Wikipedia reminds me of the NCAA
March 12, 2008
Update: The New York Times is now covering this story here.
Each week there is a new scandal surrounding Wikipedia creator Jimmy Wales. This week the BBC is reporting that Jeffrey Merkey, chief scientist at Novell, claims that he paid Wikimedia $5,000 in exchange for edits to his Wikipedia entry. Surprise, surprise, Jimmy Wales denies the claim, but Merkey is sticking to his story. The irony is that the circumstances Merkey describes are not scandalous. Specifically, Merkey detailed a situation where his Wikipedia entry was being vandalized with libelous remarks. He asked Jimmy to ‘use his influence to make [the] article adhere to Wikipedia’s stated policies with regard to internet liable ‘as a courtesy’ and place [his] page under [Wales] special protection as an editor’. Jimmy agreed and then asked Merkey to help support Wikipedia by making a donation of $5,000 and ‘other financial support’ of the Wikimeida Foundation. In the Wikipedia world this is a HUGE no, no.
Did Jimmy REALLY do anything wrong? Suggesting Merkey make a donation? Agreeing to edit the page so that it would adhere to Wikipedia’s stated policies? I don’t think so (of course I am not a wiki-zealot). The only mistake Jimmy made was to deny that it happened. Of course, what can you expect from a guy who broke up with his girlfriend using Wikipedia?
The truth is Wikipedia’s ‘tin-cup apprach’ to fund raising isn’t hacking it according to the LA Times. We are talking about one of the world’s most popular websites (300,000,000 pages views a day) and these guys run on an annual budget of $4.6MM per year (50% going to run 300 or so servers). Executive Director Sue Gardner explains, “The most difficult issue for a nonprofit is always how to raise money in ways which are consistent with the mission and don’t distract too much from the mission-related work.” I would argue that the current cash situation, combined with the various Jimbo-eruptions are VERY distracting. These guys need to grow up and protect, what has become an amazing resource.
Oh, and the NCAA should let schools pay players to play. Come on, get real…
Prediction: Obama wins in November
March 4, 2008
Brad Merritt forwarded me an interesting article from (holding my nose) Newsweek by Jonathan Alter. The article, titled ‘Hillary’s Math Problem‘ suggest that even if Hillary won the next 16 primaries she would still lose to Obama. Read it for yourself here. Congratulations to Obama, he ran a crazy good campaign. Beating McCain will be child’s play for Obama…
Voting with Ethan
More than a month ago Ethan asked if he could go with me when I voted for president, so this morning instead of dropping Ethan off at school we went to our local precinct to vote. We arrived at the polling place just after eight and were greeted by a poll worker who asked, “Democrat?” Ethan quickly said, “No, Republican.” The poll worker laughed and pointed us to the Republican primary table to get our ballot.
Here in Dallas we don’t have all of the fancy voting machines, just ‘fill in the bubble’ systems. Ethan wasn’t too impressed with the technology, but he was interested in all of the names on the ballot: Mike Huckabee, Hoa Tran, Hugh Cort, Fred Thompson, Alan Keyes, John McCain, Ducan Hunter, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Ron Paul and some guy named Uncommitted. Who is Hoa Tran?
I explained that I was going to vote for Alan Keyes for a number of reasons including a) he is a conservative b) I can’t stand McCain and c) I like the idea of electing the first African-American president. He wanted to know why I was voting for someone who couldn’t win. I tried to explain, but he didn’t get it. I am not sure I get it.
Ethan, who is six, asked ‘what are McCain’s chances against Hillary? How about Obama?’ I suggested that we might have a better chance against Hillary. Of course he pressed, “why?” I tried to explain that Hillary has lots of baggage, i.e. sort of like your history picking up your clothes versus your sister’s history (she is two months old) picking up her clothes. He got it right away, “nobody knows if Obama picks up his clothes?” Exactly, I exclaimed. LOL. Next Ethan asked, “So why don’t we vote for Hillary so we can win?” I told him I am a Republican, so we vote in the Republican primary. We will let the Democrats choose their own candidate without our interference. Ethan then asked, “Can I be a Republican?” As I dropped him off at school I answered, “We will see…” :)
Ohio Sucks!
