Psych!

We were going to buy a new probe laser, but wanted to buy used one if possible, though it wasn't since there was not a used unit available, and so we started the paperwork to buy a new probe laser until the end of last week when I got a quote for a newly available used unit, which I called to get more infomation on today while my boss stopped the paperwork on the new laser, and I got more details on the used unit from the salesman in America tonight, but just now I received a new email about the used unit saying it is no longer available and so we may be the new probe laser after all along with a fresh supply of periods.

Charlene's crowd most definitely did take it personally. It wasn't being told that they were wrong that offended them, though - it was the underlying assumption that a person COULD be right or wrong about ANYTHING. -- Cryptonomicon

Why Attack Iraq?

There is still great confusion about why America invaded Iraq. I can not say that I have seen plausible evidence for any reason. This post is mainly me talking to myself out loud. Let's see what new evidence has become public. This connecting the dots over time is something the internet is good at. Back in September of 2002, CBS reported:

CBS News has learned that barely five hours after American Airlines Flight 77 plowed into the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was telling his aides to come up with plans for striking Iraq — even though there was no evidence linking Saddam Hussein to the attacks.

Much more detail is in the CBS article.

Full details are now available: thanks to OutragedModerates the handwritten notes from Rumsfeld's meeting on September 11th, 2001 can be seen here. It is too bad CBS did not do the followup reporting with the Freedom of Information Act request, but that is why "journalist" applies to anyone who wants the title, not just a few corporate employees. But the raw notes make a case that CBS understated Rumsfeld eagerness. It appears that on 9/11 he learned about the strong link between the hijackers and Al Queda / Osama Bin Laden and proceeded to order Gen. Meyers to "judge whether good enough [to] hit S.H. at same time". (Saddam Hussein)

Repeating that: With the evidence piling up that "U.B.L." was attacking, Rumsfeld wanted evidence to "hit S.H." as well.

What can I extrapolate? At the very least S.H. was on Rumsfeld's mind -- he was looking for a reason to hit S.H. -- and this inclination likely predates the 9/11 attacks. The President and Vice President worked very hard to link 9/11 with S.H. in their statements while trying to carefully stop short of obviously lying. It seems more probable that all three were looking for a reason to hit S.H. before 9/11 than it is that it only occured to some of them afterward. This still does not tell me why they wanted to hit S.H. so badly, but it does limit a discussion of motives to pre-9/11 history.

But Bush was president for only 8.5 months at that point. Did they decide to look for a reason to hit S.H. before or after taking office? Bush's statements before becoming president indicate he wanted to remove S.H.; this moves the explanation even earlier in time. I predict historians will have "quite a time" writing different books about this as more evidence comes to light, piece by piece.

Others have composed a hypothetical recreation of the decisions.

Political Satire?

Well, this is too good not to post. The Carpetbagger Report links to a story from the state legislature of Ohio. In Akron:

Hagan said his legislation was written in response to a bill introduced in the Ohio House this month by state Rep. Ron Hood, R-Ashville, that is aimed at prohibiting gay adoption.

What is Hagan's legislation? Well..

To further lampoon Hood's bill, Hagan wrote in his mock proposal that "credible research" shows that adopted children raised in Republican households are more at risk for developing "emotional problems, social stigmas, inflated egos, and alarming lack of tolerance for others they deem different than themselves and an air of overconfidence to mask their insecurities."

However, Hagan admitted that he has no scientific evidence to support the above claims.

So what is Hagan's fraudulently scientific bill?

State Sen. Robert Hagan sent out e-mails to fellow lawmakers late Wednesday night, stating that he intends to "introduce legislation in the near future that would ban households with one or more Republican voters from adopting children or acting as foster parents." The e-mail ended with a request for co-sponsorship.

Brilliant. As a countermeasure to homophobia it has garnered enough attention to get press coverage. That's great opposition work. The "...alarming lack of tolerance..." is my favorite jab.

with the power of 1000 suns

Brief recap of things here: I am feeling much much better, with only a few random coughs today. This has allowed me to concentrate on shopping and cleanup. Shopping in the form of restocking Kleenex and books (e.g. Altered Carbon). Cleanup in the form of bagging up trash and recycling and supervision intensive laundry (tumble dry low is tricky to do with my machine).

