RIP Experiment

Make no bones about it, this blog is dead.

?

Hello! (Hello, hello, hello)

Is anyone out there? (there, there, there)

"I hate this! It is revolting!"
"More?"

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Perhaps we should be called the Two Non-Bloggers.

Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Digital TV?

About a week ago, my brother sent me a link to George F. Will's column in the Sacramento Bee. The Bee entitled this column "A Digital TV in Every Pot?", whereas George Will's home newspaper, the Washington Post, gave the column the title of "The Inalienable Right to a Remote".

Regardless of the title, Will has hit the nail on the head with this one. The United States Senate passed the "Digital Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005" (Senate Bill 1932, Title III). In addition to setting a hard deadline for the United States to transition from analog to digital television, the Senate provides that no consumer be left behind:

(1) $3,000,000,000 for a program to assist consumers in the purchase of converter boxes that convert a digital television signal to an analog television signal, and any amounts unexpended or unobligated at the conclusion of the program shall be used for the program described in paragraph (3).

Yes, that's nine zeroes after that 3: 3 Billion dollars to pay for consumer's set top boxes to convert digital television signals to analog so their old televisions will continue to show the programming they watch. The Senate is mandating the release of the current parts of the wireless spectrum used for analog television, and these parts of the spectrum will be used for public safety functions (communications for firefighters and law enforcement) and auctioned off to businesses to provide wireless services. According to the bill: the Senate expects 4.9 Billion dollars (US$4,900,000,000) to be raised by this auction. I have two problems with this:

1. What if the auction raises less than expected? Are we going to deficit spend to buy set-top converter boxes?
2. Why not use this for a better purpose? Nutritionists tell us the country as a whole (and I am included in this) is suffering an epidemic of obesity. The television definitely contributes to this (how many people do you know ride a bike or walk a treadmill to generate the electricity for their television?). If you want to keep the money in communications that benefits the public, why not buy Public Alert Radios (or the equivalent that will work with paragraph (3) of the bill1. The use of the funds for Public Alert Radios could prevent deaths in incidents like the tornadoes that hit Kentucky and Indiana last month and would be in better alignment with the Public Safety aspect of the bill's title.

While I agree with George Will that television is not a right (if we're wrong, please feel free to give me the Constitutional reference2), I do take issue with one part of his criticism of the Senate (and related House) actions. George Will states that "Today a digital-capable set with a flat-screen display can be purchased from -- liberals, please pardon the mention of your Great Satan -- Wal-Mart for less than $460." A digital television for less than $460? Flat Panel, too? I decided to check it out, but I could not find a flat-panel television with an ATSC tuner for under $460.

To close, let's ask the Senate and the House to be more responsible with our money. While we might receive a good amount from the auction of the analog television portion of the spectrum, let's not spend it before it is received, and let's not spend it on entitling Americans to television.

Footnotes:

1. (3) $1,250,000,000 for a program to facilitate emergency communications, of which $1,000,000,000 shall be used for an interoperability fund and $250,000,000 shall be used to implement a national alert system, of which $50,000,000 shall be used for tsunami warning and coastal vulnerability programs.
2. See also the Bill of Rights and Amendments 11-27.

Tags: television, legislation, society

Cross-posted to my blog.

Random Thoughts and P6

Conversation started by Random thoughts on a chilly Monday morning....

1. Yes, our poor little blog was neglected, but I have not neglected blogging (and this one and this one explaining our hiatus) as bad as a certain brother of mine.
2. The Chuck Houffa P6 ruleb. Enough said.
3. See the previous point. Lack of planning and cerebral activity before the digital activity on Alexander Graham Bell's inventionc and the vocal activity on the aforementioned device.d
4. I just found out this evening that WordPress, the open source blogging software, is now offering free hosted solutions. Of course, there's always Blogger or might I suggest EndPointUrinals.com.

Footnotes

1. Chuck Houff is a former boss of the aforementioned certain brother.
2. P6: Previous Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.
3. The linked article discusses the idea that Bell was not responsible for the initial invention. However, the idea that the major telephone company for North America for a number of years was Bell Telephone puts some doubt on these theories for me. However, I will have to read the article later.
4. I found this site's commentary (when I first saw it, it was larger and sans disclaimer) on the recent AT&T/Baby Bell merger humorous. Additionally, the Death Star has been updated.
5. Footnotes are cool.

EndPointUrinals.com

Conversation started by Don't stand so close to me....

I gave my brother an inordinate amount of grief over this post. I suggested that he would start a web site at EndPointUrinals.com, PrivatePeeing.com, or any number of related domain names. However, as I reply to this weeks later, I noticed the Police title of the post. Chris, I don't know if that was intentional, but either way, it was cool.

In response to the grief (hey, it's what brothers do), Chris assured me that the post was less about documenting his trip to the bathroom and more about discussing courtesy. Courtesy is something that seems to have gone out the window these days. The other day I was driving down a two-lane road with a center turn lane. Ahead of where I was at was an island designed to give crossing pedestrians a safe haven. This maroon Pontiac races down the center turn lane to try to zip around the line of traffic and proceeds to get stuck at the island. While some might call this karma, I believe there is a different standard that applies here: "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows."a. However, this concept works both ways, so what if we start sowing some kindness and courtesy?

