New York City to open first gay high school.
I don’t know what to think about this. I’ve got some ideas though:
* How to does one determine who is gay enough to get in? Say I’m a geeky straight kid (not much of a stretch, eh?) and I get the snot beat out of me once a week in PS 134. If I’m not a homophobe, I’d try to get in. Harvey Milk has got what I want: rigorous academic programs, fewer (if any) bullies, and a high profile for getting into a good college.
* What about fat kids, geeks, jocks, cheerleaders, and trenchcoat mafia types? Shouldn’t they be given the same opportunity to have a supportive school to help them?
* By really pushing this school, the NYC school board is merely saying they couldn’t address the problem of tolerance in their public schools.
* I think the ex-Wall Street exec that’s the principal should have taken all his money and started a private school instead. Then no one can complain about government money being used to push a particular agenda. It’s no different than a Catholic school, a Jewish school, an art school.
So I guess I do know what to think about it. I don’t have a problem with an “exclusive” school, but I do have a problem with an “exclusive” school that uses public funds. Imagine if NYC opened a Jewish-only or Catholic-only school? How would that go over?
Posted on 29 July 2003
I want out, now!
Another interesting Salon article detailing a college Republicans convention. I realize the author did her best to find the extremists at the convention, but even the fact that people think this way is pretty scary to me. Even scarier are the excerpts from the Ultimate Warrior’s speech to the kiddies.
Posted on 28 July 2003
First, a bit of politics. Salon has a great piece on the widening divide between George W Bush and the neoconservatives and the traditional (small government, isolationist foreign policy, minimal government spending) conservatives within the Republican party. If you really think Bush represents the face of conservativism, read this article.
Then there’s the do-it-yerself GNU/Linux PVR. If I had cable I’d try it!
In case you live under a rock, Lance Armstrong won his fifth consecutive Tour de France on Sunday. I don’t think the organizers could have asked for a better storyline. First, an extremely close race for the yellow jersey (Armstrong won by just over 60 seconds). Second, Tyler Hamilton. The man (doesn’t he look about 15 years old) broke his collarbone on stage 1 and ended up in fourth place. There is another American to follow in the Lemond/Armstrong wake. Third, Jan Ullrich. He came to tour hoping to get in shape for next year, and he gave Armstrong the fight of his life. The amazing thing is he’s only 27. He will win several yellow jerseys before he’s finished.
Posted on 28 July 2003
Sebastien Loeb has won this year’s German Rally by a mere 3 seconds over Marcus Gronholm. It’s been quite a wild weekend, with multiple lead changes and nasty weather.
Both Richard Burns and Markko Martin held the lead at various points this weekend. Burns looked to be set to score his first win in a Peugeot, but things just went all wrong on Saturday, and Burns just couldn’t keep up with the rest of field. He had slipped as far as fifth, but a strong showing on Sunday moved him back into third, giving him enough points to maintain his lead in the drivers championship. Martin was foiled by mechanical problems with his Ford Focus. First, gearbox problems late on Friday moved him down the standings, then after charging back to the hunt on Saturday, more transmission problems had him fighting again.
Interesting technical note:
On friday, Martin lost 5th and 6th gear in the Focus and was forced to use manual shifting. Most of the WRC cars use semi-automatic sequential transmissions, meaning they only need the clutch to start and stop, and they shift via paddles or levels on the steering column. When Ford released the latest version of the Focus WRC this year, one of the “advancements” was combining the handbrake and manual shifter into a single unit to save space in the cramped cockpit (the handbrake is a key tool for the rally driver…it allows them to lock the rear wheels and swing the back of the car around tight corners, thus preserving speed and momentum). Well, in manual mode, Martin lost use of the handbrake altogether, and on the tight vineyard stages actually had to make 3 point turns (!) to get around some of the corners. I’m sure the Ford engineers suddenly didn’t feel so clever after Martin lost even more time.
Martin ended the rally in fifth place, after ending the day Sunday with more stage wins.
