Why we need better science education in Washington state

From the Peninsula Daily News:

The Clallam County Sheriff's Office responded to a call early Thursday morning from a Blue Mountain Road resident who was concerned about an unidentified flying object spotted on the horizon, said Undersheriff Ron Peregrin.

“We took a look at it through our binoculars,” he said, and determined that it was Jupiter, the largest plant in the solar system.

Peregrin said dispatchers received several more calls that morning from people mistaking Jupiter for a UFO, although he didn't know how many.

Jupiter last week was the closest it has gotten to the Earth in decades, said John Gallagher, who heads Port Angeles High School's astronomy club. It passed 368 million miles away, its closest pass since 1963.

...More

Warning! This post contains words.

This post seems a bit Jay Leno-y to me, but I'm gonna do it anyway.

I picked up a bag of peanuts at the local QFC. Sure, it was an impulse buy, and I didn't read the label carefully. Then again, I didn't need to. I don't have a peanut allergy, which is why I don't look for warnings about peanut allergies.

So I picked up this.



And on the back, I saw this:




Now, I understand that peanut allergies can be deadly, and those unfortunate enough to suffer them must be very careful in their dietary (and even atmospheric) choices.

But if you are smart enough to be able to read the warning, YOU SHOULD BE SMART ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT PEANUTS CONTAIN PEANUTS!

Was there actually some sort of law suit that inspired this? Did someone actually think these were peanut-free peanuts, and therefore okay? The kind of stupidity that requires such a warning is mind-boggling.

At the same time these warnings seek to encourage caution, they actually do the opposite. The more pointless and stupid warnings I see, the less likely I am to read them. Manuals for electronics today start with several pages of warnings that I completely ignore because when I do read them, they are tell me things like "don't put you TV in the bath tub," or "don't hit someone in the head with your computer" because someone might get hurt.

This endemic stupidity hides actual caution information by burying it under pointless tips that seem to be an attempt to discourage the culling of the human herd.

If I do get injured because I missed the 1 valid warning among the 137 idiotic ones I guess I'll just have to sue the lawyers.

Danger at the airport

At SEA Thursday night, airport danger did not come from difficulty with a plane, unsavory characters, or even an overzealous TSA person. The runways and hallways were clear. The driveways -- not so much.

I hauled my luggage off the escalator and headed to the crosswalk so I could get the shuttle to my parkling lot (MasterPark, Lot B is great). And then a Fairfield Inn shuttle starts backing up quickly.

There are two lanes in the shuttle pick up area. The curb lane is where the drivers pick up passengers. The left lane is for passing shuttles that are picking up passengers. They both go the same direction.

For some bizarre reason, the shuttle driver from the Fairfield Inn decides he is going to back up.

Not only is he backing up, he is backing up diagonally, from the curb lane into the left lane.

Not only is he backing up from the curb lane into the left lane, he is doing it quickly.

Not only is he doing it quickly, he is also ignoring the other shuttle driver -- who is already in the left lane, in danger of being rammed and is pounding his horn.

Not only is he ignoring the pounding horn, he is also expecting the wall that separates me from the road to get the hell out of his way.

The wall decides to stay put.

*crunch*

The van hits the wall, bends the wall frame, and punches out a metal panel 15' from where I was walking.

The driver gets out and is stunned that dozens of people are looking at him like he's a moron.

The wall took some damage; the van very little.

And I wonder how many of that Fairfield Inn's guest decided to arrive by taxi that night.

Weisure

Really, CNN? Weisure?

This might be the worst new word ever. Weisure? It's the kind of word that when used in a public setting is likely to incite violence.

And it marks the user as a idiot.

And yet for some reason, CNN, the premiere place for news on the Internet, thinks it's a good idea to inflict Weisure on the world.

The question is this: did they create this new word just to annoy me?

Or did they have some other reason?

This screams "FILLER!!!"

Maybe I shouldn't judge the content just because some idiot made up a stupid word. Perhaps there is some real wisdom hidden in the article behind this typographical monstrosity.

It turns out, there isn't.

Weisure is the combination of work and leisure.

Many who haven't already abandoned the 9-to-5 workday for the 24-7 life of weisure probably will do so soon, according to New York University sociologist Dalton Conley, who coined the word. It's the next step in the evolving work-life culture.

