December 23, 2005
Merry Christmas
Milad Majid.
Feliz Navidad.
Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan.
Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok.
Gajan Kristnaskon.
Ojenyunyat Sungwiyadeson honungradon nagwutut. Ojenyunyat osrasay.
Meri Kirihimete.
However you say it, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
December 20, 2005
Make My Day
Arnold beats some punks at their own game. He's angling for the Harry S Truman award: I tell it like is and they think I'm giving them hell.
He's Right, You Know
Tom Maguire explains the symbolism behind Time's photograph of the publicity twins, Joe and Valerie Wilson. The only thing he left out is that Joe not only outed Valerie in his NYT op-ed, he followed up with David Corn to make sure that nobody missed just how important she was.
Next up for Tom, Ulysses.
I'd Be Willing To Pay Real Money
Are some companies famous for their cost cutting reaching the point of doing more harm than good? Megan McCardle has sworn off Dell because of their low cost support. I was in the Wal-Mart in Kirkwood the other day, and even though the store is newer than the one near me in Town & Country (where I haven't had a bad experience other than their refusal via red tape to honor tax exempt status for the Boy Scouts), it is poorly lit and dirty, the staff is surly and unhelpful. My wife observed we always have a bad experience there - this time it was the clerk in the Photo department who told my wife she had no idea where the film drop off was and then ignored her.
Don't get me wrong, cheap is good, but there comes a point in cutting costs where service and quality suffer far more than the price comes down. And it may be that at certain companies, the drive to cut cost above all else may have become counter productive.
Oh The Line Forms On The Right, Babe
Charles Austin is back -- and I loved his take on Ms. Sheehan in Spain. Once a blogger, always a blogger. I'm tempted to set up a category to cover bloggers who've come back from hiatus. Now we just need Dodd Harris to return (or at least give me a clue if he already is).
December 19, 2005
Narnia at the Movies
The Murphy Family saw The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe friday night in a full house. I have mixed feelings about the movie: it is simply superb in every way - writing, casting, plot, dialogue effects, and all the small touches that go into a first rate movie, yet in the end I was unsatisfied (unlike the rest of the family who all just adored it). The dissatisfaction arouse with the scenes of Aslan's death and resurrection. I discovered I'm not a big fan of allegory, and especially when it comes to something so important, so central as the death and resurrection of Jesus, and when it is presented in such a way as to make it less comprehensible and comprehensive. I wasn't offended, just let down.
December 16, 2005
Some Things Will Never Change
Why is the media doing such a bad job in Iraq? Don't take my word for it, don't take our soldier's word for it, take a journalist's word for it:
Think about everything you’ve heard about the conditions in Iraq, the role of U.S. forces, the multi-layered complexities of the war.Then think again.
I’m a journalist. I read the news everyday, from several sources. I have the luxury of reading stuff newspapers don’t always have room to print. I read every tidbit I could on Iraq and the war before coming.
Everything I thought I knew was wrong.
Maybe not wrong, but certainly different than the picture in my head.
The spirit of Baghdad Bob lives on.
Via Small Dead Animals.
And Don't It Feel Good
Yesterday was another great day for Iraq -- an estimated 70% of registered voters braved long lines and possible violence to vote. One vote (or even increasing participation over three votes as has been seen) isn't the final step of the march to democracy. But it is a significant milestone of that march. The hardest test of all isn't coming out to vote, but the peaceful transfer of power from one faction to another as a result of an election. The United States didn't face this test until 1800 and the election of Thomas Jefferson - 24 years after he wrote the Declaration of Independence.
It is often said that you can't impose democracy by force which seems to me a total misread of the typical situtation. Normally, you have to use force to stop those who seek to suppress democracy - the British in 1776, Hitler & Tojo in 1941, Saddam in 2003. And force can be required to keep a country democratic, from opponents both internal and external. But truly representative government is popular enough that you don't have to impose it by force, even in cases like the United States where people nearly universally are willing to abide by results of elections they don't even bother to vote in. Is anybody forcing the Iraqi's to vote? Or are they voting because they see representative government as a solution to some of their most pressing problems?
