View from the Inland Empire

Irish Brown Bread

2009-03-17T05:28:00.001-07:00

Well, it's St. Patrick's day, so it's time for another Irish Recipe: Irish Brown Bread. Generally, when someone refers to brown bread, they're talking about a bread that uses baking soda instead of the traditional yeast for rising. I'll eat this bread anytime (it's really good with soups) but to get the full flavor, you have to eat it still warm from the oven with melted butter and honey.

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ¼ cups whole wheat flour
¾ cup quick oats
½ cup wheat germ
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 ¾ cups buttermilk
2 tbsp honey

Heat oven to 425°F. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix flours, oats, wheat germ, baking soda and salt.

Whisk together butter-milk and honey. Add to flour mixture, stir combine until soft dough forms.

Turn dough out onto floured surface. Divide in half. Shape each half into a round loaf. Place loaves 3 in. apart onto prepared baking sheet; bake 10 minutes.

Reduce temperature to 400°F. Continue baking 10 minutes longer or until bread sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool 15 minutes.

And that's all there is to it. Now, Sláinte Mhath!

May your neighbors respect you,
Troubles neglect you,
The angels protect you,
And Heaven accept you.

Swatting: Someone's gonna get hurt

2009-02-03T22:46:00.000-08:00

According to Wikipedia, swatting is an attempt to trick an emergency service (such as a 911 operator) to dispatch an emergency response team. The name is derived from SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics), one type of such team.

This is something I've worried about for a while, ever since I figured out that it was possible to use an internet-based phone service to fool caller-ID into showing whatever you wanted it to show. My concern was that unscrupulous telemarketers would pose as someone you'd want to talk to, say your bank, just to get you to pick up the phone. Swatting is much worse...

9-1-1 calls serve as their own probable cause empowering cops to use just about any amount of force to determine what the heck is actually going on. Orange County over-reacted: an actual flesh and blood cop should've investigated the scene before the SWAT teams were called in.

In recent history, we've discovered suicide by cop - let's hope that cops and technology are able to prevent using 9-1-1 to commit assault-by-cop,

SWAT Teams Deployed in 911 Fraud

By JORDAN ROBERTSON
AP Technology Writer

Doug Bates and his wife, Stacey, were in bed around 10 p.m., their 2-year-old daughters asleep in a nearby room. Suddenly they were shaken awake by the wail of police sirens and the rumble of a helicopter above their suburban Southern California home. A criminal must be on the loose, they thought.

Doug Bates got up to lock the doors and grabbed a knife. A beam from a flashlight hit him. He peeked into the backyard. A swarm of police, assault rifles drawn, ordered him out of the house. Bates emerged, frightened and with the knife in his hand, as his wife frantically dialed 911. They were handcuffed and ordered to the ground while officers stormed the house.

The scene of mayhem and carnage the officers expected was nowhere to be found. Neither the Bateses nor the officers knew that they were pawns in a dangerous game being played 1,200 miles away by a teenager bent on terrifying a random family of strangers.

They were victims of a new kind of telephone fraud that exploits a weakness in the way the 911 system handles calls from Internet-based phone services. The attacks - called "swatting" because armed police SWAT teams usually respond - are virtually unstoppable, and an Associated Press investigation found that budget-strapped 911 centers are essentially defenseless without an overhaul of their computer systems.

The AP examined hundreds of pages of court documents and law-enforcement transcripts, listened to audio of "swatting" calls, and interviewed two dozen security experts, investigators, defense lawyers, victims and perpetrators.

While Doug and Stacey Bates were cuffed on the ground that night in March 2007, 18-year-old Randal Ellis, living with his parents in Mukilteo, Wash., was nearly finished with the 27-minute yarn about a drug-fueled murder that brought the Orange County Sheriff's Department SWAT team to the Bateses' home.

In a grisly sounding call to 911, Ellis was putting an Internet-based phone service for the hearing-impaired to nefarious use. By entering bogus information about his location, Ellis was able to make it seem to the 911 operator as if he was calling from inside the Bateses' home. He said he was high on drugs and had just shot his sister.

According to prosecutors, Ellis picked the Bates family at random, as he did with all of the 185 calls investigators say he made to 911 operators around the country.

"If I would have had a gun in my hand, I probably would have been shot," said Doug Bates, 38. Last March, Ellis was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to five felony counts, including computer access and fraud, false imprisonment by violence and falsely reporting a crime.

In a separate, multistate case prosecuted by federal authorities in Dallas, eight people were charged with orchestrating up to 300 "swatting" calls to victims they met on telephone party chat lines. The three ringleaders were each sentenced to five years in prison. Two others were sentenced to 2 1/2 years. One defendant pleaded guilty last week and could get a 13-year sentence. The remaining two are set to go on trial in February.

A similar case was reported in Salinas, Calif., where officers surrounded an apartment where a call had come in claiming men with assault rifles were trying to break in. In Hiawatha, Iowa, fake calls about a workplace shooting included realistic gunshot sounds and moaning in the background. In November, a teenage hacker from Worcester, Mass., pleaded guilty to a five-month swatting spree including a bomb threat and report of an armed gunman that caused two schools to be evacuated.

Many times, however, swats don't get fully investigated or reported.

Orange County Sheriff's detective Brian Sims spent weeks serving search warrants on Internet providers before he identified Ellis through his numeric computer identifier, known as an IP address.

Law enforcement hopes lengthy prison terms will deter would-be swatters. Technology alone isn't enough to stop the crimes.

Unlike calls that come from landline phones, which are registered to a fixed physical address and display that on 911 dispatchers' screens, calls coming from people's computers, or even calls from landline or cell phones that are routed through spoofing services, could appear to be originating from anywhere.

Scores of Caller ID spoofing services have sprung up, offering to disguise callers' origins for a fee. All anybody needs to do is pony up for a certain number of minutes, punch in a PIN code and specify whom they're calling and what they'd like the Caller ID to display.

Spoofing Caller ID is perfectly legal. Legitimate businesses use the technology to project a single callback number for an entire office, or to let executives working from home cloak their home numbers when making outgoing calls.

At the same time, criminals have latched onto the technique to get revenge on rivals or get their kicks by harassing strangers.

"We're not able to cope with this very well," said Roger Hixson, technical issues director for the National Emergency Number Association, the 911 system's industry group. "We're just hoping this doesn't become a widespread hobby."

The 911 system was built on the idea it could trust the information it was receiving from callers. Upgrading the system to accommodate new technologies can be a huge task.

Gary Allen, editor of Dispatch Monthly, a Berkeley, Calif.-based magazine focused on public-safety communications centers, said dispatchers are "totally at the mercy of the people who call" and the fact they don't have technology to identify which incoming calls are from Internet-based sources.

Allen said upgrading the communications centers' computers to flash an Internet caller's IP address could be helpful in thwarting fraudulent calls. He said an even simpler fix, tweaking the computers to identify calls from Internet telephone services and flash the name of the service provider to dispatchers, can cost under $5,000, but is usually still too costly for many communications centers.

But because this style of fraudulent calls is so new, and many emergency-dispatch centers receive few Internet calls in the first place, those upgrades are not frequently done.

Swatting calls place an immense strain on responding departments. The Orange County Sheriff's Department deployed about 30 people to the Bateses' home, including a SWAT team, a helicopter and K-9 units. It cost the department $14,700.

They take their toll on victims, too.

Tony Messina, a construction worker from Salina, N.Y., was swatted three times by the gang broken up by the federal authorities in Dallas. He was even arrested as the result of one call, because authorities found weapons he wasn't supposed to have while they were searching the house.

Messina had made some enemies on a party line he frequented to flirt with women. Some guys disliked him and out of jealousy, he says, they started swatting him.

The first time, he was home alone with his two poodles when officers swarmed his backyard at 6 a.m. According to Messina, the callers said he had "killed a hooker and sliced her ear to ear, blood all over the place, I'm doing drugs and if you police come over here I'm going to kill you, too." After a few hours at the police station, he was let go.

Two weeks later, he was detained outside his house. A month later, he was in bed watching TV when he saw someone with a flashlight at his window. He went outside and was handcuffed while deputies searched his house and car.

Messina had been told to call 911 himself if the swatting calls happened again, and when the deputies realized it was another fraudulent call, Messina was let go. He said he suffered bruised ribs that kept him out of work for a month and a half.

Investigators say swatters are usually motivated by a mixture of ego and malice, a desire for revenge and domination over rivals.

Jason Trowbridge, one of the defendants currently serving a five-year sentence, told the AP in a series of letters from prison that the attacks started with the standard fare of prank callers - sending pizzas and locksmiths to victims' homes - escalated to shutting the power and water off and eventually led to swatting.

"Nobody ever thought anyone would get hurt or die from a SWAT call," he said.

Cop News: Supreme Court Expands Pat-Downs for Officer Safety

2009-01-27T04:32:00.000-08:00

Being an ex-cop myself (fuzz that was) I'm still keenly interested in all things cop-related, so I was interested to read this Associated Press Story. I also thought it was interesting see to which Justice is quoted, though it's not clear to me if she wrote the majority opinion:

US Supreme Court says passenger can be frisked

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that police officers have leeway to frisk a passenger in a car stopped for a traffic violation even if nothing indicates the passenger has committed a crime or is about to do so.

The court on Monday unanimously overruled an Arizona appeals court that threw out evidence found during such an encounter.

The case involved a 2002 pat-down search of an Eloy, Ariz., man by an Oro Valley police officer, who found a gun and marijuana.

The justices accepted Arizona's argument that traffic stops are inherently dangerous for police and that pat-downs are permissible when an officer has a reasonable suspicion that the passenger may be armed and dangerous.

The pat-down is allowed if the police "harbor reasonable suspicion that a person subjected to the frisk is armed, and therefore dangerous to the safety of the police and public," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said.

While the story doesn't expressly state it, I think this represents an expansion of police powers to stop and frisk anyone with no requirement for probably cause, other than officer safety. I'm all for that, of course, but even I can recognize the potential for abuse. Cornell University has a detailed website where you can learn more about the case.

The other interesting item of cops in the news, is this story out of Georgia - Atlanta Woman Uses Taser Gun to Help Officer in Distress:

Tanisha Cross never thought the Taser stun gun she received for Christmas would come in handy so soon.

Cross said she was headed to Wal-Mart in Lithonia with her mother when she noticed a DeKalb County police officer in distress.

"I just told my mom pull over, let's try to help," said Cross.

The 20-year-old mother, who received the taser as a gift from her husband, said she kept it in a diaper bag.

Cross said while others gathered to watch, she sprung into action.

"I went straight for my kids diaper bag and I got it and asked it if he [officer] wanted me to do it and he said, 'Yea,'" said Cross.

Cross said the officer had a hard time defending himself because the attacker had taken the officer's radio and managed to rub pepper spray in the officer's face and eyes.

Jolting the attacker, Cross' timing couldn't have been better. Cross said she tasered the suspect in his arms and legs.

Cross said she stunned the attacker to where the officer regained his composure and fought back until a security guard came to their aid.

"He's brave," she said. "He did his best to keep him from his gun. He handled the situation very well. I was just glad I could help him," said Cross.

Cross doesn't consider herself a hero.

"I'm just a bystander trying to help do the right thing," said Cross.

Click here to see the video from WSBTV.

I've got to get me one of these new-fangled tasers. Maybe get a pink taser, for the little woman.

More rumors about an Indiana Jones 5

2009-01-02T06:11:00.000-08:00

For a lot of fans, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull wasn't the over-the-top blockbuster they'd hoped for, but given how great the expectations were, maybe nothing could've been good enough. Still, the movie made a ton of money ($783.7 million worldwide compared to its budget of $185 million) and there's talk of doing an Indy 5.

According to Movie Moron (there's a name to inspire confidence) the plan, way back in the 80's was for five movies. But after the third one, there was disagreement over the fourth script and everyone moved on to other projects. So, theoretically, we're owed another movie.

Aside from that moron, there's been other chatter - according to an October 3rd, 2008, LA Times story momentum is building for a fifth movie:

"It's automatic, really, we did well with the last one and with that having done well and been a positive experience, it's not surprising that some people want to do it again," Ford said.

In discussing a possible Indy 5, it looks like Mutt Williams may go the way of Jar-Jar Binks, as an idea that didn't quite work out:

This past May, two weeks before “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” opened worldwide, George Lucas told reporters at the Cannes Film Festival that he already had an idea for a possible “Indiana Jones V,” and that it centered, not on Dr. Henry Jones, but on his son, Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf).

Three knife-flipping, tree-swinging, accident having months later and that idea? It’s kind of, well, “Nuked the Fridge,” Lucas told MTV News.

Asked whether he still considered Mutt Williams a strong enough character to drive an “Indiana Jones” film, Lucas was adamant that Indy just isn’t Indy without Indy. Or, to put it another way: No.

“Indiana Jones is Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford IS Indiana Jones,” Lucas said, dismissively adding about a character he helped create that, “If it was Mutt Williams it would be ‘Mutt Williams and the Search for Elvis’ or something.”

In the meantime, I've discovered that there's something of a cottage industry online in fake theatrical trailers for fake Indiana Jones' movies. I thought this one struck the right blend of suggestion and humor:

This one was based on the Legos' Game. While I've never been very big on computer games, this one looks like fun:

Finally, this one is so well made, that I think it really would make a great Indy movie! George, Steven - anyone listening out there?

Indiana Jones 5?

2008-12-26T03:47:00.000-08:00

An entertainment blog called Entertainment and Showbiz, is reporting that George Lucas has confirmed that there will be an Indy 5 and it will include Harrison Ford:

Director-producer George Lucas has confirmed that the fifth sequel to the ‘Indiana Jones’ series would see Harrison Ford reprising the leading role.

The creator of the archaeologist-adventurer character ‘Indiana Jones’ revealed that the filmmakers would get behind the lens as soon as they thought of something worth chasing by the character.

“We’re looking for a MacGuffin, which is an object that he goes after. They’re very hard to come by!” the Daily Telegraph quoted George as saying.

‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’, the fourth film in the famous franchise, directed by Steven Spielberg, had been released in May 2008 grossing over 785 million dollars worldwide.

On being questioned if Indy would be joined by his on-screen wife and son, the screenwriter said: “It really depends on what it is Indy goes looking for and then how the story falls out of that, and then how convenient or inconvenient to have the group there.”

The "looking for a MacGuffin" quote should be a familiar one to anyone who waited for Indy 4. It was the reason that Lucas, Spielberg and Ford all gave for the long delay between Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Whatever they do, they need to get on it. No one's getting any younger!

A Hat for All Seasons!

2008-12-25T07:07:00.000-08:00

With the recent release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, came a tidal wave of Indy related merchandise, most of it fun (I have to track down and retrieve my Indiana Jones' M&M guys from my daughters all the time), some of it cheesy (check my blog for my review of the Indiana Jones Adventure Spoon. I'm not kidding) and some of it is not only valuable to the die-hard Indy fan, but also high quality and functional.

The best example of this is the Indiana Jones Outback (Crushable) Wool Felt Hat by Dorfman Pacific. I think some of the negative reviews of this hat are, partly, due to an inadequate description of the product.

The reason it's called "Outback" is that it intentionally has a full 3 inch brim (as opposed to the Indy standard 2 ½ inch brim.) When Raiders of the Lost Ark was being made, the costume designer, Deborah Nadoolman Landis, had to find the "right look" for what would become the signature trademark of the Indy Franchise. In an interview with Raiders.net, Deborah talks about trying on hundreds of hats, before finding the right one:

"When we found one that could be adapted, crown shortened, brim narrowed, I travelled to Herbert Johnson's hatters in Saville Road to find the model which most closely resembled the one in my hand. They offered an "Australian" model - which, with fiddling, became the Indiana Jones fedora."

This "outback" version restores the full brim, while retaining the shorter crown. And, for me, that actually works better. Don't get me wrong, I love the classic Indy hat (keep reading - I've got every version that you can think of) but if you're actually to go to use this hat for more than the occasional costume party, then you need something more practical and durable. The wider brim is more practical for two reasons: sun and rain. Living in Southern California, the sun is obvious. Given recent attention to the dangers of overexposure to the sun and skin cancer, I'm covering up more these days. The rain is less often but, as the old song says, when it rains, it pours. The "crushable" part of the description means just what it says: you can accidentally sit on this hat and, with only a little straightening out, you can bring it back to near show-room condition.

For an example of this, see the picture I uploaded showing my own Indiana Outback - it has a somewhat battered appearance for good reason: just last Monday I was exploring an ancient Peruvian temple in the pouring rain. Well - sort of. I was at Disneyland riding on the Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye ride!

But it was pouring rain, which had two positive benefits: my family and I practically had the place to ourselves (the longest we waited for any ride was 30 minutes) and my Indiana Outback kept my head warm and dry. Just how crushable this hat is was proven after surviving the Temple. It's a hide-speed roller coaster ride and they warn you to cling tight to any valuables (camera, fedoras, children). In the best Indy tradition I clutched my hat in a death grip and it came out the other end of the ride looking like it had been trampled by a herd of wildebeests! After only a few minutes of pulling and shaping I was ready for our next thrilling adventure (I think it was the Winnie the Pooh ride.) Try that with your wool-felt fedora!

The other "version" of the official licensed fedora I like is the Indiana Jones Men's Weathered Cotton Hat - this one also suffers under inadequate product description. It's not just cloth, its oiled sailcloth, the same material that's been a favorite material in hats and dusters for years, prized by American Cowboys and Australian Drovers for its weather proofing and durability. And the weathering makes it look like leather, so it's slightly dressier that you'd think by looking at the picture.

In addition to the four versions of the Indy fedora you can find on Amazon (there's also the standard Indiana Jones Men's Water Repellent Wool Felt Fedora and the pricier Indiana Jones Fur Felt Fedora), there's two more that you'll have to find elsewhere: the Khaki Safari version and the Straw Panama version. I've uploaded a picture of all five of the official versions, in case you're interested.

Dorfman-Pacific licensed about a zillion retailers to peddle these official licensed versions and so you can find a number of vendors on Amazon offering, essentially, the same hat. Shop around and you may be able to save a few dollars. Just be sure somewhere they mention that it's licensed by Dorfman-Pacific. If you're like me, you could end up spending a lot of dough on hats, you'll want to be sure they're the real deal.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Audio CD Review

2008-12-25T05:23:00.000-08:00

It's something of a cliché to say that any novel is better than the movie made from it. However, when you consider that this Audio CD is really a novelization based on the script of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, then how good the movie could've been really jumps out at you.

