TechNoir

The Alckemists

2010-10-28T18:31:00.001-07:00

Fox News Poll: Arizona Was Right to Take Action on Immigration

2010-05-07T19:41:00.000-07:00

According to a Fox News Poll released Friday, most American voters think Arizona was right to pass its own immigration law, and think the Obama administration should wait and see how the new law works rather than try to stop it.

Sixty-one percent of voters think Arizona was right to take action instead of waiting for the federal government to do something on immigration, versus 27 percent who think securing the border is a federal responsibility and Arizona should have waited for Washington to act. (Friday Night Lights)

Losing Our Liberties

2010-05-05T09:48:00.000-07:00

If you think the "War on Drugs" is worth losing our civil liberties over, read this article and watch this video of a SWAT raid on a family. All for a misdemeanor charge. We are militarizing our police and letting them terrorize innocent people, simply to win an un-winnable war that we shouldn't be fighting in the first place.

ABC News: “Three days after he decried the lack of civility in American politics, President Obama is quoted in a new book about his presidency referring to the Tea Party movement using a derogatory term with sexual connotations.”

2010-05-04T09:32:00.000-07:00

Jake Tapper: In Jonathan Alter’s “The Promise: President Obama, Year One,”President Obama is quoted in an interview saying that the unanimous vote of House Republicans vote against the stimulus bills “set the tenor for the whole year ... That helped to create the tea-baggers and empowered that whole wing of the Republican Party to where it now controls the agenda for the Republicans.”

Sunday Funnies

2010-05-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

The Mohammed Image Archive

2010-05-01T18:59:00.000-07:00

An archive of every known image, historical and contemporary, of Mohammed has been assembled here.

The image below is from the North Frieze of the Supreme Court building in Washington, DC, which features a bas-relief sculpture of Mohammed, among several other historical law-givers. He is in the center of this image holding a curved scimitar; on his left is Charlemagne, and on his right is Byzantine Emperor Justinian.

May 20th is Everybody Draw Mohammed Day

2010-04-26T13:33:00.000-07:00

In support of the creators of South Park and in resistance of 12th century barbarism.

Tales from the Nanny State

2010-04-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

They came after your trans fat, your salt, and now they are coming after your cocktail.

Four in Ten Tea Party Members are Independents or Democrats

2010-04-05T19:14:00.000-07:00

Multiple polls are showing that the demographics are showing the Tea Party movement to be incredibly mainstream. This story at The Hill sums it up.

Slanders by Congress Against the Tea Party Movement

2010-04-03T15:07:00.000-07:00

I was at the Tea Party protest against the Health Care Reform bill that occurred at the Capitol on March 20th. In fact, I was in front of the Rayburn House Office Building as well. I didn't see the members of the Black Caucus move through the crowd when they allegedly got called the n-word, but I was immediately sceptical when I heard the allegations, based on what I saw of the crowd that day.

Well, the reward for video evidence of the n-word being used against them has risen to $100K, and still nothing has come forward, despite scores of cameras in use. Read all about it here.

Film Premier: Ten Things To Do When Stopped by Police

2010-04-01T17:15:00.000-07:00

A new film from the Cato Institute. The two most important phrases to remember, even if you are totally innocent of anything, are: "I don't consent to any searches" and "Am I being detained, or am I free to go?" Watch the film.

Another Senseless Death in the War on Drugs

2010-03-30T18:43:00.000-07:00

From Reason Online. In 2009 a Pastor was shot by Georgia Bureau of Investigation Agents. Investigating a $50 crime...

A Catalog of Obama's Statement Expiration Dates

2010-03-30T18:40:00.000-07:00

The Campaign Spot at The National Review Online has a lengthy catalog of Obama's statements, when they were first made, and when they were first contradicted, changed, or expired.

Two Presidents Greeting the Troops

2010-03-30T18:37:00.000-07:00

A contrast in styles. And a contrast in reactions. As seen in the LA Times of all places.

New Migraine Blog

2009-12-30T19:04:00.001-08:00

I've started a new blog focused on migraine information.

P90X Results

2009-09-17T17:54:00.000-07:00

Before ___________________________________After

I finished a 90 day round of P90X. I stuck faithfully to the workouts, missing very few due to travel, and making up for the ones I missed by running or doing other activities.

I also stuck to the diet, although I did it my own way, not the way the materials that came with P90X said to do it. In the past 90 days, I have not had any sweets. Very little fatty food. Almost no french fries (just one or two from my kids' meals). Maybe a total of 12 slices of pizza. Lots of protein. And a focus on low Glycemic Index carbs.