I've maintained all along that the war in Iraq will be won or lost (from the American point of view) by the Iraqi's themselves. Our job was to provide enough security, aid, advice, and yes, encouragement so that the people of Iraq could set up their own democratic government and security forces that they could defeat the insurgents themselves. We could not, nor should we try, to obliterate the insurgancy, set up a fully functioning democratic country in Iraq, and then turn all this over to Iraqi's who had had not part up until then. There is no such thing as a turnkey country. If we had, it would have collapsed like a house of cards as soon as we left.
December 14, 2005
Taum Sauk Dam Fails
The upper dam at Taum Sauk failed early this morning, about 5:30 AM, sending a wall of water down the Black River. Three children were injured in the flood. Why the dam failed is unknown, although it did rain here in Missouri last night. The dam had prior leaking problems that were fixed in 2004.
The dam that failed is part of a hydro electric battery which consists of an upper reservoir connected to a lower reservoir by a tunnel that houses electricity generating turbines and pumps. During peak electrical usage times (typically summer days) water is released from the upper reservoir to flow through the electic turbines and then pumped back up during low usage times (usually that night). The beauty of the system that it helps deal with high cost peak demand in an elegant way. From the Department of Energy's Residential Electricity Prices: A Consumer's Guide:
In most areas, the cost to generate electricity fluctuates daily and monthly. These fluctuations are a response to changes in demand for electricity. Daily demand for electricity is usually highest in the afternoon and early evening (on-peak). Seasonal peaks reflect regional weather and climatic conditions, with the highest occurring in the summer when air-conditioning use is greatest. Power plants tend to operate in two basic modes: base-load and base-load peaking load. Base-load power plants are most efficient generating electricity at an even, consistent level, around the clock, and generally include nuclear, coal-fired, geothermal and waste-to-energy plants. Some plants may sit as a “spinning reserve” during off-peak or on-peak periods. Peaking plants are turned on or “dispatched” as demand increases above the normal base demand or load. Peaking plants are expensive to operate, often fueled by refined oil products, or natural gas, and have a fuel cost per kWh higher than a baseload plant. Hydropower plants can operate in base and/or peaking mode. A relatively small amount of electricity is generated from “pumped storage” plants. These economically efficient plants pump water from a river or reservoir up into reservoirs located above hydroelectric turbines.
Noted local naturalist Edgar Dennison, once a UE employee, was responsible for the museum at the power plant. I don't know if it is still open, but it was when I visited there as a kid in the early '70s.
The setting for Taum Sauk couldn't be more gorgeous, near the Arcadia Valley. If you like scenery, and you're ever in Missouri, be sure to visit the Taum Sauk area, including Johnson's shut-ins -- cleaned up since I was a kid when it was a haven for biker gangs, Elephant Rocks -- giant pink granite boulders, Mina Sauk falls, and other attractions.
A local resident asks for your prayers.
Gateway Pundit has lots more on the story.
Group blog The Oil Drum looks at the power aspects of the story.
December 13, 2005
Laugh In Looks At The News
Mr Lileks proves once again that he can write: A 2005 Rollick:
An oppressive colonizer is forced to withdraw from occupied Arab land. This is initially met with dancing in the streets of Cairo, Paris, and Turtle Bay. Then everyone realizes it is Syria pulling out of Lebanon. You must understand that the Cedar Revolution, after years of Syrian domination, has nothing to do with the American presence in Iraq, you jingoist. It's just one of those international coincidences like the moon being where it was when Apollo 11 flew past. A few months later, Israel voluntarily withdraws from Gaza, earning approximately 17 seconds of good will from the international community. Personal best!
And that's just a small sample.
