From the 1950s through the 1970s, large companies regularly commissioned original musicals for their annual conventions and sales meetings. Some employed reknowned Broadway composers for these shows.audio
Three of the four candidates for Wisconsin DPI Superintendent participated in a Madison Forum Saturday morning. The League of Women Voters Melanie Ramey kindly moderated. Watch the forum here (video and audio clips). You can also read individual questions and watch/listen to the candidate responses.This week's edition of the Times Book Review features an essay that I wrote about the research system I've used for the past few years: a tool for exploring the couple thousand notes and quotations that I've assembled over the past decade -- along with the text of finished essays and books. I suspect there will be a number of you curious about the technical details, so I've put together a little overview here, along with some specific observations. For starters, though, go read the essay and then come back once you've got an overview.
Lessig summarizes Wilco's unique role in the online music wars:
The band Wilco and its quiet, haunted leader, Jeff Tweedy, is something different. After its Warner label, Reprise, decided that the group's fourth album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, was no good, Wilco dumped them and released the tracks on the Internet. The label was wrong. The album was extraordinary, and a sold-out 30-city tour followed. This success convinced Nonesuch Records, another Warner label, to buy the rights back - reportedly at three times the original price. The Net thus helped make Wilco the success it has become. But once back in Warner's favor, many wondered: Would Wilco forget the Net?
Lessig visits brazil and encounters old fashioned democracy.....
But more striking still was just the dynamic of this democracy. Barlow captured the picture at the top, which in a sense captures it all. Here's a Minister of the government, face to face with supporters, and opponents. He speaks, people protest, and he engages their protest. Passionately and directly, he stands at their level. There is no distance. There is no "free speech zone." Or rather, Brazil is the free speech zone. Gil practices zone rules.Even after the speech was over, the argument continues. At no point is there "protection"; at every point, there is just connection. This is the rockstar who became a politician, who became a politician as a rockstar.
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According to the KOMO-TV and the Seattle Times, a major piece of evidence used against Lyons in his arrest was the record of his supermarket purchases that he made with his Safeway Club Card. Police investigators had discovered that his Club Card was used to buy fire starters of the same type used in the arson attempt.
For Lyons, the story did have a happy ending. All charges were dropped against him in January 2005 because another person stepped forward saying he set the fire and not Lyons. Lyons is now back at work after more than 5 months of being on administrative leave from his firefighter job.
The moral of this story is that even the most innocent database can be used against a person in a criminal investigation turning their lives completelyupside down.
Kevin Kelly just released a $3.00 PDF version of his book, True Films. This interesting and useful e-book contains the best 100 documenatries he reviewed as True Films in December, 2004.
THERE is the world car industry, and then there is Toyota. Since 2000 the output of the global industry has risen by about 3m vehicles to some 60m: of that increase, half came from Toyota alone. While most attention over the past four years has focused on a spectacular turnaround at Nissan, Toyota has undergone a dramatic growth spurt all round the world. Japan's industry leader will soon be making more cars abroad than at home. It has overtaken Ford in global production terms and is set to pass Chrysler in sales to become one of America's Big Three. In an industry strewn with basket cases, where hardly any volume producer makes a real return on its capital, Toyota is exceptional in that it consistently makes good returns (see chart 1).
Greg Borowski continues his investigation into Milwaukee's November election voter address problems.
And a new Journal Sentinel review of the city's voting records shows the system is so flawed that more than 300 people are listed as voting twice from the same address, even though each apparently was given only one ballot.That increases the size of a gap, already at more than 8,300, between the number of ballots cast and the number of people who can be identified as voting in the presidential election, which in Wisconsin was determined by about 11,000 votes.
I snapped this photo flying up from Chicago O'Hare to Madison on United Express recently. A rather beautiful, but cold evening. The CL65 is a very popular (though sort of small) regional jet. Sort of a ying to Doc Searls Santa Barbara sunrise yang.
Costco has a very loyal clientele (who pay a membership fee). Costco understands the taste level of this group and caters to their wants and needs--for wine, apparel, technology, jewelry, etc. Costco communicates with those customers through an excellent monthly magazine, the Costco Connection. Because many of Costco's customers are small business owners, the magazine (and, of course, the stores) cater to their needs and interests.
Now, Costco's customers are also attracted by the deals. There is an implicit understanding that Costco is offering the best possible price on that particular product on that particular day. The product may not be offered tomorrow. So, if you want it, you better buy it today.
As a state, Wisconsin has long prided itself on the openness of its voting system. It is a place where voters don't have to declare a party, can register right at the polls and - if they have registered in advance - get a ballot simply by stating their name and address.More here.
But after a second straight razor-close presidential election, where some see positives in a system that makes it easy to vote, others see problems that they argue make it too easy to vote fraudulently.
Another community making true two way broadband happen, Morristown, TN:
Morristown, Tennessee, population 24,965, is building fiber to the home. According to an article in the Knoxville News Sentinel, the city responded to a doubling of commercial cable TV rates by chartering its municipal utility to build a fiber network. Morristown's first customers will come on line in June, 2005. The build will cost $18,000,000, or $720 per person, or $1400 per home. The article says
A review of Milwaukee voting records from the Nov. 2 presidential election has found more than 1,200 ballots cast from invalid addresses in the city, including many cases in which the voter could not be located at all.
The number is a result of a detailed computer analysis by the Journal Sentinel of the city’s voter records and represents about 0.4% of the 277,535 ballots cast in the city in the hard-fought election. Some of the problems may be due to flawed record keeping, such as transposed digits or incorrect street names. Many others, however, cannot easily be explained.
The newspaper’s review, the most extensive analysis done so far of the election, revealed 1,242 votes coming from a total of 1,135 invalid addresses. That is, in some cases more than one person is listed as voting from the address. Of the 1,242 voters with invalid addresses, 75% registered on site on election day, according to city records.
Ghost Wars (excellent) author Steve Coll discusses Masood Khalili, an Afghan Poet today, on NPR.
