I need a mousepad at work. Will someone send me a free mousepad? W
» posted by Mike

The Chinese government insists on blaming the U.S. for the recent air collision, clinging to the ridiculous story that that a propeller-driven plane somehow veered suddenly into a jet-proeplled fighter so that the fighter pilot had no time to react:

Zhang repeated China's assertion that the EP-3 veered suddenly into Wang's F-8, sending it plunging into the South China Sea. Wang bailed out, while the EP-3 made an emergency landing on Hainan.

The Chinese pilot had an international reputation as a hot dog, and was well known to most of the pilots who fly in the area. Flying close to foreign flights is one of his more mundane tactics: on one occasion, he held up a sign to for his adversaries, proudly proclaiming his e-mail address. While his death is unfortunate, it's pretty clear that he brought it on himself, and that the U.S. crew had little, if any fault.

Why does China stick to a story that will have the rest of the world laughing at them for years? W
» posted by Mike

I don't think it's possible for lawyers to have days like this. Sometimes, we can come pretty close though. (Nice job, Jason!) W
» posted by Mike

The Washington Post blows the lid off the story that cows feel pain when they're slaughtered. Although industry practice in beef slaughterhouses is to stun the cows before they are killed, a few of the cattle are still conscious when they are killed. This number is apparently increasing as the packing plants speed up their production and pay less attention to their stunning effectiveness. There's good news, though - the free market is taking over where regulation has failed:

[T]wo years ago McDonald's began requiring suppliers to abide by the American Meat Institute's Good Management Practices for Animal Handling and Stunning. The company also began conducting annual audits of meat plants. Last week, Burger King announced it would require suppliers to follow the meat institute's standards.

Of course, this is due to public pressure and consumer opinion - we want our cows stunned first, THEN dead. Unfortunately, someone either didn't edit carefully enough or has a grim sense of humor:

"Handling animals humanely," said American Meat Institute President J. Patrick Boyle, "is just the right thing to do." Clearly, not all plants have gotten the message.

Yes, the grass and weeds have decided to take their revenge on the cows that eat them. Huh? W
» posted by Mike

At the risk of becoming all-Haughey, all the time, let me congratulate Matt on his magazine-cover debut. W
» posted by Mike

Anticipatory thanks to Dave, who has promised to help me gin up a PHP-based (or mosre accurately, PHP-extension-based) engine to pump out pictures and thoughts on our recent journeys to Austin and Ireland.

If I ever make it out of the office. W
» posted by Mike

That conference call from Friday night? Re-scheduled.

For 9pm, Monday night. Argh. W
» posted by Mike

My alma mater offered last quarter a New Media class featuring a section on weblogs. (Some excellent blogs are included in the syllabus, by the way!)

And to answer Matt's question, not only would he ace the course, but he ought to be teaching it, especially since Rebecca's essay is part of the extended course materials. (I wish such a class had been offered when I was there - I could have used a little padding on the old GPA...) Will people like Matt get honorary doctorates? Who knows, but in the future, formal education beyond a certain point may have less relevance than proven skills and abilities - just ask this Harvard drop-out.  W
» posted by Mike