China Dominates

Students from China and Russia came out on top in a NSA contest for computer programmers.

Programmers from China and Russia have dominated an international competition on everything from writing algorithms to designing components.

Whether the outcome of this competition is another sign that math and science education in the U.S. needs improvement may spur debate. But the fact remains: Of 70 finalists, 20 were from China, 10 from Russia and two from the U.S.

TopCoder Inc., which runs software competitions as part of its software development service, operates TopCoder Open, an annual contest.

About 4,200 people participated in the U.S. National Security Agency-supported challenge. The NSA has been sponsoring the program for a number of years because of its interest in hiring people with advanced skills.

Participants in the contest, which was open to anyone -- from student to professional -- and finished with 120 competitors from around the world, went through a process of elimination that finished this month in Las Vegas.

China's showing in the finals was also helped by the sheer volume of its numbers, 894. India followed at 705, but none of its programmers were finalists. Russia had 380 participants; the United States, 234; Poland, 214; Egypt, 145; and Ukraine, 128, among others.

Of the total number of contestants, 93% were male, and 84% were aged between 18 and 24.

This lack of talent from the USA may be caused by one of two things. Either we are not developing enough computer scientists and engineers or the one's we have are already employed and producing. In either case it points to the fact that we are not investing enough in the #1 resource of the 21st Century. Brains. Or it could mean that our best resources are going into where the real money is. Marketing and sales.

I have been doing my part. I have one son in marketing (graduated with honors in Russian literature from U. Chicago) and another son and a daughter studying engineering.

H/T The Risks Digest

My Fourth

Very enjoyable. We cooked out. Lots of meat for the traditionalists and grilled potato slices and mushrooms for the vegetarians in the family. Plus all the usual trimmings of course. (lots of good sweet corn from the area)

And after the barbecue - fireworks. We watched those from a hill facing the Rock River.

The Object Of

The object of socialism is to replace a system that only works for some with a system that works for no one. This is called social justice.

Sarah Palin Will Be One Term Governor

It looks like Andrew "I had Trig Palin's Baby" Sullivan and the rest of the Palin haters have caused Sarah Palin to decline to run for a second term as Alaska's Governor. From Facebook.

Some say things changed for me on August 29th last year - the day John McCain tapped me to be his running-mate - I say others changed.

Let me speak to that for a minute.

Political operatives descended on Alaska last August, digging for dirt. The ethics law I championed became their weapon of choice. Over the past nine months I've been accused of all sorts of frivolous ethics violations - such as holding a fish in a photograph, wearing a jacket with a logo on it, and answering reporters' questions.

Every one - all 15 of the ethics complaints have been dismissed. We've won! But it hasn't been cheap - the State has wasted THOUSANDS of hours of YOUR time and shelled out some two million of YOUR dollars to respond to "opposition research" - that's money NOT going to fund teachers or troopers - or safer roads. And this political absurdity, the "politics of personal destruction" ... Todd and I are looking at more than half a million dollars in legal bills in order to set the record straight. And what about the people who offer up these silly accusations? It doesn't cost them a dime so they're not going to stop draining public resources - spending other peoples' money in their game.

It's pretty insane - my staff and I spend most of our day dealing with THIS instead of progressing our state now. I know I promised no more "politics as usual," but THIS isn't what anyone had in mind for ALASKA.

Even more interesting is that she is considering resignation from the Governor's Office.

So what is my prediction for her next move? She is going to start running for President of the USA.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

July 4th 009 Bikini Edition

This year I am doing something a little different. Instead of links to pictures there will be actual pictures. If the bikini you are looking at is for sale you can click on the picture to get details.

Now there is a lady with some very nice stars on her celestial hemispheres.



Here is an American Classic. The Stars and Stripes. Sex. And Rock 'n Roll. The only thing left out is your intoxicant of choice.



This bikini is called American Pride. If this lady was my mate I'd be having not only pride in America but also a pride of Americans. Unfortunately for those of you interested in this bikini it only comes in two sizes. Too small and much too small. Which I'd say is just about right.



This is called American Spirit. And who wouldn't like to go sailing with this spirited young lady. Boating Rocks. Rocking the boat with some spirited exercise is not bad either.



