Gone Gamma

Flickr , the self-described coolest photo sharing site in all of creation has declared itself now in Gamma , status. This follows a period that saw many site functionality improvements, a Yahoo buy in, and an explosion of users. The developers have wisely kept themselves out of a numbers game in the face of the proliferation of photo sharing sites, some of a flavor distinctly different from Flickr, any others pathetic rip offs, devoid of useful features and any sign of community.

Not to say Flickr is perfect. One need only examine the rapidly lengthening threads in various forums to read of much dissent from the recent site changes. This happens every time the Flickrati decide to alter anything. I take it in stride - the entire project is still very much in development, and can do an amazing number and variation of things no other site centered around photography can do. I've found a place to extend my interest in photography, not only through uploading my own, but perusing the works of others by swinging my way through the endless vines attached to the infinite number of trees in the Flickr forest. It is possible to begin in one place and wind up many place otherwise not found except by choosing to peruse those photos "favorited" by a contact, or randomly entering phrases into the Tag search boxes and seeing what is returned.

I use a lot of the online offerings from Google , despite the cries of data mining and world information domination. Google is attempting to develop ever changing ways to deal with rapidly growing amounts and types of digital information (and analog too, if you consider the book projects), and most importantly, the relationships between bits of data indexed.

Beyond their stated mission, Google has wisely allowed individual employees and teams considerable leeway when it comes to project concepts, trial testing and sometimes, a public release. The latter often infuriates computer "experts" and avid participants of computer forums all across the Web. The complaint is that Google is basically releasing unfinished software and allowing the world to beta test it for them.

True.

This is compared by critics to Microsoft's sorry track record when it comes to developing and releasing newer versions of its' Windows Operating System. True, MS does usually release the latest Windows version knowing a billion bugs would pop up, other software would break and it would take the company months and even years to make major fixes in the form of Service Packs, which carry their own built in fuck ups.

I find the comparison between software written by a for profit company but released for free and not required in order for your computer to function to an entire operating system that is released as a finished product for a fat fee when it is clearly still quite broken absurd, and reeking of a particularly foul strand of sour grapes. Google responds over time to the millions of suggestions made about each of it's software offerings, improving and experimenting with new features, some of which don't stick if user feedback is overwhelmingly negative. The chronic state of "beta-ness" allows for this.

By contrast, Flickr offered limited free user account next to pair annual user accounts which offered considerably more storage and other features. Buying a pro account back then was a bit of a gamble - none of us had any clear idea if the site would still be around three months down the road or if our money and uploaded pictures would all be gone one morning. Flickr survived, was bought by Yahoo, and is still cool, a small miracle considering who bought it.


Not sure what the point of any of this ramble is except to say to those who obsess over every Gmail detail or an entire site re-rendering at Flickr - remain calm. A few days down the line and you'll have adjusted to the alterations, incorporated those you have use for into your routine and discarded those that prove personally worthless. In some cases, new features that totally suck will die a quiet death, and a very brief moment of reflection will have you wondering why you were so wound up in the first place. :)

More Dinosaurs

OK, so last time I was extolling the virtues of Jeff Beck as guitarist extraordinaire, and mentioned only in passing a contemporary who is also a favorite of mine,Jimmy Page. He haunted the same London music scene Beck and Clapton did, but honed his skills doing more studio work than either of the other two. He eventually joined the Yardbirds in their final incarnation, initially as bass player, then lead guitarist when Beck left the group. It was in the midst of attempting to form the New Yardbirds followed on that Led Zeppelin formed.

I've been listening to the Zep catalog recently, and doing so out of order to avoid babbling about the chronology of the band, blah blah blah. All of that is readily accessible all over the Web. I just wanted to delve back into the music in a manner that escapes the tiny Classic Rock Radio box the band has been stuffed in since the format was invented 20 years ago. For anyone who cares, it was known as Album Oriented Rock prior to the all-the-same shite radio we have across the nation, and the playlist was still very much in the hands of the individual DJs. Of course hot records got more play, but they had a lot of leeway, so tracks other than the "hits" got decent exposure, as did bands then defunct or not selling in large numbers. In those days you could still call up and make requests, and if a song were already playing, get the DJ himself on the line.

But no more. Classic Rock Radio killed all of that, which is why the only DJs who become semi-famous in any radio market are a small number of live club DJs, and those numbnuts idiots that have turned your morning and afternoon commute into a low brow, vulgar shout fest. Gag me with a wet T shirt.

I digress. Please excuse.

So I'm listening to the original Zepp records out of order, letting the music wash over me, move me, drive me, entertain me all while I reconsider it in the context of the 25 years that have passed since I bought my first record. Zeppelin did release singles like most bands, but did little to push individual songs, relying instead on the full body of the music to carry a particular album, then backing it up with epic tour marathons. Unlike many bands in the very end of the sixties and into the seventies, Led Zeppelin did not travel with an opening act. They were the entire show, and still sold staggering numbers of tickets, setting attendance records all across the US.

