Plame/Rove -- Massive LA Times story pulls together threads

I found this fascinating.

It is 5000+ words long, but I'd be hard-pressed to point to what could have been cut.

A CIA Cover Blown, a White House Exposed

Almost as good as the Paris sewer tour

The just-unveiled RTAMS site is at

http://www.rtams.org

and it definitely is worth a visit.

You will need to register, but it is free and open to the public.

Make sure to play around with the features of the interactive map -- and check out the various "layers" that are available.

If you're into signalized intersections, you'll be in hog heaven.

Number of millionaires in China

Came across a striking statistic:

According to the World Wealth Report from CapGemini (and Merrill Lynch)

There were 236,000 millionaires in China in mid-2004, up 12% from 2003.

Compare that with 383,000 in the United Kingdom in mid-2004.

The whole report can be downloaded at The State of the World's Wealth.

Homeland Security On Beaver Island

Bill should send this David Broder column (8-25-05 Washington Post) to Franny and Frank.

When you step off the car ferry in St. James, instead of the familiar line of storefronts, what you first see is an 8-foot-tall steel fence whose sharp-pointed spears bend outward at the top, completely surrounding the dock area to thwart any intruders.

The fence and its twin in Charlevoix, the port city on the mainland that is the other terminus of the Beaver Island Boat Co., were built this spring at a cost of $127,000, divided between the debt-ridden federal government and the dead-broke state of Michigan.

As Harbormaster Margo Marks explained to me, the Maritime Security Act, passed after Sept. 11, required that any ports served by vessels carrying 150 passengers or more must be secured against trespassers or terrorists by mid-2005. "It was either hire security guards 24-7," she said, "or put up the fence."

Now, Beaver Island, with a year-round population of about 500, may seem an unlikely target. But who knows? The terrorists could have the Whisky Point Lighthouse on their list of iconic structures, right after the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Russian view of U.S. Highway Bill

This article from Pravada provides an unusual perspective on the U.S. legislative process.

Bush acknowledges the collapsing US economy

I'm not sure how to explain the process by which I ended up coming across the article, other than to say that it was connected to research I was doing about U.S. infrastructure.

If you want to read it the original in Russian. go to: http://www.pravda.ru/economics/2005/7/21/63/20542_.html

Artificial societies and Aristotle - 2

Here is a link to info about Stephen Wolfram's book, A New Kind of Science.

I strongly advise taking a quick look at the first few reviews and comments.

Here's a sampling:

He points out that even the most complex equations fail to accurately model biological systems, but the simplest cellular automata can produce results straight out of nature--tree branches, stream eddies, and leopard spots, for instance. The graphics in A New Kind of Science show striking resemblance to the patterns we see in nature every day.

...

I gave the book three stars, but in fact I consider it almost un-ratable. What do you do with a 1200-page tome that contains a wealth of substantive and fascinating results, but which is insists, at every turn, to draw over-blown and under-supported conclusions from them? I split the difference and gave it a middling rating, but that does not convey the deep ambivalence I feel toward this work.

...

Conclusions of more modern scientists can almost always be seen as derivative when compared to the work of pioneers....Inasmuch as Leibniz-Newton and Einstein-Lorentz advanced a more concise understanding of physical reality, Wolfram's work holds promise to do the same by advancing the understanding of computation forged by Church, Turing, Zuse, and Von Neumann.

...

When the book came out some non-expert journalists hyped it without knowing its contents. Then cognoscenti had a look at it and recognized it as a rehash of old ideas, plus pretty pictures. And the reviews got worse and worse. As far as I can judge, positive reviews were written only by people without basic CS education and little knowledge of CS history....When I read Wolfram's first praise of the originality of his own ideas I just had to laugh. The tenth time was annoying. The hundredth time was boring. And that was my final feeling when I laid down this extremely repetitive book:exhaustion and boredom.