Living in Southern California, I spend a lot of time sitting on freeways. (Notice I didn't say "driving" on freeways.) To make the time lost in rush hour traffic more palatable, I've got a ton of Audio CD's that save me from boredom or the horrors of talk radio.

One of my latest acquisitions was James Rollins' adaptation of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Read by L.J. Ganser, I almost liked it more than the movie.

As with any book, you get more of the "back story" usually based on the internal monologue of the characters. Here you get a lot more. While the movie starts with the break-in at Area 51, Rollins starts his book by answering the question, "how exactly did Indy end up in that trunk?"

In addition you learn what the relationship between Oxley and Marion is and why it estranged Indy from both of them for years. It makes the story of Mutt's relationship with "Ox" more believable. And it even explains why Oxley would retrieve the skull, go all the way to Akator, then turn right around and put it back where he found it, something that was just a little bit vague to me after only having seen the movie.

There's also a chapter in the book where Irina Spalko performs an autopsy on the Roswell alien stolen from Hanger 51 and she discovers that the alien's have a crystalline skeletal structure. It sounds like it could've been a scene in an early draft of the script and goes a long way in explaining the Soviet Union's interest in the subject.

As for the tale itself, Rollins' takes Spielberg's wild tale and keeps you engrossed enough that you don't have time think to yourself "ya gotta be kidding me." Unfortunately, the same wasn't true of the movie.

Spielberg's on-screen fascination with aliens started with Close Encounters of the Third Kind, followed by the Sci-Fi Channel mini-series Taken and, unfortunately, ended up as the main plot-point in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I don't have a problem with alien movies, per se, but there were so many tortured premises in the movie that I personally felt that it detracted from what could've been a much more successful (certainly more easily understood) tale.

Given Lucas' penchant for making movies in threes, I'd hoped for at least one more Indiana Jones movie. But given the relatively lukewarm response, even from die-hard Indy fans, I'll be surprised if another script is green-lighted (as they say in Variety-speak.) Hopefully, I'm wrong. The movie came in with so much build-up, and so much anticipation, that perhaps nothing could've lived up to the expectations of the fans.

Back to the Audio CD, there was one reference to "retinal scans" that was so out of period that I noticed it. Sure the idea was around in 1935, but the first actual device wasn't invented until 1975.

But I'm nit-picking. Science Fiction, whether read, heard on an Audio CD, or seen in a movie requires a suspension of disbelief; at least if you're going to do more than just roll your eyes and groan, "ya gotta be kidding me!"

Rollins tells a good tale and L.J. Ganser does an excellent job performing all of the spoken parts. It's a great way to pass the time stuck in gridlock. Personally, I'd much rather be following Dr. Jones' latest adventure, instead of worrying about getting to that meeting on time.

Thanksgiving Recipes: Chicken Rustica over Penne Pasta

2008-11-27T11:06:00.000-08:00

Being Italian by osmosis, sometimes our holiday menu's are a little different. Christmas and New Years is usually either lasagna or "Italian Enchiladas." Thanksgiving is the exception, where we do the traditional Turkey and Ham (I'll be up at 5 AM tomorrow to smoke the ham over mesquite! It don't get any better than that.)

But, Mary being a nurse, she usually ends up working one major holiday or the other (Darn sick people!). This year it's Thanksgiving. So, we'll celebrate the holiday tomorrow, when we can get the tutta la famiglia together. Which leaves the kids at the mercy of Dad's cooking for dinner. Since this is the first day off I've had in about three months, I'm not going to get too crazy. I'm a big fan of crockpot recipes that you can throw together and ignore all day while they cook for you.

Today we're having Bistecca Pizzaiola, Pineapple Ricotta Pie, and Chicken Rustica over Penne Pasta.

Chicken Rustica

2 1/4 pounds boneless chicken breasts, cut in 1-inch strips
1 1/2 tablespoon real bacon bits or crumbled cooked bacon
1 1/2 can (14.5 ounce size) diced tomatoes, drained
1 1/2 can (15 ounce size) artichoke hearts, quartered
1 1/2 can (4 oz size) sliced mushrooms, drained
1 1/2 envelope dry chicken gravy mix
3/8 cup dry red wine
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Penne Pasta

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker; stir to combine. Cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours. Serve over Penne pasta.

Buon appetito!

BECKHAM '08!

2008-07-18T06:17:00.000-07:00

And I don't mean the soccer guy...

Rusty

2008-06-04T06:42:00.000-07:00

Rusty is our newest addition to our household. I would have said family, but Alan and Lorelei just had another baby, so SHE would be the newest addition to our family. As soon as I get pictures of Piper, I will post those.

So, here's Rusty, OUR newest addition, and he is a wonderful, loving, energetic puppy. We just adore him!

Behind the Scenes Footage from Indy 4

2008-05-16T00:09:00.000-07:00

Yet another attempt to glom onto the Indiana Jones Juggernaut, the Mystery of the Crystal Skulls. Although the UFO angle is looking more and more likely...

The Archaeological Institute of America has printed a really excellent article addressing real life Crystal Skulls.

Also, Indy has his own magazine.

Travel the Indy Way!

2008-05-07T05:46:00.000-07:00

A couple of travel company's have jumped on the Indy 4 bandwagon and are offering tours designed to let you experience some of the excitement of the world's greatest adventurer.

Expedia is offering what they're calling Indiana Jones Travel Experiences, a series of 10 tours each with some (often strained) connections to one of the movies or the three year run of Young Indiana Jones series. Strangely enough, the Southwestern US tour is the most expensive. But the other tours are fascinating, taking you to such exotic locales as Egypt, Jordan, Cancun, etc.

A Spain-Based company is offering what they're calling "Viajes Con Imaginación" (Vacations With Imagination). They've taken the tour one step farther, combining elements of dinner theater with travel to exotic locations. So, not only can you tour the pyramids, but you may have to fend off a scimitar swinging ruffian.

I've been promising the wife a cruise for some time now....

Ford and Willis voted best action heroes

2008-05-04T22:35:00.000-07:00

Obviously, I'm not surprised at Harrison Ford's nomination. But Bruce Willis? I was a young cop in the 80's and never thought Willis' John McClane anywhere near as interesting or well developed as a character as Ford's Indiana Jones. Being a cop made me look especially hard at on screen depictions of police, which, most of the time, just pissed me off.

Cops are generally depicted in the movies as either hopelessly corrupt, suicidal dare-devils, or, at best, lone-ranger vigilantes who persevere despite the ineptitude of the rest of the force.

Joseph Wambaugh, who's actually been there and done that, is the exception and I'd walk a beat with his cops any day.

On the other hand, scientists, except for the freaks creating monsters from dead bodies, or trying to take over the world, are generally portrayed in a relatively positive light.

And, as everybody knows, archaeologists are accurately portrayed by Indiana Jones.

For some funny (and generally accurate) cop stereotypes, look here!

Indiana Jones Adventure Spoon!

2008-04-28T05:18:00.000-07:00

The hype for the new Indiana Jones Movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is in full-throated roar and you can hardly walk through a Kwiki-Mart or grocery store without being confronted by loud adverts screaming movie tie-ins. Yesterday I found my new favorite (well, until I find something else), the Indiana Jones Adventure Spoon!

Definitely a collector's item!

Kellogg has a whole slew of promotional items. Go to their search page, enter "indiana jones" and you'll be taken to descriptions of the Indiana Jones Search Light, the Indiana Jones Canteen, and a couple of DVD offers.

Movie tie-ins like this are a huge source of profits for movie-makers and the entire concept was pioneered by Amblin/Dreamworks, starting with Star Wars. I remember saving my pennies up to buy all the little character figures, Millennium Falcon models, and so forth. By the time the first Indiana Jones movie caught on, anyone who had anything to sell was trying their best to catch some of the movies reflected success.

For some truly awful (but tasty) movie tie-ins, go here.

Inshallah

2008-04-13T06:01:00.000-07:00

I've long thought that one of the unintended consequences of our presence in Iraq would be a sort of cross-cultural pollinization. During the first Desert Storm, we weren't in the Middle East long enough to do more than wreck things and take a few pictures. After five years in Iraq, thousands of service men and women will have begun to assimilate the culture and bring those experiences and beliefs back home with them. Inevitably, some of those mores will creep into stateside popular culture.

I'm just old enough to remember when this happened after the Vietnam war. There was a heightened interest in Buddhism (particularly after Buddhist monks began immolating themselves as a protest against the war) and phrases like beaucoup dinky dau (a mash up of French and Vietnamese dien cai dao, meaning "crazy in the head") became common slang.

Recently, I was talking to a friend's son who'd returned from two tours that added up to about three years of his life. At some point in the conversation I said something to which he replied, Inshallah.

I recognized the term, but his mom didn't and he had to explain that it'd become common slang among the troops and essentially meant, who knows?

Maybe that's the way the troops are using the phrase, but that's not what it means. Most English translations render it, God willing (from the Latin Deo volante), but the Arabic usage is more specific: not just a hope for the some future occurrence, but an acknowledgment that all of human destiny is subject to the will of Allah.

An Autumn 2007 article in American Scholar talks about the recent adoption of Inshallah among American troops in Iraq. While I specifically disagree with the author's definition of the term as he claims it's used by Iraqi's (and his conclusion in general) he did get one thing right:

To Americans the future is malleable, and it lies in our human hands to shape. Options are always on the table. At the end of his adventures, Huck Finn says “no thanks” to “sivilizin’” and decides to “light out for the territory” to the west. Baseball, the national sport, has no fixed time limit; a game could theoretically continue in extra innings forever. We nurture venture capitalists, but also a breed of “venture philanthropists” bent on bringing forth the novus ordo seclorum— a “new order of the ages”— proclaimed on our dollar bills. The ending of The Sopranos may have dissatisfied some viewers, but it left open the door to multiple imagined futures, American-style. In a passage in one of his newly published Notebooks, Robert Frost contrasts the sensibility on the opposing shores of the North Atlantic. He describes Europe as clotted with an overabundance of culture, and writes of America: “Our most precious heritage is what we haven’t in our possession— what we haven’t made and so have still to make.” As our TV announcers say, “Stay tuned!”

To Americans, the future is undefined - to Muslims the future has been ordained by Allah and man can do little to change it.

Inshallah has it's roots in the Qur'an, Surah Al Kahf, 23-24:

And never say, regarding any matter: I will do this tomorrow" -
But only: "If GOD pleases" and remember your Lord if you forget, and say "It may be that my Lord will guide me nearer to righteousness."

(You can find minor differences in the various English translations of the Qur'an. My copy is The Glorious Qur’an: Text and Translation by Dr. Ahmad Zidan.)

It's revealing in that I've come to understand that Islam is, in addition to being a religion, is also a way of life permeating every facet of the Muslim's daily life.

A couple of thoughts about what this means for the future.

First, Islam is the fastest growing religion on earth and, in particular, in America.

In the United States, for example, nearly 80 percent of the more than 1,200 mosques have been built in the past 12 years.

Some scholars see an emerging Muslim renaissance as Islam takes root in many traditionally Christian communities.

The American military, reflecting the same pressures is also increasingly Muslim. I recently received word from a friend I served with that, on his first tour in Iraq, he'd converted to Islam and sent me the translation of the Qur'an I have. He urged me to read the Qur'an, along with some pamphlets about Islam - this was his way of practicing da'wah.

The word "Da'wah" in Arabic simply means to invite to something. When it is used in conjunction with Islam it is understood to mean "Inviting to the Way of submission and surrender to Allah."

This also has it's roots in the Qur'an, Surah An-Nahl 125:

Call mankind to the Way of your Lord with wisdom and sound advice, and reason with them in a well mannered way. Indeed your Lord is aware of those who have gone astray from His Way, and He is well aware of those who are guided.

About a month ago, I was at the Tyler Mall and two young men from the Islamic Center of Corona/Norco had set up a table with a banner advertising the website, WhyIslam.org. They were handing out copies of the Qur'an and explaining Islam to anyone who would listen. They were polite, clean-cut, and reminded me of me, years before, when I was a junior pastor in the Pentecostal Young Peoples Association.

I won't say it was a life-changing experience, but it did get me to thinking. We're going to see a growing Islamic presence in the United States and greater societal acceptance. True Islam will become better understood as American's learn to differentiate between the followers of the Sunnah and the fanatical few that have hijacked the trappings of Islam to serve their own violent agendas.

The barbarism that is happening in the world today under the name of "Islamic Terrorism" is completely removed from the moral teachings of the Qur'an; it is the work of ignorant, bigoted people, criminals who have nothing to do with religion. The solution which will be applied against these individuals and groups who are trying to commit their deeds of savagery under the guise of Islam, will be the instruction of people in the true moral teaching of Islam.

I didn't mean for this to be so long, so I'll just bottom-line it here:

Our veterans returning from Iraq will have a decidedly different view of the Middle East and it's cultures than most Americans (note that I'm not saying that it will be uniformly positive.)
Islam will continue to grow in the American population and it's military.
With this growth, as a nation we will see that Muslims are not just some boogie-man stereotype "over there," but our neighbors and coworkers.
As we get to know our Muslim brothers and sisters, we'll learn to differentiate between true Islam and the barbarians who claim it's mantle.
Expediting that understanding, by study and contemplation, can only help us learn to coexist not just in America, but in the world, where every nation is dealing with it's own version of the same situation.

A parting thought. If you get a chance, go to YouTubeIslam.com and search up the videos of Yusuf Estes. He's a former fundamentalist preacher converted to Islam. I enjoy his talks because he's a Texan (and talks with a twang) and his style is that of the old-time tent revival preachers I grew up with. In particular I recommend his explanation of Islam.

Related Links

Islam Tomorrow: Home Site of Yusuf Estes

Islam Denounces Terrorism

Islamic Center of Riverside

IslamiCity.com

Best YouTube videos for Wetshaving

2008-02-24T19:44:00.000-08:00

Mantic59 has a slew of great videos on wet shaving, all very informative for the newbie DE shaver. Below is Mantic's introduction to Traditional Wet Shaving.

Check it out and your on your way to a better way to shave!

More Shave Geekery

2008-02-23T05:20:00.000-08:00

As I've blogged before, one of the real joys I have in my morning routine is a good old fashioned wet shave with a straight razor. And now, thanks to that wonderful resource for a excellent shaving experience, Lee's Razors, there's a inexpensive way to get your start in the wonderful world of wet shaving.

The proprietor, Lee Cantor, is offering the Greenhorn Straight Razor Deluxe Shaving Package for newbies who're interested, but not willing to invest a fortune to get started. Starting at $99 (you can choose to upgrade your brush, or add a strop or paddle stone) you get a Dovo Straight Razor, Vulfix Shaving Brush, two different pucks of Colonel Conk's Shaving Soaps, Shaving Mug, and Brush Stand.

What makes this such an outstanding deal is the Dovo straight razor. When it comes to shaving, your razor is where you don't want to go cheap and Dovo makes one of the finest razors in the wet shaving world. Dovo razors, all by themselves, start at $97 and can run as much as almost $400.

Colonel Conk's, despite the corny name, makes some of my favorite shaving soaps. They smell like unconditional love and whip up into a hot, frothy lather that you'll want to let soak in for a little while.

So if you're interested in wet shaving, this a great way to get all the basics. As I've warned before, be very, very careful with anything as sharp a Dovo razor. You've been warned.

And Lee's customer service is phenomenal. After placing my order I received an email confirming my request, providing a tracking number and it arrived, priority mail in about three days - that's service! So, while there's a lot of specialty shaving sites out there, I really can recommend Lee's to anyone.

A couple of great blogs for beginners are at WetShaving.net (where they have some really good tutorials) and my current favorite website, Badger and Blade. If you have plenty of time to kill it turns out that there's about a zillion YouTube videos concerning wet-shaving!

Indiana Jones IV Trailer

2008-02-18T05:23:00.000-08:00

In this trailer, Indy says: "It's not as easy as it used to be" - ain't it the truth. Still, Indy's back and has aged well. For those of us who were fans in the 80's and 90's it's encouraging news.

The movie premieres on May 22nd - just in time for my birthday. I can't wait.

Other States get Snow Drifts...

2007-12-26T20:05:00.000-08:00

...in Southern California, we get tumbleweed drifts...
On the other hand, we never get a snow day!

Fred Thompson is Chuck Norris!!

2007-12-19T04:33:00.000-08:00

Fred Thompson is Chuck Norris!

There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of animals Fred Thompson allows to live.
When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Fred Thompson.
When Fred Thompson does a push up, he isn’t lifting himself up, he’s pushing the Earth down.
Fred Thompson can slam a revolving door.
The French surrendered to Fred Thompson just to be on the safe side.
Some people wear Superman pajamas. Superman wears Fred Thompson pajamas.

Who knew?

Holiday Candy Cane Cake

2007-12-16T12:13:00.001-08:00

This isn't a recipe so much as an activity. Christy and me used up a cold afternoon in a warm kitchen with this one. A much better cake decorator than me can really make this look snappy. Actually, a drunken Capuchin using only it's tail could do a better job, which is just another reason I tend to stick to pies. As it was, we just took it Grandpa & Grandma's and most of it was gone the same night.

1 packaged yellow or white cake mix. We used a Duncan Hines butter recipe white cake mix
1 cup milk
1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon peppermint extract (depending on whether or not you like peppermint. Be careful how much you use; a little is okay - too much is overpowering. )
2 tubs of white frosting. This sounds like a lot of frosting, but you're going to be using it to "glue" parts of the cake together, so better to have too much than not enough.
2 to 3 rolls of that strawberry fruit stuff called, "fruit-by-the-foot."

Heat oven to 350°F. The recipe calls for generously greasing a bundt cake pan with shortening - but who has actually has shortening laying around? For this cake, I've never had any success with the various no-stick sprays you can buy, so instead I'll lightly coat the inside of the pan with butter, which works just fine, thank you. Lightly flour.

While the oven is heating up, I'll place the cream cheese on the range, towards the back, where the heat vents just a little - but not too much. By the time the oven is heated up, the cheese is soft enough to beat. (Children may be confused and say something silly, like, "you're putting cheese in the cake?!" Ignore them. This step makes for a much tastier and moist cake.)

Beat cake mix, milk, cream cheese, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl with electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute, scraping bowl as you go. Beat on medium speed another 2 minutes, or until you can pour into the pan.

Bake about 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 15 minutes; then loosen sides with a knife and turn upside down onto wire rack and remove pan. Allow to cool completely, about 1 hour.

