My God...it's full of stars!

Compare Your Local Hospitals

2009-01-08T14:06:00.002-06:00

Here's a cool link to the HHS Hospital Compare site. It lets you compare up to three local hospitals side by side over a range of behaviors. It even lets you see patient satisfaction survey results. I blogged about this site when it first appeared, but now there is a whole lot more data that has been collected and the site is also faster and easier to navigate. Oh, and guess what? The much maligned charity hospital where I am employed stacks up as well or better than the local big boys. The most satisfying part is that our patient satisfaction seems to be higher than any other local facility. Go us!

Thoughts on the Obama brand

2008-11-20T13:01:00.001-06:00

I'm not in the advertising or marketing industry, but I do have a few thoughts on the Obama brand. Below is my take on the history and future of the brand.
Barack Obama's message of "Change" is one of the most successful examples of branding in political history. It was made possible by the intersection of pent up demand in the marketplace and an efficient and effective supplier.
On the demand side we had a nation that has had 8 years of extremely poor leadership and had an obvious need for new direction. The desire for change is at historic highs, as evidenced by the lowest ever favorability rating for a siting president and a "wrong track" trendline of between 73%-91% this year, according to Gallup.
On the supply side we have a man who differences are obvious. His political affiliation, beliefs, intellectual approach, tone of campaign, middle class origin, name, and of course, color are diametric opposites to the previous leadership. He literally embodies change. With Obama, the medium is indeed the message. Obama is more than just a brand, of course. He also happens to be one of the most stirring orators in our history, and also is one of the most skilled politicians in recent memory. But the steady message of change from a man perceived to be able to effect change was extremely powerful.
The success of this branding became more and more apparent when Obama's two main rivals attempted to co-opt the "Change" message. Hillary Clinton used two slogans, "Change we Need" and "Working for Change", to little avail. And of course McCain's "Change We Can Believe In" was also rejected by the voters. But here is another reason why this brand was so effective. Because Obama had relatively little experience on the national stage, his brand turned this weakness into a strength. Unlike Hillary and McCain, he had very little record to run against. He was new, unscarred, somehow purer. People did not have as much of an idea of how he would lead based on his past record compared to the other candidates. But because their desire for change outweighed their fear of failure, voters embraced his message.
The McCain team attempted to rebrand Obama, shifting "Change" to "the Other" with their "Do we really know who Obama is" meme. This allowed internet rumors to flourish (Is he a US citizen? Secretly Islamic? Radical? Terrorist? Curiously, they skipped "Liberal?" and went right to "Socialist?") without having to take responsibility for the absurdity of their claims.
McCain, or to be more precise, McCain's advisers, attempted one last play to co-opt the change brand with the selection of Sarah Palin. Here was a funhouse mirror reflection of Obama. She symbolized change in that she is a woman and a relative unknown, but was an uber-conservative anti-intellectual who espoused views that no major party nominee for nationwide office has backed for thirty years. She was colloquial. Familiar and different at the same time. Only the Republican true believers bought into this brand.
So what is the future for the Obama change brand? Barack Obama has built up an enormous reservoir of political capital through his shrewd use of his brand. Because the economic crisis has blurred the traditional roles of Republicans and Democrats, the opposition is amorphous and undefined. The biggest threat to the Obama change mandate may well be Democrats who refuse to release long held protections of regional constituencies. Different coalitions between Republicans and Democrats will form in an attempt to block reform in different sectors. For example, how far are Senate Democrats from oil and gas producing states willing to go to reform those industries? If their past voting record is any indication it won't be very far.
However, if Obama can take the initiative and be seen as successful in the opening months of his presidency, his mandate for change will be almost unprecedented. He will truly have a chance to place his presidency beside that of Lincoln and FDR. Now that's change I can believe in.

2 year hiatus

2008-07-17T09:44:00.004-05:00

OK, so it's been two years since my last post. So what. I've been busy doing stuff. Yes, two years worth of stuff, no breaks except for pony rides and pedicures. And a few naps. But since I'm back, lets kick this off with an easy one. Who are you, what do you do, and why are you here? I expect 500 replies by dawn. See you in two years!

This is how you do it yourself....

2006-03-28T10:07:00.000-06:00

Linkeepoo of the moment...

2006-01-30T17:31:00.000-06:00

You know what's wrong with this country? We don't track the blowhards. All these experts and talking heads spouting pablum like a toddler being force-fed creamed asparagus, with just about as much accountability. And if you're here, that means you're probably a friend of mine, which means you are definitely a pablum spouting blowhard, too. Now, you can put your money where you mouth is and bet on your worldview. Poolitics is a site where bets are taken on world events and if you're right, then you win the money put up by those losers who guessed wrong. From the site:

"Poolitics is the world's first and only pari-mutuel blog — a place where ideologues of all stripes and colors can put their money where their mouth is by entering real-money predictive contests (Pools)."

So, smarty pants, why don't you go and lay some money down to back up your fanciful conspiracy theories. It's only $1.20 per prediction. Surely you can afford to give rational people like me $1.20?

Not to get all literary on your ass, but...

2006-01-28T12:57:00.000-06:00

I don't know why, but lately I have become facinated with the idea of collecting my favorite books in hardcover. I have hundreds of paperbacks lying around, but for some reason I want a bit more permanence. So when I came across an article in Vanity Fair about the revival of Everyman's Library I was intrigued. This imprint produces high quality (" Each volume is printed on acid-free, cream-wove paper with full-cloth sewn bindings, gold stamping, and silk ribbon markers") books for a few bucks more than the paperback version. Older editions are traded and collected. Their catalogue contains over 1000 books. If I get serious about this and collect a few title's, maybe I can even pass them down to the kids when the time comes. (I can hear them now- "Great. Dad left me his books. The house would have been a nice gesture, but I got books.")

Free directory info?

2006-01-24T20:35:00.000-06:00

Can you really get free directory assistance by dialing 1-800-free 411? Well, I checked it out and it turns out that you can. In your face, Bell South!

Find myself a city to live in...

2006-01-21T11:38:00.000-06:00

Are you East Coast, West Coast or flyover? Compare you city with other US cities, or check out prospective places to live in. You can even find the city that best fits what you look for in a place to call home. My best fit- Berkeley Ca, of course. (Median home price- $750,000. Hmm, I'll have to pick up some extra shifts...)

How you will waste the next 5 minutes of your life...

2006-01-12T21:02:00.000-06:00

You know you want to dig a hole to the other side of the Earth!

Link review, redux 2- Pandora.com

2005-12-21T12:56:00.000-06:00

Pandora.com is my favorite new website. You enter a song or band that you like and then they begin streaming songs to you that they have identified as being in the same genre. You give them the thumbs up or thumbs down and this helps the algorythim decide what to send you next. I've heard some really great music that I didn't know about. Check it out, peeps.

