Paul's Down-Home Page

Here’s my sad OfficeMax story.

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Gedankenexperiment: say I see someone walking down the street in my neighborhood, randomly firing shots into houses and vehicles as he goes. I kill him. Have I committed murder, or have I defended my family? Discuss.
Oh, and I’m afraid the news that 43 American cities have passed anti-war resolutions doesn’t cut a lot of ice with me, especially after reviewing the list of cities. You are no doubt aware that what gets passed by the city council doesn’t necessarily reflect the sentiment of the city’s residents (excepting, of course, places like nuclear-free Berkeley and Ann Arbor.)

The Preacher is right on with this one.

Loved this Washington Post story: Rumsfeld Remarks Upset France, Germany. Apparently Germany and France are angry at being labeled “old Europe”. From the story:

When asked in Washington on Wednesday about growing European opposition to war with Iraq, Rumsfeld replied, “You’re thinking of Europe as Germany and France. I don’t.” He added: “I think that’s old Europe. If you look at the entire NATO Europe today, the center of gravity is shifting to the east. And there are a lot of new members.”

Naturally, the French and Germans are angry. In fact, the French ecology minister almost used a bad word on the radio! Good heavens; we can’t have the ecology minister getting upset. I mean, look at all the power the US EPA wields when it comes to war planning and diplomatic negotiation. Nope, wouldn’t do to have them mad at you.
In fact, I’ll take it a step further: Schröder’s statement that the Iraqis should be disarmed by “peaceful means” (and Chirac’s agreement with it) is just what you’d expect from the two countries who sold Iraq most of the banned stuff they’re not supposed to have– not to mention two of the countries who have the most to gain if economic sanctions against Iraq are lifted.

I already sent a letter to the boys of Co F 2/23, but I don’t want to neglect anyone. Accordingly: Cpl Blondie, Godspeed and Semper Fi.

So, I got this in my mailbox from my alma mater‘s College of Computing, announcing a lecture in their Distinguished Lecture Series:

Starting in 1995, Allan Fisher and Jane Margolis engaged in an interdisciplinary program of research and action in response to this situation. The research effort has been to understand male and female students’ engagement with computer science. The action component’s goal aims to devise changes to encourage the broadest possible participation in the computing enterprise. In part as a result of those efforts, the entering enrollment of women in the undergraduate Computer Science program at Carnegie Mellon rose from 7 percent in 1995 to 42 percent in 2000. Fisher and Margolis report on their experience in their recently released book, Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing.

A cynical person might ask why this research is interesting or useful. After all, as far as I can tell no one is forcing college-age women to avoid their local computer science departments. (One Amazon reviewer said this book attempts to answer the question “why don’t people spend their lives the way I think they should?”)

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