December 12, 2005
Empty Churches
The latest controversy to roil evangelicalism is the decision of several megachurches to not hold services on Christmas Day this year because it falls on a Sunday. We actually discussed this yesterday during my Adult Bible Fellowship Class (otherwise known as Sunday School) because we have two teachers and they got off track about who was teaching what. So one of the teachers through this is out as a topic of discussion. Personally, I'm of two minds here, because yes it is crazy to cancel Christmas services because they fall on Christmas Sunday, but why not since everybody was just in Church the evening/night before for a Christmas Eve service. OK, the Murphy Family at this point is planning to be in the pew at our church on Christmas morning following being in the pew at my Father-in-Law's church the night before (just as we have for the past 17 years).
While I'm not going to fault the churches that decided to skip a Sunday, I'm going to agree with the position of a pastor who appeared on a TV show to discuss as relayed by my ADF teacher: "We made the decision a long time ago to hold services every Sunday of the year regardless of circumstance - whether it was Christmas, we lost power, whatever". I think that's the right position - it doesn't matter how many show up, the doors will be open. I know, easy for me to say, since I all I have to do is show up and maybe help serve communion.
The Internet Monk has big roundup on this subject and is also spot on in his analysis.
iPod Nation Minus 1
I'm a stock owning member of the Apple Cult, so while I love iPod and what it's done for the company (and the stock), it pains me that (1) it's expensive and (2) I can't think of a good reason I should own one. If it were cheaper, I wouldn't need a good reason, but before I'm going to shell out even $99 for the least expensive model, I have to have a place to listen to it. I already have a CD player at home, at work, and in my car, so the only significant chunk of time left is when I'm attending the Fruit of the Murphy Loins activites, and listening to my iPod instead of cheering them on or listening to them play their own music is more than just bad form.
December 9, 2005
Free Web Site With House Purchase!
We listed our home for sale 6 months ago the conventional way, with a real estate agent. Six months later, after several price reductions and about 30 showings, we have gotten zero offers. We moved out 4 months ago, so the house is empty and I'm getting financially tired of owning two houses. If what you're doing doesn't work, trying doing something different.
I bought the domain 5419omaha.com and put up a web page describing our house, with pretty pictures. Having your own web page for your house is cool, because you can post things that listing agents don't normally post, like the house location and elevation accurate to within 10 meters. And you never know when a potential buyer might want to look at a satellite view of the house, so I put that in, too. The web site is:
I am figuring out a good way to list the house in the MLS (Multiple Listing Service), but with the web site we have a central contact point no matter what else we do. The domain will be posted on our front-lawn sign. If someone can't figure out how to browse to an Internet domain, then (begin snide comment) they probably can't afford the house anyway (end snide comment). Okay, okay, we'll include a contact phone number.
I tried to keep the write-up "normal", but some humor crept in despite my best efforts. I will have no use for this web site and domain after the house sells, so I figured, what the heck? Let's include the web site and domain with the house purchase! It's a gimmick, but hey - when conventional methods don't work, ya gotta try unconventional ones.
Since Christine is an ebay expert, I asked her to put a listing on craigslist.com. Then the very next day at work I saw a demo of some new Google map technology using AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript and XML). The engineer used housingmaps.com as an example of placing overlays on top of Google maps. He moved the display over our town, and sure enough, there was a little balloon over our house for sale!
That was cool. Way cool!
December 8, 2005
I Will Not Serve
Needless to say, once again I'm not nominated for the Weblog Awards. I only know there is such a contest because I keep seeing posts at my favorite blogs saying "Go vote for me!". I could say I was left out because the TTLB Ecosystem has managed to not show my blog by also not let me add it back in because it says I'm already in the system. But that wouldn't be the case. What can I say, I'm not popular.