To assemble, cut the cake in half crosswise. Place half of the cake on a serving plate to form the crook of a candy cane. Cut the remaining half into 5 equal pieces (about 2-inches wide).

This next part is optional and, depending on my mood, I'll go easy with it (which can give you just a hint of peppermint) or do away with it entirely. It just depends on how big a fan of peppermint you are. I can take it or leave it. Stir half of the peppermint extract into each tub of frosting. Attach the cut pieces to the crook of candy cane with frosting, alternating pieces to form the straight part of the cane. Frost cake.

To decorate, arrange strips of fruit snack rolls on cake to look like stripes on a candy cane. Since I'm doing this with my kids, we tend to get a little creative, though you're going to have to work hard to restrain an 11 year-old armed with red and green sugar crystals.

And voilà! You have a fun and tasty treat for any holiday occasion.

WARNING: New Home Improvement Scam

2007-12-01T21:54:00.000-08:00

A friend just wrote to warn me about a new scam happening in the parking lot of home improvements store:

Just passing on a warning for all you guys who shop at Home Depot--

"Over the last month I became a victim of a clever scam while shopping at Home Depot. Simply going out to get supplies has turned out to be quite traumatic. Don't be naive enough to think it couldn't happen to you or your friends.

Here's how the scam works:

Two seriously good-looking 20-21 year-old girls come over to your car as you are packing your shopping items into the trunk. They both start wiping your windshield with a rag and Windex, with their chests almost falling out of their skimpy T-shirts. It is impossible not to look. When you thank them and offer them a tip, they say 'No' and instead ask you for a ride to another Home Depot or Lowe's. You agree and they get in the back seat.

On the way, they start undressing. Then one of them climbs over into the front seat and starts crawling all over you, while the other one steals your wallet.

I had my wallet stolen Nov 4th, 9th, 10th, twice on the 15th, 17th, 20th, & 24th. It happened three times just yesterday and is very likely again this upcoming weekend.

So tell your friends to be careful."

I'd comment on this, but I'm on my way to Ace Hardware...

Walls of Nehemiah Found

2007-12-01T20:48:00.000-08:00

In one of the greatest stories of leadership ever told, Nehemiah tells the story of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. The city has been destroyed and rebuilt several times over it's 2,500 year old history. However, evidence for the biblical account has been lacking.

A report in the Israeli publication, The Trumpet , says such evidence has been discovered:

Archaeologists who reject the biblical narrative or who believe the historical account is, at best, grossly exaggerated sometimes point to the wall Nehemiah is said to have built around Jerusalem during the 5th century b.c. and ask why none of its remains have ever been discovered.

Now those remains are beginning to turn up.

Dr. Mazar was introduced yesterday as the first speaker at the conference. Walking up to the podium without the benefit of any notes, she delivered an impassioned, persuasive 30-minute presentation straight from the heart. She spoke about the fantastic discoveries made at the palace during the last two years: the 5-meter-wide wall, the rooms, the collections of metal industry, the pottery and the bullae. She concluded by revealing the details about her most recent find: a tower from a wall that Nehemiah built.

After hearing about the great affliction of the Jews in Jerusalem, that the city walls were broken down and the gates burned, Nehemiah appealed to God for intervention. At the time, he was serving in the court of Artaxerxes as a cupbearer. When the king inquired about his distress, Nehemiah said he had a heavy heart because “the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire” (Nehemiah 2:3). He asked the king for a leave of absence so that he might coordinate several construction projects in Jerusalem. Nehemiah made this request in the 20th year of Artaxerxes, or about 445 b.c. (see Nehemiah 2:1).

The king granted his request and provided enough materials for Nehemiah to rebuild the gates of the temple, the wall around the city and a house for himself. A few Bible commentaries speculate that the house Nehemiah built for himself in Jerusalem might have been where David’s palace once stood. Even though the Babylonians had left the entire city in ruin early on in the 6th century b.c., Nehemiah knew right where David’s palace had been built (see Nehemiah 12:37). Wherever he chose to build his home, it must have been the size of a royal palace. While rebuilding, the Bible records, Nehemiah invited 150 construction workers to join him for dinner at his table (Nehemiah 5:16-19).

In Nehemiah 3, you can read a detailed account of the wall’s reconstruction. Nehemiah refers to 10 gates in the chapter. In verse 1, he mentions the northern entrance to the city—the Sheep Gate, where animals were brought into the temple for sacrifices. After that, Nehemiah describes the rest of the gates on the wall in order, moving around the western side of the city in a counter-clockwise direction and then up the eastern side back to the north end of the city.

By the time he gets to the Fountain Gate in verse 15, the passage becomes much more descriptive. “But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallun … and the wall of the pool of Siloah by the king’s garden, and unto the stairs that go down from the city of David.” The Fountain Gate, also referred to as the Spring Gate today, was located somewhere near the Gihon Springs, which is a short walk south from where Dr. Mazar’s palace excavations are going on.

In verse 16, Nehemiah mentions the tombs of the kings of Judah, which have not yet been discovered today. But putting Nehemiah’s description together with what Dr. Mazar keeps finding in the City of David, they must be close by.

Many of the landmarks described in Nehemiah’s book can now be clearly identified today thanks in large part to the work of Eilat Mazar. She has been working hard and fast, just as Nehemiah did 2,500 years ago. Nehemiah’s frantic pace resulted in his crew completing the wall in 52 days (Nehemiah 6:15), which might explain why the tower began to collapse over the summer!

While he was working, Nehemiah had to withstand the attacks of numerous critics who were determined to slow down his progress (Nehemiah 4:8). Yet he kept right on building, working with a hammer in one hand and a weapon in the other (Nehemiah 4:17-18).

Chuck Swindoll has written an excellent book using Nehemiah's example as a model of leadership in "Hand Me Another Brick."

You can read more here, here, here, and here.

Southern (California) Ham & Beans

2007-11-24T09:45:00.000-08:00

A traditional Thanksgiving (at least in my house) includes two main dishes: Turkey and a spiral cut, honey glazed ham (somewhere around here I have a great recipe for apricot glaze - but that's a recipe for another blog.).

After the inevitable turkey and ham sandwiches, you're left with a nice big ham hock, covered with plenty of meat, but no single piece large enough to justify slapping it between two pieces of bread.

So as not to waste all that yummy goodness, we'll save that hock; sometimes wrapping it up and freezing it until we want to use it later, but more often I'll make a big pot of my SoCal style ham and beans. Even if you're still full after the Thanksgiving gorging, these beans can easily be packaged up in nice dinner sized packages and frozen until you want them later for an easy to fix, and filling, side dish or even main course. Having lived in Southern California most of my life, I've learned that there's very few things that can't be heated up and slapped in to a flour tortilla and made delicious with enough Tapatío. These beans fall into that category.

This is also a crock pot recipe, meaning that you can put it together in the morning and let it simmer all day with only minimal attention until it's time to eat. In fact, you have to - I'm big on easy and most crock pot recipes are, at a minimum, easy. For this you're going to need a medium-to-large slow cooker: I've got two, one big enough to roast a pig and a more practical four-quart. I use the smaller one for most everything.

Your main ingredients are pinto beans and a left-over ham hock. Don't buy a ham-hock from the store and expect to get a whole lot of meat from it. The expert butchers who work those over are skilled at taking all the meat off, right down to the bone. So, while you'll get the flavor, you won't get a lot of the meat that makes this filling enough to use as a main course. And don't worry if your thanksgiving left over ham hock doesn't look like it has a lot on it: there's more than you can see just waiting to be liberated from it's bony prison.

On to the recipe! It's best if you start this first thing in the morning:

Place your ham hock in the slow cooker and turn on to high simmer.
Add two cups of pinto beans.
Add four cups water

A word about beans: always check these thoroughly for "bad" beans and rocks. The beans you get in the store are thoroughly sifted (I hope) but there always seems to be a few rocks and just plain ugly beans that sneak though the process. I always measure my beans out onto a plate and shuffle through them until I'm confident I've got all the tooth-crunching surprises out of the lot. As I inspect the beans, I put them into a colendar for rinsing. Some people will steep these over night, but, just personally, I find this leaves the beans too "mushy" for my taste. I like a little "chewiness" but not too much. Inspecting, rinsing, and simmering all day gives me what I consider just the right texture.

Mince in four lobes of garlic. (five-sixths of my family is Italian. Senza l'aglio, non è solo lo stesso!)
Add a large brown onion
Cut-up a red bell pepper and a yellow bell pepper (not too fine). Rinse to remove any seeds and add to mix.

Just FYI, green bell peppers are just unripened red, yellow, etc., bells. They tend to be a little less sweet and a little hotter that the fully ripened fruit. I also find the red bell peppers to be sweeter than the yellow.

Add two cans of stewed tomatoes.

Depending on what I'm planning for these beans I'll sometimes get the Italian-style (flavored with onions, sweet peppers, garlic, oregano, olive oil and sugar) or the Mexican-styled stewed tomatoes (flavored with onions, celery, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and Tapatío.) Just ordinary stewed tomatoes work just fine, but lack the spicier flavor SoCal natives enjoy.

Let simmer all day long.

After it's had time to steep, say four or five hours later, I'll add a table spoon of corn starch to thicken it up. And that's all there is to it. Also, just a teaspoon of baking soda will make the beans creamier and less gassy - but what's the sport in that?!!

Following this recipe gives you a hearty, slightly spicy, concoction that's good as a burrito, a side dish or just a bowl-full as a main course. My wife and I enjoy the many vegetables in it and my kids will smother it with shredded cheese and make a meal out of it.

Best Fire Video Blog

2007-10-24T06:02:00.000-07:00

In addition to it getting hot again and, thanks to the fire season, everything smelling like a camp out, I've picked up some bug and been sick as a dog. So, having nothing better to do, I've been trying to keep up on the fire situation.

According to Fox 11 News, 500,000 people have been evacuated, 1,300 structures destroyed, and about 640 square miles have burned to the ground.

The good news is the wind appears to have slowed down (at least enough that my cats are venturing out again) and hopefully crews can get these things under control.

I've also found a really good blog, the Firefighter Spot, which hosts tons of fire info, pictures and videos.

The Governor has set up a web page addressing the 2007 fire season, it's called "Battling California's Wildfires" and it's pretty up to date.

Something that's always worried me about this time of year is how easy it would be for some nut job to set these fires for kicks and how many of them are arson. The Sun reports at least one investigation is pointing to arson.

Check out the InciWeb: Incident Information System website for really good info on incidents in progress.

And, just to keep everything interesting, we also a had a 4.3 earthquake this morning.

Now, I'm dragging myself back to bed...

Fire Season

2007-10-23T04:56:00.000-07:00

California's four season are hot, wind, fire and riot. In fact, we're thinking of changing the name from "State of California" to "State of Emergency."

Depending on which weather report you read, winds are predicted to die down around 6 PM tonight or sometime tomorrow.

LA County fire has a great interactive map showing all of the fires (more than a dozen at last count). Clicking on any particular fire will give you details on that fire's status. So far, only one, the Big Bear fire, is 100% contained. The Sun, Daily Bulletin, and Redlands Daily Facts have pooled their resources to put together a composite Fire & Wind Coverage Blog.

A brief round-up of Inland Empire reports (as of 5 AM):

Backstage at the Haunted Mansion with Kurt Russell

2007-10-21T05:07:00.000-07:00

I haven't done much Halloween related posting - the new job is keeping me too busy to do much else. But I ran across this. This is an excerpt from the episode "Disneyland Showtime", from The Wonderful World of Disney on NBC, in which the Haunted Mansion made its' debut. Original airdates: March 22, 1970 and June 28, 1970. I remember watching these when I was a kid, but it would be years before we could afford to actually go to Disneyland.

California Adventure gets "Re-Do"

2007-10-21T02:06:00.001-07:00

While a lot of people are declaring this proof that DCA was a big mistake, still others are suggesting that it's beginning of a massive new expansion of Disney in SoCal.

Rumors of Disney planning new renovations in SoCal seem to float around every couple of years. Anyone remember 1990's "Port Disney" project?

I've always thought that DCA has taken a lot of criticism it didn't deserve. Admittedly, it's over priced and the best description I ever heard of it was one of Disney's lands sitting all by itself and you still get to pay full price for it. I think they could save it just by rearranging the fences and making it part of Disneyland.

Still, you could ride on any ride without standing in line for two hours. There was an excellent variety of restaurants and food and, being a native, I enjoyed seeing the good side of the state extolled. Unfortunately, most of the time when people think of California they think of the latest Britney-disaster or drive-by shootings that never seem to hit gangsters.

GM Installs Second Solar Facility in Inland Empire

2007-09-18T04:58:00.000-07:00

Well here's a good idea that I hope catches on. GM has a couple of plants in Fontana and Rancho Cucamonga. They've recently used the acres of flat roof over the plants to install some of the biggest solar arrays in the area:

General Motors Corp said Thursday it will add one of the largest solar power installations in corporate use at a warehouse in California, generating half the electricity needed to run the 300,000-square-foot facility.
The automaker said it has partnered with a subsidiary of Constellation Energy , which will design, build, own and operate the solar array on the roof of a GM service and parts operation warehouse in Fontana, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles.
The solar-powered array, which will become operational in December, will feed enough extra electricity back to the grid to power more than 300 homes for a year, GM said in a statement.

Something not spelled out in the article is that this entire installation costs GM exactly nothing. The incentive is that Constellation Energy gets a steady source of income by selling the solar powered electricity to GM and the power grid.

G.M. and a small but growing number of other companies and municipalities are getting solar energy from systems installed by others. Even though the installations are right on their own roofs, they buy the electricity much as they would from a utility’s grid. And because the companies that paid for the systems will get a steady income, they can provide power from the sun at competitive electricity rates.

There was a time in the 70's when there was a big push for solar power and tax benefits were offered to people who put them on their homes, but there were no big benefits for businesses to do the same. This trend would create an incentive independent of government's capricious whims. I hope it's a idea that catches on.

Scientists Discover Largest-Known Planet

2007-08-08T04:18:00.000-07:00

Anybody who grew up in the 60's was a space-freak. I'll never forget waiting up to actually hear that man had walked on the moon! It was exciting times when the future was going to be like an episode of The Jetsons or Lost in Space.

"TrES-4 is the largest known exoplanet," said Georgi Mandushev, Lowell Observatory astronomer and the lead author of the paper announcing the discovery. "It is about 70 percent bigger than Jupiter, the Solar System’s largest planet, but less massive, making it a planet of extremely low density. Its mean density is only about 0.2 grams per cubic centimeter, or about the density of balsa wood! And because of the planet’s relatively weak pull on its upper atmosphere, some of the atmosphere probably escapes in a comet-like tail."

TrES-4 is what's called a "puffy planet." These are extremely large bodies with extremely low densities. Why is it that, in space, the bigger something is, the less substance there is to it? Maybe it's a lesson for all of us! I also enjoy the optimism that you can find in pure science.

"TrES-4 appears to be something of a theoretical problem,” said Edward Dunham, Lowell Observatory Instrument Scientist. "It is larger relative to its mass than current models of superheated giant planets can presently explain. Problems are good, though, since we learn new things by solving them."

Read the official Lowell Observatory press release here.

Kissology II Due Out in August

2007-07-18T10:36:00.000-07:00

Kissology II: 1978-1991, the sequel to Kissology Volume I: 1974-1977, is due to be released on August 14th and be pre-ordered on Amazon now.

Having recently rediscovered I really like to play the guitar, I've been exploring my rock roots (or having a mid-life crisis) and that's KISS. KISS was, in 1978, at the absolute top of their game. The first volume takes you through the build-up to top of the charts. Unfortunately, this is 70's video and it shows. While the sound in only decent, the video is grainy and in some sections so dark that it's hard to tell what's going on. What commentary there is, is brief and not always related to what's going on on screen. My favorite part is an interview of an extremely uncomfortable Gene Simmons by Mike Douglas. Gene tries to stay in his "demon" character while seated next to an eye-rolling Todi Fields and the result is just embarrassing.

Still, I was glad I bought it and I'm looking forward to getting the new one once it's available. It boasts more commentary, some documentary stuff and the ill fated movie KISS in Attack of the Phantoms renamed KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park, now a cult classic.

Psychology Today: Most Suicides Bombers Just Want to Get Laid

2007-07-09T03:53:00.000-07:00

Psychology Today has an interesting article: Ten Politically Incorrect Truths About Human Nature.

The whole article is good reading, but I thought #4 was particularly interesting:

4. Most suicide bombers are Muslim

Suicide missions are not always religiously motivated, but according to Oxford University sociologist Diego Gambetta, editor of Making Sense of Suicide Missions, when religion is involved, the attackers are always Muslim. Why? The surprising answer is that Muslim suicide bombing has nothing to do with Islam or the Quran (except for two lines). It has a lot to do with sex, or, in this case, the absence of sex.

What distinguishes Islam from other major religions is that it tolerates polygyny. By allowing some men to monopolize all women and altogether excluding many men from reproductive opportunities, polygyny creates shortages of available women. If 50 percent of men have two wives each, then the other 50 percent don't get any wives at all.

So polygyny increases competitive pressure on men, especially young men of low status. It therefore increases the likelihood that young men resort to violent means to gain access to mates. By doing so, they have little to lose and much to gain compared with men who already have wives. Across all societies, polygyny makes men violent, increasing crimes such as murder and rape, even after controlling for such obvious factors as economic development, economic inequality, population density, the level of democracy, and political factors in the region.

[...]

The other key ingredient is the promise of 72 virgins waiting in heaven for any martyr in Islam. The prospect of exclusive access to virgins may not be so appealing to anyone who has even one mate on earth, which strict monogamy virtually guarantees. However, the prospect is quite appealing to anyone who faces the bleak reality on earth of being a complete reproductive loser.

Like Instapundit says, read the whole thing.

Is WoW teh sexay?

2007-05-22T03:50:00.000-07:00

I'm not a big WoW fan - I'm afraid it'll enslave my soul. The way it has for zillions of young males who's only hope of ever seeing a naked (breathing) woman is to show up in a Tijuana whore-house clutching a fistful of $20 bills.

But I still thought this was funny!

