War Rhetoric Blows Back in Port Furor
February 26 2006
President Bush may not like the arguments that critics are raising against the Dubai company attempting to take over cargo and cruise operations at ports in six U.S. cities. But he should recognize them. The arguments marshaled against Bush closely echoed the ones he deployed to defend the Iraq war.
The president, in other words, is stewing in a pot he brought to boil.
At the core of Bush’s case for invading Iraq was the contention that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks changed the burden of proof in evaluating potential threats. Bush justified the war, despite inconclusive intelligence about whether Iraqi President Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, largely on the grounds that after Sept. 11, waiting for definitive evidence of danger was itself too risky.
“Facing clear peril,” Bush declared in his starkest expression of this argument, “we cannot wait for the final proof, the smoking gun that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.”
In so many words, that’s what many critics are saying now about the deal that would allow Dubai Ports World, controlled by the government of the United Arab Emirates, to acquire the British-owned Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. and assume control of its port facilities in the six American cities.
LA Times
S.D. House Approves Abortion Ban Bill
By CHET BROKAW
The Associated Press
Friday, February 24, 2006; 4:38 PM
PIERRE, S.D. — South Dakota lawmakers approved a ban on nearly all abortions Friday, setting up a deliberate frontal assault on Roe v. Wade at a time when some activists see the U.S. Supreme Court as more willing than ever to overturn the 33-year-old decision.
Republican Gov. Mike Rounds said he was inclined to sign the bill, which would make it a crime for doctors to perform an abortion unless it was necessary to save the woman’s life. The measure would make no exception in cases of rape or incest.
Washington Post
Looks like the people who want to take away women’s privacy and freedom didn’t waste any time in putting the wheels in motion on plans to overturn Roe v. Wade. I bet it already feels like Roe is overturned to the women of South Dakota. This ban will outlaw abortion altogether without an exception to protect women’s lives and with no exception for women whose health is in danger or are pregnant due to rape or incest!
IBM Helps Simplify Campus Life With Speech-Enabled Web Applications for Mobile Phones in Wake Forest University Program
Friday February 24, 12:01 am ET
Speech on Mobile Devices Can Be Extended to Field and Sales Forces, Healthcare Providers, Industry and Emergency Response Teams
ARMONK, NY–(MARKET WIRE)–Feb 24, 2006 — IBM announced today that it has developed a portfolio of speech-enabled Web applications for mobile phones to help simplify campus life by automating mundane tasks. Two of the applications are being tested by students, faculty and staff in MobileU(TM), a program deployed at Wake Forest University using advanced mobile technologies.
IBM is partnering with universities as a test-bed for technologies that can be extended to numerous industries, including sales forces, physicians and emergency response teams.
Wake Forest University is recognized as a technology leader in higher education and was among the first universities in the country to provide laptop computers to its undergraduate students in 1996. Wake Forest University is currently looking toward the next generation of converged computing, in collaboration with IBM, to improve education and campus life through the use of open standards, mobile and voice technologies.
As a first example of that, MobileU(TM) uses IBM WebSphere Everyplace Multimodal Environment(TM) software on mobile phones to help make it easier to take transportation around campus and use laundry machines. Students participating in the Wake Forest MobileU(TM) program can now find out exactly what time the next bus is going to arrive or if there are any laundry machines available before they leave their dorm room, the library or other locations.
Yahoo News
Lawmaker’s proposal: Bar Republicans from adopting
Carl Chancellor
Knight Ridder Newspapers
Feb. 23, 2006 05:50 PM
AKRON, Ohio – If an Ohio lawmaker’s proposal becomes state law, Republicans would be barred from being adoptive parents.
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.
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.”
AZcentral.com
ThinkPad (T60p)
Machine Type: 2007-W2T: Intel Core Duo processor T2600 (2.16GHz), 2GB RAM, 100GB HDD, 14.1 SXGA+(1400×1050) TFT LCD, 256M ATI Mobility FireGL V5200, DVD Recordable, ThinkPad 11a/b/g Wi-Fi wireless, Bluetooth, 56K V.92 designed modem, Integrated Intel PRO/1000 Gigabit Ethernet, UltraNav, Client Security Solution, 3 USB 2.0, Intrgrated Fingerprint Reader, 9c Li-Ion battery
Dual Boot:
- Windows Client for e-business + IBM development tools
- Linux Client for e-business + IBM development tools
uhhh… “I’ll take three, please.” 