Wisconsin Counties are required by law to send voter address verification cards to new voters. Evidently, this law is not enforced, according to this AP article.
Kevin Kennedy, executive director of the state Elections Board, said local officials have said prosecutors rarely follow up on the undeliverable cards, even though they could lead to charges if voter fraud was involved."Municipalities have complained for years the D.A.'s don't do anything with it," Kennedy said. "That's the feedback we get when we hold training sessions."
In Milwaukee, there have been "several hundred" cards returned as undeliverable, said Lisa Artison, executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission. The cards are still arriving and have not yet been sent to the district attorney's office, she said.
In Dane County, District Attorney Brian Blanchard said he didn't know how many cards had been returned but noted a clerk had bundled up a 6-inch stack.
Dave Zweifel keeps the flame burning on Madison rail service. I do think it is time for a serious run at this, perhaps funded by an increase in the gas tax (money that currently funds roads). High speed rail that links Minneapolis, Madison, Milwaukee and Chicago would be a wonderful public good AND help to improve the O'hare morass.
Editorial: Throw sand in the revolving doorvia Dave Farber
Two more, this time Democrats
Officials continue to turn into lobbyists at an alarming rate. Gregg Rothschild, key aide to Democrat John Dingell, is becoming a lobbyist for Verizon. Before Dingell, he was John Kerry's telecom aide. Rothschild took the Dingell job in 2003, replacing Andrew Levin, who in turn had left to lobby for Clear Channel. David Svanda, former Michigan Commissioner, is persuasively arguing on behalf of the AT&T backed VON Coalition. Svanda earned respect for promoting competition in Michigan and leadership among state regulators as President of NARUC. They join a long list, including far too many FCC officials, who went directly into well paid jobs influencing their former colleagues.
Does the prospect of such lucrative careers influence the decisions of even ethical officials? Did they modify their actions in the preceding year, wondering if they were affecting their chances of a job? I have no reason to speak ill of either Rothschild of Svanda, both considered ethical. But I know how I am constantly pulled, having to report the news about advertisers that pay my rent, and think top officials do not need their consciences challenged by equivalent temptation if avoidable.
some of the most significant innovations have been made where public and private efforts touch. In its first term, the Bush team made a few important pro-technology choices. Over the next year it will signal whether it intends to stand by them. There is a long historical background to the administration's choices, plus a variety of recent shifts and circumstances. The history stretches to the early days of the republic, and the idea that government-sponsored research in science and technology could bolster private business growth. Progress in farming, led by the land-grant universities, demonstrated this concept in the 19th century. Sputnik-era science, culminating in the work that led to the Internet, did the same in the 20th century.Open source weather is available here. Create your own weather site using the NOAA's xml web service.
Cory Doctorow relates an odd and disturbing experience while travelling from London to Dallas on American Airlines. Ryan Singel contacts AA and receives this response.... Singel operates a useful blog - secondary screening.
"Whoever builds a fiber to the home network is going to have a monopoly - whoever builds it. As a practical matter, I am opposed to monopolies. But I would much rather have a monopoly that I can touch and see and feel and affect, which is [Lafayette, Louisiana municipal utility operator] LUS."Via David Isenberg
Madison should be thinking like this as well.
Equally important, they stopped trying to be creative. Rather than try to customize their software, they began looking for cheaper, off-the-shelf programs that would get the job done with a minimum of fuss. When necessary, they changed their own procedures to fit the available software. Old, generic technology may not be glamorous, but it has an important advantage: it works. It may well turn out that the F.B.I.'s biggest problem was its desire to be innovative - to build a new wheel rather than use an old one within easy reach. When it comes to developing software today, innovation should be a last resort, not a first instinct.Carr is mistaken in telling technology drivers to slow down with respect to innovation. The real question is whether or not top management has made the commitment to align their business processes with the technology (and provide leadership when tough decisions must be made). Carr, of course does not mention the many successful technology innovations we take for granted today, such as
"The biggest challenge is not the technology," he said, "but being able to change the culture."
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Finally, the price tag on the project is $125 million. The population of Lafayette is 116,000. That's $1077.59 per person. Would you pay $1100 once to have fiber in your town forever after? N.O.B.R.A.I.N.E.R.
Ken Kutaragi, president of Sony Computer Entertainment, said he and other Sony employees had been frustrated for years with management's reluctance to introduce products like Apple's iPod, mainly because the Sony had music and movie units that were worried about content rights.Well, duh. Most of these DRM (Digital Restrictions Management) schemes will fail. Slashdot discussion.
But Sony's divisions were finally beginning to work together and share a common agenda, Mr Kutaragi said at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Tokyo.
Tristan Louis takes a useful look at DRM (digital rights/restrictions management):
What I am trying to highlight is that while proponents and opponents of DRM solutions both see the world in black and white, they may want to start a dialogue and realize that there's a lot of gray areas out there.Via Doc Searls.
Travis Fox & Pierre Kattar created a very useful Quicktime VR scene, taken just above President Bush overlooking the Mall. There's also a protest VR scene. Some great inauguration photos here
The whole thing was a big waste of money, of course. Shutting down a city seems a terrible price to pay for politics (and lobbyists).
Surviving a meeting today, I recalled the essential skill that makes a great salesperson: the ability to listen, sometimes for extensive periods of time. I'm always amazed when a person selling something can't be bothered to actually listen to what the buyer has to say (another way one might put this, when the cluetrain made a stop, they failed to board).
It can be difficult, for sure. I remember one meeting, where there was 3 or 4 minutes of silence. Anyone involved in sales and marketing should become familiar with the term markets are conversations. Learn more at the cluetrain.
So what makes a good opportunity? A colleague of mine at the University of St. Thomas, Dr. Alec Johnson, has come up with what I think is a simple yet effective framework for analyzing opportunities. It is based on what he terms the "Three M's": Me, Market, and Money. All three are related, and if any of them are missing, it's likely the concept is not worth developing.
 | Pearly Kiley - wishoops.net [PDF Version 103K] |
"With all this talent, why aren’t we winning more games?""My kid averaged 20 points in summer league, why isn’t he playing more?"