The funniest thing I have ever read on the internet...

2005-11-03T21:24:00.000-06:00

...has just come to me from my friend Mike D., who teaches gradeschool in state system in Miss. He apparently is a comic genius. Enjoy!

The assignment was to compose an original sentence using a given word as
different parts of speech. Here are some of my favorites...the great thing is
that most of them are correct.

These have not been altered...

Mike

use BUS as a noun...
The wheels on the bus go round and round.
-this kid watches a LOT of tv

EACH as a pronoun...
The kid had two dollars, each bought some candy with the money.
-this one suffers from multiple personality disorder

PEPPER as a noun...
The astronaut's suit is made of pepper.
-lets hope this kid doesn't go into aero-space engineering

EACH as a pronoun...
I did each of the 100000000000 girls.
-uuuhhhh...ok

EACH as an adjective...
Each person are smart.
-i love how they learn what i teach THAT WEEK and forget everything else

SHINE as a verb...
I will shine your head for a nickel.
-this is my little entrepeneur

BUS as a noun...
I saw a bus with rims on it.
-now all it needs is a booming system and some hydraulics

EACH as an adjective...
Each egg we cook has come from a chicken.
-this is true

BUS as a noun...
Look! A moving bus!
-very easily amused student

MUSHROOM as a noun...
I put mushrooms in my food gracefully.
-you should see her dance

BUS as a noun...
My uncle is as big as a public bus.
-ok

SHINE as a noun...
Shine's shoes have spot across it.
-i have no idea what this means but it IS correct

SHINE as a noun...
Shine is in the song, victory is mine!
-very patriotic kid

MUSHROOM as a verb...
Let's go mushroom in the garden.
-if I was doing drugs I would definately buy from this kid

Mushroom as a noun...
I wish a mushroom could talk.
-or maybe this kid

each as a pronoun...
Mr. Drake treats women nice, each one gets some money.
-and on a teacher's salary...i'm such a stud

More ineptitude to come...redux

2005-10-16T09:58:00.000-05:00

To make matters worse, it's not just that this administration puts unqualified incompitents in high level athority (Harriet Miers, anyone? Only the most unqualified Supreme Court candidate in the history of the U.S.!). They also evicerate the goverment of compitent civil servants.

More ineptitude to come...

2005-09-13T10:27:00.000-05:00

Paul Krugman lays out the state of our govermantal agencies for us. This is an important analysis, so I reprint it in full.

September 12, 2005
All the President's Friends
By PAUL KRUGMAN

The lethally inept response to Hurricane Katrina revealed to everyone that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which earned universal praise during the Clinton years, is a shell of its former self. The hapless Michael Brown - who is no longer overseeing relief efforts but still heads the agency - has become a symbol of cronyism.

But what we really should be asking is whether FEMA's decline and fall is unique, or part of a larger pattern. What other government functions have been crippled by politicization, cronyism and/or the departure of experienced professionals? How many FEMA's are there?

Unfortunately, it's easy to find other agencies suffering from some version of the FEMA syndrome.

The first example won't surprise you: the Environmental Protection Agency, which has a key role to play in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, but which has seen a major exodus of experienced officials over the past few years. In particular, senior officials have left in protest over what they say is the Bush administration's unwillingness to enforce environmental law.

Yesterday The Independent, the British newspaper, published an interview about the environmental aftermath of Katrina with Hugh Kaufman, a senior policy analyst in the agency's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, whom one suspects is planning to join the exodus. "The budget has been cut," he said, "and inept political hacks have been put in key positions." That sounds familiar, and given what we've learned over the last two weeks there's no reason to doubt that characterization - or to disregard his warning of an environmental cover-up in progress.

What about the Food and Drug Administration? Serious questions have been raised about the agency's coziness with drug companies, and the agency's top official in charge of women's health issues resigned over the delay in approving Plan B, the morning-after pill, accusing the agency's head of overruling the professional staff on political grounds.

Then there's the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, whose Republican chairman hired a consultant to identify liberal bias in its programs. The consultant apparently considered any criticism of the administration a sign of liberalism, even if it came from conservatives.

You could say that these are all cases in which the Bush administration hasn't worried about degrading the quality of a government agency because it doesn't really believe in the agency's mission. But you can't say that about my other two examples.

Even a conservative government needs an effective Treasury Department. Yet Treasury, which had high prestige and morale during the Clinton years, has fallen from grace.

The public symbol of that fall is the fact that John Snow, who was obviously picked for his loyalty rather than his qualifications, is still Treasury secretary. Less obvious to the public is the hollowing out of the department's expertise. Many experienced staff members have left since 2000, and a number of key positions are either empty or filled only on an acting basis. "There is no policy," an economist who was leaving the department after 22 years told The Washington Post, back in 2002. "If there are no pipes, why do you need a plumber?" So the best and brightest have been leaving.

And finally, what about the department of Homeland Security itself? FEMA was neglected, some people say, because it was folded into a large agency that was focused on terrorist threats, not natural disasters. But what, exactly, is the department doing to protect us from terrorists?

In 2004 Reuters reported a "steady exodus" of counterterrorism officials, who believed that the war in Iraq had taken precedence over the real terrorist threat. Why, then, should we believe that Homeland Security is being well run?

Let's not forget that the administration's first choice to head the department was Bernard Kerik, a crony of Rudy Giuliani. And Mr. Kerik's nomination would have gone through if enterprising reporters hadn't turned up problems in his background that the F.B.I. somehow missed, just as it somehow didn't turn up the little problems in Michael Brown's résumé. How many lesser Keriks made it into other positions?

The point is that Katrina should serve as a wakeup call, not just about FEMA, but about the executive branch as a whole. Everything I know suggests that it's in a sorry state - that an administration which doesn't treat governing seriously has created two, three, many FEMA's.

E-mail: krugman@nytimes.com

Are you happy now?

2005-09-11T20:17:00.000-05:00

You didn't care that he used family connections to avoid serving in Vietnam.

You didn't care that he had profited from shady and fortunatley timed (two months prior to the company reporting an unexpected 23 million dollar loss) sales of Harken Energy shares.

You didn't care that the Supreme Court's decision was ludicrous.

You didn't care that he sat there for nine minutes, waiting for the piss to dry.

You didn't care that he immediately started planning to invade Iraq, even though we had been attacked from Afghanistan.

You didn't care that he mislead us into war.

You didn't care that he has bungled the rebuilding of Iraq.

You didn't care that he pushed the largest tax cut in history (disproportionatley to the wealthy) in a time of war.

You didn't care that he lead us into a the largest deficit in US history.

You didn't care that his appointees have no pertinent experience.

And now we are here. Is this what you wanted from your president?