Whole Wheat Banana Craisin Walnut Bread

2007-04-04T04:51:00.000-07:00

I've been sick the last four or five days and only today was I feeling any better, so I decided to do some baking. My breakfasts are pretty spartan these days (thanks to my doctor and private nurse who have me watching my weight, cholesterol, blood pressure, sugar, etc., etc.), so I have a recipe for whole wheat bran muffins that generally make up my morning meal. They're tasty, moist and have no processed sugar in them, so I'll cook up a dozen or so every couple of weeks and alternate between them and the oatmeal and cholesterol fighting cereals that you can find every where these days.

At any rate, I had some wheat flour left over so I experimented a little and came up with a recipe for whole-wheat banana craisin walnut bread that everyone liked, so I thought I'd share it here. It's a fairly healthy recipe and the craisins give it a holiday taste without being cloying. And it must have been somewhat good - my kids ate it like there was no tomorrow and both loafs disappeared overnight!

2 ½ cups whole wheat flour
1 ½ cups mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 to 4 medium sized bananas)
1 ¼ cups packed brown sugar
½ craisins
½ walnuts
½ cup plain, non-fat yogurt
½ cup fat-free cholesterol-free egg product (I told you I was watching my cholesterol) or 2 eggs
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla.

Move oven rack to lowest position. Heat oven to 350 ° F. Grease two 8x4-inch loaf pans.
Stir together all ingredients and spoon into pans.
Bake 50 - 60 minutes or until you can run a knife down the middle and have it come out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans.

The long list of ingredients makes it sound like a long recipe, but it's pretty simple - after all, I can do it!

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Duit!

2007-03-18T05:21:00.000-07:00

St. Patrick's Day is a pretty big holiday around here. While my wife is Italian (and, thus, so are my kids) my background is more varied. However, I think it's safe to say that I'm predominantly Irish. The brown hair, dark eyes and skin so pale that I don't tan - it's all I can do to just tone down the blue.

So, every year we use the holiday as a excuse to buy Guinness Draught, listen to the Irish Rovers, and (like everything else we do) get the family together for dinner.

A family tradition is that me and the kids (well, okay, Christina - the other two are too "mature") get together and bake a giant shamrock cookie.

The recipe isn't rocket science:

Pick up any 18 oz. package of sugar cookie mix.
Shape it roughly into a shamrock shape; as it bakes the sugar cookie dough will spread out and change the shape of your cookie anyway.
Bake 15 - 20 minutes or until you can lift an edge of it and see that it's golden-brown.
Let it cool on the baking sheet for two minutes, then carefully loosen cookie with a spatula (so it doesn't stick to the sheet.)
Before decorating, let it cool completely. Say 20 minutes. Decorate it hot and your frosting will melt and run all over the place.
Decorate with green frosting, green sugar crystals. Just so everyone knows it's a shamrock, outline with white chocolate chips.

If you really want to do it right, say for all those black-tie St. Patrick's Day parties you'll be attending with the Rockefeller's, you can cut out the outline of the shamrock after the cookie has cooled and before decorating. As you can see in the picture, I won't be going to such parties anytime soon.

Still, it's a fun craft, especially if you have wee bairns who're not above green a little frosting on their hands.

Sláinte chugat

Oldest Human Fossil Found in Romania

2007-03-16T11:46:00.000-07:00

Scientific American: Jawbone Hints at Europe's Earliest Modern Humans

The jawbone of a cave-man living in what is now Romania is the oldest fossil from an early modern human to be found in Europe, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

PocketPC's and Daylight Saving Time

2007-03-12T05:28:00.000-07:00

As ya'll are aware, the new daylight saving time took effect yesterday (oh, to follow Arizona's lead) and I noticed that despite syncing my Ipaq with my PC, which changed to the new time without issue, the time on my device was off by an hour. So I went searching for a fix and think I've got one.

Microsoft has a page for this issue called Windows Mobile Updates for Daylight Savings Time.

These instructions are for people who sync their Ipaq to their PC - like me. If you sync it over wireless, or over the phone or something, go the web-page for instructions that address your configuration.

First make sure to update your PC by installing the 2007 time zone update for Microsoft Windows operating systems. This will update the clock on your PC.
If you use Microsoft Outlook to synchronize your calendar, download and run the Outlook Time Zone Update Tool. If you do not use Microsoft Outlook, proceed to step 3.
Check to make sure you have the latest version of ActiveSync, which is ActiveSync 4.5.
Next, connect your Windows Mobile device to your PC, then download and run the Daylight Saving Time 2007 Update Tool for Windows Mobile.

The last step is to remove your device from it's cradle, do a soft reboot, then plug it back in. Viola! You're done and up-to-date.

All the usual legal disclaimers apply: proceed at your own risk; no guarantees or warranty intended or implied; not liable for damages due to use, misuse or anything else; your mileage may vary; beware of the dog, etc., etc.

IBM Search Tool Targets UFO's

2007-03-09T05:42:00.000-08:00

From a Network World Article:

IBM wants to help you find out if UFOs are real. Well, sort of. With UFO sightings seemingly on the rise, Big Blue is teaming with The Anomalies Network to offer UFO Crawler, a new search engine specifically tuned to search for information about the paranormal, unexplained or just plain bizarre.

You can check out UFO Crawler by clicking here.

Finally! An Environmental Cause I can Support!

2007-03-09T05:36:00.000-08:00

Muesum ID's New Species of Dinosaur

2007-03-06T05:25:00.000-08:00

From International Business Times:

A new dinosaur species was a plant-eater with yard-long horns over its eyebrows, suggesting an evolutionary middle step between older dinosaurs with even larger horns and the small-horned creatures that followed, experts said.

The dinosaur's horns, thick as a human arm, are like those of triceratops - which came 10 million years later. However, this animal belonged to a subfamily that usually had bony nubbins a few inches long above their eyes.

Michael Ryan, curator of vertebrate paleontology for the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, published the discovery in this month's Journal of Paleontology. He dug up the fossil six years ago in southern Alberta, Canada, while a graduate student for the University of Calgary.

"Unquestionably, it's an important find," said Peter Dodson, a University of Pennsylvania paleontologist. "It was sort of the grandfather or great-uncle of the really diverse horned dinosaurs that came after it."

Ryan named the new dinosaur Albertaceratops nesmoi, after the region and Cecil Nesmo, a rancher near Manyberries, Alberta, who has helped fossil hunters.

The creature was about 20 feet long and lived 78 million years ago.

The oldest known horned dinosaur in North America is called Zuniceratops. It lived 12 million years before Ryan's find, and also had large horns.

That makes the newly found creature an intermediate between older forms with large horns and later small-horned relatives, said State of Utah paleontologist Jim Kirkland, who with Douglas Wolfe identified Zuniceratops in New Mexico in 1998. He predicted then that something like Ryan's find would turn up.

"Lo and behold, evolutionary theory actually works," he said.

For more, see Paleontology in the News.

Ninth Season of Frasier Available in May!

2007-02-19T06:17:00.000-08:00

The long awaited season 9 of Frasier is finally available for pre-order from Amazon. Ship date is set for 15 May 2007! This leaves season 10 as the only season not yet released on DVD. I'm not much of a white wine fan, but when this set finally arrives, I'm gonna celebrate with Frasiers favorite: a good Chardonnay.

Rex Grossman: Let the Beatings Commence!

2007-02-05T04:27:00.000-08:00

Chicago Sun-Times:

In the end, the difference between experiencing a confetti tornado and becoming one of those quickly forgotten runners-up was that the Bears tried to convince us they had a real quarterback when smart people knew they did not.

The Charlotte Observer:

The artist currently known as Rex returned Sunday night. He did not make beautiful music. Rex Grossman produced the sounds he so often has before, mainly groans from Chicago fans and cheers from opponents.

Rockford Register Star:

This was the Rex Grossman that the Chicago Bears and their fans feared. When the Bears needed a clutch throw to catch up in the fourth quarter, their quarterback couldn’t connect.

Hartford Courant:

Tired of being second-guessed, Grossman called reporters ignorant last week. Well, he might want to rethink that because that infield-fly rule popup that turned into a 56-yard interception return for a touchdown by Kelvin Hayden was enough proof that the Bears weren't winning any Super Bowl with the schizoid Good Rex/Bad Rex at the controls.

Detroit Free Press:

But scoring on the opening kick? Guess the Bears wanted to keep Grossman off the field more than they did Manning.

Chicago Tribune:

Grossman continues to learn on the job.

Chicago Bears Blog:

Rex Grossman was terrible tonight. His numbers (20-of-28, 165 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions) don't do justice to how erratic he was. Both interceptions were terrible passes, and the Bears' coaching staff had so little confidence in him that they called short passes almost exclusively.

CBS SportsLine:

Good Rex. Bad Rex. In the end, it was No Rex that finished the Chicago Bears.

Inland Empire Barbies

2007-02-01T18:19:00.000-08:00

I don't normally pass on stuff like this - but I couldn't resist!

-------------------------

Mattel recently announced the release of the improved limited-edition Barbie Dolls for the Inland Empire area market:

Rancho Cucamonga Barbie
This princess Barbie is sold only at Victoria Gardens. She comes with an assortment of Kate Spade Handbags, a Lexus SUV, a long-haired foreign dog named Honey and a cookie-cutter house. Available with or without tummy tuck and face lift. Workaholic Ken sold only in conjunction with the augmented version.

Upland Barbie
The modern day homemaker Barbie is available with Ford Wind star Minivan and matching gym outfit. She gets lost easily and has no full-time occupation. Traffic jamming cell phone sold separately.

Pomona Barbie
This recently paroled Barbie comes with a 9mm handgun, a Ray Lewis knife, a Chevy with dark tinted windows, and a Meth Lab Kit. This model is only available after dark and must be paid for in cash (preferably in small, untraceable bills.) Unless you're a cop, then we don't know what you're talking about.

Chino Hills Barbie
This yuppie Barbie comes with your choice of BMW convertible or Hummer H2. Included are her own Starbucks cup, credit card and country club membership. Also available for this set are Shallow Ken and Private School Skipper. You won't be able to afford any of them.

Fontucky Barbie
This pale model comes dressed in her own Wrangler jeans two sizes too small, a NASCAR t-shirt and tweety bird tattoo on her shoulder. She has a six-pack of Bud light and a Hank Williams Jr. CD set. She can spit over 5 feet and kick mullet-haired Ken's butt when she is drunk. Purchase her pickup truck separately and get a confederate flag bumper sticker absolutely free.

Hesperia Barbie
This tobacco-chewing, brassy-haired Barbie has a pair of her own high-heeled sandals with one broken heel from the time she chased beer-gutted Ken out of Fontucky Barbie's house. Her ensemble includes low-rise acid-washed jeans, fake fingernails, and a see-through halter-top. Also available with a mobile home.

Claremont Barbie
This doll is made of actual tofu. She has long straight brown hair, arch-less feet, hairy armpits, no makeup and Birkenstocks with white socks. She prefers that you call her Willow. She does not want or need a Ken doll, but if you purchase two Barbies and the optional Subaru wagon,you get a rainbow flag bumper sticker for free. These barbies love to hang out, with included protest banners, on Arrow and Indian Hill.

San Bernardino Barbie
This Barbie now comes with a stroller and infant doll. Optional accessories include a GED and bus pass. Gangsta Ken and his 1979 Caddy were available, but are now very difficult to find since the addition of the infant.

ShaveGeekery

2007-02-01T06:06:00.000-08:00

As I get older I’m discovering the joys of a good-old-fashioned, wet shave with a straight razor.

It sounds dumb, but it’s rapidly becoming the most relaxing part of my day. My reliable Norelco electric razor finally gave up the ghost after years of faithful service and, having no where else to go, I confiscated one of Mary’s Lady Schick razors and an ancient bottle of Old Spice shaving cream. The resultant shave was so smooth that I decided I didn’t really need another appliance.

Of course, I’ve never been one to let well enough alone– so next thing you know I’m researching different shaving creams, skin balms, and eBaying for antique straight razors. The best razors ever made (apparently) are circa 1800’s blades, hollow ground, of Sheffield steel. These are highly prized collectibles and I’ve watched online auctions go into the hundreds of dollars. Well, I’m not that rich so instead I hit up my barber for some advice and he offered to sell me a couple of old razors he had for $5! They’re genuine antiques and after a quick hone and a couple of strops, they’re sharp enough that I shave with them very carefully.

WARNING: If you've never shaved with a straight razor (or sharpened a knife) don't attempt it. New razors are extremely sharp and it is literally possible to cut your own throat.

I'm not joking.

You can get the same close shave with a safety razor (check out Lee's Safety Razors) or even the hokey triple bladed Gillette hocked by the Nascar flavor-of-the-week. Start with one of those and work your way to a man's razor.

I’ve also decided that I really like Edge “Active Care Revitalizing Shaving Cream” which comes in a tube, not an aerosol can and claims to be made from "peppermint oil and Marine extracts," whatever the heck that is. All I know is that it smells great and leaves me all smooth and tingly!

After such a close shave, an aftershave balm is a must. Currently, I'm partial to C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries' line of products, particularly the Bay Rum.

The font of all shaving knowledge can only be found at the Shaveblog; other resources include:

Shooting the .577 TYRANNOSAUR

2007-01-22T18:56:00.000-08:00

I've shot some pretty big calibers in my life - but nothing like this Rhino-stopper! Theoretically, this is a real weapon.

"Night Skies" Review

2007-01-14T07:33:00.000-08:00

Night Skies bills itself as based on a true-story and, in a very twisted way, it is. There was in fact a whole series of unexplained lights sighted over Phoenix Arizona, ten years ago this coming March, by millions of people, virtually none of whom believed any of the official explanations (which changed four times.)

There was not, however, any reports by anybody of being stranded on an outback road and being subjected to a horrific alien abduction. Unfortunately, using the (genuine) Phoenix Lights sighting as a pretext for the (fictional) abductions shown in the movie is just about the only original idea in this movie.

But let me praise before I criticize – the movie starts out very effectively, beginning with a clip of Senator John McCain commenting on UFO’s in general and discussing the Phoenix Lights in particular. There’s also effective use of some genuine footage of the Phoenix Lights as shot by actual eyewitnesses. The lighting is very good and gives a real feeling of isolation and claustrophobia in equal parts. Marsy Blasgen’s creature effects are very good – the aliens are suitably spooky and just “grey” enough to satisfy most UFOlogist types.

The acting is as good as it can be, given the limitations of the characters. There’s only three interesting characters, Jason Connery as Richard, A.J. Cook as Lilly, and Ashley Peldon, who plays a yummy (and all-too-brief) eye-candy part as Molly. Everyone else never really develops into anything except as caricatures placed in the script to get the body count up. Even the suggestion of romance waiting to bloom between Richard and Molly is snuffed out by evil aliens, obviously disinterested in character development or the integrity of the plot line. Still, don’t think that I’m entirely discarding the actor’s performances – they’re doing their best. There’s just not much to work with.

Maybe I’m just being too critical of these particular aliens, who have none of the finesse we’ve come to expect from years of X-Files. Instead of paralyzing their victims, floating them through any barrier, into antiseptically clean examination rooms where painless procedures are performed in the name of (alien) science, these guys are a little more, shall we say, direct. These seem to be the alien equivalent of back-woods, inbred hillbilly’s busting through windows, blasting down doors, (completely leveling one structure) and grabbing their teen victims with the shocking suddenness of a Jason or Freddy.

And that’s my real problem with this move – and a minor complaint given the genre: slasher-flick. As I watched the story unfold I got a weird feeling of déjà vu – I had seen all this somewhere before. Had I been abducted by aliens, only to have the appalling memories sealed away forever?

Unfortunately, the truth is less compelling. Ideas and concepts from many, many horror films are lifted almost verbatim and thrown into the plot in a frantic fashion. You’ll recognize scenes from The Hills Have Eyes, Night of the Living Dead, Fire in the Sky, and (the most obvious of all) Carrie.

Still, if you liked the Freddy or Jason franchises, you’ll enjoy this movie. Just don’t expect a Stanton Friedman lecture!

UFO Update

2007-01-08T04:50:00.000-08:00

National Ledger's Jeff Freeland has a good article about the great media interest generated by the O'Hare UFO report. It starts with this paragraph:

Was there really a UFO at O'Hare in Chicago? In a word - yes. No matter how one slices and dices the information coming out of the Windy city's major airport, there was an object that a dozen or so witnesses saw and it has yet to be identified. Unless of course you actually believe it was the weather.

Read the whole thing here.

Meanwhile, Jon Hilkevitch, the Chicago Tribune reporter who started everything with his January 1st story, reflects on the story behind the story in a January 7th article:

Covering UFOs seemed to be stretching the definition of my job, transportation reporting. I looked at the clock on the newsroom wall and decided to give Mr. Davenport two minutes.

But he was onto something.

The UFO story, published Monday, became the most-read piece to appear on chicagotribune.com. It was the top story on the Tribune Web site for four straight days, garnering more than 1 million page views from people around the world.

He also asks a question that I've had since the start:

How is it that someone smuggled a camera cell phone into a Baghdad execution chamber to chronicle the hanging of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein last month, but no one among the thousands of airport workers and travelers at O'Hare snapped a picture for the cosmic family photo album?

There have been reports on various blogs that someone actually did take pictures, but nothing more than that - just rumors.

Mr. Hilkevitch (who may have found his nitch) follows up with a January 8th article entitled, "UFO Report Stirs Believers, Skeptics," which is mostly a sampling of email reaction he's received:

A man in Aurora said he came home from work on the same day as the O'Hare sighting, looked skyward in his back yard and spied a shiny round object hovering between two masses of clouds. And then it disappeared.

A woman from Ireland wrote to asked what the heck was happening at "O'Hara."

A man named Montana said he had encounters with extraterrestrials in Romania and in Wichita, Kan. He expressed amazement that neither incident made the news.

It may never be known whether the phenomenon at O'Hare on Nov. 7--which was reported by numerous United Airlines employees--was an actual UFO sighting, or much ado about nothing. But readers don't seem to mind offering their opinions.

This whole flap reminds me of the Phoenix Lights that generated so much interest, ten years ago this coming March. Look for a rise in interest in UFO's as the anniversary approaches.

National Public Radio Reports Credible UFO Sighting

2007-01-06T08:10:00.000-08:00

National Public Radio's All Things Considered January 1st broadcast reported on a very credible UFO sighting at Chicago's O'Hare Airport:

In November, a gray, metallic, saucer-like object was spotted hovering above Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. As many as 12 United Airlines employees spotted the object and filed reports with United [Airlines].

In the broadcast, Chicago Tribune reporter Jon Hilkevtich reports that the witnesses are all very credible, including senior UA managers and flight crews.

