UConn's Spring Bashed

The numbers of arrests and amount of damage done at this year's UConn Spring Weekend is nothing compared to what can happen at a really good soccer match, so what's the big deal?

Well, these are our children (the boomer generation's children anyway) who are behaving dangerously, imbibing large quantities of that sinful malt beverage (Keystone Light), and generally acting like idiots.  No one wants children to get hurt, so the concern is warranted, even if the media coverage isn't.

Why doesn't the UConn and Storrs community come up with a less costly, safer alternative, rather than just letting the students morph into alcoholic cavemen for a weekend?

Hold a big concert or other event where the alcohol is limited to a particular area of the stadium and costs too much for the students to buy in large quantities.  Students can dance, drink a bit, and laugh.  There's nothing wrong with blowing off a bit of steam before finals.

The cost of police, fire, ambulance and clean up crews for a controlled event would be far less than letting the students regress into beasts and run loose.

Of course, the students could stand to show a bit of restraint and self-respect in their celebration.  College students are supposed to be the best and brightest, not the drunkest and dumbest.

New Spaceplane Goes into Orbit

I'm going to be sitting at my desk Monday morning with four computers surrounding me in an attempt to buy space shuttle launch viewing tickets for the mission going up May 14.  This is one of the last shuttle missions, so if I miss this one, I really won't have another chance.

As I mentioned last week, the U.S. space program is going through some big changes, what with the cancellation of the Constellation project, and a call for NASA to work with private industry to come up with replacements for the space shuttles that stop flying this year.

But the government has already spent a lot of money on a potential shuttle replacement that launched into orbit Thursday.

Automated YouTube Censorship

Technology has yet to catch up with the new forms of entertainment that it has itself enabled.

Parodies using excerpts from Oliver Herschbiegel's 2004 film, "Downfall" have been removed from YouTube on orders from the movie's copyright owners, Constantin Films.  The dialogue for the movie is in German, and enterprising satirists have used short portions of the movie, replacing the English subtitles with their own.  The results are usually scenes of Hitler ranting in anger at his staff, with the translations indicating he is furious over, say, Kanye West's behavior at the MTV awards, or that the iPad can't multitask.

The problem lies in the way that Constantin Films had the clips removed.

Religion, Power, and Sex

What is it with political and religious standing that sends folks over the libidinous precipice?

The House Ethics committee is looking into alleged sexual harassment charges against Democratic Representative Eric Massa from New York.

Hindu holy man Nithyananda Swami has been arrested on charges of obscenity surrounding the release of a video showing him having a menage-a-trois.

Though old news, Mark Sanford contributed a new colloquialism to the vernacular.  "Hiking the Appalachian Trail" no longer means what it used to.

Pope Benedict is busy figuring out ways to apologize and seem genuinely concerned about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church while avoiding actually doing something about it.

And federal prosecutors are going after Doug Perlitz, a Fairfield, Conn. resident who is charged with having sex with underage boys enrolled in the schools that he is working to establish in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

Perlitz is not a priest or politician, but apparently the Rev. Paul Carrier is somehow involved in a potential cover-up.  Also, Perlitz established his educational programs with help from the Order of Malta, a Catholic charity group that happens to share its name with the island that Pope Benedict just recently visited.

This is all getting pretty ridiculous.

No Limits on Child Sexual Abuse

“Memories fade.” That is what the Hartford Archdiocese has said in its opposition to extending the statute of limitations in civil cases involving child sexual abuse.

It is a sure bet that the victims’ memories have not faded. Not one bit.

Child molestation victims who look for evidence that would help them bring a civil suit against their attacker currently have a time limit to do so. If they find the smoking gun on their forty-ninth birthday, they are a year too late, and the one who abused them is off the hook.

That is one of the big problems when dealing with child molesters, especially the priests that are so often in the news. They are secretive, quiet, careful, and in many cases, someone the child trusts, making it all the more difficult for the victim to come forward. And in the cases of the priests, the accused have the machinery of the Catholic Church working hard to help them keep things quiet.

The Church argues that extending the statute of limitations will bankrupt them. If they think that older civil cases will force the closure of churches and the loss of assets, they must think they are going to lose a lot of cases brought against them. Why would they think that?

As in the case of murder, there should be no statute limiting civil action in child sexual abuse cases. The damage is permanent, and so should the justice be.

My Coffee Beans Came From Where?

This is a civet.