March 3, 2008
That is according to the mainstream media. Over the past week or so we have been bombarded by scores of news reports about how awful things are in Ohio. If you believe the reports Ohio is a nightmare. Last night 60 Minutes dedicated a full segment to the woes of the apocalyptic state of Ohio. The hard-hitting news program assembled a cross section of Ohio residents and asked them to describe the state of the state. To start these people are all unemployed or at the very least under employed making as little as a third of what they made in the 90s. All the high paying, manual labor jobs, have moved to China or Mexico over the years. It just isn’t fair. 100% of the assembled residents had not been on a vacation in the past five years! Some of them are driving used cars with more than 175,000 miles on them. Most didn’t have health insurance, and if they did, they couldn’t afford the deductibles. Based on the descriptions most Ohio residents are homeless, jobless, insuranceless ~ I suspect that most don’t have TIVO. What a nightmare!
As I watched the 60 Minutes segment I waited for the punchline, “The problems in Ohio started ten years ago when the governor erected a 20′ high wall around the state to keep the miserable people of Ohio from leaving.” Of course a wall was never built, surely things weren’t as bad as the mainstream media would suggest. Wouldn’t people leave if there were no jobs, no hope. Right?
I decided to take a look at immigration, unemployment and gross domestic product statistics comparing Ohio to the rest of the country and for fun the rest of the world. The first statistic were the immigration numbers. You would assume people would be fleeing the state in droves, but just the opposite is true. From 2000 to 2007 almost 100,000 foreign born immigrants moved to the state. By 2050 more than two million foreign born immigrants will reside in the state according to FAIR. Why are people moving TO Ohio?
Perhaps the immigrants were THE problem, taking jobs from salt of the earth Ohio residents so I looked at the unemployment numbers. Ohio has an unemployment rate of 5.5%, a rate considered in the range of full employment. Ohio’s unemployment rate is nearly twice as good as the entire European Union (Europe is a great place right?). Ohio has lower unemployment than countries like Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Germany, France and China. Maybe Ohio’s problem is their economy is too good? Lower unemployment increases labor costs for companies.
I decided to check out the size of Ohio’s GDP. Turns out Ohio’s GDP was $461 billion dollars in 2006 ranking it 7th in the nation. If Ohio was its own country the state would rank 17th in the world ahead of countries like Belgium, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Norway, Denmark and more than 100 other countries. I thought Belgium was a nice place, but with higher unemployment and lower GDP than Ohio we better send in the U.N.
UPDATE: This morning I just heard that Ohio placed FIRST among states for Corporate Moves (Texas is 5th). Why are companies moving to Ohio? Haven’t they heard? Ohio Sucks!
In this context I thought Michelle Obama’s statements while she was visiting Ohio were compelling. Byron York reported on the visit and I can’t help but simple reprint his article here without comment:
Michelle Obama: “Don’t Go Into Corporate America” [Byron York]
I have a new story today about Michelle Obama’s visit to Zanesville, Ohio, where she met with a group of women at a local day care center. According to the U.S. Census, Muskingum County, where Zanesville is located, had a median household income of $37,192 in 2004, below both the Ohio and national averages. Just 12.2 percent of adults in the county have a bachelor’s degree or higher, also well below the state and national averages. About 20 percent don’t have a high school degree. Nevertheless, Mrs. Obama urged them to foreswear lucrative professions like corporate law or hedge fund management and go into the helping industry, even if the sacrifice is great:
As she has many times in the past, Mrs. Obama complains about the lasting burden of student loans dating from her days at Princeton and Harvard Law School. She talks about people who end up taking years and years, until middle age, to pay off their debts. “The salaries don’t keep up with the cost of paying off the debt, so you’re in your 40s, still paying off your debt at a time when you have to save for your kids,” she says.
“Barack and I were in that position,” she continues. “The only reason we’re not in that position is that Barack wrote two best-selling books… It was like Jack and his magic beans. But up until a few years ago, we were struggling to figure out how we would save for our kids.” A former attorney with the white-shoe Chicago firm of Sidley & Austin, Obama explains that she and her husband made the choice to give up lucrative jobs in favor of community service. “We left corporate America, which is a lot of what we’re asking young people to do,” she tells the women. “Don’t go into corporate America. You know, become teachers. Work for the community. Be social workers. Be a nurse. Those are the careers that we need, and we’re encouraging our young people to do that. But if you make that choice, as we did, to move out of the money-making industry into the helping industry, then your salaries respond.” Faced with that reality, she adds, “many of our bright stars are going into corporate law or hedge-fund management.”