Tony O. with the deep analysis

2005-08-07T10:40:00.000-05:00

My esteemed bro, Tony O. wrote me a great email which made the following point about the Rove/Plame fiasco: Now that she has been outed, have other countires done any research on their own to discover who her contacts were, and have any actions been taken against them? Are there American sympothisers out there who are paying with their lives for Karl Rove's political play?

Because Jason wants to know, that's why

2005-08-06T19:05:00.000-05:00

Jason Meaux sent me a list of questions he demanded that I answer. Who am I to look free content in the face. (Look, if you don't like mangled metaphors, why do you come here?)

1) What is your prediciton in regards to our exit of Iraq? (This question
must be answered in a Rhetorical fasion)

Easy one! We will declare victory and go home. After the Iraqi constitution is hammered out, the Shia will really start agitating for us to leave and might even ask us to get on the next train out of Baghdad. The Sunni have already made their position on the occupation clear. The Kurds can defend themselves and want us to stay just long enough for them to solidify their hold on Kirkut. The Iraqi Christians, Jews, Zoroastians and Sufis haven't given a position on an American pullout as they are too busy cowering in the interior rooms of there homes to communicate effectively.

So we will try to stay on and train the Shiite militia until they can brutally supress the Sunni insurgency on their own. They won't mess with the Kurds as it would mean battling the Peshmerga on their home turf in the mountains of Northern Iraq and that would be suicide for the untested Shiite forces. (The only question is what they would do in the event that the Kurds begin expelling Sunni and Shiite from Kirkut. But since it's mostly Sunni who where settled there by Saddam, they probably won't make too much of a fuss.)

The Republicans will be agitating for a big drawdown before the midterm elections in 2006, as Iraq is an albatross, so many if not most US forces will come out before then. I would expect our US supported Islamofacist nightmare state to be up and running mostly on its own by the next presidential election in 2008.

2) I'm happy many of our local citizens decided actually find a voting
booth to cast thier ballot for fiber, but the one area I am unsure about it
our payment method. With the advent of superior technology arriving
quicker each year, what will happen when fiber is considered to be of
"dial-up" importance way before it is paid for? (Remember, your answer must
have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion)

No technology can concievably take the place of fiber in the foreseeable future, as it runs on that most quicksilver of applications, light. Wireless networks are on the horizen, but the nodes must run on fiberoptic. We'll pay for this system before they discover something faster than light, and you can quote me on that.

3) In regards to politics, it is my humble opinion that we will not
achieve anything worth talking about until honest, intelligent, and
fearless citizens decide to enter the ranks of politics. So, when are you
and Ricky going to run Joe?

I see myself more as a philosopher-king than civil servant.

4) Although we still have way too damn long for this lame-ass-duck of a
president (lower case p on purpose) to leave office, can you give us your
pick for 2008?

If Jeb Bush wants it, it's his. Hillary's negatives are way too high.

5) What are the top five CDs your are rocking to right now?

I only have three in heavy rotation right now:

Lost Bayou Rambler's Pilette Breakdown
Uncle Tupelo's No Depression
White Stripes' Get Behind Me

Moore's Law and the internet

2005-08-05T22:02:00.000-05:00

You remember Moore's Law, right? Microprocessor speeds double every 2 years. Here's a great article discussing exponential growth on the internet (for example, the number of blogs is doubling every five months). Makes you wonder what the porn curve looks like.

Link Review: redux

2005-08-05T19:12:00.000-05:00

From time to time the editorial board here at MG...ifos takes a little time to introduce the 3 regular viewers of my blog to some of my favorite links (You do still visit my site every day, don't you Mom? Mom?). Today's link spotlight is Blackspot Anti-corporate Shoes.

Have you ever thought "Gee, it seems to me that corporations can be amoral, soul sucking, faceless entities that crush workers (but somehow, not upper management) underfoot while blindly seeking to increase the stock price in the next quarter. But is there any other way to build a company? Well, the people at Blackspot Shoes thought the same thing. They picked a sector where workers are exploited and started a company that paid workers a living wage, put the consumers in charge of the company's direction and kept upper management costs to a minimum.

The result? Well paid workers, a profitable company and a kick ass product.

Bob Novak meltdown: a beaut!

2005-08-04T23:15:00.000-05:00

Is the pressue from the turd blossom's insider info making Novak exclaim "This is bullshit" and storm of the air? How else to explain his outburst live on CNN? And now he's been suspended indefinitely. Let's hope he doesn't end up with a new show on MSNBC, like another disgraced CNN pundit. Now if only the Fox anchors would begin imploding, too...

Nice viral type thingy...

2005-08-03T00:46:00.000-05:00

Here's a fun and infectious little thing going around. Got it from Viva Las VegASS, which is a good place to get lots of infections. But hey, it's legal over there!

This is a different deal from all of those personal quizzes we all just love to get and do. Here's the deal: I will create five personalized questions about you--all you have to do is ask. I will then post your questions in the comment section, and you answer them on your own site. Or mine. Do it however you wish.

Anyway, here are notrightaboutanything's Ian McGibbony's questions and my answers:

1) Lafayette voters opted for fiber in amazing numbers, yet typically vote against government and for business at every opportunity. In what ways does this completely blow your mind? The more graphic your answer is, the more credit you get.

This blows my mind in the following way: did you ever see the 80's sci-fi/horror movie "Scanners"? The head exploding guy was me on election night. Some people attribute the fiber win to a race of pinko commie pod people who took over the city, but if this is true, then where were they during the last presidential election and can you tell them they can stay at my place in November, 2008.

2) Compare and contrast Iraq and Vietnam. Or, as an alternative question, explain why doing that would be really depressing.

Vietnam was united in there vision for the future: non colonial communism. Iraqis have lots of different ideas about there future: Islamofacism, seccession, civil and religious wars and secular Western style democracy. Just kidding about the last one.

3) As the Cajun saying goes, "pass a good time." But why on earth would you want to let it pass?

As a man who has passed many things, I choose not to answer or even ponder this question.

4) Same question I asked Zac, but who hasn't yet answered it: If the old saying goes that "Politics is show business for ugly people," then how do you explain Rep. Stephanie Herseth (D-S.D.) ? Show your work.

She's no Kathrine Harris, that's for sure. She needs more lipstick, IMHO.

5) Finally, if you were a teacher and you had a student like Horshack, would you ever actually call on that person?

Sure I would, if he was as famous as Horshack is.

Iraq: Progress (?!?) Report

2005-08-02T16:48:00.000-05:00

So how are we doing?

I mean, aside from the now 1800+ US and >23,000+ Iraqi civilian dead (but c'mon, who cares about Iraqi casualties. Let's get real.).

And overlooking from the fact that there were no WMD's there.

And putting aside for the moment that Iraq was not exporting terror before the war but is now the worlds number one producer of that strange fruit.

And discounting the case that Saddam was contained and not a threat to his neighbors.

And ignoring the reality that our nation's credibility has never been lower in it's history.

