Happy (almost) new year

I find this really entertaining and possibly concerning. What if your job was determining when to add a second to the world's time? And is the Earth's rotation really slowing down? Should I be concerned about this?

Just a second: 2008 needs one more before it ends

December 29, 2008

Eager for the new year to begin? Well, you're just going to have to wait a second.

On New Year's Eve, a "leap second" will be added to the world's clocks at 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds Coordinated Universal Time, the U.S. Naval Observatory announced.

For Minnesotans, that corresponds to 5:59:59 p.m. Central Standard Time on Wednesday, just in case you want to adjust your own clocks accordingly.

The extra second will be inserted at the observatory's Master Clock Facility in Washington, marking the 24th leap second since 1972 to be added to UTC, a uniform time scale kept by atomic clocks around the world.

The leap second is necessary because the Earth's rotation is gradually slowing down. Leap seconds have been added at intervals varying from six months to seven years, with the most recent being inserted on Dec. 31, 2005.

The observatory's mission includes determining the position and motion of the Earth, sun, moon, planets, stars and other celestial objects, providing astronomical data, determining precise time and measuring the Earth's rotation.

Paul Walsh, Star Tribune

Way to go "Have You Heard" blurb guy (or gal) at the Strib!

Parents in Oklahoma and Pennsylvania are returning Fisher-Price's "Little Mommy Real Loving Baby Cuddle and Coo" doll claiming that it mumbles, "Satan is king," and "Islam is the light."

Yes, I'm still alive

The Strib managed to put together a decent opinion section this week, despite the fact they're hemmorhaging staff. I particularly liked this commentary on ingenuity and hope. And then Sack's gem:

Uh, yes. It turns out smear tactics work really well with Republican audiences and not so well with Democratic ones. That's why many Republicans think Obama is a terrorist while many Democrats think McCain is a decent, heroic guy who wouldn't make nearly as good a president in terms of decision-making and policy knowledge/beliefs. Is it just me or do Republicans mostly smear with untruths and Democrats mostly smear with truths (the U.S. Senate race in MN excepted because it should be excepted from all lists)?

This commentary on teen pregnancy was interesting also. Just this week one of the budget ladies was lamenting how crazily Puritanical we are in the U.S. It appears this lady agrees.

Oh, and in case anyone was wondering: I don't feel bad for the NE Patriots at all. But I am excited for the new Bond movie!

Nice work

As I've mentioned, I think punditry is out of control--but I should clarify that it's true everywhere except the NYT. Their columnists are a smart bunch of people. Two good ones from this week:

• David Brooks on why Obama isn't winning by a landslide
• Paul Krugman on Republican reliance on know-nothing politics

Also, the Economist continues to pump out amazing analysis of business, markets, and politics. I might need to subscribe. Some recent highlights:

• First in a series of profiles of battleground states
• Discussion of the evolving role of the Fed (I'm telling you, this is the time to be a Fed economist--except that the whole house of cards might just fall apart soon)
• The perils of the housing bill
  

Not so sleeping giant

The Strib was disappointing today. A bunch of people must be on vacation or something.

But I am fascinated by the lengths to which China will go (and can go) to make itself fit to host the Olympics. The latest installment: an AP story from the Strib and more detail found by Google News.

I can't imagine living in a country where (a) this amount of clean up would be required, and (b) the government could just shut down whole industries or ban car traffic to achieve it.

War of the acronyms

Props to these die-hard Clinton fans for coining the term puma, which stands for "Party Unity My Ass." They also came up with HOUND, which stands for "Hell, Obama's Unqualified, No Deal " to counter an Obama supporter's use of HOUND to mean "Hillary Obama United Not Divided" in response to the original puma.

Click here if you want to hear "Hound Dog" by Elvis Presley "groovin' on a HillPod." (I will give them HillRaisers despite the annoying cutsey-ness, but I will most certainly not give them Hillpod.)