According to the New York Times, this cat-like monkey-ish thing is a real coffee snob.  The folks at Starbucks have nothing on this furry guy.  Civets seek out and eat only the very best of the best coffee cherries in their Indonesian and Philippine habitats.

And then for whatever insane reason, Indonesians and Filipinos collect the partially digested coffee beans that the civets excrete in their dung so as to bring the world a great new high end beverage.

This has to be pretty close to the most revolting thing I've ever heard.

Up, Up, and Away...

When I was five or six years old, I wanted to be an astronaut.  Space:1999 was the coolest TV show ever in my book (yeah, well, the taste of a six year old is never to be underestimated).  I used to read, and re-read, articles on Apollo 17 and the Skylab missions in a couple of old National Geographic magazines.  Pop-Tarts never tasted so good as when eaten at 5 a.m. while watching the rockets launch for the Apollo-Soyuz mission.

Those were the waning days of America's outer space heroes, just a few years after Armstrong set foot on the moon.

Today, President Obama outlined a dream for sending astronauts to Mars and to the asteroids beyond, making up for his cancellation of President Bush's dream of sending men back to the moon and the Constellation project.

The Tax Man Approacheth

This year I waited far too long to do my taxes.

But as I was wading through the questions and forms of my e-file website, a thought occurred to me.  My employer submitted to the government the exact same information that they gave me on my W-2.  And my bank sent the government the same information that they sent me on my 1099s.

I also noticed that each daycare service for my kid, and charitable organization I gave money to, and my employer, and my wife's employer, and my kid's college savings fund -- all of them -- have identification numbers on all of their paperwork.

And the little light inside my head turned on.

Blumenthal for Senate

Richard Blumenthal is Connecticut’s best choice for the U.S. Senate.

Blumenthal’s service to the country and to Connecticut is admirable:  honorable service in the Marine Corps Reserve, member of the Connecticut state house and senate, and his five-term service as State Attorney General, which he continues even as he runs.

What he will contribute the most as a U.S. Senator is his drive toward not only shaping law, but enforcing it.  It does no good to enact legislation with no teeth.

While he lacks the flash of Linda McMahon, the bluster of Peter Schiff, and the small town earnestness of Rob Simmons and Merrick Alpert, Blumenthal has shown he has conviction and an understanding of the problems our state and nation face.

More Features for the iPhone, but First a Word from our Sponsor

Does anyone make a product that people will buy such that they can make a profit selling it just by itself?  I'll explore this question, but first...

(Swirly advertisement that flickers, pops, and covers half of your screen) -- "Beautiful health reporter, who is actually a well known French TV news reader and not a health reporter, reveals the truth about acai berries and teeth whiteners -- click here!!!!!"

Not content to simply sell miniature applications for the staggeringly popular iPhone, iPod Touch, and now iPad, Steve Jobs is taking his Apple toys into the iAd space.

The Reverend Barbie

And now, an Episcopal priest with a truly unearthly 39-21-33 figure.  The vestments don't really flatter her though.

Barbie has served as a number of different role models for young girls, but mostly she has been an unattainable ideal of femininity.  Simultaneously loved and reviled, she has survived all sorts of revolutions and changes of thought toward the womanly self-image, relatively unscarred.

She now has the chance to become a part of the oldest of old boys' clubs -- the Church.

Lots Going On...

There are those news days when there is a lot happening, but not much to say about any one thing.  So let's take a quick scan of the headlines, shall we?

Violence and unrest in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and other cities, as opposition leaders overthrow the government, leaving "dozens dead".

Although Tea Partiers have been particularly vocal since Congress provided all of their children with health care, at least it hasn't come to blows.  It's good to know that protests in this country are still legal, and still peaceful, apart from the bricks that went through some windows and the threats of violence against members of congress who voted for the bill.  I defend the Tea Partier's right to speak their mind, but they need to dial it back and keep it to dialogue and intelligent discourse, and not take Kyrgyzstan as an example of how to do things.

New England Neighbors Shoot (For) the Breeze

It's reassuring to see that some of President Obama's green energy policies are making some headway, and a small source of pride to see two New England states leading the charge.

According to the New York Times, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are neck and neck in the battle to become the first state to host an offshore wind farm to generate electricity.  The rivalry of the two neighbors has meant progress has been reasonably swift for both states.

But I hope Rhode Island's approach to establishing the wind farm is the one that prevails in the long run.

CT Taxes TARP bonuses

I'm glad the Connecticut legislature had the cojones to tax TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) bonuses.  It's about time that those who have sacked and plundered the local and national economy pay back some of what they've stolen.