I was NOT trying to lose any weight, but I was trying to lose body fat and replace it with lean muscle.

Here are the results:

________________Before_____After
Weight____________146_____143
Body Fat_________13.5%____8.5%
Waist ____________31.5"____29.5"

Pull-ups____________7______13
Push-ups__________31______36
Vertical Leap______15"_____19"
Hamstring_________-6"____-2" (distance from a toe touch)
Ab In and Outs_____56____100
Resting Heart Rate__69_____64

If the body fat measurement is accurate, then these results mean that despite the three pound loss in overall weight, I lost 7.5 pounds of fat, and gained 4.5 pounds of muscle. Not bad for 14 weeks, although I would have been happier with a bit more muscle gain.

It also happened that my work had free health screenings today, so I got to see the effect of P90X on my blood chemistry. In the past, my cholesterol has always been to the high end of the normal range. It even has popped over 200 from time to time, but usually tested around 190-200. The lowest I have ever seen it was in the high 180s. Well, today I tested at 162!

Changes are hard work, but the rewards are immense. More changes to come!

Baltimore School of Rock - Detroit Rock City Show

2009-09-13T07:55:00.000-07:00

The sound quality on the video is bad. I was standing too close to the amps. But is sounded great in the club.

Google's New Opt Out Policy

2009-09-02T17:15:00.001-07:00

Google Opt Out Feature Lets Users Protect Privacy By Moving To Remote Village

New FIRE Ad

2009-08-26T09:30:00.001-07:00

P90X

2009-08-08T08:10:00.000-07:00

I'm now 2/3 of the way through the P90X fitness program, so I'm going to put in a plug for it. I made a vow a couple of months back to get fit while I made some changes in my life.

I've never worked out to a DVD before, but I went ahead and bought this program based on the comments I saw online. It's a 90 day program, and I am now in Week 8. The first few weeks kicked my butt, but I have to say the program works. I do it every morning at 5:30.

I'll post up before and after stats when I get to day 90.

Creepy

2009-08-04T20:29:00.000-07:00

Funny Stuff

2009-08-01T17:07:00.000-07:00

US Healthcare Compared to European and Canadian Healthcare

2009-08-01T15:35:00.000-07:00

Checkout the full story from the Hoover Institution.

The story:

Medical care in the United States is derided as miserable compared to health care systems in the rest of the developed world. Economists, government officials, insurers, and academics beat the drum for a far larger government role in health care. Much of the public assumes that their arguments are sound because the calls for change are so ubiquitous and the topic so complex. Before we turn to government as the solution, however, we should consider some unheralded facts about America’s health care system.

1. Americans have better survival rates than Europeans for common cancers. Breast cancer mortality is 52 percent higher in Germany than in the United States and 88 percent higher in the United Kingdom. Prostate cancer mortality is 604 percent higher in the United Kingdom and 457 percent higher in Norway. The mortality rate for colorectal cancer among British men and women is about 40 percent higher.

2. Americans have lower cancer mortality rates than Canadians. Breast cancer mortality in Canada is 9 percent higher than in the United States, prostate cancer is 184 percent higher, and colon cancer among men is about 10 percent higher.

3. Americans have better access to treatment for chronic diseases than patients in other developed countries. Some 56 percent of Americans who could benefit from statin drugs, which reduce cholesterol and protect against heart disease, are taking them. By comparison, of those patients who could benefit from these drugs, only 36 percent of the Dutch, 29 percent of the Swiss, 26 percent of Germans, 23 percent of Britons, and 17 percent of Italians receive them.

4. Americans have better access to preventive cancer screening than Canadians. Take the proportion of the appropriate-age population groups who have received recommended tests for breast, cervical, prostate, and colon cancer:

Nine out of ten middle-aged American women (89 percent) have had a mammogram, compared to fewer than three-fourths of Canadians (72 percent).

Nearly all American women (96 percent) have had a Pap smear, compared to fewer than 90 percent of Canadians.

More than half of American men (54 percent) have had a prostatespecific antigen (PSA) test, compared to fewer than one in six Canadians (16 percent).

Nearly one-third of Americans (30 percent) have had a colonoscopy, compared with fewer than one in twenty Canadians (5 percent).
5. Lower-income Americans are in better health than comparable Canadians. Twice as many American seniors with below-median incomes self-report “excellent” health (11.7 percent) compared to Canadian seniors (5.8 percent). Conversely, white, young Canadian adults with below-median incomes are 20 percent more likely than lower-income Americans to describe their health as “fair or poor.”