By the way, I agree with rule #1b that Chris put forth, but I know I have broken #2c on a number of occasions. I think it more rude to not say hello to someone you know, however, then to talk to someone in the bathroom. However, I don't want to talk to you on the phone when you are in the can.

Footnotes

1. Galatians 6:7
2. Rule 1 - Distance. In a 3 urinal setup (like mine at the office), one should always choose the end urinal if all urinals are unoccupied. This gives a second person the opportunity to take the other end urinal, and not stand so close to someone else in the midst of evacuating their bladder.
3. Rule 2 - Silence. Don't talk to your fellow urinators. Ever.
4. I don't know why I felt like footnotes tonight.

Lack of Content

Chris and I may be on blogging hiatus for a few days while we deal with our offline lives. I have posted about my hiatus on my blog, and the hiatus is due to job transition and residential transition. Along with this comes blogging transition for me. My blog is now temporarily residing at JackWolfgang.blogspot.com until I can get a domain established, etc. As far as I know, Brothers Blog is remaining in it's present location for the time being.

Sixty Years Ago

Sixty years ago today, a B-29 bomber of the United States Army Air Force (the United States Air Force wasn't made it's own service branch until 1947) departed the island of Tinian. The plane was commanded by Colonel Paul Tibbets, and it's name is etched deeply into history: Enola Gay. We know the name because the plane delivered the first nuclear bomb and used it against a populated target.

Yesterday, the headline on the Tallahassee Democrat caught my eye: "Hiroshima: 60 Years After the Bomb". Tonight, the CBS Evening News covered briefly the releasing of paper lanterns onto a river in Hiroshima before talking with 2 of the 3 surviving crewmen of the Enola Gay (The story is not yet linked on the CBS News website. I remember the name of "Dutch" Van Kirk, but I don't remember the name of the other crewman.).

Sixty years have passed, and yet, there is still debate on whether the United States was justified in using the "Little Boy" uranium fission bomb on Hiroshima and the "Fat Man" plutonium fission bomb on Nagasaki. Many feel that we shouldn't have dropped the bombs, and many feel we were justified. Sixty years have healed some wounds, but many others remain open.

I feel that the United States was justified in their use of the nuclear weapons in August 1945. It's unfortunate that the Pandora's box of nuclear weapons was opened, but given the situation, it had to be. In August 1945, the United States had finished a costly, three-month long invasion of the island of Okinawa and was facing an invasion of the Japanese main islands. The invasion of Okinawa cost the Japanese more than 110,000 troops, and 18,900 American troops were killed or missing. Secretary of War Henry Stimson estimated in 1946 that more than 1 million (106) American troops would have been killed in an invasion of the Japanese home islands. Finally, it is often overlooked that the Japanese had started their own Manhattan Project in July 1941. On 9 October 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized American scientists to start production of a nuclear weapon, and the National Defense Research Committee started the S-1 Committee to guide production on 6 December 1941.

I do have a very personal reason as well for supporting the use of nuclear weapons in August 1945. Grant E. Wolfgang, my paternal grandfather, was stationed in the Pacific Theater during World War II. He probably would have been deployed to the Japanese Home Islands in Operation Downfall. Would he have perished in the invasion? I don't know. I do know that he suffered through malaria as a result of his service in the Pacific Theater and that he rarely talked about his service. I am thankful that the war was ended without an invasion of the Japanese Home Islands.

One of the crewmen of the Enola Gay interviewed on the CBS Evening News noted that the nuclear bomb detonations were terrible, but necessary. He hoped that terrorists never obtained nuclear weapons. I pray they don't either. The nuclear detonations of August 1945, which killed 160,000 Japanese at Hiroshima and 80,000 at Nagasaki, should stand as a stern reminder of the terrible and destructive power of nuclear weapons. With this reminder in hand, we should seek to limit their spread as a matter of top priority.

Tags: nuclear weapons, Hiroshima

James Doohan: 3 March 1920 A.D.-20 July 2005 A.D.

Today, on the 36th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, science fiction fans mourn the passing of James Montgomery Doohan, who played Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, Chief Engineer of the U.S.S. Enterprise (also NCC-1701-A).

My mother notes as a young man, I always liked Star Trek, and I recall liking even as I got older. Doohan always interjected humor into the series. I never met Doohan like some Trek fans have, but I pray that God comforts his family during this time.

I clearly remember Spock's funeral from Star Trek II including Scott's moving rendition of Amazing Grace on the bagpipes. Spock was launched towards the Genesis planet in the movie, and Reuters reports that Doohan's wife plans to launch his remains into space.

In addition to the Star Trek role that made him famous, Doohan was a husband, a father, and a veteran of the D-Day invasion in World War II, where he took 6 rounds from a German machine gun. A silver cigarette case saved his life by blocking a round to the chest, but his middle finger on his right hand had to be amputated.

Star Trek's cast and crew ages, and Doohan was preceded in death by DeForest Kelley and Gene Roddenberry. More proof that our time in this life (on this planet, for the present) is limited, and we should cherish life.

Rest in peace, lad.

Memorials:

• Wil Wheaton
• StarTrek.com
• William Shatner
• Memory Alpha: A Star Trek Wiki

Technorati Tags: James Doohan, Star Trek, current events, death