Owner: Hydrablog URL:www.hydrablog.blogspot.com Join Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2007 22:00:29 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Collaborative blog discussing politics, economics, sports, and other topics. Often called the Backstreet Boys of the blogosphere, but really pay homage to the originators of pop sensation, New Kids on the Block. Generally from "governs least, governs be Site statistics:Click here
"Sophisticated Meat Machines" 1970-01-01 00:59:59 From The New York Times' Dennis Overbye:"A bevy of experiments in recent years suggest that the conscious mind is like a monkey riding a tiger of subconscious decisions and actions in progress, frantically making up stories about being in control.As a result, physicists, neuroscientists and computer scientists have joined the heirs of Plato and Aristotle in arguing about what free will is, whether we have it, and if not, why we ever thought we did in the first place."
Equal Access 1970-01-01 00:59:59 More than 2 million U.S. students pray together each September at public schools across the country during the annual See You at the Pole day, according to the National Network of Youth Ministries.See You at the Pole began in 1990, but if I remember correctly, maybe a dozen students met semi-regularly to pray at my Tampa-area high school's flagpole in the late '80s.Tolerated by all though they were, Chrisitian students elsewhere who wanted to gather freely before school hours on campus to pray needed Clinton's education secretary to write "American educators" a note reminding them about their students' basic civil liberties and the EqualAccess
Act. How far from the margins of public life expressions of faith have come, and for the better of us all.The act simply and clearly states that public secondary schools that allow one non-curricular group to meet at school during non-instructional time cannot "deny equal access or a fair opportunity to, or discriminate against, any student
'Fin-ished 1970-01-01 00:59:59 ESPN.com's Pat Forde takes college coaching to school:PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. -- With Nick Saban en route to a coronation in Tuscaloosa, it's officially time to change the vocabulary used to describe college coaches."Integrity" is out. "Character" is out. "Teacher" is out. "Leader of men" is out."Liar" is in.They're not going to tell the truth to us, but we can tell the truth about them. It's this: They'll say anything to get recruits on campus, and they'll say anything to get media members off their backs when angling for a different job. And the panting attempts by school administrators, fans, other coaches and many media members to portray them as men of superior moral fiber needs to stop. Although Saban undoubtedly believes what I do--that his employment is the business of Dolphins owner Wayne Huzienga and himself--it's clear from Saban's comments that his khakis caught fire weeks ago, and the time since then has been an amusingly and disasterously hypocritical attempt to hi
100 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Ethics and lobbying reform: Pelosi, a former ethics committee member, is the sponsor of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act , which ostensibly would restrict representatives and their staff members from accepting trips taken with or paid for by lobbying groups. Civil fines would range from $100,000-$500,000 per offense, and criminal penalties for those who certify restricted travel "knowingly, wilfully, and corruptly" could serve up to 10 years in prison."We will cut the link between lobbyists and legislation," Pelosi said at a news conference last month. "I honestly believe that you cannot advance the people's agenda unless you drain the swamp that is Washington, D.C."GRRRR, sounds as if Congress clearly is getting tough on itself! Worth noting: Who in one year took about 70 percent of privately funded congressional trips? Staffers, not Congress, according to Robert Brodsky at The Center for Public Integrity.And as American League of Lobbyists president Paul Miller predicts
Goin' Postal 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Not one week into the new year and W's back at it. Now he wants to read your mail. To a new Postal
bill, he adds one of his signature "signing statements": "The executive branch shall construe subsection 404(c) of title 39, as enacted by subsection 1010(e) of the act, which provides for opening of an item of a class of mail otherwise sealed against inspection, in a manner consistent, to the maximum extent permissible, with the need to conduct searches in exigent circumstances, such as to protect human life and safety against hazardous materials, and the need for physical searches specifically authorized by law for foreign intelligence collection.Agreed that this doesn't sound like much. But the question remains, if as Tony Snow says, "this is not new," then why add the new language?And yes Stalin, I admit my bias here. After 6 years of relentless (I said I was biased) attacks on our privacy, I'm not real keen on biting on, "Hey, I'm just sayin'." If its not new, or irrelevan
Bus-ted! 1970-01-01 00:59:59 From the Miami Herald's Amy Sherman:"Broward County officials acted arbitrarily and used 'fundamentally flawed logic' when they recommended that the county buy buses that cost at least $16 million more than those offered by a competitor, a hearing officer found in a report released Thursday.The recommendation that the county award the contract to the low bidder comes as Broward County Transit is struggling with a shortage of working buses and mechanics to fix them.In fact, BCT is so desperate for buses that starting next month, it will use old Miami-Dade Transit buses that Dade had planned to retire . . . . The buses have about 500,000 miles on them . . . ."
