Two interesting editorials in one of the local paper’s print edition. First, a short piece on why George Bush is on the wrong side of the stem cell issue. This is probably one of the least understood issues, at least by those who are against it. Opponents would like you to believe that embryos are being actively harvested by evil scientists who pull pregnant women off the streets. But that’s not the case. Others would like you to believe that stem cells are the by-product of abortions. But in reality, the biggest suppliers of human embryos for stem cell research are fertility clinics. And, as this editorial points out, George Bush is very much in favor of in vitro fertilization.
The second editorial is by right winger Ann Coultier, who is always good for a few bombastic remarks. Today, she pointed out that out of the four presidential/vice presential candidates, George Bush has the smallest net worth. Huh, I thought. Then I thought about it more. Didn’t GW own the Texas Rangers? Didn’t he have a major stake in a Texas oil company? If he did, this stunning realization by Coultier is suddenly a strike against him — if this guy can’t make loads of money in the oil business, what was he doing wrong? And why do we want to trust him to run the country?
Posted on 1 August 2004
It has come to our attention that someone has put our phone number on an apartment for rent sign (by mistake, I hope). We’ve gotten a handful of messages on our machine (since we have the basic “Hi, leave a message” message), but tonight I actually spoke to someone about, uh, our apartment…
*Ring*
“Hello?” (Sounds like the person on the other end of the phone is at the Democratic Convention, or some other similiarly packed venue).
“I’m calling about the apartment you have for rent.”
“Sorry, you have the wrong number.”
“Are you sure?”
“Umm, yeah, I think so.”
“But isn’t this xxx-xxx-xxxx?”
“Umm, yeah.”
“But your number is on the sign!”
“Well, I’d have to say the sign is incorrect.”
“Hmm. Anyone you live with renting the apartment?”
“Let’s see…I don’t think my wife is dealing in real estate in her spare time, and it’s certainly not my 15 month old son, so, no, no one I live with is renting an apartment.”
“Hmmm. I can’t believe it. Thanks. Goodbye.”
*Click*
Posted on 28 July 2004
We just spent the weekend in Morgantown at Coopers Rock — two days of bouldering and a night of camping. Woo! Climbing photos are here. Jen will be updating the rest of the site with Seb cuteness soon.
Posted on 25 July 2004
We all assume that there will be a certain percentage of drivers that are, simply put, idiots. It’s just a fact of life. And I assumed this applied to cyclists as well, but I also thought that the commute to downtown Pittsburgh might filter them a bit more, since downtown isn’t exactly the most bike-friendly spot in the city. But, over the past two weeks, I’ve seen more idiots than I’d care to. The top three are profiled below:
1. Rich Lawyer Guy: This guy boggles my mind for many reasons. Where should I start? First, he rides in his nice work duds. He must not sweat, since the average humidity has been about 80%. Second, he rides a Litespeed moutain frame converted to the uber-commuter — hi-rise bars, skinny tyres, the works. I want to stop him one day and ask if he really needs to ride a titanium bike back and forth to work. Does it speed up his commute that much? Third, he rides like an idiot. There are folks that are aggressive in their riding styles, and will cause traffic to be disrupted. There are other people who ride aggressively, but try not to disrupt traffic. Then there are people who don’t ride aggressively and just sorta ride along, trying not to get killed. Then there’s this guy. He rides along, here and there, disrupting traffic and pedestrians. Last week, he nearly got the chop trying to sneak next to a tow truck making a right on Penn Avenue. First, you don’t ever, ever, ever mess with tow truck drivers. Even if you’re in a car. Second, don’t try and squeeze past a car when you know the light is turing green.
2. Crazy Old Man: I’ve seen him around before, but I followed him into town today. This man, who is obviously just a commuter, rides like a NYC messenger. He doesn’t stop at red lights (he barely even slows down) and he’s not afraid to mow down a pedestrian or two on the sidewalk if necessary.
3. Moutain Bike Racer Dude: I don’t see him very often, but it’s sorta entertaining when I do. He’s always decked out in full riding regalia, he’s got nice smooth legs, which means he must race, but I don’t think he’s a commuter, since he never has a bag. My last experience with him was at the terminus of Smallman Street in Lawrenceville. He was clearly in race-mode as he took the corner to 36th Street very wide to pass me (and get in the way of traffic coming down 36th). Then, in the middle of rush hour traffic, he thought it would be a good idea to run the traffic light at Butler and 40th, thus disrupting traffic.
Posted on 23 July 2004
As expected, Lance Armstrong put the finishing touches on his sixth TdF win today on the slopes of L’Alpe D’Huez. How fast was Lance? Ivan Basso, the closest contender in the GC, started the time trial two minutes ahead of Armstrong, but was still passed by Lance in the closing kilometers. Barring catastrophe, Lance should be wearing yellow in Paris on Sunday. Now the only question is — will he retire?
A grand night out — Betty managed to sneak out last night, and spent the entire night out and about. I wondered why she wasn’t sleeping at my feet on the bed. I heard her pitiful meows this morning from the bathroom.
Wow! Is the boy cute or what? He’s officially walking now, even relatively quickly. He still drops to a crawl if he needs to get somewhere really fast, but he’s staying on his feet a lot more.