So each album is a thing unto itself. I started with Houses Of The Holy, whose cover always looked as though it had been photographed under a sodium lamp, all weird orange and purple, and whatnot. The opening track (Song Remains The Same) has an insistent, compelling riff that pushes you right into the rhythm of the song. Page was consumed by the possibilities of his guitar in a way unlike Hendrix, who was said to have been frustrated by the disconnect between the sounds in his head and those he could actually conjure from a guitar. Page wanted to create layers of guitar voices, each one different but complementary to the others. One voice might be popping out the rhythm that Bonham's drums would pick up while another would add in chords edging on discordance, and the whole thing would somehow fall into place when it was so utterly clear from the first few notes that it couldn't possibly work.

Several songs from Houses Of The Holy appear on "greatest" compilations and Classic Rock (Heretofore known as CR cause I'm a lazy bitch) and rightly so, but this time around I found myself really smiling and grooving to the closing, and simplest track of the record, The Ocean. The recording is stripped way down, the guitar is loud and clean, and the riff as perfect as most of Page's riffs are.

Next up was In Through The Out Door the final release from the band before drummer John Bonham died. His death was a shock to the band, its fans, and the music world generally. Zepp had released their first record in three years, played a huge festival show at Knebworth, and was in rehearsal for a US tour when Bonham died. I can recall even now, reading it on Page 3 of the Stars And Stripes newspaper while in Tokyo. The only word from the band was "we're done". Just started tenth grade at The American School in Japan which was proving a very difficult transition and music was all the refuge I had. In other words, I was fucked. The ground beneath my very feet had betrayed me several times that week in a series of medium strength of earthquakes, and now the mighty Zepp had fallen.

And in truth, I wasn't lovin' the final record. In Through The Out Door spawned three very popular radio hits, only one of which I could really stand at all - In The Evening, mostly because of the groaning, murky sludge that lays the foundation for the signature riff to follow. That record does have its moments, however, but to my ears the hits, while well crafted rock tunes, are not what stand out. Two tracks, "Carouselambra" and "I'm Gonna Crawl" appeal most to me following this "relistening" I've been doing. The first does rely on a somewhat cheesy synthesizer sound, but once it gets rolling it's gone, and you can tell the guitar was slung way low down over Pages' shoulder as he tears the chords out. The mix is really dark, but that adds to the appeal. The second track also has too much synth for my tastes, but it falls quickly into the background. It's basically a blues track without the raunch, but plenty of testifying by Plant. Stacked against the monster reputation of so many other Zepp tunes it isn't much, but it really does close out this album on a strong note.

That's it for tonight. Thought I'd do more, but listening to entire albums is not something I do often enough anymore. The popular music industry is in many ways coming full circle. In the fifties and sixties in particular, it thrived on singles. Good old 45RPM records with that one song everyone had to have and a flip side that may or may not have been any good. By the mid sixties record companies were combining those few hit singles with other tunes already recorded by a band an releasing it as an LP. To the execs it seemed a sure fire way to sell more vinyl - the hits were on these 12 inchers, the kids loved the hits, so they'd buy these to get all they could from their favorite bands. The execs were right.

A lot of other factors combined with this economic motive to turn LPs into organic musical beasts. Some of the bands making whole LPs were also still releasing singles, but many fans were bypassing the two song 45RPM for the whole 33 1/3 enchilada. Now, in the era of computers, downloads (legal and not), and televisions' ability to push a song the LP (now in the form of a CD) is falling by the wayside. Most bands still make them even if they are nothing more than an unrelated collection of songs, but those who buy the music are moving away from wanting the whole thing. Think of how many CDs or LPs you bought primarily to get one or two songs off it. If you rip your music to computer, it is likely those tunes that never interested you in the first place are not going to make it onto your hard drive. Illegal downloading of music often centers around a particular song from really popular acts.

In other words, the single is where it's at, all over again. I currently have 13,033 songs on my computer in six different formats. And I've yet to finish ripping my entire CD collection. I've left off songs from many of the CDs I've ripped. Since my computer has become my primary listening place (one of my stereo speakers was rendered unusable after a cat knocked it over and rode it down to safety as it crashed into the wall. Claws and woofer surrounds do not mix well) the way I deal with the music itself has changed. It's all just files now, so I can move them here and there, copy them, back them up, alter their formats, and play them in any order I want, or ferret them out using various parameters, or just load up a gigantic list in Winamp , hit "shuffle", and let it fly. Beats the fuck out of craptastic radio, and has the blessed benefit of "next" anytime what's playing is not moving me to the groove.

More dinosaur ruminations for you all next time around. I may even finish my half-ass Page tribute/analysis/baseless rant.

Fuck all that...

it's time to get on with this.