6. Americans spend less time waiting for care than patients in Canada and the United Kingdom. Canadian and British patients wait about twice as long—sometimes more than a year—to see a specialist, have elective surgery such as hip replacements, or get radiation treatment for cancer. All told, 827,429 people are waiting for some type of procedure in Canada. In Britain, nearly 1.8 million people are waiting for a hospital admission or outpatient treatment.

7. People in countries with more government control of health care are highly dissatisfied and believe reform is needed. More than 70 percent of German, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, and British adults say their health system needs either “fundamental change” or “complete rebuilding.”

8. Americans are more satisfied with the care they receive than Canadians. When asked about their own health care instead of the “health care system,” more than half of Americans (51.3 percent) are very satisfied with their health care services, compared with only 41.5 percent of Canadians; a lower proportion of Americans are dissatisfied (6.8 percent) than Canadians (8.5 percent).

9. Americans have better access to important new technologies such as medical imaging than do patients in Canada or Britain. An overwhelming majority of leading American physicians identify computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as the most important medical innovations for improving patient care during the previous decade—even as economists and policy makers unfamiliar with actual medical practice decry these techniques as wasteful. The United States has thirty-four CT scanners per million Americans, compared to twelve in Canada and eight in Britain. The United States has almost twenty-seven MRI machines per million people compared to about six per million in Canada and Britain.

10. Americans are responsible for the vast majority of all health care innovations. The top five U.S. hospitals conduct more clinical trials than all the hospitals in any other developed country. Since the mid- 1970s, the Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology has gone to U.S. residents more often than recipients from all other countries combined. In only five of the past thirty-four years did a scientist living in the United States not win or share in the prize. Most important recent medical innovations were developed in the United States.

Despite serious challenges, such as escalating costs and care for the uninsured, the U.S. health care system compares favorably to those in other developed countries.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

2009-08-01T07:56:00.000-07:00

Leprechaun in Mobile - And I Thought that was Crimson Tide Country

2009-07-29T17:59:00.000-07:00

Paul Krugman Proves the Wrong Point on Canadian Healthcare

2009-07-28T18:30:00.000-07:00

New Blog on the Science of Low Carbs

2009-07-25T08:19:00.001-07:00

For a couple of years I have been following a blog called Gene Expression, which has posts on genetics research breakthroughs, the use of genetics to trace human evolution, and a lot of discussion on the politicization of science.

One of the bloggers at Gene Expression has created a new blog focusing on examining whether the human body has really evolved around a high protein, low carbohydrate diet. A lot of our obesity problems have arisen as a result of the ready availability of cheap carbs. But the health industry has been telling us the contrary: steer away from meat. Eat more carbs.

It passes the common sense test for me. Our species is about 200,000 years old in our current form. For most of that time we have been hunter-gatherers. The latest evolutionary breakthroughs that allowed us to get big brains and walk fully erect were when we were able to more effectively hunt. The idea that our ancestors were able to find two to three thousand calories per day, with most of them coming from carbs, is ridiculous. They had to be getting the bulk of them from meat. Try to plan a day's worth of meals equalling your maintenance level of calories without a significant amount of fat in the mix. You need a tremendous amount of food. More than someone could walk around and gather day in and day out.

Until the advent of agriculture, which happened only in the last 10,000 years. Certainly our bodies have started adapting to the new diet that agriculture has brought to us, but 10,000 years of evolution does not reverse the hundreds of thousands of years that came before.

Anyway, there are not a lot of posts up yet. But check them out at Low Carb Art and Science.

GE Continues to Journey with Obama into Facism

2009-06-23T09:28:00.000-07:00

Facism - the joining of corporate and government interests. State controlled economy. Hmmm.

More rent seeking by GE. GE has now hired Linda Daschle as a lobbyist. Linda Daschle is the wife of Tom Daschle, the former Senate Majority Leader and Obama's first pick as HHS Secretary. GE was one of Obama's top 20 sources of corporate funds in 2008.

Great comments at the link. Such as this one from someone named Rick Caird: "GE has become the perfect example of a so called capitalistic company engaging in pure rent seeking. They want Congressional subsidies for things like wind mills and others of their product lines. You mention MSNBC as being heavily skewed left, but we also see John Harwood at NBC who needs to get a room every time he talks about Obama. Then, there is the censoring at CNBC. Dylan Rattigan is gone after a rant on the government funded payouts by AIG to the the likes of Goldman and foreign banks. Santelli has been muzzled after his rant suggesting tea parties. GE is a prime example of a rent seeking company that should not be allowed to own media companies to pursue its rent seeking. Rick"

Sundae, Bloody Sundae

2009-06-21T18:30:00.000-07:00

While demonstrators in Tehran are gunned down by the forces of the "Supreme Leader", Obama ponders his most important decision of the day (Sunday, June 21st, 2009)

"I can’t believe the news today
Oh, I can’t close my eyes and make it go away!