A flying saucerlike object hovered low over O'Hare International Airport for several minutes before bolting through thick clouds with such intense energy that it left an eerie hole in overcast skies, said some United Airlines employees who observed the phenomenon.

Newsweek also reported on the sighting:

The Federal Aviation Administration says it must have been a weird weather phenomenon, and United Airlines denies any knowledge of the case. But though it has been two months since what appeared to be an unidentified flying object (UFO) was spotted over Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, the incident is still raising questions about what exactly was seen and whether the authorities are trying to downplay it.

YouTube has an interview with a pilot who was one of the witnesses. The National UFO Reporting Center has the latest info on the sighting. Other reports

UFO Digest: Disc-shaped UFO over Chicago’s O’Hare Airport triggers national, international news coverage.
Westport News: Local Watchdogs Seeking Info on O'Hare UFO Sighting
Chicago Tribune: If only Lindsay Lohan had also spotted the UFO at O'Hare!
National Ledger: O'Hare UFO and the Phoenix Lights: The Difference May be Video

Lucas: 4th 'Indiana Jones' to shoot in 2007

2007-01-05T05:07:00.000-08:00

The long rumored return of Indiana Jones to the silver screen is now a fact. Indiana Jones 4 begins filming this year:

George Lucas said Friday that filming of the long-awaited "Indiana Jones" movie will begin in 2007.

Harrison Ford, who appeared in the three earlier flicks, the last one coming in 1989, is set to star again.

Lucas said he and Steven Spielberg recently finalized the script for the film.

"It's going to be fantastic. It's going to be the best one yet," the 62-year-old filmmaker said during a break from preparing for his duties as grand marshal of Monday's Rose Parade.

The target release date is May 2008. You can read more about this here. Just as an aside, after Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, there was a whole series of books written chronicling Indy's further adventures. Since I'm a fan, I bought them all and I'm slowly working my way through them. You can read one of my reviews here.

Mad-Cow Proof Cows?

2007-01-03T05:08:00.000-08:00

An article in Science Daily is reporting that the U.S.D.A's Agricultural Research Service "scientists evaluated cattle that have been genetically modified so they do not produce prions, and determined that there were no observable adverse effects on the animals' health."

The article addresses protecting the cattle from bovine spongiform encephalopathy, so called "Mad Cow Disease." What it doesn't discuss is the suspected link between Prions and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Prions are suspected to be the cause of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, a rare and always fatal disease.

While the link between BSE and CJD is a hotly debated topic in certain circles (the beef industry sued Oprah Winfrey in 1997 for linking BSE and CJD), there is no doubt that both are caused by prions. ; Science Magazine first reported the link between BSE and CJD in 1996, a position that was reinforced with further study in 1997 and 2006.

This report is more interesting following closely as it does on news that the FDA recently issued a report saying that cloned animals were safe to eat:

The government declared Thursday that food from cloned animals is safe to eat. After more than five years of study, the Food and Drug Administration concluded that cloned livestock is "virtually indistinguishable" from conventional livestock.

FDA believes "that meat and milk from cattle, swine and goat clones is as safe to eat as the food we eat every day," said Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine.

Officials said they don't think special labels are needed, although a decision on labeling is pending.

I'm as a big a fan of progress as anybody (heck, technology and science is how I make my living) but I can't help but worry that we're not nearly as smart as we think we are and need to proceed with caution. Particularly when authorities are telling us "trust us."

Mocha Nervosa Walnut Bread

2007-01-02T04:18:00.000-08:00

In case I haven't mentioned it before, me and my wife's favorite TV show (for now) is Frasier. We came late to the program, only discovering it after it began reruns on Lifetime Television. I'm not sure what it is about the program that appeals to us, except that it's funny! It's adult humor without being smutty or risqué and we really appreciate that. We've purchased all of the DVD's that are currently available (Frasier fans take heart: Season 9 is due out May 7th!) and even branched out into other tied-in merchandise.

Something that just arrived in the mail is Cafe' Nervosa: The Connoisseur's Cookbook an eclectic collection of recipes ostensibly from Frasier, Daphne, and the entire crew. I love to cook and I'm always on the outlook for new recipes and this is a fine collection of some really interesting ones.

The book is divided into four sections, Man Can Live by Bread Alone (breads and desserts); Let's do Lunch (small, relatively simply meals); Just Bring Two Forks (ornate, you-better-think-about-it meals); and Some Like it Hot (coffees and drinks). Sprinkled throughout the book are quotes and bits from the show. The book also has an index for quick lookup. At 108 pages, it's not a huge book, but well written and just quirky enough to keep your interest. And the recipes are easy enough that almost anyone (that is, me) can do them without getting lost or having to travel to Trader Joe's for some obscure ingredient.

So, this last weekend being New Year's Eve, and since holidays mean cooking to me, I dug through the recipes and came up with Mocha Nervosa Walnut Bread:

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 cup instant coffee granules
1 & 1/4 cups sour cream
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels (for this recipe I used Nestle's holiday colored dark chocolate M&M's - the red and green ones!)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Combine first six ingredients in a medium bowl; stir well. Combine sour cream, eggs, and butter in a large bowl; stir well. Add flour mixture to sour cream mixture, stirring until blended. Stir in chocolate morsels and walnuts. Pour batter into a greased and floured loaf pan.

(The recipe says to use a single 9x5x3 inch loaf pan - I don't have any that big, but a couple of standard loaf pans worked just fine.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack; removed from pan, and let cool completely.

Great Article on Local Wine History

2006-12-27T06:00:00.000-08:00

Gino L. Filippi is vice president of Joseph Filippi Winery in Rancho Cucamonga and he writes a monthly column in a local paper, the Daily Breeze.

The great Cucamonga Valley (aka: The Cucamonga-Guasti Wine District), where vineyard planting began in 1838, was once considered the largest wine-growing region in the United States. This area includes the communities of Rancho Cucamonga (Alta Loma, Cucamonga, Etiwanda, Grapeland, Rochester), Ontario (Guasti), Fontana, Mira Loma (Wineville), Rialto, Upland (North Ontario, Magnolia), all of which have a rich history rooted in their agricultural past.

The whole article is very interesting reading. Also, Fillipi Winery has a great wine club (which I belong to) and recommend to everyone.

Prof. Bainbridge on Aging Wines

2006-12-21T05:21:00.000-08:00

Professor Bainbridge has a great blog dedicated to all things about wine. Usually, he grades the various wines he comes across, but recently he wrote an interesting and informative post on aging wine:

With few exceptions, most red wines in the $25 bottle range should be drunk young (1-3 years after release). At the $50 price point, you'll find some wines that deserve extended aging, but most (especially those from California, Australia, or, increasingly, Italy) are vinified for mid-term drinking. A top Zinfandel, for example, will be in prime drinking age at 4-8 years from the vintage date.

Like Instapundit says - read the whole thing!

Romero Reportedly Working on Yet Another Zombie Flick

2006-12-15T04:42:00.000-08:00

From Cinema Fusion:

News coming out of The Hollywood Reporter is that horror god George A. Romero is preparing to write and direct another zombie sequel. The new movie titled George A. Romero’s Diary of the Dead will mix in “elements of The Blair Witch Project and the long-running Dead series, the film will follow a group of college students shooting a horror movie in the woods who stumble upon a real zombie uprising.

The article goes on to say that this movie will be independently produced, due to "George's frustration with the system." Personally, I can't help but wonder how much of the frustration was Universal's disappointment with Land of the Dead's weak showing.

REVIEW: Hollywood Station

2006-12-13T14:11:00.000-08:00

In reading “Hollywood Station” you’ll be struck by the dichotomy of young cops and old veterans and I can’t help but wonder if Wambaugh, writing his first novel in a decade, was feeling his age. Despite the lapse in time, Joseph is still the very best author to write in a genre he almost single-handedly created: the “police procedural.” I think it’s significant that the wisest, most senior officer in the station, the aptly named “Oracle” is just about the same age as Wambaugh himself. Coincidence? I think not!

The famed (or notorious) Wambaugh humor is here, wickedly pointed and this time with an overarching target: the Department of Justice consent decree that’s been monitoring LAPD’s every move for going on six years now.

New clichés and slang: “Rover” instead of “HT” or “Brick;” 999 key instead of call box key; dispatch via MDT (Mobile Data Terminal) vs. radio broadcast; and PSR (Public Service Representative – a sort of catch all job description used by dispatchers and, less often, civilian administrative workers).

This is a much different LA from Wambaugh's earlier novels. It’s a multicultural LA – no longer primarily Latino and African-American, but now includes everyone from Muslims to militant Gay activists and transgendered hookers. Store-front police sub-stations feature “… LAPD literature lying around in English, Spanish, Thai, Farsi, and other languages for the polyglot citizenry of the Los Angeles melting pot.” Like the old car commercial – this ain’t your dad’s PD.

The crime that provides the underlying theme for the story is little more than a excuse for weaving together the many gritty vignettes of cop's personal lives and the toll being a “peace officer” extracts in Hollywood, widely considered “the heart of Los Angeles.” I get the feeling that Wambaugh is doing more than presenting the challenges faced by LA’s current cops – he’s expressing his personal amazement that anyone could do this job, or would even want to.

The real villain, Wambaugh makes clear, is the DOJ consent decree that assumes the cops are guilty until proven innocent. Chafing under federal oversight, outraged cops complain that they get more grief from shooting a dog than a person. Wambaugh quotes statistics proving that cops are inventing white, male field interrogations rather than be accused of racial profiling. In other words: the consent decree, rather than increasing the honesty of the street cop, is making them into consistent (though not very convincing) liars. One character wails, “we should be lawyers; they get paid a lot more to lie.”

Wambaugh has a female Detective, Andi McCrea, offer what could be a scathing cop’s eye view of Rafael Perez, David Mack, Nino Durden, the Rampart Scandal and the Warren Commission. There follows withering criticism of LAPD police chiefs Willy Williams, Bernard Parks, and William Bratton though none are mentioned by name. I’m warning you now: this is raw, adult talk and not for the timid: Liberals, democrats, and some minorities are going to be offended. .

That Wambaugh believes that he’s accurately reflecting the view of the rank and file, there is no doubt. In interviews, Wambaugh tells how, without exception, no cop would talk to him unless he guaranteed that he would only take handwritten notes: no tape recorders. They’ve apparently learned the lesson of Mark Fuhrman that even years and years later, any casual comment can destroy a career.

Fans of Wambaugh will be thrilled: he’s honed his art to a razor’s edge and he wields it here with murderous skill. New readers may well be shocked by his frank depictions of the absolute worst that humanity can offer. Those of us who’ve driven a shop (in my day, they were called a “unit”) and worked the street will recognize friends, coworkers and situations.

All in all, this maybe the best of his novels. But be warned: if this were a movie it would earn a hard “R,” if not an “X,” rating for it’s violence, adult language and sexual situations.

Personally, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world!

It's the Holiday Hawk!

2006-12-02T19:28:00.000-08:00

You Know You're Getting Old....

2006-11-25T05:23:00.000-08:00

... when the hot rock bands of your youth are in negotiations to appear at ....

(drum roll, please)

... the Date Festival!

Cheap Trick coming to date festival

Erica Solvig
The Desert Sun

Cheap Trick is on tap to headline the 2007 Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival.

The band, which made its name in the late 1970s with hits like “I Want You to Want Me,” is being described by county officials as “a major headliner who will draw a very large audience to the fair.”

Riverside County supervisors are slated to vote on the idea and the band’s $76,250 contract on Tuesday. The meeting starts at 9 a.m. in Riverside.

The Date Festival runs Feb. 16 through Feb. 25 at the Riverside County Fairgrounds, 46-350 Arabia Street in Indio.

Last year's entertainment included Los Lobos and Carrot Top.

I wonder who I need to see to score some tickets?

Thanksgiving Thoughts

2006-11-24T05:22:00.000-08:00

I think what I really like best about Thanksgiving is just being at home with my family. A couple years ago someone coined the term, cocooning to describe what they saw as the "trend that sees individuals socializing less and retreating into their home more."

But this is hardly a new phenomenon - in fact, it's actually a Victorian ideal. I'm usually reading a dozen or so books at any one time and currently the list includes, Inside the Victorian Home: A Portrait of Domestic Life in Victorian England by Judith Flanders.

It was during the Victorian era that advances in technology and transportation made it possible (and even desirable) for people to work someplace other than the home. We take it for granted now, but 150 years ago you had to live where you worked. Think about it: the farmer (obviously) lived on his farm; the shopkeeper above his store. If you were in the lower classes, work often consisted of piecework, assembled in the home. With the rise of an increasingly affluent middle-class, it was now possible to remove your family from the dirt, crowds and crime of the city to the more bucolic environs of the country or suburbs. And we've been doing it ever since.

As I said, we take this for granted today - but in the Victorian era it was a new concept and became something of a mania for all but the poorest in the population. The separation of the public life from private living was described by Dickens' (Quoted in Inside the Victorian Home, pg 7):

The office is one thing, and private life is another. When I go into the office, I leave the Castle [his house in the suburbs] behind me, and when I come into the Castle, I leave the office behind me... "

On page 8:

Oh, how dull and dreary is the best society I fall into compared with the circle of my own Fire Side with my Love sitting opposite irradiating all around her, and my most extraordinary boy!

I think that describes my feelings pretty well. For how many of us is home and family a bulwark against all the pressures of work and the outside world? It's an incredible blessing and not everyone is lucky enough to have it.

So, on this Thanksgiving, that's what I'm thankful for.

Inside the Victorian Home is a fascinating look at the daily lives of middle-class Victorians and I highly recommend it. Once I've finished the book, I'll put a review up on Amazon; I can already tell you that it's earned five stars.

And now - some recipes:

Ricotta-Pineapple pie.

1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
15 oz. of Ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup of whipping cream
1 teaspoon of lemon zest
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Topping

20 oz. of crushed pineapple
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons of lemon juice.

This is a traditional Italian dessert. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Stir together sugar, cornstarch, ricotta, eggs, cream, lemon zest, and vanilla, mixing until you've got a smooth, creamy concoction. If you're a better cook than I am, you can make a graham cracker cookie crust, but I just buy one of the pre-made ones you can get anywhere.

Pour the your mixture into the prepared pie-crust and bake for 50 minutes or until the edges are starting to brown. Set to cool for at least an hour before putting on the topping.

To make the topping, completely drain the pineapple, saving a 1/2 cup of the juice. Stir together sugar, cornstarch, pineapple, and the pineapple and lemon juice. Stir over medium heat until it thickens, then spread over the pie. I'm just about the only person in my house that's likes pineapple, so this year I just topped with maraschino cherries. Whaddaya think, Court?

Chill at least one hour in the refrigerator before serving.

Pumpkin-Pecan Pie

Pumpkin Filling

1 cup cooked pumpkin purée
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg, beaten until frothy
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground allspice
Pinch of ground nutmeg

Combine all the ingredients thoroughly in a medium bowl; set aside.

Pecan Syrup

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
2 small eggs
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1 pinch ground cinnamon
3/4 cup pecan pieces

Combine all the ingredients thoroughly in a medium bowl; set aside.

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spoon the Pumpkin Filling into the pie shell, spreading evenly to distribute. Gently pour the Pecan Syrup on top. Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Apple Crumb Pie

9-inch pastry shell, unbaked, chilled
1 cup sifted flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup soft butter
6 cups peeled, sliced cooking apples
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Combine flour, brown sugar, salt, and butter; blend until crumbly then set aside. Combine apples, granulated sugar, and cinnamon; mix gently to coat apple slices. Pack apple mixture into chilled crust. Sprinkle crumb topping over apples. Bake in 375° oven until apples are tender, about 50 minutes.

Pumpkin Pie

1 1/4 cups pumpkin puree
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup evaporated milk, undiluted
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
9-inch pie crust, unbaked

In mixing bowl, combine pumpkin, sugar, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and flour. Add eggs; mix well. Add evaporated milk, water and vanilla; mix well. Pour pumpkin pie mixture into a 9-inch pastry lined pie pan. Preheat oven to 425°. Bake at 425° for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° and bake pumpkin pie for about 35 minutes longer, until pumpkin pie is set.

Cheesecake Cupcakes

2006-11-19T19:24:00.000-08:00

Getting ready for Thanksgiving can take a while and we usually try to get a head start by making anything that can be frozen ahead of time. Today's it's Cheesecake cupcakes.

This originally started by me doing what I usually do and making way too much of whatever I'm cooking (to be sure I "have enough.) The wine isn't necessary, but it's good for you! This is a pretty good (and reasonably priced) Haywood 2003 Vintner's Select Cabernet Sauvignon.

Ingredients
12 pieces of ready-to-bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C). Paper-line 12 muffin cups.
Place one piece of cookie dough in each muffin cup.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until cookie has spread to edge of cup.
Beat cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, egg and vanilla extract in a medium bowl until smooth. Pour about 3 tablespoons cream cheese mixture over each cookie in cup.
Bake for additional 15 to 18 minutes, or until set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.
Top with anything. In the past we've used white chocolate, strawberry or apricot jam, crushed pineapple and whipped topping.
Refrigerate for 1 hour.

REVIEW: "World War Z" - The PC Version of the End of the World

2006-11-19T08:35:00.000-08:00

Max Brooks has written a must-have history for Romero (or just Zombie) fans every where - World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. Unfortunately, while the story starts off strong, it soon dribbles into a series of disjointed and, occasionally, pointless vignettes.

It would be a difficult tale for anyone to carry, given the format that Brooks has chosen to use: a large number of first person accounts of the near take over of the world by the stumbling zombie hordes. There's no single narrative string for the audience to follow and no heroes with which the reader can identify. I found myself eventually becoming bored with the different ways that Max's characters described the zombies - there's only so many ways to say "undead."

To make up for the essential sameness of the story line in every individual short story, Max begins to increasingly rely on overblown rhetoric. For example, a chain-smoking military veteran, recovering in a psychiatric ward, breaks out of semi-literate street-slang to describe zombie heads popping like "Kristal corks." Far from being effectively descriptive, it becomes a distraction that made me start looking for more examples of excessive hyperbole.

I think the book would have held up better if, in addition to the large number of independent accounts, Max had found a way to weave a single unifying thread, giving his audience some one to root for and a reason to keep reading. A difficult, but not impossible task and Max Brooks appears to have the talent needed to pull such a task off; but the lack of heroes, or even characters most readers can identify with, makes this a book with no compelling reason to finish. You can stop on one page, flip at random through the book, start reading again and never feel like you've lost your place.