Citroen had a strong showing from Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz, with McRae taking 4th and Sainz 6th. Sainz also managed to hold onto second place in the drivers championship.
Skoda did not manage to get a new Fabia to the finish line, but both Toni Gardemeister and Didier Auriol were quite happy with the car, and Gardemeister managed consistent stage times, even cracking the top 10 several times (quite a feat given the limited number of retirements). Hopefully, given the rest of the schedule, Skoda will focus on tarmac testing, and we could see some good results by the end of the year.
It was quite a disappointing rally for Subaru. Petter Solberg said he felt “unwell” all weekend, and never managed to make an impact. He finished 8th, and still managed to collect a few points for Subaru. Tommi Makinen retired with battery trouble on Saturday. Yet another disappointing rally for Tommi — I don’t expect he’ll be returning next year. Hopefully Subaru can tweak the Impreza a bit before the remaining tarmac rallies so Solberg has a chance to get back into the championship hunt.
So, Richard Burns maintains a four point lead over Carlos Sainz and a five point lead over Marcus Gronholm. If Burns can race consistently over the course of the season, he should be able to hold off Gronholm and Sainz. With the points rules in place, Burns would not even have to win a rally this year, as long as either Sainz of Gronholm didn’t run the table (keep in mind Burns won the championship in 2001 winning only New Zealand).
Posted on 27 July 2003
Within only the superspecial at St Wendel this evening left, Richard Burns is back in the lead. Markko Martin stormed the middle stages, and looked to be the main to beat, until gearbox issues left him without 5th and 6th gears (not exactly ideal for the flat, wide stages later in the day). Martin has been bleeding time since SS5, and now sits in 10th place, over a minute behind Burns. Seb Loeb and Marcus Gronholm are breathing down Burns’ back, each less than 10 seconds off his pace. Colin McRae and Gilles Panizzi round out the top 5, but neither are within quick striking distance of the podium.
The Subarus aren’t having a great day, with Solberg one minute behind Burns, and Makinen just behind him. Hopefully they will sort things out tonight and be in the hunt tomorrow. The new Skodas are running well, with Toni Gardemeister in 12th, but still well within striking distance of a top 10 finish. Both Gardemeister and Didier Auriol say the car is running well, with only minor issues so far — a great start for the Fabia.
Tomorrow should be an interesting day. All eyes will be on Gilles Panizzi, since he’s yet to make his move on his favorite surface. Seb Loeb should also push things tomorrow, since he is so close to Burns, and he’s got to feel confident, having won the rally last year. Carlos Sainz has been quiet as well, not running as quickly as his teammates, but not running too far off the pace either. Right now, his chances of taking the lead in the driver’s championship look pretty slim.
Posted on 25 July 2003
Day 1 of the German Rally is at the halfway point, and there have been a few surprises. Richard Burns came out of the gate very quickly, setting the pace on SS1 and 2, but Markko Martin has responded and now has the lead after four stages. The surprises? Well, pre-race favorite Gilles Panizzi is roughly 40 seconds of the pace at the moment. Perhaps this isn’t too much of a surprise, given day 1 is run on the military grounds where Panizzi had a testing accident a few weeks ago. Added to that is the constantly changing surface (new tarmac, old tarmac, cement, cobbles, all mixed with dirt), but given his strong performances on the loose surface events this year, something seems amiss.
The new Ford Focus has been quick so far, and as long as Martin doesn’t run into mechanical issues, he should be gunning for a podium place. Colin McRae was also quite quick, though he lost a bit of time overshooting a junction on SS4. Marcus Gronholm has also stayed close to the pace, and is holding fourth place at the moment. Tommi Makinen and Petter Solberg are struggling a bit, currently holding down eighth and ninth, respectively. Solberg complained a bit at the first service about the Impreza’s power, but he’s picked up his pace a bit. And the new Skoda Fabia has been doing well on its maiden event, with Tommi Gardenmeister holding tenth spot at the moment.
More updates as the day goes on….
