Random
catdynamics | November 6, 2007Keith Olbermann made a comment on the night of the 5th of November
Apparently a DoJ lawyer conducted an experiment...
Apparently an acting assistant attorney general, Daniel Levin, decided to see what "waterboarding" was like as an interrogation technique.
He concluded it was indeed torture, wrote a memo to that effect, and was fired.
Keith is rather heated about the issue, and rightly so.
Unfortunately I fell asleep, but the intertubes have it
Crooks and Liars video archive and transcript
Nothing really to add to that.
Sometime we link because it is a good thing
catdynamics | November 5, 2007the US navy is all out this week
when listening to heated rhetoric from DC, it is interesting to keep half an eye on what is actually happening on the ground.
US doctrine calls for an ability to strike any where on the globe within 24 hours, a time they'd like to shorten to one hour (for non-nuclear strikes), but realistically for any sustained effort against a national power, the US need to move assets into place weeks or days before anything can happen.
It is also effectively US doctrine to attack first at night, and near or just after the new moon, because that maximises the advantages of…
catdynamics | November 5, 2007Congress has been holding possible contempt citations over some current and ex-White House officials, and a of people have been wondering if the House is going to let executive staff refuse to respond to subpoena issued by oversight committees
Such contempt is usually referred to the local US Attorney, who then refers it to a court and the process goes from there.
But through some extraordinarily creative lawyering, the Department of Justice has indicated they will refuse to enforce contempt citations, on the grounds that a DoJ official wrote an opinion for the White House that executive…
catdynamics | November 2, 2007it is a gorgeous autumnal friday, the leaves are red as blood and the crisp sun shines through the early morning frost
so, we ask the Mighty iPod - we're all at sea - what should be our plan for the next six months or so?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
The Covering: Ashes to Ashes - Bowie
The Crossing: I Hate Nerys Hughes - Half Man Half Biscuit
The Crown: Drops of Jupiter - Train
The Root: Carnival of the Animals: Finale
The Past: I Shall Believe - Sheryl Crow
The Future: Little Deuce Coupe - Beach Boys
The Questioner: The Hen
The House: Two and Two - Jesus Jones
The Inside: Zap Pow…
catdynamics | October 29, 2007li'l news items of note:
a local paper is reporting two east coast carrier wings are exercising night time landings for imminent deployments - that'd have to be the USS Truman and the USS Washington? or possibly USS Eisenhower??
I don't know where two of them would be going. One yes, the other should stay in reserve. And, why the emphasis on night time operations?
The Enterprise is in the Gulf and the Kitty Hawk is off Japan on fall deployment, but that still doesn't add up. Enterprise is not due to be replaced till the new year.
I suppose they could be sending a second east coast carrier…
catdynamics | October 29, 2007for just the third time this season I caught the end of a Penn State football team on television, and they lost, again
it is almost as if I were jinxing them
good thing we don't believe in jinxes
one of the eternal complaints of the fans is that Penn State play calling is not imaginative enough - they should try the "Trinity Lateral"
Note the score just before the end on the bottom scroll bar.
Think JoePa will go for it?
catdynamics | October 26, 2007It is a rainy, autumnal friday, and many things are in mind.
So, oh Mighty iPod One. What lies in store for us in the next year?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
The Covering: Slippery People - Talking Heads
The Crossing: Something About Alligators - Twin Sisters
The Crown: Christmas in Heaven - Monty Python
The Root: Which Side Are You On? - Billy Bragg
The Past: Restless Legs - Half Man Half Biscuit
The Future: Scenes From Childhood: Entreating Child
The Questioner: Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen - Mozart
The House: Paradise Lost (You're The Reason Why)- Half Man Half Biscuit
The Inside:…
catdynamics | October 25, 2007LOLcat Bible: official translation wiki
Say no more.
h/t kos
a start
From Not A BlogTM
With CafePress T-shirts an'all.
catdynamics | October 25, 2007From Chad, statements typed into Google which return this blog as the top hit
Skyr Food for Fighting
So You Want to Be an Astrophysicist
WMAP for dummies
King of Tambora
Bird 'flu for theorists
ok, three of these are for ye olde blogge on catdynamics.blogspot.com, but that's just 'cause I haven't updated the "highlights" link for a long time and couldn't be bothered to search a lot
Other hits include: "strange but true pulsars" and "planet around a white dwarf" and of course "iPod iChing" (sorry Sean)
catdynamics | October 23, 2007One of the minor joys in life is to pick a sporty-ish car out of the executive-elite-super-premium-platinum line at the car rental at LAX and hit the three-level exchange in downtown LA with KROQ on heading for Pasadena, as long as it is not the rush hour or two
so, how many years did it take for me to click, that of course KROQ is live streamed on the intertubes...?
If it hadn't been for the SoCal fires I'd never have thunk to look.