I originally started this spastic blog with politics, news, and my muted outrage in mind. Over time, I've discovered that while my rage is less muted my will to pore over the daily news and other pertinent articles, process them, then spew here has waned. The three people who might actually read this already know what is really happening, how fucked up our country has become, and don't need me to understand that. When I started writing three years ago, just as the war was getting underway I could have been part of the alleged "blogosphere" had I the persistence. I did not, so Andrew Sullivan gets to be on TV, not me. :)

Tonight I want to talk about Jeff Beck . I had occasion recently to see a live show of his taped in Tokyo in 1999. I had pretty much given up on anything from Beck since somewhere in the 1970's when he was making extraordinary music incorporating ground breaking guitar playing. The meld was far more than much of the musical masturbation that passes for guitar technique these days, but it seemed to me his best days were long behind him. Then I encounter this unreleased DVD of a one night show recorded in Tokyo, backed by musicians I have never even heard of.

And there's Jeff, same hair he's had for 30 years, wielding a white Stratocaster and no pick. I thought the only modern electric rock guitarist left to play without one was Mark Knopfler . Nice to be wrong. The electric guitar is a difficult beast to tame and for rhythmic purposes, a pick can be a powerful tool. Beck plays brilliantly during this show, well in control of the music and his instrument, not skipping a beat or missing a note as tears through each piece. While his tone is certainly somewhat processed it is recognizably a Strat, and one in the hands of a master. From one phrase to the next it can go from singing to screaming but remain connected. Not all of the pieces played during the show appealed to me but I felt compelled to watch the entire thing just to see what he would do next, to hear the barely possible sounds come out of his guitar.

Beck was one of the "big three" English guitarists of the 1960's, alongside Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. All three of them were in the Yardbirds at one time or another but took rather different paths afterward. Beck's was the most divergent. Whilst Page made the Gibson Les Paul famous and invented a hundred now famous and familiar riffs, and Clapton made it safe for white men to play the blues and be really good at it, Beck rapidly moved off into less popular territory. After a few albums with Rod Stewart (Truth and Beckola) as lead singer (what a wasted talent he wound up being) that included the wildest rendition of "Jailhouse Rock" ever recorded, Jeff Beck spun himself off into the nebulous realm where jazz and electric music meet. His forays were not as relentless as say, John McLaughlin, nor were they intended to be some sort of spiritual machinery, but instead were examinations of how the guitar can be stretched into new territory and still be recognizable as an instrument. Beck played on those albums from the mid seventies as if he could barely contain the instrument in his hands, as if it were going to careen out of control and literally explode.

Aw, fuck. What the hell do I know.

Beck never achieved the fame of Led Zeppelin nor the reverence that surrounds Eric Clapton these days. Page can't play a lot of his own stuff any longer, not with the precision and energy he once had, and Clapton, while likely more technically perfect than ever, is dull as dishwater in recent years. So it was refreshing to see that one of them can not only still play, but can do so with energy and joy, right on the edge of chaos while still coming off as precise.

Like I said, some of the compositions didn't really do it for me, but Beck was utterly in his element.

Get these two records if you have any interest in what I'm talking about.

Blow By Blow

Wired

Next time maybe I'll write about the many virtues of belly button fuzz.

Big Money

Wow.

The FBI busted a few people in West Virginia for buying votes - $2,000 worth! I feel better knowing our electoral system has been safeguarded against this sort of major voter fraud.

They allege Esposito gave $2,000 in government-supplied money to a resident who had offered to bribe voters on his behalf.

They also credit the undercover sting operation for last year's guilty pleas by the sheriff of Logan County and the police chief in the coal-mining city of Logan, who both admitted to election violations.

The chief judge of West Virginia's southern federal court district condoned the tactic Thursday in an election fraud case against Perry French Harvey Jr., the man who allegedly accepted the $2,000.

Judge David Faber rejected arguments from Harvey's lawyer that the government had acted improperly by putting up a sham candidate.

Of course, the FBI will no doubt be turning it's powerful crime fighting abilities to the massive voter fraud and campaign finance abuses taking place at the national level, right? I mean, they are the Federal Bureau of Investigation...

Full AP story.

morris the cat meets jules verne at the end of time

morris the cat meets jules verne at the end of time
Originally uploaded by awfulsara.

This woman sees things the rest of us do not. Check her out.

Now playing on dust radio...

Chris Whitley has passed away. My world is a lesser place without him in it.

Read his obituary. Then go buy some good music, cause life is really fucking short.

To Sum Up

In better words than mine:

Let's give him the benefit of the doubt that he was being prevented from acting by bureaucracy and the sheer magnitude of the situation. Where are the stories of how he was in his office freaking the fuck out because there were tens of thousands of Americans trapped without food and water? Where's the story of how he ripped a strip off of somebody, demanding to know what the holy hell the holdup is getting water and food to those people?

Read all of it succinctly put, here:

http://www.thisisnotover.com/archives/2005/09/heres_what_gets.html

Wading through The Inevitable

Statistically, this had to happen. Now, levees are failing and the city of New Orleans is vanishing under the rising waters. It is difficult to get the mind around the sheer scale of the destruction. I've seen some less than thinking people compare this to September 11. September 11 was two buildings, and part of another. This is thousands and thousands of buildings, perhaps, when all is said and done, an entire major American city. Sure you can compare death tols, but it is absurd.