And shopping in the form of a Microwave (with grill capabilities). At the moment I have used its incredible powers to tell time, but soon, soon I will do more shopping -- for food!

And a visual lesson on politics and the "news media":
And to think I spent much of 1996-2001 getting upset about bad trademark/copyright/patent legal issues and precedents. What a simple time that was. Now we are left to ponder "ALL-OUT CIVIL WAR IN IRAQ: COULD IT BE A GOOD THING?"

I think a partial civil war, let's say 10-20% of an all-out civil war, might be pleasant for our troops and our victory strategy. Or perhaps if it verges-on-all-out-civil-war and the leaders of Iraqi factions say to each other "Whoa, that was close -- we almost killed each other. Perhaps we should be competitors in an un-violent democratic process instead." And it could always be worse that a civil war -- other countries could start supporting different sides, like that time France helped the colonists revolt against England. But its not like an all-out civil war could be that violent, they can't even fight without us : "Pentagon: Iraqi troops downgraded. No Iraqi battalion capable of fighting without U.S. support". Divide and Conquer let the British leverage small numbers of troops and we don't have enough troops, so maybe if they break up into tiny little factions we can win! And then the grateful Iraqi people will award our battalions ponies.

Bent

I really need to straighten up around here, hmm...nah, I'll post an entry! I am feeling better, and I'll skip the big Q for tonight.

Should I look at what politics dragged in? There is this debate over the UAE port takeover.

...according to our Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England:

If the furor over the port deal should go on, Mr. England said, it would give enemies of the United States aid and comfort: "They want us to become distrustful, they want us to become paranoid and isolationist."

This statement is so cartoonishly evil, I'm not sure what to say. Their evil-spokesperson is accusing the other side of the debate of TREASON, a capital offense, for creating a "furor". It would be nice if CNN or ABC or CBS or NBC or a newspaper would devote a little time to the question: Why does the administration think it can get away with accusations like this?

So far no one in the adminstration has rasied his hand and said "I/we approved this deal". The president threatened his first veto if congress blocked the deal, but then claims not have known anything about it before it was announced in the media. Rumsfeld is on a committee which may have approved it, but claims not to have heard about it. Two admin officials have ties to the company, and one of them, Snow, claims to have had nothing to do with it. They claim the deal has been properly studied, but I have no idea who studied it. This seems rotten to me. I'm paranoid -- about Bush's decisions.

Scottish engineering

I hereby point to two things

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falkirk_Wheel
2. http://www.antipope.org/charlie/rant/torness.html

Now where did I put that syrup...

It's not about me

Quick political post, shamelessly compressed from kos. One:

Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Monday that disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff was paid $1.2 million to organize his 2002 meeting with President Bush, but denied the money came from the Malaysian government.

And Two:

“I don’t think the (Malaysian) Government paid. But I must admit the Heritage Foundation (a US think tank) arranged it.
“I did not touch the money. But, I think somebody paid. That is their practice,” he [Dr Mahathir] said. “That is their system. It is not corruption at all. It is very open.”

And Three:

Abramoff contacted presidential adviser Karl Rove on at least four occasions to help arrange a meeting, according to an eyewitness to the activities.
Finally, this former associate said, Rove's office called to tell Abramoff personally that the Malaysian leader would get an official White House invitation. In May 2002, Mahathir met with Bush in the Oval Office.

So now we know the going rate for a bribe to have an Oval Office meeting with President Bush. Let me quote Article II, section 4:

The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

There is that b-word again. And I will definately quote Zoolander:

Mugatu: Do as you are trained... AND KILL THE MALAYSIAN PRIME MINISTER!

Brand K

Emergency scientific sampling of tissues from Tesco indicates the "Kleenex Ultra Soft" has less friction than "Kleenex Balsam" or "Softie Balmex Ultra". No animals were harmed in these measurements.