"Increasingly, it's not clear what constitutes work and what constitutes fun," be it "in an office or at home or out in the street," Conley said. Activities and social spaces are becoming work-play ambiguous, he says, as "all of these worlds that were once very distinct are now blurring together."

... More

People work out of the office these days. Sometimes they work from home or take calls on their cell phone. Sometimes they surf the internet from the office.

Thanks for that, CNN. I had no idea. Truly breaking news there.

However, the increased mixing of work and play doesn't mean bankers will be refinancing houses during their kids' piñata parties.

...

It doesn't mean tax attorneys will be getting makeovers during their tax-law seminars. But they may be chatting with Facebook friends while participating in a conference call.

Really? CNN is giving us makeovers in tax seminars?

Maybe we shouldn't call it Weisure. How about calling it Hoffice instead. I can tell you all about my Hoffice life style.

So why is this happening?

Well, first, there's more work and less play, according to Conley's book "Elsewhere, U.S.A."

...

Weisure has been fueled by social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, where "friends" may actually be business partners or work colleagues.

"Social networking as an activity is one of those ambiguous activities," Conley said. "It's part fun and part instrumental in our knowledge economy."

These networking sites offer participants in the weisure life lots of ways to do business -- and to have fun.

Let me translate. People are busy. People like their co-workers.

I'm still waiting for the news in here. Isn't that what one of those CNN "Ns" stands for? So far, the only thing I've learned is that someone thought creating the word Weisure would be a good idea.

Someone also though Love Canal was a good idea.

So will their be a backlash against the new Weisure class?

If you're thinking that a backlash may be around the corner for the weisure concept, you're right. In fact, Conley says, the backlash has begun.

"You can see that in the populist anger against the bankers" who've been blamed in part for the current economic downturn, Conley says. The backlash is evident in the rise of alternative social movements involving people "who live in a more frugal and environmentally conscious way," he says.

But, short of a nuclear winter or some cataclysm sending us back to the stone age, there's no turning back the clock on the spread of weisure, he says. The weisure lifestyle will engrain itself permanently in the American culture.

Seriously? The backlash against people who combine work and leisure is evident because people are angry at banks over the mortgage crises? And the only way to stop Weisure is a nuclear war? That's what they've got? The real backlash against Weisure will be evident in the number of times proponents of the word Weisure get punched in the face for using it.

Honestly, I think I'm dumber for reading that article.

CSI: NY and Technology

Note: If you haven’t already watched this week’s episode of CSI: NY, “The Past, Present, and Murder” be aware that this post contains minor spoilers. It’s discusses a topic that comes up roughly half way through the show. If surprise is important to you, you may want to skip this post.

Lately, CSI is just making me angry either with ignorant plot elements and with sheer stupidity. They are doing their best to shed their reputation for intelligent TV.

This week’s episode builds on plot twists from several weeks or months ago. In that episode, the murder victim was a corporate “fixer” who knew all the dirt about all sorts of important people. She kept that data on a flash drive. That flash drive eventually gets stolen and all sorts of people start looking for it and dying over it.

Fast forward six months in show time, and that flash drive again is an important plot element. People are trying to recover it for the information that’s on it. Other’s are just trying to find the drive itself as a piece of evidence.

Here’s what I can’t help but think – WHY WOULD THAT DRIVE STILL EXIST?

If I was dealing with a USB drive that could be incriminating, the first thing I would do is copy the data to another drive, and then DESTROY THE ORIGINAL HARDWARE. Seriously, this isn’t tough stuff. Data is easy to secure. Data is easy to move. Data is easy to hide if you try.

And then you can get rid of the physical evidence.

In this episode, we weren’t talking about cracked out street thugs. We’re talking about people who should know a little bit about technology, or at least be able to pay some people who know a little bit about technology.

Can’t they just think about this? Just a little?

Retirement is just around the corner?

At least according to T Rowe Price.

I got this notice in email today.

Now, I understand the importance of saving for retirement. I've been doing that since I was 25. I know I shouldn't plan on Social Security being around. It probably will be, but there's no guarantee. And I can easily see myself working past 65 or 70, not by necessity, but by choice.

