Category: General

I have been following the status of the legal legitimacy of arbitration for several years and I don’t like this ruling one bit. The implications are clear, as both Thomas and Dieteman mention, and I have a feeling this is only the beginning. I have been dreading just this ruling for a long time, and I think the consequences are going to be much more serious than even Justice Thomas realizes. This case is about whether America is ruled by laws or by bureaucratic whims, and I think the trend is pretty clear.

[DRUDGE]Bureaucratic Infighting Said To Have Stalled Airport Security Effort
Almost a year after the Bush administration promised a nationwide drive to tighten airport security, such efforts are being stymied by poor coordination among federal agencies and a lack of clear-cut technical requirements, said executives of aerospace and defense companies seeking to land government contracts. The WALL STREET JOURNAL reported on Friday: Bureaucratic delays and disagreements among agencies, these officials contend, have made it hard to get decisions to deploy new technologies or speed the flow of funds for new security initiatives. Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin Corp., Raytheon Co. and Honeywell International Inc. are among the companies that have privately or publicly voiced such complaints, urging a more focused effort.
‘There has to be some direction’ from the Bush administration before the situation will improve,’ said David Cote, Honeywell’s chairman and chief executive. ‘Until the regulation is there and the funding is put there’ to establish clear priorities, he said during this week’s Farnborough International Air Show near London, ‘I don’t think it’s going to happen.’
Heather Rosenker, a spokeswoman for the TSA, said, ‘We’re not aware of any complaints,’ adding that ‘our systems are going fine, and we don’t have any problems.’
She said the agency is still waiting for funding from Congress and quoted Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta at a congressional hearing Wednesday stressing that the TSA needs money to move ahead with projects.

Ah, bureaucracy, don’t you just love it. As usual, when a government agency fails to do it’s job, it’s becuase it “needs more money,” or “more regulation/power is required for to be effective” — it couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the inherent unefficiency/incompetency of government bureacuracies, could it now?
Just one question,
Are you feeling safe yet?

Check this out:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/
07/22/borderless.internet.ap/index.html
“Police in Italy didn’t care that five Web sites they deemed blasphemous and thus illegal were located in the United States, where First Amendment protections apply. The police shut them down anyway in early July, simply by sitting down at the alleged offender’s Rome computer. ”
Yes, blasphemy is illegal in Italy, just as “hate speech” is illegal in France. Gotta love the Europeans, huh? No wonder they’re in love with Palestinians…

In a totally unrelated story, a Russian jet full of kids on vacation slammed into a cargo jet:
“Ordered to climb higher by the electronic voice of the cockpit’s automatic collision detector, the pilot of the children’s plane obeyed the befuddled ground controller instead. The airliner dove head-on into a DHL cargo jet – a tragedy that might have been averted if people put more faith in machines”

Are people EVER going to learn to trust computers? Do it for the children!!!

The Center for the Moral Defense of Capitalism posted a “Supreme Court
Year in Review” for 2002 outlining decisions relevant to issues of individual rights. Interestingly, the court sided for individual rights in 55% of the cases, with Clarence Thomas (not suprisingly, my favorite justice) voting 75% for freedom.

So is 55% a positive trend? Yes, but the court should rule for liberty 100% of the time, and I doubt that it is enought to counteract the many anti-liberty actions of Congress, et all since Sept 11th. Still, I’m glad that there are people (kinda) on my side in high places.

I got A’s in my INFO and Logic classes! (Big suprize, huh?)

In other news, I compiled a Linux kernel and the associated OS from scratch at work over the last two days…fun stuff, only I need to be studying for the GRE instead of playing with computers….

oh, and I got up before class to swim two days this past week! Usually I barely make it to my morning classes as it is, so I was amazed myself.

I finished my swimming class today, and I’ve really improved over the last few months, from dog paddling back and forth in the water to finally getting my freestyle technique down, learning how to do flip turns, and generally not looking totally incompetent in the water anymore. I was afraid of failing it when I started the class, as coditioning swimming is probably the hardest KINE class at A&M, but by the end I *almost* had an A, and would have if I had not taken it pass/fail.
Oh, and there are two other side effects -I finally started replacing some of those emergency supplies ..err fat I had been generating with muscle, and the endorphin induced high I get after workouts has been keeping me in relatively high spirits despite a very dull summer. Oh, and today, when I entered the outdoor pool, I could have sworn all the girls checked me out (or is it my speedos?) hehe

I found a quote I like on the web, which sumarizes my philosophy pretty well:

“What is is. Perceive it. Integrate it honestly. Act on it. Idealize it.”

I redesigned Laurel’s Site for a totally new look and posted a totally new site, based on my INFO 209 Project, “A guide to compression for the Web“

Check out Laurel’s Site
before
and
after!

Also, I am working on a new essay (several essays actually) called “Politics for the Unitiated”
A draft of its beginning’s is currently up here.

By Francisco Rangel

Famous movie characters weren’t always comedians, knights or scary little
kids. They were pizza delivery guys, garbage collectors and even tech support.

Jerry Seinfeld from Seinfeld

Customer:

I bought a 256MB DIMM from your company last week….

Seinfeld: Did it come in a bag? One of those bags that look like airplane
peanut bags?

Customer: Um, if you’re referring to the anti-static bag, then…

Seinfeld: What’s the deal with airplane peanuts?

Customer: Look, I just need help installing the DIMM.

Seinfeld: Why do they call it a DIMM? Are the people who created it not
BRIGHT enough?

Customer: *click*

Sir Bedevere from Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Customer:

I bought a CD and I want to burn it, but I don’t know if it’s
copy-protected.

Bedevere: There are ways of telling whether it is copy-protected.

Customer: Are there? Tell me!

Bedevere: Now, what do you do with CDs?

Customer: Burn them!

Bedevere: What do you burn apart from CDs?

Customer: More CDs!

Bedevere: No.

Customer: Wood?

Bedevere: Right. So, why do CDs burn?

Customer: Because they’re made of wood?

Bedevere: Exactly. And wood floats in water. So logically…

Customer: If the CD floats in water… It won’t be copy-protected… and
I will be able to burn it!

Bedevere:Yes!

Customer: Thanks! *click*

Cole Sear (the little kid) from The Sixth Sense

Customer:

Hi, is this where they help you with broken computers parts.

Cole: Yes. I see dead computers.

Customer: Well, I can’t get any sound from my computer.

Cole: I see. Dead speakers?

Customer: No, my speakers are working fine. The little light is on.

Cole: Sometimes speakers lights are on like regular speakers. They don’t
know they’re dead.

Customer: Oh, wait. The volume was turned down. Never mind. *click*

In other news, I am reading Human Action and it’s AWESOME! Mises explains the intricacies of economics as clearly as Hazzlit explains its basics and Rand explains philosophy. I’ve just started the book, but I’ve been highlighting practically ever other sentence as a quote to add to my list…..

Oh, and I got a 100 on my last logic exam! Yay!