Monthly Archives: December 2007

Radley on Cory

Posted on by

The Agitator has much to say as we near the 6th anniversary of Cory Maye‘s “crime,” which amounts to defending himself and his child against unknown assailants breaking down the door to enter his home in the dead of night. On the day after Christmas, 2001, Maye was asleep in his home when a drug task force broke into his home with a no-knock warrant. First through the door was Ron Jones, who did not identify himself as a policeman.

Maye shot him dead before the cops managed to make clear who they were, and was quickly railroaded to Mississippi’s Death Row before his sentence was reduced last year on appeal. If nothing changes, Maye will spend the rest of his life in prison for defending his family against a home invader he had no way of knowing wasn’t his drug-addled neighbor.

Our government at work

Posted on by

The copyright cartel has managed to get a bill introduced that would create a whole new Federal copyright protection department as well as provide for drastically higher fines and — get this — civil forfiture of computer equipment involved in infringement even if the owner is not convicted. This is a scary mirror of a questionable practice from the ill-considered drug war; under no circumstances should assets be seizable without a finding of guilt.

Dept. of Very, Very Geeky Puns

Posted on by

So I added RAM to my laptop last week by removing one of the 1-gigabyte DIMMs and replacing it with a 2-gig DIMM, producing a total of 3. This is sort of unusual, because heretofore most RAM has been set up with homogenous slots — all 1-gig, or all 2-gig, or whatever.

I have taken to referring to my mixed setup as “The Welk Configuration,” since it consists of a one and a two.

I am nowhere nearly as sorry about that as I probably ought to be.

Tim Tebow is made entirely of Win

Posted on by

The Florida QB just became the first underclassman ever to win the Heisman, number 3 for the Florida Gators — Spurrier and mid-90s standout Danny Wuerffel are the other two. Oddly, all three are the sons of clergymen.

Even better: since Tebow’s only a soph, we get to watch him play for the Gators next year, too. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to watch the Texans.

We have innocent people at Gitmo, and the government knows this, and doesn’t care

Posted on by

So much for the Shining City on the Hill, human rights, respect for law, or any of the other qualities we insist make the US different: Evidence of Innocence Rejected at Guantanamo:

U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green, who was privy to the classified record of the tribunal’s decision-making about [German citizen] Kurnaz in 2004, concluded in January 2005 that his treatment provided powerful evidence of bias against prisoners, and she deemed the proceedings illegal under U.S. and international law. But her ruling, which depicted the allegations against Kurnaz as unsubstantiated and as an inappropriate basis for keeping him locked up, was mostly classified at the time.

In newly released passages, however, Green’s ruling reveals that the tribunal members relied heavily on a memo written by a U.S. brigadier general who noted that Kurnaz had prayed while the U.S. national anthem was sung in the prison and that he expressed an unusual interest in detainee transfers and the guard schedule. Other documents make clear that U.S. intelligence officials had earlier concluded that Kurnaz, who went to Pakistan shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to visit religious sites, had simply chosen a bad time to travel.

The process is “fundamentally corrupted,” said Baher Azmy, a professor at Seton Hall Law School who represents Kurnaz. “All of this just reveals that they had the wrong person and they knew it.”

Kurnaz was eventually released, in August of 2006, but only after German Chancellor Angela Merkel made him a priority. There is no reason to believe his five-year plight was unique, and newly declassified documents surrounding his case make it clear that innocents at Gitmo will have a hard time indeed getting released, since the process to “try” them is so heavily biased against them. Detainees are still unable to see all the evidence against them, and in some cases are denied the right to even now who said they were terrorists. It’s Kafkaesque, and is representative of the worst impulses of a power-mad administration.

Puppet Redemption

Posted on by

Ever wonder whatever happened to the puppets used in Rankin-Bass‘s Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? Wonder no more.

Two years ago, the figures were acquired by current owner Kevin Kriess. Santa’s face was stained, there was mold under his beard and half his mustache was gone. Rudolph was missing the red light bulb from his nose, said Kriess, a longtime fan of the special whose Harmony, Pennslyvania-based business TimeandSpaceToys.com sells action figures and other collectibles based on movies and TV shows.

Kriess, 44, said he bought his two treasures from a person whose family had received them years ago from a relative who worked for Rankin/Bass. For many years, the delicate wood, wire and fabric puppets had been treated casually: first as toys and later as holiday decorations.

“They had Rudolph in a candy dish with candy all around him, just on a coffee table, and people would just reach in around Rudolph’s body and pull out a candy cane or something,” Kriess said. In the family’s holiday photos, you could spot Santa slumped under a tree in a corner, he said.

Arthur Rankin Jr., who with producing partner Jules Bass created the “Rudolph” special for original sponsor General Electric, said the figures were just going to be thrown out, so his secretary took them home and gave them to family. No effort was made to preserve them, because no one imagined the show would become a hallowed classic.

“You make a film and you don’t know whether it’s going to work or not, whether it will have an audience,” said Rankin, 83, reached by phone in Bermuda, where he is now retired. “In the case of ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,’ it went beyond any expectations.”

