Volume 2 Issue 88
June 6, 2003
Supercomputers vs. the Weather
Cleaning up the wreckage at the NY Times, John Ashcroft sets his sites on oprressing a new group, and the weather bureau brings out the heavy machinery
Um...yeah, it being one of the few nice days this year so far...I'm not going to sit here all day and pontificate. Off to enjoy the sun, enjoy the insanity, and the weekend!
John Ashcroft's Latest Target: Riechsführer Ashcroft's latest group to oppress, now that he's done with the foreigners and Muslims for now, is the gays and lesbians, who he apparently is putting pressure on at the Justice Department, with gay pride events now banned -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/06/politics/06GAYS.html
Bumps in the Roadmap: Hammas has broken off cease-fire talks, raising the specter of more terrorist attacks against Israel -
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-mideast-hamas.html
Waiting on the unemployment line: Unemployment increased to a 9 year high last month -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23064-2003Jun6.html
Wreckage at the Times: An inside look on the downfall of Howell Raines -
http://www2.observer.com/observer/pages/frontpage5.asp
Another play-by-play account, with some speculation on the future -
http://slate.msn.com/id/2084050/
Filibustering the day away: Should the Senate get rid of the filibuster?
http://slate.msn.com/id/2084031/
Fuel her up with corn! I really don't understand what Ethanol is, what it does, or why we need it (other than to give subsidizes to corn growers). But you're about to see a lot more of it -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/06/politics/06ENER.html
Saying no to the Euro: Britain will likely not join the Euro for now -
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-704700,00.html
And more details are becoming public about the deal over dinner that made Tony Blair the Prime Minister of Great Britain -
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-704979,00.html
Now they can be even more wrong! The Weather Service today puts into operation a huge IBM supercomputer, the 3rd fastest in the US, that will enhance weather forecasts and supposedly ensure better predictive models. Of course, nowadays with rain almost every day, it hasn't been too hard recently. Though, if our non-rain days are always as nice as yesterday and today are, I'm fine with it raining half the time or so, just as long as we don't get those 105 degree DC summer days -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/06/technology/06SUPE.html
Look Who's Running for President: Dick Gephardt holds the lead in Iowa according to the latest polls, with John Kerry and Howard Dean rounding out the top 3 -
http://www.adn.com/24hour/politics/story/909405p-6332501c.html
Look Who's Running for President 2: In what is not a good sign for Democratic party loyalty, centrist Democrats were attacked as often as George W. Bush yesterday at a meeting of progressives -
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-dems6jun06,1,7624341.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
The Independent Choice: Vermont Independent Senator Jim Jeffords, celebrating the 2 year mark of his defection from the Republican Party, said he was leaning towards backing Howard Dean for President, though he was also considering John Kerry. Yeah, take the two people in the race who can't hate each other more -
http://www.ctnow.com/news/politics/hc-caucus0606.artjun06,0,2978043.story?coll=hc-headlines-politics
Why the GOP can't win in New Jersey: I'm often asked why New Jersey has become so dominated by Democrats in recent years. One reason is the quality of the GOP candidates for statewide office. Of course, sometimes the candidates for local office have problems too, as a Republican candidate for the State Assembly was arrested for driving with a suspended license (which has been suspended 30 times) and for an outstanding warrant for passing a bad check -
http://www.courierpostonline.com/news/southjersey/m060603b.h tm
Follow the Money: Ah, as intercollegiate athletics continue to decay into a morass of money, the Big East has sued the ACC for trying to get some Big East members to defect, effectively destroying the conference -
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/college/news/2003/ 06/06/bigeast_suit_ap/
Coming Home: The Oakland A's will visit their former home, Philadelphia, for the first time since moving out of the City of Brotherly Love in the 1950's -
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/6024414.htm
Have a great weekend!
