Fox News Channel – Fair & Balanced – The Daily Show with Jon Stewart – 06/20/11 – Video Clip | Comedy Central

To balance the unfair system, Fox News has to be the purest form of right-wing resin. Airdate – 06/20/11

Fox News Channel – Fair & Balanced – The Daily …, posted with vodpod

A case in which shame works

Ok, I’ll admit it: I HATE to donate blood. Reason: it affects my endurance; I am usually screwed up for 2-3 weeks after a regular blood donation and for 5-6 weeks after a double red blood cell donation.

Ok, more specifically, doing long running or walking workouts at 5K to half marathon intensity is difficult, though curiously my swimming and lifting is usually not that affected.

But, I have O+ blood (my red blood cells match well with O+, A+, B+ and AB+) and there is a need.

And there is this:

And he says the differences in giving goes beyond money, pointing out that conservatives are 18 percent more likely to donate blood.

Note: I am skeptical of the “giving to charity” statistics (which claim that conservatives give more of their income to charity) given that rural areas are more conservative and urban areas are more liberal and the latter have a higher cost of living (by far!). So to be convinced, I’d have to see the statistics adjusted for cost of living.

But never mind that; the blood donation statistic wouldn’t be as affected by such factors.
And: I don’t like being outdone by conservatives!

Ok, ok, the “blood giving” statistic might be misleading as well; the Red Cross reports that only 38 percent of people are even eligible to give blood. Males who have had gay sex are excluded, as are people who have had certain diseases, lived in Europe for a certain period of time, etc. So for this statistic to be valid as a measure of charity, it would have to be corrected for eligibility.

But hey, it got me there anyway!

So I try to donate twice a year; June (after FANS and Steamboat) and in November/December (after my fall ultra and after my flu vaccination exclusion has had time to lapse; this is 8 weeks).

On the upside: last winter, I couldn’t give double red cells (13.1 hemoglobin) but his time was no problem (14.9); and I AM feeling much better now than I was then.

Note: I still think that the plasma that they put back into you looks like urine.

Note: the results of some studies are here and a bunch of people chime in here.

20 June 2011 (noon)

Workout note
Stretching, PT, leg weights (glute push-back machine, hip adduction, hip abduction: 2 sets of 10)

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a photo of some spandex clad woman using this.

Then I swam 2000 yards; the longs swim I’ve had in about a year. It wasn’t that intense:
5 x (25 3g, 25 swim), 5 x (25 fist, 25 free)
5 x (25 front, 25 free (fins)), 5 x (25 free, 25 back)
Then 10 x 100 (alternate 100 free, 100 pull) total 19:10

I felt a few tingles.
But on the whole, the butt/piriformis/whatever is feeling better; this rest plus therapy should do it some good.

Posts
Economy: Paul Krugman sees a “lost decade” of growth.

Remember that President Obama didn’t take office until 2009 and his stimulus bill wasn’t passed until midway. Yes, this is ugly. But this drives home a point: we are NOT climbing out of the recession (in terms of employment; the net job gains barely make up for those entering in the workforce). But the Republicans are offering us the same remedies that put us into that gray area to being with.

Krugman has some things to say about Medicare. Sure, costs have gone up, but they have gone up by less than private insurance (what the Ryan plan wants to put us in). Of course, the Republicans claim that we can really control costs by not insuring anyone at all...

Here is the real Republican Medicare plan:

Ok, ok, this is an exaggeration. Basically the Ryan plans would set up a health insurance exchange and allow old people to buy policies; it will provide subsides to some poor seniors. Problem: private health insurance costs are rising faster than Medicare costs and this plan only adjusts for inflation, not actual policy costs.

Oh yes, the “magic free market”: problem is that it might not make good business sense to sell policies to a group of people which has a large subset which is all but guaranteed to get sick. The profit motive just doesn’t work in every case.

