That's News To Me
Saturday, May 29, 2004
The George Bush narrative
John at Ex Nihilo links to, and discusses, this article from Mother Jones. Both the post and the article are interesting and worth reading.
Here is how Mother Jones characterizes the Bush presidency:
According to Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh, & Co., the president of the United States of America is a great gentle warrior, the scion of a noble line: He’s a Texas cowboy descended from George Washington descended from the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. He’s a man of God and family. Truly, the story goes, he’s a simple man--wanting only to care for his own, tend to his plot of land, and go to church on Sunday.
I agree with John - the article's point is quite insightful. John goes on to point out that
What if, even in the haze of our "Reptilian brains" we are picking up on the truth of a situation through narrative. I am almost pessimistic enough to believe that everything in politics is a lie and a play (as the writer so obviously does) but the only reason the Bush narrative remains so effective (other than basic hatred of the left by many on the right and vice versa) is that it seems so real. Perhaps, in contrast to what the writer believes, it is real.
I'd like to write more, but it's crunchtime for my last final.
Friday, May 28, 2004
Help A Poor Guy Out
I liked these:
Borrow my car for the summer: '91 Toyota Pickup (manual trans, no power steering, no speedometer) needs love while its owner is away. Take care of it, use it as you wish, and try not to get it towed. No need to wash. Contact Dan Levine, dlevine - at - uchicago.edu.
___
Sublet my apartment: Large 1BR on Woodlawn and 53rd that its lazy renter hasn't subletted yet. Bargain price of $600/mth. Feel free to use the Jacuzzi. Wash. Contact Dan Levine, dlevine - at - uchicago.edu.
Thursday, May 27, 2004
The Story of the Weeping Camel
It's not about R.J. Reynolds, though they have reason to be sad too. Nope, this movie is actually about a camel. The trailer seems to contain just about zero dialogue (naturally), though the camels do get a few good grunts in. The movie reminds me of the great Police song (technically, "The Police"), "Behind My Camel," which coincidentally also contained no words. But, of course, no collection of songs about our dromedarian friends could be complete without mentioning the Elton John classic, "Camel in the Wind." Look for all of these hits and more on the Weeping Camel soundtrack, soon to be released by Death Row records.
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Washingtonienne/Wonkette Interview on Fox News
The video is here. Anchor Brigitte Quinn seems very disapproving of the whole thing. Cutler seems nervous and keeps looking off camera. Wonkette is cool, as usual. All-in-all an odd mix.
Speaking of odd mixes, Reliable Source provides an account of a Heritage Foundation party with the following attendees:
Mike Starr
Douglas Ginsburg
Hillary Clinton
I always assumed the Heritage Foundation had special devices installed to repel Hillary from their presence. The fact that Hillary survived the night proves bi-partisanship isn't dead.
Anyway, if you want to read more on this whole Washingtonienne thing, The National Debate is covering it pretty closely. With pictures!
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming Market
This chart shows the subscriber levels for the various games over the last few years.
The results are interesting, because you get a great view of how this market works. No one wants to go online and walk around by themselves. Thus, if a MMOG wants to survive, it looks like it needs about 100,000 subscribers by the end of the first year. All of the games that didn't quite get there puttered out, including big names like The Sims Online. I don't see a single example of slow growth - you have to burst through the ceiling right away or settle for a token subscribership and an empty playfield.
Note that this gaming market is much different than the normal "install it, beat it, move on" approach to games. With MMOG's the product is intended to last many years, and all of the profits come from subscription fees. Games like Anarchy Online are even willing to provide you a copy of their product for free.
The development costs are enormous. In the first few years, games were often virtually unplayable at launch, and people would lose interest before the company could funnel the subscriber fees into adding bandwidth. Consequently, in order to have a fighting chance, game makers realized they needed to bite the bullet and prepare for a huge subscriber-base up-front, even if it never comes. This is why the recent entries have all been "big name" licenses - Star Wars, Final Fantasy, and (soon) Warcraft. Without some goodwill coming in to the market, the barriers to entry are just too high.
But boy, if you can get off to a good start, there is a ton of money to be made in this industry. Everquest, which I thought was a lame duck, actually has more subscribers now (about 420,000) than it did in January 2001 (about 400,000). All of those players continue to pay over $10 a month for a game that is largely running itself at this point - the players are experienced, the world polished, the server costs paid off long ago.
Meanwhile, Final Fantasy XI looks like the MMOG industry's next behemoth with 500,000 subscribers and counting. Apparently a game called Ragnarok is also quite popular in many Asian countries.
Needless to say the behavior of this market is quite fascinating. As the most successful games get bigger and bigger, it will be interesting to see if the public starts to take notice. After all, 5,000,000 18-34 males playing Final Fantasy every night (as is the nature of these games) would have quite an impact on other media markets. Or perhaps no game will be able to hold more than 500,000 individuals' interest at one time. We'll see.
Boalt Is Better Than This
Per Ben's post below, I'm not sure what's more disappointing - the fact that these Berkeley students think it isn't even debatable whether the Geneva Convention really had in mind protections for nationless enemies without uniforms, or this argument that "we're all for academic freedom, but he was acting in some official capacity, so he's fair game."
What's the pedagogical system at Boalt? Do people ever have to defend arguments they might disagree with? Are students supposed to ignore statutory avenues if they don't sit well with their own predilections? Pretend ambiguity doesn't exist if they don’t like its implications? This group seems to think such an approach is "moral." Sounds intellectually dishonest to me.
And what's with this "official capacity" distinction? It should cut against their arguments. Yoo was asked to write this memo. This isn't some sua sponte work of an academic. Yet, these students think the former situation leaves him vulnerable, while the latter approach makes him invincible. Why? Apparently academic freedom ends at the classroom door – they can sack a professor for what he might think, so long as where he thought it is far enough away. I wonder what they’d think of such a rule if it was applied to a Middle Eastern studies professor espousing, say, the end of the Jewish state at a private conference? Ah, but such a hypothetical is too fanciful to be entertained.
Ultimately, this effort reeks of pretext. The goal is to get rid of a guy who will throw out perspectives some students don’t want to be exposed to. This attitude seems to be all too common at Boalt. I suppose the goal is that certain issues should never be debated. Certain ideas should never be given a chance to rise or fall, even if they reveal strengths and weaknesses in other arguments, or challenge students to think differently. These kinds of inquiries simply make people feel too uncomfortable. Better to suppress such ideas than to tackle them with superior reasoning, the local wisdom goes. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Or maybe their reason really isn’t pretextual – maybe the petition’s supporters really think Yoo caused the prison scandal, has blood on his hands, etc. In which case, these Boalt kids aren't just unprincipled. They're blind. Iraqis aren't "non-state actors." They are not the focus of the memo. Sure is fun to have conspiracy theories though, huh? Bowling for Columbine is a masterpiece, right? Better to be passionate than to be honest.