"Why are we walking the ball up the floor all the time?"
"I wish we had the old coach back."
These unfounded sentiments were also a major reason why over 80 coaches
chose to resign, were relieved of duty or retired since last season.There are coaches who point to AAU basketball and all its dramatically improving impact. Some blame school administrators for showing more allegiance to parents than them in disputes over individual roles and playing time. Still others say it takes too much time – and impossible patience – to deal with the increasingly overzealous parent.
“At the high school level, the rewards aren’t tangible,” said former Waupaca coach Tim Locum, who resigned after last season and is currently an assistant coach at UW-Oshkosh.
“There is no shoe deal, radio show, big contract, national TV exposure or endorsements. What keeps a coach going is the joy of watching young men mature, the pat on the back from an AD, a thank you from a parent. Instances such as those have continued to slowly dwindle, if not disappear altogether. And what is left is over 80 Wisconsin Boys Varsity positions turning over in one year – almost 20% of the schools!”David Bernhardt raised some related issues (kids & sports) recently at www.schoolinfosystem.orgAre parents and fans simply out of control?
I point to my hometown of Cuba City as an example, where longtime coach Jerry Petitgoue has won 654 games and is the all-time leader in coaching wins in Wisconsin history.
If two weeks from now they held a referendum on the boy’s basketball job, and whether he should keep his job or be fired, I believe that vote would actually be very close. What does this say about the state of high school athletics in Wisconsin?
(I’m not sure it’s an altogether new thing, though. Hollywood captured the idea perfectly in Hoosiers; George, Milan High’s interim coach before coach Norman Dale, summed it up perfectly:
"Look mister, there's two kinds of dumb ... the guy that gets naked and runs out in the snow and barks at the moon, and the guy who does the same thing in my living room. The first one don't matter, and the second one you're kinda forced to deal with."
How much money do we think George would be spending on his kid to play AAU basketball nowadays? How crazy would he have gotten when, after spending all this money, his kid wasn’t playing significant minutes or getting scholarship offers? The issue today is that parents handle the problems much more subtly – and administrations aren’t near as loyal as principal Cletus.
In the 1950s parents simply bought a basketball, in some cases a hoop, and kids became great players the old fashioned way, by working on their fundamentals and developing a jump shot -- yes, a jump shot (Jimmy Chitwood made 98% of his shots!). The point is, too many parents are spending too much money nowadays, and when results don’t materialize, they cast their blame on the easiest and most visible target.
“It’s human nature for parents to see the best in their own kids, said Cuba City coach and Executive Director of the WBCA Jerry Petitgoue.
“Kids are starting to play competitively in third and fourth grade nowadays and most of the time it’s parents that are coaching. With this, parents start thinking they know the game as well as the high school coach and therein lies the problem.”
All you have to do is sit in the crowd at any basketball game and you’re guaranteed to learn more about the game from some parents and fans than you’d learn if you were listening to John Wooden himself.
Don’t think so? Just go to your local pub and they’ll tell ‘ya.
Wisconsin Rapids coach Dan Witter was forewarned well before he got into coaching.
“An administrator who was also a former coach warned me that most of my friends that have kids will likely stop talking to me if I don’t play, or cut, their kid, and as a coach you have to go into it knowing your not going to be friends with everyone and your going to upset some people.”
Sound fun yet?
The Time Issue
In many castes, coaches have families of their own. How can they be expected to do all the work that goes into coaching in today’s climate?“As a head coach,” Locum said, taking a deep breath, “you are expected to know the game, teach it to your players, relate to their adolescent minds and emotions, scout and break down your opponents, come early, stay late, watch film, track your players academic and behavioral progress, fund raise to get the “extras” everyone else has, help and inspire your youth coaches and programs, make sure the high school assistants are prepared, and oh yeah….win most if not all of your games."
Despite all these factors, most coaches truly enjoy their job, work hard, and want the best for the kids they coach. Problems arise when you factor in everything coaches simply don’t have enough time to do, while still doing the job the way they think it should be done.
“"With the changing role of today's family, it is not uncommon for both spouses to work,” WIAA Associate Director Deb Hauser said. “Thus, the pressures and expectations at home require both parents to provide time for household duties. Many young coaches will try coaching for a short time, feel the pressures from parents and fans, and opt to spend more time with their own families instead.
“We all know that anyone who coaches at the high school doesn't do it for the money but rather for the love of the game. Thus, the transition back to spending time with one's own family has become the more popular choice."
Choosing between your children and spouse and dealing with what some of these coaches do is simple, isn’t it?What’s easy is criticizing an overworked and underpaid coach, getting pleasure from Monday morning quarterbacking every move he or she makes. This is becoming the reality for more and more coaches, who rarely get the great gratitude and respect from their communities that they deserve.
New game, new eraThen again, how can we expect kids to listen to a coach trying to teach them fundamentals of the game? Consider the influences on today’s players: Michael Jordan and the glorification of the slam dunk, AAU’s run-and-gun style, ESPN SportsCenter, and the And 1 Tour.
“Kids are no longer dedicated and willing to sacrifice to be the best they can be,” said Oshkosh North coach Frank Schade. “They simply have too many other outside influences and interests.”
A daily look at WisHoops offers confirmation. Threads on how to jump higher, the state’s best dunker, people’s favorite player on the AND 1 Tour. These posts are fun, but they are also strong statement about this generation of basketball players.
I’m still waiting for someone to ask how to shoot better, the best way to work on your ball skills, or how to best position yourself to become a better rebounder.
A big problem is that kids are playing over 50 games in the spring and summer nowadays and think that’s good enough. Many are becoming more interested in playing during the summer with their AAU team and less in playing with their high school team during the school year, posing several problems for high school coaches.
What’s a high school coach to do when they rightfully bench a kid for lack of hustle or insubordination, only to have an AAU coach swoop in after the game, consoling and assuring the player that things will be different when summer rolls around.