Science
Evolution
Why hasn’t evolution given us a way to never get sick? Here is Jerry Coyne’s summary of a talk that explains why. Roughly speaking, evolution cares about reproductive fitness so there is no reason to evolve protection against diseases that mostly kill later in life. One has to consider that some bad things give us momentary protection from worse things (evolution is fine with something that will prevent you dying now but will kill you later, after you’ve had kids) and remember that the organisms that give us the disease are also evolving.

Of course we might wonder why our favorite deity won’t work magic on our behalf; we can see how well this deity did when implored by Gov. Rick Perry (Texas) to stop the Texas drought:

Before the prayers:

Steamboat 15K, non-walking photos

I’ll post walking photos as they become available. As far as the solo photo: this shows how badly my upper body has deteriorated; this is a direct result from months of not being able to lift or swim due to a rotator cuff injury. I have resumed both activities and am improving, albeit slowly.

The runner is Theresa (who is also in my yoga class); the non-runner is Barbara (my spousal unit)

19 June 2011 (not much)

Workout notes Swim: 1800 yards: 10 x (25 3g, 25 free, 25 fist, 25 free), 10 x (25 front, 25 free), 3 x (25 free, 25 back, 25 breast, 25 free).
Then weights:
incline: 10 x 115, 5 x 135, 4 x 135, 4 x 135
dumbbell curls: 4 sets of 10 x 25 lb.
pull down: 3 sets of 12 x 120 lb (one set: side grip)
row: 4 sets of 10 x 45 (poor leverage machine)
Sit ups: 5 x 20 on the highest incline
Also: rotator cuff, hip hikes, rolling on a ball (piriformis/butt) stretching, yoga, etc.

This ate up some time but wasn’t taxing.

Posts
It is sort of slow today. Last night I watched The Unbearable Lightness of Being; yes it was a good film:

Yes, there was quite a bit of this…and with less….:) Note the hat; it is important to the movie.

18 June 2011 non-jock post

President Obama on fatherhood.

Quick comment on science/religion:
This cartoon sums it up nicely:

Paraphrase: “science cannot comment on religion because religion deals with things that cannot be verified by science”.

Ok, then either “religion has real world effects which means that their claims CAN be evaluated by science” or “these things don’t interact with the world” which means: “why do we care at all then”.

Steamboat 15 K 2011

Background Last month I developed some left hip/butt/piriformis issues. Evidently there are lots of interconnected things going on; the upshot is that I’ve had gluteal pain AFTER my workouts and some “false sciatica” that tingles to my calf and foot. I think that the piriformis, gluteus minimus and the psoas muscles are all involved. So I’ll be either taking some time off or at least cutting back drastically for about a month.

The event
Start:

Finish (faster 4 mile runners)

But I wanted to do the Steamboat 15K as it is the largest “sporting oriented” race in the area. It draws about 4000 runners and walkers with about 800 in the 15K.

The make up of the field is interesting; the 4 mile race has decent prize money, hence it draws Olympic athletes, world record holders (in the marathon) etc. It also draws some college level runners who want to challenge the elites; hence the competition at the front of the pack is intense; the men’s winning time usually ranges from 17:50 to 18:10 (4 miles, or 6.4 km) whereas the women’s winner is usually under 20 minutes or perhaps barely over.

But the 4 mile race also draws a ton of slow walkers, “once a year runners” and noobs who haven’t a clue as to what they are doing (e. g., if they get tired they will just come to a complete stop without warning).

The 15K, while not drawing an elite field, draws many of the tough club runners (e. g., those who run under 40 minutes for a 10K), some near-elites and some ex-elites. The variation in pace is much smaller in the 15K, though the entry of some of the millennial generation is adding some slow runners to this event.

The course

The 4 mile race is called the “world’s fastest 4 mile race”; there is a gradual incline followed by a gradual decline; if one doesn’t kill themselves on the “out” part one can really pick up steam on the “back” part.