And forgetting that the original problem was in Afghanistan but our focus and manpower has shifted to Iraq while Afghanistan drifts.

And let slide that Osama remains at large and, in fact, George Bush "does not care" where he is.

And excuse for now that this war has cost (184 billion and rising)

And let's agree to forget that, at the very least, we were misled into the biggest armed conflict since Vietnam.

Let's get past all that, can't we. There's nothing we can do about any of that stuff. What are our prospects now for a united, free and democratic Iraq? Well, um lets see. Nil, nil and nil.

While we are fighting hard to provide security and quell the insurgents (neither is working very well) the Kurds and Shia are fashioning there own states without Sunni participation in the formation of the new Iraqi Constitution (due out Aug. 15!). And we don't have the manpower, political capital or acumen to stop them.

The Kurds possess the only dependable homegrown security force in the country, the Peshmerga. And they want the constitutional right to lead and direct them as they see fit, and to recall them at any time. Oh, and no non-Peshmerga forces in Kurdistan, err, northern Iraq, please. Also, they want to make their own laws, manage their own oil and water resources and maintain the semi-autonomous status they have enjoyed since George I slapped a no fly zone over them after Gulf War I. Is that so much to ask?(Almost forgot!- they want Kirkut back, too. Oil field under it, don'tcha know.)

The Shia, on the other hand, know that since they are in the majority, they can sit and wait out the occupiers and then install their own state through "democracy". Neat trick, huh? And since they sit on top of 80% the oil, they will also control the capital. Another interesting bit of unintended consequence is the alignment of the Iraqi Shia and Iran. Iraqi Shiites endured decades of brutal repression to which the U.S. was largely indifferent (remember when GHWB called on the Shia to rebel follow Gulf War I, which they did, and we sat on our hands and they were slaughtered en masse? They do.) Iran, by contrast, was a good friend and committed supported of the Shia, harboring insurgents and giving aid where it could. The Shia have already elected pro-Iranian religious parties that are seeking to create an Islamic state. Women's and minority rights are not expected to be protected too stringently. There's a name for brutal domination of a minority by the majority. It's call fascism. And it's (GASP) democratic.

And brutal it will be. The Sunnis can only lose in a Shia dominated Iraq. They are outnumbered in most provinces, even in Baghdad. The only land they control is desolate and oil and water impoverished. They really have no choice but to attempt to strangle the newborn Iraqi state at birth. They have the motive and the firepower, and their will does not seem to be flagging.

So how are we doing? Well, if you wanted a nightmare state of Islamofascists trying to suppress a civil war in the Sunni triangle while the Kurds secede and are invaded by Turkey and Iran to try and stop Kurdish independence (which will cause the US to be forced to choose between a stable Kurdish pro-western moderate Islamic state and keeping Turkey in NATO), then you have to be liking how the situation is shaping up.

Otherwise, keep repeating the mantra "But we got rid of Saddam, doesn't that count for something?"

Unfortunately for Iraq, it's possible for things to go from bad to worse. This is worse.

Lafayette- is that you?

2005-07-17T07:11:00.000-05:00

With a 27% turnout (15% had been forecast) the voters of my little hamlet approved the public utilities "fiber to the home" initiative with a whopping 62% yes vote. (For those of you who just stumbled in here, our local public owned utility, LUS, has been seeking the right to initiate a $125 million bond issue and to be a provider of optical fiber to every home or business that signs up. LUS will also provide phone, cable, and internet service in competition with the two local monopolies, Cox and Bell South. LUS is stating that they plan to offer rates 20% lower than what consumers currently pay.)

Over the past few years, elections without any candidates (this was a one issue election) had turnouts ranging from 2 percent for a drainage tax renewal in April 2003 to 18 percent in November 2001 for new taxes for school workers and for mosquito abatement. 27% turnout indicates that the electorate was unusually engaged by this initiative.

I so proud of my little town for their progressive ways I could just about bust. We won't talk of the strong Bush support in the last two elections, for today is a day to look forward.

Lafayette will be one of the very few communities in the nation to offer this service. We are building the better mousetrap.

Oh please...oh please...

2005-07-10T21:46:00.000-05:00

It seems that we may be on the verge of seeing Karl Rove frog marched out of the White House, just like Joseph Wilson hoped, as Rove's lawyer acknowledges he was Time reporter's source. But I get the sneaking suspicion that the only person who will get jail time will be a certain reporter who had too much professionalism to 1) write a story that outed a CIA agent (in wartime) and 2) wouldn't reveal her source, no matter how traitorous and loathsome a human being he was. Ah, politics.

History is fun!

2005-07-05T19:59:00.000-05:00

Recently, in my local Barnes and Noble (corporate death of little bookshops, but God help me I love them so) I saw a display with a new history of the Acadiens and decided to pick it up. And it turns out pretty much everthing I thought I knew about "Le grand derangment" (the Cajun term for the 1755 ethnic cleasing of the Acadiens by the English and Americans) was incorrect. Being a Cajun, I am now a little bit ashamed that I knew so little about my heritage, but I feel I have filled in some huge gaps in my knowledge of my history.

But this book was no slog through names and dates. A Great and Noble Scheme: The Tragic Story of the Expulsion of the French Acadians from Their American Homeland (full title) was first and foremost a great story. Intellectually stimulating but not dry, the author John Mack Faragher places you at the center of this time when the English, French and Americans were staking out their claims to empire, and the people of L'Acadie were pawns in this larger game. Few books have ever taught me more.

On a personal note, it was also exciting to learn that my wife's family line was literally the first to settle in Acadia (The Guilliame Trahan family was the first family to settle in the town of Port Royal and his son and son-in-law founded two other major Acadian towns- Grand Pre' and Beaubassin).

If you are a Cajun or have Acadian roots, this is a must read book. And if you're just a fan of well written history, then this is a great way to pass these long summer days.

Scum Lord

2005-04-18T23:38:00.000-05:00

I heard Tom DeLay's blood was in the water and the sharks were circling him, but unfortunately, it turned out to be a metaphor.

The Republican defense for the latest Tom Delay outrage ($500,000 "paid" to family over the last coupla years) is "Well, lots of congressmen are more crooked than that!" Oh, well, good. Now I feel better. Can we get some names please?

Ok, everybody gather your pitchforks and torches and follow me.

Creeping fascism

2005-03-29T01:07:00.000-06:00

The signs are there. Propaganda on a large scale. Pro-government media willing to excuse any atrocity. Doublespeak. Manipulated messages masquerading as information (see the "town hall meetings"). The equation of patriotism and fervent fundimentalist belief. But there is another, equally disturbing facet to our own particular brand of authoritarianism that I haven't seen much written about- fetishism of military hardware. We have entire networks devoted to the machinery of war. Pseudo-military vehicles prowl our streets (Humvees, Jeeps, SUV's). News reports tout our latest weaponry. The only thing lacking are full fledged military parades, and as soon as the images of the May Day parades in Red Square fade from our memory, I'm sure we'll have those too.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that fascism doesn't have to look exactly like Nazi Germany to be fascist. Totalitarianism doesn't have to follow "Animal Farm" word for word. We can design our own, American style state where the majority are placated while the minority and those not lucky enough to be citizens are ground under our church/state policy. Are we there now?