Now here is a lady I can really get behind. She shows leadership by leading with her best assets forward deployed. And the assets bringing up the rear are pretty good too.



This looks like a case of Americana breaking out all over. I do believe I'll have a case of that myself. Maybe two cases.



Now this is definitely a case of less is more. If you know a lady who has trouble keeping track of her clothes this is a perfect gift. She will only have half as many clothes to track and if you are interested in ladies you will definitely have at least twice as much to track. In the American style it is a win-win for all concerned.



For those of you interested in the male persuasion I think you will find that this suit comes with a very nice package. The guy in the suit seems nice too.



Here is a suit with all the trimmings - in red.



This suit has a lot to recommend it. Especially considering how little of it there is.



Ladies. I guarantee that most men watching this bikini will be seeing stars. Unless they are distracted by the stripes.



This suit is designed so that there are a number of different ways to wear it. Including on and off.



Here is a similar style suit with more emphasis on the stripes.



This bikini sure looks like one I have seen before. The smile in it is different though.



I just hate when they take pictures where you can see so little of the suit. How could you decide if you like it or not if you can't see it? My apologies.



This one is sure interesting. The top and bottom are mirror images of each other. Sort of.


I never tire of bikinis but sorting out all the html to get the images up is hard work (yeah, right). So until next year. In the mean time a few thoughts. Can you even imagine the boys of 1776 fighting and dying so that our American women can show themselves off to such advantage? If only they had known, the Brits (my apologies) might have gotten whipped in half the time.

And for those of you who never get enough (bikinis) may I suggest a few books that will further your research?

Sexy Bikini Girls 1: Vol. 1

Bunny Yeager's Bikini Girls of the 1950s - Illustrated

Bikini Girl Postcards by Bunny Yeager: Shore Wish You Were Here!

For those who still may need a calendar, not exactly an American Flag motif. But still.
The young lady in the picture sure has some great guns. The rifle she is holding looks pretty interesting too.

May your Fourth be exciting. And enjoy the fireworks where ever you see them or make them.

Past Bikini Editions:
July 4th 008 Bikini Edition
July 4th Bikinis - 2007
July 4th Bikinis

Pot Goes Legit

I remember when the micro-computer trade shows started. A few years after the first ones we had an industry. I think hemp/marijuana will follow a similar track.

This video was put out by the same folks who put out the It Gave Me Hope video. If you want to grow your own hope this book might be helpful:

Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower's Bible

H/T Drug Policy Forum of Texas

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Jobs For India And China

That would be the Cap and Trade Bill.

H/T Judith Weiss on Facebook

That Should Work

H/T R. Dave via e-mail who sent me to Gateway Pundit to get the whole picture.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Something Completely Different

There comes a point in life where you either accept whatever you're doing and just exist, or stop talking about what you used to be and do something completely different.

Found at Good**** by Fred Lapides. You can look it up. NSFW

A Little Help For Friends

The Obama Administration knows who its friends are.

Exelon, the nation's largest nuclear power company, stands to rake in roughly an extra $1 billion to $1.5 billion a year if the House climate change bill passes, according to the company's own estimates. The House is expected to vote on the bill on Friday.

A memo produced for Exelon by Bernstein Research, and obtained by the Huffington Post, reports that Exelon CEO John Rowe recently told a gathering of investors and senior executives that the energy bill "will add $700 to $750 million to Exelon's annual revenues for every $10 per metric ton (MT) increase in the price of CO2 allowances." Prices will range between $15 and $18 per metric ton, the report estimates, "implying a positive earnings impact of $1 to $1.30 per share."


Read the full memo.

Exelon, with a major presence in Illinois, was an early backer of President Barack Obama's.

I love Chicago/Illinois politics a model of honesty to emulated around the land. What? Our President is a Chicago politician? You don't say. Well I'll be darned. How about that.