At any rate, I suppose such comparisons are a feeble attempt to put this into some sort of perspective.

I can't really get my mind around it.

One thing, amidst the sensational media coverage that comes to mind: Why so much focus on looting? People are dead, more will die, and many remain to be rescued. Businesses are insured, or ought to be. They can write off their entire inventories as a loss and be reimbursed. Cops are wasting their time chasing people stealing armfuls of Pampers, snack foods, and drinks. Why, oh why is anyone trying to stop them, and why is the media beating the drum of "widespread looting?" It's inane, and irrelevant.

The Politics Of Stupidity

I'm glad I don't have kids, who will enter a public school system being taken over by zealous, anti-science, anti-thinking religious barbarians, to be taught the bible in science class. In school boards and state legislatures across the country proponents of the redressed Creationist "philosophy" (now slickly termed Intelligent Design) are framing the debate as a need to teach the "controversy" surrounding the theory of evolution and natural selection. That controversy is wholly contrived by those who wish to teach it. Imagine for a moment that science classes started teaching that homosexuality is genetically driven behavior. These same nuts who want to subvert rational thinking would throw themselves beneath the wheels of school buses the world over.

Which proves my point...

Full article

Bone Dry

In April 2001 I wrote an article about the dwindling supply of water in the Great American Desert. The focus of the article was the city of Las Vegas, Nevada, a desert fantasy oasis of bright lights, limitless possibilities, and an abundance of water. Vegas is truly in the middle of the desert. Drive a few miles beyond the edges of it's sprawl and the air suddenly goes skin-wrinkling dry, no longer sprinkled with the water of a thousand fountains. Drive a few more miles and you come upon Hoover Dam, which stands astride the Colorado River.

The Colorado is the primary source of water for Las Vegas, and the city has now reached the limits of Nevada's allotment. Officials at the city and state level have known for years this day would come, and they have been preparing. All of the outdoor fountains in Las Vegas have been turned off, and the rest of the city is under strict rationing.

Just kidding.

Las Vegas, instead of generating and enforcing strict regulations on the use of precious water, has gone hunting for more to satisfy it's insatiable demand. It proposes to pump water out of the ground in Nevada and western Utah and transport it via pipeline more than 500 miles to Las Vegas. The local people living above that water, which nurtures their crops and keeps their patch of desert from completely blowing away, are protesting.

It will do no good. There is too much money at stake, too much political pressure being applied to stop this. The Bureau Of Land Management and US Geological Survey will likely confirm Vegas' contention that there is more than enough water for the city to suck 25,000 acre-feet (enough water to cover that acreage to a depth of one foot) per year out of the ground. And in a few years, when Vegas continues to expand and it's appetite for water grows sharper, it will reach out further, deeper, to slake it's thirst. Eventually, it will suck all the remaining water out of the western United States, dry up, wither and blow away.

And there will be no water left, not a drop.

Presidentus Ignoramus

If ignorance is bliss, we should all be the Shrub. From an interview with some Texas print reporters:

On Intelligent Design

Ron Hutcheson writes for Knight Ridder Newspapers: "President Bush waded into the debate over evolution and 'intelligent design' Monday, saying schools should teach both theories on the creation and complexity of life. . .

"Scientists concede that evolution doesn't answer every question about the creation of life, but most consider intelligent design an attempt to inject religion into science courses.

"Bush compared the current debate to earlier disputes over 'creationism,' a related view that adheres more closely to biblical explanations. As governor of Texas, Bush said students should be exposed to both creationism and evolution.

"On Monday the president said he favors the same approach for intelligent design 'so people can understand what the debate is about.' "

Hutcheson writes that Bush "didn't seem eager to talk about the topic."

Here, in fact, is the entire exchange, prompted by Hutcheson's question:

"Q I wanted to ask you about the -- what seems to be a growing debate over evolution versus intelligent design. What are your personal views on that, and do you think both should be taught in public schools?

"THE PRESIDENT: I think -- as I said, harking back to my days as my governor . . . Then, I said that, first of all, that decision should be made to local school districts, but I felt like both sides ought to be properly taught.

"Q Both sides should be properly taught?

"THE PRESIDENT: Yes, people -- so people can understand what the debate is about.

"Q So the answer accepts the validity of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution?

"THE PRESIDENT: I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought, and I'm not suggesting -- you're asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, and the answer is yes."

Widget Me

Widgets are damn cool. Little desk top apps that do one or a few very narrow things, in a manner pleasing to the eye and convenient to use. Yahoo recently bought Pixoria, who created Konfabulator, the program that actually runs and controls these widgets.

I'm still giving it a whirl but I have to say it is pretty cool, works well, and with the acquisition, I expect the number, type and variation of available widgets to grow rapidly.