The wrong side of history?

2005-02-17T21:23:00.000-06:00

After what can only be described as exceptional Shi'ite and Kurdish turnout for the Iraqi election, all of us anti war types are forced to re-examine our response to this war and ask ourselves- are we going to be on the wrong side of history?

Even with all the distortions, misinformation and outright lies of this administration; even with the collosal bungling of the post war phase of the operation; and even though this administration at first opposed early, open elections but was forced into them by the eminence grise of Iraqi politics, Sheik Sistani, if Iraq becomes a stable, functioning Middle Eastern democracy, then most people will see this war as a success. But lets not get ahead of ourselves. We've been here before, kind of:

U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote :
Officials Cite 83% Turnout Despite Vietcong Terror

by Peter Grose, Special to the New York Times (9/4/1967: p. 2)

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3-- United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam's presidential election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting.

According to reports from Saigon, 83 per cent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the Vietcong.

The size of the popular vote and the inability of the Vietcong to destroy the election machinery were the two salient facts in a preliminary assessment of the nation election based on the incomplete returns reaching here.

Mardi Gras recap...

2005-02-15T22:13:00.000-06:00

...or what I can remember, anyway. Last Tuesday, the streets of Eunice, Louisiana were filled with the sites and sound of the traditional Cajun Mardi Gras. (For those of you who have never experienced this, the sights- drunken half wits vomiting off the backs of horses. The sounds- retching, mostly.) Fat Tuesday is as good as excuse as any to dress in rags, drink whiskey at 7 am, and hump the 25 clicks or so that is the Courier de Mardi Gras de Eunice. What? It doesn't sound like fun to you? Well you ain't lived till you've had 3 buzzes by noon, my friend. It's everything an all day drunk should be. Once again (my 15th year or so ) we (Shannon, Alicia and twenty or thirty of our lushiest friends) rode on the Pas Bon wagon (a head start bus converted to a movable debauch). For the second year, the house band on the bus was T- Sale' , so we had some happening music happening right in front of us. The Lost Bayou Ramblers and the Red Stick Ramblers were the official bands of the run, so there was no escaping from the damn fine Cajun music. I don't run it as hard as I used to (noticeably less chicken chasing, child terrorizing, roof climbing and ditch in-jumping than in the days of my youth) but I still have a great time. If my liver holds up, I'll be back next year.

Mardi Gras break

2005-02-07T18:18:00.000-06:00

We're off to run the Courir de Mardi Gras de Eunice. I'll be back later in the week with stories, pics and gastritis.

You've gone all Sideways, man!

2005-01-29T19:53:00.000-06:00

Shannon and I went to the Carmike to see this one on its opening night. We chose to go to the Carmike instead of the Grand because the Carmike gets indie pics (we saw the great "The Whale Rider" there last year) and we want to encourage this behavior. Besides, I find the kids that work there to be gracious (read: they laughed at my jokes) and helpful. I even killed some time waiting for the movie to start by talking to the ticket taker and it turns out he and I shared the same distaste for pseudoscience dressed up as science by using the word "quantum" (I'm looking at you, "What the (bleep) Do We Know".) And the stadium renovations have been completed so they can now compete with the big boy on Johnston St.

As for the movie, well, its great, certainly one of the best of 2004. And as opposed to many other comedies that are front loaded with laughs, this one actually gets funnier (and sadder) as the movie goes along. I think many movies lose their comedic steam as they progress because they start with situational gags and then have to drive the plot forward with more traditional exposition. But since Sideways is character driven, its not the situations per se that are funny, but the characters response to them.

Paul Giamatti is the slope shouldered antihero for our time (if you have not seen "American Splendor" you are missing the best movie of the past five years). Put upon and miserable, but not misunderstood, he is somehow both cynical and hopeful. He can make the most pathetic character sympathetic. And oh, is he ever pathetic as Miles the insufferable asshole oenophile in Sideways. As a struggling novelist, he's a very successful drunk. His love and knowledge of wine both inform and deform his life, work and relationships. But every misstep he makes is understandable and indeed logical. What else could he have done but to follow his life down this unfortunate path? I have to admit, every time Giamatti made me cringe in this movie, it was because I had done the exact same thing.

The real surprise here is Thomas Haden Church as the Jeff to Giamatti's Mutt. Church plays Jack, a fading ex-soap actor who doesn't mind trading on his d-list has-beenism in the pursuit of sex. His wedding is the reason for the week long road trip that the two college buddies are embarking on, and Jack, pussyhound that he is, wants to make sure he has as many flings as possible before getting married (although it seems that the wedding probably won't slow him down much). Church (Lowell in the forgetable sitcom "Wings" and Ned on the forgotten sitcom "Ned and Stacey") plays Jack as the poster boy for the unexamined life who takes going with the flow to an almost Zen level of shallowness. Church must be a good actor, because he comes off as stupid and vacuous as many of the men that I have known in real life (myself included, at times).

So who will like Sideways? Well, if you've read this entire review, you will. Only the most rigidly dogmatic thinkers and those that just can't be bothered to contemplate their own life and loves during a movie will feel they didn't get their money's worth. And that's only, what, 75% of the movie going public?

Electile dysfunction

2005-01-29T08:49:00.000-06:00

SO here we are, on the eve of elections in Iraq. But will the election be the panacea that some hope it will be? Bush has expended alot of political capital by holding on to this date even though the country is nowhere near stable. And since these elections are seen as the first step toward ending the occupation, Mr. Bush needs for them to seem credible, important and effective. I think he will have a tough time making his case on all three counts.

In order for these elections to pass the sniff test for credibility, all segments of Iraqi society must feel engaged by the process. That obviously won't happen. Many Iraqis (not just Sunnis) feel that the whole system is illegitimate because it is being thrust upon them by an occupying army. It has helped that Shi'ite Grand Ayatollah Sistani has endorsed the elections, but there are still many Shiah who are very skeptical. And of course the Sunni turnout will be very low (The Zogby poll predicts that 9% of Sunni's will vote). Even the Iraqi President states that turnout will be low and that any government that does not have Shiah, Kurd and Sunni participation is doomed.

As for the importance of the elections, here Bush has laid it on as thick as he can to attempt to instill the feeling that we have truly given the Iraqis the gift of freedom. But how much value does a vote have in a failed state? And what kinds of votes will the Iraqis have when the seats of power have been consolidated? Will they truly have the power to choose the kind of government under which they will be ruled? Or will the next strongman to concentrate his power simply restrict the choices of the populace to those that will not challenge his authority (a la Indonesia and Egypt)? Or will he simply suspend elections in the name of national security?

