daben’s posterous

To hell with them all.

Until next time.

Peace.

daben.

Ah yes, US auto manufacturers were quite content as they raked in the
dough with their monstrous Denali's, Escalades, Navigators, but with
the oil prices and the economy on the fence between growth and
recession, they frown... No one wants to buy them anymore? Really? Why
not. I personally blame both consumers and producers- the latter for
creating the infrastructure within their plants to produce such
automobiles, and the former, for allowing such products to skyrocket
in popularity. But that's okay, because TV shows like the new 90210,
the OC (before it lost the battle with grey's anatomy and the story
line hit the fan), the Hills, Gossip Girls (ok, i watched the entire
1st season in a day... dont judge me), wait wait. The Kardoshians
(???), etc. Yes, hollywood will help infect the minds of 14 year old
girls, and pretty much say "hey, if you dont have a gucci or chanel
bag, or have a butler, you are a loser". I am extremely biased when it
comes to this, so i apologize.

But yes, parents allow their children to watch gossip girls, which is
on at 8 pm on the new CW (mondays). This show depicts "high school
students," where the protagonist's little sister will be entering her
sophomore year (15-16 years old) and the protagonist is entering
senior year of high school. And what else? All of these uper rich
teens are constantly out in bars, having promiscuous sex with
everyone, dressing like late 20-somethings, and so on. No wonder these
young girls today look, dress, and act as they do. Again, partial
responsibility on the parents (ok, 75% of it), but these writers and
producers definitely have some guilt.

OK, for people that actually read this (are there any such people? if
so, let me know!), I apologize for that rant- I feel in the past few
days of posting, I haven't been doing much ranting and raving. but
back to the point.

Ok, the US government grabbed control of the mortgage companies, but
wait wait, let's not stop there!

"The U.S. House of Representatives is discussing an auto industry
request to set in motion at least $25 billion in government-backed
loans to help beleaguered U.S. manufacturers retool plants to make
more efficient cars and trucks, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said on
Tuesday."
( John Crawley, "House leadership weighs loans for automakers."
September 9, 2008. Yahoo News.)

So yes! I was going somewhere! These auto industries were quite happy
with their profitable products, but now, put out the hand and collect
that money!!! (which will ultimately come from the same people that
pissed away money on the monster trucks in the first place!!!!!). A
nice little circle, however, both arrows go straight to the Auto
industries, leaving us, well, nowhere.

"so low-interest loans could make it much cheaper for automakers to
finance factory upgrades and invest in next-generation battery
technology for electric cars or fuel-cell vehicles."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080909/bs_nm/usa_autos_loans_dc_3

Ug. Im spastic right now, Im sorry!!!

Until Next Time.

PeacE

daben.

"Database Technologies (DBT), a company that was ultimately purchased
by ChoicePoint, got in a lot of trouble for indirectly identifying
felons before the 2000 Florida elections. The state of Florida hired
DBT to create a list of potential people to remove from the list of
registered voters. DBT matched the database of registered voters to
lists of convicted felons not just from Florida but from every state
in the union. The most direct and conservative means to match would
have been to use the voter's name and date of birth as necessary
identifiers. But to DBT, possibly under direction from Florida's
Division of Elections, cast a much broader net in trying to identify
potential convicts. Its matching algorithm required only a 90% match
between the name of the registered voter and the name of the convict.
In practice this meant that there were lots of false positives,
registered voters who were wrongly identified as possibly being
convicts. For example, the Rev. Willie D. Whiting, Jr., a registered
voter from Tallahassee, was initially told that he could not vote
because someone named WIllie J. Whiting, born two days later, had a
felony conviction. The Division of Elections also required DBT to
perform "nickname matches" for first names and to match on first and
last names regardless of their order- so that the name Deborah Ann
would also match the name Ann Deborah, for example."