Artificial societies and Aristotle - 1

I tracked down this article, "Seeing Around Corners," from the April 2002 issue of The Atlantic. It touches upon a couple of things that came up this morning, especially regarding Wolfram and automata.

Lots of interesting stuff in the piece. Here are a few snippets, including some that point toward tough questions for Aristotle. (What say you, Jim?)

The new science of artificial societies suggests that real ones are both more predictable and more surprising than we thought.

If even the crudest toy societies take on a life and a logic of their own, then it must be a safe bet that real societies, too, have their own biographies. Intuition tells us that it is meaningful to speak of Society as something greater than and distinct from the sum of individuals and families, just as it is meaningful to speak of the mind as something greater than and distinct from the sum of brain cells.

Artificial societies suggest that real ones do not behave so manageably. Their logic is their own, and they can be influenced but not directed, understood but not anticipated. Not even the Olympian modeler, who writes the code and looks down from on high, can do more than guess at the effect of any particular rule as it ricochets through a world of diverse actors.

Politics as Theater

A very powerful column in today's Washington Post by Jim Hoagland.

Politics as Theater

Consider the following points from the piece:

It is not so disturbing that the national political discourse has become detached from civility. That has been true, and not fatal, at other periods in American history....

...What is disturbing is that the national political discourse is increasingly detached from reality. The emotionalism and character assassination practiced by both sides -- the clamor in the echo chamber around Sheehan is only one example -- is mistaken for "politics."

Instead of turning out more engineers or scientists, American society seems at times more geared to forming consumers, producers and critics of a particularly bombastic kind of political theater, which comes in entertainment and information flows that are increasingly hard to distinguish....

...Too often we now get more of our information from stories or broadcast clips about television ads on issues than stories or clips about those issues themselves....They are then followed by news stories and columns that spin the spin -- that hash out how effective, or not, the presentational values were.

ePodunk.com

Came across this site. It's worth a quick look.

I wonder what Martin would think of it.

ePodunk -- The Power of Place

About ePodunk

ePodunk launches "Place Wrap"

The Brown Sisters

This exhibition came up in conversation again.

Go here for additional info.

Densely Packed Sprawl

(Above chart is from Washington Post, 8-11-05)

Scott passed along a very interesting piece from the Washington Post:

Out West, a Paradox: Densely Packed Sprawl

The urbanized area in and around Los Angeles has become the most densely populated place in the continental United States, according to the Census Bureau. Its density is 25 percent higher than that of New York, twice that of Washington and four times that of Atlanta, as measured by residents per square mile of urban land.

And Los Angeles grows more crowded every year, adding residents faster than it adds land, while most metropolitan areas in the Northeast, Midwest and South march in the opposite direction. They are the sprawling ones, dense in the center but devouring land at their edges much faster than they add people....

...To understand how cheek-by-jowl western living can seem both gracious and roomy, it is instructive to look in on Susan DeSantis. She lives in a three-bedroom townhouse perched on a ridge of the San Joaquin Hills near the Pacific. The home shares walls on two sides with neighbors. Yet from its soaring living room, neighbors seem not to exist, hidden behind landscaping that is tended daily by gardeners. From large windows and from the patio, the eye is drawn to the sky, the distant hills and Newport Bay.

"There is light and there is openness," said DeSantis, 55, a consultant in urban planning and a former director of housing for the state of California. "With housing in pods like this, you can get angles for views and privacy. It is the density that allows these design features."

"Power Corrupts. PowerPoint Corrupts Absolutely"

Here are a few items that relate to the discussion of PowerPoint a few days ago.

But first, a link to Charles Joseph Minard's wonderful map of Napoleon's March on Moscow and another to Edward Tufte's comments about the map.

Now to PowerPoint links.

Wired Magazine
Issue 11.09 September 2003
PowerPoint Is Evil -- Power Corrupts. PowerPoint Corrupts Absolutely.
By Edward Tufte

and

Wired Magazine
Issue 11.09 September 2003
Learning to Love PowerPoint
By David Byrne

and

Norman on PowerPoint

and

Five Experts Dispute Edward Tufte on PowerPoint

Signal or Noise from China?

