Fox Sports takes lead from Fox News

Subtle use of framing, but when Fox Sports cut away during the series to an audience of soldiers in Iraq, the caption said "Multi-nation force, Baghdad, Iraq". They all stood up during the 7th inning stretch and sang "God Bless America, my home sweet home", but Fox would have us thinking they are a "multi-nation force" Now who would that benefit?

4 more years - 1972 style

So I was 16 in 1972, and a Las Vegas radio station allowed 30-second taped free speech segments. I said:

Those of you planning on voting for Richard Nixon tomorrow, let me assure you, if he is re-elected, you will get what you're asking for.

You're asking for four more years of Mr. Nixon's type of government, and that's what you'll get. And he won't have to be secret in his ways anymore because he will never face you for re-election again.

You're asking for four more years of a government that has brought you four years of inflation.

You're asking for four more years of a man who promised peace but gave you four more years of war, and you'll get the same again.

You're asking for four more years of a government of corruption and waste. And after four more years of Richard Nixon, you'll realize that maybe you really did have a choice in 1972 after all.

Well, he was elected in a landslide the next day, but at least we didn't have to wait four more years!

Hosing the BCS

Could a system like BCS cause the humans in the human polls to bias their votes away from the algorithm, just to establish and reinforce human independence? If it is a close call between Miami and Oklahoma for the number two spot, and the computer picks Miami, would the humans pick Oklahoma just to hose the BCS? Or would it just be me?

The DMA and Spam

The Direct Marketing Association thinks that “opt-out” is the answer to spam.

There are 5,657,774 firms in America

The average corporate user receives 99 emails/day.
64% is spam = 63 spam emails per day.

Say every firm in America decided to follow the DMA guidelines, and each sent just one email to you, and say all those emails were spread out evenly over fifteen years.

You’d be sorting through over 1000 emails per day, and you’d have to opt out of each and every one to satisfy the DMA. And that’s OK with the DMA.

Unsolicited email is spam, and it is a big problem. Nothing in the DMA’s “Tackling the Spam Issue” addresses the problem of unsolicited email. The DMA’s complicity in spam is a big problem.

A Simple Analogy

You're going out for dinner with some friends. You vote to let the driver choose the restaurant.

He chooses the most expensive restaurant in town, and when you get there, he trashes the place. You complain, and he says, "Hey, you voted to let me do this." People believe him.

When it comes time to settle the tab, you all vote to pitch in and pay your share. But the driver says, "I'm not going to drive you home unless you put this on your kids' credit card, and unless you agree to give a 30% tip to my sister-in-law." You decide to vote against doing that. He says "You're a flip-flopper. You voted to pay for dinner before you voted against paying for dinner." People believe him.

Livermore's Centennial Light

Abe Vigoda is still alive, and so is Livermore's Centennial Light. It is a lightbulb that's been burning since 1901.