Today: day off from rowing.  

Dropped Fern off at OAK at 6:35AM for her flight to NY. Nasty storm brewing to the West and South. Never really got to Orinda but Jordan and I did the hill right after we got home in case it was moving in. It's not, apparently, just scattered cells.

Hail in San Ramon. Covered the ground in white ... nothing in Orinda.

Bruce Sterling speeches: 

This one on Open Source in 2002 ... amazing rant. And this one on The Internet of Things at eTech, another O'Reilly gig. Righteous stuff.

UAE and the US Ports second thought 

So the rumor is that the UAE will sell the part of its ports firm that would handle the US Ports to Cheney's buddies at Halliburton. One of the progressive/liberal blogs pointed to a hint of that yesterday ... I missed linking to it.

Is it better to have a sovereign nation outside our borders (with ties to the craziest of the islamic crazies) managing our ports or to have the worst of the money grubbing energy/military contractors? Who do you trust more? Call me crazy but I don't think there's any choice there. One's as bad as the other.

The only difference to anyone is that it would be another gift to Halliburton and the rest of the Bush croneys. If they can't pay off UAE, why not the Ameerican arm. How come we haven't heard a proposal that one of the Bush family fronts get the deal?

On Slandering a Dog 

You can't write a script for Best In Show II the movie that's half as sick or funny (in a sad sort of way) than reality. No names or breeds need be mentioned, but bringing suit for slander over things someone is reported to have said about a dog at a dog show?

And the person doing the complaining doesn't own the dog (even in part). The person's dog was used in the breeding. So the person has an interest in the reputation of the dog in question, but only as it applies to the parent dog's reputation as a sire.

Of course, it's all nonsense. People stand around the judging ring and say all kinds of things. Everyone has an opinion. Some are informed. Others are brain dead stupid. It's all part of the game.

And the person doing the complaining does more than the normal amount of criticizing. That person thinks nothing of expressing opinions, often very negative opinions. They're loud and hardly hidden. The idea that this person would pursue a slander suit is patently absurd.

But then the Dog Show world can be absurd. It's a shame. There are so many nice, amusing people. Nobody needs the nonsense.

On Stumbling into the Future 

In the 1970s, amateur radio stampeded into Digital Communications. Something called packet radio became all the rage and networks of 1200 baud packet radio sprang up. Bulletin Boards, like those dial-up dinosaurs flourished.

But the evil FCC rushed in and stamped it out over the issue of inappropriate content. Amateur radio is not allowed to carry commercial or broadcast data and anyone caught carrying such was punished, So Packet shrivelled and virtually disappeared. One of the three founding legs of the Internet was stamped out.

Now the Japanese government and amateur radio community has introduced a new digital technology with a standard and powerful gateway to the internet as it's central capability. It's a setup for a direct repeat.

It is to the nation's best interests (and particularly that of Homeland Security) that amateurs build out a robust data backbone independent of the commercial networks. Private systems, at no expense to the taxpayer, can provide capabilities likely to withstand other attacks and foibles. A substantial digital network independent of the Internet's backbones, at no cost from Public Sector coffers would be a comfort to FEMA and others, particularly if it were ideally suited to be coopted by the authorities in moments of extreme need.

Unfortunately, the US arm of the Japanese radio "consortium) (Icom, Yaesu, and Kenwood) do not appear to have moved the regulatory ball forward. There's no visible evidence that the new digital initiative has affected the regulatory regime. Without that, the whole thing is, effectively, doomed. Still born.

One would like to think that some level of policy consideration has been given to the deeper needs of the nation and the value of the amateur emergency service. One would like to believe that the key people at the FCC are in support of liberalizing the carriage restrictions and motivating the build-out of a medium-speed digital network.

Or are all the participants just rushing forward on the blind faith that significant build-out will result in FCC acceptance?

It didn't work last time.

On Zionist Hate Emails 

It's sad that the community of middle-class Jewish Americans continues ot be prey to the hate-mongers of the Zionist community.

It is hard to know whether the folly in Iraq is about Oil (hard to believe given the botched job of protecting the oil supply in Iraq) or Israel. The silence about the annexation of Jerusalem and the continuing brutalization of Palestine would imply that the real issue is Israel .. a counterpoint to the theory that it's really all about the Bush Family's Oil interests.

What do I know? What little I know is that I resent getting childishly transparent hate emails trying to play on "Jewishness" just like white-supremacists try to play on "aryan-ness". It's about as morally acceptable ... it's disgusting and embarrassing.

Is this real? 

Dave posts on yet another private experimental site. I'd love to help. Is this an invitation or a private conversation?

Watching Orinda. Watching the world.

Last modified: Saturday, March 11, 2006 at 1:44 AM.

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