So what is the point of holding such awards? Haven't we moved beyond popularity? There's a gazillion blogs out there that cover more than a gazillion topics, so why worry about what everybody else is reading? Isn't that the whole point of the internet information revolution? Prosumerism? Will we eternally be stuck in Junior High (middle school to all you youngsters out there)? The only point I see isn't in crushing your enemies and hearing the lamentations of their women, but in finding other blogs you'd like to read. And I don't know if an award contest is really the best way to do it. Given how many blog, how little time, I'm not even sure I want to find other blogs to read.
Anyway, I've voted. It's not like democracy in Iraq or anything - more like democracy in Venezuala these days.
December 7, 2005
ABC, Mel Gibson, and The Holocaust
Jeff Jarvis is upset that ABC is making a TV miniseries about the Holocaust with Mel Gibson and that ABC is happy that the controversy that is bound to ensue will increase viewership. Jeff quotes Elie Wiesel: we must not bring theater to Auschwitz or Auschwitz to theater — that is, we must not exploit the emotions of the Holocaust for the sake of drama or think that drama can adequately tell the story.
There's a whole bunch here to digest, so let me start with Mr. Gibson. Yes, his father is a holocaust denier, but that doesn't mean Mel is. I think the son should be judged on his own. I find it humurous in a sad way that Jeff is adding to the very controversy the use of which he decries. But perhaps a real problem for me is that because the series will based upon the experiences of a Jewish family who lived because they were hidden by Christians in the Netherlands, the focus will be on what good people Christians are, which I don't think is the best focus on a movie about the Holocaust, and we won't be forced to confront the monstrous face of evil of the Holocaust.
I think if all ABC sees by using Mel Gibson's company is publicity, that is if they thought the product would be lousy but the controversy would sell the audience anyway, then that would be deplorable. But if they think that a side benefit is publicity, that is the product would be good and a larger audience would be attracted because of the Mel angle, then that is acceptable. Since I can't see into other's hearts and minds, I can neither condemn nor defend ABC. But I don't think Jeff should be condemning them either, unless he can provide some other evidence that all they care about is the publicity.
On the art front, I too would hate to see Law & Order: The Holocaust or CSI: Auschwitz, but I don't think that is the only option. Not only was Schindler's List just an outstanding drama, so too was Life Is Beautiful which managed to be both outstanding drama and comedy. Truly great art is about the stuff that is too big, too powerful to truly comprehend any other way. It isn't observations about lint. Now maybe the problem is since art is so crappy these days, so little worthwile art around at all, that good people like Mr. Wiesel and Mr. Jarvis don't think that the Holocaust can be treated any other way than documentary. But I think they've already been proven wrong, and I'm hoping they are proven wrong again.
December 6, 2005
What's Wrong With This Picture
You're a bloody dictator finally deposed and in the dock for your horrific crimes. So what do you do? Why, you naturally go for the insanity defense: You retain Ramsey Clark as one of your attorneys, you rant and rave in court at every opportunity, and make claims like you won't show up in court because you think the trial is unfair."
Yes its a circus, but at the end of it we have the certainty that Saddam will hang, unlike the circus that surrounds Milosevic.
December 5, 2005
Too Good to Be True
Moderate consumption of alcohol reduces the odds of obesity. So maybe those beer adds where whippet thin yuppies meet to run and then have a light beer aftwards isn't so far fetched after all.
Maybe this is just good news for me, given as how I have far more than I want, but research by investigators at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine indicates that stem cells from hair follicles help heal skin.
I sit on the pinnacle of happiness because I said "I do" 17 years ago.. Or in the words of a researcher "Some commitment appears to be good, but more commitment appears to be even better", and marriage is a the top of the committment heap.
Media at Work
Hmm, which story provides the information you really want?
Most of the stories cover the deceptive doctor angle, and don't mention any questions about how effective Nuvo or Cetaphil is as a lice killer. Only the ABC story (so far) focuses on whether or not Nuvo or Cetaphil works and examines the evidence, i.e. what kind of study was done and the basis of the buzz around Nuvo.
One story is easier to write, but far less informative.
