billgraziano.com - September 2003 Entries

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September 2003 Entries

Arafat - KGB Ties? Say it isn't so!: Sarcasm aside, it seems Arafat did recieve funding from the KGB. Of course, so did every other anti-democracy terrorist in those days. It's just that most of the others aren't still around causing problems. (Thanks Karen).; posted @ Sunday, September 28, 2003 9:21 PM | Feedback (0)

More Do Not Call List Goodness: Although probably not what you're expecting. After reading more about the federal Do Not Call list I think the judges were right to strike it down. My original arguement was that their right to speak was conflicting with my right to privacy. (And I think my privacy should win.) The judges arguement was that different types of speech are treated differently by the law. Commercial calls are restricted while calls from non-profit and political groups are allowed. Good luck getting Congress to fix that loophole.; posted @ Sunday, September 28, 2003 10:14 AM | Feedback (0)

Plaza Pictures: I took some pictures on the Plaza this morning. A few of them turned out really well. I did my best to get some slow water pictures in the early morning light.; posted @ Sunday, September 28, 2003 9:59 AM | Feedback (3)

New Format: As you may have noticed I've got some new software for this site. I'm just experimenting with it at this point. I am going to have to go back and add titles and categories to some of the older posts. Or I may not :) You can also post comments on the posts now. The layout will probably change quite a bit over the next week or so as I try and figure this out.; posted @ Saturday, September 27, 2003 11:26 PM | Feedback (1)

Judge Who Backed Telemarketers Is Deluged: And who didn't see this coming: Judge Who Backed Telemarketers Is Deluged. Was anyone really suprised at this?; posted @ Friday, September 26, 2003 5:49 AM | Feedback (0)

MXC: SpikeTV's MXC: "MXC is the ultimate in reality sports, where the contestants are always physically and mentally challenged. If you enjoy broken bones, splattering spleens, high impact hematomas, and watching people get them, then you'll love Most Extreme Elimination Challenge. Join the two guys who know hot physical action better than the palms of their own hands, Vic Romano and Kenny Blankenship - they put the 'FU' back in FUN.
Warning: viewing MXC may cause blood in your stool."

You have GOT to watch this show. It's ... it's ... horrible. It's funny. I can't look away.; posted @ Thursday, September 25, 2003 9:22 PM | Feedback (7)

"Do Not Call List" Stupidity

In one of the stupidest rulings in the history of the American legal system, a district court judge struck down the Do Not Call list. How in the world can it be illegal to choose not to receive unsolicited phone calls in my home? How is a woman's right to an abortion protected by a right to privacy but that right doesn't protect my phone from aluminum siding salesmen? And if this stands up, the state Do Not Call lists will be gone too. I don't see how this is a freedom of speech. They can speak all they want. I just don't want to listen. Spend the money on advertising. On my web site!

The American citizens wanted a law, Congress passed it and now Judge Lee West in Oklahoma decided it's unconstitutional. Well, it's obviously legal for me to call the judge and tell him what I think. I'm so tempted to figure out the phone number for his office and post it. I know judges aren't supposed to be influenced by public opinion -- well, too much. But this is ridiculous. 50 million people signed up for this. And who knows how many more are protected by state laws.

I can just see it now. Our next constitutional amendment will be to stop telemarketers. If it's this hard to "stop" a legal profession how are we going to stop spam?

So the Direct Marketing Association thinks they have a constitutional right to call my house at night? Their phone number is 212.302.6714. Give them a constitutionally-protected phone call and tell them what you think. There's a bevy of contact information on their web site. If they manage to make this stick I might have to get rid of phone once and for all. This just makes me sick!

posted @ Wednesday, September 24, 2003 4:14 PM | Feedback (0)

September 24th: September 24th. It's hard to believe it's been three years since Sean died. Some things seem so different and others have hardly changed. I guess that's the way of life. I really hadn't worried much about this day until early this week. I've been in a funk for a few days now. I think that has as much to do with vacation ending and fall starting as anything though. This weekend should be relaxing. Hopefully my schedule will slow down a little by then. All I need now is some groceries :); posted @ Wednesday, September 24, 2003 2:31 PM | Feedback (0)

Develop software like buildings?: I recently found an article comparing software development to the construction industry. Here's the response to a software developer who said he wanted to write software like people construct buildings:
I started to explain: "In software development, we are told we should manage our projects like construction projects, where a building is designed at the start, cost and schedule are predictable, and customers get what they expect."