The Bill has yet to hit the Senate. You might want to let your Senators know how you feel and better yet what you think:

The Senate

The Neda Net Manifesto

Neda Net has an interesting manifesto:

Welcome to NedaNet

This is the resource page for NedaNet, a network of hackers formed to support the democratic revolution in Iran. Our mission is to help the Iranian people by setting up networks of proxy severs, anonymizers, and any other appropriate technologies that can enable them to communicate and organize — a network beyond the censorship or control of the Iranian regime.

NedaNet doesn't have leaders or a manifesto or even much in the way of organization. We're not affiliated with any nation or religion. We're just computer hackers and computer users from all over the planet doing what we can to help the Iranian people in their struggle for freedom.

NedaNet does have contacts on the ground in Iran. We are actively and directly cooperating with the revolutionaries (though for obvious security reasons most of us don't know who the contacts are). By helping us, you can help them.

Neda Net has links and advice explaining how you can pitch in.

Tehran Broadcast has a list of things the Iranian people need to carry on their revolution. This was sent out on 22 June.

1.Today we heard many people saying we can not win. Give us some spirit and motivation by reminding us of the important accomplishments made so far. Isn’t delegitimizing this government enough?! Is being united like this a small thing? Today, a Revolutionary Guard’s commander in Tehran was arrested because of his refusal to implement a crackdown order. Is this is a small triumph? We repeat, Help us maintain our spirits!

2. Invite terrified people to low cost actions; for example, pulling out money from governmental banks. Believe me but these days even wearing black in the working place (as a sign of mourning) is scary, let alone going on a strike. Please don’t criticize us for this. We did everything we could, everything within our powers, for a week. Think how you can convince a villager to pull out his/her money from the banks.

3.Don’t let state-run websites crush people’s spirit. Why didn’t you continue your DDOS attacks on the government news websites, such as Fars news? Do onto them what they are doing onto us! Please install the auto-reload plugin on firefox and bring their websites down again.

4.To create fear and frustration, the state TV, in a showmanship act, has asked people to send them pictures of the demonstrators. Explain to us, haven’t we already put our own photos and videos on the Internet?! In fact this is our strength, we should not be afraid. This is Islamic Republic TV’s psychological warfare.

5.By unfounded charges and accusations that foreign media are instigating chaos in Iran, the government has put them in a passive defensive position. Ask the foreign media to show our imperfect videos and reports. Governments, especially Obama should not remain neutral. They shouldn’t sell the people for the benefit of the rulers.

I don't know how much help Obama will be. But he did decide to disinvite Iranian diplomats to America's 4th of July Celebration after they had declined the invite. The Canadians are a little farther ahead of the curve.

Canada hardened its stance toward Iran on Thursday, denouncing the Islamic republic's appointment of a widely feared prosecutor to interrogate arrested reformists, and rescinding a Canada Day invitation that had been extended to Iranian envoys in Ottawa.

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said Canada was "deeply concerned" about the appointment of Saaed Mortazavi, who is known in Iran as the "butcher of the press," and who gained notoriety for his role in the 2003 death of Iranian-Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi.

"On several occasions, most notably in the detention and murder of Zahara Kazemi, Mr. Mortazavi has clearly demonstrated his disregard for human rights and fundamental freedoms," Cannon said.

And please do not forget to look at the Neda Net page and see if there is some where you can pitch in.

Other recent posts on this topic:

Neda Net
Iranian Says: Israelis Help Us

Neda Net

I was checking out the home page of Neda Net and came across this interesting bit:

I'm Eric S. Raymond. Some of you will know me from the open-source movement as "ESR". Because of the real threat of terrorist action against us, most of NedaNet is keeping a low profile. I have volunteered to be a visible public contact because (a) I've done this sort of public-face work before, (b) I already got my jihadi death threat from Iran in 2006 before NedaNet, and (c) I'm not easily intimidated.

Think of me as a cut-out. I have very carefully not asked who our contacts in Iran are. I don't even know who most of the rest of the NedaNet people are, and don't intend to try to find out; they're basically just handles on an IRC channel from whom I get URLs and files. And for any agent or proxy of the regime interested in asking me questions face to face, I've got some bullets slathered in pork fat to make you feel extra special welcome.

Neda Net is of course named after this woman:
You can read more about Neda Net at Iranian Says: Israelis Help Us.