While most AAU coaches support their high school counterparts 100 percent, there are some out there who undermine the authority of the high school coach. Worse, yet, they can potentially damage the attitude and work ethic of the player, which hurts them greatly if they continue to play at college level where things don’t come so easily.
The bottom line is that while some parents and AAU coaches are busy enabling kids that aren’t working as hard as they should be, the people getting hurt ever more are the varsity coaches.
Where’s the support from the top?If you hire a coach that wins games, treats all kids equally, and has respect from fellow coaches, that’s all you ask for. Isn’t it?
You would certainly think so, but what happened at Cedarburg High School this offseason tells a different story.
A few months after the season ended, Cedarburg coach Ben Siebert received a letter from school board President Jack Dobson. The letter indicated that the school was seeking a new coach but gave no reason as to why, saying only that the move wasn’t inspired by the team’s prior performance.
The letter asked Siebert to attend a school board meeting, where they would vote on whether or not to retain him as the head coach. The meeting took place behind closed doors, despite requests by Coach Siebert and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to open it to the public.
Coach Siebert read a prepared statement, which received not a single word response from anyone on the board. Three and a half hours later, Siebert was told he would not be returning.
The shadowy decision left him piecing together a complex puzzle without a picture.
The school board’s position was that it retained the right to look for a new coach if it was an attempt to improve the high quality of service the district provided to its students.
Which begs the question: what, exactly, was it about Siebert’s performance what wasn’t high quality?
Siebert had a zero tolerance policy when it came to violating the rules, and when three of his players admitted their involvement in conduct against the athletic code they were dismissed from the team. The violations took place when the team and coaches stayed at the home of one of Siebert’s relative in Sheboygan while participating in a Christmas tournament in 2003.
Two families filed a lawsuit against the school following Siebert’s decision, citing their sons’ emotional distress that came from being thrown off the team. The parents alleged a lack of supervision on the part of the coaches, but Siebert and others have refuted that claim.
Keep in mind, though, that both sets of parents signed contracts before the season agreeing to the zero tolerance policy. In addition, the school has since adopted a new policy that it sees as much stricter than the one formerly in place.
One can only assume that Cedarburg’s new coach will think twice before enforcing these new rules, lest he face a similar fate as Siebert.
"What he brings to high school basketball is great respect," fellow North Shore Conference coach Paul Hepp told the Journal Sentinel in June about Siebert. "His players are always very respectful, and they play the game the way that it's supposed to be played. I think he's a great all-around coach and gets the most out of them and their potential, year in and year out."
Oh, and then there’s Siebert’s performance on the court: he coached his players to a 56-33 record in a tough North Shore conference before being dismissed.
Schools boards and administrators are asking for a revolving door of coaches if they continue this process. Precedents are being set for how to easily remove coaches, and this trend will only continue to hurt the game.
What can coaches do?There are no definite answers to these problems. That said, here are a few words of caution and advice to anyone considering a high school coaching position.
Get support before taking job
Potential coaches need to demand backing from the administration when interviewing for jobs. Otherwise, they should simply walk away and say no thank you. Without the full support of Superintendent, Principal, and School Board, you simply won’t survive in today’s climate in most cities.
Have thicker skin and ignore the criticism.
If you work hard and can hit the pillow each night knowing you did your best, nothing any parent or fan should get under your skin. As one coach once said, “If I stay out of the bars I never hear a negative word about me.”
Pretty good advice I think.
Communicate and have a dialogue with parents.
If you’re truthful with parents before the season starts and let them know what you want from their son/daughter, I think it can help alleviate potential problems. If you appear to care and show them you want the best for their child, I think they will show you respect you deserve. The worst thing you can do is give them more ammo to use by ignoring them and showing them disrespect; after all, you are coaching their child and you have to expect them to see things differently and be blinded by emotion sometimes.
Have fun coaching.
Some coaches never seem to be enjoying themselves, and I think that translates to kids not having fun playing the game. Basketball is a great game and should be played and coached with enthusiasm. Sixteen- and 17-year-old kids don’t like it when everything is negative and often take that negativity home with them, opening up the potential for parents to blame the coach.
Continue your hard work and you’ll be successful.
The greatest coach of all-time, John Wooden, defines success better than
anyone:“Success is peace of mind that is the direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.
“Furthermore, only one person can ultimately judge the level of your success you. Think about that for a moment.
“I believe that is what true success is all about. Anything stemming from that success is simply a by-product, whether it be the score, the trophy, a national championship, fame, or fortune. They are all by-products of success, rather than success itself, indicators that you perhaps succeeded in the more important contest.
“That real contest, of course, is striving to reach your personal best, and that is totally under your control.
“When you achieve that, you have achieved success. Period! You are a winner and only you fully know if you won.”
A great place to end I think.
Christine Gregoire has said that our recent election was "a model to the rest of the nation and the world." If what she meant is that the King County Elections Office is her model of how she plans to run the state of Washington, then we should all be worried. Is it really "good enough for government work" to count 3,500 or 2,000 more ballots than there were voters? The airlines figured out years ago how to match the number of boarding passes with the number of people sitting in the airplane. Why can't our elections officials match the number of ballots cast with the number of voters who supposedly cast them? I think most Washingtonians agree that it isn't good enough for government work to decide an election by a box load of funny votes. It is not the American way for a tainted victory of 129 votes, marred by thousands of illegitimate votes, including double voters, felon voters, cemetery voters and unidentified voters, to take the place of a legitimate decision of the electorate.
At issue is a gap between the city's estimate of 84,000 election-day registrants and 73,079 verification cards that were sent, as required by law. Local bloggers and others, including talk radio hosts, have labeled the gap as evidence of more than 10,000 illegally cast ballots. Stone has stopped short of calling the ballots fraudulent but said "it casts doubt over the 10,000 votes, who cast the 10,000 votes, where those people live and whether they were eligible to vote in the city of Milwaukee."More on Madison's numbers:
In Madison, the city clerk's office doesn't keep a tally of same-day registrants whose addresses could not be verified. In the November election, 17,467 people registered at the polls, but city officials have no idea how many of those addresses could be verified, said Sharon Christensen, deputy city clerk.