"...This produced a list of 57,746 registered Floridians who were
identified as convicted felons. The concern was not just with the
likely large number of false positives, but also with the likelihood
that a disproportionate number of the so-called purged registrations
would be for African- American voters. This is especially true because
the algorithm was not relaxed when it came to race. Only registered
voters who exactly matched the race of the convict were subject to
exclusion from the voting rolls. So while Rev. Whiting,
notwithstanding a different middle initial and birth date, could match
convict Willie J. Whiting, a white voter with the same name and birth
date would not qualify because the convict Whiting was black."

I thought this was very interesting, primarily because of the way
things turned out in Florida of that election.


WE MUST END THE MANIPULATION

until next time.

Peace.

daben.

Can I just add, The Dodgers are on an 8 game winning streak, most
recently sweeping the Diamondbacks. They currently have a 1 1/2 game
lead over Arizona, and I can't wait to see Steinbrenner's face if and
when the Dodgers show up in October ( with the abscession of the
yankees. oh yea, Ill even go there... ). There was a point, between
torre's move, where I really thought jorge, mariano, and Arod would be
moving across the country over to LA, and was on the fence between
making the switch.

If others weren't as intense with this situation, I am quite positive
that many many manny (hehe) of us were just hoping to see the Dodgers
make it to the post season, with or without the yankees. And you know
damned right (as does the entire Steinbrenner clan) that if Torre was
the skipper, we'd be in a different situation.

And it's the same nonsense, just another season. Last year, what was
it? Pulled quad? Now? Rotator cuff tendonitis? are you serious? Ah, I
remember feeling so Confident, with Wang, Petitte, Hughes, Kennedy,
and Mussina. I am quite content to say that Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes,
Darrell Rasner, and Sir Sidney Ponson, united their powers to destroy
this season, and Girardi let it all work out. Think about it? who else
started? Giese and Joba... anyone else? Hmmm.

Think about last year...

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Roger Clemens 18 99.0 6 6 4.18 68
*Tyler Clippard 6 27.0 3 1 6.33 18
Matt DeSalvo 7 27.2 1 3 6.18 10
Philip Hughes 13 72.2 5 3 4.46 58
Kei Igawa 14 67.2 2 3 6.25 53
Jeff Karstens 7 14.2 1 4 11.05 5
Ian Kennedy 3 19.0 1 0 1.89 15
Mike Mussina 28 152.0 11 10 5.15 91
*Carl Pavano 2 11.1 1 0 4.76 4
Andy Pettitte 36 215.1 15 9 4.05 141
*Darrell Rasner 6 24.2 1 3 4.01 11
Chien-Ming Wang 30 199.1 19 7 3.70 104
*Chase Wright 3 10.0 2 0 7.20 8


And 2008.

PITCHER ERA
Mike Mussina 3.35
Ian Kennedy 8.17
Andy Pettitte 4.34
Sidney Ponson 4.23
Dan Giese 2.51
Joba Chamberlain 2.63
Chien-Ming Wang 4.07
Phil Hughes 9.00
Kei Igawa*

Ok, so that's 13 SP in 2007, 9 in 2008. In 2007, take out Pavano, 2008
take out Wang. Igawa in 2008 doesnt count as well, because, well, I
recall him pitching 1 game and not recording an out in the 1st or
something.
Well, hopefully Girardi, Cashman, and Steinbrenner Clan feel that the
young ones gained some excellent experience, because the combination
for 0 wins with a combined 8 losses from 16 games pitched definitely
are much more valuable now.

*Le Sigh*

So if you are on the fence about the upcoming presidential election,
this video will likely change the way you feel. hehe.

First time I saw this video, but Dennis Kucinich opposes this secret
meeting (which was to deal with FISA) back in March 2008, and I
completely dig his objection.

I apologize for the biblical quotes that show up, but yea. enjoy.