How long?
How long must we sing this song?
How long?
How long?

‘Cause tonight…we can be as one
Tonight…
Broken bottles under children’s feet
Bodies strewn across the dead-end streets
But I won’t heed the battle call
It puts my back up, puts back up against the wall!"
-U2

Obama Got His 3am Phone Call

2009-06-15T12:34:00.000-07:00

And the phone was off the hook. Or maybe he just voted present. Just a few short weeks after extending an open hand to the oppressive regime in Iran, Obama's 3am phone call came in the form of a stolen election there. Did his administration issue a statement supporting democracy? Supporting the people in the streets? No. So, then, it must have accepted the legitimacy of the elections. Well, it didn't do that either. It just voted "present."

GE enables Obama's Journey into Statism

2009-06-06T13:04:00.000-07:00

Americas journey into statism is being led by GE, the conglomerate that has its own huge media arm. GE is using its media might to stifle criticism of its industrial policies, while at the same time using its media power to promote Obama administration policies that will directly benefit GE, such as government-managed healthcare, cap-and-trade, and other energy mandates.

Read the history of facsism and you will see that this sort of progressive government/corporate collaboration was the cornerstone of those systems (which were leftist systems that used corporations to their benefit as opposed to communism that dissolved corporations).

See this link to see what GE and Jeff Immelt have been up to lately.

Look at What Obama's Stimulus Has Gotten Us So Far

2009-06-06T09:09:00.000-07:00

Innocent Bystanders has been tracking actual unemployment data against the promises the Obama administration made when they justified the stimulus package. Remember, Congress had to pass it so quickly they had no time to read it. It was a crisis. Yeah, right.

No More Apologies

2009-06-06T09:07:00.000-07:00

From Michael Ramirez

Obama the Marxist

2009-05-26T17:29:00.000-07:00

I'm going to start a series of posts showing how Obama and his administration are using Marxist tactics to create a new form of liberal facism before our very eyes.

Exhibit 1. A blog has been set up to analyze the political donations of the Chrysler dealerships that have been selected for closure. No one that I have seen has been able to come up with any sort of business rationale, nor has the corporation or government (they are the same at this point in time) come out with a rationale, for which dealerships were selected to be closed. Some on the closure list are very profitable. Others are not. Some selected to remain open are money losers, some are not.

But look at the list of where the owners of the closed dealerships donated their money. It all went either to the Republican party, Republican candidates, or to Democratic rivals of Obama's.

Summary from the first five pages of closings (from gatewaypundit via the original blog I cited):

During the 2008 Presidential Election, they gave:

$7,150 to John McCain
$2,300 to Gov. Mitt Romney
$500 to Gov. Mike Huckabee
$1,950 to Sen. Hillary Clinton
$0 to Pres. Obama

Where there is smoke, there is fire. More to come.

The Duckies are in Oprah Magazine!

2009-05-24T18:45:00.001-07:00

Check it out! The Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies made the online version of Oprah Magazine.

Great Honda Insight Review from Jeremy Clarkson

2009-05-20T18:30:00.000-07:00

I did a lot of research into hybrid technologies while working at GE's Global Research Center. They have potential in applications that involve lots of starts and stops, such as delivery vans. But I always laugh when I see a granola-muncher driving a Prius at 60mph on the freeway. All they are doing is hauling 400lbs of batteries around with an undersized gasoline engine.

Check out this Times of London review of the Honda Insight by Jeremy Clarkson of the BBC's Top Gear. Funny stuff.

Awkward Family Photos

2009-05-20T16:13:00.001-07:00

Great web site. Submit your own. Come on. You know you've got 'em.

The National Debt Road Trip

2009-05-15T16:06:00.001-07:00

The video below does a great job of visualizing the dramatic increase in the rate at which Obama's spending will increase the debt.

According to this article in Human Event, if you’re a 20-year-old, just starting out after college, you will pay a whopping $114,000 over your working life just to service the interest on the debt created by the Obama budget.

The World's Best Illusions

2009-05-14T16:53:00.000-07:00

The world's best illusions have been chosen at a gathering last weekend of neuroscientists and psychologists at the Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts in Florida. Story here.