I’ll be headed out on Monday to UIUC for an Information Session at UIUC on Monday night, then a career fair on Tuesday, again at UIUC. On Wednesday morning I’ll be travelling to New York City for Information Sessions at Columbia and NYU on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. Finally heading back home early Friday morning. whew!
From the White House:
The President intends to nominate David C. Sanborn, of Virginia, to be Administrator of the Maritime Administration of the Department of Transportation. Mr. Sanborn currently serves as Director of Operations for Europe and Latin America at DP World. Prior to this, he served as Senior Vice President for North America Service Delivery at CMA-CGM (America) LLC. Mr. Sanborn also served as Vice President for Network-Operations for American President Lines, Pte. Ltd. Earlier in his career, he served as Director for Operations for Sea-Land Service, Inc. Mr. Sanborn is a retired Lieutenant Junior Grade for the United States Naval Reserve. He received his bachelor’s degree from the United States Merchant Marine Academy.
More at Raw Story
And wasn’t it just last week that Ann Coulter, the darling of the GOP was trashing Arabs as ragheads? How is it then that Bush is now suggesting it’s somehow racist to want to stop the UAE from controlling several major US ports. That’s the same UAE that Osama bin Laden’s operatives still use as a logistical hub years after more than half the Sept. 11 hijackers flew directly from Dubai to the United States in the final preparatory stages for the attack.
So, what’s really behind the deal? Who benefits financially from this deal? Or what kind of extortion is going on that would prompt BushCo to threaten a veto of any legislation that would get in the way of this deal going through? Something stinks.
AOL, WebEx Team Up on Instant-Messaging
Tue Feb 21, 1:11 AM ET
NEW YORK – America Online Inc. and WebEx Communications Inc. are teaming up to provide a business version of AOL’s popular AIM instant-messaging software.
Called AIM Pro, the business version will offer more security — communications, for instance, will be encrypted — and more features to help workers collaborate, using conferencing tools offered by WebEx, based in Santa Clara, Calif. AIM Pro users can communicate with those on the basic AIM, although not all features, including encryption, would be fully available.
Prices were not announced, but AOL said a monthly subscription fee is likely. Individual employees will be able to subscribe, or a company may order a version with centralized management controls for all its workers.
Yahoo News
Bin Laden Vows Never to Be Captured Alive
By STEVEN R. HURST, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 2 minutes ago
CAIRO, Egypt – Osama bin Laden vowed never to be captured alive and said the U.S. military had become as “barbaric” as Saddam Hussein in an audiotape reposted on a militant Islamic Web site after first being broadcast last month.
Yahoo News
Bush doesn’t appear all that interested in capturing him anyway. Oh, and that we’re as bad as Saddam Hussein? Imagine that.
I’m looking for software to host a work related blog, and was wondering if we had any standards at work for which package to use. The field is wide open, as far as I can tell, so I wanted to see what’s out there, and how it compares. My first choice would be WordPress, because that’s what I use here, but maybe there’s something better out there that’s been developed after I chose b2 and subsequently wordpress nearly 4 years ago…
I found this site had a pretty comprehensive feature comparison chart. I also have to check out Roller which isn’t listed in the comparison chart, but may also be a candidate.
Been kind of disconnected lately, getting bits and pieces of news on international TV at night. We spent two full days touring in Nha Trang, and got sunburnt. Uploaded a bunch more pictures as time has allowed. They’re in the gallery here.
This is pretty nice, hanging in the business center of the AA Admiral’s Club in Dallas. We have about a two hour layover here. The flight to Tokyo leaves out of their new terminal D. Connection is kind of slow, but bearable. Nhut was late getting up and out this morning. (Is anyone surprised? ) So, we hit a little bit of traffic on 183 on the way to the airport, but still arrived in plenty of time to catch our first flight. No drama with checking bags like the last time we flew to Vietnam.
We’re headed out to Vietnam tomorrow morning for almost two weeks. I’m sure we’ll have some pictures to post as we travel.
Man Held in Bar Attack Dies After Shootout
By NOAH TRISTER, Associated Press Writer 22 minutes ago
GASSVILLE, Ark. – The teenager suspected of a hatchet-and-gun attack in a Massachusetts gay bar and in the killing of two people in Arkansas, including a policeman, died Sunday of wounds suffered in a gun battle with officers, authorities said.
Jacob D. Robida, 18, died at 3:38 a.m. Sunday at Cox-South Hospital in Springfield, Mo., said hospital spokesman Randy Berger.
Robida, a high school dropout who friends said glorified Naziism, was shot twice in the head in a shootout with police Saturday after he killed a Gassville police officer and a woman in his car, authorities said.