But even so, I'm only 27 37 today. And retirement is just "a few years away?" Really? Do they think people retire at 40? Or maybe 45?

Seriously, these people at T Rowe Price have my age and time with the company on record. What are they thinking? Do they know something about my career prospects that I don't?

In the best of times, you can't assume that 99% of those under 40 are just a few years from retirement. But now? With more people losing their jobs with minimal savings, they think people in my age bracket are about to retire?

With 401Ks and traditional pensions taking huge hits in the stock market free fall do they really think retiring on these nest eggs makes any kind of sense? Have they checked the market lately?

Is someone at T Rowe Price just trying to artificially create opening for their own college graduate kids who are now looking for jobs?

Retirement is not just a few years away. It's a few decades away. I think that's a reasonable assumption to make for most people in their thirties. And, yes, we should all be planning for it, but that is long range planning.

If T Rowe Price has such shoddy financial planning that they think the majority of those under 40 are just "a few years away" from retirement, then perhaps I shouldn't trust them with my retirement savings.

Or perhaps someone needs to teach them how to filter and appropriately direct their broadcast emails.

"retirement just a few years away." Yeah. I have my doubts.

Probable cause? We don't need no steenkin' probable cause.

What happens if you buy grow lamps and use them in Odessa, TX? Apparently the police will raid your house.

Activists protesting the behavior of the Odessa police department did just that. The bought grow lights and began growing Christmas trees. In 24 hours, police raided the house.

So using perfectly legal equipment in the manner exactly for which it was intended, is reason enough for the police to raid your house.

The site where the story originally appeared is currently off line due to high traffic; it may be accessible later one. It's here. You can also read about it on Reason.Com here.

Keep in mind, this sort of thing doesn't just happen when someone sets up a sting. It happened in Pullman, WA, too.

Stupid Lincoln

I'm watching an episode of Missing, a show focused on missing or kidnapped people. These events are often disasters in their lives.

Speaking of disasters, have you seen the Lincoln MKS ads?

Cat Power • Lincoln MKS Ad • Major Tom

They chose Major Tom as the theme music.

To launch a new car, they chose a song about a failed space mission where the main character, Major Tom, drifts off into space, presumably to his death.

Do you really want to associate your new car with major vehicular failure and driver death?

Weeeeeeeee

I gotta say, the idea of going down the slide in a non-emergency does sound kind of fun. Of course it doesn't matter how quickly you get off the plane when you still have to deal with customs and baggage claim. And replacing the slide for the airline can't be cheap. So I guess I'll stick with the door.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana — Guyanese authorities say a first-class airline passenger was so angry at seeing economy passengers leave a jetliner before him that he yanked open an emergency hatch and slid down the chute.

... More

Apparently The Obama campaign thought it sounded like fun, too.

The plane, an MD-80 Midwest charter, struggled to keep the nose at the necessary angle, as it left for Charlotte, N.C., the pilot said. Later, Midwest Airlines said the problem developed because an emergency slide located in the tail cone of the plane deployed in flight and never threatened the safety of the flight. The National Transportation Safety Board said it planned to investigate the incident.

...More

Glasses and travel

If you where glasses, you should travel with a copy of you prescription.

Last night, I found my prescription sunglasses. I kind of knew where they were for the past month, but with the move, I never bothered to find them and put them where they belong.

They actually belong in the car since that's when I am most likely to use them.

So I brought them down to the car this morning when I left for the airport. I took off my regular glasses, and put on the sunglasses.

I got to the airport, dropped off the car, took the shuttle to the terminal, got my boarding pass, checked my bag, and headed off to security. The TSA ID checker asked me to take off my glasses when she looked at my passport.

That's when I realized my regular glasses, which should have been on my face, were instead sitting on the front seat of my car.

I had thought the airport looked a little darker than normal.

So I headed off to my flight wearing sunglasses, jeans, and a Carroll College sweatshirt.

I'll be in California for several days of company meetings. And I am no where near cool enough to get away with wearing sunglasses all day. Especially in business casual wear.

When my plane (the Alaska Airlines Starliner (second time this year)) landed in Orange County, I took a cab to Lenscrafters to solve the problem.

An hour and a half later, and $275 poorer, I had new, regular glasses.