The 15K course is a different story:

Yes, it has over 500 feet of climb. Basically: you start out on the Steamboat 4 mile course for the first 3K or so. Then as they turn right you go straight and up the first of two rough climbs (about 500-600 meters long; maybe 100 feet or more?). You loop through a park and eventually go down the hill, and then back up again. This is draining; but this is how you spend the next 8.6 km (5.3 miles). Then you return and finish the 4 mile course; IF you didn’t kill yourself on the hill loops you can make up time on the long, gradual downhill finish.

Upsides and Downsides to the race
Upsides: organization (including packet pick-up), traffic control (blocked off streets), splits (every mile plus 5K, 10K) and the people (at least in the 15K). Among the 15K racers there is a healthy, friendly but competitive spirit that I really enjoy. Also, the 4 mile course is perfect for the FASTER RUNNER to get a PR (perhaps a bit too crowded for a slower runner) and the 15K is NOT a PR course.
Downside: The race is really a bit more geared toward the front of the pack; for example awards (even age group awards) are based on gun time. I understand that (it is about racing) but this puts some of the slower age group runners at the front of the pack. Also, there have been some years when only the gun time was posted (in my case, that is 1:25 slower than my chip time) and the race director didn’t seem to “get” why chip time was important for the middle of the pack runner. I don’t know if they will post chip times this year; gun times are already available (a remarkable feat).

Also the 4 mile race has many, many clueless noobs (e. g., the ones who come to a complete stop without warning) and is crowded at first. This could affect older runners and faster walkers.

My race Note I am a walker and for this race I used a “soft knee” powerwalk technique; my hip/piriformis was sore and the steep hills made following racewalk technique all but impossible. So, on the uphills I bent my knees and I did so a bit on the steep down hills. Still this wasn’t a total creep-fest; I would have used this technique in a “B-standard judging” race without worry.

Just the facts Chip time: 1:48:02 (11:35 mpm, or 7:12 m/km); my splits were these:

11:35, 11:48 (23:24), 12:31 (35:55) (37:12 5K), 11:08 (47:04), 12:49 (59:53), 11:54 (1:11:48) (1:13:36 10K), 10:56 (1:22:44), 11:11 (1:33:55), 10:51 (1:44:46), 3:14 (1:48:01)
5K splits: 37:12, 36:24, 34:25 (which 5K was downhill? )
Place: (based on my gun time of 1:49:25) 798/837.
Note: my gun time pace (11:45) would have placed me 2547/3382 in the 4 mile. That is, my pace put me in the 5′th percentile in the 15K but that pace would have put me in the 25′th percentile of the 4 mile. This drives home my point about the variations in the respective groups.

My race story
I warmed up by walking the 2 (downhill) miles from my house to the course (3.2 km); along the way I saw some other runners who were also using a “commute” as a warm up. Along the way I saw a Big Al’s stripper wearing short-shorts squatting on the sidewalk (just as a resting position) while some young guy was smoking a cigarette and talking to her.

I also saw a middle aged “pregnant” male finishing up his cigarette and flicking the butt away; all of the runners going by him appeared to make him uncomfortable. I gave myself a smug inner smile; then I remembered that one of my local friends lost 80 pounds prior to taking up running; he worked himself to a 1:30 half marathon, 3:17 marathon and a 4:20 50K. So on occasion, one of these types will get the bug to join us…and will even leave me in the dust (eventually).

I lined up between the 11 and 12 minute per mile signs; I noticed that on the whole, the runners and walkers policed themselves reasonably well. My friend Tracy saw me and lined up with me; we started out together. She was doing the 4 mile race and ended up finishing in about 49:00 (chip, 50:25 gun).

Aside from dodging the occasional noob, the first 2 miles were uneventful. Ok, I did notice two younger black spandex tights clad women who had, well, wide butts. So I followed them for a while; I didn’t know that they too were doing the 15K. One had on a blue top and the other a white top with some designs on it (flowers?). I was to see them again. I was cruising at about 11:40 mpm.

Update: This photo shows the crowd at close to the 2 mile mark. In the forground on the right are the two women I was talking about. In the crowd on the right you can see me in a white ball cap (UT) and a turquoise top; as usual I have a forward lean. Remember that I was walking.

