Punderings

I was going to make a pastiche of headlines, like “Celtics point at public sector food crisis tension with Obama Squaws”, but I couldn’t make it sound realistic.

Yes, today I was on a business trip, staying at a business hotel, and got my morning business delivery of U Today. That’s USA Today, of course; but the SA is obscured by the ubiquitous business sticker placed there by the hotel staff.

A couple of things struck me about the front page and news section of Today’s USA Today. One is the unusual and unexpected pastiche of stories featured on the front page. The other are the several local references that snuck in throughout the news.

On the cover we have the center page piece about the Egyptian food crisis, with riots over loaves of bread. While this is serious news, the reportage was so dramatic that I was surprised I hadn’t heard much about it before. Admittedly, I rarely read the newspaper, but still, if there regular deaths in riots over food, I thought I would have heard about it somewhere before this.

In other news news, we have public sector hiring, political coverage of Obama dumping his pastor, and a variety of sidebar tidbits. We also have the item about how pressure is mounting to drop the word “squaw” from geographic and other names. While I admit that this could well be seen as a derogatory and offensive word in some circles, I wasn’t quite sure that it was front page news; not at least without some specific event to the story, besides it’s generic coverage of the issue. Did you know there’s a U.S. Board on Geographic Names (Federal), with authority over naming rights, and that they have an Antarctic Committee? I suppose I learned a significant new fact from that.

Still, it was … intellectually disappointing that this was the big news. Generic story on place name changes, and then politics which are merely a politician distancing themselves from something controversial someone else said. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just be respectful with names, and could actually evaluate candidates on who they honestly were?

In any case, I was certainly pleased to see the Celtics, at least to make the appearance, as well as several other local references. They did give a different perspective from an insider’s point of view. For example, our great Commonwealth turns out to be not so great in terms of reporting child deaths from abuse: a D- is a sobering addition to a sobering issue.

But Today’s USA Today believes in the sobriety of our firefighters, in it’s Nationline sidebar about firefighters attending a memorial. I support their hard work and am glad they attended the memorial, but I would have expected the story to mention our local controversy, instead of merely closing with “80 people died in MA due to work-related injuries”. What, a federal probe and the other recent busts doesn’t rate 5 words? We do need our firefighters, since 400 North End customers are still without natural gas, as the per-state news tidbits note.

We also need politicians who are comfortable with themselves. In “The Forum” editorials, an bit about how national governments are using PR firms to combat perceived slights or misquotes by others. The writer points out that this is often seen in countries who have historically uncomfortable governments – who are “candidates uncomfortable in their own skin – sovereign versions of Mitt Romney”. There’s a mouthful, both of truth, as well as a lovely comparison between Mr. Romney and sovereigns, which somehow seems amusing. I know, I know, the only true royalty around here go by the K-name, but it’s all in the attitude of who you think you deserve to be, I guess.

At this point, I just think I deserve to be asleep, so I will apologize, dear reader(s), for not skwering the rest of the nation’s daily paper for you. P.S. Please keep the Pike eastbound clear for Thursday evening’s commute, since I’ll be driving home, and it looks like it’ll be rainy again. Don’t forget: you should probably get out a little early and drive safely in the rain, and remember to leave a little extra time to get home when it’s wet and slippery.

Geir’s blog says it so eloquently. Read the open letter and recall the ASF won last year.

Committers note: the ASF SVN server is being worked on; https and write access are temporarily disabled. ASF Nagios link; wait for updates from infra@ please.

The time comes in a man’s life to accept that substandard tools aren’t worth the extra effort they require. My question to you, dear reader, is: what parameters are important to consider when buying a laptop of superior design?

Sure, I’ve played with Macs before, but I don’t know if any of the various options (different memory cards, if 2.4 is really better than 2.1, etc.) really affect how it works. Note that I’m really just looking for a couch machine, not a compile box or a gamerz console. We just need something for looking up imdb while we’re watching our Netflix, normal webstuff; plus the normal Mac uses: iLife’ing our music pictures home movies everything.

Other than the decision to spring for the extra fat screen (at expense of filling your lap, causing the cats to have to sit next to you), versus the normal screen, is there any other really key aspects to think about when buying one?

Just got an email claiming that as a victim of a 419 Nigerian scam, I’m eligible for repayment back from the scammers who have now been arrested. Self-> referential, anyone?

For those fortunate enough to be in the great Commonwealth of Massachusetts, (I hope you) celebrate(d)! It was an especially nice weekend weather-wise too – this week (a local school vacation week) promises to be a first blast of summer.