Two days earlier, he allegedly went on a rampage at the Puzzles Lounge in New Bedford, Mass., that injured three men, one critically. Police labeled that attack a hate crime.
Yahoo News
I was curious to see if there was a place where a blog is defined, or rather, what collective characteristics of a web site would make it a blog. Mainly because there are sites that refer to themselves as blogs, that don’t look to me like what I would consider to be a blog. (not that I’m an expert) Anyway, Wikipedia has an entry for blog that lists these characteristics:
Blog basics
A blog entry typically consists of the following:
- Title – main title of the post,
- Body – main content of the post,
- Comments – comments added by readers
-
Category (or tags) – category the post is labeled with (optional, multiple categories possible)
- Blogroll – other blogs that the blog author reads/affiliates with
-
Permalink – the URL of the full, individual article
- Post Date – date and time the post was published
- Trackback – links to other sites that refer to the entry
Teen Wanted in Gay Bar Shooting Is Caught
1 minute ago
NORFORK, Ark. – A teenager accused of going on a rampage at a Massachusetts gay bar with a hatchet and a gun was in a Missouri hospital Saturday after two shootings in northern Arkansas that resulted in the death of a police officer and a woman accompanying the wounded teen, state police said.
Jacob D. Robida, 18, was transported to a hospital at Springfield, Mo., after an exchange of gunfire with police in Norfork, according to state police spokesman Bill Sadler.
Sadler identified the slain officer as Jim Sell, a member of the Gassville police force. Sadler said he did not know the name of the woman who died in the gunfire at Norfork.
Robida was wanted in the attack Thursday at Puzzles Lounge in New Bedford, Mass., that left three men wounded, one critically.
Police have labeled the attack a hate crime and said Robida would be charged with attempted murder, assault and civil rights violations.
Yahoo News
From Boston to Arkansas? That’s some heck of a flee…
Johnson: It’s straight people who threaten marriage
February 3, 2006
The first thing I’ve come to learn whenever I hear someone going on about how a holiday, rite, institution or a religion is under attack, is that they are mostly full of it.
Two months ago, authors, TV knuckleheads and others were shouting at us about how Christmas was UNDER ATTACK!
No, I had a pretty lovely Christmas. I got a nice tree, gave out presents, burned a few yule logs. I even still have Christmas lights on my roof, though I swear I’m taking them down this weekend.
Christmas, at least as far as I could tell, arrived and left pretty much unscathed.
Now, I am being told that the institution of marriage is UNDER ATTACK! Pardon me if my wife and I don’t put on our Kevlar vests straight away.
Rocky Mountain News
I hadn’t noticed a shortage of qualified US candidates seeking to fill the relatively small number of openings, but maybe I’m missing something. Maybe there’s an economic recovery going on, driving up demad for qualified tech workers!
Bush calls for lifting cap on special H-1B visas
MAPLEWOOD, Minn., Feb 2 (Reuters) – President George W. Bush on Thursday called on Congress to raise the cap on the so-called H-1B visas that allow companies to fill high tech jobs with foreign workers.
“The problem is, is that Congress has limited the number of H-1B visas,” Bush said in a speech.
“I think it’s a mistake not to encourage more really bright folks who can fill the jobs that are having trouble being filled in America, to limit their number. So I call upon Congress to be realistic and reasonable to raise that cap,” he said.
High-tech businesses have pushed Congress to increase the number of such visas, currently capped at 65,000 per year.
Workers are allowed to stay in the United States for six years.
Some labor groups have opposed an expansion of the program, saying it takes away jobs from Americans.
Reuters
New Exam Aims to Measure Tech ‘Literacy’
By JUSTIN POPE, AP Education Writer Thu Feb 2, 7:43 PM ET
When it comes to downloading music and instant messaging, today’s students are plenty tech-savvy. But that doesn’t mean they know how to make good use of the endless stream of information that computers put at their fingertips.
Educators and employers call those skills “technology literacy,” and while everyone agrees it’s important to have, it also is difficult to measure.
Now a test that some high school students will begin taking this year could help.
The ICT Literacy Assessment touches on traditional skills, such as analytical reading and math, but with a technological twist. Test-takers, for instance, may be asked to query a database, compose an e-mail based on their research, or seek information on the Internet and decide how reliable it is.
The test’s initials stand for “Information and Communication Technology,” and a version is already used by some colleges. On Friday, the nonprofit Educational Testing Service plans to announce details of a new version that some high school and first- and second-year college students will begin taking this spring.
Yahoo News
I wonder how that will factor in to hiring decisions in the future for technology companies…