Test it out for yourself.

hot blue day

hot blue day
Originally uploaded by fallsroad.

It's turning into one of those really damn hot stretches here. 99 today, hotter than that tomorrow and on through the weekend. I know, it's worse elsewhere, but I'm *here*, aren't I?

Getting pumped

Well, not really.

I'm currently going off my feed of bad CableSpews programming, so I've been unable to work myself into a righteous lather about the Shrub's appointment to the Supreme Court.

*Snore*.

Another right wing, pro-business, anti-regulation lawyer - sounds like most of the administration and its lackey army. Perhaps the 99 degree heat here on the Southern Plains has me in a profound malaise, but I really don't care who this man is. I already know what I need to know of him - the finer points of his particular stripe of neo conservatism doesn't interest me.

I also don't care about the upcoming nomination "fight" because a fight it will not be. The alleged "party of opposition" relinquished it's remaining shred of dignity when it chose to compromise with the majority party over judicial nominees, all of whom were more objectionable than the current one. This means the dog and pony show will be short, full of hype, and end in a near unanimous vote in favor.

Like I said, I cannot care about this. Those fucks running the show are already quite capable of fucking all of us in our nether holes - one more shitbag can hardly foul the waters any further.

What's in a name?

Though I spent much of my first 20 years of life outside the US, my family always returned to the Washington, D.C. area. I grew up a football fan, specifically a fan of the Washington Redskins. The games at old RFK stadium were magical for a kid - totally sold out, raucous fans, marching band, players like giants smashing into one another, and the fight song, played and sung each time the home team managed to score.

"Hail To The Redskins", borrowing the tune from the Notre Dame fight song.

Indian themes are what this team's image was built on many decades ago, and it's logo is instantly recognizable. I had pennants and posters, trading cards and jerseys, all with that famous face, famous stylized letter R, and the name.

Time to change it.

A court case challenging the Washington trademarks stalled two years ago, but was revived yesterday on procedural grounds.

Redskins Name Can Be Challenged
Appeals Court Ruling Keeps Trademark Battle Alive

By Karlyn Barker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, July 16, 2005; B01

Native American groups won another chance yesterday to challenge trademarks covering the name and logo of the Washington Redskins, which the groups say disparage millions of people.

The football franchise had appeared to prevail in the longstanding trademark fight when a federal judge ruled in its favor nearly two years ago. But yesterday the U.S. Court of Appeals said the case deserves another look because one of the plaintiffs might have been unfairly denied the right to pursue it.

"This keeps the case alive," said John Dossett, general counsel for the National Congress of American Indians, which represents 250 tribes.

The dispute involves six trademarks owned by Pro-Football Inc., the corporate owner of the team. The oldest is "The Redskins," written in a stylized script in 1967. Other trademarks were registered in 1974, 1978 and 1990, including one for the word "Redskinettes." The Native Americans said the trademarks should be taken away because they insult them and hold them up to ridicule.

The appellate ruling hinged on the question of whether the Native Americans waited too long to file their challenge. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled in October 2003 that the seven plaintiffs had no standing to complain because they did not formally object until 25 years had elapsed since the date of the first trademark.

But the appellate judges found that one plaintiff still could have standing because he was only 1 year old in 1967. They sent the case back to Kollar-Kotelly for review.

The outcome ultimately could affect millions of dollars in sales of Redskins paraphernalia. With a federal registration for trademarks, team owner Daniel M. Snyder holds exclusive rights to use the team name and logo on T-shirts, caps and other items, worth an estimated $5 million a year.

Teams want to have an image fans can understand and get enthusiastic about. It's a method of team identity, and a great tool for marketing. But there is no reason on earth that a team name, images, and theme need be denigrating to Native Americans. Try supplanting "Redskins" with "Jews" or "Micks" or "Spics" and so on. It just doesn't play.

I propose Washington change the name to Warriors, a more generic term for a fighting force, one that does not rely on specific racial typing and cannot possibly be offensive in the manner Redskins is now. The team symbol could be revamped into a fierce visage designed to strike fear into opposing teams, or at least sell jerseys and tickets. This isn't rocket science, and nothing says a team's name is set in stone.

Years ago Abe Pollen, owner of the then named Washington Bullets NBA franchise decided to change the team name. At the time the city was in the top ten for murder rates in the entire US. Pollen felt it was not appropriate for a basketball team to carry the name of a bit of metal designed to kill people. The team held a contest and the winning name was Wizards. Goofy, as is the new logo, but it's only a basketball team.

He set the right example. The Washington NFL team should follow it.

Jumpin' Jesus! Er, Standing Jesus!

(stumpy) christ of the ozarks
Originally uploaded by fallsroad.

Yummy Fundie goodness. Click photo to read all about it.

The wider lie

The wider lies the Bush administration crafted and repeated to take us into an illegal war are being buried beneath the "Rove scandal." I believe Rove did not commit an actual crime, but engaged in a very nasty sort of political smear campaign outing Valerie Plame.