Having been a sailor on a sinking ship for all of 2009 myself, it has astonished me that the captains who steered the ships off course in the first place should be rewarded for drilling big holes in the hulls.  And it's been all the more stunning that they should receive generous bonuses (made up of taxpayer's money) when it's been the very taxpayers whom they have screwed who have saved their sorry gluteus maxima.

One Step Forward, One Step Back

That's one small step for health care, one giant leap backward for U.S. energy policy.

In the wake of last week's relative victory for health care reform, President Obama decided today to shift the big fast car from fourth gear directly into reverse by ending the ban on drilling for oil along the Atlantic coast.

I see this as the same kind of mistake that the U.S. Mint has made each time it has tried to introduce a $1 coin into general circulation.  Why do you suppose we still use dollar bills far more than dollar coins?  It's because the Mint refuses to actually REPLACE the bills with the coins.  If you want to introduce a new form of currency to supplant an old one, you have to take the old one out of circulation.

I Wish I Could Write Like Maureen Dowd

Maureen Dowd has a turn of phrase to die for.  My last nine years of technical writing experience has obviously blunted my ability to one day craft a phrase like Dowd's that is as lyrical as it is stinging.

Part of it is practice, obviously.  If I wrote opinion columns instead of engineering manuals, I might at least stand a chance.  Part of it too is material.  Being a part of the Washington press corps, and among the D.C. news elite would be enough to give anyone ammunition to write something sensational.

As a person, she's a tough nut to crack.  Her feminist viewpoints may rub some the wrong way, but she does, after all, have a woman's point of view.  And as a woman in a generally male-dominated job, maybe she needs to speak just a bit louder to be heard.

Equally at home criticizing President George W. for being lazy, and President Bill Clinton for being a lying womanizer, no one seems immune from her gaze.  If she has an agenda, it seems to be to provide a wake up call to those who go through life half asleep.

And maybe that's the way a lot of columnists should operate.  Call out those who have it coming, regardless of their politics or prior good deeds.  Praise those who deserve it.

And always do it with eloquence.

Connecticut News Alternatives

I began to read what are called "alternative newspapers" years ago as a poor graduate student.  Okay, it was because they were free and I couldn't afford a subscription to "real" paper, but the locally-focused journalism to be found among the ads for strip clubs and escort services was always top notch.

The same holds true today for the Connecticut-based New Haven Independent, Connecticut Mirror, and CT News Junkie.  Each site focuses on local issues, events, and points of view with journalistic flair.   Surprisingly, all three sites manage to do this without advertising, relying on grants from foundations or the support of local readers.

The Independent is intensely focused on stories from within New Haven, or on how statewide issues affect New Haven.  Stories about gang violence, environmental activism, and community development fill the page, providing very human stories to be found in the city's varied neighborhoods.

Information Alone Does Not Make One Smart

I remember how excited I was to have my very own library card when I was a kid.  I could pick out whatever books I wanted, take them home, and enjoy them at my leisure.  As I got older, that card allowed me to do research for homework topics and get study aids for exams.

Admittedly, as an adult, I don't use my library card much anymore, preferring to look up information on the Internet, usually starting with a Google search.

Nicolas Carr asked the question, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" in the July/August 2008 edition of The Atlantic.  True, Google is certainly changing the way people look for information.  But is this means of searching for information, and the ways in which it has changed how we approach a problem that needs solving, made us stupid?  Well...

The GOP Should Stay Away from Tea

In the interest of full disclosure, the Democratic Party is not "left" enough for me.

Which means it is a rare occasion that I will give the Republican Party some well-meaning advice:  stay away from the Tea Party.  Seriously, just walk away.

Given the violence and vandalism of the last few days that have been perpetrated on various Democratic members of Congress, it is clear that Tea Partiers are more about fanatic zealotry than any kind of rational thought or ideals.

And this violence is over something as relatively benign as health care for U.S. citizens.  What would be happening if instead of health care, Congress had been considering going to war with another country?  Oh, sorry, I guess we already did that one.  I guess helpful domestic agendas are all that's fair game right now.

A Vote for Progress Not Fear

According to Rep. Boehner of Ohio, the American people are "frightened" of the health care reform bill that narrowly passed in a vote late Sunday.

What exactly are they afraid of?  Are they afraid that when they apply for health insurance for their diabetic child they'll actually get coverage at a price that leaves enough in the household budget for heat in the winter?  Are they afraid that if they lose their job, they'll be able to continue to get health insurance at a rate they can pay until they find work again?