And I was able to take care of this because my eye doctor in Seattle suggested I carry a copy of my prescription in my travel papers for just this sort of emergency.

Mt Ranier peeks above the clouds on 2008-04-20, as seen from AS382 (SEA-SNA) N569AS.

Is Minesweeper really killing that much productivity?

Apparently the Montana state government thinks so. The latest controversy at the Child Support Enforcement Division is about whether or not Solitaire and Minesweeper should be on employee computers.

From the Helena Independent Record:

Some union and non-union employees complained that the games weren’t on the new machines, said Lonnie Olson, division administrator. They said some other divisions in the same department had games on their computers.

“I said if they want them, we’ll put them on,” Olson said, adding that he wanted to make sure division employees were treated the same as others in the department.

An anonymous tipster who said he worked in the private sector criticized Olson’s decision.

“If state employees have time to play computer games, then there are too many state employees,” the tipster said in an e-mail to the Independent Record. “As an employee in the private sector, I would run the risk of losing my job if my boss caught me playing games on my computer.”

...More

I think there's a little Luddite-ism and general resentment of state workers here.

Books? We don't need no stinkin' books

I really hope there's more to this story because as it is, this just makes me angry.

Apparently, the NY Public Schools are in such fantastic shape, they can just start throwing out brand new books.

From the NY Daily News:

Queens' Intermediate School 73 angers staff over tossed books

Hundreds of new or slightly used books were tossed into a Dumpster outside of a Queens middle school early Friday, outraging staff members who can't believe the waste.

Several garbage bags filled with copies of classic literature like "Little Women," "Sarah, Plain and Tall" and "Treasure Island" were discarded in a Dumpster alongside Intermediate School 73 in Maspeth.

...More

The Creative Process

Imagine a group of creative professionals are sitting around a conference room. The boss speaks.

"Okay folks, you've done a great job with your last campaign -- the Creepy King. You scared and chased away 60% of our client's customers. The team at Burger King couldn't be more thrilled with your success and with the record number of restraining orders and pending felony charges against the King. But now, it's time to take it to the next level. How do we top the brilliance of the stalking, Creepy King?"

One guy speaks up, "We could claim we put asbestos in the milk shakes."

People around the table nodded, and the intern puts the idea up on the white board.

Someone else suggest, "What about a campaign around the Indian Burial Grounds underneath each restaurant?"

The group praised that idea, and it, too, went up on the whiteboard.

"You know," said the senior copywriters, "we could tell everyone just how much of a challenge it is to reach each restaurant. We could even promote random closing hours."

"Good," said the boss. "We can work with that. I'm sure Burger King would be thrilled with the random closing hours. Put that up on the board and underline it."

The new, puzzled copywriter looked up, and said, "How about we show how healthy Burger King food is relative to other burger chains, and show how it can bring families together and make life simpler?"

His idea was met with stony silence.

"No," said the boss. "I'm not sure you understand our client."

Finally, the last person to speak, stood up, and said, "Let's keep it simple. The few customers we have left are stubborn and not so bright. Let's just make our best customers look like idiots."

Thus, the Whopper Freakout campaign was born.

Think before you speak

Mitsubishi just announced a new line of commuter jets. The company president expects them to be successful:

"We feel strongly that we will be able to create an aircraft that will have an impact," he told reporters.

I thought the goal was to ensure your aircraft don't have any impacts.

Full article

Are you a fugitive and want to turn yourself in? Bring your ID

A wanted rape suspect tried to turn himself in at the local jail the other day. The folks at the jail told him to go away. Is this really a good idea?

Full article here.

Jail Director Steve Thompson said staff turned Baker away because he didn't have a driver's license or any other identification to prove he was the person sought by deputies.

Baker was asked to go to the Sheriff's Office, inside the courthouse, to straighten things out, Thompson said.

"Surprisingly, many people show up without their ID, like [Baker] did," Thompson said. "It's illegal for us to detain people when we can't confirm who they are."

Rental Cars at SJC

After you land at the San Jose airport, you head out to the shuttle bus to go get your rental car. The shuttle takes you away from the terminal, several blocks from the airport itself. Then you get your rental car.