I am not sure what to make of this piece from the Washington Post -- and a stream of similar reports that have been appearing in recent weeks.

China Grows More Wary Over Rash Of Protests

Facing a steady rhythm of violent protests, the Chinese government is
showing increased concern about stability...Although Communist Party censors try
to stifle reporting on the unrest, they said, word of the incidents is
transmitted at a speed previously unknown in China.

Are we all telephone operators?

A comment in the editorial Measuring the Blogosphere (NYTimes, August 5, 2005) caught my attention:

If the blogosphere continues to expand at this rate, every person who has Internet access will be a blogger before long, if not an actual reader of blogs.

It reminds me of something I came across a few years ago when I was pulling together material about the evolution of telephony. It was a comment (made back in the 1920s, I think) that went something like:

"If the number of telephones continues to grow at this rate, everyone will be a telephone operator by XXXX."

I suspect that the comment was intended to indicate that the growth in the number of telephones could not continue at the same rate. In fact, the rate of growth in the number of telephones actually increased -- and with the advent of direct-dialing, we did, in effect, all become telephone operators.

Tanzania’s economy growing, but limited decline in poverty

The passage in this article in the August 2 2005 Financial Times particularly caught my attention:

The government is looking for ways of filling "the missing middle" between
family-scale operations and large companies.

It is interesting to think about what you need in order to fill that gap.

Coincidentally, there is an article in a recent McKinsey quarterly about a giant family company (in Indonesia) that discusses the same thing, albeit from a very different perspective. I'll try to track it down.

Democracy and Famine in Niger

Here are two links with discussions of the famine in Niger and Sen's argument about the relationship between democracy and famine.

article in July 31, 2005 International Herald Tribune

In particular, the article reports:

a dictum by the development economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen: "No famine has ever taken place in the history of the world in a functioning democracy."

Yet, Niger is a democracy. It has been one since 1999, when it made the transition to multiparty democracy and constitutional rule after a decade of turmoil. It has also made, in part at least, the painful transition from a centralized, state-run economy to a market-driven one, earning praise and ultimately relief from about half of its estimated $1.6 billion in foreign debt from the World Bank.

Lively disagreements about the Wikipedia entry on Famine

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Live in New York City

This is an incredible concert. I strongly recommend tuning in.

Willie will be sorry to have missed it.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Live in New York City
Aug 14 09:00pm
WTTW

Special/Music, 120 Mins.

The performers play Madison Square Garden; songs include ``Badlands'' and ``Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out.''

Yahoo News Around the World - U.S.

• Rescuers race to free trapped Russian sub
• Space shuttle undocks, risky return awaits
• Plane crash off Sicily kills at least five
• Iran rejects EU's civil nuclear proposal
• Hiroshima marks atomic bomb anniversary
• New tropical depression getting organized
• Bob Knight to host basketball reality show
• MLB · NBA · NFL · NHL · Golf · Soccer

These were the top Yahoo news items from the U.S. at the time of the post.

The other postings are top Yahoo news items, at roughly the same time, from other locales.

Yahoo News Around the World -Australia

Federal Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, says he has not received information that shows Australia should ban the hardline Muslim group Hizb ut Tahrir.
• Australia, Britain work on terror list
• Korp's sister arrives too late
• Iran President pledges to defend Islam
• Thousands of Israelis farewell shooting victims
• John Garang: Sudanese rebel leader turned statesman
• Bounty-hunters snarl Delhi traffic catching cows

Yahoo News Around the World - India

India airlifts food, medicines to blockaded Manipur
· Task force says tigers under siege
· India, Pakistan reach agreement over missile tests
· Pakistani admits role in Pearl murder case - police
· Bangladesh, India discuss tackling terrorism
· New chip promises faster, cheaper dengue detection
· For live cricket scores sms CRI to 8243