Chuck Norris doesn't shave, he kicks himself in the face because the only thing that can cut Chuck Norris is Chuck Norris.

Abracadabra

Aha..I remembered my blogger password, so I may post from Edinburgh. Last night was excellent -- meeting up with a slightly larger the group of people over the course of the evening at the pub. And after that, sandwich and dancing at a club. Today I slept in a bit and I'll take in a few more sights.

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-Lazarus Long, Time Enough For Love

33.0027397260274

My brithday dinner went quite well last night, and was followed by our group visiting a couple of pubs and a bit of wine at the other postdoc's home. Good times.

I am packed for Edinburgh tonight. I have almost everything I need.

And it is also Science Friday. And a dose of politics:

Lantos, to Microsoft: Is your company ashamed?

Microsoft: We comply with legally binding orders whether it's here in the U.S. or China.

Lantos: Well, IBM complied with legal orders when they cooperated with Nazi Germany. Those were legal orders under the Nazi German system...Do you think that IBM during that period had something to be ashamed of?

Note: Godwin's Law does not apply here because Lantos gets to compare people with Nazis since he "is the only member of Congress who is a Holocaust survivor."

Reality based Media

The Daou Report by Peter Daou at Salon.com has a challenge, backed by a relentlessly long pile of observations and facts. So you do you get your news from? As for myself, I pay for only one source -- a subscription to salon.com.

"Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organization of hatreds." ~ Henry Adams

"You know, I just have one simple request and that is to have sharks with freakin' laser beams attached to their heads!" We are almost done shopping for a probe laser -- but there are still at least 3 candidates and they range from £ 5000 to £ 15000 and from 6 to 50 mW. Or maybe we'll just by a nice car...

Tomorrow I have arranged for the lab group to go out for dinner. The theme will be numeric palindromes.

Dr. Evil: Scott, I want you to meet daddy's nemesis, Austin Powers
Scott Evil: What? Are you feeding him? Why don't you just kill him?
Dr. Evil: I have an even better idea. I'm going to place him in an easily escapable situation involving an overly elaborate and exotic death.

What's on my mind

Sekou Sundiata's performance, "Blessing the Boats", was great. Glasgow came with the subway option already installed, which was not as handy as you might have thought, since I think they lost the instructions somewhere. I stopped by Edinburgh on the way (Y? for the comics), but it turned out that I saw a comic shop in Glasgow nearly immediately. The return today via Edinburgh was another scouting mission, which may have produced useful intelligence. I cannot comment further at this time. It could have gone better, but at least I did not shoot anyone this weekend, unlike the Vice President.

Plans for next weekend are already being made. This is called planning ahead, from what I have gleaned from others. There may be future in it.

11111 and 100001 are both palindromic numbers, discuss.

In the spirit of planning ahead, hmm...

Mon : 48 F / 42 F, Wet
Tue: 51 F / 41 F, Wet
Wed: 48 F / 37 F
Thu: 44 F /37 F
Fri: 50 F / 32 F

Which is in contrast to "Big Snowstorm Causes Disruptions in New York Area. The storm closed airports and for several hours virtually paralyzed traffic in New York City"

It'll be a merciful death compared with what he suspect lurks out there, in the unexplored vastness beyond the gates. The vastness that made Nixon cancel the manned space program, leaving just the standing joke of a white-elephant shuttle, when he realised just how hideously dangerous the space race might become. The darkness that broke Jimmy Carter's faith and turned Lyndon B. Johnson into an alcoholic. -- A Colder War by Charles Stross

Half a plan

So the plan to hit Edinburgh tonight and Glasgow on the morrow is foiled by it taking too long to try and find a hostel that has room tonight. But Glasgow is fully planned and provisioned for Saturday night. I will probably still stop off in Edinburgh coming or going or both. And I am forewarned now for next week's trip to Edinburgh.

The new coffee this morning, aka "Rocco", was excellent. I decline to write a whole paragraph about, however.

And if any of you are on speaking terms with any republicans, ask them whether this appointment of Nicole R. Nason is appropriate.

David St. Hubbins: It's such a fine line between stupid, and clever.