As a final note, I think it’s important to recognize that one doesn’t have to be a First Amendment absolutist to tolerate Professor Yoo. If Professor Yoo’s deeply held opinion was that “Asian people are stupid,” it wouldn’t be too hard to discover that this opinion was not built upon academic inquiry, but upon hatred and irrationality. We might think such an opinion unworthy of our attention, not because it is misguided, but because it is devoid of any real content. It substitutes hatred and biases for argument. It too values passion over honesty.
In stark contrast, Professor Yoo’s arguments are not irrational. It’s quite clear Al Qaeda is a different type of enemy than we’ve seen before, and Geneva may not have properly anticipated what protections such combatants might merit. It is entirely proper, not to mention quite useful for reformers, to recognize a potential gap in the law. Thus, unless some students can show that Yoo based his propositions on, say, a hatred of Arabs, not on this state of the law, there’s no good reason for effectively silencing him. In fact, you may be shooting reform in the foot.
Well Berkeley, after all this, if you still don’t want Professor Yoo, Chicago will keep him. We will even give him a chance to say what he thinks. We might come to the conclusion that everything he says is misguided, poor as a matter of policy, or just plain wrong. But whatever we decide, our institution will be the better for accepting his input and striking back with ideas, rather than with petitions to resign.
Monday, May 24, 2004
Snoop Dogg is Getting a Divizzle
That's a direct quote. From the AP.
That's too bad. I liked Snoop the family man. I wonder if this means he's leaving Claremont? I hope not; he's our second most famous resident, coming in just under Pamela Gann, who recently took over the top spot after winning the highly coveted "Jackass of the Month" award.
Also, having heeded Cosby's call, Snoop will stay in his children's lives. In fact, Snoop says he wants "joint" custody.
. . .
That joke is very funny if you're high, trust me.
Boalt's silly petition
So, here's the petition calling for Professor Yoo's resignation from Boalt's faculty. The comments are about as thoughtless, misguided, and reactionary as you'd expect, given their source. But here are a couple of my favorites:
Love y respeto a las personas who endeavor to reduce human suffering / Our grandchildren will play together / To those who use the law to increase or justify human suffering, countless eyes watch / we shall not forget
Or there's this one:
FREE PALESTINE FROM ZIONIST OPPRESSION
But most of them are like this:
I am outraged that a professor at my law school would participate in returning us to the lawlessness of pre-Geneva barbarism
(More links through How Appealing.)
News Aggregators
I've been using Newzcrawler for about a year now, and am generally pretty happy with it. But the other day I began to wonder if any other news readers were making their move. Turns out, FeedDemon is quite the program. It's much better looking than Newzcrawler, and makes for easier reading through an autopreview/newspaper layout system (you'll just have to try it to see what I mean).
Ultimately, I've decided to stick with Newzcrawler. It's free, it has a much better system for updating feeds, has a newsticker, and places article names in its pop-up balloon. These features won me over. I just wish they'd add the autopreview.
Then, I come to find this article, which compares the relative merits of the two readers head-on. If you're still deciding on a news reader, be sure to read it.
Last, I should note I also tried SharpReader. I must say I'm not too impressed, despite the good review Will linked to the other day. It's neither pretty or feature-packed. But if a bare-bones reader is exactly what you're looking for, give that a try, or go the web-based route.
But for goodness sakes, whatever you do, don't be aggregator-less. I've tried to impart this wisdom on co-blogger Ben, but he doesn't seem to listen. He says he has "better things to do," like "doing his work." I'm using quotation marks because I have no idea what these statements mean.
Sunday, May 23, 2004
Google apology ad
Apparently Google bought the ad space for the search term "Jew" -- and used it to post an apology for the (potentially) offensive material the search raises.
Interesting response... This seems to me to be a reasonable solution to the "problem" (if it really was a problem), as compared against re-ranking search results to satisfy angry (even rightfully angry) groups.
Incidentally, the URL, "http://www.google.com/explanation.html" makes me think that this is the only "explanation" for offensive searches that they have made available (although possibly not).
Banzukeology
Is that a word? Probably not, but, well, it is now, for I have declared it to be so. Anyway, as I mentioned in my previous post, I thought I'd do a mock banzuke for July's Nagoya Basho.
| EAST | RANK | WEST
|
| Asashoryu | YOKOZUNA
| |
| Kaio | OZEKI | Chiyotaikai
|
| Musoyama | OZEKI | Tochiazuma
|
| Wakanosato | SEKIWAKE | Hokutoriki
|
| Kotomitsuki | KOMUSUBI | Tamanoshima
|
| Kyokutenho | M - 1 | Iwakiyama
|
| Kokkai | M - 2 | Kyokushuzan
|
| Takekaze | M - 3 | Kotoryu
|
| Kotonowaka | M - 4 | Shimotori
|
| Dejima | M - 5 | Tokitsuumi
|
| Tochinonada | M - 6 | Kakizoe
|
| Takamisakari | M - 7 | Miyabiyama
|
| Hakuho | M - 8 | Asasekiryu
|
| Tochisakae | M - 9 | Aminishiki
|
| Hayateumi | M - 10 | Kaiho
|
| Tosanoumi | M - 11 | Jumonji
|
| Kinkaiyama | M - 12 | Buyuzan
|
| Takanowaka | M - 13 | Kasugao
|
| Kasuganishiki | M - 14 | Toyozakura
|
| Ushiomaru | M - 15 | Harunoyama
|
| Futeno | M - 16 | Toki
|
| Otsukasa | M - 17
|
Obviously, there's a huge amount of subjectivity involved in the above. 3 people deserve to be sekiwake (also Kotomitsuki), but Tamanoshima is the only one who deserves to be a komusubi. You could see three sekiwake, but you won't see only one komusubi, so Kotomitsuki only goes up one slot to east K. Hakuho at M-8 is probably an example of gaikokujin bias, but if the Kyokai thinks he has as bright a future as I'm guessing he might, I don't think it's particularly unreasonable. M-8 through about M-12 is also about where it becomes really hard to seed people; lots of 8-7s moving up a few ranks or 4-11s not dropping too far, neither of which I really like. Injured rikishi were left in the same rank, based on the assumption they'll be back for Nagoya. This is why Musoyama is the #3 Ozeki despite being subject to demotion after a 6-9 record in May; Tochiazuma (1) missed the just completed Natsu Basho entirely and (2) is kadoban himself after his March performance.
I may do a juryo banzuke in the next few days, but (1) it won't be complete, because I can't tell who all the additions will be, and (2) it probably won't be very good, because I haven't ever (a) tracked juryo results-ranking change or (b) done a juryo banzuke before.