(click for a bigger shot)

On the way out, a lady complimented me on having trail gaiters (“dirty girls”) that matched my turquoise race t-shirt; note that I wore a shirt from a 1997 Baglefest 10K run in Mattoon, IL. Yes, I ran this 15K race in the 1:07-1:08 range in those days…sigh.

But the matching was unintentional; mostly I wore this shirt because it was a singlet and I wanted to see my arms in the race photos (“is my weight training showing up?” )

I was keeping my effort well under control; part of this was my not wanting to aggravate my butt muscles and part of it was my trying to save something for the hills; the day was NOT hot but it was humid.

Then came the 2 mile mark and the hills; I was just over 23 minutes. But given that this was the start of the first loop and that we were closing in on the 5 mile mark (second loop); that’s right; the front runners of the 15K were just starting their second loop! More on that later; I moved a bit to the side to give them the “tangents” of the loop.

By then I had caught the “big shiny butt” couple; in fact I caught many as this was the first steep uphills and here, a walker has an advantage. They were to pass me again later.

I heard a “hi Ollie” and there zoomed by Pat Arnold; his 5 mile slit was just over 28 minutes (reasonable for him). I yelled encouragement.

Then we went to the upper part of Glenn Oak Park; here you could see some of the “just ahead of me” stream snaking back after a hair pin turn. I saw some of my yoga buddies, a triathlete who is just coming off of Lyme disease (normally, she’d be running a 1:10 for this distance) and an older gentleman who regularly runs through our neighborhood. This was a real “get together!”.

I tried to maintain a reasonable pace but that hill ALWAYS trashes me for a bit. I tried to focus on posture; more upright but NOT sway-backed. Getting that right will be a chore.

More of the faster 15K people passed me and I heard many more greetings. Some of the leading women passed me too; a couple of them were wearing tiny cropped shiny spandex (one was royal blue; the other purple) and I could do nothing but cheer “way to go”. The leading lady thanked me for cheering for her. I started to grumble internally that I missed running with them; then I realized that these types would be hitting 10K in 40 flat and I never could run that sort of split …and least on this course.

Toward 4 miles the “front part of the bell curve” started to get me and I heard dozens of “way to go Ollie” cheers from the runners who were just blowing past me. I recognized some of them but they came up behind me and I didn’t see them for long. This was the crowd destined to finish in the 1:00-1:06 range. Here I was back in the mid 11′s after a slow 12 mpm uphill.

I was able to pick it up just and bit and then we went out of the park, down the big hill and up it again. This time I was caught by the “wide shiny butt” couple and passed them again. But I noticed that the one in the blue top was tiring and the other one pulled ahead of her. I never saw the blue one again (at least ahead of me) but I did see the other one; she got me at about mile 7.5 and stayed ahead of me the rest of the way.

(It turns out that the faster one was to finish about 1:20 ahead of me; the slower one (in blue) about 4:30 behind me. They were together at 10K.)

So I thought that after the rough mile 4-5 (down the hill and back up it) I could pick up the pace..but no. I was still recovering. 10K came at about 1:14; I was averaging 37 minutes per 5K. But I felt good enough to pick up the pace and so I did.

On the second downhill there was some emergency vehicles and an ambulance; that worried me as these sorts of things are unnecessary for routine runner problems. I did have to go around just a bit, but obviously they needed to get the injured/sick person to treatment as soon as possible so I understood.

But then I was off of the hill again and ready to make my finial push; only 2.3 miles remained. But surprisingly (to me anyway) I really didn’t catch anyone; just yet.

I did play “leap frog” with a couple of runners and eventually got away from them; I tried to increase my turn over. I could see the mist moving toward us. I chased a pack in the distance. Also, I got a cheer from a triathlete who was working the race.

FINALLY I began to gain on the pack ahead of me and actually caught them; I wasn’t moving that fast (10:51 mpm) but they were burned out.