Another bit of fun

Posted on by

We’ve been enjoying The Big Bang Theory for two main reasons: one, it features a Houstonian and alum of our favorite local (and sadly defunct) theater company; and two, it’s doing a fine job with actual geek humor and personality types.

What we didn’t realize is that the names of the main characters — Sheldon and Leonard — are a tribute to a film and television producer, director, writer, and actor who, among other things, played Nick the bartender in It’s A Wonderful Life.

Today’s ray of bright, bright sunshine

Posted on by

Jonathan Coulton is a musical god. For example: “Code Monkey think maybe manager want to write god damned login page himself.”

In finding Code Monkey, we also encountered “Skullcrusher Mountain,” which includes this lyrical brilliance:

I made this half-pony half-monkey monster to please you
But I get the feeling that you don’t like it
What’s with all the screaming?
You like monkeys, you like ponies
Maybe you don’t like monsters so much
Maybe I used too many monkeys
Isn’t it enough to know that I ruined a pony making a gift for you?

Yes.

How to Compete, by Dell

Posted on by

Dell’s released a special edition World of Warcraft gaming laptop for a cool $4450.

Now’s probably a good time to point out that I’ve been having a great time in Azeroth since it launched 3 years ago on bone-stock Apple laptops that go for half that: first a then-aged Titanium G4 Powerbook, then, starting 2 years ago, an Aluminum G4, and since August on a Macbook Pro. Sure, a hot-shit laptop is often a lovely thing if you’re playing brand-new very high-end games — but World of Warcraft was released in November of 2004. Machines costing $1,000 will play it fine.

Still, I’m sure Dell is giving you something very, very special for that extra two large. Or something. But the fancy extra hardware will really get you no better WoW experience; buying one of these machines more or less brands the user as clueless dork.

Good luck with that.

Creeping No-Fun Police-State-ism

Posted on by

Radney’s on the case, again, but here’s the fun part: Michigan thinks it can force anyone under the age of 21 to submit to a breathalyzer at any time, i.e. when they’re not driving. And they’re aggressive about it. The ACLU is suing.

A second plaintiff, Ashley Berden was 18 years old when she attended a party at a friend’s house to celebrate her graduation from Swan Valley High School. After she left the party, Thomas Township police officers arrived and found her purse which she had forgotten. They then came to Berden’s house at 4:00 a.m., woke up her family and demanded that she take a breath test. The police did not have a warrant but they informed her that would be violating the law if she refused the test. The test registered a .00% blood-alcohol level, indicating that Berden had not been drinking.

So Proud

Posted on by

Texas joins Kansas, et. al., as another state hostile to science; Christine Castillo Comer was forced to resign as the Texas Education Agency’s director of science for failing to be neutral on the issue of evolution.

It goes like this:

Ms. Comer, 56, of Austin, is out of a job, after forwarding an e-mail message on a talk about evolution and creationism — “a subject on which the agency must remain neutral,” according to a dismissal letter last month that accused her of various instances of “misconduct and insubordination” and of siding against creationism and the doctrine that life is the product of “intelligent design.”

…

Debbie Ratcliffe, a spokeswoman for the state’s education agency in Austin, said Ms. Comer “resigned. She wasn’t fired.”

“Our job,” Ms. Ratcliffe added, “is to enact laws and regulations that are passed by the Legislature or the State Board of Education and not to inject personal opinions and beliefs.”

Ms. Comer disputed that characterization in a series of interviews, her first extensive comments. She acknowledged forwarding to a local online community an e-mail message from the National Center for Science Education, a pro-evolution group, about a talk in Austin on Nov. 2 by Barbara Forrest, a professor of philosophy at Southeastern Louisiana University, a co-author of “Inside Creationism’s Trojan Horse” and an expert witness in the landmark 2005 case that ruled against the teaching of intelligent design in the Dover, Pa., schools.

“I don’t see how I took a position by F.Y.I.-ing on a lecture like I F.Y.I. on global warming or stem-cell research,” Ms. Comer said. “I send around all kinds of stuff, and I’m not accused of endorsing it.” But she said that as a career science educator, “I’m for good science,” and that when it came to teaching evolution, “I don’t think it’s any stretch of the imagination where I stand.”

Ms. Comer said state education officials seemed uneasy lately over the required evolution curriculum. It had always been part of her job to answer letter-writers inquiring about evolution instruction, she said, and she always replied that the State Board of Education supported the teaching of evolution in Texas schools.

But several months ago, in response to an inquiry letter, Ms. Comer said she was instructed to strike her usual statement about the board’s support for teaching evolution and to quote instead the exact language of the high school biology standards as formulated for the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills test.

…

Ms. Comer said that barely an hour after forwarding the e-mail message about Dr. Forrest’s talk, she was called in and informed that Lizzette Reynolds, deputy commissioner for statewide policy and programs, had seen a copy and complained, calling it “an offense that calls for termination.” Ms. Comer said she had no idea how Ms. Reynolds, a former federal education official who served as an adviser to George W. Bush when he was governor of Texas, had seen the message so quickly, and remembered thinking, “What is this, the thought police or what?”