Expect changes in the format of the banzuke; I'll almost certainly think it looks ugly when it shows up on the blog screen. UPDATE: I think it now looks not-too-atrocious. If anybody has any complaints or formatting suggestions, please leave a comment.
Should You Ever Listen to Me?
In my last sumo post, I boldly predicted that Hokutoriki was the odds-on favorite to take the 2004 Natsu Basho. This looked even more certain after his victory over Takekaze on Day 14, but Asashoryu managed to keep pace by beating Kaio, then Chiyotaikai on Day 15. 13-1 Hokutoriki faced off against 11-3 Hakuho, who tried to salvage Mongolian pride, both Asa's and his own. Kimarite: hikiotoshi, Hakuho no kachi. This leaves both Hokutoriki and Asa at 13-2. But Hoku beat Asa, so Hoku wins, right? Because the first tiebreaker is always head-to-head. Naturally, this is sumo, and tiebreakers, sumo don't need no stinkin' tiebreakers. Playoff: yorikitte, Asashoryu no yusho. Bullet dodged, third consecutive yusho belongs to the top dog Mongolian.
Here is Asahi Shinbun's Japanese coverage, JapanToday's brief English recap, Mainichi's better English recap, and the official Day 15 results page.
Top division gaikokujin recap: Yokozuna Asashoryu 13-2, third consecutive yusho, first time that's happened since Takanohana won 4 in 1996. 43-2 so far this year, and with a not bad shot at one of the greatest years in the history of sumo if he keeps it up. M#16 Hakuho, 12-3 in his top division debut and co-winner (with Hokutoriki) of the Kanto-sho (Fighting Spirit Award). He turned 19 earlier this year, spent only two basho in juryo, and will get a big promotion for Nagoya in July. A potential future yokozuna, if he stays healthy and continues to improve. Sekiwake Kyokutenho finished at 6-9, so he'll get another trip down the ladder. Kyokushuzan finished at 9-6 as an M-7 after a mediocre start, so he'll go up. Asasekiryu, Asasekiryu, Asasekiryu... 3-12 as an M-2 will move you down more than one spot. Everyone's favorite top division European, Kokkai, was the other M-7, and he finished at a fine 10-5 after a Day 15 loss to Kotomitsuki.
Yes, there's another division yet to talk about. Down in Juryo, J-10 Tokitenku finished at 12-3, while Toyomoshima lost on Day 15 to fall to 11-4 and give the Mongolian the yusho. Fellow J-10 Bulgarian Kotooshu lost 3 of his last 4, but finished with a fine 10-5 record. Both wrestlers will be toward the top of the juryo ranks next time, and would almost certainly make their top division debuts in September with another strong performance in July. Mongolian Ama finished 6-9 as J-7 and will fall down, but he's only 20 and should have a bright future if he puts on weight (254# isn't really big enough for someone 6'). The Russian Roho went 10-5 from his J-6 slot and will probably move toward the top of the juryo ranks. South Korean Kasugao finished 10-5 as a J-2 and will move back into the top division in July.
Down in the 4th division, Brazilian Azumao took the championship, but he's 26 and has been wrestling for 10 years, so this'll almost certainly be the only time you ever hear his name.
Finally, I just noticed that former Ozeki Takanonami dropped out after Day 3 and retired at the age of 32. He made his ozeki debut 10 years ago in Osaka, and was part of the crowd at that rank for most of the next 5 years. After the decline of the yokozuna, he had a chance in March 1999 to step it up and make the yokozuna drive, but fellow Ozeki Musashimaru did, and his career was never the same after that senshuraku.
Next up is Nagoya, beginning July 4. I think that means the banzuke comes out June 21. When I feel like procrastinating, probably in the next day or two, I'll come up with some predictions for where I think people will be ranked the next basho. Other than that, TNTM should be a sumo-free zone until late June or early July.
You Learn Something New Everyday
From the University of Chicago student guide:
What should I call my professor?
It was pronounced publicly in the first issue of the campus newspaper, the University of Chicago Weekly, which came out the summer before the University opened: 'By mutual agreement between all the faculty and officers of the University now on hand, the uniform appellation of 'Mr.' has been adopted in mutual intercourse, thus doing away with all doubts and mistakes as to the proper title of any man connected with the institution.' This custom is also a form of, well, snobbery: since everyone around has a doctoral degree, it's not worth making a fuss over.
Do the undergrads follow this rule? "Professor" is definitely the term of choice at the law school, but then most of us came from other institutions.
Saturday, May 22, 2004
SNL Season Review
Check it out here. Just keep scrolling. I particularly like some of the quotes from this season. Here are a few choice ones:
10.11.03 -- Justin Timberlake as Jessica Simpson: "If I'm so retarded, how come my driver's license says 'functionally retarded'?"
10.18.03 -- Will Forte as Gary the speedreader: (after reading the Bible) "Pooooor Jesus..."
12.13.03 -- Chris Parnell as Joe Lieberman: "If you're looking for someone who can energize the party, Joe Lieberman is that cat. I am a hardcore, hip-hop, rock and roll candidate. I bring in the noise, and provided that it is fiscally responsible, I shall bring in the funk as well. And that, my fellow Americans, is fo' shizzle."
1.17.04 -- Chris Parnell as Simon Cowell: "Your singing is wretched and your outfit is ridiculous - I can see your vagina."
Finesse Mitchell as Kelis: “That’s called my stage presence!"
2.7.04 -- Announcer: "You're watching Bravo, the gay stuff and poker network."
2.14.04 -- Tina Fey: "Cartoon character Cathy finally got engaged to her boyfriend in today's Valentine edition of her strip. Meanwhile, Marcie and Peppermint Patty are moving to Massachusetts."
2.21.04 -- Jimmy Fallon: "This week, Georgia's board of education approved the plan that allows teachers to keep using the word 'evolution' when teaching biology. Though as a compromise, dinosaurs are now called Jesus Horses."
Fockering around
It appears that filming has finally begun on the eagerly anticipated (by me) "Meet the Fockers". It looks like Dustin Hoffman will be playing Focker the Elder while Barbara Streisand will be Mrs. Focker the Elder. It's bodes well that the IMDb listing does not give the first names for either character. I look forward to that revelation in the movie.
This may, unfortunately, be the sowing of the seeds of the demise of That's News. Brian, has expressed his feelings in re Babs, but if she's in Meet the Fockers I may have to defend her honor. I'm sorry it had to end like this.
In other news, Moammar Gadhafi is still a fucking idiot.
And that's news to me.
An Age-Old Debate Settled
Sorry Democrats, God is a Republican. Or so says David Klinghoffer in the LA Times.