And speaking of heroes - this is really a minor complaint, but once you've figured it out it begins to annoy - Max's characters are all of a type: a PC type.

That is, such heroes as the various stories allow, are divided into sympathetic and non-sympathetic groupings. The sympathetic, most effective, characters are all minorities, women, or handicapped. The non-sympathetic, least effective, characters are all white and male. His bias goes so far that there's not a single heroic cop, survivalist NRA member, or even effective military unit. The president of the United States (sympathetic-minority) is contrasted against the vice-president (unsympathetic-white) by citing many instances of the great president's wise guidance, while the vice president is simply described as "the wacko."

I'm not saying that it's impossible for the world to be saved by any particular group. It's Max's book and he can take the tale where ever he wants. But it's so transparently obvious a bias that, once you figure it out, you find yourself mentally forecasting the characters entirely independently of their stories. It's a stretch and distracts from what could have been a more balanced (and more interesting) tale as a result.

All that said, I started out by saying that tome is a "must-have" for Romero loving Dead-heads like me and I stand by that statement. For all it's rambling plot and hyper-kinetic speech, it's still the best new installment in the zombie pantheon for many a day. I predict great success in it's admittedly limited demographic.

Pope Benedict XVI Talks a Good Game

2006-11-10T05:13:00.000-08:00

An editorial in the LA Times takes Cardinal Mahony to task for his continuing cover-up of clerical abuse cases. I love my church, but it's leadership is less inspiring. For me this is the money quote:

Addressing the subject of sexual abuse by Irish clergy late last month, Pope Benedict XVI said "it is important to establish the truth of what happened in the past" and to "ensure that the principles of justice are fully respected."

If Mahony is not persuaded by the victims and the public, perhaps, finally, he will listen to his boss.

Fat chance. Here's a thought - maybe instead of just talking, Pope Benedict could actually do something. Any other organization in the world that had this kind of management would have acted long before this. Mahony would have been fired. It's time he face his legal liabilities on his own dime, instead of the donations of the faithful.

And it's time that Pope Benedict stop allowing this kind of behavior.

Oh California, I Barely Knew You!

2006-11-09T12:14:00.000-08:00

On Victor Davis Hanson's blog he's written a post that perfectly describes what I love about California.

A frequently asked question: “How can you live in California with the political insanity?” And my usual answer, “I couldn’t live anywhere else.” This last week I stayed in the mountains at Huntington Lake (ca. 7,000 feet). It was bright blue, about 70 degrees, and the lake and forest absolutely deserted. I have traveled in the mountains of Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and the highlands of Greece and Turkey, and nothing is more beautiful than the Sierra corridor from Yosemite to Sequoia. It is almost a freak of nature—that in an hour you can drive straight up from the Valley floor and be in another world. Or on a clear day from up at Kaiser Pass see the Coast Range 100 miles away—and be in San Francisco or Santa Cruz after a four-hour drive.

One of the last things my 86-year-old grandfather told me—he lived in this house from 1890-1976 and had inherited it from his grandmother who built it in 1871—was “to thank God every day that we live in such a beautiful place.” He meant the vineyards between Fresno and Visalia, and the Central Coast where he had a tiny cabin at Morro Bay that he co-owned with 10 other farmers (he sold his share in the 1970s for $2,000). At 23 I thought that his adulation for his native state was parochial (In my conceit I was puffed up for having left the farm and lived a year in Greece and seen much of the Mediterranean), and also blinkered, since Rees Davis had only been to New Mexico once. But now I realize, as in most other things, he was right all along: the natural environment of California is an aberration, especially the 100-mile proximity of a long-coastline, Mediterranean hills, enormous interior valley, and high Andes-like mountains. Our state’s tragedy, of course, is that so often we have not lived up to what nature gave us, or at least what generations past bequeathed.

It is dangerous to be a laudator temporis acti I grant, but California between 1955 and 1970 was a magical place, full of can-do idealism about the UC system, and its new campuses at Irvine and Santa Cruz, the freeway systems like the new I-5 north-to-south route, and modern airports at LA and SF, the dams and hydoelectric grid, the part-time state Legislature, and the commitment to the melting pot.These days we can hardly add a third lane to a highway someone else built, and talk about blowing up dams not building them. LAX is a disaster; so is UC Merced. And what we used to invest in infrastructure, we now pay out in entitlements and then borrow for minimum maintenance on what our grandfathers created.

And the most disturbing fact? That such a lapse is no accident, but simply a collective reflection on my own generation. After all, when I compare my parents and grandparents–their hard work, self-sacrifice, courage, suffering, and investment for others-to the record of their own progeny (i.e., my generation of this 6th-generation California family), then sadly it all becomes clear. And I am sure other Californians can do the same: ponder their grandparents’ lives versus their own, and then, presto!, comprehend the fate of their state the last fifty years.

White House response to losing Congress: A Call for Amnesty for Illegal Aliens

2006-11-07T23:08:00.000-08:00

I generally don’t give a crap about federal elections as the two parties have so few differences between them that I often can’t tell the players apart without a program. However, the first words out of the White House on losing the house concerned a return to Bush’s amnesty proposal.

That’s ominous…

Republicans pull in the majority of Statewide Offices

2006-11-07T22:19:00.000-08:00

I’m surprised at how well Repub are doing - though I’m pleased with the results.

I don’t think it means any great swing in sentiment in my beloved land of fruits and nuts, though the propositions (and selections for statewide office) show a decidedly more conservative, or maybe moderate, turn.

I think that two factors are in work here; Arnold’s surprising long coattails and the Dem’s incredibly lame slate. Is there any Dem in the Golden State who wasn’t embarrassed by Cruz’s “I used to be fat - vote for me!” campaign? The Dem’s who did succeed were, for the most part, recycled liberals from a frankly more moderate Demo party of days gone by. Lockyer and Brown, as much as I hate to admit it, are staples of the California scene and have at least a nodding acquaintance with reality, something no Kos Kid ever possessed and, despite the Lamont slap-down, never seem to learn from their mistakes.

What’s that make Kos - 0 for 15?

It'll be interesting to read the postmortems tomorrow.

Fall Time Pumpkin Cake

2006-11-05T18:02:00.000-08:00

One of our fall traditions is cutting up the Jack-o-lantern and freezing the meat. Then we can use the frozen pumpkin all year, making pumpkin pies, muffins, etc. This is what really brings home the holiday spirit for me - the smell of baking.

To save your jack-o-lantern, we do the regular carving, just like everyone does, but we don't put a candle in it. Instead you can use one of the plastic glow sticks that can be purchased just about every where this time of year. This year, Jo Ann's Fabrics and Crafts had these small battery operated lights that flickered realistically and brightly.

After carving, we don't leave the pumpkin sitting around - that would just get it dirty and let it rot. Instead we keep it in the refrigerator between carving (which is the last weekend before Halloween) and Halloween night.

On Halloween night, it stays in our entryway - close enough to the door that people can see it, but far enough away that I don't have to worry about some wise ass smashing it or spitting in it, or what ever.

The next weekend we cut up the pumpkin into chunks big enough to roast. Put them on cookie sheet with a little water for steam and cover with aluminum foil. Then let it bake for about an hour-and-a-half at 350 degrees.

Once that's done, let the cooked pieces of pumpkin cool enough to be handled. Cut the meat (pulp?) off of the skin and put the pieces in a blender with a little water. Once you've got it blended, portion it out in freezable containers. Most recipes call for cups of pumpkin, so we keep the frozen portions to one cup each.

You'd be surprised at how much pumpkin this will produce. It's usually enough to get us through the holidays and then some.

One of the recipes we use the pumpkin for is a really good pumpkin cake. This recipe goes great with any holiday meal from Halloween all the way through New Years.

Fall Time Pumpkin Cake

1 package (8 & 1/4 oz.) yellow cake mix
3/4 cup sugar (we generally substitute Splenda and I've never had anyone complain).
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
1 cup of your homemade, frozen pumpkin
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 large eggs
Whipped topping or cream cheese frosting
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 X 13 inch baking pan. In a large bowl mix together the yellow cake mix, sugar, oil, pumpkin, water, cinnamon, and eggs. Mix until well blended, pour in cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Top with whipped topping if you chose not to frost with cream cheese frosting.

Serves 18 (or about the average size of a family Sunday at my house.)

The Thinking Man's Alternative to "Doonesbury"

2006-11-04T23:30:00.000-08:00

I gave up on Doonesbury years ago; what is it with self-appointed liberal hacks? If they achieve even a modicum of celebrity that entitles them to lectures us with the seriousness and tone of a '50's nun discussing birth control. And we have to take them seriously or, well, they'll, uh, they'll pout. Use harsh language. Or (usually) just go find an audience that strokes their ego and treats them like a reincarnation of Moses coming down from Sinai with a couple of stone tablets in hand.

At any rate, Gary Trudeau decided during the Reagan presidency to stop writing funnies and start quoting DNC talking points. And I stopped reading him. After all these years, there is finally a moderate alternative to Trudeau's wild-eyed liberalism and conspiracy theories.

That's Day-by-Day by Chris Muir. Check it out!

Back to the Future!

2006-10-10T04:57:00.000-07:00

A retro look at what should have been. Confused yet? Then you need to read Popular Mechanics February 1950 predictions on what life would be like in the year 2000!

HT: Ed Driscoll.com

Interview with Joseph Wambaugh

2006-10-09T04:57:00.000-07:00

Joe Wambaugh is one of my all-time, favorite authors. Out of circulation for many years, his first new book in more than 10 years, Hollywood Station, is due out next month. In this LA Times interview he discusses his motivations and methods. Here's just a sample:

And so I began interviewing police officers, 54 of them this time, over dinner and drinks, usually four at a time and segregated by gender so that women would feel freer to complain about male cops and vice versa. For fellow writers interested in my method, I can tell you that female officers are cheaper dates. It takes, on average, 2 1/2 drinks to get male cops talking freely. Women will unload after smelling the cork. And the women are not afraid to express powerful emotions, the stuff of storytelling.

Read the whole thing!

Mad Monster Party

2006-10-01T08:40:00.000-07:00

I've written a review of Mad Monster Party on Amazon. You can read it, and others, there!

The Great Living Room Remodel Commences!

2006-08-07T07:18:00.000-07:00

Well, like I threatened, Mary and I are finally getting around to remodeling our living room. As was the custom in our brand of '50's style ranch house, the living room/dining room was usually the biggest room in the house - and it is. The room's about 30X30, square, and has these great red oak floors that were covered by some really hideous industrial strength beige carpet sometime during the wall-to-wall carpeting craze of the '70's.

Like every project, the hardest part is getting ready for it. To do this right, we had to empty out the living room and that forced us to take a long hard look at the junk that builds up when you live in one place longer than a year and we threw out a bunch of junk - old toys, books, knick-knack's that no one could remember (or admit to) picking up, stuff like that. It doesn't sound like much, but it filled up the back of my Explorer on more than one trip.

Next was emptying the place - we've literally filled up our garage, deck and every room in the house with pieces of furniture. To open room in the garage I took a part this massive work bench I'd built a couple years ago (what was I thinking? If you just do minor woodworking or home repair you really don't need a huge bench - in fact one of those Black & Decker benchmate's works well and you can take it anywhere.)

That said, we finally got the room enptied out and the garage stuffed to the rafters. The picture above doesn't really show you just how awful the carpet was and I didn't set any of them up right - but they'll get better!

Baked Ziti with Italian Sausage!

2006-08-07T06:06:00.000-07:00

Vacation time - finally! Of course, vacation around here means two things: I'm gonna take the time to cook elaborate meals I'd never have the time for otherwise and we're going to be remodeling one room of the house. For the remodel, we're doing the living room/dining room and I'm already wondering how on earth we thought we'd finish this in a week!

So on to the recipe!

Today's recipe is baked ziti, a favorite around my house. This is one of those recipes that only take a while to put together because of all the chopping that needs to be done. If you can get someone to help you in the kitchen, then it's not so bad. All together, plan on at least an hour-and-a-half, closer to two.
This recipes is measured out to fill two 3 quart casserole dishes as it's enough trouble that we always make two - one to to eat now and one to freeze for later. If you're just gone make the one, cut everything in half.

Ingredients

3 lbs of Italian sausage with the casings removed
1 cup of diced onions
1 cup of diced celery
2 14.5 ounce cans of peels and diced tomatoes (Italian style if your store offers it)
2 15 ounce cans of tomato sauce
2 teaspoons of salt
3 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons of dried basil
2 teaspoons of mint
2 teaspoons of oregano
2 lbs of penne pasta
3 4.5 ounce cans of sliced mushrooms
1 lb of mozzarella cheese
1 cup of Parmesan cheese

Directions

In a skillet over medium heat, cook sausage with celery and onion until evenly browned; drain grease.
Combine tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, garlic, basil, mint, and oregano and bring to a simmer.
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil; add a little olive oil and salt. Cook pasta and drain.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In two quart casserole dishes, layer pasta, mushrooms, sausage, mozzarella cheese and sauce, repeat layer and top with Parmesan.
Bake for 50-55 minutes or until brown and bubbly.

We like to serve with salmon and a garden salad. If you're a wine buff, this goes well with a good zinfandel; if you're a looking for a suggestion, I recommend Magito's 2004 Zinfandel, which you can buy online!

Which Superhero Are You?

2006-06-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

Your results:
You are Iron Man

Iron Man		75%
Catwoman		75%
Spider-Man		70%
Superman		65%
Green Lantern		65%
Supergirl		55%
Hulk		55%
Wonder Woman		40%
The Flash		40%
Batman		40%
Robin		25%

Inventor. Businessman. Genius.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time

2006-05-27T05:45:00.000-07:00

PC World has an article detailing the 25 worst tech ideas and why they think they're so bad. I think it's funny that AOL is number 1! I've always said, friends don't let friends use AOL.

On their list, I've used #2 (RealPlayer), #4 (Microsoft Windows Millennium), #8 (Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 - which PC world describes as "the least secure software on the planet."), #13 (IBM PC jr.), and I'm still using #15 (Iomega Zip Drive)!

Microsoft to End Support for "Outdated" Operating Systems

2006-04-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

Microsoft has officially announced what has been discussed for years - all support for Windows 95, 98 and Millenium ends on July 11th, 2006.

These operating systems are so old as to qualify as viruses themselves, yet they are still a very large segment of the computing market, including many business and even government agencies.

If you're still using one of these dinosaurs, get yourself into the 21st century, pronto!

And You Think You've Got Problems...

2006-04-24T05:24:00.000-07:00

The Smoking Gun has obtained a copy of Denise Richard's deposition in her divorce case against Charlie Sheen and it reads like a Lifetime movie of the week. Drugs, gambling, prostitution and underaged gay porn - this was definately a marriage that had it all!

Is it all true? I dunno. Keep in mind that a deposition in this kind of proceding is an "all-or-nothing" proposition - it's designed to make Denise look like an angel (and she does!) and Charlie look like the worst kind of reprobate. So the truth is probably that he's got his vices, but no more than any spoiled, self-absorbed Hollywood-ite.

Another thing is that while listening to this morning's local news broadcast I heard one of the announcers state that Denise was accusing Charlie of engaging in kiddie porn. But if you actually read the deposition it doesn't say that - instead it says that the gay models "looked underage" to Denise. This is a far cry from actual KP (as it's called in cop circles) and, if true, is a very serious offense.

During different investigations I've come across gay sites that featured very young looking models; inevitably you'll find a statement in fine print that "all models are 18 years of age or older." There seems to be a large part of gay culture that is attracted to young boys with older men; you may remember the risable NAMBLA made headlines with it's "sex before 8 or it's too late" mottos years ago. But that's certainly not a vice or fetish restricted to the gay life-style. Go to any liquor store and look at the "adult" magazine rack. Inevitably you'll come across some "barely legal teen" publication that has the same disclaimers.

I only mention this because I consider the charge of possessing, distributing or just viewing KP to be so very serious. When I was a street cop in the '80's KP had been almost totally eliminated. Perv's had to travel to foreign countries to even look at the stuff and anyone caught bringing the stuff into the country was severly punished. Thanks to the internet, all that has, unfortunately, changed and KP forms a large part of many high-tech crime investigations. And though I can't prove it, I believe that the rise in child assault and murders (ala Samantha Runyun) is a result of the rise of this scourge.

It's a very sad comment on the times in which we live.

Too Good To Be True?

2006-04-11T04:19:00.000-07:00

One of the issues I'm constantly confronting is user education. Contacts I have with local law enforcement tell me that burglaries are at an all time low (it's just too much work to steal a 6 foot widescreen HDTV) while identity theft and internet fraud are at epidemic proportions.

So I was glad to find this website, Looks Too Good To Be True. It's sponsored by the United States Postal Service and offers a host of user-friendly and absolutely free training services. You don't even have to pay postage.

My favorites are the seven free DVD's they offer. You have to register to get them, but the price is right (did I mention, they're free?):

All the King's Men: Picking Up the Pieces
Fraud schemes victimize millions of Americans each year, leaving many financially devastated. There are laws to protect victims and services and support available to them. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service urges victims to learn more about their rights and services by ordering our free DVD. Remember, being a victim of a crime is nothing to be ashamed of. And neither is seeking help to recover from it.

Nowhere to Run: Cross-Border Fraud
The Internet and international phone calls make it easy for fraudsters to work from anywhere in the world. This film illustrates how U.S. Postal Inspectors created task forces with Canadian law enforcement partners to stop "long distance" scams.

Web of Deceit: Internet Fraud
Internet scams are like old wine in new bottles. Telemarketing and mail fraud scams are now coming to you from cyberspace. This DVD tells the story of a scammer who uses the Internet to victimize unsuspecting consumers around the world until he gets caught in his own web of deceit. The DVD also provides tips on what to watch out for when you do business on the Internet.

Long Shot: Foreign Lottery Scams
It's illegal to play foreign lotteries in the United States. But another reason not to play is that you are almost guaranteed to lose. And once you play, you can count on receiving more "chances" to play and lose. This free DVD tells the story of a foreign lottery fraud victim and the con artist behind the scam. Produced by High Noon Film and presented by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, it also provides tips on helping you avoid becoming a victim of this scam.