On a sidenote, did anyone else notice they switched back to "Variety" from "Source"? Good move, whoever made that call. What does "Source" mean anyway? And yes, I noticed this while cutting crossword puzzles out of old newspapers for entertainment on my trip. I am just that nerdy. And lazy too, judging from the large stack of papers I had yet to recycle.

(Photo courtesy of www.puma08.com)

Roundup

The Strib did a particularly nice job on the Sunday paper today. A few gems:

Amid soaring grain prices, a dying cry: A business section feature on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, accompanied by an opinion section feature on the nostalgia-inducing Grain Exchange Building. I think futures markets are pretty fascinating, and the Grain Exchange particularly so. I agree that the Grain Exchange building is really cool, although the opinion piece did nothing for me beyond the pictures.

High-tech sweat: A North St. Paul community center opens the first XRKade, or exercise gaming facility, in the state as a way to attract teens and promote exercise. Besides being a great idea, what's most interesting is that the author describes the idea for XRKade as coming from a city official (unclear whether it's the city manager quoted or somebody else). New, good ideas are rare in government--so that's exciting to see.

While U of M sleeps, our military leaders are born: This is notable only because it marks the first time Katherine Kersten (hired to represent the "conservative" viewpoint) has managed to produce an informative piece that extols a nominally conservative virtue without bashing anyone (well, indirect bashing of the remaining U students and the idea that only conservatives support the military aside). I have no trouble with the Strib hiring someone to represent the conservative viewpoint (although I would prefer they devote energy to less biased coverage throughout the paper instead), but I do object to it being done poorly. On a sidenote, I would like to take a military decision-making class; that sounds interesting.

Les anes et les elephants

Most pre-, mid-, and post-election commentary is crap. Not that I know any better, but I don't get paid to sit around and think about elections all day.

In contrast to all the crap, I found this commentary by David Brooks to be a very plausible and well-reasoned discussion of the Iowa results. (This is the NYT version; I read the Strib reprint which for no apparent reason has a different title.)

Yeah, I know. I'm boring.

In order to push reading the paper ahead of work and minutiae, I will share two interesting articles from the past week.

First, an article about Sagis Corp, a new MN company that helps businesses capture and transfer knowledge from retiring employees. This is going to be a big market, so props to these guys for getting in early (although they should definitely ditch the lame picture). When I get out of the public policy game, this is totally what I want to do. Have I mentioned recently that the business section is by far the best part of the Star Tribune, especially on Mondays? Well, it is.

Second, another addition to the "just released health study" story. I try not to put too much stock in these stories, but I found this one --on the possible connection between flu shots for pregnant women and schizophrenia in their children--pretty interesting. While on the topic, I have been enjoying the NYT health coverage of late, especially the stories filed under research.

Really?

So, earlier this week I heard this story about a Texas city attorney who after 9-11 vowed to wear a single patriotic tie until Osama bin Laden was captured or dead. Nearly six years later his tie is so tattered the guy declared he would stop wearing it unless Osama proved he was alive by 9-11-07. A day or two later bin Laden pulled through with a new tape proclaiming the usual praise for terrorists and violence to western heathens. Coincidence?

In other news, MPR reported that a U of M study found a link between a certain amino acid and gambling addiction. The study was too small to be statistically significant, but the scientist folks think taking the amino acid supplement could reduce addictive behavior. I'm totally weirded out by the idea that we will eventually be able to chemically alter all aspects of our behavior, right on down to basic personality characteristics.

A is for apple

In honor of the first day of school for all my teacher friends, I'd like to comment on a Strib story about the new Shakopee High School. After several paragraphs describing how the new school design will better serve students and community members, the article reads:

Although mostly pleased with the way the school turned out, Tomczik noted that you can't always get everything you want. Teachers' lounges, for instance, are small and unappealing. And because of the small learning pods, there are no centralized departments for specific subjects.