Silence. "You're kidding, right?" "No, honest, that's what we're told."

Incredulity turns to laughter. The idea that programmers would want to manage projects like the construction industry strikes my classmates as ludicrous.

This is an article anyone involved in software development should read.; posted @ Monday, September 22, 2003 2:22 PM | Feedback (0)

They have cell phones?

From America's New Homeless:

THEY have cell phones. They've got e-mail. They shop free at Old Navy, McDonald's and Virgin record stores. They have free access to acupuncture treatments, yoga classes and massage therapy.
Welcome to the coddled lifestyles of New York's new 'homeless' - young kids who, besides getting pampered by charities, rake in hundreds of dollars a week begging on the street.

I'm not sure who to be pissed at! The idiots that give them money so they can continue to live like this (i.e. the shelters) or the idiots that give the shelters money. And the people who should really be pissed are the true homeless. Those that really can't hold a job. This is just disgusting!

posted @ Sunday, September 14, 2003 8:08 PM | Feedback (0)

Iraqis like democracy: Here are some interesting results from a poll of the Iraqis

Asked to name one country they would most like Iraq to model its new government on from five possibilities--neighboring, Baathist Syria; neighbor and Islamic monarchy Saudi Arabia; neighbor and Islamist republic Iran; Arab lodestar Egypt; or the U.S.--the most popular model by far was the U.S. The U.S. was preferred as a model by 37 percent of Iraqis selecting from those five--more than Syria, Iran and Egypt put together. Saudi Arabia was in second place at 28 percent. Again, there were important demographic splits. Younger adults are especially favorable toward the U.S., and Shiites are more admiring than Sunnis. Interestingly, Iraqi Shiites, coreligionists with Iranians, do not admire Iran's Islamist government; the U.S. is six times as popular with them as a model for governance.; posted @ Sunday, September 14, 2003 8:03 AM | Feedback (0)

Ten years of Oslo

Today is the 10th anniversary of the Oslo Accords designed to bring about an end to Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And I'd have to call them a complete failure. And utter and complete failure. I'd also say there is no common ground for an agreement. I don't think there will be peace until one side or the other "loses" or gives up. Unless enough external pressure can be brought to bear on either side this thing is never going to end.

For the Israelis that means the U.S. The current administration will never abandon Israel. Future administrations are less certain. Israel has been one of our staunchest allies and I'd hate to see us leave them to the wolves.

For the Palenstinians that means the U.N and the Arab countries. They are funding the Palestinian Authority, Arafat and terrorist groups like Hamas. As long as Arafat is in power the PA won't cave in. As long as Hamas has funding to run terrorist operations they won't give in. Hamas has stated again and again that their goal is to liberate all of what they call "Palestine" -- which means all of Israel. As long as countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt continue to give funds to Hamas, they will have no incentive to give up.

I'm sure Israel looks back to the day they allowed Arafat to run in "elections" in the Palestinian as a horrible day. As a result over 1,000 Israelis have died in suicide attacks. How would America react if we lost that many? Would the world expect us to turn the other cheek? How did America react when that happened? Afghanistan and Iraq are under new "management". Is it time for Israel to try the same approach? I think so.

So where does that leave us? More of the same. A couple of suicide bombings every months for next few years. Some months more and some months less. Arafat has already destroyed the Palestinian economy.

I see two ways out of this. First, Israel expels Arafat and most of the Fatah leadership. It will be politically ugly and cost Israeli lives in the short run. Israel then goes back to their old strategy of running the West Bank and Gaza. They put local governments in place and begin to give them autonomy. Hopefully the Palestinians will realize they are better off under this approach. They will have jobs, water, food, rule of law and free speech. Maybe then they will have earned the right to create their own country.