The final turn runs though downtown and toward the water; you have a gradual downhill here and can really get going. I more or less held place (people HATE getting passed by a walker! ) and turned into the finish; Barbara was there and yelled “My grandma can walk faster than that!”

Before the race, I had told Barbara that I anticipated a “1:48″, but “1:45 if all goes well and 1:50 if it doesn’t”. So my chip time: 1:48:02.

Afterward I ran into Theresa and her husband got some photos of her with me, and Barbara with me.
Then we ran into Barbara’s son who had run a 1:34 (for training) and her ex husband who had run the 4 mile (her son’s father).

The butt was a bit achy afterward but stretching and ketoprofen creme helped a great deal.

Overall: though I knew that this would take something out of me injury wise, I am glad that I did it. I noticed that I really wasn’t that tired afterward; I stayed well within myself the entire time; my body is still in an “ultra marathon” mode in which it is difficult to push for speed.

Updates As photos and chip time results come in, I’ll post updates here.

Note: though I like the photo with Barbara and Theresa, I included the solo photo to show how far my upper body has deteriorated. This is a result of my not being able to lift or swim for many months and I started my lifting program “from scratch” late last year and swimming about 6 weeks ago. I am improving, but do I have a ways to go!!!

Past Steamboat Results (me)

My personal Steamboat History (so I can compare past years)
1998: 15K 1:08:22, warm, sticky, 22:50/23:05/22:27, 183/844, 29/71 in the age group. Disappointed in my time but not place.
1999: 15K 1:07:53, better weather, 22:38/23:01/22:13, lower AG placing, blistered my foot.
2000: 4 mile: 27:51, 6:44/6:49/7:12/7:06 (split up 15K/4 mile the next few years)
2001: 4 mile: 29:13, 6:45/6:47/7:38/8:03 (knee was hurt; very hot)
2001 (fall) 15K: 1:11:16: 23:20/24:04/23:51, week after Big Shoulders)
2002: 4 mile walk: 43:15: 10:57/10:53/10:55/10:35 (shins hurt)
2002 (fall) 15K: 1:14:33 24:10/25:07/25:16
2003: off
2004: 4 mile: 33:10 (7:53/7:57/8:45/8:34); I did two hard 24 hour walks in May.
2005: 15K, 1:23:13 (26:40/27:49/28:43); very hot; McNaughton 100 in April, OKC marathon over Memorial day.
2006: 4 mile walk, 42:10 (10:32/10:25/10:43/10:28); very hot; piriformis trouble; 83 miler two weeks earlier.
2007: 4 miles easy with Barbara (1:10:04)
2008: 4 miles easy with Barbara (1:13:00)
2009: 15K: 1:27:23, 29:21/29:49/28:14 (66 miler two weeks before; torn meniscus (though I didn’t know it at the time)
2010: 4 mile walk in 39:33 (I knew going in that my meniscus was torn and that I’d be getting operated on)
2011: 15K (walk): 1:48:01 (37:12/36:24/34:25) 54 miler two weeks earlier; dinged piriformis

Past Steamboat Posts
2005 (15K as a runner)
2006 (4 mile as a walker)
2007 (4 mile with Barbara)
2008 (4 mile with Barbara)
2009 (15K as a runner)
2010 (4 mile as a powerwalker)

17 June 2011 pm

Workout notes Stretching, two passes though the hip adduction, hip abduction and gluteus maximus machine.
Then 1800 yards swimming (just over 1 mile):
6 x (25 3g, 25 swim), 6 x (25 fist, 25 swim)
Then 1000 in 17:54: 4:34, 9:06, 17:54; my two 500′s were 9:06/8:48
Or, in the first 10 50′s, I averaged 54.6 seconds per 50; in my second I averaged 52.8 seconds per 50.
Then 150 back, 50 breast (all easy)

Note: I felt the gluteus minimus (or piriformis? It is hard to tell) during the first part of the swim; as I lengthened the pain diminished.