2009-05-12T18:30:00.001-07:00

Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies Take Third at the US Open

2009-05-10T12:55:00.001-07:00

The Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies took third place overall at the US Open Championships of the First Lego League. More details to follow when results get posted on the official website. Congratulations to the Ducks!

Topless Photo of Gay Marriage Opponent Released

2009-05-06T10:26:00.000-07:00

You've all heard the controversy about Miss California USA (or whatever she is officially called). She was asked a question in the Miss Universe contest that apparently had only one correct answer. So now she is being vilified. At the bottom of this post you will see a recent topless photo (don't worry, it has been edited and is work-safe) that was released, possibly because this person had come out publicly against gay marriage?

For the record, I am ambivalent about gay marriage. As a libertarian, I think the government should get out of the marriage business altogether. Why should the government have ANY role in determining living arrangements between individuals? If people have religious beliefs about the nature of marriage, then have a nice church ceremony and be done with it. If there needs to be tax/benefits arrangements that involve the government, allow people to register as households in any combination they see fit, but the cleanest thing would be to treat every citizen as an individual and stop subsidizing (or penalizing) marriage/cohabitation.

That being said, given the fact that the government has played a role in defining marriage, and has accepted the traditional definition of marriage as it has stood for hundreds of years, I am strongly against unelected judges redefining the law. That is a task best left to elected legislatures. It is how our system of representative government was set up. It takes a little more time and patience to get something changed, but then once something is changed, it's harder for the opposition to complain that they got screwed.

And now for those topless photos of our most prominent gay marriage opponent:

Notre Dame Lacrosse Enters the Tourney Ranked #2

2009-05-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

Notre Dame beat Ohio State 16-7 in the Great Western Lacrosse League championship game to finish the season 15-0 and ranked #2. NCAA tournament brackets will be announced tonight on ESPNU. Hopefully they will be in the bracket that plays the semis at the Naval Academy so I can catch a game.

Update (Monday 5/4):

Here are the brackets. Notre Dame won't be playing in Maryland. If they win their home game against the University of Maryland, they have to play the Syracuse/Siena winner in the NY bracket.

ANNAPOLIS BRACKET
(First round games at higher seed)

No. 1 Virginia (13-2) vs. Villanova (11-5)
No. 8 Johns Hopkins (9-4) vs. Brown (12-3)
No. 3 Duke (13-3) vs. Navy (11-4)
No. 6 North Carolina (11-5) vs. UMBC (12-3)

HEMPSTEAD BRACKET
(First round games at higher seed)

No. 2 Syracuse (12-2) vs. Siena (12-5)
No. 7 Notre Dame (15-0) vs. Maryland (9-6)
No. 4 Princeton (12-2) vs. Massachusetts (9-5)
No. 5 Cornell (10-3) vs. Hofstra (11-3)

Funniest Dash Cam Video Ever

2009-05-02T19:19:00.000-07:00

I saw this one on one of those "Spike TV" shows. Sure enough, the video was available on YouTube. Watch until near the end when the trooper very slowly explains to the driver that he can mail the ticket in by placing a stamp on the ticket and placing it in a mailbox...

Empty Spaces

2009-04-27T13:25:00.001-07:00

My daughter took this picture with her cell phone camera.

This table at the Wayfarer Restaurant in Cannon Beach has to have one of the best views (Haystack Rock) of any table in the world. And no one is sitting there enjoying it. Sad.

The More Things Change...

2009-04-27T08:42:00.000-07:00

My mother sent me this editorial cartoon that appeared in the Chicago Tribune in 1934.

FBRD Video

2009-04-25T21:20:00.000-07:00

Here is the Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies research presentation for the 2009 Lego robotics challenge.

2009 FIRST LEGO® League United States Open Championship

2009-04-22T15:21:00.000-07:00

The Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies will be representing the State of Oregon at the FIRST LEGO® League United States Open Championship in Dayton, OH May 7-9, 2009 at Wright State University. The Duckies won first place in the Oregon competition in January. Good luck Ducks!

Thoughts After a Remembrance

2009-04-19T09:44:00.000-07:00

I just got back from New York City, where I had driven for the funeral remembrance of an Aunt who had passed away. She died after living alone for most of her life.

This week has been full of loss, and reminders of loss, in subtle and not-so-subtle ways.

Take time to do something nice for someone this week. Bring some happiness to someone unexpectedly.

And let's all hope that if we have regrets, that we can make things right while we still have the chance.