"Today, the ideological struggles of liberals and conservatives mirror the clash initiated by Marxists and Freudians with 19th century individualism. Conservatives encourage individuals to make their own choices, except where those choices invariably harm the innocent (as in abortion) or undermine the pillars of civilization itself (as in gay marriage). Liberals see the function of government as parental, with citizens in the role of children too unaware and irresponsible to cross the street by themselves."
Hilarious. Let's see if I can help the liberals out here. Roleplaying time!
There's a "harming the innocent" exception to the free will nondelegation principle? We (liberals) wholeheartedly agree! We just think that exception also applies to people dying on the street from hunger. Or kids getting shot from their parents guns. Or people kept down by racism. Or workers dying from asbestos. Are you telling me these people aren't innocent? Are you telling me these people weren't harmed?
As for the second exception for "undermining the pillars of civilization," we think the fundamental pillar is one of tolerance. Thus, accepting gay marriage, Islamic culture, etc, are key to keeping civilization on its feet.
"Generally speaking, liberalism distrusts the individual, while conservatism trusts him enough to give him a chance to make the right, or the wrong, decision. If he makes the wrong one, he will have to answer to his own conscience, or to his God."
I'm pretty sure the legal system might have something to say too. But I digress.
I think Klinghoffer explains away far too much with his "exceptions." Pro-choice advocates are all about individual choice on that issue. Why don't most Republicans feel the same way? Because they think it's wrong. Ultimately, the Democrat/Republican distinction is a value conflict, not a disagreement on free will. Either group will lay off people when they think they'll make the right decisions, and both will act on those who have fled the flock. Kind of reminds me of that "God" character one reads of from time to time. He must belong to both parties.
Oh my goodness, God is John McCain!
Schwarzenegger's Saliva for Sale
Or at least it was, the LA Times says. Some guy fished the governor's used cough drop out of the trash and attempted to sell it on eBay for $500. Then the eBay anti-commodification police (I wrote about this a bit here) removed the listing.
Here's the most interesting part. It's not impossible to sell the cough drop. The seller just needs to have a purpose other than selling a body part. So if this guy sold the cough drop as a "collectible," that would be ok. I wonder whether one could sell, say, Jennifer Aniston's hair, so long as the seller phrased the listing as "collectible from another era: remember when Rachel's hair was a hit?" Or something like that. Clearly I'm not cut out for eBaying. Just goes to show you that when it comes to commodification rules, line-drawing is hard.
Justice Served on Streisand
Way back when I posted about Barbara Streisand's suit against the owners of this site. Two people take pictures of the California coastline for preservation purposes. Babs sued them because they happened to take a picture of her house. She lost. But as LAObserved noted yesterday, turns out she lost big. Almost 200K in lawyers fees went to the defendants. The court must have invoked the old doctrine of "fee shifting for rich hypocrites."
7th Circuit Follies
From the oral argument of In Re K Mart, 359 F 3d 866 (7th Cir 2004):
Appellee's Attorney: The second thing I wanted to respond to was the Crawford case, Judge Posner's decision in a Chapter 13 with a plan confirmation . . .
Easterbrook: I didn't remind your colleague of it, but it is a decision of the Seventh Circuit, not of a particular judge.
Attorney: I apologize. It is the Court's decision. Judge Posner just happened to write it.
Later:
Attorney: . . . I think you have to read 363(b) in the context of the entire code.
Easterbrook: Ugg. Now I've got to read all of the decisions from the 18th and 19th centuries, and the entire Code. I won't have time to watch Survivor on TV!
The attorney, Steven B. Towbin, also mentions Professor Baird a few minutes later.
Setting up Easterbrook for a joke and having Douglas on your side? Guess who won?
But still, there are lessons to be learned here. 1. Judge Posner's opinions are in fact not his, but Seventh Circuit's opinions only. 2. Don't mess with Judge Easterbrook's Survivor-watching schedule. 3. Cite Professor Baird as much as possible. In fact, try only citing Professor Baird. Just file a brief consisting of his Bankruptcy book. Add anything more, and Judge Easterbrook will find some way in which your addition destroys federal jurisdiction. Even if it's just your signature at the end. Have Douglas sign it.
But if you're also looking to avoid violating local rules, just forget it. Your tie alone surely violates at least 17 local rules, which Judge Easterbrook will readily recite to you off the top of his head ("Let me ask you again counsel, because you're clearly not listening. In what way does that tie comply with Rule 30b, requiring Windsor knots? And don't even get me started on its warm hues, a clear violation of Rules 32(f), 0(c), and 273.15(k).")
I'm sure this is how the attorney for Illinois felt in this oral argument. You know things aren't going well when you're told your case is moot, you forgot to include a key (unpublished) lower court opinion in the appendix, and Judge Easterbrook at one point asks, in short, "are you calling me an idiot?"
In sum: if you ever have the pleasure of arguing before the 7th Circuit, don't say I didn't warn you.
Friday, May 21, 2004
Procrastination Aid
Tis the time of year again at the University of Chicago in which we are really supposed to do our work. This is also the time of year when procrastination aids are most desperately needed. Thus, I bring to your attention this site. Legos are here to help.
I recommend Drome Duel first, and then Supersonic AC if you're adventurous.
Little Miss Hooters Contest
Yep, you read it right. Girls 5 years old and under only. Have to dress up like a Hooters waitress. You can see commentary and pictures of the ads here.
The funniest thing about this idea is that South Park already thought of it. (from Instapundit)
Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
"The Asian guy from 'American Pie,' the Indian guy from 'Van Wilder,' and the white guy who brought you 'Dude, Where's My Car?,'" now bring us this movie. It looks like the main characters scream and run away from things a lot.
I've never been to White Castle myself. If it's anything like Cracker Barrel, I'd just as soon keep it that way.
Sumo Update
Day 13 has been completed at the Kokugikan, and Hokutoriki is in first by his lonesome with a record of 12-1. Asashoryu stands alone in 2nd at 11-2 (2nd loss came on Day 11 to Kyokuenho). Still alive at 10-3 are Tamanoshima and gaikokujin Kokkai and Hakuho. Other foreigners include Kyokushuzan at 8-5 after a poor start, Kyokutenho at 5-8, and Asasekiryu down at 2-11.
Right now, I think Hokutoriki has to be considered a huge favorite to win. His only loss is to sekiwake Wakanosato (8-5), and he's fought almost everyone ahead of him on the banzuke and 3 of the 4 people who are chasing him (not Hakuho), so head to head matches probably won't hurt him very much. To compile his 4-0 record against the ozeki and Asa, he must have been performing at a high level, and that doesn't seem to have changed throught this basho. The only question will be whether this suggests a permanent change, or is more or less a fluke. He's 26, 27 later this year, took a long time to get to makunouchi, has been up and down on the maegashira ladder... looking like a fluke, though being a sekiwake next time will give us a better idea.