Note: I’ll probably take a week or two off after tormorrow’s 15K; I’ll be aggressive with the PT, pressure point and stretching.

Posts

Social
Check out his interactive life expectancy map of the United States; there is a breakdown country by county. You can also see the map for women and for men; you can also see it for black and white. Note: dark means long, light means short. Just for grins, compare white men to black men:

Overall, we rank 36′th in the world (via the CIA handbook) though we have large variation. Note that we are still in the upper tier:

(hat tip: Mano Singham)

Science
A huge black hole swallowed a sun-sized star:

A huge “belch” of radiation from a supermassive black hole indicates that the cosmic monster recently devoured a star, scientists say.

Earlier this year astronomers spied a burst of high-energy gamma rays emanating from the center of a dwarf galaxy 3.8 billion light-years away. The odd flash, dubbed Sw 1644+57, is one is the brightest and longest gamma ray bursts (GRBs) yet seen.

In visible light and infrared wavelengths, the burst is as bright as a hundred billion suns. (Related: “Ultrabright Gamma-ray Burst ‘Blinded’ NASA Telescope.”)

“We believe this explosive event was caused by a supermassive black hole ten million times the mass of the sun shredding a star that got too close to its gravitational pull,” said study leader Joshua Bloom, an astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley.

“The mass of the star fell into the black hole, but along the way it heated up and produced a burst of energy in the form of a powerful jet of radiation, [which] we were able to detect through space-based observatories.”

(Related: “Giant Black Holes Found at Dawn of the Universe.”)

While supermassive black holes are thought to be lurking at the hearts of most large galaxies, events such as a star getting eaten may happen only once every hundred million years in any given galaxy.

“What makes this event even more rare is that we didn’t just get a burst of x-ray emissions from the infalling stellar gas, but some of it actually got spit out by the black hole in the form of a gamma ray jet, and we just happen to be looking down the barrel of that jet,” Bloom said. [...]

There is much more there.

Divebombing Birds.
I hate red-winged blackbirds; these pests divebomb you when they are nesting. But it could be worse; we could be getting divebombed by eagles instead:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – A pair of bald eagles nesting near the Post Office in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, has taken to dive-bombing customers, in one case drawing blood, authorities said on Tuesday.

The eagles are raising newly hatched chicks for the second consecutive year in a nest on a bluff by the post office.

And for the second consecutive year, they have been trying to chase off people — apparently unaware that the Postal Service uses a stylized eagle as its logo.

Two people were attacked last week, and one of the eagles swooped down on a patron on Monday, Alaska State Wildlife Troopers spokesman Sergeant Robin Morrisett said.

One of the eagles managed to scratch up its victim, said Morrisett, who is based on Unalaska Island. “I guess it actually drew blood,” he said.

Authorities have posted signs and advised people to be careful about their surroundings, but there are no plans to move the nests or fight back against the eagles, he said.

Bald eagles have a history of confronting people at the post office and elsewhere on the island, Morrisett said, adding that recently an eagle swooped very close to him before returning to its nest.

“It had a fish in its talons,” he said.

Bald eagles have never been protected in Alaska under the Endangered Species Act because their populations here have been too healthy to warrant listing.

But, as the national bird of the United States, they are protected under special federal laws. [...]

Rotten birds!!!

Social
This is one reason I think that we need some sort of regulation (e. g., we can’t just say “free market; get government off of their backs”):

After telling his employer that his wife of 23 years had lung cancer and he would need to work a modified schedule to help care for her, Carl Sorabella was fired from him job. ABC News reports that Kathy Sorabella learned in late April that she had stage 4 incurable cancer. Her husband asked his employer of 14 years, Haynes Management, a real estate company in Wellesley Hills, Massaschusetts, to work a more flexible schedule. This was the response he got:

“When I told my boss, she said ‘We were thinking about laying you off.’ I thought, ‘You can’t do that,’” Sorabella told WCVB.