The second approach is uglier and longer. The regime change in Iraq starts the Middle East countries toppling. Iran is close. They would probably push toward some type of democracy. Saudi Arabia is ripe for the picking also. Unfortunately they are more likely to end up in a religious theocracy and take Iran's place as a sponsor of terrorism. These countries falling should gradually eliminate funding for Hamas and the related groups. Not any time soon though.

The only wild-card is Arafat. He may want to stay in power so badly he'll make a deal to save himself. I don't think anything happens until he's gone though.

posted @ Saturday, September 13, 2003 7:35 PM | Feedback (0)

"Do Not Call" Smartness: Ha! Dave Barry posted the phone number of the American Teleservices Association and asked readers to give them a call. The results were predictable. Thanks Linda!; posted @ Saturday, September 13, 2003 2:30 PM | Feedback (0)

Identity Theft: I, Cringely has a scary article about identity theft: "While government agencies are doing their pitiful best to keep this kind of data hidden (a GAO study last year found 14 out of 15 Federal agencies studied were inadequately protecting Social Security numbers), even after they've finally taken action to protect this information the danger is still present. That's because Social Security numbers last a lifetime and there is a lot of old data floating around out there, data that can be brought up to date with frightening ease." It also has some nasty things to say about the post office -- imagine that.; posted @ Friday, September 12, 2003 12:16 PM | Feedback (0)

France is Finished?

Here's a rather lengthy article about France from April titled Extreme Solutions. I keep telling people about it and finally realized I'd never linked to it. It details many of the challenges facing France economically, politically and socially.

The French welfare state is famously in extremely deep trouble. With a quarter of the workforce being government employees, and with broad and generous benefits payments being given to retirees and the large and increasing unemployed population, the tax burden is immense. Because of the overwhelming political power of certain trade unions, there is a huge regulatory burden on businesses in France. (The regulatory burden is also a result of a huge bureaucracy who see their job as being to regulate.)

And what role does the European Union play?

France as an isolated economic entity is doomed, but France merged into something larger might be able to maintain for much longer if it were in a position to manipulate the "something larger" for France's benefit. In other words, the way to keep the French economy from imploding due to a population inversion is to start to draw tax money from somewhere else outside France to pay the bill. (A hundred years ago, the classic solution was to conquer an empire and to plunder it, but that's out of fashion now.) So what to do?
Voila! European unification! But unification would have to be managed in such a way that the French elite, and similarly inclined elites in a small number of other nations, would actually have control, just as the French elite now have control in France. The new Union would hold elections and be nominally a democracy, but in practice the effect of those elections would be dilute and unimportant; those truly holding power would be insulated from pressure from the hoi polloi. And this nascent European Union would be crafted as a larger version of France, implementing policies more or less in sync with those of France. Most important of all, money would flow from elsewhere in the Union into France. French retirement pensions would be paid for by taxing the workers in Ireland and Poland.

Long but good for some background on what France is facing and what they may be trying to do.

posted @ Friday, September 05, 2003 10:58 PM | Feedback (0)

The Beloit College List for 2003: Each year Beloit College releases a list of interesting facts about their incoming freshman class. This year's class was born in 1985 -- THE YEAR I GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL! AAAARRGGGHHH! The list doesn't seem to be as good as previous years though. One of the interesting ones was "20. Computers have always fit in their backpacks." Ah, life before laptops. Heck, I remember life before computers. Good luck folks.; posted @ Thursday, September 04, 2003 7:26 PM | Feedback (0)

Here ducky, ducky: Scientists track rubber toys: "Back in 1992, a violent storm tossed 20 containers of rubber duckies off the back of a cargo ship halfway between China and Seattle, and they were quickly presumed lost at sea. Instead, it appears the castaways embarked on an epic 11-year swim across three oceans and half the globe. Somehow, they stayed afloat through all magnitude of wind and wave, weathering several winters likely frozen in an arctic ice floe and enduring so many days of exposure their once bright yellow skin has been bleached white as bone."; posted @ Monday, September 01, 2003 10:33 AM | Feedback (0)

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