Yahoo News Around the World - Canada

• Residents block CN Rail crossing over spill

• Oxygen dwindling for seven in Russian sub

• New anti-terror measures include no-fly list

• Air France jet landed too far down runway

• Hiroshima marks 60 years since atomic bomb

Yahoo News Around the World - UK

• Russia races to free trapped mini-sub
• British soldier wounded in Iraq explosion
• Blair's anti-terrorism plans strain consensus
• Coldplay's "X&Y" reaches double platinum
• Rapper Foxy Brown rejects assault plea deal
• Filmmaker mobilises 'I.R.A.'
• Bounty-hunters snarl Delhi traffic catching cows
News
· Finance
· Weather
· BB6
· Attachments

Yahoo News Around the World - Argentina

• 150 mil turistas visitaron Salta durante las vacaciones de invierno y gastaron 54 millones

• Peirano asegura que "hay rentabilidad y mercado" en todos los sectores de la industria

• Cristina Kirchner recibe a vicepresidenta de España en la residencia de Olivos

• Scioli convocó a bicameral para analizar la situacion de un director del BCRA en el caso de las coimas

• Tasas de interés EEUU, reformas Japón serán ejes próxima semana

• Bush promete mantener ayuda para guerra contra droga en Colombia
Mercados

Yahoo News Around the World - Spain

• Hay indicios de trato inhumano y abusos en caso Roquetas-Alonso
• Al menos 7 muertos y 20 heridos en accidente aéreo en Sicilia
• Miles de personas conmemoran 60 aniversario de bomba Hiroshima
• Piden a Gibson recrear vía crucis en Sydney

Yahoo News Around the World - Germany

• Japan gedenkt Atombombenabwurf auf Hiroshima
• Mindestens fünf Tote bei Flugzeugabsturz vor Sizilien
• Zweiter Rettungsversuch für russisches U-Boot
• Iran will sich nicht "Tyrannei" des Auslands beugen
• Werder legt Blitzstart zum Bundesliga-Auftakt hin
• Papst-Bruder nach Herz-OP aus Klinik entlassen

Yahoo News Around the World - France

• Le Var classé en zone à "risques exceptionnels" d'incendies
• Les données des "boîtes noires" de l'Airbus sont intactes
• Incendie dans le métro parisien, des blessés légers
• Nouveau week-end chargé sur les routes de France
• Les familles veulent un nouveau procès du tunnel du Mont-Blanc
• Robin Cook "dans un état grave" après un malaise lors d'une randonnée
• Marilyn n'était pas suicidaire, affirme un ancien procureur qui aurait entendu ses confidences à son psychiatre

Yahoo News Around the World - Italy

• Acidente com avião na Itália deixa 14 mortos

• Irã rejeita proposta da União Européia sobre questão nuclear

• Rússia corre contra o tempo para resgatar mini-submarino

• UE proíbe importação de frangos da Rússia e do Cazaquistão

• Milhares lembram os 60 anos da bomba atômica de Hiroshima

• Tiroteio deixa três feridos no morro da Mangueira

For all you hosers

The picture of the hose attachment was printed on David's new Epson printer, whose resolution is 5760 x 1440.

Arthur Schlesinger - The Disuniting of America

I don't have the WSJ text yet, but here is a collection of links that might be of interest.

Go nuts.

[If you have trouble accessing any of these, let me know and I will send you text.]

Schlesinger article from American Educator, Winter, 1991

Whose History Is Bunk? -- Frank Kermode on Schlesinger on Disunity

James Q. Wilson -- The Reform Islam Needs

Radical Islams Rules : The Worldwide Spread of Extreme Sharia Law

Excerpt from chapter 1 -- Schlesinger's Disuniting

Schlesinger interview -- Unity, Multiculturalism and the American Creed

Good Bye Lenin! -- and other flicks

Jim mentioned this movie today.

Good Bye Lenin!

He said it was hilarious.

Brought to mind two other "comedies":

Underground

and

Profesionalac