What is Y f = f (Y f) in RPN?

I will take a second to point out that the previous post that mentioned
poetry, just got a comment from the person I linked to.
How that post was found is nice mystery to savor.

Work has been busy, so I don't have either much time to post. But
this is okay since I have less to post about. There is new
espresso/cappuccino machine in the physics staff lounge. This
triggered another email from the department head:

There has been much speculation since the appearance of the new coffee
machine in the SCR, but I am now in a position to reveal our plans. The
other day Mary, Lesley and I spent 40 minutes assisting a skilled beverage
engineer to optimise the various products on offer. This included
producing a decent crema on the espresso and black coffee option via an
optimisation of the delicate interplay between grind size, mass of coffee
and pressure.

And this reminds me: I now have a grinder for coffee beans, and some coffee beans. So now I just need to have enough time in the morning to make coffee.

There is also the small matter of my dead calculator. I will try a few more resuccitation attempts, but I have had it half my life. Perhaps it has finially perished for good. In which case I may need to consider what a new calculator is worth to me.

Recipe

I got a bit done in the lab, mostly measuring the width of a laser beam -- or rather the undergrad measuring it. I did manage to get temporarily locked out of my apartment this morning, leaving my keys and wallet inside. Though penniless, I was holding a bag of blueberry muffins (luck). And I did have my spare key stashed in my office for just this kind of morning (planning).

Last Sunday's post had many links to people reacting to Mr Deutsch's attempts at censoring NASA scientists. At that time I forbore to poke fun at him for being a 2003 journalism graduate from Texas A&M University. I was right not to ridicule him for his degree...for it now seems that he does have a college degree:

At this point, while I am unaware of whether Deutsch graduated from college at all, it is clear that he did not graduate from A&M, and he may have intentionally misled people to believe that he did.

So this guy apparently the school newspaper to help Bush get elected and poof, he gets a cushy job as political censor. Nice work if you can get it and still sleep at night. But revenge is dish best served with a side helping of public humilation. Also note: I think that Texas A&M no longer has a journalism department, per se, just an agricultural journalism degree. Perhaps Mr. Deutsch may have been a little unbalanced at such an academic place as NASA with no real credentials of his own.

But there was a new commedian performing today in front of congress: the "Gonzo" attorney general. He claimed: "President Washington, President Lincoln, President Wilson, President Roosevelt have all authorized electronic surveillance on a far broader scale." and this one:

I think, based on my experience, it is true -- you would assume that the enemy is presuming that we are engaged in some kind of surveillance.

But if they're not reminded about it all the time in the newspapers and in stories, they sometimes forget.

(LAUGHTER)

Yes, the record shows that he is a funny, funny guy.

Bonus journalism + politics story: Why you should never waste time with Time again.

UPDATE: Deutsch did lie on resume and has resigned.

Krugmonday

Monday was, locally, uneventful. But through a family connection I have been told Sekou Sundiatas is excellent, and I may now be on guest list. That is something which does not occur with measurable frequency. The performance Saturday night in Glasgow might be achievable.

I did not see any Superbowl TV -- were there any instant-classic commericials?

And my fingers, possessed, post links to some politics.

YAFW, Sunday edition

Whoops, back to the Republican War on Science:

The Big Bang is "not proven fact; it is opinion," Mr. Deutsch wrote, adding, "It is not NASA's place, nor should it be to make a declaration such as this about the existence of the universe that discounts intelligent design by a creator."

Longer commentaries: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7. I have an opinion of Mr. Deutsch, but that will take too long to express. Do I feel better posting this? Well, it beats having fun writing more of the draft paper. Onward...

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe...." -- Albert Einstein

YAFW

While I would rather be going to a museum, I am having Yet Another Fun Weekend writing the paper. This is good, especially since there is a bit more theory written up. And while it is fairly cold, there is no freezing rain or snow, unlike a Boston winter.

I can't access my blog page to view it right now. So I assume blogger is updating something. Or hacked. Other blogs there are also down.

Enjoy some psycho-science: "At least in some cases, negative thinking could still work to a person's advantage." Hmmm...

