Well the press seems to be very sure that the occupation has ended. I am not as sure... I mean we gave them a piece of paper and Bremer high-tailed it out of there, but we are adding more troops, and (thanks to squishy for this one) the US ignores Iraqi government decision... so what did I miss?
Perhaps we should all ask our favorite newspapers what they are missing.
I saw a pretty good documentary about the Weather Underground movement of the 60s and 70s. I knew much of the story and it was nothing groundbreaking in its presentation so it wasn't the most memorable movie I've seen. However, when the credits started rolling my eye caught one of the investors... my old friend Marc Ewing. And all this time I thought he had gone underground too.
I am a little surprised that people didn't just ignore this guy and later claim he was the quiet type.
As I mentioned previously I am doing some Linux work these days. I still can't say much about it but that will change soon. Its a great arrangement for me right now. First, it allows me to get back into Linux without the stress of Red Hat. Second, my working arrangement allows me to work from home or whereever.
Working from home has good and bad aspects. Its nice to not worry about commuting but it is harder to focus when all your familiar 'stuff' is around... and I don't have the room to make a spartan office space. So lately my choice of workspace has been the Open Eye Cafe. They don't have the best coffee but they are good people and its a comfortable place. The other good thing is that there is no Internet connection. This is actually a good thing. Its too easy for me to stop and check the news, my email, soccer scores, etc., etc., etc.
The first step is recognizing you have a problem. With my choice of workspace I think I might be on step two.
OK, first. I am absolutely amazed by how brilliant this site is.
Second, I am really glad there is a *real* effort by someone to add a Rendezvous-like feature to linux. I am impressed that it is my good friend Alex Larsson whom I miss seeing.
And lastly, I turn 35 tomorrow. My hair is really getting grey now.
Every now and then I enjoy a refreshing beverage. One of my favorites has always been Dr. Pepper. Recently I found a Dr. Pepper rip-off soda called Dr. Celeste. Celeste is a budget soda brand distributed by a huge Southern convenient store chain. I think Dr. Celeste tastes almost exactly like Dr. Pepper.
It turns out that there is a guy who has thought about this much more than I have. I really need to try out this "Dr. Riffic".
For gods sake Blizzard - put down the camera and get your hands back on the yoke!!!
I am always excited to watch the 24 hours of Le Mans race. I don't follow World sports car racing throughout the year or anything, but there is something quite special about Le Mans. Luckily the Speed Channel shows it all. On second thought, perhaps that is a problem... lets face it, I will be in front of the television all damn day.
Oh, lest we forget.... tomorrow also ushers in the beginning of Euro 2004 - the European soccer championships. This one I do follow and have paid the fee to get all the matches via pay-per-view.
So, um.... if you need me... um
I remember Ronald Reagan's Presidency. I hated it. In retrospect, he was better than W. but he wasn't quite as great as the news seems to "remember" him this week. Don't get me wrong, he deserves his state funeral, he was a President. But to point out the other side I offer two things:
First, I was in 5th grade when he was elected. My best friend was an African-American kid named Otis. I remember talking to Otis during recess and he was truly scared about Reagan being elected. Otis was positive that he wouldn't be able to go to school with me anymore because Reagan didn't like African-Americans and would reverse integration. Of course, that was just a scared kid but it does point out how polarizing Reagan's Presidency was. Otis obviously gleaned this information from his Mom or other adults who were talking about Reagan in a not-so-obvious light. I don't think Reagan hated African-Americans but that is the first thing I think of when I think of Reagan.
Second I offer this cartoon1 which I do think points out the truth.
Reagan does hold a place for me as the man who was President when I first really became politically aware. He probably shaped my political leanings (that sentence would disappoint him!). Similar with Jimmy Carter. Jimmy was my President. He was the first one I really remember understanding as President (I remember Ford, but I don't remember thinking of him as my President. I don't remember Nixon, but I remember lots of conflict!). I undertood what it meant to be President when Jimmy was in office... and I got to shake his hand at the Wilson Public Library! That will win a kid over for life.
So, fare well Ronald. Lets hope you have shaped our world for the better with your service. I have my doubts.
1 Thanks to Eric Carbone for the link, by way of Rich Mintz.
Who is this Bob Marr guy anyway? The editorial he wrote on the bloat in Linux desktops was really odd... and all the rage today.
I have no problems with his complaints about the desktop and his perceptions of it. The thing that caught me was him completely slamming Havoc.
I wouldn't even mind it if he was slamming people throughout the article but to throw Havoc's name in in the last paragraph was really odd. He just pulled his name out of a changelog, assumed it was all Havoc's fault and rushed his article out to press. Hell, I used to post comments on Slashdot calling Havoc a "Debian Sellout"... but I was sitting beside him... and kidding. OK, that has nothing to do with this, I just wanted to tell the story again.... although, I can't actually find the comments anymore.. hmmmm
At any rate, I wonder if this Bob dude is going to try to use this as his new hook for getting readership. Hell, he could be the next Nick Petreley - Wow!
Today started as any other day but got very interesting in the afternoon. At some point I started hearing helicopters overhead. Even though I live by a very small, municipal airport I rarely hear helicopters. I immediately checked the local news websites to find out if there was a good reason for the aircraft to be hovering over my house.
It turns out the police thought they had a murder suspect on the loose in our small town. They didn't, but the guy they were chasing ended up having warrants for his arrest anyway - guess that's why he was running.
We have an amazingly small amount of crime. We normally don't even have to worry about locking our doors. The guy they thought they had was from Durham. Although Durham is not far, historical socio-economic patterns have made it rather crime-ridden... at least in parts. Perhaps if more crime "spills" over more will be done to help Durham? Who knows.
My sprite, young doggie has a neighbor across the street who will be turning 14 years old soon. You do the math for dog years thats an old damn dog. I enjoy it when he hobbles over with his human though. My dog is very kind to him, very respectful of his delicate nature.
What a good boy.
This weekend was long. First I took my sister to D.C. so she could go to a funeral. She isn't fond of driving long distances so I offered my services. We spent very little time there and did almost nothing while there. I did, however, go to the new WWII Memorial which is absolutely stunning. A very impressive design that takes on a very solemn air when it is raining as it was when I saw it. I added my grandfather [Major Carle W Mason - Quartermaster, 29th Infantry Division] to the WWII Registry. Now if we only had a WWI memorial I could add my other grandfather to it.
When I got home Saturday, Cate and I went to eat dinner with the man who started her practice back in 1967. He and his wife were two of the coolest people I have met. He is a political junkie and seems to know *everyone* in the state. We will have to see them again sometime.
Cate and I saw a really cool Nova episode tonight about Dogs. Mostly they talked about how dogs came to be so varied when they are all descended from wolves. Interesting stuff.
However, when they got around to 'Pure Bred' dogs it became very interesting to me. For instance, the idea of the pure bred dog originated in the Victorian era and was unashamedly racist in nature. The Victorian elite were, in a sense, projecting their ideas about humans onto their status symbols (their pets).
My favorite scientist from the show, Ray Coppinger, stated that it is time to give up the 'master race' mentality to breeding. With the medical problems these practices have spawned, its not hard to see that its bad genetic science, and bad pet ownership. With no offense to my pure bred dog owning friends, I totally agree. With the staggering amount of euthanasia we perform on dogs each year, its a wonder we put up with it all.