Those questions don't even make sense.  No one is afraid of being able to see a doctor and get treatment and still be able to buy food.  No one is afraid of not owing a hospital thousands of dollars for treatment of a loved one.

The government is stepping in and telling the insurance companies to stop screwing the American people, and it's about time.  And while it is not going to result in a perfect system, it will result in a better one.  Yesterday, House Speaker Pelosi was right in saying they were voting for progress.  Let's hope that progress keeps marching forward.

The Truth About Socialized Medicine

My first stint in graduate school was at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.  Having seen the Canadian health system at work, I can say, unequivocally, and without reservation, that universal health care works.

During my time in Vancouver, a good friend and lab mate of my wife came down with a nasty kidney infection.  She checked into the University Hospital, had a shared room with one other person, for a couple of the six or seven days of her stay, and, when she was better, she signed on the dotted line and was released.  She was good as new, and payed exactly nothing out of pocket -- zero dollars -- for her entire hospital stay.

As any starving graduate student in the U.S. would know, a hospital stay of a week or more would mean having to decide between paying for a semester's worth of classes, or paying for the treatment of whatever sickness with which they were afflicted.  There would be no way to accomplish both.

Many years later after returning to the U.S., I got to see what high-deductible, low-cost insurance provides for low-wage and small business employees in the U.S.  And while my sister in law received decent treatment for her cancer after she was diagnosed, it came far too late in the game.  If she'd had Canadian-style insurance that had allowed her to afford simple regular checkups that might have caught the tumor early, she might still be alive today.

Deaths at Srebrenica Because of Gay Soldiers???

I almost don't know where to begin.  This has got to be one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.

Retired Gen. John Sheehan stated before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that poor morale over openly gay Dutch soldiers was partially responsible for the failure of NATO forces to prevent the city of Srebrenica from being overrun by Serbian forces in 1995.  Some 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed in the massacre.

But to suggest that poor morale over openly gay Dutch soldiers was part of the problem is outrageous.  There are no single words that can adequately describe how stupid a statement that was.

The Dutch Chief of Staff at the time of the Srebrenica incident has called Gen. Sheehan's remarks, "total nonsense".

That's a good start, but there are so many other words for it:  stupid, idiotic, blinkered, bigoted, homophobic.  Did I mention "stupid" already?

Supersonic Crazy People

It's Crazy People Day on the science and technology pages.

The BBC reports that technical glitches on the Bloodhound supersonic car have been fixed so that progress can be made on an attempt to break the world land speed record.  The car -- if one can call a hybrid aircraft/rocket engine with a steering wheel a car -- is being designed to drive 1,000 miles per hour (yes, 1,000 mph!), or about 30 percent faster than sound at sea level.

So long as the car doesn't fly off the ground (and the designers have apparently fixed that problem), they should be good to go late next year, with Wing Commander Andy Green strapped into the beast and hitting the gas.

And lately Toyota has been getting all the press about going fast...  I'll say it again.  1,000 miles per hour on land.

Starbucks Must Be a Dangerous Place

The next time I go to Starbucks, I must remember to go packing heat, out in the open, where all the baddies can see my big gun so they won't mess with me.

Starbucks, that genteel neighborhood coffee store, is finding it is becoming the battlefield upon which gun control advocates and gun enthusiasts are going to have themselves a big showdown.  Folks have been showing up at Starbucks, among other places, brandishing their handguns openly in holsters around their waists, ensuring that their state right to do so has not been, and will not be, infringed upon.

I know that at one point it seemed as though there was a Starbucks on every corner, but these franchises must be in some pretty bad neighborhoods if people feel they need to be carrying firearms just to go get their tall soy milk double-shot latte.

More Spectrum for Mobile Broadband

The FCC may be biting off more than it can effectively chew.

Next week, details of the "National Broadband Plan" will be unveiled, which are expected to cover the voluntary reallocation of unused television broadcasting spectrum, the establishment of a national mobile broadband network for first responders (fire departments, police, ambulances), and the delivery of mobile broadband services to rural areas of the country.  All of these initiatives are meant to leverage, "our country's mobile broadband leadership opportunity," and meet, "our global competitiveness challenge."

While the country's wireless service providers are drooling over the chance to acquire more bandwidth to serve their data-hungry audience, I think the FCC is counting on a lot of cooperation from all the parties involved, including those who have the most to lose.  And I don't think everyone is going to be so ready to play nice.