What she doesn’t mention is that the helping industry has treated her pretty well. In 2006, the Chicago Tribune reported that Mrs. Obama’s compensation at the University of Chicago Hospital, where she is a vice president for community affairs, jumped from $121,910 in 2004, just before her husband was elected to the Senate, to $316,962 in 2005, just after he took office. And that does not count the money Mrs. Obama receives from serving on corporate boards. She would have been O.K. even without Jack’s magic beans.
Mrs. Obama also bemoaned the amount of money she has to spend — nearly one-third of the median household income in Zanesville — on piano, dance, and other lessons for her two children. But she was grateful for the concern her husband’s supporters have shown for her. “Everywhere I go, no matter what, the women in the audience, their first question for me is, ‘How on earth are you managing it, how are you keeping it all together?’” she told the women.
What they can’t/won’t say about Obama!
February 25, 2008
The Obama campaign is in an uproar about photos being circulated by Clinton Staffers. The photos show Obama dressed as a traditional Muslim Elder from Somalia. The irony is that the more the mainstream press keeps the ‘Muslim’ rumors just below the waterline the more people think there is something to them. I myself assumed that Obama must have been a ‘reformed’ Muslim, attending a Christian church just for show. I got tired of the ‘elephant in the room’ and decided to do a little digging of my own. I won’t vote for Obama for one simple reason: his tax policy. It doesn’t have anything to do with his religion. But for those of you who were wondering:
Here are the facts: Obama moved from Hawaii to Indonesia when he was six and attended a Madrasah in Jakarta until he was ten. The curriculum was generally secular according to 60 Minutes. His biological father (a Kenyan national) was a Muslim, but was a confirmed atheist and his stepfather (an Indonesian national) was also Muslim, but according to Obama he was “a man who saw religion as not particularly useful.” His experience in Indonesia seemed to be the most positive part of his life.
Obama wrote in his best selling book, that when he returned to the United States he began using alcohol, marijuana and cocaine to “push questions of who I was out of my mind.” In 1988 Obama joined the Trinity United Church of Christ, the largest congregation in the United Church of Christ (Oprah attends). Obama denies that he has ever been a Muslim, suggesting that he is a committed Christian.
The proof? Lots of leaders have worn local garb:
Who needs more security, Obama or Madono?
February 22, 2008
Dallas has a spotty track record with Democrat presidents so it came as no surprise that our police department shut down sections of I-35, bridges, overpasses and intersections as Obama drove through the city. I can’t imagine the pressure Chief Lawrence (head of the Department’s homeland security and special operations division) was under to keep Obama safe. We were headed to lunch when we got caught up in the traffic caused by the security measures, of course we commented that of all cities, Dallas can’t afford to lose another president.
According to the Star-Telegram, the Secret Service took over security from the Dallas police at Reunion arena at 10 a.m. but allowed Dallas police officers to man metal scanners and bag check stations. Around 11 a.m. the Secret Service told the Dallas police to stand down and allowed more than 10,000 people to fill the arena without any sort of security screening. Of course, I can’t get into a Dallas Stars hockey game without passing through a metal detector or having my bags examined. Why would Mike Modano need more protection than the first serious African American presidential contender? If you ask the Secret Service they would tell you Modano…
Iran’s Latest Rhetoric? “Israel will soon disappear.”
February 19, 2008
The top Iranian military commander, Commander Muhammad Ali Jafari, was on television yesterday suggesting:
“I am convinced that with every passing day Hizbullah’s might is increasing and in the near future, we will witness the disappearance of this cancerous growth Israel by means of the Hizbullah fighters’ radiation [therapy].”
Lovely. The implication is that Iran will supply Hizbullah nuclear material for use against Israel. I guess I don’t see what all the fuss is about. The Iranians are a peace loving people that should be trusted with a nuclear program of their own. I can’t imagine why the UN is worried. Bush is so evil to suggest that Iran might not be ready for their own nuclear program.
Obama Comment Spam?
February 16, 2008
This afternoon I had more than 20 comments to moderate. Yesterday I wrote a post on Obama and when I read the first comment about Obama I assumed it was a response to my post and almost approved it until I realized that that it was associated with a completely unrelated post. The other 19 comments were exactly the same. Here is a copy of Obama Comment Spam I received today:
After checking into these messages I realized they weren’t typical comment spam for viagra or penis enlargement. Instead these an automated attempt to express a political viewpoint. Politicians are exempt from the ‘Do Not Call List’, don’t tell me they are allowed to spam my blog!