Down in Juryo, Mongolian Tokitenku stands in the lead at 11-2, with Toyomoshima at 10-3, and Bulgaria's own Kotooshu part of a group at 9-4.
To be updated, of course, though Sunday morning's final means the final report will come Sunday afternoon, NOT live.
Thursday, May 20, 2004
Supreme Court of Mexico Newspaper Ad
Apparently Judge Wolin started a trend. Read about it here. (from How Appealing)
Star Wars: Episode III Proposal
MSNBC has this article, entitled "Can Star Wars: Episode III be Saved?: Fire Lucas, fire Christensen and resurrect Ed Wood from the grave." Here's a bit of it:
"Maybe the best thing to do would be to get Anakin to embrace the Dark Side as quickly as possible, perhaps by forcing him to confront some terrible disappointment that will haunt him for the rest of his days. We suggest this two-line scene set in a Coruscant restaurant:
WAITER: Here’s your green salad, sir.
ANAKIN: What? You fool, I told you NO CROUTONS! Aaaaaaargh!
Anakin puts on his black helmet and storms off to his local county clerk’s office and fills out the paperwork to have his name legally changed to 'Darth Annie Vader.' (He later quietly drops the middle name, realizing it doesn’t help his macho image.) And then for the next two hours, it’s all special-effects spaceship battles, which is the real reason most of us will go to the theater anyway. Fade to black."
Sadly, it's far too late to fire anyone. The movie (probably titled "Birth of the Empire," btw) is mostly done. I wonder what Lucas thinks of the Lord of Rings films. Do you think he saw them and was like, "Wow, Fellowship of the Ring is almost as good as Phantom Menace!" Or do you think he realized that they upped the ante a bit? Not that Battleship Earth wouldn't have upped the ante for the Phantom Menace too.
Despite being secluded on that ranch much of the time, he does watch other movies. Plus, Trey Parker told him Phantom Menace sucked. So I think he knows, but he has this attitude like "hey, everybody told me the original sucked too, and then I made a quadrillion dollars." Well George, this time everyone is right.
I'll still see it though. (from Slashdot)
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Virtual Church
Here's the website to try it out.
It's not what I expected at all. It basically seems like a 3D cartoony chat room for Christians. Except they can't vet everyone, so it's really just a normal chat room, complete with your usual helping of lunatics. Ship of Fools indeed. It also features some Phillip Glass-like errie/minimalist sounds in the background. Weird.
Obviously I don't really get it, but maybe its point is to make chruch seem really mainstream and hip. It is sponsored by the UK Methodists, after all. From what I understand, they're like the United Methodists here. Aka, their motto might as well be "We Make Religion Easy."
Bankruptcy
I love this quote from my bankruptcy book:
This is simply a requirement that creditors may not capture the entire value of a solvent debtor. Thus, this requirement is only as important as solvent debtors in bankruptcy are common.
Chuckle, chuckle. What a little gem! I've always thought § 1129(b)(2)(C) was amenable to sarcastic remarks.
"New York Minute" review
It's worth checking out Mr. Cranky's review of "New York Minute". Hilarious. The opening quote:
I would like anybody (teenage girls excepted) who thought this film would be even remotely tolerable to stand up now and walk to the middle of an open field far away from other people, because I can absolutely guarantee that you are about to spontaneously explode due to the overwhelming pressure of your own stupidity.
I leave it to our readers to determine whether his "The Olsen Twins Are Hot But No One Is Talking About It" thesis is accurate.
A Dissenting Opinion . . . By Press Release
Judge Wolin, of the District of New Jersey, issued this press release today. Here's a portion:
"A panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has decided by a two-to-one vote that my joint administration of three major chapter 11 asbestos cases should be terminated. These cases were assigned to me by former Chief Judge of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals Edward Becker. My responsibility was to take an intractable litigation problem cloaked with a sense of urgency and to dispose of it with dispatch.
. . .
The Court of Appeals gave lip service approval to the concept of experts employed to advise a district judge, but held that such confidential advice necessarily crosses the line into extra-judicial or ex parte knowledge. It is unclear how expert advisors are to be used, if at all, following the Court of Appeals' opinion in this case. The dissenting opinion criticized the majority for excusing the delay of almost two years before an objection was filed to my management of these complex cases. The majority refused to recognize the significance of the fact that attorneys representing committees of creditors and indeed the entire asbestos bar knew long ago of the supposed conflicts of my advisors.
The Court of Appeals' focus on complete transparency and actual notice to the exclusion of other considerations is an unfortunate development in the jurisprudence of complex litigation. These principles were developed in simpler times and for cases with but a few parties. Here, where the parties number in the hundreds of thousands, the decision in this case was profoundly impractical. I am convinced that it will work to the detriment of legitimate creditors  injured persons, commercial creditors, and debtors  willing to play by the rules and avoid the scorched earth tactics of a few, distressed-debt traders. The trust the judiciary has earned over centuries of honorable service is not wasted by the case management techniques I put in place. On the contrary, that trust is put to its highest use to solve one of our society's most difficult and intractable problems."
The only explanation for this press release is uncontrollablele hubris. A district judge has a right to do this only in the strictest sense - no lower court judge should be recurring to the press to critize a superior court about an active case. Now, the case will go forward without the Third Circuit having the last word. Like it or not, the Third Circuit answer is the right answer for a district court, at least until another appellate panel says otherwise. Call it a charade or a noble lie, that's how we do things in this country. Judge Wolin seems to have forgotten this.
Ironically, Wolin has vindicated the Third Circuit's decision - this is clearly a man too passionate about covering his behind to see the case objectively. Want proof of his motives? Check out this portion:
"The Court of Appeals, after a full examination of the record has found that I did nothing wrong, unethical, or biased. Moreover, their review has not revealed the slightest hint of any actual bias or partisanship by me. On the contrary, they found that throughout my stewardship over these asbestos cases, I exhibited all of the judicial qualities, ethical conduct and characteristics emblematic of the most experienced, competent and distinguished Article III jurist."
Apparently he forgot to add "But I flatter myself" at the end. Must be scrivener's error.
Lastly, Judge Wolin could use a little brush up on the Canons of Judicial Ethics. Canon 3A(4)requires that "a judge should accord to every person who is legally interested in a proceeding, or the person's lawyer, full right to be heard according to law, and, except as authorized by law, neither initiate nor consider ex parte communications on the merits, or procedures affecting the merits, of a pending or impending proceeding."
Can anyone name another judge who had this section thrown in his face recently? Answer: Thomas Penfield Jackson in the Microsoft recusal. You're in good company, Judge Wolin.