Welcome to Moe's! 1970-01-01 00:59:59 From The New York Times via Albany's Times Union:"His music was sweaty and complex, disciplined and wild, lusty and socially conscious. And beyond his dozens of hits, James Brown forged a musical idiom that is now a foundation of pop worldwide."Brown: "I taught them everything they know, but not everything I know."Added 12/28/06: Why cheap shot artists can't land the left on "black conservatives." Colbert Nation, you're On Notice! Read more:Welcome
Snarlin' Arlen 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Is this the lesson Specter learned from '04 and his nail-biter of a re-election? This sorry, so-called populist, "forced-to-purchase" pap from the McCain playbook? A business offers its services on terms that consumers are free to pay for or to pass up. Why should the NFL be any different?
Rapids Response 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Hats off--but not niqabs--for Grand Rapids
' bus authority. The Interurban Transit Partnership ended a policy that allowed drivers to refuse service to anyone with a covered face after a Muslim woman was told she'd have to unveil herself before she could ride a public bus.In a city of more than a million people, among whom there always will be "the poor", public transportation is a necessary evil if you're a taxpayer; therefore, if you're a taxpayer, you have a right to ride--or not--and what you wear without harming others should be beside the point. Can we as Americans agree that Grand Rapids is not Jerusalem (or cities throughout Europe), that our public buses are not commercial jets, and to not torch another bridge between ourselves and our ideals until lighting the match is at least a tough choice?Unfortunately, no ('though some of the knee jerks come with a few worthy one liners about women and Islam). Nevertheless, the buses in Grand Rapids--with all aboard--will roll on. R Read more:Response
That's What Chanukkah is All About, Charlie Brown 1970-01-01 00:59:59 There is an irony in the Chabad of Greater Seattle's demand for the local airport to include a Menorah among its Christmas decorations that I, after 15 years in an "interfaith" relationship, am only beginning to understand: A Menorah stands alone.A Menorah is much more than a representation of the ancient set of candles, lit with precious little oil, that Jews believe miraculously lasted eight days. Nevertheless, a Menorah lacks the religious significance that holiday displays such as those in Seattle and around the country lead too many kind-hearted people to assume means that Chauukkah matters as much to Jews as Christmas does to Christians. It ain't so, and it's a disservice not only to observant Jews and Christians, but to taxpayers regardless of faith who are paying for this multicultural clusterfuck.Here's Channukah in a nutshell, thanks to Tracey Rich at the eminently informative Judaism 101: Channukah commemorates Jews who stood against the ruling Greeks who tried to make t Read more:Charlie
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Muscles' Shiny New Year 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Here's what's on my mind for '07:School vouchers: I concede it's our money and, therefore, it should be ours to spend more freely; Mrs. Muscles
and I, however, in our second decade of public and private K-to community-college-level teaching, have seen little evidence to support Friedman's assertion that vouchers "would bring a healthy increase in the variety of educational institutions available and in competition among them. Private initiative and enterprise would quicken the pace of progress in this area as it has in so many others."Simply put, teachers, both public and private, can't compete. People-pleasers and collaborators to the core, Boxers to the administrating Napoleons, teachers will work harder in their classrooms, but leave institutional "progress" to the same sloganeers and sham artists who for a generation have run us ragged in the same ol' system-stymied circles that are the antithesis of innovation.For my money? It's the teachers, stupid. Let 'em work.Legaliza Read more:Shiny
100 1970-01-01 00:59:59 For all the ham-handed hypocrisy with which Nancy Pelosi opened the 110th Congress, and for as little as I care for most of her immediate plans for the House, much of what she and Harry Reid told Bush today has long been true: "We are well past the point of more troops for Iraq."Not since World War II has a war been fought with more support from the electorate, and never has the nation's trust in its leadership been so utterly undeserved.I believe "recalibrate" is the word the Bush administration has used for what I charitably will refer to as their Iraq strategy; and it's a word they only used after the election, almost 3,000 Americans too late.I give the Congressional leadership credit for raising the political stakes in earnest, and perhaps higher than some of their senior members, such as Carl Levin, are willing to play for. The "put up or shut up" moment for Democrats, however, arrives when they must choose between spending more for the war and hearing in '08 that they hate ou
Airport security and econ 101 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Airports are starting to roll out an option for travelers that would allow them to pay $100, give background and personal data to avoid the long lines at airport security