Smile Train

2009-04-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

Please donate to this worthy cause. I don't know why this charity has always pulled at my heartstrings, but it has. Please donate if you can. As I recall, 100% of the donations they receive go to funding operations. All overhead and fundraising expenses are funded by other sources. A few years ago I got fed up by the charities that my work was selecting for our corporate donations to go do, because the overhead expense ratio was so high. I came across Smile Train and started donating to them. It's nice to know that your money is changing someone's life and is not just generating more direct mail or funding a phone bank.

Neon Aftershock

2009-04-09T17:58:00.000-07:00

Squeeze Bacon !!!!

2009-04-01T17:31:00.002-07:00

Ah, science. What can't it accomplish? The Swedish Squeez Bacon technology has now been applied to US swine. You can order Squeez Bacon from ThinkGeek.com

Here is a video of the Swedish commercial for SqueezBacon.

The English subtitles are hilarious:

"Masculine kind, is your breadmeat lackluster, leaving your satisfaction the no?"

"Modern ladies, is not preparing of the smoked swine the mess and unpleasing?"

April Fools!!!

Government Auto Repair Centers

2009-04-01T17:14:00.000-07:00

Hilarious! Video from Reason.

The Worst Bollywood Movie Ever - Superman

2009-03-20T18:14:00.000-07:00

I've stayed in some hotels in India where the TV showed CNN International and 63 channels of Bollywood movies. This one may be the worst ever made, but not by much!

Video here.

How Credit Default Swaps Work

2009-02-24T17:29:00.000-08:00

This is a great article in Wired explaining how credit default swaps work.

"For five years, Li's formula, known as a Gaussian copula function, looked like an unambiguously positive breakthrough, a piece of financial technology that allowed hugely complex risks to be modeled with more ease and accuracy than ever before. With his brilliant spark of mathematical legerdemain, Li made it possible for traders to sell vast quantities of new securities, expanding financial markets to unimaginable levels."

The article explains what happened in very accessible terms.

Joe Biden, Real Man of Genius

2009-02-24T17:16:00.000-08:00

See the video here.

We need to look at the situation, the hierarchy, the power relationship here.

2009-02-23T19:22:00.000-08:00

Thank God yahoos like this didn't go to my school. The video is hilarious.

It's from the failed NYU Food Court Revolution. The demands of these knuckleheads:

1. Full legal and disciplinary amnesty for all parties involved in the occupation.
2. Full compensation for all employees whose jobs were disrupted during the course of the occupation.
3. Public release of NYU’s annual operating budget, including a full list of university expenditures, salaries for all employees compensated on a semester or annual basis, funds allocated for staff wages, contracts to non-university organizations for university construction and services, financial aid data for each college, and money allocated to each college, department, and administrative unit of the university. Furthermore, this should include a full disclosure of the amount and sources of the university’s funding.
4. Disclosure of NYU’s endowment holdings, investment strategy, projected endowment growth, and persons, corporations and firms involved in the investment of the university’s endowment funds. Additionally, we demand an endowment oversight body of students, faculty and staff who exercise shareholder proxy voting power for the university’s investments.
5. That the NYU Administration agrees to resume negotiations with GSOC/UAW Local 2110 – the union for NYU graduate assistants, teaching assistants, and research assistants. That NYU publicly affirm its commitment to respect all its workers, including student employees, by recognizing their right to form unions and to bargain collectively. That NYU publicly affirm that it will recognize workers’ unions through majority card verification.
6. That NYU signs a contract guaranteeing fair labor practices for all NYU employees at home and abroad. This contract will extend to subcontracted workers, including bus drivers, food service employees and anyone involved in the construction, operation and maintenance at any of NYU’s non-U.S. sites.
7. The establishment of a student elected Socially Responsible Finance Committee. This Committee will have full power to vote on proxies, draft shareholder resolutions, screen all university investments, establish new programs that encourage social and environmental responsibility and override all financial decisions the committee deems socially irresponsible, including investment decisions. The committee will be composed of two subcommittees: one to assess the operating budget and one to assess the endowment holdings. Each committee will be composed of ten students democratically elected from the graduate and under-graduate student bodies. All committee decisions will be made a strict majority vote, and will be upheld by the university. All members of the Socially Responsible Finance Committee will sit on the board of trustees, and will have equal voting rights. All Socially Responsible Finance Committee and Trustee meetings shall be open to the public, and their minutes made accessible electronically through NYU’s website. Elections will be held the second Tuesday of every March beginning March 10th 2009, and meetings will be held biweekly beginning the week of March 30th 2009.
8. That the first two orders of business of the Socially Responsible Finance committee will be:
a) An in depth investigation of all investments in war and genocide profiteers, as well as companies profiting from the occupation of Palestinian territories.
b) A reassessment of the recently lifted of the ban on Coca Cola products.
9. That annual scholarships be provided for thirteen Palestinian students, starting with the 2009/2010 academic year. These scholarships will include funding for books, housing, meals and travel expenses.
10. That the university donate all excess supplies and materials in an effort to rebuild the University of Gaza.
11. Tuition stabilization for all students, beginning with the class of 2012. All students will pay their initial tuition rate throughout the course of their education at New York University. Tuition rates for each successive year will not exceed the rate of inflation, nor shall they exceed one percent. The university shall meet 100% of government-calculated student financial need.
12. That student groups have priority when reserving space in the buildings owned or leased by New York University, including, and especially, the Kimmel Center.
13. That the general public have access to Bobst Library.

