It’s a shame I don’t have a blog entry from John Ashcroft’s resignation in 2005. At the time, I remember feeling more hopeful about America’s sense of Justice than I had in a long time. Surely, how could Bush find anyone worse than Ashcroft to fill the position of Attorney General?
What a difference a couple of years can make. Here’s to the next one, may he or she be at least competent.
The idea that local police could soon be using flying drones (UAV’s for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) for surveillance is disturbing on many levels. While there are obvious implications for privacy, I think the more interesting point is perhaps their safety.
Of course, this, rather than the privacy concerns, is really the subject of the article: the cops complain that the FAA is holding them to too high a standard, that they need to be flexible. In particular, they seem confused that model airplanes don’t need FAA approval but UAV’s do. They seem confused by this but there are some important points.
One is that in order to be reasonably useful, the UAV’s need to fly higher than model airplanes. This does two things. First, it puts them closer to aircraft (as the article mentions). But it also puts them farther from the ground making them potentially more dangerous in the case of a failure.
It’s also pretty clear that the police departments don’t truly understand the complexity involved with unmanned aircraft sharing airspace with commercial air traffic. And I love the idea that if you lose a drone over the ocean, it just floats away. Anyone else cringe at that one?
The bottom line is this: the proponents of these machines from the public safety sector see them as great tool for accomplishing their goals. They’re allowed to see that without understanding the wider implications, and that’s fine. It would be nice if they delved in a little more deeply, but its not necessary. The FAA is looking at many of those concerns, and good for them. But in the end, even that isn’t enough. The designers and salesmen who are pitching these devices need to have a firm grasp on the implications before they make their first sketch on the back of a napkin. To me, if that had happened as it was supposed to, there wouldn’t be any problem with the FAA because things would be worked out well in advance. We wouldn’t have police departments complaining about the bureaucracy because these steps would have occurred before they’d been pitched the concept let alone been given the opportunity to test it.
*sigh* The technically gifted will yet inadvertently destroy the world through their sloppiness.
As some of you know, I have a penchant for burritos from a certain Denver-based chain. But almost more important to my support of this particular restaurant is the atmosphere and particular the music.
When I lived in Cleveland Heights, I frequented a similar “burrito joint,” a local place called Que Tal. One of the defining things about Que Tal was that you would always hear salsa music. I was really upset when the Denver-based chain opened a store across the street and (perhaps because at the time it was partially owned by McDonalds) began an aggressive marketing campaign aimed at incoming students (i.e., the ones who hadn’t already built a loyalty to Que Tal.) This torqued me a bit and I held a grudge for several years, even after I moved back to Denver.
But one can only go without burritos for so long. So after awhile, I walked over to the local store. I went in knowing that I’d be easily disappointed. I set a high bar. When I heard The Dave Matthews Band on the speakers, I figured it was all over.
I was disappointed. But somehow, they earned a second chance and eventually won me over. Quickly, they began earning a significant portion of my monthly salary. One of the things that has kept me returning is the music, which is eclectic in almost the very way one of my free-form radio shows would be. Although much of what they play is unfamiliar to me, I enjoy the vast majority of it and often seek out the music I hear there. And (as my wife can attest) there are moments when I recognize a song, which typically makes my…well, my minute, at least.
So I was a little surprised to hear “It Happened In Monterey” when I was standing in line at the local store yesterday evening. Typically, I’d expect to hear Sinatra, et.al at a less-sophisticated Italian restaurant. The fact alone that I’d hear a song at Chipotle that you might hear somewhere else was bad. But Sinatra?
Occasionally, they do weird little things with the music, you know, to keep you on your toes. So hopefully that’s all it was. It would truly break my heart if they sold out and played either popular music (not to be confused with “pop”) or something equally cheesy (say, playing traditional Mexican music.)
On the other hand, it would make it easier to be a vegetarian…
Parenthesis:(Just to see if anyone else noticed ol’ blue eyes interfering with their black beans, I googled “Sinatra Chipotle” and found a review of Moe’s (another burrito chain) from a Madison, WI paper (remember, Madison is a college town, so think “hip.”) This review counted as a positive the Sinatra on the speakers (along with ESPN.) At least the reviewer didn’t think the food was great. I’m always shocked when people rate the service at places like Moe’s or Illegal Pete’s as better than Chipotle. I always feel like a yuppie fraud ordering from the tattooed, pierced white kids at those places. The whole thing is kind of perverse and it makes me uncomfortable to think about it. But I prefer ordering from the Mexicans and I typically find them to be…nicer. But I’m also a latinophile. Anyway. Madison, if you want to be hip and listen to music you’d normally find in an Italian restaurant, try, I don’t know, Jim Boggio. Sorry for the rant.):End Parens
In a rush to avoid appearing weak on terrorism, Democrats are making the same mistakes over and over.