That question can be answered at two levels. An evolutionary biologist would tell you that it is because women get evolutionary bonus points from living long enough to help bring up the grandchildren. Men, by contrast, wear themselves out competing for the right to procreate in the first place. That is probably true, but not much help to the medical profession. However, a group of researchers at John Moores University, in Liverpool, England, has just come up with a medically useful answer. It is that while 70-year-old men have the hearts of 70-year-olds, those of their female peers resemble the hearts of 20-year-olds.
Tuesday's launch of the up to 800 seat Airbus A380 is a useful time to consider the state of air travel:
Michelle Malkin points out a story that I had missed in neighboring Wisconsin, one that calls into question the veracity of its presidential-election results. Wisconsin wound up going for John Kerry by 11,300 votes in what came as a mild surprise to most observers in the Upper Midwest (via Stranded On Blue Islands). Al Gore had carried the state by a shade over 5,000 votes in 2000, and most pollsters had the race a dead heat or George Bush pulling slightly ahead in 2004. Instead, Kerry took Wisconsin by doubling Gore's total.There's more, including some corrections to the data. Via instapundit.How did that happen? Well, in one county -- Milwaukee, a traditional Democratic stronghold -- turnout increased by just under 49,000 votes, or about 10%, outstripping the nationwide increase of 6.4%. The new votes broke about 60/40 Kerry, about the trend of the county in both elections, adding a 9,000-vote margin to Milwaukee over Gore in the last election.
But here's where the Silence Of The Cheese gets ... well, stickier. According to state records, 83,000 people executed a same-day registration for Milwuakee County, which is more than 20% of all voting-age residents in the county. Now, Wisconsinites may procrastinate a bit, but in order to believe that number, you'd have to expect that 20% of the county had moved or became newly eligible within the past two years (after the previous national cycle). Not only that, but the state now reports that 10,000 of those registrations cannot be verified, a whopping 12% of all same-day registrations and almost the entire margin of victory for Kerry for the entire state.
When I wondered last month how the insurance industry carries on when so many customers have lost faith in it, I had no idea my worst fears would be confirmed so soon. The short answer is that some of them cheat. That's how companies can remain profitable while being despised and mistrusted by so many customers. This was captured piquantly by Vinay Saqi, a Morgan Stanley insurance analyst, who noted insurance companies have had "a difficult time making money when the game is rigged in their favor. We're concerned they won't fare well in a truly competitive environment."
Among the wealth of wrongdoing in this still unfolding story, one fact looms over the rest: Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of grown-ups knew about an array of fraudulent practices and failed to shout, "Wrong!" Instead, many regulators, independent watchdogs, brokers, executives in both the retail and commercial sectors, benefits consultants, and investment advisers joined together in a parallel moral universe. Collusion and conformity -- "it's not wrong because everyone is doing it" -- is accepted. Obedience -- "it's not wrong because they told me to do it" -- is okay. Opportunism -- "it's only wrong if I get caught" -- is encouraged. And, of course, narcissism -- "it's not wrong if it's good for us" -- is celebrated.
Fadi Saikali shot a gorgeous VR scene 2000m above the Mediterranean Sea in Fakra, Lebanon. Enjoy!
I had an opportunity to visit recently with Black Earth resident, Wisconsin Heights teacher and Wisconsin DPI Superintendent Candidate Todd Stelzel. I've posted a 13 minute video clip and mp3 audio file where Stelzel discuss his background, candidacy and asks for our vote. Following are a number of fat links to information about Stelzel, who recently completed his Masters Degree at Edgewood College in Madison. Fat Links (click on the icons):
Look for an interview with another candidate, Dr. Paul Yvarra soon. I've not heard from incumbent Madison resident Elizabeth Burmaster or Gregg Underheim. If I do, I will post their interviews as well.
Rather serious travel :) The mission to Saturn-Titan. Jon Summers has posted a Quicktime VR panoramic scene from photos taken on descent. JPL's Cassini-Huygen site.
Our wonderful farmer's market supports Robin Good's statement that we should "Buy local and Live Free". Good provides a useful illustration:
It’s gotten to the point where much of our nourishment depends on a handful of giants.Yesterday's winter farmer's market included a big stack of tomatoes, potatoes, cheeses, honey, spinach, apples, eggs, pork and beef.And they’re shipping foods an average of 1500 miles to reach your plate, a practice that strains anyone’s notion of “fresh.”
But a quiet revolution is in the air, and we the eaters hold the power for change.
The typical Tom (tomato) is exhausted by the time he gets to market.
1500 miles from field to fork — that’s the trek made by the average fruit or vegetable these days. Because of the need to hold up over distances, our foods are bred, not for taste but for transport — their ability to handle the long haul. And what do we eaters get? Tired tomatoes
"There is really no need going around starting wars over oil. We have it here at home. We have the necessary product, the farmers can grow it," said Nelson, who organized Farm Aid two decades ago to draw attention to the plight of American agriculture. Nelson told The Associated Press in an interview last week that he began learning about the product a few years ago after his wife purchased a biodiesel-burning car in Hawaii, where the star has a home. "I got on the computer and punched in biodiesel and found out this could be the future," said Nelson, who now uses the fuel for his cars and tour buses. Peter Bell, a Texas biodiesel supplier, struck up a friendship with Nelson after filling up one of the tour buses, and the business partnership came together just before Christmas.Fat links: alltheweb Clusty | Google | MSN | Teoma | Yahoo
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The development is a major setback for the F.B.I. in a decade-long struggle to escape a paper-driven culture and replace antiquated computer systems that have hobbled counterterrorism and criminal investigations. Robert S. Mueller III, the bureau's director, along with members of the Sept. 11 commission and other national security experts, have said the success of that effort is critical to domestic security."It's immensely disappointing to learn of this type of failure," Lee H. Hamilton, the vice chairman of the Sept. 11 commission, said in an interview. "The F.B.I. cannot share information and manage their cases effectively without a top-flight computer system, and we on the commission got assurances again and again from the F.B.I. that they were getting on top of this problem. It's very, very disappointing to see that they're not."