So how do you get away from the airport in your shiny old damn-Taurus? You take the road back around, past the compressed natural gas filling station ("OPEN TO THE PUBLIC") back into the airport, through the throngs of shuttle busses, car, taxis, limos, and hotels vans picking poeple up and dropping people off. You pass through the cross walks as people drag their bags into the terminal, around a bend (take the wrong turn and you end up returning your rental car) and back past the rental car cut off roads before finally spilling out onto the local traffic.




Directions from Google Maps

Steal from the mob. Wind up dead. Duh.

New York couple had brief career robbing the mob
By Tom Hays

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Thomas and Rosemarie Uva were not exactly criminal geniuses.

The couple liked to rob Mafia-run social clubs in Little Italy and elsewhere around the city, which, as just about everyone knows, is a good way to get killed.

They even had the audacity to force mobsters to drop their pants as they swiped their cash and jewelry and cleaned out their card games.

The holdups proved predictably hazardous: The Uvas got whacked on Christmas Eve 1992.

...more

Yeah. That sounds about right.

But for some reason, this is my favorite paragraph in the article:

Corozzo noted that the government was relying on an unsavory cast of Mafia turncoats to make their case, including former Gambino capo Michael "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo, who got his nickname as a child after a dog bit him in the face.

Protecting Our Children Part 01: Drunken Pirate

If you are 25 or older and photographed having a drink at with other adults, you are not promoting underage drinking by that act. Perhaps someone should explain that to Millersville University.

School sued over MySpace photo response

MILLERSVILLE, Pa. -- A woman denied a teaching degree on the eve of graduation because of a MySpace photo has sued the university.

Millersville University instead granted Stacy Snyder a degree in English last year after learning of her Web-published picture, which bore the caption "Drunken Pirate."

...
Jane S. Bray, dean of the School of Education, accused Snyder of promoting underage drinking, the suit states.

...More

The Photo in question from the Chronicle of Higher Education:

Also from the Chronicle:

Although Ms. Snyder was of legal drinking age when the photo was taken, Millersville administrators deemed the image “unprofessional,” and they refused to award her an education degree and the teaching certificate that came along with it. (Instead they issued her a degree in English.)

What the Hell is Wrong with the Burger King People?

Remember When the Constitution Meant Something? No?

A crime in progress?

Did you know that owning a grow light now means the police can come into your home?

Friday, April 6, 2007 · Last updated 12:45 p.m. PT

Police bust tomato grow operation in Pullman apartment
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PULLMAN, Wash. -- A Pullman landlord notified police about a grow lamp in a closet, and police got a search warrant for a drug raid.

Eight officers with guns drawn surprised three roommates in the apartment last weekend and discovered they were growing tomatoes.

Commander Chris Tennant says it's the department's duty to investigate all credible complaints regarding marijuana growing operations in Pullman.

(From Rory Curtiss, KRPL)

There is so much wrong with what happened here.

Unless the landlord was repairing something in the closet, he has no business going in the closet.

The landlord reported the tenants have a grow light and a plant, and that was enough for a judge to issue a search warrant? Why even bother with judicial review of search warrants if this is all it takes.

They sent 8 cops into the apartment with guns drawn. There are roughly 27 patrol members employed by the Pullman police department. Now, assuming they have 1/3 of the officers on the clock at any given time, that means there were probably 9 officers covering the city the day of this raid. 8 were assigned to this ridiculous raid.

Nearly every cop on patrol was sent to this apartment, with their guns drawn, because someone reported a grow light.

Unfortunately, the article doesn't say whether or not this was a no-knock warrant. I hope they weren't stupid enough to do that, considering there was no evidence of a crime. Unless owning a grow light is now illegal.

Because these tenants grew a tomato plant.

And while Tennant may feel it's his duty to investigate credible complaints, there is a beg difference between investigating an accusation that someone owns legal equipment and busting into an apartment with weapons drawn.

I hope the Seattle Police Department is more sensible. I'm sure there is already a file on me. Since I grow Basil, Oregano, Chives, Parsley, Sage, Thyme, Rosemary, Mint, and assorted house plants indoors, I have 6-8 grow lights running in my apartment. Of course they are in a big window. And you can see my grow lights and herbs from several blocks away, so there's would be no reason to bust down my door.

Hopefully the craziness that infected the Pullman police department isn't infectious.