Obama: Expensive Revolution
February 15, 2008
The excitement surrounding the Obama campaign is intoxicating. The number of traditional Republicans considering Obama as a viable alternative to McCain is shocking. The truth is, very few Republicans consider McCain to be a true Republican. In Arizona, exit polls showed McCain won a majority of votes cast by Democrats over Starky (his Democrat opponent) in the last Senate race.
Obama is an appealing candidate. I honestly believe electing an African American would send a message around the world that America truly is the greatest country in the world. But at what cost? If you have reviewed Obama’s tax plan you understand that it will be a VERY expensive message. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the plan here it is (from WSJ):
39.6 percent personal income tax,
52.2 percent combined income and payroll tax
28 percent capital-gains tax,
39.6 percent dividends tax,
and a 55 percent estate tax.
If Obama gets his way I WILL change my behavior. My businesses WILL change their behavior. I am afraid that his tax policy will not only cost me more money on its face (something I could get over), but that it will severely impact the macro economy. Lawrence Kudlow explains,
A President Obama would steer us in the social-market direction of Western Europe, which has produced only stagnant economies down through the years. It would be quite an irony. While newly emerging nations in Eastern Europe and Asia are lowering the tax penalties on capital — and reaping the economic rewards — Obama would raise them.
Russia has lit a fire under their economy, and don’t fool yourself that it is all about oil, Putin lowered tax rates to a flat 15% and as a result tax revenues have increased ten fold. Get that? RUSSIA implemented a flat tax before we did? Kennedy figured this out (remember that rising tide lifts all boats commentary?) in the 60s when he lowered taxes. Reagan figured this out in the 80s when he lowered taxes. But here we are in 2008 considering a candidate that thinks taxing capital will increase revenues. Um, capital formation is the only way we have been able to build these cool businesses that employ the cool people that pay the cool taxes we collect. Screw up the capital side and the smartest most ambitious people on the planet won’t be able to fix anything.
My point? I am not sure. I would love to vote for Obama if he would simply agree to keep spending in line (i.e. he would agree not to increase it over current levels) and keep tax rates fixed. I think it would he would be great for the U.S. and for the world at large. If Obama agrees we can deliver the Republican votes he will need to win ~ McCain has given so much to this country, it is time for us to let him retire. Don’t make him serve the last days of his life saving us from Obama’s misguided tax policy.
We need more immigrants. . .
February 14, 2008
In 2006 I decided to put my own immigration proposal in writing. The comments were less than supportive. Specifically, my critics cite economic pressures such as the trade imbalance as reasons we need to retrench and prevent immigrants from taking jobs from Americans. What they fail to realize is that these new immigrants represent the best and the brightest from every corner of the world. We should be welcoming immigrants because they are our greatest asset.
When my ancestors left Europe they were joined by the smartest and most ambitious Europeans. This was good for America. Just take a look at Europes population (double that of the U.S.) and their GDP (approximately the same as the U.S.). Two hundred years ago we started out with very few people and less GDP than Portugal. Today we live in the most prosperous civilization in the history of the planet.
Our biggest risk is the possibility of the United States turning into Europe, e.g. declining population and declining percapita GDP. We need to rethink our policy of limiting immigration. Lets start by allowing the most intelligent and well-educated people from the world become citizens. For every engineer, doctor or programmer that leaves China, India or Russia, the more competitive we become in medicine, technology and science. We should be recruiting the these people, not figuring out how to keep them out.
Berkeley to Marines, “We were just kidding…”
February 5, 2008
One week after the City Council of Berkeley wrote a letter the Marine Corp suggesting they were no longer welcome in the city, specifically suggesting that the USMC should remove their city’s recruiting center, the council is reconsidering their position. Why? Turns out lots of people in the Berkeley have sons and daughters in the Marine Corp. Who knew? The City Council’s letter pissed off a BUNCH of folks including, um, CONGRESS who discussed cutting off all federal funds for Berkeley, including lunch programs, ferry service and UC Berkeley. Oops.
Berkeley has produced a number a very fine Marines, including Michael Heyman who served during the Korean War. After he hung up his Mameluke sword Heyman served as law clerk to Chief Justice Earl Warren, as the chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley and finally as the CEO of the Smithsonian Institution. Today he is an Emeritus Professor of Law and of City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley. Too bad Councilwoman Spring didn’t stop by the University to chat with Heyman about her idea. Perhaps she would have realized that the Marines are not the problem ~ politicians are (oh and Dona, you are a politician too). that’s my bootcamp picture, wow how time flies…
Newsflash! Entrepreneurs are richer. . .