Ha!

2009-02-20T15:56:00.001-08:00

If a Presidential Action Isn't Reported to the White House Press Corps, Does It Make A Sound?

2009-02-18T17:17:00.000-08:00

More about the "change" that Obama is bringing to Washington. It would be nice if the press took as adversarial a role as they did during the Bush administration.

And Now Sen. Schumer Wishes He Had Actually Read the Stimulus Bill

2009-02-18T17:12:00.000-08:00

Unbelievable.

More Doublespeak from Obama

2009-02-17T17:33:00.000-08:00

Some random campaign promises:

1. He would go through the federal budget line by line and get rid of waste

2. He would post all bills for at least five days on the internet before signing them

The anointed one has gotten off to a bad start. Not a single bill has been put up for public review. And we just tripled the national debt with the "stimulus" package.

The package was passed so quickly because of the dire emergency that members of congress did not even have time to read it before voting on it. But guess what, once it was passed, Obama took a nice weekend vacation and then travelled to Denver for a ceremonial signing 5 days after passage! If it was such an emergency....

Claudia Rosette has a good commentary here.

More Amazing Ideas from the Greens

2009-02-16T18:06:00.000-08:00

First up, people who get rid of their fridge to reduce their carbon footprint. And how do they cope? They bring home ice from the ice machine at work. I guess that doesn't have a carbon footprint, does it? The really bad thing is that the moronic reporter from the NY Times doesn't even see the connection. If you can't do, teach. If you can't teach, report.

Next up, The Guardian, where they are reporting on a plan in Britain to use speed bumps to generate electricity. The reporter, who must have slept through the first and second laws of thermodynamics, credulously reports that this power will be "free." Granted, some small amount of energy that would have been wasted may get captured, but the deflection of the speed bump will steal even more kinetic energy from the car, meaning more smoke up the tailpipe. Nothing in this universe is free.

How We Select Our Leaders

2009-02-12T17:38:00.000-08:00

A guy who used to work for me sent me this story, which is NOT a good sign! The article has some interesting insights into how we perceive leadership. If you look at how we pick our political leaders, you definitely can see that we pick the ones who talk the most. Chuck Schumer would be a perfect example.

The article is here.

Ha

2009-02-09T10:04:00.000-08:00

A friend sent me this picture. Why does this guy think that the Morans need to get a brain?

Seriously, I am amazed at what people will put on a sign without checking first. Our educational system at its best. I guess this guy's self esteem is perfectly intact, even if his spelling is not.

Bacon Scented Air Freshener

2009-02-04T17:48:00.000-08:00

Available from Amazon. Clear the air after you eat the Bacon Explosion.

Bacon Flavored Dental Floss

2009-02-04T16:27:00.000-08:00

Available at Amazon. Clean your teeth after eating the Bacon Explosion.

Michael Phelps Congratulates the Cardinals on their Bodacious Win

2009-02-02T16:25:00.000-08:00

The Borowitz report. Funny stuff.

"The Cardinals really tore it up last night," said Mr. Phelps, who said he saw almost the entire game until he got "a wicked attack of the munchies" late in the fourth quarter.

"Maybe it was the Doritos commercial, I don't know, but suddenly I got unbelievably hungry," said Mr. Phelps, giggling uncontrollably. "I was like, man, I have got to get me some Doritos, stat!"

Hmmm... Obama is Going to Preserve Rendition as an Option

2009-02-01T17:44:00.001-08:00

From the LA Times: Obama has issued an executive order declaring the CIA can still use renditions. Obama and the rest of the left have been excoriating Bush for years over this policy. I guess now that Obama has seen the intelligence briefings, he has realized that there really are bad people out there who would like to do us harm. The left and the media will give Obama a free pass on this. Hope and change and all that.