Work-at-Home Scams: They Just Don't Pay
Working at home has become attractive to many stay-at-home moms, college students, and retirees. While some jobs are legitimate, others just don't deliver on their promises. This free, short film tells the story of a new type of work-at-home scam and how a young mother gets caught up in it. It also provides tips on how you can avoid being duped by criminals and what to do if you've been victimized. This High Noon Film is presented by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Identity Crisis: Protect Your Identity
Identity fraud is the fastest-growing crime in America. With millions of victims and losses in the billions of dollars, it continues to be one of consumers' biggest fears. This free DVD tells the story of a couple whose credit is ruined and of the criminals who defrauded them. The DVD by High Noon Film, presented by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, also provides tips on how to protect yourself against identity fraud -- and what to do if you become a victim.

Delivering Justice: Dialing for Dollars
Telemarketing fraud costs Americans millions of dollars each year. And when it comes to phony investment "opportunities," older Americans are prime targets. This free, 15-minute DVD tells the story of such a scam and the lives that are ruined by criminals. The film provides tips on how to protect yourself from investment fraud and tells you what to do if you've been victimized. "Dialing for Dollars" is a High Noon film presented by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

The Torn-Up Credit Card Application

2006-03-22T13:10:00.000-08:00

This guy received a credit-card app in the mail, tore it up, taped it back together, changed the address, and used a cell-phone for a contact number on the card. Can you guess what happened?

That's right - in three weeks he got a shiny new Chase-MasterCard.

When you're done reading it, go buy the best cross-cut shredder you can find.

HT: Bettnet.com

Start your own Police Department!

2006-03-15T15:54:00.000-08:00

Apparently anyone who owns a taxi and a business license can create their own police department. From today's LA Times:

Sheriff's officials investigating the crash of a Ferrari in Malibu last month are asking how a small private transit company could create its own police department and allegedly hand out law enforcement identification to civilians, including the car's owner.

According to Yosef Maiwandi, it wasn't as difficult as you might think.

The San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority is a tiny, privately run organization that provides bus rides to disabled people and senior citizens. It operates out of an auto repair shop.

[...]

Maiwandi said he started the nonprofit organization after receiving a bus in a trade for several motorcycles.

It turns out that a loophole in the law allows transit companies in the United States to create their own police departments. It's not clear from the article in the times what law it is that permits this, but I'm assuming it's federal and dates back to the days when the railroad what passed for mass transit. I single out the railroads because back in my cop days I actually dealt with the Union-Pacific police department and by-and-large they were a pretty stand-up bunch. I particularly liked Maiwandi's justification:

He said he formed the San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority Police Department shortly afterward in part because he has long been interested in police work. He also found that having a police department allowed him to do background checks on potential volunteers more quickly and seek federal money for security on the buses.

Yeah, money for security, that's the ticket!

The Force.Net's Lightsaber Choreography Competition Winners

2006-03-14T20:56:00.000-08:00

These guys could teach Spielberg a thing or two!

The Redemptive Value of Suffering

2006-02-23T05:32:00.000-08:00

My grandmother recently passed away. She'd lived to an advanced age and was fighting her second bought with cancer. Some years earlier she'd fought off a case of lung cancer, but this latest fight was too much for her and she chose to meet her maker with dignity, at home and surrounded by her family.

It's easy to say, "She was ready to go" or "She lived a long life" and harder to accept the loss. While I cling to the faith that tells me I'll see her again in a world without pain, it's still difficult to accept that wasn't some easier way for this faithful servant to go home.

I have relatives (who were, frankly, closer to her than I was) who are beyond just struggling with acceptance and angry with God. I suppose at one time or the other, we all get angry at God and he indulges our arrogance the same way we humor a beloved (but spoiled) child. But leaving aside the conceit that we have some kind of right to tell God his business, what is the complaint? She lived a long life; she didn't live in poverty; she had a full life filled with family, friends and faith - in fact those three words pretty much describe and define Grandma.

The anger I've heard expressed is that she suffered in the end. Despite all our advances in medical science, it's just not possible to eliminate all pain. The doses of pain-killers we use just to control pain often leave the patient so out of it that they pretty much sleep away what's left of their life. And if the alternative is that they suffer pain, then what else is to be done? I think the issue is really that as a culture, a society, we've lost the concept of the redemptive value of suffering.

This is a very Catholic concept, today, but it used to be a very American one. The idea that life was hard and that there was virtue in endurance. The example of Christ's life as one of enduring incredible adversity in order to achieve an eternal reward wasn't just a religious concept, it was nearly a national moré. As we've become more successful, we've replaced this with a more hedonistic idea that not only should not face any suffering, it is our right to live a life that's completely adversity-free.

It's not just that this is unrealistic. In persisting in such a belief, we cheat ourselves by not mining the gold that come from the real experiences of life. The result of such a life used to be called character, but today would probably just be endurance.

I'm probably muddling this up more than I need to - Mother Angelica put it better:

Jesus came as man and, because He accepted the consequences of our fall and suffered as we all suffer, He elevated suffering, transformed it, gave it power, and considers the pain of each member of the human race His pain. So much so that when I alleviate the pain of my brother, or am compassionate with his life, Jesus considers this done to Him.

There was suffering, pain, hunger and thirst, before Redemption, and there is still suffering, pain, hunger and thirst after Redemption. Redemption gave me more than an exemption from pain: it gave me Jesus, grace, the Spirit, love, peace and joy. It raises me above pain.

God does not will that I suffer, just as He did not will that Adam and Eve sin. But since they sinned and I inherit the weaknesses that are a result of that sin, I do and always will have something to endure.

Christ's Redemption merited for me a participation in His Divine Nature as God through grace, and a participation in His sufferings as Man, through the Cross.

He came down from glory to my suffering level that I might rise from my misery to His Glory.

Read the whole article here.

Which Sci-Fi Crew Would You Best Fit In?

2006-02-23T05:17:00.000-08:00

You scored as SG-1 (Stargate). You are versatile and diverse in your thinking. You have an open mind to that which seems highly unlikely and accept it with a bit of humor. Now if only aliens would stop trying to take over your body.

SG-1 (Stargate)

88%

Enterprise D (Star Trek)

75%

Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix)

75%

Serenity (Firefly)

75%

FBI's X-Files Division (The X-Files)

69%

Babylon 5 (Babylon 5)

69%

Bebop (Cowboy Bebop)

63%

Millennium Falcon (Star Wars)

56%

Moya (Farscape)

56%

Galactica (Battlestar: Galactica)

56%

Deep Space Nine (Star Trek)

50%

Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda)

44%

Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile II: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in? (pics)
created with QuizFarm.com

My thoughts on Cheney's Hunting Accident

2006-02-16T05:39:00.000-08:00

Google Desktop Invades Privacy

2006-02-11T04:54:00.000-08:00

From the Electronic Frontier Foundation:

Google Copies Your Hard Drive - Government Smiles in Anticipation

Consumers Should Not Use New Google Desktop

San Francisco - Google today announced a new "feature" of its Google Desktop software that greatly increases the risk to consumer privacy. If a consumer chooses to use it, the new "Search Across Computers" feature will store copies of the user's Word documents, PDFs, spreadsheets and other text-based documents on Google's own servers, to enable searching from any one of the user's computers. EFF urges consumers not to use this feature, because it will make their personal data more vulnerable to subpoenas from the government and possibly private litigants, while providing a convenient one-stop-shop for hackers who've obtained a user's Google password.

"Coming on the heels of serious consumer concern about government snooping into Google's search logs, it's shocking that Google expects its users to now trust it with the contents of their personal computers," said EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. "If you use the Search Across Computers feature and don't configure Google Desktop very carefully—and most people won't—Google will have copies of your tax returns, love letters, business records, financial and medical files, and whatever other text-based documents the Desktop software can index. The government could then demand these personal files with only a subpoena rather than the search warrant it would need to seize the same things from your home or business, and in many cases you wouldn't even be notified in time to challenge it. Other litigants—your spouse, your business partners or rivals, whoever—could also try to cut out the middleman (you) and subpoena Google for your files."

The privacy problem arises because the Electronic Communication Privacy Act of 1986, or ECPA, gives only limited privacy protection to emails and other files that are stored with online service providers—much less privacy than the legal protections for the same information when it's on your computer at home. And even that lower level of legal protection could disappear if Google uses your data for marketing purposes. Google says it is not yet scanning the files it copies from your hard drive in order to serve targeted advertising, but it hasn't ruled out the possibility, and Google's current privacy policy appears to allow it.

"This Google product highlights a key privacy problem in the digital age," said Cindy Cohn, EFF's Legal Director. "Many Internet innovations involve storing personal files on a service provider's computer, but under outdated laws, consumers who want to use these new technologies have to surrender their privacy rights. If Google wants consumers to trust it to store copies of personal computer files, emails, search histories and chat logs, and still 'not be evil,' it should stand with EFF and demand that Congress update the privacy laws to better reflect life in the wired world."

For more on Google data collection, click here, here, here and here.

Want to know what your house is worth?

2006-02-09T10:06:00.000-08:00

Go to Zillow.com. It's kind of amazing what you can find out on the net these days. What was really amazing was how inflated SoCal real estate is...

Yet Another Reason to be Catholic

2006-01-27T03:35:00.000-08:00

Priest to bless Waco Hooters

Who says Catholic don't know how to party?

Linux/Unix Vulnerabilities Outnumber Microsoft Windows 3 To 1

2006-01-06T04:47:00.000-08:00

Geeks can usually discuss abortion, intelligent design or even the USC vs. Texas Rose Bowl Game (Sorry Trojan fans - it should have been a much bigger blowout. Texas kept making mistakes that helped USC) without resorting to personal attacks or drawing blood.

Discuss the relative security of Windows vs. Linux and you might as well walk into a room full of pitbulls wearing a meat suit.

Still, as someone who works in the industry, I see all of the alerts (I'm signed up for every security email list there is) and run all of the updates and I can assure you, I apply many, many more patches to my Fedora/Gentoo/FreeBSD boxes than I do the Microsoft boxes.

That said, decide for yourself - you can read the story here.

A New Year - A New Hallway!

2005-12-31T05:21:00.000-08:00

We never do anything special for New Years - just not interested in staying up late or drinking myself silly (er, any more).

Sometimes I'll listen to the scanner and the "shots fired" calls as they go out. Not that anyone is going to do anything about them; when I was a cop, we'd park under an overpass somewhere and wait for the gunfire to die down to normal levels and then proceed out to take the reports. Usually the next day would be busy with people finding bullet-holes in cars, patios, etc. Now that I'm a father I just worry about my family. When we lived in a two story house, we'd camp out on the first floor. It just felt more secure with both the roof and second floor between us and any stray bullets. Still, that was when we lived in Colton and the din of gunfire never wholly abated there - it just got more rhythmic on New Years.

We're re-doing our hallway (it's a typical 50's Ranch-style house with a hallway all of about 11 feet long) but we're getting daring and using THREE (gasp!) colors. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Due to an unfortunate plumbing accident, the carpet in the hall got soaked and soon had that old sweat-sock-smell that says something is dying a moldering death and not gracefully.

We pulled up the carpet and found that the hardwood floor underneath was actually in really good shape, it just hadn't been taken care of. We ended up stripping and refinishing the floor so that it looked good. Really good. So good that the rest of the hall looked even more drab than it did before!

So, we decided to paint and, never one to do anything half-way, I decided to hang both a chair rail and crown molding. The walls will be a pale beige on top of a slightly darker mocha that looks kinda like coffee with too much creamer in it. The molding we're going paint a kind of "old gold" look called "Aged Brass" at Lowes. It sounds gaudy, but it's gonna look great when it's done. I hope. I'll post some pictures on the blog when it's done.

At any rate, it's the kind of project that Mary and I both really enjoy and we've been having a great time cutting miter joints, picking out the crown molding (Hollywood Casing, thank you for asking) and putting new paint over old.

On reflection - maybe that is a pretty good metaphor for the New Year. Maybe we'll make it an instant tradition.

Christmas in California

2005-12-30T06:26:00.000-08:00

I really was going to blog this earlier, but just haven't been able to find the time until this morning. Busy, busy, busy...

This was the warmest Christmas I can ever remember. In SoCal we never (well, hardly ever) get a "white" Christmas, but this was just ridiculous. It was 85 by noon, though the house (being of the sturdy variety built in days gone by) never got any warmer than about 78. 78 is where we keep our air conditionining set. We opened up every door and window just to catch the breeze and air the house out and we all put on shorts and t-shirts! It felt like summer, definately not winter!

That's getting ready to change of course; as we speak a whole series of Pacific storms are stacking up west of us and they're saying it may rain on the Rose Parade for the first time in 65 years.

We always spend way too much on Christmas, but this year we may never recover. It just seems like everything the kids needed (or just wanted) was big ticket items - computers, routers, firewall, table saw, nail gun, compressor.... And that was just for me!

Seriously we, had a really good time - even though the kids are way beyond the point where any of them believe in Santa Claus; Christina still humors her dad, but she's gotten really good at dropping little hints like, "Dad do you think that Santa will bring me a Solid-Gold Barbie?" Or whatever it is she wants. And do you know what? That jolly old elf manages to deliver as advertised. I worry about her when she gets older.

Critical Microsoft Flaw Being Exploited by Spammers/Hackers

2005-12-30T06:05:00.000-08:00

Hackers have created a range of Trojan programs which exploit a dangerous new Windows Meta File vulnerability. The vulnerability is rated critical, and so far, no patch has been issued.

The WMF vulnerability exists in fully patch computers running Microsoft Windows XP with SP1 and SP2, even systems running the latest in anti-virus protection. The security flaw is being exploited by inducing victims to view maliciously constructed sites, particularly where IE is used as a browser, or when previewing *.wmf format files with Windows Explorer.

Symantec said the exploit is designed to download and run a program from the Web that downloads several malicious files, including tools that attackers could use to control vulnerable computers via Internet relay chat (IRC) channels.

The exploit code, first posted on security mailing list Bugtraq, states that the included Internet address can successfully exploit a fully patched Windows XP system with a freshly updated [Symantec] Norton Anti-Virus. Symantec said it has verified that the exploit works on fully-patched Windows XP systems, and that updates that would allow its anti-virus program to detect threats trying to exploit the new flaw would be released as soon as possible, though it noted that "some of the components of this attack, including the exploit itself, are NOT detected by Symantec products."

According to an overnight post at the SANS Internet Storm Center, the link provided at Bugtraq when clicked on successfully drops a Trojan horse program onto fully patched Windows XP SP2 machines (other Windows versions may also be affected.) The Trojan will then download a fake anti-spyware/virus program which asks user to purchase a registered version of software in order to remove threats it claims are resident on the user's machine.

Several security groups are reporting that it is extremely easy to get whacked by this vulnerability/exploit just by visiting one of a growing number of malicious Web sites that are now employing this attack. F-Secure's blog post on this indicates that -- because the vulnerability lies in the way Windows parses WMF image files -- Firefox and Opera users also can get infected -- although they at least have to agree to download and run a file first. The Sunbelt Blog also has some good information on this exploit, including some nice screenshots of what it looks like when your machine gets hit with this.

Windows users can disable the rendering of WMF files using the following hack:

1. Click on the Start button on the taskbar.
2. Click on Run...
3. Type "regsvr32 /u shimgvw.dll" to disable.
4. Click ok when the change dialog appears.

To undo this change, re-register Shimgvw.dll by following the above steps. Replace the text in Step 1 with “regsvr32 %windir%\system32\shimgvw.dll” (without the quotation marks).

Thanksgiving in California

2005-11-25T05:52:00.000-08:00

The weather was SoCal beautiful for Thanksgiving - all month it's felt more like June than November. We don't get much in the way of winter in Southern California (mostly wind) but so far this year we haven't gotten anything. Sunny and warm - I don't think it got hotter than about 73 all day long. In fact, I even took the kids to the park and they chased butterflies around.

Thanksgiving is dinner in my family and we end up cooking all day, which makes for a very relaxing day. I always like to make something special and this year, in addition to smoking a ham, I made an Italian favorite, Ricotta-Pineapple pie. This is something like a cheese-cake, but richer and not nearly as sweet:

1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
15 oz. of Ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup of whipping cream
1 teaspoon of lemon zest
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Topping

20 oz. of crushed pineapple
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons of lemon juice.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Stir together sugar, cornstarch, ricotta, eggs, cream, lemon zest, and vanilla, mixing until you've got a smooth, creamy concoction. If you're a better cook than I am, you can make a graham cracker cookie crust, but I just buy one of the pre-made ones you can get anywhere.

Pour the your mixture into the prepared pie-crust and bake for 50 minutes or until the edges are starting to brown. Set to cool for at least an hour before putting on the topping.

To make the topping, completely drain the pineapple, saving a 1/2 cup of the juice. Stir together sugar, cornstarch, pineapple, and the pineapple and lemon juice. Stir over medium heat until it thickens, then spread over the pie.

Chill at least one hour in the refrigerator before serving.

Forget buying the latest iPod!

2005-11-21T08:46:00.000-08:00

Check out this really interesting story from Popular Science, "The 11-Year Quest to Create Disappearing Colored Bubbles." Sometimes it's the simple things that get ya jazzed!

Sony Update

2005-11-20T05:06:00.000-08:00

A friend recently wrote me askng about the Sony rootkit woes and I sent the following reply:

[Where I work] I've programmed our firewall to watch for anything that resembles the phone-home info. We're seriously considering banning all audio CD's from any worksite, which, before this, would have sounded stupid but is now is wildly supported! I think Sony is only now, weeks after Mark broke the story, beginning to realize what a shit-storm they're in. The repercussions for the company are going to be very serious, which is a shame because I'm big fan of Sony's electronics, if not their business practices.

RIAA's obsession with preventing people from moving their own property around has risen to a point where, in an individual, it would look like insanity. One of the goals of the DRM was to prevent people who'd bought the CD's from listening to them on an iPod. (Incidentally, iPod's destroyed Sony's walkman as the portable player of choice, which I think may have been a motivating factor in all of this.) If these had been LP's it would be like a program that seeks to keep you from recording the music to cassette tape for car-play. That's just nuts. And it was ineffective. Linux users are still the biggest segment of the high-tech population that record and swap files and the XCP program was completely ineffective in that regard.

If anything, this episode will drive slightly-more technically sophisticated users (the users who would have been inclined to rip Sony music and post it on the net anyway) to avoid even occasionally buying commercial CD's - it's just too dangerous.

Right or wrong, this program could only target the audience least likely to get their music except through purchasing commercial CD's. Corporate users are generally not operating at the root level and couldn't have installed the rootkit if they wanted to. Sophisticated users could bypass the RK entirely and did. For example, working with [a major anti-virus company] I found that of the 52 titles that Sony admits to having been encoded with this Aries, all of the most popular ones were available on pirate servers in MP3 format, free of XCP code, within hours of release.