Democracies do require care and feeding. They don't just form in a vacuum. Without a history of any of the institutions that are important to keeping democracies alive (independent judiciary, rule of law, free press, church/state separation, separation of powers, etc.), how will this fledgling democracy sustain itself? Complicating this further is the fact that the US has let the Iraqi government know that only a market based democractic capitalism will be allowed, even though they have no experience with it (the Enlightenment was not as big a hit in the Middle East as it was in the West, don't ya know...). Monarchy, theocracy, oligarchy and socialism are the preferred historical antecedents in Iraq. If you surveyed the Iraqi people as to what form of government they would prefer, democratic capitalism would come pretty far down the list. Polling indicates that the communists will probably be the third or fourth largest political party. Don't get me wrong, I think that democratic capitalism is a fine system of government, maybe even the best. But then again, I don't read the Koran nine hours at a stretch while sitting on a bare floor rocking back in forth in religious ecstasy.

So there you have it, the major obstacles to a successful and independent Iraq, as I see it. But have you ever heard this administration honestly discuss even one of these points? Well, they just don't come up in the talking points, do they? The only thing you can count on is that no matter how big a debacle this adventure turns out to be, the administration will claim it is a success because the Iraqis were allowed to vote. And when the cure-all of elections fails to bring stability to Iraq, the President will start to shift the blame to the Iraqi people.

Internet cliche of the day

2005-01-27T21:10:00.000-06:00

Ok, ok, I know nothing is lamer than all those dumb internet quiz deals, but this one is pretty cool.

You're Watership Down!

by Richard Adams

Though many think of you as a bit young, even childish, you're
actually incredibly deep and complex. You show people the need to rethink their
assumptions, and confront them on everything from how they think to where they
build their houses. You might be one of the greatest people of all time. You'd
be recognized as such if you weren't always talking about talking rabbits.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Link Review

2005-01-26T15:20:00.000-06:00

See those things on the left there? Those are the links that I traffic the most. Suspect Device is a great link for two reasons. First, Greg Peters is one of the most talented political cartoonists I have ever read and, believe it or not, his beat is Louisiana in general and Acadiana in particular. B) He has a great blog that keeps you updated on the banana republic that is Louisiana politics. Check him out and let him know that MGIFOS sent ya.

Ok, here's the deal...

2005-01-25T18:49:00.000-06:00

A new feature here on MGIFOS (ok, the only feature if you don't count sarcasm) will be the "Ok, here's the deal..." segments. When you see that headline, you know that some inane, absurd, asinine, daft, ditzy, driveling, fatuous, foolish, idiotic, illogical, imbecilic, innocuous, insipid, jejune, jerky, lamebrained, laughable, meaningless, mindless, nerdy, ridiculous, senseless, silly, trifling, unintelligent, vacant, vacuous, vapid, weak, worthless (those are the only synonyms of inane I could think of off the top of my head*) observations that I think are important enough to shoot out into cyberspace are going to follow. So be forewarned- Ok? Here's the deal...

Dasani is Coca Cola's brand of water. "Clean, purified, non carbonated water product" as it says on the website. It is sold in Coca Cola vending machines next to the other Coke products. It is, of course, the healthiest option from which to choose. No sugar, sweeteners, carbonation- I mean it's water, ferchristsake. Classic addition by subtraction. You see, Coke uses the same bottling centers and techniques to produce Dasini but they simply don't add in all the, well, additives. But the beauty part is that they charge the same amount as every other product! They could easily program their machines to charge less for the water but why should they? They know we'll over pay for the privilege of not drinking a coke. So that's the deal.

(*by "think of off the top of my head", I of course mean "copy and paste from thesaurus.com")

The inaugural speech: a rebuttal

2005-01-21T22:05:00.000-06:00

There is no freedom at the barrel of a gun, Mr. President. Just as we could not force the Vietnamese into accepting our brand of liberty, so too are we seeing the results of the shoot first, think later (never?) policy of this administration. And now Condi, one of the architects of this debacle, is the diplomatic face of our nation. That should help alot in the nation building phase of this operation. So, while we train a defacto Shi'ite Army of Southern Iraq (>60% Shi'ite with no Sunni senior officers) that will lead the opposition against their former Sunni masters when the US pulls out, we wait to see what post election Iraq will look like.

We'll be asked to leave (see post of Jan. 4), so we can declare victory and come home. I mean, they voted, right? So we've helped spread Democracy to one of the most troubled areas on the globe and overthrown an evil-doer and, gee-whiz didn't we do good? And we will try to gloss over the fact that the new killing fields and torture rooms of Iraq are being run by the "security" troops that we trained and armed. And anyway, shit happens, right Rummy? Bush will say that those that resist "hate freedom" and not mention the messy details of the genocide and civil war that was our gift to the Iraqi people.

But I think there is one group that may benefit from the descent into chaos. The Kurds have several advantages: they already have a well armed fighting force (Peshmurga, anyone?); they live in a defensive mountainous region; they have an independent, functioning infrastructure; and they hold the key to the stability of the parliament(Kurd and Shi'ite cohesion can give at least the illusion of statehood). Because of this, they have several intriguing options- stay in the government and broker the strongest deal for an autonomous region that they can. Or they can wait for chaos to descend and declare statehood. With the Shiah and Sunni at each others throats, who could stop them?

Well, Turkey, Syria and Iran might give it a try. And while we have little compassion for Syria and Iran's Kurdish problems, we have promised Turkey over and over that we would never support a Kurdish state. Will we keep our word and undermine the only region of Iraq (and indeed the entire Middle East) that has a chance at becoming a true Western- style democracy? Or will we risk further alienating Turkey and peeling her away from NATO and back into her fundamentalist brothers arms? What will we do when the tanks roll in from Eastern Turkey and attempt to crush our best allies in Iraq? Won't it be fun to find out?

From the dept. of sour grapes...

2005-01-10T01:27:00.000-06:00

I know, I know, we're all tired of rehashing the last election. The people have spoken, and all that. But lets take one last look at who was speaking what to whom. This link says it all.

The Philippine option...

2005-01-09T21:35:00.000-06:00

Exit strategies are being discussed inside the beltway, according to the New York Times (you'll need to register if you've never visited the site before, you Philistine.) And, as usual, this story was being covered here at MGIFOS before the major media picked it up (see post of Tue. Jan. 4).

From the Times:
One possibility quietly discussed inside the administration is whether the new Iraqi government might ask the United States forces to begin to leave - what one senior State Department official calls "the Philippine option," a reference to when the Philippines asked American forces to pull out a decade ago.

and

Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, who had just completed a tour as commander of all marines in Iraq, said, "I believe there will be elections in Iraq in January, and I suspect very shortly afterward you will start to see a reduction in U.S. forces - not because U.S. planners will seek it, rather because the Iraqis will demand it."