The next step would be to examine the roll the press plays in hyping stories like the original Nuvo press release and who a press release is turned into press story. But I'm not holding my breath on that one.
Picture Safari
Shelley at BurningBird went to the zoo here in St. Louis and as usual has some wonderful pictures.
UPDATE: I fixed the link, so try it again. (Both of you).
Ice Flowers
I was at a friend's house last night and he was showing pictures he took that morning at first light in Rockwoods Reservation of ice formations that had formed on particular plant stems on north facing slopes. The formations were small, some looked like leaves, some looked like shells, and some looked like nothing else. We joked that they were little ice flowers; apparently he isn't the only one to have spotted them:
Dr. James Carter
More Dr. James Carter
D. Bruce Means
More D. Bruce Means
The Missouri Conservation Department
The Weather Doctor
Pretty Cool
Suitably Impressed
I was kind of shocked last week when the bulletin at church (OK, it's titled "The Navigator" or some such but we all call it the bulletin) contained an ad for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Which, and the Wardrobe. No, not at the length of the movie title which threatens to be longer than the movie itself, but that Disney, you know the company boycotted by the Baptists, was partnering with evangelical Churches to promote their Christian movie. So church members are getting a sneak preview and group rates for the movie -- just like for The Passion of the Christ. I guess Disney decided there was money in them there churches, and we evangelicals are a forgiving lot. Yes I do plan on seeing the movie, but then I also look forward to the Harry Potter movies. I'll be able to tell what side Disney is truly on if the witch's dying words are "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays".
December 2, 2005
Link O Rama
First off, congratulations to Heather and Brian Noggle on the their good news. Your lives are about to change, but in a good way.
Tim at Random Observations continues to splain a few things to clueless - this time it's Adam Gopnik on C.S. Lewis. The dead are easy to pick on because they can't fight back - unless, of course, you bother to read them.
Tom McMahon looks at gays, the Catholic Church, and the Boy Scouts - one of which is near and dear to my heart. I have to admit I laughed out loud at a letter in the Post the other day:
I find it surprising that there is a lot of consternation about the Catholic Church not wanting practicing homosexuals in the clergy. The church also has not wanted practicing heterosexuals in the clergy for centuries. Seems like equality to me.A.J. Greenbank
Quincy, Ill.
A.J., the truth may set you free, but it won't make you popular with a lot of people (me not included).
Yes, I've sworn off the Wilson Plame embroglio, but Tom Maguire sure hasn't. So if you're still interested, he has the latest twists and turns. OK, I link only because he beats up the NYTs (again).
Michael Totten's doing reporting as serious as a heart attack in Lebanon, and he has lots of pictures to go with the text in this one making it well worth a look as well as a read.
Jeff Harrell looks at the National Strategy to win in Iraq and concludes (in the introduction no less):
"The subtext is pretty clear, and infinitely amusing to your humble narrator: ”We did tell you our strategy three years ago; 48 percent of y’all were just too stupid to wrap your ‘American Idol’-softened noodles around it. So we’re gonna tell you all again, and again, and if necessary again until you get what we’ve been saying all along.“Hee hee. That’s bad ass."
Cori Dauber looks at the Washington Post and doesn't like what she sees. Who should the Post believe, murdering thugs or the US military? You know that answer, but the Post gets the answer wrong.
Maybe Busymom has the explanation for why there are so many divurging views of what should be the same reality. We can't even agree on the meaning of "Get in the car, it's time to go."
Bill in DC has the best take on the latest non-story in the press.
Tim Blair has joined the defeatests and proclaimers of quagmire. I never thought I'd write that, but , well, it's the truth.
If you thought I couldn't top the last link, there's this sign of utter crazyness: Two women were fired for their refusal to satisfy a gorillas' nipple fetish by displaying theirs. I never though I'd write that either, but, hey, if it's in the paper, it must be true.
I better stop now before I even try to top the last link.