Here we go. This is most likely for ben, whom recently asked me about
Modzilla 3.0... So this past tuesday, Google released the beta version
of Chrome, another attack from Google against Microsoft and opening
yet another front. Some of the reasoning behind Chrome- Google feels
that browsers should open faster, be more reliable, easier to use,
and... prettier? haha. kidding on that one. So yea, it's a beta
version. I find it much faster than modzilla. However, it lacks the
status??? bar that indicates the loading pages, which takes away from
convenience a bit (is my browser loading or sitting here and enjoying
the scenery?). Also, for some reason, certain links will not work at
times, and every once in a while, the entire windows closes
unexpectedly (not even reaching "not responding"etc.). Im sure google
is working these problems out.

Ah, and what I like about it. Every time you open Chrome (or open a
new tab), rather than opening to a blank screen, it opens to a list of
the most visited sites (and if you have OCD like me, there's a high
chance you will be returning to one of them). And it isnt a list, more
like a modern, flashy, windows vista alt- tab, thumbnail- esque
visual. also, the toolbar. rather than having a separate google search
box on your toolbar, simply use the address bar. and as you start
typing in the address, rather than showing a series of suggested
websites from the past (which requires you to down arrow or click the
desired link, or finish the address), Chrome will fill it in right
there, leaving you the job of pressing enter. Again, this saves about
.25 seconds, but is oh so nice :-)

Again, this is part of the beta, and Im expecting Chrome to be very
very nice, in the next few months. The downside? When Chrome becomes
the most popular web browser (like they have easily conquered the
search engine sector), Google will see what sites you visit and when,
going even beyond the 5 petabytes of data they have... (yea, 5,000
terabytes... 5 million gb... immense.). Google knows when you think,
what you think. and if anyone can truly create a machine that has its
own thought process, look no further... think iRobot.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4682003.ece

Obviously, I do not support Russia's invasion of Georgia. However, I
have even greater dissent against... wait for it... the US's manner of
handling the situation. Go figure. The US navy currently has ships in
a Georgian port of Poti alongside remaining stationed Russians.

I take it as the US flexing its muscle, yet again, and hawkishly
suggesting "hey, we can conquer the world," where Georgey and Dick use
"we" to represent our entire country... Thanks guys.

The US is encouraging Georgia to join the NATO alliance, further
irritating Russia because of it's encroachment of Russia's sphere of
influence.

I'm just saying, there will come a day where we must put our
government into its place. My work here is done.

Until next time.

Peace.

daben.

"If we are to prevent a continuing asset and debt liquidation of
near-historic proportions, we will require policies that open up the
balance sheet of the US Treasury." - Bill Gross, co-chief investment
officer of Pimco

The weak economy, retail stores like Saks, Abercrombie, the Gap, and
Target have faced falling sales, including the Gap's 8% decrease in
sales in August.

In the week ending August 30th, the number of people collecting
unemployment benefits has increased 15,000 to 444,000, which will
ultimately lead to further decreased sales. And although we are
heading into the fall, which is normally accompanied by eased fuel
prices, as Americans travel and shop less, the demand for fuel
decreases, possibly providing further reason for the dropping costs.



http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article4678523.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=2876246

I believe that no one -- including the President -- is above the law.

I oppose all forms of torture, and I support both closing the
Guantánamo Bay prison and ending indefinite detention.

I oppose warrantless spying.

I believe that government officials, no matter how high-ranking,
should be held accountable for breaking the law and violating the
Constitution.

I believe that the Constitution protects every person's rights equally
-- no matter what they believe, how they live, where or if they
worship, and whom they love.

I reject the notion that we have to tolerate violations of our most
fundamental rights in the name of fighting terrorism.

I am deeply committed to the Constitution and expect our country's
leaders to share and act on that commitment -- every day, without
fail.



https://secure.aclu.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=bumper_sticker&s_s=email1&JServSessionIdr012=pcp3vkfhb5.app26a

Oh, and the patriot act can kiss my white ass.

Until next time.

peace.

daben