If we do not act as a nation and keep these nutbird fundies out of educational policy now and forever, then we are well and truly fucked. To a first approximation, anyone insisting that dogma has a place in the schoolhouse is more interested in indoctrination than education. It is paramount that people grow up with actual critical thinking skills, but if we let the relgious types run education, that’ll be the first thing out the window.

More: Arkansas, is, of course much worse off, and surging GOP candidate Mike Huckabee is right there with them, defending creationism and the dumbing-down of American science education.

U.S.A.: Nation of Kidnappers

Posted on by

Our government is busily asserting in British court that they have the right to kidnap British citizens in the U.K. if they are suspected of crimes in the U.S. Extradition is unnecessary.

Presumably, the British authorities will take a dim view of this, and remind the Americans that kidnapping is crime in Britain.

I continue to be shocked at the absurd statements this Administration seems wholly willing to promulgate. We as a nation would obviously not accept this line from someone else; it’s utterly contrary to the rule of law, and our support of such might-makes-right positions make it harder for us to “spread democracy” elsewhere. There’s just no way this is a good idea.

Here come those coonasses again

Posted on by

At the end of a weekend crazy enough to cap the craziest season in recent memory, we find a total reordering of the BCS. Here we go.

The first big shock was huge: Big East power West Virginia somehow managed to choke and choke hard, falling to unranked Pitt and thereby becoming the 6th second-ranked team this year to fall, and the 5th to an unranked team. Ouch. Say buh-bye to the title hunt, boys. On the other hand, they did give Pitt its first road win in 14 months. Pitt, for their part, improve to 5 and 7.

Unshocking in the extreme was overrated Mizzou finding itself unable to match Oklahoma. OU dominated the Missouri Tigers even more convincingly than in their regular season matchup back in October; the final score was 38 to 17, and OU claimed its second Big XII title in a row (amusingly, they’ll face the former #2 in the Fiesta Bowl).

With both #1 and #2 off the list, then, where does the BCS go? Well, wonder no more, little buddies, for the answer is known: the title game will feature LSU vs. Ohio State.

How’d we get here? LSU comes in the back door, by claiming the SEC title in their win over Tennessee on Saturday. Ohio State — in their capacity as the the old #3 — is an obvious choice to promote to the big game; they’re 11-1, and the 1 was a shocker against Illinois. LSU, though, requires some explanation. The prior rankings went Mizzou, West Virginia, OSU, Georgia, Kansas, Virginia Tech, LSU. The #1 and #2 losses outlined above clearly disqualify those teams, and OSU is in the show already, which brings us to the matter of Georgia. The 10-2 Bulldogs were for some reason ranked higher than LSU or Tennessee, but they’re manifestly not the SEC champs (they lost to Tennessee, who then lost the SEC title game to LSU), so they get kicked to the curb. (We agree that you can’t expect to play for the brass ring if you don’t win your division.) Kansas is, well, Kansas; they played candyasses all year, and the BCS voters know it. VaTech may be the ACC champs after beating BC on Saturday, but they’ve got just as many losses as LSU, and one of those was a cajun-style 48 to 7 ass-whippin’ from LSU back in September. Which brings us right back to Baton Rouge. (The fact that it took 6 OTs for LSU to lose twice didn’t hurt them.)

What a mess. It would’ve made more sense if the rankings past #2 last week made any sense; the calculus required above makes it clear that Nos. 3 through whatever were pretty much random, because when it came time to pick a new top pair, the BCS realized that their old #4, #5, and #6 needed to be skipped for the top game to make sense, and that means the whole list is a clusterfuck. Frankly, we hope there are many, many more years like this so that everyone sees that the only fair thing is for the NCAA to have a Division I tournament for football just like they do for the lower divisions and just like they do for basketball. There are plenty of plans out there they could adopt, and — quite frankly, and pardon my french — fuck the bowl sponsors. This whole this-bowl and that-bowl proliferation is absurd, and needs to be exposed for the fraud it is.

Finally, there’s one more lovely thing afoot. Very late last night, Colt Brennan and his Hawai’i Warriors managed to rally from 21 points back to win against Washington, 35 to 28, thereby staying perfect and making it impossible for any just system to keep them out of a BCS bowl. (Brennan was 42 of 50, including 6 for 6 in his final 76-yard drive; Hawai’i’s final 28 points were unanswered by the Huskies, who did not score in the second half.) They got their wish: they’ll meet Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. We don’t expect Georgia to have much trouble with the Warriors, but we’ll be rooting against our conference anyway. Hawai’i has tried to play big teams for a while now, to show folks they’re for real, and they’ve been frustrated because quite frankly nobody wants any part of their offense. USC flat out refused to schedule them. They deserve a shot at a good team and a good bowl, and I’m looking forward to watching it. Where can I get a Hawai’i jersey?

Mmmmm, delicious RAM

Posted on by

We’ve updated the Heathen Macbook Pro to 3 gigabytes of RAM, which means that we never, ever go to swaptown anymore, even with a gigabyte instance of VMWare running.

Yummy. Highly recommended.