something is happening, and you get to do something productive. But it's a double-edged sword, as you wait in bumper-to-bumper traffic the anxiety builds again. Where will I go, will they take me with my animals, will there be anything left of my home when I return? There is no gasoline to be found, food and water are scarce, everything is wet and sloppy, people listen for even the tiniest scrap of information. Cell phones become lifelines, radios are precious, and a working television will be surrounded by anyone who can squeeze in close enough to see it.

For good or for ill, floods and other natural disasters bring out the true character of those affected. Some of those who chose to ride out the storm now are trapped in a city under water, without fresh water, food or sanitation. I know what my priorities in that situation would be, and among them would not be a trip to Wal-Mart to loot for televisions, DVD players, and Christmas shopping. The people captured by news cameras were grinning from ear to ear as they made off with their loot, as if this was somehow a grand adventure and a proud moment. One woman scurried quickly past the cameras as if she had an inkling of the shame she should be feeling but she didn't abandon her heavily loaded shopping cart. I would be less disturbed if the items being carried off were bottled water, porta-potties, camping gear or food supplies. I suspect that the folks raiding the back of the pharmacy were not there for cold medicine.

In New Orleans they now have wall to wall water, filled with snakes, alligators, dead folks and human vermin.

news

I am transfixed by the news coverage of Katrina's aftermath. I cannot personally provide the storm's victims any material comfort, but I feel strongly that it deserves my attention. I know people who have no interest in following the news reagrdless of if it is a quiet news cycle or a major disaster. I don't understand that.

The most frequent argument for the lack of interest seems to be that "it's all bad news." I, too, am disheartened by the reports and video of looters running unimpeded in the streets of New Orleans, but that is juxastaposed against the tireless work of rescuers. Coast Guard divers dangle from helicopters by a cable so they might guide stranded people into retrieval baskets. Civilian rescuers who've spend hours in boats, moving from house to house, are rewarded with grateful handshakes from residents who might have otherwise drowned in their attics.

I agree reporters often ask ridiculous and insensitive questions. Personally, I think the appropriate response to "How do you feel about your house being destroyed?" is a slap upside the questioner's head. (On camera and live, of course.) I have not, however, witnessed that kind of brainless coverage with this tragedy. I was particularly moved by Jeanne Meserve's reporting last night on CNN. She provided a heartrending description of hearing the cries of people and animals trapped by the flood waters who could not be reached before nightfall. She attempted no pretense of impartiality.

I believe that societies are strengthened by sharing experiences, both good and bad, in the same way families bond through their shared history. Growing up, I remember people talking about where they were when Kennedy was shot, and it was obvious that relating their respective recollections made them feel closer. I was not alive when JFK died, but I've since built my own store of memories in common with my friends and family and society-at-large. I remember learning that Reagan, and then the Pope, had been shot, I remember hearing the O.J. Simpson verdict as it was read, I remember seeing Mark McGwire hit homerun number 62, and I remember watching the twin towers crumble. All these incidents become part of our cultural history and form the fabric of our society. I'm not suggesting everyone should care about homerun records or the criminal trials of celebrity defendants, but if you never watch the news, if you never know what is happening, how will you be prepared to participate in society?

Rocks for brains...

What a lovely couple they make, huh? (The convict and his wife who busted him out with guns a'blazing.) Was anyone unclear about the eventual outcome of this bone-headed escapade? The amazing thing is that they were apprehended without further gunplay. Reportedly he has a history of escaping from incarceration, and enlisting the assistance of women with rocks for brains. Clearly he is a real winner. I cannot imagine what was going through her head that allowed her to participate in this fiasco. It is being reported that they met while she was working as a nurse in the prison, but she was fired after they began "fraternizing." Then in May they married (ah, the poetry of star-crossed lovers). Puke. I don't get it, I really, really, really don't get it.

Ho-Hum

One of the local weathermen described the weather as Ho-Hum: Hot and Humid. The sad part is that I was almost amused.

I want the hot and humid to be done already! Ick! Yuck! Gross! Enough already.

Yes, I know I'm whining.

This hurts my brain

Link: CNN.com - Mother charged after kids take turns in trunk - Jul 12, 2005.

A mother has been charged with felony child abuse and child cruelty after she allegedly forced two of her children to take turns riding in the trunk of a car on an eight-hour drive from Alabama to Virginia.