“Ultimately she said don’t worry about it and come in on Monday, and when I came in on Monday I got a letter that I would be laid off,” he said. Sorabella said the letter stated he was being laid off due to “workforce modifications.” But one week after he was fired, he says he saw a listing for his job on the company website.

“She said, ‘It’s business. I’m running a company here, and I need to make sure the department runs.’ And I argued that I would make sure the company runs,” Sorabella said.

Sorabella, an accountant, is currently speaking to a lawyer and is considering contacting the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. But because Haynes Management has only about 20 employees, he faces an uphill battle.

David Frank, a legal analyst with Lawyers Weekly, says that the Family and Medical Leave Act only applies to private employers who have 50 or more employees who work within 75 miles of the worksite. This federal law gives employees “up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year for serious health conditions or to care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition.” Despite Haynes Management’s size, the company makes millions in annual sales.

Regulation will make all companies play by the same rules; hence a company that “does the right thing” (and some do) won’t be at a disadvantage.

Civil Liberties
Of course, private companies (such as airlines) can have rules that restrict some freedoms (e. g., freedom of dress). However were I a passenger, I’d be angry to have been delayed just so police could come an arrest a guy for not pulling his pants up.

Yes, he was asked several times and didn’t comply:

After repeated refusals from Marman to pull up his pants, the crew alerted the airliner’s captain to the disruption and police were called in to assist, Rodriguez said.

Wunder referred questions about details of the incident to police but said it is her understanding that the incident began with Marman’s attire but escalated when “he repeatedly ignored crewmember instructions.”

The captain made a citizens arrest of Marman for trespassing when he refused to leave the plane, according to Rodriguez. The captain decided to deplane the other passengers when Marman would not immediately leave the aircraft, Rodriguez said.

After leaving the plane, Marman resisted being handcuffed in the jetway, Rodriguez said, injuring an officer in the scuffle.

Marman’s mother, Donna Doyle, told the San Francisco Chronicle that her son was distressed after attending the funeral for his friend and former teammate.

All this over pants? I really wonder if they would have treated this woman the same way:

(click the thumbnail to see the full sized image on flickr)

Still, I wasn’t there.

Civil Liberties: how libertarian are you?
Mano Singham relates the following:

Although I do not consider myself a libertarian, I do agree with some libertarian principles, especially the ones that says that adults have the right to privacy and be able to engage in solitary or consensual practices that do not harm others free from interference from the state and society. But Michael J. Sandel in his book Justice: What’s the right thing to do? (p. 74) provides a story that sorely tests my allegiance to those principles

In 2001, a strange encounter took place in the German village of Rotenburg. Bernd-Jurgen Brandes, a forty-three-year-old software engineer, responded to an Internet ad seeking someone “willing to be killed and eaten.” The ad had been posted by Armin Meiwes, forty-two, a computer technician. Meiwes was offering no monetary compensation, only the experience itself. Some two hundred people replied to the ad. Four traveled to Meiwes’s farmhouse for an interview, but decided they were not interested. But when Brandes met with Meiwes and considered his proposal over coffee, he gave his consent. Meiwes proceeded to kill his guest, carve up the corpse, and store it in plastic bags in his freezer. By the time he was arrested, the “Cannibal of Rotenburg” had consumed over forty pounds of his willing victim, cooking some of him in olive oil and garlic.

Note: there is no specific law (in Germany) against cannibalism. Read the rest of this at Singham’s blog. It sure raises interesting questions, no?

Foreign Affairs/Terrorism
Check out this analysis of Al Qeada’s latest video. Note that they seem to be admitting that they can’t function as a centralized organization anymore (via Stratfor):

In theory, these grassroots efforts are supposed to supplement the efforts of al Qaeda to attack the West. But in practice, al Qaeda and its franchise groups have been rendered transnationally impotent in large part by the counterterrorism efforts of the United States and its allies since 9/11. Jihadist groups been able to conduct attacks in the regions where they are based, but grassroots operatives have been forced to shoulder the bulk of the effort to attack the West. In fact, the only successful attacks conducted inside the United States since 9/11 have been conducted by grassroots operatives, and in any case, grassroots plots and attacks have been quite infrequent. Despite the ease of conducting such attacks, they have been nowhere near as common as jihadist leaders hoped — and American security officials feared.