Sure, he said that on Oct. 8th, but at least I beat the Times.

A full accounting.

2005-01-07T21:34:00.000-06:00

The National Guard has released the names of all the soldiers killed yesterday in the Bradley vehicle bombing. Six of the seven were from the Houma area. One man was from New York. The six Louisianians are Specialist Bradley Bergeron, Sergeant Christopher Babin, Private first class Armand Frickey, Specialist Warren Murphy of Marrero, Specialist Huey Fassbender of LaPlace, and Sergeant First Class Kurt Comeaux of Raceland.

It's going to be a terrible weekend in Houma. Our thoughts are with the families of those men killed in Iraq.

Details trickle in...

2005-01-07T17:13:00.000-06:00

The Advocate is reporting that most, if not all of the deaths from yesterday's roadside bomb ambush are likely to be residents of southeast Louisiana. They named one of the dead, Sgt. Kurt Comeaux, 34, of Raceland.

From the Advocate:

Officials told Comeaux’s family that six of the seven fatalities are believed to be a part of the Louisiana National Guard 156th Mechanized Infantry Charlie Company. The other soldier was from New York.

Charlie Company’s guardsmen come from Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes, New Orleans and the Morgan City area. The troops were deployed in October.

It looks as if the Lafayette area may have been exempted from the bloodshed this time. I certainly hope so. But there are 5 more families in Louisiana who are getting unwanted knocks on their doors. And my heart goes out to them.

Bad news on NPR...

2005-01-07T10:54:00.000-06:00

I just heard on "Morning Edition" that 5 of the 7 soldiers who were killed yesterday when a roadside bomb exploded next to their Bradley Fighting Vehicle were National Guard reservists from Louisiana. Apparently the names have not been released yet pending notifications. This literally strikes too close to home. More to follow...

Well, at least we're trying?

2005-01-06T22:36:00.000-06:00

The U.S. is sending a retired general to Iraq for an "open ended review" of the military's entire Iraq policy. Gen. Gary E. Luck (he's gonna need it...) will give his assessment of the whole Iraq craptastic mess to Rumsfeld in a few weeks in a "confidential" review. Who wants to bet the Washington Post or New York Times get their hands on it first? A boy can hope, anyway (any Pentagon operatives reading this who want to leak it to me directly, just leave it in the comments, please). If he's really independent and not just an administration lap dog, he'll come back and say we need lots more troops for lots more years.

But will his recommendations be rendered moot by events on the ground? What effect will the impending Iraqi elections have on our Iraq policy? The Sunni won't vote, the Shiah will win in a landslide. What if they then ask us nicely to leave on the next train out of Baghdad ? That will put us in the position of leaving and letting the place descend into civil war or staying and trying to suppress two insurrections. Or maybe we'll cut a deal with the some Shi'ite strongman and leave the place under another dictators control, but it will be more palatable to us because it will be Saddam's old allies, the Sunni, littering the killing fields. And the Kurds? With the Sunni triangle as a buffer, they can just let the other two factions fight it out. I truly hope I'm wrong, but I can't imagine Iraq as a stable democracy anytime soon.

Whenever I discuss the Iraq situation with someone who supports the war, their strongest argument is "But how can you argue that removing Saddam Hussein was a bad thing". I always answer "Because we can make things worse. This is worse." And I try not to scream it.

Clinton + Bush = love?

2005-01-04T20:03:00.000-06:00

W., doing a pretty good job at playing P.R. catch up on the Asian tsunami disaster, has appointed Bill and GHWB to be goodwill ambassadors for the good 'ol USA. Besides throwing his dad a bone, he also gets to co-opt the democratic opposition's stance by making Clinton his mouthpiece. And Clinton, out of election season, has chosen to accept instead of chastising from the sidelines. Also, W. sent his most popular (and that's not saying much) cabinet Sectretary, Colin Powell, and brother Jeb to help coordinate the relief. Why Jeb? Oh, he's got TONS of bad weather experience, what with those 3 nasty hurricanes (73 deaths!). Also, maybe just a smidge to do with getting some pub, some exposure, some ink and looking, oh, what's the word....presidential? Let's review. Jeb is the republican govenor of Florida. So he nails down all the red states with Florida probably in the bag too. That leaves...OHIO! It's a very attractive scenario to anyone who wants the repubs in power again. The toughest part will be getting the nomination. So lets see if Jeb finds religion in the next four years and cozies up to the fundies. I'm betting he does.

The year in pictures

2005-01-03T02:54:00.000-06:00

Let's introduce the cast of characters in our year in review picture series.

2005-01-03T02:52:00.000-06:00

Shannon, me and Tante Lee about to board the Pas Bons Head Start bus at 2004 Eunice Courir de Mardi Gras.

2005-01-03T02:44:00.000-06:00

B-boy kitchen pose down duel of death between my cousin Joel (l) and myself. It's obvious that I won...

2005-01-03T02:40:00.000-06:00

Emily (l) and Jessie in their prefered habitat, Chuckie Cheese.

2005-01-03T02:37:00.000-06:00

Shannon bundled up and out on the town.

2005-01-03T02:17:00.000-06:00

Shannon and our friend Lilly making a toast. These glasses were not full for long...

2005-01-03T02:11:00.000-06:00

Gabe, Emily and Jessie with the ever-present Barney hovering in the backgraound.

2005-01-03T01:53:00.000-06:00

Gabe with a friend at her birthday party. He already has to "too cool for the room" look perfected...

Auld Lang Syne!

2005-01-01T23:11:00.000-06:00

Well, another year has gone, and we bid adieu to stinky old 2004 in style. First we had a family toast- me, Shannon, Gabe, Emily and Jessie- to health, happiness and love for 2005 (with sparkling apple cider of course), then Shannon and I went to the Blue Moon Saloon and Guesthouse to get our Zydeco on. If you've never been there, the Blue Moon is the cajun and zydeco hipster hangout in Lafayette and it's always a blast. Corey "Lil Pop" Ledet opened for The Bluerunners and we did the hop and the two-step and even waltzed a few. We also spent alot of time hassling Cal, bass player for the Bluerunners, from just off stage with his wife, Melissa. You gotta hand it to a guy who can keep the beat while his wife and friends are yelling incoherently in his direction. At midnight we had our kiss, and our new year was off to a great start. Happy New Year everyone!

Now that's more like it!

2004-12-31T16:57:00.000-06:00

The U.S. is increasing it's humanitarian aid to tsunami victims tenfold to 350 million dollars. And all it took was 5 days of worldwide humiliation for our pitiful attempts at response.

Policy change...back to sanity.