Posted on 21 July 2004
Despite Lance Armstrong’s best efforts (including a win in the toughest stage in the Pyrennes), Thomas Voeckler, the young Frenchman, still holds the malliot jaune for another day. Armstrong crushed the other contenders today, leaving behind everyone but Ivan Basso, but it was Voekler who was the day’s hero. Repeatedly dropped off the back of peleton on the toughest climbs, Voeckler managed to minimize the damage, losing all but 22 seconds of his lead over Armstrong. Even Armstrong commended Voeckler for his strength and courage. And Voeckler will keep doubtless keep the yellow jersey for at least one more day — Sunday’s stage is pancake flat, favoring the sprinters and keeping the contenders safely in the pack. Remeber Voeckler’s name — he is young (he’s leading the white jersey standings — for the Tour’s best young rider), so he has plenty of years ahead of him.
By the way, do your think this Basque fellow had some kind words of encourage for Lance on the slopes of the Plateau de Beille?
Also, Tyler Hamilton dropped out of the Tour today, citing back injuries sustained during a week one crash. Seems a bad back is far worse than a broken collarbone…
On to the Rally Argentina. Quite a bit has happened over first two days, but here’s the leaderboard at the moment:
1. Carlos Sainz
2. Sebastien Loeb
3. Francios Duval
4. Mikko Hirvonen
Note the lack of title contenders in that list. A quick rundown of the retirements:
* Markko Martin had a wild, sixth gear, 170kph shunt on day one, sending both Martin and his co-driver to the hospital. Fortunately, both are ok.
* Petter Solberg had several bouts of engine trouble, then rolled his Subaru, ending his rally. He did opt to continue (using the new SupeRally system) and managed to set a scratch time on day two.
* Marcus Gronholm lost a wheel on the final stage of day two, retiring while holding the rally lead. How far the mighty have fallen.
Sainz has a comfortable lead over Loeb, so unless trouble strikes, King Carlos should win. The maximum points Citroen gains in the manufacturer’s race should all but give them the championship this year. And Loeb moves closer to winning the driver’s championship. Solberg (the only driver who really has a shot at this point) has got to win Finland next month, and pray for rain during the tarmac rallies. If conditions are favorable, Loeb has a good chance to sweep the tarmac rounds this season, which would easily give him the championship.
Posted on 17 July 2004
I haven’t written about the Tour de France, but that doesn’t mean I’m not interested. According to the press (and some of the racers) today’s stage, the first stage that involved any sort of sustained or difficult climbs, would be the day the General Classification contenders (Lance Armstrong, Jan Ullrich, Tyler Hamilton, etc) made their moves. Sadly, none of the contenders made any sort of move. Richard Virenque managed to hold a 200km break, and easily won the stage. In fact, there were only a few items of note:
1. Supposedly Virenque broke a promise to his breakaway partner, Axel Merckx. He told Merckx that he’d let him the stage if Merckx allowed Virenque to win the King of Mountains points sprints. Virenque proceeded to leave Merckx on the toughest climb, and Merkcx eventually was swallowed by the peleton.
2. Iban Mayo is the unluckiest rider in the Tour. Tabbed as a contender to the GC this year, Mayo crashed on the cobbled stage last week, losing roughly four minutes to Armstrong. Then, today, he flatted twice and threw his chain once. Somehow, he managed to finish in Armstrong’s group and didn’t lose any more time, but the level of effort surely limited his chances.
3. Tyler Hamilton managed to lose a few seconds to Armstrong by dropping off the back of the first chase group on the final climb to the finish. It’s not a big loss, but given Armstrong’s large (for this point in the Tour) lead, it could come back to haunt him.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens over the next few days. Armstrong’s Postal Service team was more than happy to let other teams pull the peleton along, and since neither Ullrich or Hamilton tried to catch the break, Armstrong didn’t have to exert himself much. Of course, Armstrong is sitting in sixth, so he’ll have to at least put the hammer down once to catch all the non-GC contenders crowding the top of the leaderboard.
Posted on 14 July 2004
This space has been quiet again. There reasons are many:
1. I was sick last weekend (who gets sick in the middle of the summer).
2. Work was a bear last week (of course it’s better now, since I’m posting from work).
3. I’m lazy.
So, here’s the short list of things on my mind….
I’ve been listening to the Citizens Here and Abroad album a lot. Very Sonic Youth/Daydream Nation-y. And I found this video of the song Appearances, which is one of the better songs on the album.
I’ve been thinking a lot about neo-Calvinism, Kuyperism, and their application to the U.S. political system. I think we’re really missing the boat politically by using a strict two party system. I think what’s truly sad is the fact that both major parties are tying to stifle the third party voices in the country (and I don’t just mean that weirdo Ralph Nader — watch what happens if that other weirdo Judge Moore runs for the Constitutional Party).
I’m setting up another Linux machine at home to try my hand at Mono development. I installed Suse 9.1 Personal, which is like the Windows 98 of Linux distros. It’s a nice, easy install, but it only includes KDE and doesn’t even have the GTK+ libraries. I guess it’s geared toward grandmothers migrating to Linux. I then tried to install Slackware 10, but attempt number 1 has crashed and burned. Phooey. I’m trying to find my tried and true RedHat 9 discs.
If I get so motivated, I’ll write up a Rally Argentina preview before week’s end.
Posted on 13 July 2004
Slate’s William Saletan has been compiling “Kerryism” to go along with Slate’s Bushisms (and please, keep in mind that Saletan is an unbashed liberal). Today’s entry really shows that Kerry isn’t all that much different than any other smooth-talking, changing-the-subject politician.
Posted on 7 July 2004
