Archive for January, 2004
Michael Williams has a good quick post on the difference between anonymous and pseudonymous writing.
“Murdoc” is not my real name. I took the name from the character Murdoc Jern in the Andre Norton sci-fi series about the Zero Stone and also from the character in the A-Team (whose picture currently adorns my masthead) although his name is spelled Murdock. (Murdock liked planes and was clinically insane. For some reason, classmates in school thought that I reminded them of him, and my nickname was given to me.)
Murdoch is is also a common spelling for the name.
I use the pseudonym because I can maintain a certain amount of privacy for myself and also to shield family members from the shame that they would surely be subject to if my secret leaked.
(Remind me not to speak out about the whole yellowcake thing.)
I always ID myself as Murdoc when online unless dealing directly with personal friends or family, or if my true ID is needed for financial or other “official” reason.
I never use a different name when commenting on other sites, nor do I comment anonymously. I stand by what I say, and I don’t have a problem if others can see what I post. In fact, that’s a benefit to being consistent.
That’s all. Murdoc out.
I’m not really sure why I find these quizzes so intriguing. (via the evangelical outpost)
GUARDS CHEATED NUKE SECURITY DRILLS
Defense Tech has a chilling post about the security detail at the Y-12 facility in Oak Ridge, TN. Y-12 is “the nation’s ‘Fort Knox’ of highly enriched uranium.”
When a team of Y-12 rent-a-cops racked up a perfect score during an antiterror drill June 26, officials there were shocked. How could the guards have performed so well, they wondered, when a computer model had predicted that the defenders would lose at least half of their confrontations?The answer was simple: The guards cheated. They had seen the computer models of the strikes the day before they were launched, rendering the test “tainted and unreliable,” according to the report. And this wasn’t the first time it had happened.
Go read the post.
The Bush administration is weak on the actual ‘defense’ part of foreign policy. While we’re rolling billions into F-22 fighters and 767 tankers, sending troops across the globe, and rushing a prototype national missile defense system into place, we aren’t guarding thermonuclear material. We aren’t guarding the borders closely enough. Los Alamos, a favorite subject at Defense Tech, would be declared WMD-free by UN inspectors because everything keeps getting stolen.
I’m for taking the fight to the other shore. I’m for spending on military programs that will help us win the war. But can’t we post some capable guards here and there?
In related news, a reader yesterday emailed me a story about taping a damaged nuclear weapon back together. He used the subject line “Not sure this is a good idea.” Agreed. Defense Tech also mentions this story in the post.
This morning, a different reader emailed a different story about the same plant, and it also noted that workmen had accidentally drilled into a nuclear warhead’s core. The story is entitled “Homer Simpson let loose on US nuclear weapons facility.” Defense Tech also notes this one.
I don’t know the legal aspects, but the security cheating is traitorous behavior. Examples need to be made.
Eerily similar to those fishermen in Austin, TX.
Schools banish class honor rolls
Schools in Nashville have stopped posting honor rolls for fear that students who don’t qualify will be upset. Also, there’s apparently concern about the privacy of students’ academic records.
No, this isn’t Scrappleface.
After a few parents complained their children might be ridiculed for not making the list, Nashville school system lawyers warned that state privacy laws forbid releasing any academic information, good or bad, without permission.Some schools have since put a stop to academic pep rallies. Others think they may have to cancel spelling bees. Now, schools across the state may follow Nashville’s lead.
Silly. Amazingly silly. (via Tongue Tied)
USS Midway from 600 Kilometers
I never stop being amazed at what satellite photography can show us. Follow the link to a Strategy Page pic of the USS Midway at her new home in San Diego harbor.
UPDATE: This post has drawn quite a bit of traffic. I cleaned the flags up a bit from the state they were originally in. Feel free to copy and spread it around.
Cofani Funebri, an Italian coffin-maker, has a calendar featuring some of its wares along with female models, um, featuring theirs.
Bizarre.
(via J-Walk)
Budget Deficit Headed for New Record
Yes, the budget is a mess. Yes, we spend way too much. (I also believe that we tax too much, but that’s a different post.)
But when comparing budgets and deficits or anything relating to money, you had better compare apples to apples.
Bill Hobbs discusses how the deficit, while large, is not the largest when comparing it to the Gross Domestic Product.
The CBO numbers that everyone is wailing about aren’t even adjusted for inflation, for Pete’s sake.
In 1977, Star Wars broke all the box office records. After several re-releases, it has grossed over $480 million domestically. That broke (I believe) Jaws‘ record, which (also after re-releases) is currently at about $260 million. Makes Gone with the Wind’s $198 million look pretty paltry, doesn’t it?
If you look at the inflation-adjusted numbers, though, you’ll get a better idea of where films from different eras stack up against each other. GWTW is #1, followed by Star Wars, The Sound of Music, and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Titanic, the all-time leader in unadjusted dollars, is #6. Spider Man is only #35.
I agree that the budget is too big. But at least do some homework and simple arithmetic before spouting off about it.
I imagine that many MO readers also read Donald Sensing’s One Hand Clapping and Bill Hobbs’ HobbsOnline. If you don’t? Start.
Here’s their coverage of the “President Bush was AWOL from the Air National Guard” story.
Bush, Clark, Michael Moore and the charge of desertion on One Hand Clapping
Bill Hobbs has an entire category dedicated to the issue.
Scrappleface weighs in, as well, with Clark Thought Moore Called Bush ‘Desserter’. (Is ‘Scott Ott’ really a group of 8 writers (whose names begin with the letters S, C, O, T, T, O, T, and T – pulling the old ABBA trick)? There’s no way that one human brain could come up with such consistently good material day in and day out.)
Here’s MO’s take on the issue: I have trouble buying the whole “Bush went AWOL” idea, but I’m open to the possibility. I challenge the eventual Democratic nominee to make an issue out of it during the campaign. If Bush stonewalls, it will appear to be an admission of guilt and voters will know. If the charge is proven false, the voters will know.
But if we just get a lot of the same old same old, I’m not buying it. Bush is strongest on his foreign policy and the War on Terror. This AWOL charge could undo a lot of support for his leadership on those issues if true. If the Democratic challenger doesn’t play that card, I’m writing it off completely and forever.
(I will note that perhaps Clark’s handling of the issue may be the groundwork for such a move if he wins the nomination.)
And as for Michael Moore? Why on earth does anyone care if Moore endorses anyone? The only people who will be swayed by Moore’s opinion were already going to vote Democrat. The Democrats seem to be running a campaign to beat each other, not Bush. Whoever wins the nomination is probably going to get blown away in November.
Read My Lips – No Blurry Faxes!
(Hey, that’s a promise I can keep simply by not faxing MO to anyone.)
Blog Madness is a NCAA Basketball play-off tournament (exactly like the one Division IA football does not utilize) intended to showcase a blog’s best post in a head-to-head showdown with the rest of the blogosphere. Seedings and Region names are random and meaningless. (I’m in “Sports.”)
Lucky me, I get matched up with the juggernaut Amish Tech Support and their Orrin Hatch, Software Pirate? offering.
Oh, well. At least Blog Madness has a loser’s bracket.
Anyway, head on over to the page for my match-up and compare my offering (Who’s Naughty, Who’s Nice? – a Chirstmas season rundown of how terrorists might use our security and intelligence systems against us with little risk or cost) to theirs and vote for the better one. I’m going to refrain from voting, myself.
Also head around and check out the other match-ups. I plan to do so and will be voting on some of those games. Voting for the first round is open until 11:59 PM Tuesday.