If It's a Broken Code, Don't Fix It

(No news in this one -- I just had to write about this album I heard.)

I'm a bit particular about the music I listen to.  It's taken me many years to even consider listening to music from genres outside my usual preferences.  And today I found one that knocked me out.

What I know of today's rap and hip-hop artists would fill a mighty short blog post, but I'm going to fill this one with praise for "A Badly Broken Code", by the singer-rapper Dessa.

I first heard a few bits of Dessa's record on an NPR feature a few weeks ago, and at first I didn't think a lot about it.  But snippets of the sound kept rolling around in my head, with snatches of melody and attitude that just stuck with me.  I finally dug in a bit more and I have to say this record is exceptional.

Drink to Keep from Getting Fat?

There is one thing about having a drink after work, or with dinner, that nearly every health study in the world seems to miss:  a bit of alcohol in the system relieves stress.  Maybe that's why there's a benefit to having the occasional drink?

According to the NPR Health Blog, a report from the Women's Health Study at Harvard University states that their study of women over 39, who started at a "normal weight", and who had a drink several times a week, tended to put on less weight than those who did not.  (Note they didn't lose weight, but they didn't get obese.)

The researchers are not entirely sure what caused this effect, but suspected that women who drink a bit tend to eat less (consciously trading food calories for drink calories), or that alcohol is metabolized differently than other sugars.

These points may be true, but as most health benefit studies surrounding alcohol go -- red wine leads to fewer heart attacks, for example -- one key point keeps getting missed.  Alcohol is metabolically, as well as socially, relaxing.

Water, Water Everywhere, but Running Out of Drops to Drink

Did you know that the water in your toilet is perfectly safe to drink?

Well, that may not be quite true.  The cleanliness of the serving vessel has quite an influence on the potability of the contents.

But the billions of gallons of water that are used to flush away human waste on a daily basis comes from the same supply as the drinking-quality H2O that runs from the tap.  Robert Glennon, professor of Law and Public Policy at the University of Arizona gave a lecture at Quinnipiac University recently, related to the contents of his book, "Unquenchable: America's Water Crisis and What to Do About It".

While the points he made about redistribution, selling water as a commodity, and methods of human waste disposal were compelling, there was an underlying current of government intervention that is absolutely required in order to make his "free market" ideas work.

Poor communities cannot pay for water as a product, and he admitted as much.  Alternative waste disposal methods and redistribution schemes will require government incentives and oversight.  The free market will not be enough to change the status quo.  America's culture of greed simply will not allow it.

Let us hope that Prof. Glennon can get the attention of our government leaders who may be able to do something about the oncoming water shortage before we all dry up.

Not Just Toyota...

It seems that cars are just dangerous beasts, whether you spend a lot or a little.  Some of the really expensive ones are surprisingly nasty.

In the wake of Toyota's grilling by Congress over its epidemic of runaway cars, NPR News did some digging and discovered that Toyota is not the only company that has had problems of this sort over the last 20 years.

Looking through the tables, it seems that neither luxury nor cheapo brands are immune.

Land Rover had more than 10 complaints per 100,000 cars sold in 1990, 1995, 1999, 2000, and 2002-2005.  Jaguar had a similar level of complaints for 10 of the last 20 years. Volvo, which prides itself on safety had five pretty bad years.  Mazda and Suzuki each had six years of complaints at this level or higher.

By comparison, Toyota landed in the doghouse in five of those years.  And these were all complaints about uncontrolled acceleration.  It's a sure bet there are lots of other problems that are worth noting as well.

Unnecessary Delays in Cheshire Trial

It is hard to fathom why justice is moving so slowly in the trial against Steven Hayes.

For Dr. Petit's sake, the state needs to do whatever is needed to make sure Hayes will be brought to swift justice.  If that means turning the lights off now and then, and making sure he takes his medication, then they need to find a way to do this.  He doesn't need the Hilton, just to be sane enough for justice to be served.

There is no reason for the courts to call a halt to all proceedings while complaints about Hayes' sleeping arrangements are processed.  A potential jury pool can be interviewed, ready for when Hayes is deemed competent to face them.  If the prison's chief psychiatrist is on vacation, the deputy should be able to fill in. Any prison nurse can provide him the proper medication.

And if Ullmann plans on using any more measuring sticks to determine if Hayes is being treated inhumanely, he should ask Dr. Petit for his thoughts on that night at his home in Cheshire.