January 31, 2008
After considerable research Harvard has uncovered an amazing fact: “Entrepreneurs are, on average, significantly wealthier than people who work in paid employment.” [via]
OMG! Who knew? Their research indicates that entrepreneurs represent 9% of households in the United States. This small group holds 38% of assets and 39% of total net worth. Of course Harvard’s analysis of the obvious concludes that “tax incentives or other initiatives intended to motivate the not-so-rich into entrepreneurship don’t really even things out, because even people with deep pockets can to reap the benefits of such programs.”
His point is that we shouldn’t ‘motivate’ the ‘not-so-rich’ to start businesses because rich people would be able to take advantage of the same programs. Huh? Let me get this straight, he is suggesting we shouldn’t help the poor due to risk that the rich might benefit as well? At the end of the day Ramana thinks that equality is reached only through equality of outcome. To bad he isn’t familiar with Sean Lemass phrase “a rising tide lifts all boats” used most famously by John F. Kennedy who employed the phrase to combat criticisms that his tax cuts would benefit mostly wealthy individuals. (Note to Ramana ~ the rich are going to get richer anyway, take a risk and help poor people get rich too)
How to: Stimulate the economy by March
January 28, 2008
The Bush administration, God love em, is planning to give $150 billion in rebates in the form of $600 and $1200 checks to individuals and families. The stimulus plan has a huge problem, it only works if people spend the money.
Earlier today Glen Hunter had a great idea, ’send your rebate to the troops’. I immediately got on board until my Dad pointed out that I wouldn’t be able to participate since I wasn’t getting a check (ironically, I am the most likely taxpayer to blow $1200 quickly). Then I had an idea:
What about doing both a) rewarding the troops and b) guaranteeing that economic stimulation would occur? We could simply give the entire $150B package to active duty military personnel resulting in rebates around $100K for each warrior. Who is more likely to blow $150K in a month than the average warrior? Give any 18-24 year old male $100K with the order to spend it in the next 30 days and I guarantee you will get immediate stimulation. We can count on our ‘economic warriors’ to help us out of our current malaise, while rewarding their service in a way our nation never has - with our treasure.
Great Idea ~ Send your rebate to the troops!
Glenn Hunter over at D had a great idea. Send your $600 rebate check to troops who are or have served in Iraq. Very nice idea. He suggest that Sessions or Johnson coordinate the effort, I second his suggestion:
OK, 117 million of us are getting a check ($600 per individual, $1,200 for couples) as part of the federal stimulus package, right? And, while we all “support” our U.S. troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s widely acknowledged that few of us civilians have sacrificed anything in the war effort, right? OK, so how about if we start a national campaign to turn over the free dough we’re about to get from the feds to the individual soldiers who’ve fought, or are fighting, on our behalf in the Middle East? Strictly voluntary, of course. Would any of our military-supporting local Congress members (Sessions? Johnson?) be willing to jump-start coordinating such a mammoth undertaking (probably through a private-sector fundraising administrator)?
Lawyers seek to muzzle bloggers by use of ©
January 26, 2008
The US District Court in Idaho has decided that lawyers can copyright their demand letters. The decision means that bloggers wont be able to post cease and desist letters on their blogs if the lawyer remembered to include a valid copyright notice. Look forward to seeing more ‘©’ on your legal correspondence.
According to Dozier, “The Court, in its decision, found that a copyright had been adequately established in a lawyer’s cease and desist letter. The unauthorized publication of the letter, therefore, can expose the publisher to liability. Statutory damages under the US Copyright Act can be as much as $150,000 per occurrence plus attorneys’ fees that can average $750,000 through trial. The publisher of the letter raised First Amendment and “fair use” arguments without success.”
Hm… I need to get out my Blacks Law Dictionary so I can recall what constitutes fair use. Update: Joe Gratz spent some time reading the actual decision and determined that the court DIDN’T agree that it was permissible to copyright a boilerplate legal document. In fact, the court suggested that they wouldn’t get into the merits of the copyright, instead focusing on whether or not the lawyers could force a website to reveal the identity of an anonymous poster. Check out the full post here.