Ben Edelman's page is a great example of the internet's enormous "power to the people" potential. Edelman lists the firms producing spyware along with their investors. Check it out. Wikipedia:
Strictly defined, spyware consists of computer software that gathers and reports information about a computer user without the user's knowledge or consent. More broadly, the term spyware can refer to a wide range of related malware products which fall outside the strict definition of spyware. These products perform many different functions, including the delivery of unrequested advertising (pop-up ads in particular), harvesting private information, re-routing page requests to illegally claim commercial site referral fees, and installing stealth phone dialers.Clusty fat link: spyware.
Interesting and eclectic music. I like Pat Metheny's new cd.
Fortune's annual list of the 100 best companies to work for is out. Family run grocery store Wegmans is #1. Deanna Garcia takes a closer look at Wegmans. audio
Google News and Clusty links to commentary on Doyle's speech last night. 67MB Video Clip
More incumbent telco (SBC) lobbying power. Meanwhile, Intel decides to back muni broadband.
Living in San Francisco years ago, I remember the hassles of California's chain laws (State law requires that all vehicles carry chains during the winter, and that a three-tier level of chain use be followed, depending on the amount of snow). Charlie LeDuff talks to a few "chain monkeys" - people licensed by Caltrans to install chains on Sierra Nevada roads ($30/car).
He said there were philosophical points to his second career. "Women love you, they just love you," he said. "You're like their hero, and that gives you a good feeling."He finds modern men, on the other hand, a disappointing lot. They have become so sedate, so inept and removed from the ability to fend for themselves, Mr. Miesel said, that they must pay another man to put chains on their tires.
Carleen Hawn makes some interesting points on why Microsoft's record of innovation is so "lackluster":
Not to mince words, Bill Gates's researchers have placed a bunch of expensive bets on technologies that haven't panned out. But the company's failure also points to three much bigger lessons about innovation.We have some local examples of protecting established businesses: Newspapers. Despite general circulation declines, both Madison Newspapers (Capital) and the Journal Company continue to invest in niche print publications that keep the printing presses going.Defense is easier. And for now, it's more profitable. Harvard Business School's Clayton Christensen coined the expression the "innovator's dilemma" to describe what happens when entrenched companies confront new technologies. Good managers instinctively direct people and investment toward "sustaining innovations" that protect established businesses -- and away from new ideas that threaten current profitability. That's why Microsoft spends a lot on Office and Windows.
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Rick Romell's summary of CFED's Development Report Cards for the States does not shed a whole lot of new thinking on Wisconsin's entrepreneurial dilemna:
Candinas Chocolatier is the type of business we should seek to emulate. Markus started the company in 1994, after completing an apprenticeship in Switzerland. Today, over 10 years later, he is still in business and clearly enjoys what he's doing. The attention to detail illustrated in the product photos above demonstrates the devotion required to succeed. Let's call it passion. Another interesting local firm, Planet Propaganda created his packaging.
Candinas' products are certainly not inexpensive, nor are they run of the mill. Rather, Markus has taken a quality position in the market and continued to improve his chocolates. This is a very long term approach to business. I need say no more on this subject as Consumer Reports discovered:
“The best chocolates came from lesser-known makers,” the magazine pronounced in its February issue. “Lesser-known” as in Candinas Chocolates, of Verona, Wisconsin (www.candinas.com). Candinas was one of only three chocolate makers nationwide to achieve the rating of “excellent,” ranking behind Martine’s Chocolates and La Maison du Chocolat in that category.The winning assortment was the Candinas 36-piece box (price: $41). “Ultra-smooth dark and milk chocolates with especially good hazelnut, caramel, and liqueur-flavored centers,” praises the magazine, accentuating the “fresh cream and butter notes.”
Fine chocolates from Wisconsin may boggle the mind, but consider: chocolatier Markus Candinas, 32, has Swiss parents and trained as a confectioner in their homeland.
Great chocolate makes perfect sense - we have fantastic dairy products. Perhaps we'd be better off further leveraging our dairy business (designer milks and more cheese varieties?).
Entrepreneurs are born, not trained. We simply, as Romell's article notes, need to find more people willing to give it a try.
A useful book, sort of related is Mintzburg's Managers Not MBA's.
Jacques Steinberg & Tom Torok:
Across the country each week, more than 1.6 million people who are not on newspaper subscriber rolls are being delivered copies that did not cost them a cent - but they are still being classified as paying customers, an analysis by The New York Times has found. The papers, which are typically paid for by advertisers, are delivered by small and large dailies across the country, including The Miami Herald, The Wall Street Journal, The San Jose Mercury News and The Boston Globe.
Andy Baggot takes the longtime UW Football Coach and Current Athletic Director to task:
Way to insult our intelligence.Interesting how things change. I remember when Vic Feuerherd was "forbidden" to write about the Badgers after evidently asking some questions... I believe Vic was exiled to cover the Brewers. Glad to see some questions for our $1.5M+ per year football coach/AD.Way to lower the bar.
Russ Feingold for President - 2008. Goin South, an article recently published by Salon is certainly food for thought. Graeme Zielinski digs a bit deeper.
Mayor Dave is visiting one of Madison's many sister Cities: Mantova, Italy. Props to the mayor for paying his own way. Perhaps another approach is in order: hold a drawing for ordinary citizens to make the trip.....