Richard Cohen tells us why:

The truth about that truth was contained in a Post story about the leaks. It quoted "a senior administration official" who said that the outing of Plame was "meant purely and simply for revenge." It also said that two -- not one -- "top White House officials" had called "at least six Washington journalists and disclosed the identity and occupation of Wilson's wife." This response might be reprehensible, but it was routine for the town and, particularly, the vindictive Bush White House. What it was not, though, was a crime. The law prohibiting the outing of a CIA agent is so restrictive that it has been applied only once and does not seem to fit this case. I find it hard to believe that Rove or anyone at the White House specifically intended to blow the cover of a CIA agent. Rove is a political opportunist, not a traitor.

Washington loves farce the way Vienna loves the waltz. It once extravagantly inflated a sex act into the impeachment of a president, and it has now reduced the momentous debacle of the Iraq war into a question of what Rove or someone else said to a reporter on the phone. Soon, the question will turn on whether Rove or others actually cited Plame by name and whether the president's oath to fire anyone who identified Plame as a CIA operative applies to someone who just mentioned her job title. It will all depend on what "is" is or, to put it another way, whether Bush will concede that he inhaled.

In that second paragraph lies the nut of Rove's defense - he didn't specifically name names - and it will work.

no words need be spoken

no words need be spoken
Originally uploaded by fallsroad.

Good things are happening. Click on the photo and read all about it.

The Forces Of Ignorance

The forces of ignorance are poised to win a small, but crucial skirmish in the battle between reason and delusion. The Kansas Board of Education is holding hearings to alter textbooks in such a manner as to cast unfounded doubt on Darwin's theory of evolution and natural selection.

This is being pushed by members of the Christian right and proponents of Intelligent Design, a movement that sprang up when Creationism was seen for what it is, a matter of faith, not science. While heaps of evidence in support of evolution exists, there is none whatsoever to bolster this intelligent design "theory". Instead, science is being asked to prove a negative, that God does not in fact, exist. Evolution, while flying in the face of the strict chronologies interpreted from the bible, does not anywhere rule out the existence of God. Intelligent Design activists insist evolution could not account for the variance of species living and extinct, that a creator of some sort (but not Christian, oh no, not that) must have been the genesis (no pun intended) of it all.

What this really means is that textbooks will be altered to satisfy a political agenda driven by narrow religious goals. The result will be the willful spread of ignorance.

In Kansas, Darwinism Goes on Trial Once More

By JODI WILGOREN

TOPEKA, Kan., May 5 - Six years after Kansas ignited a national debate over the teaching of evolution, the state is poised to push through new science standards this summer requiring that Darwin's theory be challenged in the classroom.

In the first of three daylong hearings being referred to here as a direct descendant of the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial in Tennessee, a parade of Ph.D.'s testified Thursday about the flaws they saw in mainstream science's explanation of the origins of life. It was one part biology lesson, one part political theater, and the biggest stage yet for the emerging movement known as intelligent design, which posits that life's complexity cannot be explained without a supernatural creator.

Darwin's defenders are refusing to testify at the hearings, which were called by the State Board of Education's conservative majority. But their lawyer forcefully cross-examined the other side's experts, pushing them to acknowledge that nothing in the current standards prevented discussion of challenges to evolution, and peppering them with queries both profound and personal.

"Do the standards state anywhere that science, evolution, is in any way in conflict with belief in God?" the lawyer, Pedro Irigonegaray, asked William S. Harris, a chemist who helped write the proposed changes.

When a later witness, Jonathan Wells, said he enjoyed being in the minority on such a controversial topic, Mr. Irigonegaray retorted, "More than being right?"

If the board adopts the new standards, as expected, in June, Kansas would join Ohio, which took a similar step in 2002, in mandating students be taught that there is controversy over evolution. Legislators in Alabama and Georgia have introduced bills this season to allow teachers to challenge Darwin in class, and the battle over evolution is simmering on the local level in 20 states.

While the proposed standards for Kansas do not specifically mention intelligent design - and many of its supporters prefer to avoid any discussion of it - critics contend they would open the door not just for those teachings, but to creationism, which holds to the Genesis account of God as the architect of the universe.

For Kansas, the debate is déjà vu: the last time the state standards were under review, in 1999, conservatives on the school board ignored their expert panel and deleted virtually any reference to evolution, only to be ousted in the next election.

But over the next few years anti-evolution forces regained the seats. And now, the board's 6-to-4 anti-evolution majority plans to embrace 20 suggestions promoted by advocates of intelligent design and are using this week's showcase to help persuade the public. "I was hoping these hearings would help me have some good hard evidence that I could repeat," Connie Morris, an anti-evolution board member, said in thanking one witness.

Sighing was Cheryl Shepherd-Adams, a physics teacher who took an unpaid day off from Hays High School to attend the hearings. "Kansas has been through this before," she said. "I'm really tired of going to conferences and being laughed at because I'm from Kansas."

