February 2002 – Page 10 – Richard Bennett

Responsible environmentalism

is the province of hunters and fishermen, who’ve combined to restore Coho salmon habitat in Marin County that was once threatened by the kind of people who raised Jihad Johnny. Big salmon run in Marin / Record number of fish spawning in county’s creeks The local restoration effort began in the early 1980s when a … Continue reading “Responsible environmentalism”

The local restoration effort began in the early 1980s when a group called Trout Unlimited began lobbying the county to stop the decline of the fishery. That work eventually led to a decision by the state to make the Marin Municipal Water District implement a series of restoration programs to mitigate for the raising of Peter’s Dam.

Trout Unlimited is a model of grass-roots political activism, using a variety of strategies including lawsuits and legislation to advance their cause, good fishing.

A nation distracted

by Curling is a nation ripe for pick-pocketing, so let’s not forget to keep an eye on the campaign finance manuevering in Washington and the Term-Limits manipulation in Sacramento. Our elected thieves know how to time their high crimes and misdemeanors if they know anything at all.

A dark day for America

in the Winter Games today – our Fabulous Curlers were shut out. The Babes were up against the Canucks, who play at a superhuman level. There should be two Olympic Curling competitions, one for the Frozen Ones, and one for everbody else, just to make it fair. It looked like we had a chance going … Continue reading “A dark day for America”

The Dudes had their match with the Krauts in the bag, but Tim’s hammer didn’t get any bite and simply refused to curl, so he lost shot rock by a mile. This was a heartbreaking loss, and it was hard for Tim to get over it and back in his form until he was into the fifth end or so against the Norwayans. The trouble in this match was some poor strategy and weak sweeping due to poor communication between Sneeland and the sweepers. Sneeland has to go – he’s pulling the rest of the team down.

There was some other stuff going on with snow, boards, and sticks but none of it very interesting except Biathlon.

NBC should do us all a favor and shut up about that ice skating crap already. The British press has been tearing into the vain Canuck team, and if you’re all very good I might blog some of that later.

One of the highlights of Curling is the expert commentary, which never uses any wishy-washy phrases like “self-esteem” and never stints on the trashing of dumb moves. And there are plenty of dumb moves in Curling, which is what makes it so great.

The web is a medium made for porn

according to this article from the archives of the San Jose Metro: Metroactive Features | Cyberporn The web, as it turns out, is a medium made for porn. It’s private, anonymous and interactive. By migrating to the web, porn tapped an enormous pool of consumers, most of whom seem to be e-porn surfing during work … Continue reading “The web is a medium made for porn”

according to this article from the archives of the San Jose Metro: Metroactive Features | Cyberporn

The web, as it turns out, is a medium made for porn. It’s private, anonymous and interactive. By migrating to the web, porn tapped an enormous pool of consumers, most of whom seem to be e-porn surfing during work hours, when 70 percent of porn surfing takes place.

While there is no definitive measurement, many analysts agree that men seeking pornographic material account for about 40 percent of the searches conducted on the Internet each day. Since images and video take up so much more bandwidth than, say, email, porn surfers probably consume close to 70 percent of the Internet’s capacity.

These surfers and millions like them changed the fortunes of many Silicon Valley corporations, large and small. Indeed, without porn, the economic miracle of the second half of the 1990s would be much more of a yawner. There would be fewer people on the streets of downtown San Jose and Palo Alto, and fewer swanky restaurants. More homes would still be in the six-figure price range, and commute times would be shorter. Sports figures, not Internet geeks, would appear in beer commercials; the stock market would be table conversation for few people other than brokers or retirees. Bus ads and billboards would again carry water conservation messages, presidential candidates would raise their money in Texas and Hollywood, and Time magazine could go back to covering global warming and international politics.

…which comes as no surprise to anyone with a referer log. But take this article with a grain of sand – the author describes the Cisco 7200 as a “massive” router, which it’s anything but.

Dependent on D.C

author Charlotte Twight was on the radio today, pitching this book:

Dependent on D.C. is a compelling new book that raises serious questions about the future of liberty in America. Charlotte A. Twight proves beyond doubt that the growth of dependence on government in the past seventy years has not been accidental, that its creation has been bipartisan, and that it is accelerating. She reveals a universal tactic used by federal officials to expand government authority over the lives of all Americans and exposes the many forms this tactic has taken. Twight shows how growing federal power–driven by legislation, validated by Supreme Court decisions, and accelerated by presidential ambition–has eroded the rule of law in our nation, leaving almost no activity that the central government cannot at its discretion regulate, manipulate, or prohibit. A constitutional counterrevolution has occurred in America–one so profound that few today can imagine Americans free of dependence on government. Dependent on D.C. shows why Americans have not resisted this expansion of federal power and reveals the daunting magnitude of the changes needed to reverse our nation’s spiral into dependency. In these uncertain times, Dependent on D.C. is the book Americans need to read when thinking about the future of their individual liberty in a country long committed to the ideal of personal freedom.

Sounds like a reasonable read.