2004-12-31T16:11:00.000-06:00

Just in time for Robeto Gonzalez's confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Justice Department has released a memo that "modifies" it's original stance on what constitutes torture, directly contradicting previous guidelines.

The previous guidelines drew the ire of concerned citizens because it stated that torture had to include "excrutiating and agonizing pain". With these guidelines, Abu Ghraib was made possible. And most Americans who saw those photos believe that the tactics they showed constituted torture.

Bur even more toubling F.B.I. memos have been obtained by the ACLU. These memos repeatedly refer to an “Executive Order” — the existence of which the White House denies — as justification for the techniques military interrogators used in Guantanamo: “We have also instructed our personnel not to participate in interrogations by military personnel which might include techniques authorized by Executive Order but beyond the bounds of FBI practices,” the top FBI official in Iraq, who is unnamed, said in a memo to officials in Washington.

Great. The F.B.I. has to reign itself in because it knows that these actions are illegal no matter what the executive branch is telling them.
But has there been any public outcry about these orders? Not much. But neither was there much interest in the Watergate scandal until it was revealed that the Oval Office was bugged and Nixon's actions could be directly examined. Perhaps if these memos come to light and people can connect the dots to those with their hands on the levers of power, the public will hold someone directly responsible. And as Iraq continues to drift toward anarchy, and as the American economy begins to feel the effects of war, deficit and isolation, the American people just might start looking around for someone to take the fall for this mess.

All of this reminds of a Mort Sahl anecdote I heard on Fresh Air yesterday. Remember when John Ashcroft had the statue of nude Justice covered up? Sahl says that was the last time justice was exposed in this administration. So funny 'cause it's true.

What the heck do we care?

2004-12-30T14:02:00.000-06:00

Are we stingy? Yes. While we give 40% of the world's total humanitarian aid, the US gives far less aid as a total of its GDP than any other western nation. (You'll need to register for this New York Times content if you haven't before. The New York Times.com has a ton of online content and is a link I always check when I surf.)

The world responds...

2004-12-29T13:06:00.000-06:00

The U.S. is taking its first steps to responding to the worst natural disaster of our lifetime.

The U. N. is proposing a tsunami warning system for Asia.

Public outcry (plus an abysmally low aproval rating) has forced Bush to become engaged in this event. But how much pressure will it take to get him to cooperate with the U.N. on building this system? Well, this could be a way to foster good will in the region and mend fences at the U.N. (as well as coopting a "liberal" viewpoint). Lets hope a cynical attempt at political cover forces him into doing the right thing.

Video from Asia

2004-12-28T22:11:00.000-06:00

Terrifying video of the Tsunami in action. The only link I could get to work on my crappy player from work was the one from Phuket. I wonder what was the fate of the two tourists who were washed away?

Unimaginable suffering

2004-12-28T19:50:00.000-06:00

As of this writing, more than 50,000 deaths have been reported in the Indian Ocean tsunami tradegy, and that number will no doubt grimly increase. More than one third of the dead are thought to be children. People were killed as far as 10 miles inland and entire islands are thought to have been swamped. This disaster has stopped two civil wars and forced at least some cooperation on the combatents. And the catalysmic repercussions will continue with disease, displacement and starvation.

And as this event grows to rival the most serious natural disasters in history, we are left feeling utterly powerless. It's even disturbing that we didn't cause it (like, say, global warming), because we know we can't even blame ourselves. Mother nature can be a heartless bitch.

But there are a few precautions that we can take.

From the New York Times:
In Japan, a network of fiber-optic sensors records any seismic activity and passes the information to a powerful computer at the Meteorological Agency, which estimates the height, speed and arrival time of any tsunamis and the coastal areas most at risk. Within two minutes of a quake, the agency can sound the alarm.

It turns out, there is an early warning system that tracks tsunamis. Begun in 1965 after a magnitude 9.2 earthquake caused flooding in Alaska, it serves the nations of the Pacific rim. But these are mostly affluent nations who can afford to install and integrate such high tech systems. Will the developed world step in to help prevent another catastrophe? Don't hold your breath.

Here is a harrowing first person account from an American tourist who was injured by the deluge. Note what she has to say about the American embassy's help compared to other countries' embassies.

They're grading hospitals now?

2004-12-27T02:00:00.000-06:00

Ever wonder which hospital in your town is really the best? Well, that may be impossible to ever know, but Medicare has started tracking treatments for 3 life threatening ailments, and they are going to be adding more. They even plan to track individual doctors results in the not so distant future. Here's a great article explaining it all-

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/25/health/25medicine.html?oref=login

And here's a link to the page that lets you compare the hospitals in your city side by side-

http://www.medicare.gov/Hospital/Home.asp?version=default&browser=IE%7C6%7CWinNT&language=English&defaultstatus=1&pagelist=Home

Guess which hospital graded out the best in my fair city? Why little old University Medical Center did! And it's a (gasp) charity hospital! I'm so proud.

Freeky-deaky

2004-12-27T01:40:00.000-06:00

This site has the best optical illusions I have ever seen.

Current internet addiction

2004-12-27T01:09:00.000-06:00

I have found a great way to waste some of the precious moments of your life-
http://atdelphi.com/index.php

What makes it so unusual, is that it is a free site (for now) where you can win actual cash value prizes.

From the wbsites FAQ:
@Delphi works in 2 week contests where participants are asked to submit predictions on a wide variety of topics including, but not limited to, sports, current events, politics and entertainment. Predictions are submitted and graded in numerous formats. Users might be asked for the final score in a college basketball game, or for a short answer on what they think will happen in the Middle East next week. Players are limited in the amount of predictions they can make. Each week users are asked to focus their predictions in their area of expertise. Users are able to allot 25 restricted (weekly) predictions on about 50 available questions. There will also be several daily predictions always available; players that have spent their weekly predictions still have a reason to check @Delphi, everyday. Weekly predictions are generally worth more than daily predictions. Contests are decided by point totals. Updated rankings are available on the leader board, and users can check their progress through the "my account" section of the website. The top ten users each competition earn prizes.

I visit this site every day to make predictions, check the leaderboard, etc. I've won 80 bucks in Amazon gift certifs. I figure I'm making about .03 cents per hour on this site, which is much more productive than anything else I do on the net. Like blogging...

Here we go...

2004-12-26T23:57:00.000-06:00

..into the blogosphere. Hello world! This will be a record of the musings of a GUY WHO GOT LUCKY (tm). I'm white, male and a US citizen, so I was pretty much born on 3rd base. (Warning- many baseball metaphors to come). Plus I am married to the most beautiful woman who ever had anything to do with me (I talk a pretty good game...) and have 3 amazing children. I love my job and have some of the best friends a guy could have. Hate me yet? Well, I'll promise to try not to be an insufferable asshole if you promise to read without predudice. So, onward and upward...