Bacon Flavored Jellybeans

2009-02-01T17:30:00.000-08:00

More bacon - well, bacon jellybeans anyway. Get 'em from Amazon.

Kill the Zombie Timewaster

2009-02-01T14:45:00.000-08:00

Kill the zombies before they kill you. A macabre timewaster.

A Great Timewaster

2009-02-01T14:38:00.001-08:00

Bloxorz, one of the best timewasters I've come across. Addictive.

More Bacon

2009-01-28T18:31:00.000-08:00

Yummy. Bacon pie.

Obama's War

2009-01-24T18:05:00.000-08:00

Obama ordered a predator strike in Pakistan. Reports indicate seven people were killed, including three children. Where are the lefties and the anti-war wingnuts?

Papertoss Timewaster

2009-01-23T20:03:00.001-08:00

Toss the paper in the trashcan, but you have to use the fan.

Word Jumble Timewaster

2009-01-23T19:57:00.000-08:00

Timewaster here.

Really Creepy Video

2009-01-22T03:59:00.000-08:00

Self-indulgent, rich, Hollywood stars make cheesy pledges for Obama. Stalin's propaganda machine could not have done better. Video here.

Why We Shouldn't Bail Out GM

2009-01-21T17:36:00.000-08:00

While waiting for my car to arrive from Oregon, I had to rent a car in Maryland. The rental company put me in a Chevrolet HHR. What a piece of crap. This car alone is reason enough not to send any taxpayer money to GM. Any company that can produce a car this bad has no hope.

My car finally arrived on a big, three-trailer auto transport. It was a pretty amazing system. Here is a picture of the truck. The red mustang lifted up and the black car was backed out. My car was snug up in the front of the trailer.

Funny Stuff

2009-01-19T19:22:00.000-08:00

Check out the video at this link. It's Richard Simmons on "Whose Line is it Anyway"

Notre Dame Has a New Offensive Line Coach

2009-01-18T05:30:00.000-08:00

Offensive line play was arguable the biggest failing of the Irish this year, and it has been a consistent failing during the Charlie Weis era. John Latina, the incumbent OL coach, is a great recruiter and even a good coach (if you look at his past accomplishments), but his unit never got the job done. On paper, Notre Dame's OL should have dominated in most games, but our running game never got going.

Weis finally addressed this issue by hiring veteran OL coach Frank Verducci.

Let's hope we can figure out how to attack the way Notre Dame used to. Even a failed running attempt should net the Irish 2-3 yards. So far in the Weis era, that has been our average gain on a running play. That has got to change.

South Bend Tribune Article

Blue and Gold Article

ND/SMC Observer

Why You Should Always Check Your Kid's Homework

2009-01-14T17:36:00.001-08:00

This is classic! From YewNork Babe.

Mommy works at Home Depot, you see, and in the picture she is supposed to be selling a shovel.

Mmm, Bacon Explosion

2009-01-09T18:04:00.000-08:00

Introducing the bacon explosion

The Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies

2009-01-08T18:28:00.000-08:00

For a more Politically Correct take on global warming, check out this great video from the Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies, a Lego Robotics team from Oregon.

And be sure to visit their website

Honey Laundering: A sticky trail of intrigue and crime

2009-01-08T18:22:00.001-08:00

Who knew? Those little plastic bears conceal a lot of crime...

Seattle P-I

Even the Huffington Post is showing Global Warming skepticism

2009-01-04T15:23:00.000-08:00

See this article from Eric Ambler at HuffPo. Of course the commenters say he should not be heard. The science is "settled." It was also settled science that the sun revolved around the earth, but eventually the scientific consensus changed.

An Inconvenient Truth: The Planet is Cooling

2009-01-01T21:38:00.000-08:00

Here is an interesting editorial from the Baltimore examiner. Has Anthropogenic Global Warming finally jumped the shark in 2008?

This picture is from our back deck in Tualatin, Oregon in December, 2008. The Portland area doesn't typically see snow falls like this, at least not in the last 50 years. But with sunspot activity at a minimum, this will be more typical winter weather for the next few years. Portland better get some snowplows.

My Latest Read

2009-01-01T21:03:00.000-08:00

I just finished "Blood is Dirt" by Robert Wilson. It is the third book in the Bruce Medway mystery series, which takes place in West Africa. I recommend all the books in the series.

Amazon Link

Welcome to TechNoir

2008-12-31T22:14:00.001-08:00