The SBA's Office of Advocacy announced recently that roughly $2 billion in federal contracting money that was believed to have gone to small businesses actually went to large companies in fiscal year 2002. The reason: Larger companies like Titan, Raytheon, General Dynamics and Hewlett-Packard bought the small businesses that originally received the contracts.Since the government strives to award 23% of all prime-contract dollars to small businesses, the SBA has implemented a new monitoring system that will force companies to recertify their small business status if they take part in an acquisition
EFF:
Today, you can use any device you like with your television: VCR, TiVo, DVD recorder, home theater receiver, or a PC combining these functions and more. A year from now, when the FCC's broadcast flag mandate [PDF] takes effect, some of those capabilities will be forbidden.Read this review of the EyeTV 500 HD (High Definition) TV Tuner/Recorder.Responding to pressure from Hollywood, the FCC has adopted a rule requiring future digital television (DTV) tuners to include "content protection" (aka DRM) technologies. Starting next year, all makers of HDTV receivers must build their devices to watch for a broadcast "flag" embedded in programs by copyright holders. When it comes to digital recording, it'll be Hollywood's DRM way or the highway. Want to burn that recording digitally to a DVD to save hard drive space? Sorry, the DRM lock-box won't allow it. How about sending it over your home network to another TV? Not unless you rip out your existing network and replace it with DRMd routers. Kind of defeats the purpose of getting a high definition digital signal, doesn't it?
Coverage, highlights and lowlights today's Packer-Viking Game:
The Madison Department of Public Health has posted it's 2004 Food Cleanliness Achievement Awards [PDF] I'm pleased to see Himul Chuli on the list. Judith Davidoff and Samara Kulk summarize the results, and list a few restaurants that had some difficulties.
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He has owned Cadillacs for 25 years and this one (CTS) does not ride nearly as well as his previous cars (big sigh). The older Cadillacs were known for essentially riding like a sofa. Personally, I like the direction they've gone with Cadillac (performance, efficiency, improved handling and interesting transmissions), though I'm not a big fan of the designs.
Cadillac is attempting to resurrect its product line and change the public perception (see their Led Zeppelin advertisements), something that is very difficult in any business, particularily with strong competitors such as Acura, Audi, BMW, Lexus, Mercedes and Volvo, among others.
In a related note, famed car guy Bob Lutz, #2 at GM and a former exec with BMW, Ford and Chrysler is now evidently blogging here [RSS Feed]. Interesting reading, particularily the opportunity he now has to interact with buyers, sellers and everyone in the GM supply chain. I applaud the effort and hope the result is better, more attractive and economical cars from the firm that used to have 50% of the US market.
Background Fat Link: Bob Lutz
I mentioned the Milwaukee Brewers to a group of local business folks recently.
Their reaction, more or less "don't bother" speaks volumes about the size of the mountain the new ownership group led by ex Global Crossing Director Mark Attanasio faces.
Dale Hofman takes a look at a few other financial challenges facing the brew crew. Uphill, for sure...
Isthmus news editor Bill Leuders writes about Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager's strong support for our open records rights:
Last spring, the newspaper I work for had a problem obtaining some public records from Madison schools. Officials demanded that we first send a check for $613.08 to cover the costs they expected to incur reviewing the records and deciding what information to black out.These costs put the records effectively beyond our reach. Worse, I knew from my involvement with the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council that this was part of a much larger problem. Throughout the state, records custodians were seizing on some loose language in a 2002 Supreme Court case to justify charging exorbitant fees designed to thwart records requests.
I asked state Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager for an opinion on this practice. Her office reviewed the matter and in short order issued an unequivocal opinion stating that Open Records Law does not permit such costs. Custodians may charge only for copies and in some cases for the cost of locating records.
It was a major win for the cause of openness in Wisconsin, one of many on which Lautenschlager has played a role. Indeed, in my opinion, no one in Wisconsin has done more to preserve the public's right to know.
Michael Dobbs recollects his time with the Tsunami on Fresh Air. audio
NPPA posted their best of 2004 photojournalism awards.
It's interesting to compare this simple legacy media press release framed as an article with a very different perspective [Lessig | Boing Boing] on Gates Las Vegas comments regarding our fair use rights (he essentially sides with the hollywood cartels). Slashdot discussion. Bottom line - don't do Windows.
A bit more research (a few seconds on google) and we have Bill Gates in 1991:
"If people had understood how patents would be granted when most of today's ideas were invented and had taken out patents, the industry would be at a complete standstill today"Thanks to Jeff Keltner for that pointer.
David H. Hackworth:
so here's my New Year’s resolution: to keep countering Pentagon lies with the truth until enough concerned citizens demand that Congress set up a congressional investigative arm to formally expose the liars and hold them accountable.For almost six decades, I’ve borne witness to scuzzy machinations that had little or nothing to do with America’s national security. And because of them, I’ve watched my beloved country become enmeshed in far too many blood-splattered military misadventures only because they were good for Pentagon business. I’ve seen trillions of dollars allocated for gold-plated pork of value only to the monsters who manipulate the military-industrial-congressional complex and absolutely worthless to our gallant soldiers – the kids who end up paying the ultimate price for the madness of war.
Had a decent chunk of that dough been spent on the right stuff – supporting our troops – our warriors wouldn’t have fought in Korea in 1950 with World War I gear or be slugging it out in Iraq in scrounged “hillbilly armor” and told to go to war with the Army we have and to suck it up.
Malcom Gladwell wrote this useful article on SUV's early in 2004. He asks and explores an interesting question about the perceived safety advantages of SUV's:
I found that I was wrestling with the car. The protests of the tires were jarring. I stopped, shaken. "It wasn't going where you wanted it to go, was it?" Champion said. "Did you feel the weight pulling you sideways? That's what the extra weight that S.U.V.s have tends to do. It pulls you in the wrong direction." Behind us was a string of toppled cones. Getting the TrailBlazer to travel in a straight line, after that sudden diversion, hadn't been easy. "I think you took out a few pedestrians," Champion said with a faint smile.Next up was the Boxster. The top was down. The sun was warm on my forehead. The car was low to the ground; I had the sense that if I dangled my arm out the window my knuckles would scrape on the tarmac. Standing still, the Boxster didn't feel safe: I could have been sitting in a go-cart. But when I ran it through the handling course I felt that I was in perfect control. On the straightaway, I steadied the Boxster at forty-five m.p.h., and ran it through the obstacle course. I could have balanced a teacup on my knee.