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
The Sweetest Box Score in All of Sports
ATLANTA TODAY SEASON
AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
J Garcia SS 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 .284
J Franco 1B 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .255
C Jones LF 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 .238
A Jones CF 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .246
J Estrada C 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 .333
J Drew RF 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .296
M Derosa 3B 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .201
N Green 2B 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 .222
M Hampton P 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .200
a-E Perez PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .200
Totals 27 0 0 0 0 13 0
ARIZONA TODAY SEASON
IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
R Johnson (W, 4-4) 9 0 0 0 0 13 0 117-87 2.43
Read more about Randy Johnson's perfect game here.
Monday, May 17, 2004
Standing on the Left? You Must Be on Vacation
Washington Post
When I first arrived in D.C., I had no idea there was a passing lane on escalators. On the west coast, this kind of thing is unheard of. In Seattle and LA, escalators are a place to congregate, relax, and hang out until you reach the top. I couldn't understand why all these people cared so much. It's like that Jerry Seinfeld routine:
"I'm always in traffic with the lane expert. You know this type of person? Constantly reevaluating their lane choice. Never quite sure, 'Is this the best lane for me? For my life?' They're always a little bit ahead of you, 'Can I get in over there? Could I get in over here? Could I get in there?' 'Yeah, come on over here, pal. We're zoomin' over here. This is the secret lane, nobody knows about it.'"
That's how I felt about these D.C. people. It's as if getting to the top of the escalator 2 seconds faster is going to decide the election. I think some people even feel their arrival at the top isn't assured. "The odds aren't looking that good, Paul. Look at that fellow, he's passing us! This is it, isn't it? We'll never see Foggy Bottom again! Oh god, oh god! Hurry Paul! Leave the baby! JUST LEAVE IT!"
But then I eventually became one of them. By 9 months, I knew never go near the middle of the orange, blue, or red lines during the day. The tourist hoards take too long to get on the trains, never know that you have to keep your ticket to exit the station, and, yes, don't respect escalator protocol.
In fact, when I went back to D.C. last year during interview season, I found that I reverted back to my old habits. I even felt a little naked without a Washington Post in my hands (they are, or at least were, only 35 cents in some places - what a steal!). Just goes to show you that Potomac fever wears off, but never really goes away. That's little consolation for the abandoned babies, mind.
God's Gift to Football - Mark Brunell?
The Washington Times seems to think so. I feel obliged to put this up because Brunell is a Washington Husky. If you want to read about a football player becoming a born-again Christian, go ahead and click on the link. But you shouldn't feel obliged to. I didn't really read it, to be honest. Enjoy!
Sunday, May 16, 2004
Bad News for John Kerry?
His official campaign blog changed its name.
Old name: We Will Beat Bush
New name: The Official John Kerry Blog
Sometimes we all must make sacrifices for the sake of accuracy. Major newspapers excepted, of course.
Sumo Update
Day 8 of 15 of the Natsu (Summer) Grand Sumo Tournament has been completed. Wakanosato end Hokutoriki's chance at zensho, creating a tie at 7-1 that includes those two, Kinkaiyama, Futeno, and the two makunouchi gaigokujin whose records don't make you want to avert your eyes, Kokkai and Asashoryu, who seems to be back in form. Lurking at 6-2 are ozeki Kaio, Tamanoshima, and Hakuho. Having so many wreslters with fine records means there must be a few people at the other end of the spectrum, and that includes Toki, Buyuzan, Miyabiyama, and, zannen nagara, Asasekiryu at 1-7. The "Kyoku" pair are doing a little better, with -Shuzan at 2-6 and -Tenho at 4-4. Down in Juryo, Kotoshu stands at 6-2, two off the pace set by Tokitenku, who is, I'll be damned, a Mongolian. A quick check of the rikishi listed by place of birth list also shows the aforementioned Hakuho and J#7 Ama as Mongolians, J#2 Kasugao as one of the hated South Koreans*, and J#6 Roho as Russian.
More sumo news later on, though how many posts you'll see from me depends on whether I'm actually in the beginning stages of carpal tunnel or not.
*-Japanese apparently really do hate Koreans. While I was serving my time abroad, one of my classes was taught by someone from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and he gave us the results of a survey of what countries Japanese people liked and didn't like. I don't remember which country officially finished as "most hated," and don't have access to my notes right now, but do recall that if you combined all the "Korea" answers (Chosen, Kitachosen, Kankoku), it would've finished in first place by a decent margin. Most liked country? Switzerland.
John Cleese Interview
Read it here. Looks like he's got some good stuff coming, including a blog at thejohncleese.com, greeting cards with messages like "I'm extremely sorry I murdered your aunt. I really shouldn't have done it," and fine works of history:
CLEESE: . . . I'm writing an animated movie at the moment for DreamWorks.
SENIOR: What about?
CLEESE: Cavemen. And my son-in-law, he's now working in animation. He's written a very zany comedy. I just recorded the voice of Hitler.
SENIOR: Hitler? Really?
CLEESE: Returned to the planet to try and do good. He's learned a great deal. Though his temperament is still a little fiery.
Kucinich Update
And you thought we'd forgotten about him. According to the LA Times, the Oregon primary "may be" his "last stand." I think this is a last stand in the General Custer sense only. Call me a pessimist. But before he leaves the stage, Kucinich has this pearl of wisdom:
"I come from a spiritual perspective on this, seeing the world as one . . . I guess you could say when that happens, there's no exertion . . . I just have a real sense of joy about what I'm doing."
I can't help but think this Kucinich's version of bedroom talk. Any ladies out there who find this sort of thing attractive? I'm sure Dennis' cell number is on his website. But remember, he's looking for a woman who wants "world peace, universal single-payer health care and a full employment economy."
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s Dilemma: Diversity or Honesty?
The New York Times recently interviewed Cornell West and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on the legacy of Brown v Board. Most of the video consists of them agreeing with each other and criticizing Clarence Thomas (with one exception - Gates agrees that separate does not necessarily mean unequal). But this portion caught my interest:
Henry Louis Gates, Jr: If we could make these predominantly black schools excellent, would that be a satisfactory goal? I say yes. Because I don't think there's anything magical about being around white people, necessarily. Inherently.
Cornell West: Yeah, yeah.
HLG: It's good for a multicultural society to have as much integration [as possible], but unless we have economic integration, we're not going to have residential integration.
So wait, there's nothing inherently good about being around white people? I must say, I wholeheartedly agree. Many white people are boring. Some have no sense of humor too. There are some I don't even like. And what's up with the Friends thing?