In short, the new design fails to recognize that a school is also a workplace. Now I know it's all about the kids, but research shows good teaching is the second most important factor in student achievement after the kids' own families and experiences. And I would hazard a guess that happy teachers are better teachers. So I'm just saying I'd probably try to accommodate their needs a weensy bit.

(It is quite possible the Shakopee design does provide some nice features for teachers that were not covered in this article. If so, I apologize to Shakopee for using it as an example of a wider problem.)

That certain je ne sais quoi

I thought this commentary about the Minnesotan response to the bridge disaster was really well done. Starting with a quote from The Abyss, how could you go wrong?

Seriously, though, I don't think we're as idyllic as all that, but there is something indescribable about this place and its inhabitants. People try--and frequently fail--to capture it properly. I think this commentary comes closer than most to getting it right.

Photo courtesy of Letterboxing Minnesota

Follower

First my grandmother beat me to the internet--the first time I googled myself there was nary a mention of me, but there was a full color article in the Wheaton College, Mass, online newsletter about my grandmother.

Then my mother beat me to the op-ed page. I have written letter after letter to the editor, but nary a one has made the paper. Mom had a letter published in the Charleston Post and Courier last week. (They butchered her letter, as is normally the case with letters to the editor, but it's still pretty cool. Plus she's totally right--you would be aghast at the lack of infrastructure in her county.)

I have now made it to the internet, but still yearn for the day one of my highly intelligent and very timely letters will make it into the Strib.

Speaking of new frontiers

For all you omnivores and connectors out there, here's an interesting news story. Since one of these links will inevitably break, here are a few more: MPR, CNNMoney, and TechLawBlog. I don't know quite what I think about all this yet (especially because I don't use internet on my cell phone), but the Google rep on MPR-Marketplace was pretty convincing.

It is fascinating to watch government regulators react to the rapidly changing technology landscape. We seem to get these whiplash like swings between protecting semi-monopolies and then breaking them. Given the speed of technological development, and the network effect inherent to the tech market, I find the protectionist arguments offered by the cell providers hard to swallow.
_________________________________________________________________
FYI: since the original post, the FCC issued new rules that appear to be a compromise between the Google/openess folks and the Cell phone industry folks.

"Better a bleeding heart than none at all"

I saw that on a bumper sticker recently (next to an Ole decal). For my fellow Mac-ites and other interested parties, here is a Katherine Kersten rant about the alma. I actually agree with her basic premise (it really would be helpful if conservative viewpoints were included in the debate over there), but find it poorly argued and rather hypocritical coming from someone who was hired solely to write a politically one-sided column.

I particularly enjoyed:

• Basing the "good old days" reference on one 60 year-old guy's memory of an event that took place over 40 years ago
• The idea that an American studies department that focuses ("overwhelmingly") on race, gender and ethnic minorities is closed-minded (I'm sorry, has she read standard history texts? It's not like people are hurting for knowledge of white male political/war history).
• The whole sentence: "Religious holidays are still respected at Macalester, but the concept has expanded." Isn't that the definition of open-minded?
• Taking the president's comment, "We work hard to see that the college is a safe place for all reasonable points of view to be expressed" to mean he does not value greater intellectual diversity.

She tried to argue the "Macalester is too closed-minded" point, but really only had support for the unspoken "Macalester is an easy target because it affirms everything I'm paid to write against" point. Anyway, it's too bad she so thoroughly distorted this Peterson guy's valid case for improving academics by promoting intellectual diversity.

Page A3

I don't read page A3 of the Strib much because it often features stories that have been beaten to death in other media (or are otherwise annoying). But I read it today, and have some thoughts to share.

Senate says no to drug imports (top story): I think federally-sanctioned drug "reimportation" is about the stupidest idea ever. And not just because people had to make up a word to describe it. So, leaders in other countries have the political will to reduce the cost of health care, including prescription drugs. Instead of endlessly debating an absurd plan to piggyback on the work of others, how about our political leaders devote energy to actually fixing the problem here? Perhaps efforts to change how we price and consume health care? Mayo has some ideas on achieving better quality at a lower cost. More of that, less of the absurd.