Other things to consider is the implicit collusion of Microsoft and A/V vendors in this. MS doesn't have a problem with intrusive DRM programs, hell, it's going to be a core part of Vista. They just don't like other people rewriting the kernel with DRM that doesn't pay a royalty to Bill Gates. According to techie insiders I've talked to, some major anti-virus vendors knew about this program and even worked with XCP in concealing it in as much as it wasn't reported to users as being dangerous. That worries me. There's a mindset that says these kinds of actions, which would certainly be considered crimes if committed by a group of Ukrainian teenagers, is okay when its done by a rich multinational corporation.

Finally, I think the concerns about the CD's already in circulation being some kind of ongoing hazard are over blown. I have a canary machine that I put into the external internet every now and then just to see how quickly it gets infected by something. The time averages between 5 and 20 minutes. Such old threats as Sasser and even Code Red are still floating around the web and unpatched machines will get hit fairly quickly. Patched machines don't even see these viruses and so the vast majority of users assume that these viruses have died out. They haven't; people are just protected against them. Eventually the same will be true of this particular version of XCP software; Microsoft has announced that their malicious software removal tool will detect and remove this pest and, eventually, the kernel will be hardened against this threat. In the meantime, someone, somewhere, is concocting a completely novel attack that will surprise everyone - until it's patched against and we go back to waiting for the next thing. And on and on it will go.

So I'm watching two things - Sony's Sunn Comm media, which is as bad as XCP, just not as well known and the progress of the various lawsuits. I'm not sophisticated enough to watch the stock market, but I've asked my cousin (who's a financial planner and manages what few investments I have) to let me know if any of this turns into an economic down-turn for Sony. So far it hasn't.

Important sites related to the Sony rootkit mess:

Sony Audio CD's Hack Your Computer

2005-11-11T06:56:00.000-08:00

I've hesitated to blog about this topic; first, because it's still evolving and, second, because it can get a little technical. But I've decided to boil it down as best I can.

Since at least April, 2004, Sony CD's have had copy-protection software installed on them. The ostensible purpose of this software was to prevent people from making copies of these CD's and uploading them to file sharing programs like Limeshare, Grokster, and others. So far, so good. I don't think anyone is going to argue that Sony doesn't have some vested interested in protecting it's intellectual property. The problem is the way that it's been implemented.

The software that Sony used is from a company called First 4 Internet (I'm not including any links to this company or even Sony; as will become obvious as you read more, both of these companies have engaged in some highly unethical actions - I don't even trust browsing their websites.)

First 4 Internet makes a product called XCP copy protection. This program uses what we in the industry call "rootkits." Rootkit is a generic term for programs most commonly used by hackers to hide the fact that they've broken into your machine.

F4I uses their rootkit to hide the $sys$aries driver that's Sony's CD installs on your computer. This is what controls how many copies you can make of the CD you bought. The reason for hiding the $sys$aries (and related) drivers is to prevent you from uninstalling their software. Ever. So you can look at directories, run REGEDIT, even scan for it with your anti-virus program - it won't be found. It's hidden.

Well, so what? you may ask. The problem with this software is that any low-level hacker anywhere in the world can name their virus $sys$ whatever and it's hidden. It can't be found and, since it can't be found, it can't be removed.

Here in the IT security world, we've been howling about this for a week. Primarily because we view it as unethical, but also because of the inherent security risks associated with this dangerous program. And now virus writers have taken advantage of this software and are releasing viruses that use Sony's root kit to hide from your anti-virus program. Security pros have identified at least three that use this crap to hide from your anti-virus program and if we can see three, then there's at least ten times the number in the wild - we just haven't found them yet.

You can read about them at:

Trojans exploit Sony's copy-protection software

Computer worm exploits software on Sony's CDs

Viruses exploit Sony CD copy-protection scheme

Even when this software is working perfectly normally, it's dangerous. Reasearch has shown that this program tracks what CD's your listening to, what type of operating system you have, what browser your using and other info. This is stealthily reported back to Sony. The software is virtually impossible to uninstall. User's who've attempted to manually remove the software have lost all use of their CD drives - the drives disappear and Windows can't find it. Other users have had their machines crash and found it impossible to boot them back up again.

For more info on this dangerous software, see:

Sony Ships Sneaky DRM Software

Sony CD protection sparks spyware row

Is SonyBMG spreading malware?

Sony CD protection sparks spyware row

If you're a geek and want the ugly, technical details, read:

Sony, Rootkits and Digital Rights Management Gone Too Far

More on Sony: Dangerous Decloaking Patch, EULAs and Phoning Home

Sony: You don’t reeeeaaaally want to uninstall, do you?

Sony has argued that by accepting their "EULA" (End User Licence Agreement) you're agreeing to all this intrusive BS. The Electronic Freedom Foundation has analyzed Sony's EULA and you'd be surprised what your agreeing to by installing this Spyware:

If your house gets burgled, you have to delete all your music from your laptop when you get home. That's because the EULA says that your rights to any copies terminate as soon as you no longer possess the original CD.
You can't keep your music on any computers at work. The EULA only gives you the right to put copies on a "personal home computer system owned by you."
If you move out of the country, you have to delete all your music. The EULA specifically forbids "export" outside the country where you reside.
You must install any and all updates, or else lose the music on your computer. The EULA immediately terminates if you fail to install any update. No more holding out on those hobble-ware downgrades masquerading as updates.
Sony-BMG can install and use backdoors in the copy protection software or media player to "enforce their rights" against you, at any time, without notice. And Sony-BMG disclaims any liability if this "self help" crashes your computer, exposes you to security risks, or any other harm.
The EULA says Sony-BMG will never be liable to you for more than $5.00. That's right, no matter what happens, you can't even get back what you paid for the CD.
If you file for bankruptcy, you have to delete all the music on your computer. Seriously.
You have no right to transfer the music on your computer. Even if you own the original CD.
Forget about using the music as a soundtrack for your latest family photo slideshow, or mash-ups, or sampling. The EULA forbids changing, altering, or make derivative works from the music on your computer.

The bottomline is to avoid this software at all costs. I'm a huge fan of Sony electronics, but I couldn't be more worried about their audio CD's. This stuff is dangerous and, with the hundreds of thousands of these CD's already in circulation, it's going to continue to be dangerous for many years. A search of Amazon's website reveals more than 24,000 CD's identified as being from Sony and having copy protected software loaded on them. For a sample, read the user ratings of Van Zant's "Get Right with the Man." I feel sorry for any artist associated with this mess.

Well, there's more, but that's enough for now. Read the links I've listed above and make up your own minds. Personally, I'm still going to buy Sony's electronic products, which are excellent - but I'm definately going to avoid any Sony audio cd's for a long, long, long, long, time.

Happy Halloween!

2005-10-29T17:58:00.000-07:00

My favorite holiday of the year! For what it's worth - I took this with all natural light on a Sony CyberShot. A really excellent, inexpensive digital.

And, with the exception of the bubbling caudron, that really is my den. And it looks like this all the time...

Petition for the Withdrawal of the Nomination of Harriet Miers

2005-10-13T06:15:00.000-07:00

David Frum has put together a petition asking that the nomination of Harriet Miers be withdrawn. The petition makes it look like you have to be a lawyer to sign it, but anyone can. It does ask for name, phone number and email address.

More on Hurricane Harriet

2005-10-13T04:51:00.000-07:00

It's becoming increasingly obvious to everyone (except, perhaps, the President) that's he's single-handedly managed to do more damage to the conservative movement and the Republican party than any Democrat could ever have dreamed of.

John Fund details how the vetting process failed and also reports on threats from the White House directed at some prominent Texas conservatives:

Not only did the vetting fail to anticipate skepticism about her lack of experience in constitutional law or the firestorm of criticism from conservatives, but it left the White House scrambling to provide reporters with even the most basic information about the closed-mouthed nominee. Almost every news story seemed to catch the White House off guard and unprepared.

The skepticism is not abating. Back home, the Liberty Legal Institute, the only conservative legal foundation in Texas, has declined to endorse her. Several large GOP donors in Texas have met to discuss spending large sums to run ads calling on Ms. Miers to withdraw. "They include both male and female friends of hers who don't think the confirmation process will be good for her or the country," one told me. "They're not sexists, they're realists." This even though the White House has ominously put out the word in Texas: "If you oppose this nomination, you oppose the president." Everyone knows what the political ramifications of that can mean in the world of George W. Bush and Karl Rove.

You can read the whole article here.

Meanwhile, Ann Coulter addresses the charges of "sexism" in the Miers nomination:

Between cooking segments on the "Today" show this week, Laura rolled out the straw man – sorry, "straw person" – argument that the criticism of Miers was rooted in "sexism" (which is such a chick thing to say).

I'm a gyno-American, and I strenuously object.

In the meantime Professor Bainbridge has linked to new book, "Imposter: How George Bush Bankrupted America an d Betrayed the Reagan Legacy." He gives a quote:

Though widely viewed asan arch conservative in the major media, Bruce Bartlett increasingly finds himself alienated from the president of his party. Bush's policies, he warns, have been anything but conservative.

Bartlett faults Bush for moving away from free trade, adopting Keynesian economic theories, increasing government regulation and doing an extremely poor job of developing and selling conservative initiatives, such as Social Security reform. As such, George W. Bush, he says, has been a disaster for conservatism. Criticism of Bush from the right has largely been confined to fringe elements outside the mainstream of the conservative movement. Bartlett is the first from within the conservative mainstream to make the case that Bush is not "one of us" and does not deserve conservatives' support. As the next presidential election looms, Bartlett warns, a new standard bearer must be found who will correct the many errors of this administration and get America's fiscal house in order.

Just in time for the 2006 elections. In the meantime, the ever artful Peggy Noonan has this to say:

Can this marriage be saved? George W. Bush feels dissed and unappreciated: How could you not back me? Conservatives feel dissed and unappreciated: How could you attack me? Both sides are toe to toe. One senses that the critics will gain, as they've been gaining, and that the White House is on the losing side. If the administration had a compelling rationale for Harriet Miers's nomination, they would have made it. Simply going at their critics was not only destructive, it signaled an emptiness in their arsenal. If they had a case they'd have made it. "You're a sexist snob" isn't a case; it's an insult, one that manages in this case to be both startling and boring.

Patrick Buchanon also detects sexism in the nomination of Harriet Miers:

Indeed, if one defines "sexism" as denying consideration for high office of all members of one gender, regardless of ability, or a conscious favoritism rooted in gender alone, it is President Bush and the first lady who are guilty of sexism in the nomination of Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court.

For we have it on the word of Dr. James Dobson that, in filling this decisive swing seat on the Supreme Court, President Bush, at the prodding of his wife, eliminated from consideration every male lawyer in the United States -- and more than 80 percent of all U.S. district and appellate court judges -- solely because of his gender.

Meanwhile, Ryan Sager accurately describes White House Spokesman Hugh Hewitt:

No one serious (and perhaps no one at all) is making the case that Miers is "qualified," in any conventional sense of the word, to serve on the Supreme Court. Instead, some are making the case that Miers is Bush's pick and that should be good enough for conservatives; or, at least, that trying to derail her will only hurt the president and the party.

...

In the current conservative crisis, there are going to be a lot of pragmatists running around yelling that everything is fine - in large part because that's what's easy and expedient. But it seems unlikely that they will be able to stifle debate. Conservatives were hungry for power in 2000, after eight years of Clinton, and ready to unite behind anyone who looked like a winner. Debates about the meaning of conservatism could wait until another day. Not so this time around.

This gets more discouraging by the day.

Thank You, You Motherthanker

2005-10-10T04:29:00.000-07:00

Patterico put's his finger on conservative outrage over the Meier's nomination:

Conservatives, we’re about to be “thanked” by the White House for helping Bush to win the election. Trouble is, I’m not sure what the word “thank” means anymore, after reading how they’re planning to “thank” us

Read the whole thing.

Meanwhile, Hugh Hewitt brags about placing party above principle.

John Fund, originally a supporter of the "give her a chance to defend herself in the hearings" crowd has changed his mind:

I have changed my mind about Harriet Miers. Last Thursday, I wrote in OpinionJournal's Political Diary that "while skepticism of Ms. Miers is justified, the time is fast approaching when such expressions should be muted until the Senate hearings begin. At that point, Ms. Miers will finally be able to speak for herself."

But that was before I interviewed more than a dozen of her friends and colleagues along with political players in Texas. I came away convinced that questions about Ms. Miers should be raised now--and loudly--because she has spent her entire life avoiding giving a clear picture of herself. "She is unrevealing to the point that it's an obsession," says one of her close colleagues at her law firm.

Ann Coulter, in her usual colorful way, cuts to the chase:

To casually spurn the people who have been taking slings and arrows all these years and instead reward the former commissioner of the Texas Lottery with a Supreme Court appointment is like pinning a medal of honor on some flunky paper-pusher with a desk job at the Pentagon — or on John Kerry — while ignoring your infantrymen doing the fighting and dying.

Mr. President - it's not too late to save your party and what's left of your presidency! Withdraw this nominee!

Maybe there's Hope After All

2005-10-05T12:50:00.000-07:00

The Volokh Conspiracy posts a response to George Will's withering critique of the Miers appointment:

George Will’s column on Harriet Miers and the President is both unfair and sloppy. He begins by suggesting that the President is uninterested and incapable of making sophisticated judgments about the Court and judicial philosophies. This charge is patently unfair. The President picked John Roberts, and has a stellar first term record of selecting conservative judges for the appellate bench. There hasn’t been a liberal in the bunch with the exception of Roger Gregory and Barrington Parker, both of whom the President obviously nominated as part of an early political compromise that got Roberts and others on the circuit bench. This is a man who almost lost the Presidency because of the liberal activism of the Florida Supreme Court. He understands full well the power of the Court and has been serious about his appointments in the past.

Read the whole thing.

Frankly, this is reassuring to me - I'm not ready for the leader of the free world to have fumbled such an obvious opportunity to change the direction of the Supreme Court. Move me into the "Disappointed, but still hopeful" camp.

That said, Hugh Hewitt is still a republican party shill.

Harriet, Who?

2005-10-05T04:47:00.000-07:00

I'm mystified by Bush's selection of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court. I think my complaint, like so many on the right, is two-fold. First, Republican presidents have horrible track records when they get too cute and try to nominate "stealth" candidates, viz. David Souter. They promise conservatives and we get liberals.

Second, with so many top notch conservative talents out there, W bypasses all of them and nominates his personal lawyer? I don't think it speaks well of the president. Look, Dick Cheney was head of the team put together to pick his vice-president and, surprise, the best candidate was Dick Cheney. Harriet Miers was head of the team to find and vet Supreme Court nominees and you know the rest...

A third, minor point: If Harriet had been Harry Miers, he wouldn't have been considered. We live in the age of affirmative action, like it or not, and if George hadn't picked a woman, any woman, the media and dems would be having a field day. But for pete's sake - what was wrong with Janice Rogers Brown?

George Will nails Bush:

The president's "argument" for her amounts to: Trust me. There is no reason to, for several reasons.

He has neither the inclination nor the ability to make sophisticated judgments about competing approaches to construing the Constitution. Few presidents acquire such abilities in the course of their pre-presidential careers, and this president particularly is not disposed to such reflections.

Furthermore, there is no reason to believe that Miers's nomination resulted from the president's careful consultation with people capable of such judgments. If 100 such people had been asked to list 100 individuals who have given evidence of the reflectiveness and excellence requisite in a justice, Miers's name probably would not have appeared in any of the 10,000 places on those lists.

In addition, the president has forfeited his right to be trusted as a custodian of the Constitution. The forfeiture occurred March 27, 2002, when, in a private act betokening an uneasy conscience, he signed the McCain-Feingold law expanding government regulation of the timing, quantity and content of political speech. The day before the 2000 Iowa caucuses he was asked -- to ensure a considered response from him, he had been told in advance that he would be asked -- whether McCain-Feingold's core purposes are unconstitutional. He unhesitatingly said, "I agree." Asked if he thought presidents have a duty, pursuant to their oath to defend the Constitution, to make an independent judgment about the constitutionality of bills and to veto those he thinks unconstitutional, he briskly said, "I do."

Pat Buchanon (contrary to appearances, I'm not a huge Pat fan) sums up a lot of the disappointment on the right in a commentary on RealClearPolitics.com:

What is depressing here is not what the nomination tells us of her, but what it tells us of the president who appointed her. For in selecting her, Bush capitulated to the diversity-mongers, used a critical Supreme Court seat to reward a crony and revealed that he lacks the desire to engage the Senate in fierce combat to carry out his now-suspect commitment to remake the court in the image of Scalia and Thomas. In picking her, Bush ran from a fight. The conservative movement has been had -- and not for the first time by a president by the name of Bush.

My feelings are that the Republicans believe that conservatives have no place else to go. We have to support this nominee and we don't like it, tough. But it was the conservative base that delivered the presidency, house and senate to the Republicans and we do have someplace to go.

We can sit out the next election (our votes don't really buy us anything, so what the hell) and the Republicans can watch their majority status go away. The last time a Bush betrayed the conservative movement ("read my lips: no new taxes") he lost the White House. This time his legacy will be to lose the Senate and, maybe, the House.

But, like Dennis Miller used to say, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

A Priest Looks at Emily Rose

2005-10-01T00:35:00.000-07:00

A Priest I know and trust writes a fairly positive review of The Exorcism of Emily Rose:

The Catholic Faith does not suffer in Emily Rose. In fact, it fares well enough for a score of eight. Unlike so much superficial religiosity that comes out of Hollywood, this movie was not an attempt to pummel religion in general or the Catholic Faith in particular. The elements of our belief system were not distorted or glossed over, but rather explained accurately when necessary for understanding some part of the message. For example, the priest in the movie, Fr. Richard Moore, gave a rudimentary explanation of the ritual of exorcism of the Church in a way that took out the spooky mysticism of this ancient rite and that must have been enlightening to Catholics and non-believers alike.

Characters in the movie actually mention the name of Jesus Christ numerous times. How often does that happen in Hollywood? The Virgin Mary had a powerful active presence in the life of the possessed woman, Emily Rose. Instead of the caricature of a kooky religion that we have seen time and time again from Hollywood, Catholic churches, rituals, artifacts, religious articles and most importantly, the simple faith of Emily’s family, were treated with reverence and mature insight.

You can read the whole thing by clicking here.