Southwest Airlines announced new Pittsburgh service today. The Madison market is perfect for Southwest - hopefully they will move into Madison soon.
Reader David Lehane forwarded several useful links on incumbent telcos & broadband:
- Broadband competition unwinding: the true cost of a "politics of distraction"
- FCC bets on monopolies: Teddy Roosevelt turns over in grave.
- More on Michael Powell & conflicts of interest
Tired of too many commercials and the same old, same old, same old music? Point your itunes or other mp3 streaming audio software to these internet "radio" stations:
The handset will work over hotspot networks allowing Vonage customers to use their service while roaming. Boingo and Vonage had a deal in place to test out VoIP over Wi-Fi hotspots, but it’s unclear here in the late evening how that ties together. Also, Vonage’s site doesn’t yet list the announcement, so we don’t know if they’ve partnered with various networks to ease authentication.Skype is another option.
The Wisconsin Counties Association wants all 72 counties to ask voters in April whether the state - instead of counties - should pay for the judicial and human services systems it mandates, according to Jennie Tunkieicz. Interesting, but I'm not sure that this intramural government battle is money well spent for the taxpayers.
Christian Davenport says that the National Security Agency is opening up and looking for small business to help in the war on terror.
"I'm looking for new ideas," said Daniel G. Wolf, the NSA's information assurance director. "We want to hear what you have."In November, the agency announced that it would pump $445,000 into the center, whose companies are at the vanguard of security technology: finding cures for bioterrorism diseases, protecting computer networks from hackers, developing software designed to find terrorists.
As the intelligence industry continues to expand since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the clandestine agency is playing a more prominent -- and visible -- role in the Washington region. With plans to hire 7,500 new employees over five years, the NSA, already Anne Arundel County's largest employer, is undergoing its largest recruiting drive since the Cold War.
The agency is also increasingly opening its doors to private companies for help in developing spy technologies.
Atlanta (ouch!) based Rayovac is expected to announce a $476M acquisition of closely held United Industries, a consumer-products maker of such brands as Cutter insect repellant, Sta-Green fertilizer, and Eight in One Pet supplies, according to Dennis Berman
The move is the latest in Rayovac's plan to transform itself from a seller of low-cost batteries, which has been its focus for nearly 100 years, into a diversified purveyor of consumer products. In acquiring United, which operates under the Spectrum Brands name in the U.S., Rayovac expects its battery sales to account for just 40% of overall revenue, down from 67%.Seems rather strange that a battery company would acquire a fertilizer and insect repellant firm, until I read that "both have long been under the wing of private-equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners". Ah, sounds like packaging for a bigger deal. Madison has growing risk here with respect to Rayovac's ongoing employment.The deal will pay St. Louis-based United a total of $406 million in Rayovac shares, which closed trading Monday on the New York Stock Exchange at $29.56. Rayovac will also pay $70 million in cash to United's shareholders, while redeeming or replacing $900 million of United's outstanding debt. The companies are targeting cost savings of about $70 million to $75 million, company executives said. They said the deal will be immediately accretive to Rayovac's earnings.
Rayovac's move comes amid tight competition from leading battery brands Duracell and Eveready. Atlanta-based Rayovac has aggressively moved into new product categories, last year buying the Remington Products electric-shaver business. Last year, overall Rayovac sales hit $1.4 billion, while United registered sales of $950 million. Rayovac has said previously that it hopes sales will grow to more than $3 billion over the next few years. The company's shares have climbed 42% in the last year after positive quarterly earnings results.The United transaction, however, underscores how powerful a few large retailers have become to the success of midsize companies such as Rayovac. In buying United, said Rayovac Chairman and Chief Executive David A. Jones, the company can better use its relationships, distribution and marketing at such retailers as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Home Depot Inc. "Retailers are looking for sophisticated suppliers," Mr. Jones said. In branching out, "We become more important and vital to them."
The transaction weds two companies that have long been under the wing of private-equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners. The firm owns 87% of United, and held significant stakes in Rayovac until September 2002. Following the deal's closing, which is expected in about six weeks, Thomas H. Lee Partners will own about 25% of Rayovac.
Merrill Lynch and Investment Banking Group advised Rayovac, while Citigroup advised the company's independent committee of its board of directors. Goldman Sachs & Co. advised United Industries.
There's now shortage of discussion online regarding Saturday's Badger loss in the Outback bowl to the Georgia Bulldogs. Michael Hunt, I think, captures the essence. Many links here. Keep clicking.
I talked briefly with a Madisonian who was quite a good Samaritan Saturday. This person lives at the bottom of two hills which a number of people slid down during the freezing rain. Several of those people spent the night at his family's home. One, a Korean woman and her young child had never driven on ice before.... Here's the story of the Good Samaritan....
Malcolm Bricklin, who imported the Yugo and Subaru brands to the US, announced a deal with China's Chery Automobile Corporation to import up to 250,000 cars per year by 2007.
Malcolm Bricklin, who imported the Yugo and Subaru brands to the US, announced a deal with China's Chery Automobile Corporation to import up to 250,000 cars per year by 2007.
Wisconsin's legislature continues to consider a Taxpayer Bill of Rights. Colorado passed a taxpayer bill of rights in 1992. Steven Walters visits the front range to talk with locals about their version of TABOR. Why did TABOR happen in Colorado? The numbers tell the story:
alltheweb | Clusty | Google | MSN Search | Teoma | Yahoo Search
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Mark Twain described Maui's Haleakala Sunrise as follows:
It was the sublimest spectacle I ever witnessed, and I think the memory of it will remain with me always.Enjoy the complete sunrise via this Maui Haleakala Crater Sunrise Movie with music. Webcam.
Background links: alltheweb | Clusty | Google | MSN Search | Teoma | Yahoo Search
Evelyn Rodriguez has been blogging about tsunami her experiences in Thailand.