Astronomers awestruck by the most super supernova ever recorded (below the fold for obvious reasons): Ridiculous headline aside, articles about major scientific discoveries make me worry about how much our understanding of the world has changed since (for example) I slept through the astronomy unit in 8th grade science. Case in point: a few years ago two scientists won a Nobel for demonstrating that ulcers are caused by a certain bacterium rather than stress and coffee. Now, doesn't this seem like vital information--like it should be put on a billboard so that bunches of stressed out folks don't continue to be stressed out because they can't reduce the stress enough to get rid of a painful ulcer? Just like antivirus software provides periodic updates, I think each year the scientific community should produce a brief summary of all the discoveries that rendered obsolete a worldview shaped by grade-school science textbooks. Perhaps the December issue of Discover magazine could tackle this for me?

P. S. If you have a Strib handy, check out the great picture of the Queen looking askance at the Pres., also on page A3.

P. P. S. If you are unfamiliar with the ulcer discovery, check out the link. No one would believe them, so one swallowed some of the bacteria to prove it. Now that's worth a Nobel.

Poop stories

In honor of my colonoscopy on Monday, I will share today's crop of poop stories.

(1) Several people brought their children to work today. It's a good time to visit budgetland because there's all sorts of interesting stuff going on. One little girl (4ish?) got to accompany her dad to a briefing at the governor's office for one of his policy advisers. For most of the meeting she colored quietly in the corner, but shortly before the end she started whispering, "psst....Daddy!" Each time, he asked her to wait quietly just a few more minutes. Undaunted, she eventually shouted as loud as she could, "But Daddy, I have to POOP right now!" She had good timing, though, because on the way out they ran into the governor and took a picture with him.

(2) While walking into Walgreens this afternoon to purchase NuLYTELY (nasty liquid that empties your intestines), I saw a bumper sticker that read, "I'm driving fast because I have to POOP!" I am not shitting you (hah!)--and I immediately thought how appropriate that sticker would be for several of my friends.

(3) And finally, today's Strib has a front page story titled, "Restroom law would help open the doors in a hurry." While I was watching the House floor debate on the smoking ban, apparently the Senate was working to ensure that bowel disease sufferers have guaranteed access to employee-only bathrooms. Thanks, guys--two bills in one day that would dramatically improve my quality of life. That might make up for stealing my evenings and weekends...or not.

I mean, who has time for underhanded plots nowadays?

I am generally suspicious of conspiracy theories. I just find it hard to believe a true conspiracy can be pulled off—people in power must be too busy with their real jobs to manage the details of a complicated ruse, technology makes it nearly impossible to hide transactions (whether written, spoken, or financial), and the press (while not what they used to be) are still digging up whatever dirt they can.

So I’m having trouble with the brouhaha surrounding Rachel Paulose, the new U.S. attorney in Minnesota. If you follow the Strib/McClatchy logic, former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger saw the writing on the wall and resigned before a wave of firings, prompting AG Gonzales and the Justice Dept. Cronies (great name for a band no?) to appoint Ms. Paulose his replacement (although this was somewhat botched), and her management style, lack of qualification, and affiliations indicate that she is part of a larger plot to steal the 2008 election.

But I have to believe that as wrong-headed as their politics might be, the Bush puppets appointees at the U.S. Justice Department cannot be as stupid as recent events make them appear. More importantly, I cannot believe that Karl Rove is using these morons as pawns in a multi-front assault on the integrity of state management of federal elections so he can swing the vote in 2008.

What troubles me about the Paulose fiasco is this: if the Strib is getting even a fraction of the story right (and let's be honest, that could be generous to the Strib), it would seem that some kind of conspiracy is at work.