I mean, who can resist the truly inane fire situation commentary inbetween the mix of old alt-rock and contemporaty lite-pop?
I wonder if Doc-on-the-ROQ is still…
catdynamics | October 22, 2007The Yorkshire Ranter avoids the topic of rugby, but does summarises the current strategic situation - the US carrier groups are refurbishing (well, the Kitty Hawk just left harbour for fall deployment and exercises in the west pacific, and the Enterprise is "on station" but not listed in the Persian Gulf or Arabian Sea, so I'm guessing in harbour picking up stores).
Nothing happening there. Don't know where Cheney gets his bluster from.
The US is just not positioned to do anything silly before spring, makes the rhetoric coming out look kinda impotent.
catdynamics | October 22, 2007Some time ago I was asked to nominate candidates for an honorary degree from Penn State.
For the record, I nominated V. Wilson (née Plame), Penn State alumnae, for services to the nation.
I was thanked, most politely, for my suggestion.
catdynamics | October 19, 2007in a rational US the '08 election would be
Dodd vs Huckabee
in practise Huckabee's name is not presidential enough, I am told
and Dodd's hair is not presidential enough, or so I am told - not that presidential hair may be too pretty either... if you're a democrat
y'all have a real funny way to do these things,
I still haven't figured out why party primaries are run as a state event, nor why some rules allow non-party members to vote for party candidates - unless it is some interesting exercise in seeing if people understand game theory
catdynamics | October 19, 2007Stormy, angry friday.
So, we ask the Mighty iPod - anything big going to break in early/mid January?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
Hm, that was weird, a new random selection flashed up and then popped back to the old list. Then had to re-randomize.
Some major change of plans at the last minute?
The Covering: Pabbi, Komdu Heim um Jólin - Kristín Lilliendahl
The Crossing: Allegro: Brandenburg Concertos - Bach
The Crown: Golden Years - Bowie
The Root: Redemption Song - Bob Marley and the Wailers
The Past: Ghetto Defendant - Clash
The Future: Please Do Not Go - Violent Femmes
The…
catdynamics | October 18, 2007and apparently he is afraid of Geysir...
As I reported, Iceland withdrew its Iraq contingent, Major Herdís Sigurgrímsdóttir earlier this month.
Rock in Reykjavík
America's leading Real News show will be covering this end of an era in detail, having just finished shooting in depth interviews with relevant parties on location.
Expect an in depth report in about two weeks, from a late night cable show near you.
(ok, I take pity on you, here is an english language article)
Geysir - the one, the original
Herdís says goodbye
Interestingly her name roughly transliterated is: War-Maiden,…
catdynamics | October 17, 2007I regularly get "special offers" inviting me to take up a, usually, 3 month special introductory rate for a wireless or cable or internet service.
What these offers never state is what the base rate is that you default to at the end of the introductory period. When done by phone, the salesperson nevers seems to know this rate, and it is never on mail offers. It generally seems unfindable on company web sites also.
It is a source of never ending surprise, to the salespeople, that I will not sign up for these offers, because, y'know, they really are bargains. They typically involved 1-2 year…
catdynamics | October 16, 2007Nine years ago, in what seemed like a good move at the time, I bought a BIG box of "overhead transparencies"
These are intermediate technology presentation tools; sort of like a keynote slide on transparent paper, "projected" through an analog display system. Post-blackboard tech, barely. Contemporaneous with the short-lived and tremendously annoying "whiteboard" fad of the 80s. 1980s.
Turns out it was a good thing I did, 'cause today I need one (1).
I'll have the other 97 remaining used by the fourth millennium, at this rate.
However, the primary tool for editing these "transparencies" are…
catdynamics | October 15, 2007out walking on a beautiful autumn day, when the munchkin asks me "why are these boys being bad guys"?
a couple of pre-teen boys are clambering around a white SUV. The boy I see first has a "realistic" toy M-16, black t-shirt and wrap around sunglasses, the other, pushed into the back of the SUV, has a bandana over his face and is being pushed, hit and shot (in play, not for real).
As we get closer, I realise: they are playing "blackwater and iraqis"...
catdynamics | October 12, 2007A Most Noble Autumnal friday.
So we ask the Mighty and Omnipotent iPod: what now for Al Gore?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
The Covering: Laura - Scissor Sisters
The Crossing: Refavísur - Bessi Bjarnason
The Crown: The Firebird: Lullaby - Stravinsky
The Root: Sigurjón Digri - Stuðmenn
The Past: Dansi Dansi Dúkkan Mím - Edda
The Future: Let's Get Small - Trouble Funk
The Questioner: One Way or Another - Blondie
The House: Geek Stink Breath - Green Day
The Inside: Buckeye Jim - Burl Ives
The Outcome: Young Peron's Guide to the Orchestra: Variation I Flute, Piccolo (Presto) - Benjamin…