The pinnacle of athletic achievment

and highlight of the Winter Games is that outstanding blend of stamina, courage, and strategy, Curling. Originally invented by a drunken Scot named Curley and played with passed-out dwarves until it was reformed by Puritan fundamentalists in the 17th century, curling involves tossing a 40 pound rock down a sheet of ice in hopes of landing on a target (the “button”) or knocking the opponent’s rocks off the target area (the “house”), or both. Canada is the perennial powerhouse in this sport, which was explained by American captain (or “skip”) Tim Somerville with typical Curler eloquence: “It’s a lot colder up there.”

The US Men’s Curling Team split a pair of games on their first day of competition, winning over powerhouse Sweden before losing to the frigid Canucks. They’re still very much in contention for a medal, aided by Somerville’s superior Curling breeding, descending as he does from two lines of 3-time world champions, his father and his maternal uncle

The Chicks were even hotter than the Dudes, taking both of their opening-day battles in dramatic, come-from-behind wins over more experienced Japanese and Swedish teams behind the leadership of the awesome Kari Erickson from Minnesoda, USA – U.S. curlers rally to win two matches

After falling behind 6-1 to Japan, the U.S. women scored three in the sixth end, or inning, and got one each in the seventh and eighth to tie.

With the Japanese leading by one in the final end, Erickson’s second stone took out a Japanese rock, giving the U.S. squad an 8-7 victory.

“We were a little rusty but started to feel more comfortable with the ice in the second half of the game and started to make our shots,” Erickson said.

Tied with Sweden at 5-5, Erickson again gave the United States the win on her last shot.

“I had to do it,” Erickson said. “This is kind of what my job is. I just have to do my job.”

Like Somerville, the Babes have family connections:

The team?s skip and its second are sisters. Their father is the coach. The assistant coach is the father of the vice-skip.

There are those who must feel that the great achievement of Curling is making men use brooms, but that was last month.

The legend of Bennett Mountain

may be a myth. Rob Flickenger has his doubts: It all started last Friday afternoon. We were all buzzing about Cringely and his Passive Repeater. What a fantastic idea! The thought that he got one of these near-urban-legend devices working, on the first try, from up a tree, to low-gain panel antennas in downtown Santa … Continue reading “The legend of Bennett Mountain”

may be a myth. Rob Flickenger has his doubts:

It all started last Friday afternoon. We were all buzzing about Cringely and his Passive Repeater. What a fantastic idea! The thought that he got one of these near-urban-legend devices working, on the first try, from up a tree, to low-gain panel antennas in downtown Santa Rosa, without a supporting ground crew (or even so much as a site survey), truly boggled our minds. Especially since it’s been a point of debate in various community group mailing lists for months as to whether such a design is practical at the low power level that client cards put out.

Cringeley has been known to pull a little prank or two in the past, so he may be pulling our collective leg again. Linked from Techno-Blog 802.11b.

Riordan strikes back:

| KEN . LAYNE . DOT . CON | Ho ho … Riordan finally hit back. The Channel 2 news just had a commercial explaining the former LA mayor’s position on abortion — he doesn’t like it, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t support a woman’s right to do whatever — and letting the Home … Continue reading “Riordan strikes back:”

| KEN . LAYNE . DOT . CON |

Ho ho … Riordan finally hit back. The Channel 2 news just had a commercial explaining the former LA mayor’s position on abortion — he doesn’t like it, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t support a woman’s right to do whatever — and letting the Home Viewer know just how much Gray “Singapore” Davis took from Enron: $119,000. Jeez, Ashcroft only took half of that.

This is a story I’ve been following, but leave it to the Bloggers to cover it when the media aren’t. I found no mention of Riordan’s response in the political press, but here it is.

Riordan’s response is cool, well-timed, and effective. Davis is just trying to jerk his chain into saying something intemperate, because Riordan has the reputation for being off-the-cuff. But he took Davis’ bait and made him eat it, which is the right way to handle the little dictator.

The Sacramento Bee — sacbee.com

The Sacramento Bee — sacbee.com — Dan Walters: Do we want our politicians to be genuine or to be flawless actors? No weasel words for George Deukmejian. The former California governor’s personal animus was plainly evident as he described Richard Riordan as “a person I have no respect for and in no way I could … Continue reading “The Sacramento Bee — sacbee.com”

The Sacramento Bee — sacbee.com — Dan Walters: Do we want our politicians to be genuine or to be flawless actors?

No weasel words for George Deukmejian. The former California governor’s personal animus was plainly evident as he described Richard Riordan as “a person I have no respect for and in no way I could vote for.”

Nor did Riordan, the former mayor of Los Angeles and leading Republican contender for governor, conceal his annoyance with Deukmejian, when the remark was raised in a gubernatorial debate an hour later at a GOP state convention.

“George Deukmejian has a bad memory,” Riordan snapped. “The only things he remembers are his grudges.” Deukmejian, sitting nearby, was visibly jolted by the rejoinder.

Sounds like the old Jerry Springer Show, doesn’t it? No matter who wins the Republican gubernatorial primary, in November California voters will have a choice between a real human, with warts and all, and mechanoid fundraiser Gray Davis. This is shaping up as the most interesting political contest this state has seen in a very long time.

Time travelling the web

I found a cool new toy today, the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. You enter a URL, and it shows you a snapshot of how that URL looked at various points in the past, going back to November or December of 1996. It’s not a complete archive, of course, but it’s close enough; kinda like looking … Continue reading “Time travelling the web”