And news which, apparently unlike truth, does not set you free: "Officials see a pattern of corruption enabling the flow of oil money to the insurgency that threatens to undermine Iraq's economy."

But the really screwed up story this week concerns the political cartoons originally published by a Danish newpaper, now republished widely in Europe:

A dozen caricatures of the prophet originally appeared in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September. The Muslims consider some of the images particularly demeaning, including one of the Prophet Mohammed wearing a turban shaped like a bomb with a lit fuse.

In addition to boycotting Danish dairy products:

Muslim demonstrators in Damascus, Syria, torched the Norwegian Embassy and the building housing Denmark's embassy, because newspapers in those countries had published what they consider blasphemous depictions of Islam's Prophet Mohammed.

Whee..looting and burning to protest blasphemy. But not killing, for that it takes a game show.

But I would not want to let the Catholic's off, since they have commented:

"The freedom of thought and expression, confirmed in the Declaration of Human Rights, can not include the right to offend religious feelings of the faithful. That principle obviously applies to any religion," the Vatican said.

"Any form of excessive criticism or derision of others denotes a lack of human sensitivity and can in some cases constitute an unacceptable provocation," it said in a statement issued in response to media demands for the Church's opinion.

And the official in this story is even worse:"The cardinal said secular societies should not assume a right to offend religious sentiments." Or what, Cardinal? Or what? What about protestant societies? muslim ones? What if they offend you?

The word of the year, 2005

From the NYT:

Diplomatically, Mr. Bush's ambitious call for the replacement of 75 percent of the United States' Mideast oil imports with ethanol and other energy sources by 2025 upset Saudi Arabia, the main American oil supplier in the Persian Gulf. In an interview on Wednesday, the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Prince Turki al-Faisal, said he would have to ask Mr. Bush's office "what he exactly meant by that."

From KnightRidder:

WASHINGTON - One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America's dependence on Middle East oil by cutting imports from there 75 percent by 2025, his energy secretary and national economic adviser said Wednesday that the president didn't mean it literally.

"Maybe the White House press corps can ask Scotty which parts of the speech Bush meant literally, and which parts were, um, not literal." -- kos

And now for Truthiness:

As defined by Colbert, "truthiness" refers to the quality by which someone purports to know something emotionally or instinctively, without regard to evidence or to what the person might conclude from intellectual examination. By using the term as part of his satirical routine, Colbert seeks to critique the tendency to rely upon "truthiness".

whose definition fits pretty well with this explanation:

Asked why the president used the words "the Middle East" when he didn't really mean them, one administration official said Bush wanted to dramatize the issue in a way that "every American sitting out there listening to the speech understands." The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because he feared that his remarks might get him in trouble.

"I think I know who the real pig-men are"

Warning: This irony that is so painful it is about to cause organ failure or
death.

Cindy Sheehan was invited to attend the SOTU by Rep. Lynn Woolsey.

Minutes before the President of the United States would tell the Congress how much he appreciates "responsible criticism and counsel," the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq was dragged from a gallery overlooking the House chamber where Bush would speak, handcuffed and arrested for the "crime" of wearing a T-shirt that read: "2245 Dead. How many more?"

Context, The Law:

As the Bynum court explained: "Believing that the Capitol Police needed guidance in determining what behavior constitutes a 'demonstration,' the United States Capitol Police Board issued a regulation that interprets 'demonstration activity,'" and that regulation specifically provides that it "does not include merely wearing Tee shirts, buttons or other similar articles of apparel that convey a message. Traffic Regulations for the Capitol Grounds, § 158" (emphasis added).

So the Capitol Police are inside the hall of Congress, arresting "dissidents" who are invited guests of Democratic members of Congress.

And if you thought "Great..the President said good things about Science!" then you should remember he also asked for action to stop "creating human-animal hybrids":

It's pure political calculus. He throws away the mad scientist and pig-man vote, and wins the religious ignoramus vote…and we know which one has the majority here. But guess what? Creating chimeras is legitimate and useful scientific research; it's really happening