Posted on 25 July 2003
I’d love to write more on this article, but I’m trying to finish another long post. All I will say is…the government should stay out of this. If a state government decides a faith-based prison program is the way to go for prisoner therapy, and they can prove their citizens are ok with idea (via a referendum), that’s just fine. But this is a clear violation of church/state separation. I agree with the writer….
What is up with Eric Crouch? The kid wins the Heisman trophy at Nebraska, then walks away from not one, but two NFL training camps. Is he really that arrogant? The boy will never play a game in the NFL.
The shakedown for the Rally Deutschland happened this morning. No big news. There is rain in the forecast, however, which could be good news for the Pirelli-shod Subarus, as those tyres tend to like wet tarmac better.
Posted on 24 July 2003
I picked up a new bike last night, thanks to my friends Steven and Trina. It’s an old Specialized Allez frame, tricked out as singlespeed. It’s not a fixie, but thanks to the horizontal dropouts and track chain, I just need a rear wheel with a track hub and I’m set. Other nice features: full Shimano 105 components, bullhorn bars, a carbon fork, and a Bontranger stem. The bike needs a bit of love though, and I stripped it down last night and will paint it this weekend, probably a nice shade of mint green. I also need a new chainring. The current 45×16 gearing will guarantee that I will need knee surgery in a month or so, so I need to pick up something a bit smaller, probably in the neighborhood of 39 or 38. If all goes well, it should be on the road some time next week.
Posted on 24 July 2003
Posted on 23 July 2003
The World Rally Championship heads to Germany this weekend for the first proper tarmac rally of the year. This is a big event. First, Skoda is debuting the new Fabia WRC. While the team admits they are a bit ahead of schedule to release the car, they also feel it’s better to treat this rally as just another test for the car in hopes it will be fully competitive in a month or so. If all went well for the team, at least one of the new cars would make it through the rally (which is quite possible, since it is a tarmac rally, which are traditionally easier on the cars than loose surface events).
There is also the ramifications of the new third driver rule that will be established next season. Several teams (Peugeot and Citroen) cannot keep their current lineups under the new rule (a team’s third driver can’t have a podium place in the previous season). That means that Colin McRae, Carlos Sainz, Richard Burns, Gilles Panizzi, and/or Harri Rovanpera will be with a new team next year. The current convential wisdom says that Sainz will stay with Citroen, and Burns with Peugeot, though neither driver has a new contract. If Burns stays at Peugeot, neither Rovanpera or Panizzi can stay. If Sainz can do well this weekend, Citroen will surely keep the Spainard, who is only a point adrift of Burns in the drivers championship.
On to the rally….
Germany is a bit of an odd tarmac event, with each day’s stages taking place on very different surfaces. Many of the roads are very rough, and the stages through the military range on Sunday have large cement blocks along the sides of the road to take out unsuspecting drivers. Panizzi is always a favorite to win a tarmac event, but he had a bad shunt during testing last month here, so he’ll have to get over that to perform well. Seb Loeb is the obvious choice as winner, as he won here last year and he keeps up the tradition of speedy tarmac aces from France (see Panizzi, Giles and Auriol, Didier). Marcus Gronholm and Richard Burns should be quick as well. Subaru would like to see a good result from Petter Solberg to keep his title hopes alive, and Tommi Makinen might just like to see the finishing ramp on Sunday. Makinen still hasn’t decided what to do next year (retire or stay with Subaru), and a postive rally this weekend might convince him to stick around.
This is also an important test for Ford. The new Focus has proved to be quick, albeit a bit fragile, on gravel, but this will be its first tarmac rally. If it is quick, Markko Martin could still be a championship contender this year. If not, well, it will be a long fall for the team, with a string of tarmac rallies approaching.
Don’t expect Freddy Loix or Armin Scharwz to be a threat in this rally. The attrition rate should be fairly low, and that means the Hyundai Accent will be struggling to keep pace.
My top 5:
Sebastien Loeb
Gilles Panizzi
Petter Solberg
Marcus Gronholm
Richard Burns
Posted on 23 July 2003