. Here's the gist,These travelers, who paid a $100 fee and underwent a background check to be part of a test program, bypassed the line and stepped into what may be a glimpse of the future — they inserted a biometric identification card into a kiosk that scanned their irises and their fingerprints to verify their identity, placed a fingertip on an explosives scanning device and stood on a scanning platform that determined whether their footwear hid a bomb.Long time readers (Hi Ma!) know that if Benjamin "Penny saved is a penny earned" Franklin is right, then I'm a $100 richer.But lets look at the value process. Here's what has value. Your privacy, your time, $100. Company's pay big bucks for your private info, and you can bet that your background test and biometric info are fair game for the Feds, and I'd re
The first "Hitler" reference of the year belongs to... 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Paul Craig Roberts. Hooooray! Juuuuust sneaking in under the 10 day mark. I'm sure he had to dig deep to pull this off, so congratulations Mr Roberts. For history buffs, Mr Roberts was, among other things, assistant secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration, associate editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page and contributing editor of National Review.Details if anyone cares are here, but basically, Bush is insane like Hitler
in the end and wants to nuke the middle east.A personal "Atta boy" from me for looking like a loon on a Libertarian web site. Like we don't have enough problems getting taken seriously. Read more:reference
Sports does imitate life 1970-01-01 00:59:59 The Gators trounce The Ohio State University 41-14. Lets recap the H-Blogs projections. Me: Gators 75-3, Muscles Gators 38-23, Stalin OSU 31-17, and by the by, the line was OSU by 7.5. This plays out almost exactly like real life.I have it right, but get too excited and overshoot the goal (Gators cover and win big), Stalin falls victim to conventional wisdom, overstates even that by claiming that OSU not only wins but covers big and is wrong on all counts (no cover, no win, not even close), Muscles quietly gets it right (Gators cover), beats the pundits (Gators win) and gets closest to reality (far and away the closest to the real score). So for all you H-Blog fans (Hi Ma!), tune in to me if you want to be passionately right (think Braveheart), tune into Muscles if you want to be right - outright (think King Robert the Bruce), and tune into Stalin if you want an exaggerated version of the conventional wisdom that is so often wrong, or more simply, if you want to be passionately wro Read more:Sports
CO Courts say 1st Amendment need not apply 1970-01-01 00:59:59 The Colorado Supreme Court, while overturning a 45 day jail sentence for contempt of court for wearing a T-Shirt with a picture of Stanley "Tookie" Williams (more on that later), says,"...wearing a shirt bearing a political message in a courtroom is not protected under the First Amendment
."Meaning, the CO Ct believes that your First Amendment rights are valid everywhere but the very place set up to protect that right. Meaning, you can't make a political statement in court. This seems a bit off to me. When did the court become Cuba? I understand that Judges are, in effect, mini-dictators (patience, patience), but now they feel the need to quash political speech? Wow.Now, on to the 45 days for contempt by said dictator. I've never fully understood how a judge can just accuse you of something and jail you without:ArrestRepresentationBurden of guiltRight to face accuserTrial by juryJudge says you did bad, go directly to jail, do not pass go. Yes, there is an appeal, but it comes n
Superhero? 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Silver Surfer...comin' atcha! SILVER SURFER -Color coordinated, technologically savvy, loved by the ladies. Read more:Superhero
Your Jiffy Lube Keys to the Game 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Success in Iraq will be determined by the Iraqi government. The announcement today by al-Maliki that militiamen must lay down arms or face destruction is the first hopeful moment this conflict has seen since the Iraqi elections. The success in Iraq, if possible, will come only after the national government shows itself to be the strongest force in the country. Bush seems to understand this and it is clear that al-Maliki announced this policy change today because he was advised to do so by the US. Success in Iraq is exactly as important as Bush stated. I hope, as does he, that the critics offer viable solutions along with their concerns. The anti-war movement has no solutions as it is an emotional and not a logical expression of dissent. But thoughtful critics do exist and hopefully they will seize this moment to add to our nation's chances of success.My main concern with the new policy comes from the fact that Syria and Iran were explicitly described as assisting our enemies and yet t
"In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight" 1970-01-01 00:59:59 That's right folks, according to this test, if I was a superhero (and who says I'm not?) I'd be the Green Lantern. Frankly I like this much more than a zodiac sign.Actually, I was a three way tie between GL, Flash and Superman. And yes, I'm happy with all three. However, I have to rethink my childhood. I was a Marvel guy growing up, didn't much care for DC (I blame the Superfriends cartoon with the bad animation and the Wonder Twins and that little monkey thing-Gleek?) but given my top three, maybe I wasted all those hours on the wrong mags.The full results:You are Green Lantern: Hot-headed. You have strongwill power and a good imagination.Green Lantern 70%The Flash 70%Superman 70%Robin 60%Iron Man 60%Spider-Man 50%Supergirl 50%Hulk 50%Batman 35%Wonder Woman 25%Catwoman 15%Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...Sadly, my childhood hero, and the one I wanted to be most of all - that would be your friendly neighborhood Spiderman - came in 6th. Read more:shall