I think what is going on in Iran has passed the point of no return. I have heard rumors of rumblings in Iran. Rumors of people saying things like "Heaven help the Mullahs if we decide to take up arms."

In the meantime the Iranian people need bandwidth in and out of Iran. Go over to Neda Net and see what you can do.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Iranian Says: Israelis Help Us

An Iranian asks:

"Dear Israeli Brothers and Sisters," writes Iranian dissident Arash Irandoost, "Iran needs your help more than ever now. And we will be eternally grateful. Please help opposition television and radio stations which are blocked and being jammed by the Islamic Republic (Nokia and Siemens) resume broadcast to Iran. There is a total media blackout and Iranians inside Iran for the most part are not aware of their brave brothers and sisters fighting and losing their lives daily. And the unjust treatment and brutal massacre of the brave Iranians in the hands of the mullah's paid terrorist Hamas and Hizbullah gangs are not seen by the majority of the Iranians. Please help in any way you can to allow these stations resume broadcasting to Iran.

"And, please remember that we will remember, as you have remembered Cyrus the Great's treatment of you in your time of need," Irandoost concludes, signing his blogged call for help "Your Iranian Brothers and Sisters!"

Which brings up something I was just looking at a couple of days ago the Zoroastrian Revival in Iran

There are, in fact, two Irans, and the lesser known one to most Americans is undergoing a renaissance that the ruling Iranian mullahs fear the most. If the Persians are awakened to their identity as children of Cyrus the Great, who wrote mankind's first charter of human rights, these oppressive regimes will topple domino-style. Besides Iran, the Persian heritage is embedded in Iraq and Afghanistan, and were it to be rekindled, a revolution unheard of in scope could occur."

My new friend and former Muslim, whom I will call Babak Iran, told me that Korans are being burned in Iran, and that there is a strong movement toward the philosophy of Zoroastrianism. This man showed me the pendant he now wears, a symbol of the ancient religion (it is older than Judaism). This symbol, carried by many of the parade marchers in New York City, can be seen at persianparade.org. Slide # 24 in the 2009 parade is where one can see many beautiful Persian women like Neda.

So what about Cyrus the Great?

The achievements of Cyrus the Great throughout antiquity is well reflected in the way he is remembered today. His own nation, the Iranians, regarded him as "The Father" and the Babylonians as "The Liberator". After this liberation of Babylonians, followed Cyrus' liberal help for the return of Jews. For this Cyrus is addressed in the Jewish Tanakh as the "Lord's anointed ". Glorified by Ezra and by Isaiah, Cyrus is the one who "The Lord, the God of heaven" has given him "all the Kingdoms of the earth".

And then of course there is the Jewish Queen of Persia, Esther.

Esther, born Hadassah, was a Jewish queen of the Persian Empire in the Hebrew Bible, the queen of Ahasuerus (traditionally identified with Xerxes I), and heroine of the Biblical Book of Esther which is named after her. The name Esther comes from the Persian word "star".

As a result of Esther's intervention and influence, Mizrahi Jews lived in the Persian Empire for 2400 years thereafter. Esther's husband Ahasuerus followed in the footsteps of Cyrus the Great, in showing mercy to the Jews of Persia: Cyrus had decreed an end to the Babylonian captivity of the Jews upon his conquest of Babylon in 539 BC.

It seems among some Iranians/Persians the Jews still have an honored place in their history.

Well enough history. The Iranians of today need help. If you can help pitch in.

H/T Judith Weiss Facebook. Judith also suggests that any one wishing to help contact Neda Net.

You can help by adding bandwidth and computing power to our network. It is still forming and growing; the more widely dispersed it gets, the less vulnerable it will be to denial-of-service attacks, blacklisting, or physical action by the Iranian government and its terrorist allies.

If you are a Linux or *BSD or Mac OS/X user, we have a detailed recipe for setting up and registering a Squid proxy for the revolutionaries' use. Update: We are no longer recommending people set up plaintext squid proxies. The Iranian regime appears to be doing deep-packet inspection on all traffic now.

To help support safe communications that are immune to deep-packet inspection, you can set up a Tor relay; this will help dissidents to communicate in and out of Iran without being traceable by the regime. See these directions.