But Henry, you can't say this kind of stuff. Once you admit that there's nothing inherently valuable about the skin color of those around you from educational perspective, you've repudiated the whole basis for diversity-based college admissions. This is the last argument pro-affirmative action people can use to justify rich black kids getting into colleges ahead of poor white kids, even if the white kid has a lot of potential and the black kid is boring, has no sense of humor, etc. And goodness knows the horrors reversing that system would bring! Please try not to be so honest next time, Professor Gates.
Come to think of it, another interesting part of the interview is when Gates discusses "diversity" at Yale. He notes that most of the black students are middle- to upper-middle class. Moreover, an uncanny amount are the children of Gates' fellow black students when he attended Yale. He concludes that affirmative action is no longer a "class elevator" so much as it is a "class bridge" (citing Lani Guinier), benefiting the children of those who utilized it a generation ago.
So affirmative action isn't even helping the poor black kids get in to the top schools. I'm sure there are few poor applicants, but I'm also willing to bet that if Yale focused more on bringing bright disadvantaged kids to the institution, and less on meeting racial quotas, the poor black students would have a better chance. But hey, it makes the admissions officers feel just as good about themselves to admit a rich black person as a poor one, so why should they care? They all need our help, after all. The important thing is to temper one's guilt with paternalism and subtle condescension.
What a crock.
Saturday, May 15, 2004
Punitive Damages in the Extended Sphere
Governor Schwarzenegger's new budget includes a provision giving state government (through a trust) 75% of any punitive damage award. A representative for the Governor justifies this idea by arguing that "the money should go to the public good." I think this fits with some views on punitive damages, but not the Supreme Court's.
Of the various justifications for punitive damages, such as retribution (criminal law, anyone?), compensating for recurring misses, compensating for attorney's fees, compensation for social cost of bad conduct, and deterrence, none seem to be at odds with this plan, because none contemplate where the award goes. The pay-out could go to the victim, but it could just as easily go to California - the point is that it came from the defendant's pocket. That is, except for the view that punitives are for the lawyers, which the plan answers - attorney pay-off comes before the distribution to the trust, ensuring full payment (or at least priority payment).
So if the provision doesn't conflict with any of these views, what's wrong? To answer, it's important to read the Supreme Court's most recent punitive damages decision, State Farm v Campbell, 538 US 408 (2003). Here's the relevant discussion:
"For a more fundamental reason, however, the Utah courts erred in relying upon this and other evidence: The courts awarded punitive damages to punish and deter conduct that bore no relation to the Campbells' harm. A defendant's dissimilar acts, independent from the acts upon which liability was premised, may not serve as the basis for punitive damages. A defendant should be punished for the conduct that harmed the plaintiff, not for being an unsavory individual or business. Due process does not permit courts, in the calculation of punitive damages, to adjudicate the merits of other parties' hypothetical claims against a defendant under the guise of the reprehensibility analysis, but we have no doubt the Utah Supreme Court did that here." Id at 422-23.
I believe the proper conclusion to draw from this language is that the courts are not supposed to be compensating for misses. Courts are not to look to other cases at all. The Court is saying that punitive damages are about pay-outs in this case for this plaintiff. I don't think you can read language like "[a] defendant should be punished for the conduct that harmed the victim, not for being an unsavory business" to say anything less.
How does this analysis fit in with the usual justifications for punitive damages? Not very well at all. The best we can say is that the Court doesn't make clear that the plaintiff should receive the award, even if the award centers around their loss only. Thus, on retribution, social cost, and deterrence rationales, it might still be acceptable to send a portion of the award to the state.
But I think this is a stretch. Social cost and deterrence have their backbone in a view that the punitive aspect of the case isn't really about this case at all, but about past and future cases, respectively (retribution has its backbone in criminal law, where it should stay). The "social cost" for the victim at issue is already answered by their compensatory damages award. If we think this calculation inadequate, moreover, it would only justify providing punitive damages to the victim. But the large-scale social cost must be about more than that - it must be about past cases, moral/psychic externalities, etc. The Supreme Court in State Farm ruled these kinds of considerations out.
The same problem is even more evident from a deterrence rationale. It is quite impossible to conceive how a court could ask itself "how much money should defendant pay to make sure this never happens again?" when the Court commands that the judge focus on this case only, not “hypothetical claims.”
It is clear State Farm undermines much of our current thinking on punitive damages (and the "public good" M.O. for the California provision). But I think the Court’s views can be explained in part by noting the procedural posture of this case. It was not a class action, but a suit brought by a single estate. Thus, the facts provide inadequate information about all the other cases, victims, etc. One could conceive of an action in every state, in which each judge decides to deter the defendant from engaging in this kind of behavior again. Obviously, 50-fold over deterrence is not what we’re looking for, unless each judge is willing to divide his determination by some proportion, in deference to other claims. Such a system would be unwieldy, to say the least.
The answer, of course, is to have a nation-wide class action. Bring it everyone, and then let the judge grant a single award that will hit the defendant hard, but only once. Unfortunately, the both the current and proposed Rule 23 (which I discussed at some length here) just won’t make this work. Such a suit, because it does not have the unity and uniformity of interest of a 23(b)(2) action, must go the (b)(3) route, which requires any given plaintiff the opportunity to opt-out. So long as a significant number of plaintiffs do so, our central planning-minded judge won’t get his valuation right and the defendants won’t get peace. After all, if a case like State Farm teaches us anything, it’s that just one plaintiff, with just one jury, can cost a defendant a bundle.
Ultimately I think all of these issues show that judicial competency has its limits, and that the central planning aspect of punitive damages is best left to central planners (aka Congress). If you’d rather Congress didn’t take-on this role either, then I think you ultimately must agree with the Supreme Court. Let the class actions run their course, but if they only represent 5% of all victims, its better that punitive damages be tied down to the harm inflicted upon that 5%, rather than trying to compensate for the other 95% in some way. It’s an imperfect system, but better than the alternatives. Sometimes that the best you can do in an extended sphere republic.
Greece Struggles to Clear Hurdles in Sprint to Games
Los Angeles Times
Yeah yeah, the Greeks are slow, everything's going to hell, things won't be done, etc etc. We've all heard it. Some of it may be true. But that's not interesting anymore. What's interesting is why they're struggling. Let's take a look:
"Until recently, thousands of stray dogs roamed the capital, lounging in downtown's Constitution Square at the entrance to the subway or pacing at the foot of the Acropolis. Dogs hold an honored place in Greek mythology - in Homer's 'The Odyssey,' it was his hunting dog that recognized Odysseus upon his return after a 20-year absence - but today some Greeks have a reputation for dumping their pets when they tire of them or go on summer vacation."
This gives you a real insight into why the Olympics are going the way they're going. If the ethos is "if it's too much trouble, dump it!" when it comes to living things, don't expect to get a roof done. Here's more:
"It all began when a visiting Ukrainian coach was bitten by a mutt. And then someone started poisoning the dogs.
