August 12, 2003
Ice Age or Global Warming
A clever piece on the recent record temperatures in Britain and the great climatology debates. It has been 10,000 years since the last ice age and they seem to have been about 10,000 years apart historically.
August 11, 2003
California Secretary of State - Elections & Voter Information - Statewide Potential Candidates
Quantification of the parties and number of candidates in the CA recall. This frenzy will please the media no end!
Davis: Recall Bid an 'Insult' to Voters (washingtonpost.com)
Only in California!
From The Washington Post"
"With close to 200 candidates signed up to run, the ballot itself could be a real page-turner. On Monday, the secretary of state was scheduled to hold a random drawing to determine the order in which candidates' names will appear.
A lottery-style drawing of canisters will determine an initial random alphabetical order. If "U" is drawn first then Ueberroth may be listed near the top in District 1. If "C" is drawn second, then all the candidates whose name begins with "C" rank high. And so on through the alphabet.
"The big unknown is who will turn out to vote in this election," said John Pitney, government professor at Claremont McKenna College. "How many will vote on the recall question and then freeze when they see this list of over 100 names?"
For additional fairness, the listing of names on the ballot will be rotated across the state's 80 Assembly districts. The candidate at the top of the ballot in District 1 would go to the end of the ballot in District 2 so that every letter of the alphabet gets the top position somewhere in the state."
From The Washington Post"
"With close to 200 candidates signed up to run, the ballot itself could be a real page-turner. On Monday, the secretary of state was scheduled to hold a random drawing to determine the order in which candidates' names will appear.
A lottery-style drawing of canisters will determine an initial random alphabetical order. If "U" is drawn first then Ueberroth may be listed near the top in District 1. If "C" is drawn second, then all the candidates whose name begins with "C" rank high. And so on through the alphabet.
"The big unknown is who will turn out to vote in this election," said John Pitney, government professor at Claremont McKenna College. "How many will vote on the recall question and then freeze when they see this list of over 100 names?"
For additional fairness, the listing of names on the ballot will be rotated across the state's 80 Assembly districts. The candidate at the top of the ballot in District 1 would go to the end of the ballot in District 2 so that every letter of the alphabet gets the top position somewhere in the state."
TIME.com: Jesse Has Advice for Arnie -- Aug. 18, 2003
Seems solid advice to me. Let's see if Arnold can follow it. Of course this is all moot should Gray Davis choose to resign before the recall election. In that case, I think the Lt. Governor takes over automatically, at lease for a while.
August 8, 2003
August 6, 2003
Pastor Joe Wright Prayer in Kansas
When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:
"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good," but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
We have abused power and called it politics.
We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Amen!"
The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest. In 6 short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively. The church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa, and Korea. Commentator Paul Harvey aired this on his radio program, "The Rest of the Story," and received a larger response to than any other.
"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good," but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
We have abused power and called it politics.
We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Amen!"
The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest. In 6 short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively. The church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa, and Korea. Commentator Paul Harvey aired this on his radio program, "The Rest of the Story," and received a larger response to than any other.
August 5, 2003
The New Yorker: The Talk of the Town
Fascinating rant about conservative talk radio and the attempt to create an alternative liberal network
August 2, 2003
BW Online | August 4, 2003 | Verizon's Gutsy Bet
BW Online | August 4, 2003 | Verizon's Gutsy Bet
Having known and worked for Ivan, he has the capacity to do this. He is smart, resourceful and steady under pressure. He's making a big bet on technology and the marketplace. The timing has never been right before, but the technology price points are now attractive.
Surprisingly, not mentioned in this piece is whether the strategy includes VOIP in this same interval. If so, I don't see how the capital requirement can cover that cost, too. VOIP MUST be part of this strategy for it to work because the cable guys will migrate to to it.
Having known and worked for Ivan, he has the capacity to do this. He is smart, resourceful and steady under pressure. He's making a big bet on technology and the marketplace. The timing has never been right before, but the technology price points are now attractive.
Surprisingly, not mentioned in this piece is whether the strategy includes VOIP in this same interval. If so, I don't see how the capital requirement can cover that cost, too. VOIP MUST be part of this strategy for it to work because the cable guys will migrate to to it.
August 1, 2003
All Four Stanzas of Our National Anthem
Never have seen all four stanzas of the National Anthem written and have never heard them sung.
Close Burlington's City Market?
When will Burlington leadership and the backers of this profitless venture admit failure and get out of the grocery business? This is a terrible testimony for an otherwise vibrant city.
+++++++++++++++
From a letter to The Dwinell Political Report 7/31/03:
"R. Spreeman, formerly of Colchester, now of Indiana:
On Sunday, July 27, the Free Press carried an interesting article on the Burlington Co-op, otherwise known as the City Market. I find this whole subject fascinating. To me, the City Market is a good example of something that was done the wrong way, and for the wrong reasons - an example of 'Progressive' government.
Despite the specifically-expressed choice of Burlington voters for a conventional supermarket to be opened downtown, the Progressives determined that they wanted the co-op to open a grocery store, rather than an evil (my term, not theirs) capitalist-run store. Voters be damned, the Progressive knew better!
That's the part I find scariest about the 'Progressives' (and other liberal types); they are sure they know best and the public should just let them make the decisions for us, be it in health care, schooling... even what kind of grocery store people shop at. Oh, they had their excuses, the proposal from Shaw's was too large or something, but you can't tell me a regular store could not have been built within the necessary constraints.
City Market has lost over $1,200 each and every day, on average, since it opened. Soon they will have to start repaying the principal on the government loans which helped build the store - an expense of an additional $425 per day. I wonder, are the Burlington Progressives as keen to play 'grocery store' now that the thing is a financial disaster? Doesn't 'Progressive' imply progress of some sort? Some progress - from no grocery store to one that is losing a fortune and which has not met the needs of the local shoppers. One person told me the place felt like a yuppie 'food boutique' to her; she immediately resumed shopping for her groceries at a conventional grocery store though it was further away."
++++++++
+++++++++++++++
From a letter to The Dwinell Political Report 7/31/03:
"R. Spreeman, formerly of Colchester, now of Indiana:
On Sunday, July 27, the Free Press carried an interesting article on the Burlington Co-op, otherwise known as the City Market. I find this whole subject fascinating. To me, the City Market is a good example of something that was done the wrong way, and for the wrong reasons - an example of 'Progressive' government.
Despite the specifically-expressed choice of Burlington voters for a conventional supermarket to be opened downtown, the Progressives determined that they wanted the co-op to open a grocery store, rather than an evil (my term, not theirs) capitalist-run store. Voters be damned, the Progressive knew better!
That's the part I find scariest about the 'Progressives' (and other liberal types); they are sure they know best and the public should just let them make the decisions for us, be it in health care, schooling... even what kind of grocery store people shop at. Oh, they had their excuses, the proposal from Shaw's was too large or something, but you can't tell me a regular store could not have been built within the necessary constraints.
City Market has lost over $1,200 each and every day, on average, since it opened. Soon they will have to start repaying the principal on the government loans which helped build the store - an expense of an additional $425 per day. I wonder, are the Burlington Progressives as keen to play 'grocery store' now that the thing is a financial disaster? Doesn't 'Progressive' imply progress of some sort? Some progress - from no grocery store to one that is losing a fortune and which has not met the needs of the local shoppers. One person told me the place felt like a yuppie 'food boutique' to her; she immediately resumed shopping for her groceries at a conventional grocery store though it was further away."
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