Signing Statement Statement 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) sent W a letter asking him to say just what exactly he means with his last Signing Statement attached to a postal reform bill. While its clearly rhetorical (I don't imaging W sitting at his desk composing a reply) it did get me thinking. In this 100 hours of doing the people's biznezz, why not add legislation dealing with these Signing Statements? I haven't heard any real good reason for them besides just "I like W and W likes Signing Statements, so I like Signing Statements." Just about everyone else thinks they skirt the Constitution. So now that the Dems are in and we have hopes for Checks & Balances, the Dems should make a move to reestablish the power of Congress. My bet is that there's enough GOPers who are uncomfortable having congressional bill's vetoed sans veto to get it passed. W will veto, which means that Congress must come up with 2/3's, no easy task. But if they do, the White House will sue and the Supreme Court will have to decide
UBlo May Be Wrong, but UBlo May Be Right 1970-01-01 00:59:59 On whether "Coaches can bounce from college to pro and play the two off against each other", I remain from Missouri; on whether college players have the same rights as their coaches, this week's NCAA news shows that not only the college coaching profession, but also the universities' administrations and athletic departments, shut student-athletes out on both sides of that hyphen:From economics professor Andrew Zimbalist, author of "The Bottom Line: Observations and Arguments on the Sports Business" [a redundancy, to be sure], in today's New York Times:So, what's going on? It's the market. If universities want to get the best coaches, they have to pay the going rate.Never mind that the presidents of large public universities generally have compensation packages of $200,000 to $700,000. Never mind that paying the football coach 5 to 15 times more than the college president (and many times more than the professors) sends a strange message to the student body about the institution†Read more:Wrong
, Right
Secret Service does it's job 1970-01-01 00:59:59 The White House and the Secret Service
apparently reached an agreement last year classifying records of who visited the White House. Prior to this agreement, the Secret Service
owned those records, and as such, they were open to the public. But when the Abramoff scandal hit, and it wasn't playing at all well with the public, well, the Secret Service once again protected the president and signed an agreement stating that those records are actually presidential records, and are immune from the Freedom of Information Act.Great for the W, and his supporters, but bad for the country. These records have been used in the past to investigate Executive Branch actions. Public oversight, and their effective use in the past, act as a shield against improper actions. Because of public oversight, and their effective use in the past, this White House has decided to remove this tool.
Steve Horner wants no friends 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Apparently attempts to draw large amounts of inebriated women to one location deeply offends Mr Horner, and he's mad as hell and he's not taking it anymore. So Mr Horner filed suit to stop "ladies night" at bars in Colorado.Why? Well legally its because he's being "discriminated" against. Funny, I didn't know that bitter, women hating divorcee was a protected minority. But the real reason? The article says that Mr Horner has "been on an anti-feminist crusade since his wife left him with two young children several years ago." Yes, clearly the feminist ideal that Gloria Steinem envisioned was, in fact, half-price drinks for ladies at bars across America, all the better if a wet t-shirt contest is thrown in. Well done Mr Horner, you've struck a direct and devastating blow against feminism! What will Ms Steinem do now that feminism has been set back so? (As a side, my bet is that Ms Steinem was no big fan of "ladies night," potentially throwing this into the upper reaches o Read more:Steve
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You're innocent but your cash is guilty 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Andrew Wolfe of the Nashua Telegraph (Looked it up, Nashua's in New Hampshire-which probably explains the tone) has an article about asset seizures and the law and K9's.Interesting stuff. The individuals cited had seizures of $22,740, $124,700 and $30,670 respectively despite spending zero guilty verdicts, and zero actual charges. Yup, the government took a total of $178,110 and didn't file a single actual charge.How's that you ask? Because the people looked guilty and a dog "alerted" to the cash (meaning the dog acted as if it smelled drugs on the cash). Yup, a dog acted as if your property had drug smell on it, so the government can take your property. Not, the "alert" lead to the finding of drugs, not the "alert" showed the money was made of drugs, not even the "alert" lead to a confession, just that the "alert" signaled that your property may have been near drugs.Citing the amount of cash Gonzolez carried, his efforts to conceal it, his method of travel and the drug-dog al
Pizza for Pesos 1970-01-01 00:59:59 The Pizza