The proposed changes to the state's science standards would edit everything from the introduction to notes advising teachers on specific benchmarks for individual grades. Perhaps the most significant shift would be in the very definition of science - instead of "seeking natural explanations for what we observe around us," the new standards would describe it as a "continuing investigation that uses observation, hypothesis testing, measurement, experimentation, logical argument and theory building to lead to more adequate explanations of natural phenomena."

Local school districts devise curriculums in Kansas, as in most other states, but the standards provide a template by outlining what will be covered on the statewide science tests, given every other year in grades 4, 7 and 10.

Even as they described their own questioning of evolution as triggered by religious conversion, the experts testifying Thursday avoided mention of a divine creator, instead painting their position as simply one of open-mindedness, arguing that Darwinism had become a dangerous dogma.

"There is no science without criticism," said Charles Thaxton, a chemist and co-author of the 1984 book "The Mystery of Life's Origin: Reassessing Current Theories."

"Any science that weathers the criticism and survives is a better theory for it," Mr. Thaxton said.

But the debate was as much about religion and politics as science and education, with Mr. Irigonegaray pressing witnesses to find mentions of the theories they were denouncing, like humanism and naturalism, in the standards, and asking whether they believed all scientists were atheists. He largely ignored their detailed briefings to ask each man if he believed Homo sapiens descended from pre-hominids (most said no) and how old he thought earth was (most agreed on 4.5 billion years.)

"These people are going to obfuscate about these definitions," complained Jack Krebs, vice president of the pro-evolution Kansas Citizens for Science, whose members filled many of the 180 auditorium seats not taken by journalists, who came from as far away as France. "They have created a straw man. They are trying to make science stand for atheism, so they can fight atheism."

Convened 80 years, to the day, after John Scopes was arrested for teaching Darwin's theory to his Dayton, Tenn., high school class, the hearings were cut back from six days when the evolutionists decided not to present witnesses.

Beaming from a laptop to a wide screen, the scientists showed textbook pictures of chicken, turtle and human embryos to try to undermine the notion that all species had a common ancestry. Diagrams of complex RNA molecules were offered as evidence of a designed universe. Dr. Harris displayed a brochure for his Intelligent Design Network, which is based in Kansas, depicting a legal scale with "design" and "evolution" on each side and the words "religion" and "naturalism" crossed out in favor of "Scientific Method."

"You can infer design just by examining something, without knowing anything about where it came from," Dr. Harris said, offering as an example "The Gods Must be Crazy," a film in which Africans marvel at a Coke bottle that turns up in the desert. "I don't know who did it, I don't know how it was done, I don't know why it was done, I don't have to know any of that to know that it was designed."

Across the street, where the evolutionists tried to entice reporters with sandwiches and snacks, Bob Bowden, an agricultural researcher at Kansas State University, denounced the hearings as a "kangaroo court."

"When the power shifted on that board, we knew on that day that we lost," said Dr. Bowden, who has children in the 7th and 12th grades. "It's bogus."

But Linda Holloway, a member of the 1999 state board that dumped evolution, said the mainstream scientists' failure to participate in the hearings signaled that "they're afraid to be cross-examined, they're afraid to defend their theory."

Erika Heikl, 16, one of 14 students from Bishop Seabury Academy, a Christian school in Lawrence, Kan., who attended the hearings, said she believed in evolution - and that the standards should be changed to include its detractors.

"Your views won't change just from being taught that," Erika said. "You'll understand it more."

Beat Them Back

From the New York Times comes and article about new rule changes concerning Medicare claims and patient's ability to request and gain a review.

Medicare Change Will Limit Access to Claim Hearing

By ROBERT PEAR

ASHINGTON, April 23 - A new federal policy will make it significantly more difficult for Medicare beneficiaries to obtain hearings in person before a judge when the government denies their claims for home care, nursing home services, prescription drugs and other treatments.

For years, hearings have been held at more than 140 Social Security offices around the country. In July, the Department of Health and Human Services will take over the responsibility, and department officials said all judges would then be located at just four sites - in Cleveland; Miami; Irvine, Calif.; and Arlington, Va.

Under the new policy, Medicare officials said, most hearings will be held with videoconference equipment or by telephone. A beneficiary who wants to appear in person before a judge must show that "special or extraordinary circumstances exist," the rules say.

But a beneficiary who insists on a face-to-face hearing will lose the right to receive a decision within 90 days, the deadline set by statute.

The policy change comes as Bush administration officials are predicting an increase in the volume of cases, with the creation of a Medicare drug benefit expected to generate large numbers of claims and appeals. But in a recent study, the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress, questioned the heavy reliance on videoconferences, saying that "beneficiaries are often uncomfortable using videoconference facilities and prefer to have their cases heard face to face."

All beneficiaries are 65 or older or disabled. About 5 million of the 41 million beneficiaries are 85 or older, and some are so sick they die while pursuing appeals.