The woman was driving five children, including an infant, to her ex-husband's home outside Washington, D.C. None of the children was injured during the trip. The girls told their father what happened the next day and he called police.

"They asked to be let out. ... It was a hot day,"

What do you suppose she was thinking..."Gee, it always worked to sneak extra people into the drive-in movie"? I doubt incarceration is going to help her grow a brain, but at least her children might be marginally safer while she is locked up.

flu-like symptoms

Link: CNN.com - Brad Pitt hospitalized - Jul 12, 2005.

[Actor Brad] Pitt, 41, checked himself into an undisclosed Los Angeles area hospital Monday night complaining of flu-like symptoms

Is it just me, or are celebrities the only ones who seem to get hospitalized for "flu-like symptoms"? Do we not understand the risks we face when we experience fever and chills, or are celebrities so delicate that they cannot withstand such brutal experiences without medical assistance?

That's gotta hurt

Author Terry McMillan has filed for divorce from her much-younger husband of 6 1/2 years, Jonathan Plummer. McMillan's romance with Plummer inspired her novel How Stella Got Her Groove Back, which was later made into a movie starring Angela Bassett.

Their love affair reportedly hit the rocks just before Christmas when Plummer revealed he is gay, leading McMillan to conclude that he wanted to marry her to obtain U.S. citizenship. McMillan wants the marriage annulled and Plummer wants a judge to set aside the prenup that precludes the payment of spousal support.

I don't know if this means that we should keep our romances to ourselves, or maybe just if it seems to good to be true then it probably is. Either way, I hope Ms. McMillan keeps her groove.

Perplexed (or What the?!)

I am bewildered by the conclusion of the Michael Jackson trial. I am prepared to accept trial verdicts with which I disagree, but I stand by my assertion that a conviction on the charges of providing liquor to a minor was a no-brainer. After all, I doubt the jury consumed Jesus Juice in diet soda cans over the lunch break.

While I disagree with their verdicts, I will not second-guess the jury's deliberations. They undoubtedly carried out their duties with all due diligence. I wonder, however, if they are prepared to volunteer their young sons and grandsons to be Michael Jackson's bed partners?

The young accuser has gotten a raw deal. He was born to a mother who apparently views her children as tools in her arsenal to defraud and cheat others. Her desire to hit a payday was more important to her than the safety of her children. MJ grasped the opportunity to groom the boy to be his next play-toy, and the boy was trapped trying to please the people whom he hoped he could trust. Any proceeds from a civil case (as that is surely the next step) should be wrenched from the grasping hands of the accuser's mother and be used to help the boy get counseling and an education. He needs a means to determine his own future and escape those who have betrayed him.

Tom Snedden is unlikely to get another opportunity to prosecute MJ, so perhaps he can redirect those energies toward the parents of children who leave their young boys in Jackson's care. A guardian who fosters such a relationship is either hopelessly naive or is hoping to finagle a windfall. Either way, they should have their parental rights swiftly and permanently terminated and they should never be permitted to reproduce again. I fear that MJ will view his acquittal as a vindication of his propensity for sleeping with young boys. It is too much to hope that Jackson will recognize the trial's outcome for what it is: the work of an excellent defense attorney and a lucky break.

MJ verdict watch

Now that the evidence is in, the closing arguments have been made, the judge has instructed the jury, and the jury has begun their deliberations, do you believe the state met their burden of proof? Will he be convicted of any or all the charges? Anyone care to go on record as to when you believe we will have a verdict?

Oxymoron (or just moronic)

How does this woman justify holding public office? She should crawl back into her cave and not force her ridiculous rantings on the rest of us. (Surely there is some medication available that could help her?)

A state senator who once said women's voting was a sign that American society didn't value families enough now wants to be Kansas' top elections official.

In 2001, she received national attention for her remarks about the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1920, which gave women the right to vote. She said the amendment was a sign that men weren't taking care of women well enough.

O'Connor decried a society that she said tears families apart, saying: "I think the 19th Amendment, while it's not an evil in and of itself, is a symptom of something I don't approve of." She added: "The 19th Amendment is around because men weren't doing their jobs, and I think that's sad. I believe the man should be the head of the family. The woman should be the heart of the family."

Doctors in Great Britain call for a ban on kitchen knives

Ban kitchen knives