Why is this primary race shaping out to be a contest to see who can be the most like the Republicans? Why is it that domestic issues, long the strength of the party, are getting short shrift?
Since the primary race has been in full swing, I’ve seen bumper stickers for three candidates: Clinton, Obama and Kucinich. Kucinich? You mean the former Cleveland mayor and current US Representative who is a perennial also-ran and is not considered a serious choice inside his own party? Why do you suppose people are seriously looking at him?
If you want to be tough on terrorism, stand up against the Republican bullies. I’ll tell you, if the debate is still focusing on “terrorism” at convention time, I’ll be writing-in Dennis Kucinich on my ballot no matter what happens in Denver.
Update: It’s official. I have now seen more Kucinich bumper stickers than stickers promoting the candidacy of any other candidate (with the big asterisk here that I’m not counting those “Hillary ‘08″ stickers that I probably saw in, I don’t know, 2004 or 2005.) Even so, I’ve seen more for Kucinich than for any other Democrat. I still like Richardson and I think the New Mexican has a chance despite his tepid numbers right now. But, for being painted as an extreme left candidate, Kucinich’s platform is surprisingly palatable. You may find me supporting my fellow CWRU alum soon…
I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels comfortable blaming the I-35W bridge collapse on the “small-government” ideology.
Silly us. We should know by now that taxes are for destroying bridges, not building them.
Kudos to the Denver Post for once again making a valiant effort at eliminating any interest I had in returning to Colorado. This time, their method is the publication of Jackie Avner’s “column” speaking out against organic foods.
I really hope Ms Avner isn’t a product of Colorado’s schools. Her awkward writing style and poor logic would be embarrassing to me in that case. I’d be especially ashamed by the following argument:
Organic milk certainly is not fresher than regular milk. Regular milk is pasteurized and has a shelf life of about 20 days. Organic milk is ultrapasteurized, a process that is more forgiving of poor quality milk, and that increases the shelf life of milk to about 90 days. Some of the Horizon organic milk boxes I’ve seen at Costco have expiration dates in 2008! There is a powerful incentive for retailers to put the ultrapasteurized organic milk on the shelf just before the expiration date, so consumers will think the organic milk is as fresh as the regular milk. After all, consumers are paying twice as much for the organic product.
Hey, I’m convinced. A powerful incentive!
I think the real shame is that the column does have some interesting points. I mean, sure we nutty tree-huggers realize that not using frankenseeds means less production per acre, but do we ever really consider the consequence that this means more fossil fuel consumption per ton of food? I didn’t. Now, does that trump my gut feeling that GM food is bad? No. For me, screwing with nature is an absolute no-no, kind of like nuclear power. And while I realize (and truly resent) that some of this organic labeling is a marketing ploy, it’s just something my gut tells me is right.
Again, the problem with nature is that it reacts in complicated, unpredictable ways. I think of kudzu, introduced from Japan in the late 19th and early 20th century but now considered a pest weed. I recall recent news coverage reminding us that DDT weakened eagle eggshells. Or I think of the strange idea that the expansion of the interstate highway system allowed turkey vultures to expand their range to the north. I doubt many, if any, of the biologists who introduced kudzu, the chemists who developed DDT or the transportation experts who worked on the highway system saw these as potential implications of their work.
Claiming that current practices are undoubtedly safe is at best simple-minded. Most likely, it’s lazy (or lazy’s close relative, expedient) to believe this. The people who are seeking out organics may well believe (as I do) that it’s far better to err on the side of caution than to assume science can create a magic bullet for agriculture’s woes. The problems that we’re solving with science often have simpler answers. Sure they cost more, but that’s why you have affluent people shopping at Wild Oats. We’re just trying to subsidize the simple solution.
Kentucky Arboretum, 5/18/08
Skewed goalposts, Clement Park, Littleton, CO
Moonbow at Cumberland Falls. Although the moonbow appears white...
Snow in the park but with a very clear blue sky
Kentucky Arboretum, 5/18/08
The sculpture garden at the expanded Cleveland Botanic Gardens...
A Random Photo