When claims are denied, beneficiaries and their health care providers can challenge the decisions in an appeals process that has several levels of review. Their best chance to win coverage comes when they appear before impartial, independent adjudicators known as administrative law judges.

Over the last five years, beneficiaries and providers prevailed in two-thirds of the 283,000 cases decided by these judges.

The Department of Health and Human Services defended its new policy, saying the use of videoconference equipment would enable judges to "complete more cases" within the 90-day deadline, because they would not have to spend time traveling to remote sites. In a summary of its plans, the department said it was "not economically or administratively feasible" to station judges around the country.

"Having fewer offices is more cost-effective in terms of management, technology and training," the department said in a letter answering questions from Congress.

Michael O. Leavitt, the secretary of health and human services, said, "Access to hearings for Medicare beneficiaries will be as good as or better than" what is now available. For some beneficiaries, he said, video hearings could be more convenient.

"Video teleconferences will allow hearings to be provided more timely, with vastly more access points than Social Security currently provides through its offices," Mr. Leavitt said.

But lawmakers, judges, consumer groups and lawyers for beneficiaries expressed concern.

Senator Charles E. Grassley, the Iowa Republican who is chairman of the Finance Committee, and Senator Max Baucus of Montana, the senior Democrat on the panel, said four hearing offices were not enough.

Mr. Grassley and Mr. Baucus were among the principal authors of the 2003 Medicare law. The law, they noted, says Medicare judges are to be distributed "throughout the United States."

Under the new arrangement, hearings for Medicare beneficiaries in New York, New Jersey and all of New England will normally be held by judges in Cleveland. Hearings for people in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska will be held by judges in Southern California.

Judith A. Stein, director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy, which has represented thousands of people in hearings since 1986, said: "The videoconferences are one of many changes that will reduce the beneficiaries' ability to get fair, favorable decisions. Sick, old and disabled people can be much more effective in person because the judge can see their illnesses and infirmities - how they walk, how they get up from a chair, how their hands shake with tremors."

Nancy M. Coleman, director of the Commission on Law and Aging, a policy and research arm of the American Bar Association, said, "It's a travesty, what's happening to the appeal rights of Medicare beneficiaries."

Videoconference equipment transmits a picture and sound so that a Medicare beneficiary, a judge and witnesses in different parts of the country can see and hear one another over secure networks. Signals will be encrypted to protect the privacy of medical information. The judge will have the file, but a beneficiary can send and receive additional documents using a fax machine.

Ronald G. Bernoski, president of the Association of Administrative Law Judges, said face-to-face hearings were valuable for judges and beneficiaries alike.

"Video teleconferences will undermine the judges' ability to assess the credibility and demeanor of witnesses," said Mr. Bernoski, a judge based in Milwaukee. "And it could reduce the beneficiaries' confidence in the proceedings. The intrinsic value of a Medicare hearing is that citizens have an opportunity to sit down in front of a high-ranking official and tell their story to someone who listens carefully and makes a reasoned decision."

One person who benefited from a Medicare hearing is Ethel L. Swarm, 76, of Bethel, Conn. She said she had excruciating pain in her left leg, was unable to walk and spent four days at Danbury Hospital. But Medicare refused to cover her stay, saying it was not medically necessary. Medicare also refused to pay for a subsequent 37-day stay in a nursing home.

After reviewing the medical evidence, administrative law judges ruled in favor of Mrs. Swarm. She won $7,437 for her hospital care and $9,250 for the nursing home stay, which helped her walk again.

The 2003 law shifted the responsibility for hearing Medicare appeals from Social Security to the Department of Health and Human Services, which is in the process of hiring 50 judges.

The government is still working out details and lining up sites with the necessary videoconference links. Nancy A. Thompson, director of the transition team at the department, refused to answer questions about the new hearing and appeal procedures or the logistical arrangements.

Ronald T. Osborn of Charlotte, N.C., who has been an administrative law judge since 1974 and has specialized in Medicare cases since 1996, said he had no interest in moving to the Department of Health and Human Services.

"Under the department's procedural rules," Mr. Osborn said, "judges will have less freedom to handle individual cases as they see fit."

Ms. Stein said that under the rules "it will be easier for Medicare officials to participate in hearings and to influence decisions, often to the detriment of beneficiaries."

Bill Hall, a spokesman for the department, said such concerns were unfounded because the judges would report to the health secretary, not the Medicare program chief.

Medicare and Social Security officials have long contended that some administrative law judges were improperly favoring beneficiaries. For their part, the judges have periodically complained that officials put pressure on them to approve fewer claims. In the early 1980's, the tension became so acute that the judges filed suit against the secretary of health and human services to preserve their independence.

Under the new rules, issued in March by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, administrative law judges must follow the Medicare law and regulations and must "give substantial deference" to manuals and guidelines issued by Medicare officials. In a particular case, a judge can decline to follow a Medicare policy but must explain why.