verisimilitude

If the rumors were true, I wonder if he would have been happier...

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 23:11:31 -0700

If the rumors were true, I wonder if he would have been happier taking that job as baseball commissioner instead.

"In any event, this library was burned out by the Romans when they were adding Egypt to their empire...."

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 23:41:45 -0700

“In any event, this library was burned out by the Romans when they were adding Egypt to their empire. Or maybe it wasn’t. It’s inherently difficult to get reliable information about an event that consisted of the destruction of all recorded information.”

- Neal Stephenson referring to the Library of Alexandria.

"Alexandria and Cairo are joined by two separate, roughly parallel highways called the Desert Road..."

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 23:33:38 -0700

“Alexandria and Cairo are joined by two separate, roughly parallel highways called the Desert Road and the Agricultural Road. The latter runs through cultivated parts of the Nile Delta. The Desert Road is a rather new, four-lane highway with a tollbooth at each end - tollbooths in the middle not being necessary, because if you get off in the middle you will die. It is lined for its entire length with billboards advertising tires, sunglasses, tires, tires, tires, bottled water, sunglasses, tires, and tires.”

- Neal Stephenson

Will Ferrell doing his Harry Caray impersonation during the Home...

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:19:00 -0700

Will Ferrell doing his Harry Caray impersonation during the Home Run Derby. He is an Angels fan of course.

Thirsty Dog He has one absurdly long tongue and he knows how to...

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:27:44 -0700

Thirsty Dog

He has one absurdly long tongue and he knows how to use it.

The cup stayed on there for quite a while.

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:27:07 -0700

The cup stayed on there for quite a while.

The old cup (with gum) on the hat prank. Clearly the White Sox...

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:24:43 -0700

The old cup (with gum) on the hat prank. Clearly the White Sox pitchers were throwing well.

Re, re, re, re, re, re, re, re.

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 19:45:37 -0700

Re, re, re, re, re, re, re, re.

Flower in the Breeze A lightly breezy afternoon in the park.

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 12:12:13 -0700

Flower in the Breeze

A lightly breezy afternoon in the park.

Wind in the Willows? It really was a great day in Berkeley.

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:57:00 -0700

Wind in the Willows?

It really was a great day in Berkeley.

The magic knuckleball.

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:00:36 -0700

The magic knuckleball.

100 Views of Japan 100 favorite photos from our January trip to...

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 22:58:00 -0700

100 Views of Japan

100 favorite photos from our January trip to Japan.

What a crazy sport. How did this happen in the space of less...

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 21:07:54 -0700

What a crazy sport. How did this happen in the space of less than 24 hours?

If you have to get ejected, do what John Russell did and get...

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 21:06:23 -0700

If you have to get ejected, do what John Russell did and get ejected by the entire crew.

The picture runs over 100 minutes! From The Andromeda Strain...

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 18:16:59 -0700

The picture runs over 100 minutes!

From The Andromeda Strain (1971) trailer.

Intense devotion to the national pastime at the Supreme Court...

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:12:06 -0700

Intense devotion to the national pastime at the Supreme Court is not a new phenomenon. In 1973, while the court heard arguments during the National League Championship Series, Justice Potter Stewart passed a note to Justice Harry A. Blackmun that exhibited a nice sense of proportion.

This Bench Belongs in a Dugout (Slide Show)

David Adamo’s “Untitled (rite of spring)” NYTimes

Fri, 28 May 2010 10:59:00 -0700

David Adamo’s “Untitled (rite of spring)” NYTimes

“David Adamo’s “Untitled (rite of spring),” made up of...

Fri, 28 May 2010 10:57:11 -0700

“David Adamo’s “Untitled (rite of spring),” made up of baseball bats laid head to handle, is part of “Greater New York,” a survey of little known and emerging artists at MoMA P.S. 1.” NYTimes

Leon Panetta

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:38:11 -0800

Today the New York Times is reporting that President-elect Obama has selected Leon Panetta as his nominee for Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. This reminded me that I had taken a course in college from Mr. Panetta on public policy. It was a fascinating class, the highlight of which was Mr. Panetta telling stories from when he managed the federal budget and served as White House Chief of Staff. I recall one class where he had to step out of the classroom briefly to be interviewed by CNN, which had parked a massive satellite truck on the street outside.

I dug through some old boxes and found my final paper from that class. The title was American Intelligence Community: (not an oxymoron) Combating terror. In the paper I describe in detail the organization of the US intelligence community as well as the role the then position of DCI entailed. If you are using that paper for reference Mr. Panetta, I do wish to make a correction which is that you now report to the Director of National Intelligence and not the President. Sorry about the demotion.

I go on in the paper to list changes in CIA policy since 9/11 and to raise concerns about those changes, such as an apparent repeal of the Presidential directive prohibiting assassination. Of course the interesting question is, what did Leon Panetta think about my paper?

Much like this post, it seems I tend to ramble a bit and could use better organization. B+.

Here he seems to be agreeing with my stance that having a President with a “hands off” approach to targeted assassination is disturbing. Though, his hand writing is cryptic and difficult to read, so he could just as easily be disagreeing with my position.

His only other mark on my paper is to underline my concluding sentence about order versus freedom. Certainly the kind of question he will be weighing if he gets the job.

After spending a few months listening to the man discuss public policy, the political process, and managing governments, I was left with the impression he was honorable and decent, with a studied and diligent approach to problem solving. Exactly the kind of person I would want for the job he has been nominated for.

Step away from the Robot

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 23:30:00 -0800

To commemorate Denote shipping, I made this short video featuring my two favorite Christmas presents: Little Itch’s logo on a sweatshirt and a orange tripod robot, a.k.a. “My First Skynet Buddy”. The voice capture makes it all the more creepy.