For those in the US but not in MA (or ME or WI), well, you’re missing a great holiday along the lines of the fourth of July, except the 19th of April came first.

For those outside of the US, Patriot’s Day is the actual spark that began the whole American Revolution thing. For some of that which has followed – some would say especially the past few years, the best I can say is the old phrase oft quoted, that democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others.

In any case, I give the true spark of the origins of our country to Concord. For those not familiar, Google or your favorite search engine will offer a basic background, although detailed and properly-researched stories are not simple to find. Mental note: create a website that links to the best background sources for Patriot’s Day someday.

Short short version: troops of the British regular army (often wearing red coats, but not by any means all) marched out of Boston towards Lexington and Concord in the wee hours of the morning. Several staunch colonial patriots rode around to give the alarm, which summoned many of the local militias to their town commons. Now a lot of other things happened that day; but these are the things that strike me.

At dawn, Captain John Parker and some of his militia stood in a line on the far side of Lexington green. The redcoats marched up, and demanded they disburse. The militia briefly stood their ground, and then – we’re not quite sure how or who – shots were fired. Several militia were injured or killed, and the rest dispersed. Now this was clearly a serious incident, given that army troops shot and killed a number of (effectively) civilians. But at this point, the protest against the British government was still basically peaceful, and if this were all that happened, the revolution could have begun later.

About 7 marching miles later, the redcoats dispersed through the town of Concord, searching for military supplies. A number of troops also marched briefly across the Old North Bridge, where they saw a large number of militia men organized in several companies. Since the actual redcoats at the bridge were widely outnumbered, they retreated back across the bridge and took up a defensive position. The militia troops advanced on the bridge, calling for them to leave. As the militia got to the other side of the bridge, the redcoats opened fire – at first individually, and then in volleys. The militia returned fire, less organized, but in a fair volume.

While the encounter at Lexington could possibly have been ignored – a single mistaken volley to disperse uncooperative civilians – the full rank of militia firing back at the army troops could not. That was the act of an organized militia specifically declaring war upon an occupying army.

The differences in the original conflicts in Concord and Lexington are clear products of the fact that Concord is further away from Boston. Many more militia had had a chance to gather. Plus, the redcoats had actually burned just a few supplies in the town of Concord, which left the large militia that had gathered to wonder if their town was being burned down.

In any case, if the organized but very brief conflict at the bridge hadn’t been enough, the large numbers of militia troops from across New England that had gathered by mid-day ensured that the events of April 19th would be heard ’round the world.

P.S. Note: please do not confuse Patriot’s Day with, um, Patriot Day. Very different things.

Anyone know what particular spambot is generating the mail bounce messages today? P.S. Congrats to Fitz on being a Hackontest judge!

A few observations driving to work mid-day the day before Patriot’s Day (actual).

• How long does it take to build an Appleton? Seriously: just how long has there been a long row of contractor’s trucks parked atop the peak of Appleton St., on the Boston side? At least 2 years. They coulda built a whole new section of Tory Row by now, and it’s hard enough to drive up that street after shopping at the Fancy Stores for nibbles on my way into work.
• Who’s getting buried today? Not to begrudge the funeral procession on Mt. Auburn their due respect at all, but I waited for a detail cop (actually doing useful traffic direction work – imagine that!) to wave me on as no less than 4 cycles and one police car (Cambridge, I think) escorted a hearse, limo, and count them: about 3 funeral-marked cars. Musta been someone important.
• The tourists were out, at least a few. Sadly, there were no where near enough Bostonians jogging Memorial as I would have expected at 12:15p! That’s good, because a pair of construction workers were eating lunch on the bikepath across from Mahoneys, excuse me, across from yet another Harvard building.
• I did not specifically see people smiling, but then again I was driving to work. I also did not appear to be stuck behind any of the gross of MA licensed drivers who are reportedly 100 years of age or older, nor did I see any buses on fire, Fung Wah or otherwise.
• I did not eat any Solyent Green. Although I have seen an unusual number of references to it, without having seen the meme until I Googled it just now. Are people worried they’ll be eating a touch of the great Charlton Heston (R.I.P) in their Wheaties this week?
• I also did not see any electric longboards chugging uphill on Appleton St., either, although this link is worth a read. Although I suppose the Tories discourage that kind of behavior in their neighborhood.

Who’s all going to what Patriot’s Day celebrations? I salute all the reenactors who help bring this important holiday to life, especially the early risers and them’s that celebrate it on the day, as opposed to just doing it right before the Marathon.