yeaton.net: Ramblings

Another Bush Moment

Tue, 15 Nov 2005 00:12:28 -0800

I was watching the news the other day, and thought I needed a Q-Tip to clean out my ears. No sooner had W. said emphatically "We do not torture" then we were informed that the administration is seeking an exemption for the CIA.

This bothers me on a couple of levels:

Aren't we supposed to be the beacon for freedom, human rights, etc.?
What will this mean for captured U.S. prisoners? Not hard to guess.

Upon reflection, I did find a silver lining: at least I live in a country where they have to ask if they can torture prisoners (and will probably be turned down.)

As an aside, how come Bush always seems so irritated whenever he's asked a question by the media? Did that part of the job catch him off guard?

Here's an oldie, but still my favorite W. joke:

How many Bush administration officials does it take to change a light bulb?
None. There’s nothing wrong with that light bulb. There is no need to change anything. We made the right decision and nothing has happened to change our minds. People who criticize this light bulb now, just because it doesn’t work anymore, supported us when we first screwed it in, and when these flip-floppers insist on saying that it is burned out, they are merely giving aid and encouragement to the Forces of Darkness.

A Life Well Lived

Wed, 02 Nov 2005 23:23:11 -0800

One last comment on today's news...

The Chronicle today featured an obituary for Helen Francis Shapiro. I didn't know her at all, but the biography points out a few wonderful things:

She went to law school when she was 58 years old, finishing second in her class (behind her daughter). This was only because she had both hips replaced in her last semester.
She practiced law until her death at 94, and was widely recognized for her humanitarian and pro bono work (some of which, she admitted, was inadvertent)
She figured out how to live well with less: "When not working, the couple drove a gas-electric hybrid car to thirft stores and spent weekends combing garage sales for the Chinese ceramics they both loved."

What a great use of a life!

Link

Micro Loans Made Easy!

Wed, 02 Nov 2005 08:13:58 -0800

Here's a really interesting idea - a web site that lets individuals make micro loans to small entrepreneurs around the world.

From their website:

"Kiva is the first and only existing option for you to make a loan to a unique microenterprise. No other organization offers the opportunity to loan - instead of, or in addition to, making a donation - to a real person and then get your money back. Furthermore, when you loan to a Kiva business, every dollar you loan goes to that business. Kiva is a very low-overhead organization that raises money offline to support its small budget. None of the money you loan goes to fund administrative costs."

What a great idea!

Link

What Happens Here Stays Here

Wed, 02 Nov 2005 07:35:31 -0800

According to Matier & Ross in today's SF Chronicle, there's a brouhaha at the Department of Human Services. It seems that highly inappropriate pictures of a psychiatrist from the Child Welfare Department were being passed around the office. The pictures, it turns out, were downloaded from an S&M web site. However, the only infraction being considered is the downloading and printing of the pictures - the frisky doctor is in the clear.

"As far as the department is concerned, however, the doctor didn't do anything that violated the city's work rules by appearing on an S&M Web site. He's not facing any disciplinary action."

Not to sound like Anita Bryant, but are there any outside (legal) behaviors that would disqualify someone from working with children in this town? I'd suggest a few, but I don't want the search engines to get the wrong idea about me...

Link

The Pros Come to Harding Park!

Fri, 07 Oct 2005 07:41:44 -0800

Had a chance this week to watch the pros in action at our very own Harding Park. This is the World Series of Gold, which has no particular heritage but does feature a $1.3mm first prize. As a result, it features 47 of the top 50 players in the world. The practice rounds are the only time you can take pictures however, as cameras (and cell phones) are banned during tournament play. I'll be back Sunday for the final round!

The beautiful 18th hole.

Confessions of a Movable Type Geek

Fri, 16 Sep 2005 21:25:11 -0800

I think it's official, as I spent five or six hours today getting my Amazon plugins to work properly. However, you can make it all worthwhile by clicking on the "Currently Reading" links in the sidebar. As an Amazon associate, I will make pennies on every transaction that comes through this site. Whew, for a minute I thought I was wasting time!

Corina's First Day of Work!

Fri, 09 Sep 2005 10:49:32 -0800

Congratulations to my lovely and talented wife on her first day in the corporate world! She'll be working on clinical trials, and is already learning many aspects of the profession (including where to find caffeine in the area). Please join me in wishing her a successful career!

(Strangely, she is going to the passenger door, perhaps expecting daily chauffeur service from her footloose spouse?)

Death of a Company

Tue, 12 Jul 2005 10:47:26 -0800

Being the savvy investor I am, I was invited to participate in the WorldCom class action lawsuit. Actually, I didn't have that much stock, but figured the settlement might buy us breakfast so what the heck. Yesterday, I received the "Supplemental Plan of Allocation" for the disbursement of the $6.128 billion settlement fund. Included in the plan is a day-by-day assessment of the impact on stock price of the various accounting misstatements, prepared by the Stanford Consulting Group. Here is their estimate of the impact (labeled inflation) on the WorldCom stock price for the start, end and first day of each quarter:

Makes an interesting picture, eh?

Stock price going crazy due to business success and "irrational exuberance"

Tolerance of small misstatements allowed to develop

Market correction causes stock to decline rapidly

Resulting pressure causes lies to escalate, leading to...

Death of the company

It just goes to show that ethics is a binary proposition, in business and life. Now we're off to breakfast!

Supermarket Culture

Fri, 08 Jul 2005 12:46:21 -0800

There's something that's always bothered me about the barrage of magazine covers that confront us in checkout lines at Supermarkets. I don't mean the National Enquirer types ("Woman Disappears Behind Coral Head - Later Gives Birth To 10-Pound Octobaby!") , but mainstream rags like People and Us. Have a look at the cover below and let me know if you agree.

Since most of the people I know generally agree on the benefits of marriage or at least monogamy, it struck me that this is representative of a different culture altogether. So I started thinking: what kind of culture is characterized by Jen getting back at Brad by going out with Vince. It's obvious - high school!

Is it like Peter Pan: having grown up we long for a youth we never had? It's so sad...it makes me want to go shopping!

Tom Cruise kills Oprah!

Wed, 06 Jul 2005 10:16:15 -0800

This is awesome!

Great New Yorker piece on Poppa Neutrino

Mon, 04 Jul 2005 08:16:52 -0800

You've gotta love a guy who sailed (successfully) across the Atlantic on a raft made out of New York garbage. The article follows him as he prepares for his next journey - a solo crossing of the Pacific at age 72. Great history of William Willis (his nearest predecessor) as well. My favorite quote: "Until I'm finally stopped, I'm unstoppable." May we all live so well!

In the June 27 issue. Here's an interview with the author, Daniel Cappello.