One reason for this paucity of attacks may be the jihadist message being sent. In earlier days, the message of Islamist militants like Abdullah Azzam was “Come, join the caravan.” This message suggested that militants who answered the call would be trained, equipped and put into the field of battle under competent commanders. It was a message of strength and confidence — and a message that stands in stark contrast to As-Sahab’s current message of “Don’t come and join us, it is too dangerous — conduct attacks on your own instead.” The very call to leaderless resistance is an admission of defeat and an indication that the jihadists might not be receiving the divine blessing they claim.

(hat tip: Schneier on Security)

How I know that I am a nerd…

(click on the thumbnail to see a full sized photo at The Spandex Statement)

I saw this…and wondered…..”what sort of laptop is that?”

Yes, she is pretty and I just LOVE shiny magenta spandex; it brings back good memories of a half marathon and of a 100k race.

The Economy and msnbc video: Presidential race draws hucksters

The economy

Robert Reich points out the demand side view of our economic problem.

Sure, the conservatives attacks his ideas; he responds to these attacks:

The much-vaunted Republican pledge not to raise any taxes is crumbling. Today 34 Senate Republicans voted to end the special tax breaks for ethanol.

According to no-tax-increase purists like Grover Norquist, this is tantamount to a tax increase.

The truth is, Republicans are divided between those who want to bring down the budget deficit and those who want to shrink government. Ending a special tax subsidy helps reduce the deficit but doesn’t necessarily shrink government. That’s why Norquist and his followers have insisted any such tax increase – including even the closing of tax loopholes – be directly linked to a corresponding tax cut.

In order to save face on today’s vote, Norquist says renegade Republicans will still be considered to have adhered to the pledge if they vote in favor of an amendment offered by Senator Jim DeMint to eliminate the estate tax. Talk about grasping at straws. DeMint’s amendment isn’t even up for a vote. [...]

What are anti-tax Republicans to do now?

For one, continue to distort the arguments of those who believe corporations and the rich should pay more taxes.

For example, in the lead op-ed piece in today’s Wall Street Journal, Cato Institute fellow Alan Reynolds claims a higher marginal tax on the super rich will bring in less revenue.

Reynolds uses my tax proposal from last February as his red herring. “Memo to Robert Reich,” he declares, “The income tax brought in less revenue when the highest rate was 70 percent to 91 percent [between 1950 and 1980] than it did when the highest rate was 28 percent.”

Reynolds bends the facts to make his case, picking and choosing among years.

In truth, the most important variable explaining the rise and fall of tax revenues as percent of GDP has been the business cycle, not the effective tax rate. In periods when the economy is growing briskly, tax revenues have risen as a percent of GDP, regardless of effective rates; in downturns, revenues have fallen.

Reynolds also distorts my proposal, implying that the bracket on which I call for a 70 percent tax is the same as in today’s tax code. Wrong. My proposed 70 percent rate would apply only to incomes over $15 million.

$15 million, Alan!

Under my proposal, incomes between $5 million and $15 million would be subjected to a 60 percent rate, and incomes between $500,000 and $5 million to a 50 percent rate.

Importantly, my proposal calls for a substantial rate reduction for families with incomes under $100,000. (Conveniently, Reynolds fails to mention this.)

Now I agree that people will find Mr. Reich’s numbers distasteful but I think that it is silly to think that someone earning 250K a year is the same as someone earning 250 million a year. Taxing the rich won’t in and of it self completely solve the problem, but it will make a dent in it.

This year’s Republican candidates: how many are serious? I’d agree that Mitt Romney is serious; perhaps Michelle Bachmann is too.

msnbc video: Presidential race draws hucksters, posted with vodpod