Patron chain is running a promotion where pesos will now be accepted as currency in its restaurants. Interesting move. Tap into unspent assets, create a differentiating factor to your business (if Pizza Hut won't accept pesos, and Pizza Patron will, and you have pesos to spend, off you go to Pizza Patron), and build loyalty in the fastest growing segment of the US population (besides, of course, Hydrablog readers). Nothing illegal about it, and they bump profits by upping the exchange rate by 9% (from 11/dollar to 12/dollar) in effect increasing the price of the pizza by about 9% (some decrease due to exchange fees). The great thing is they get to charge more without actually raising the price of the pizza and suffering the negative side-effects of having a costlier product. In fact, for those affected, they elect to buy the more expensive product, while thinking better about the company.Of course the negative side-effect are those who think you are doing wrong and who Read more:Pesos
We Can Do Even Better 2007-01-13 00:00:06 Congress has finally decided that crooks should not be supported for life by tax payers. Fine. Better late than never. But I say we can do better, I say congressman should not be supported AT ALL by tax payers. There should be no salary for federal lawmakers (I'm not sure about state and local yet, but I think I'd be agin' paying them too). This would immediately eliminate the ugly spectacle of one group voting to make a weaker group give them more of their money. It also might (I grant, only MIGHT) discourage financial opportunists from seeking these positions for immediate monetary gain. Hey, these people are called public servants and act like martyrs for taking these jobs in the first place. If they are sincere about that, they won't mind these new changes.So won't only the wealthy then be able to hold office? No. Here's how these people will get paid. They'll raise the money. Just like they do for their campaigns. You build into the campaign finance laws a sala
Pizza, Pesos, Prediction 2007-01-13 08:33:19 Say that three times fast! OK, not that hard, but thanks for trying.Anyway, I'm looking into my crystal ball and I see legislation preventing businesses from taking foreign currency. The future is cloudy so I can't tell if this will be local or state. However, I'm not seeing federal (federale?), but I'm getting a very strong Texas vibe, but I could be misreading the last two letters. Could it be that its not TexAS, but something, something, something AZ? Read more:Pizza
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"Big insurance has a new day coming" 2007-01-14 19:05:58 From the Palm Beach Post's S.V. Date:For a decade and a half, [Florida] has offered massive subsidies and other carrots with the hope of enticing the private insurance
industry to continue writing hurricane coverage.This week, [Gov. Charlie] Crist is ready to use a big stick instead to force the industry to lower its rates, and, if it doesn't, to have the state-run insurer prepared to step in as a backstop."They can be the most competitive, even, if that works for the advantage of our people," Crist said. "Let's understand: We're already in this business. We're here. So let's acknowledge what the current reality is and work as best we can within it to help the people."The state-run insurer, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, is Florida's largest property insurer, with State Farm for the moment a close second. Whether that will remain so following this week's special session of the state legislature, or whether a state is on its way to becoming its citizens' only property
MADD not mad at influential State Rep 2007-01-15 05:13:26 MADD decided to enter the picture to defend Ocean City PD officer Douglas A. Smith's (AKA OCPD's toughest DUI enforcement officer) decision that Delaware State
Rep John C. Atkins was drunk enough that a friend had to come get him from his pulled over vehicle, but not drunk enough to merit a charge. Lest you doubt Officer Smith's judgment, a breathalyser tested the Honorable Atkins at .14 (well over the state limit of .08).Fun quote."(Smith) followed the same procedures and protocol for this arrest as he would for any other," she said. "He did smell alcohol on his breath, but there was no hesitation or fumbling, no confusion as to what was being asked, no slurring, no delay. None of the clues were really there."And,"He administered the (test) after he had decided not to make an arrest and he made the right call by not letting him continue driving," Elzey said. "He probably saved lives by not letting him drive home."Yet..."He's had a couple hundred DUI arrests in a few years,"Now fr
Confarned Confederate Flag! 2007-01-16 06:58:47 Joe Biden (D-DE), looking to gain some points with the Dem base saying about the Confederate
Flag flying on South Carolina's State House grounds, "If I were a state legislator, I'd vote for it to move off the grounds -- out of the state."I've never really been too worked up about the "Confederate Flag" debate. My personal feeling is that if the people of SC are offended, they should speak up. Most of the talking seems to come from out of staters, and I do understand why. Lot's of people associate that flag with hatred (including lots of those who support keeping it). However, and just to clarify, the flag that everyone's talking about is not the "Confederate" flag. What most people incorrectly call The "Stars and Bars" (made famous by the Dukes of Hazzard, and is the picture on the right) is actually the battle flag of the Confederacy and was nicknamed the "Stainless Banner." Back in the day "Stars and Bars" referred to the actual "National Flag" of the CSA and is the flag
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