The uproar, especially from foreign animal rights advocates, was enormous. Greek officials denied that they were behind the poisonings and countered that they had launched a compassionate program of rounding up the strays and neutering, inoculating and cleaning them. If they are not adopted, the officials insist, they will be returned to their 'original environment.'"
You can't make this stuff up. Stray domesticated dogs returning to their "original environment." That's what my mom told me when our Persianan cat disappeared - "we took it back to its original environment, honey." What's the original environment for a domesticated, neutered, declawed persian? Not Persia, that's for sure. More like the East River. Nice try, Greek officials, I'm on to you. More:
"After the dogs came the prostitutes. The city wanted to crack down on legal brothels. The well-organized hookers union fought the move. After all, the Olympics could be a time of enormous demand. The battle continues."
The well-organized hookers union. Europe isn't quite like us, is it. But hey, it makes sense - imagine if they went on strike. That's some serious leverage! And it's another union in the pocket of the liberals.
...
(everyone say it with me now): Literally.
Friday, May 14, 2004
Blog Meme
As seen elsewhere, this list has been making its way around. Rather than copy the whole list, I'll just list the ones I've read:
Beckett, Samuel - Waiting for Godot
Conrad, Joseph - Heart of Darkness
Dickens, Charles - A Tale of Two Cities
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor - Crime and Punishment
Fitzgerald, F. Scott - The Great Gatsby
Homer - The Iliad
Homer - The Odyssey
Kafka, Franz - The Metamorphosis
Lee, Harper - To Kill a Mockingbird
Lewis, Sinclair - Babbitt
London, Jack - The Call of the Wild
Morrison, Toni - Beloved
O'Connor, Flannery - A Good Man Is Hard to Find
Orwell, George - Animal Farm
Shakespeare, William - Hamlet
Shakespeare, William - Macbeth
Shakespeare, William - Romeo and Juliet
Solzhenitsyn, Alexander - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Sophocles - Antigone
Sophocles - Oedipus Rex
Stevenson, Robert Louis - Treasure Island
Turgenev, Ivan - Fathers and Sons
Twain, Mark - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Voltaire - Candide
Wilde, Oscar - The Picture of Dorian Gray
Wright, Richard - Native Son
26, unless I forgot how to count, and 35 of the 93 authors. Relatively high, given a pronounced aversion to li-fi, modern or "classic." Obviously, there's a great deal of subjectivity in how the list was calculated, and I'd quibble with a few of the selections. Notably, "A Tale of Two Cities" the only Dickens work, "Crime and Punishment", which looks like the work of a gifted amateur, to borrow Hitchcock's description of his first stab at "The Man Who Knew Too Much," compared to "Karamazov," "Babbitt" instead of "Elmer Gantry," the steaming pile of dog crap that is "Beloved," "The Call of the Wild" is fine for what it is, but it's not all that, "The Three Musketeers" over "Count of Monte Cristo" for Dumas, 2 Henry James selections, "Bartleby the Scrivener," Ford Madox Ford's "The Good Soldier", and the only book on the list I've never heard of, Maxine Hong Kingston's "The Woman Warrior." Bah, I should come up with my own list sometime.
Irony strikes again...
...as Castro leads Cubans in a march, chanting "Free Cuba, Fascist Bush!" Read for yourself -- the article is absolutely hilarious.
Jose Vizcaino
"And that's why I only want him fired, not executed."
I'm an Astros fan. I was born near, and lived in, Houston for most of my elementary school days. When you've led my occasionally vagabond-like existence, that's enough to form a permanent allegiance, particulalry if your time there includes days like September 25, 1986 and October 8, 1986. That makes it annoying living in Chicago, where these days you can't avoid Cubs fans, fair weather or not (last fall, I considered wearing earplugs, but ended up getting the last laugh). Anyway, that was just a long setup for bringing up Jose Vizcaino, bane to all Astros fans everywhere and the main reason I suspect manager Jimy Williams is actually in the pay of the Chicago Cubs, who may be holding his other "m" hostage (they got it from the Yankees). I'll let Throws Like a Girl tell the story of the latest outrage, a sad tale that ends with the quote above. Me? I'm not so sure of such leniency.
Yasukuni
Consistency? We don't need no stinkin' consistency! The court battle over Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine, previously mentioned here, continued Thursday, as an Osaka district court found that those visits were not made in an official capacity, despite signing the register as "Prime Minister Koizumi" and traveling with an official entourage. No judgment was made on whether the visits were constitutional, though.
Relatedly, from the article linked above, PM Koizumi showed just how much respect rule of law virtues qua rule of law virtues have in Japan, as he expressed no desire to appeal the Fukuoka action, since he didn't have to pay any damages, even though it found his visit was unconstitutional. Readers are invited to suggest any U.S. political figures who have acted in a similar manner.
One Gold Star, Coming Right Up
It is my duty to report that the zabuton most assuredly flew at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan nearly twelve hours ago, in honor of a gold star being awarded. What, you may wonder, am I talking about? Sumo, of course; what else would I be talking about that's completely incomprehensible? Yeah, yeah, lots of other things. Specifically, Mongolian yokozuna Asashoryu, whose winning streak stood at 35 consecutive matches entering Day 6 action, went down in a matchup with fellow unbeaten M#1 Hokutoriki. Kimarite was oshitaoshi. Additional details available here, albeit in Japanese. English non-permalink available here and here. In other gaikokujin news, Kokkai beat previously unbeaten Tokitsuumi to run his record to 5-1. The three Mongolians are faring less well so far in summer, with Asasekiryu and Kyokutenho sitting at 1-5, while Kyokushuzan move ahead of them with a win yesterday to move to 2-4. Alas, after 6 days, it looks like sumo Chutes and Ladders will continue for the non-yokozuna Mongolians. Down in juryo, Kotooshu, who still looks much more like an NFL defensive lineman than a sumo rikishi, won yesterday to advance his record to a respectable 4-2.
And to get back to the material in the beginning of the post... "zabuton" are the seat cushions people in the lower levels sit on. It's not an infrequent occurrence to throw them in celebration if there's a major upset, particularly in the last bout of the day (since top-division sumo moves about as rapidly as baseball, you don't throw them when just anybody wins). A "kinboshi," or gold star, is awarded to a wrestler of Maegashira rank who defeats a yokozuna. The gold star he earned yesterday was the first of Hokutoriki's career.
More updates later on in the basho, next one probably after Saturday's action.
Point-counterpoint
The Onion has a new point-counterpoint.
Point: Killing Wheelchair-bound People With Missiles Is Justified If They're Terrorists
Counter-point: Killing Wheelchair-bound People with Missiles Is Awesome