Squid instructions for Windows users are under development.

Alternatively, there's a bootable CD called rbox that sets up a NedaNet site in a box. I'm told it's usable but still being polished. Windows users (especially) may want to go that route to avoid security issues.

You can get more information and links by visiting Neda Net.

Update: If you want to get deeper into the history of the Jews here is a book I liked: A History of the Jews.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

How I Spent My Saturday Afternoon

The Rockford Yacht Club was giving free sail boat rides to any one who wanted one this afternoon. So my mate and I went to see if we couldn't get a ride. We got there a little after 12 and got signed up for 4 PM. My mate and I decided to take a little walk around the park (Rock Cut State Park - one of our favorites) and then head home and come back later. When we got done with our little walk Scott's boat had just got in and he asked us if we wanted to go out now. Of course we said yes. So we spent the next hour and a half cruising the lake. We had an afternoon of moderately stiff winds (10 to 15 mph). My job was to reset the jib when the tack put it on the starboard side. I also liked leaning out over the water when the boat was heeling. Captain Scott alluded to the fact that not all his previous passengers appreciated such maneuvers. My first mate and I thought it was marvelous. And of course a lot of time was spent telling sea stories. Great fun.

Oh. Yeah. The boat in the video is the one we sailed on. The Flying Scot.

Mark Kirk Is No Traitor

John Kaduk says Mark Kirk (R - Illinois 10th Dist.) is a traitor for voting for the tax and shred bill.

Pat yourself on the back Nancy. You too Waxman. And let’s not forget Mark Kirk. You successfully hid behind Michael Jackson’s death and the country’s mourning to push through your garbage bill that could permanently kill the U.S. economy.

And that may be very well true. But Mark Kirk is no traitor. Mark Kirk is an idiot.

He is also behind the recent idiocy of calling for more draconian penalties to stem the flow of marijuana in this country. At a time when California is thinking about legalization and soccer moms are toking up? I don't think so. Mark Kirk is an idiot.

Let us hope that by 3 November 2010 he is a retired (from the House) idiot. I'll do my part.

EPA Scientist Drops A Bomb On Warming

An EPA Staffer, Alan Carlin, has dropped a bomb [pdf] not just on global warming (it is currently not happening) but also on the "concensus" hypothesis about how the climate system works.

The document makes these points:

The EPA report is based on the last IPCC report which is now 3 years out of date. These new findings have not been taken into account:
    a. Global temperatures have been trending downwards for 11 years
    b. The concensus on Atlantic Hurricane behavior has changed
    c. Greenland is probably safe from melting
    d. The economic downturn has reduced CO2 emissions
    e. Empirical evidence supports negative feedback for water vapor
    f. Solar variability may account for 68% of warming

The Mr. Carlin also points out that the EPA has a history of doing its own evaluations of science and does not rely on outside organizations (such as the IPCC) to determine its conclusions. The EPA in this case has not done its own independent investigation.

Now here is where it really gets good. Watts Up With That reports that the Alan Carlin report is being suppressed within the EPA. Here is an e-mail that circulated inside the EPA:

“The time for such discussion of fundamental issues has passed for this round. The administrator and the administration has decided to move forward on endangerment, and your comments do not help the legal or policy case for this decision… I can only see one impact of your comments given where we are in the process, and that would be a very negative impact on our office.”

- Internal EPA email, March 17th, 2009

I was under the impression that the Obama Administration was going to be the most scientific administration ever. I put that one right up there with the current Democrat Congress being the most ethical ever.

Note that Watts Up With That also has several more pieces on the topic:

Source inside EPA confirms claims of science being ignored, suppressed, by top EPA management

CARBONGATE – Global Warming Study Censored by EPA

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Understanding Before Voting

The Climate Bill passed the House 219 to 212. Which is a fairly slim margin since the minimum required for a House majority is 218 votes. Now the Senate has to go over it. It will be interesting to see how the Senators from Illinois (a coal state - I met my mate in Carbondale, Illinois) vote.

H/T Watts Up With That?

Cross Posted at Classical Values