In The Doghouse Now

I told you earlier about our new dog. Shortly after we got her we realized that while it was a pleasure to have her inside, we would all be happier if she spent most of her time outside. In September the girls and I started to work on a house for her.


We built the box out of some scrap plywood that was here when we got the place and some 2x3's from the lumber store. We built the box one weekend and painted it a barn red (also a gift from the former owners).

I cut the trim out of the 2x3's, those corner and gutter pieces are solid l-shaped. We painted the trim before we put it on. This is one of the first project where the girls were really able to help. Z screwed most of it together and painted a big portion of the box.

Macy really seems to like it. Just like everything else, it is delicious! I put an 'under-cabinet' halogen light that gives just enough heat to take the edge off those cold nights. She still gets to spend most evenings inside with us, but doesn't seem to mind heading out for the night.

One of the best things about this, besides the fun of building it with the girls, was that it was fairly efficient. Since most of the wood and paint was left-overs and reused, the total cost is around $30, counting the light. Not too bad when I saw a smaller, not as nice, one at Murdocks for $150.

Some Thoughts On Bivalence

If you haven't heard, there is a new blog in the sphere. Waves and Particles is subtitled random thoughts from the biosphere and beyond, and it might be a pretty good description. Today Bob has a post of quotes titled Food For Thought. It set me to thinking, and here is my response (also posted there).

You have inspired me Bob, so I will give you a passage that has inspired me for several years now. Though I make mistakes, I try to remember this passage and that it describes one of the fundamental problems in our dialog:

Everything is in flux. Everything flows. The universe unfolds as rivers run. The cosmological fluid seems to obey Einstein’s laws of general relativity in the large and seems to obey the laws of quantum mechanics in the small and obeys we do not know what in between.

Things flow smoothly to nonthings. The atoms in our fingers swirl into the atoms in the air. There are finger atoms and nonfinger atoms. And there are atoms in between, the atoms to some degree both finger atoms and air atoms and some degree both. A rose is a rose is a nonrose when its molecules change. The finger shades into the hand, the hand shades into the wrist, the wrist into the arm. Earth’s atmosphere shades into space. The mountain crumbles into a hill and in time into a plain. The growing human embryo passes into a living human being and the living brain decays into death.

We can put black and white labels on these things. But the labels will pass from accurate to inaccurate as the things change. Language ties a string between the word and the thing it stands for. When the thing changes to a nonthing, the string stretches or breaks or tangles with other strings. “House” stands for a house even after the house falls apart or burns. Our world of words soon looks like a fishing boat adrift with thousands of broken and tangled an broken lines.

-Bart Kosko “Fuzzy Thinking: The New Science of Fuzzy Logic”

The point here might be obfuscated, as I am sure that I typed in some errors, but the point is that we too often try to ascribe bivalent attributes to a multivalent world. All things are a continuous, but we expend too much of our energy and debate on bivalent nonsense. You are either with us or against us. You are pro-choice or pro-life. It just doesn’t work that way, does it?

In one sense, limiting the debate to a discreet number of options might seem like a simplification process, but in fact it often makes the equation unsolvable.

Thanks for the quotes Bob, and thanks for the blog. Nice work.

The New Wrong Dog?

Want to meet the wrongest dog of all? This is the newest addition to our family: Macy


She was born on the fourth of July. We have had her for about three weeks now. We have been wanting a puppy for a long time, but never had the right place. Our new house is perfect! She loves the big back yard and the dog next door. They have regular meetings at the fence.



Don't think that she is the wrong dog? You don't know her very well. She is fiercely loyal and fiercely stuborn. While I have had many dogs, I have never been around one as smart as this girl.



And just like me, she is a ham for the camera!

There are some sad things that happen in this world. This is one of them.

Make It Fit What You Believe

S0, I am reading this post over at Missoulapolis when I am totally stricken by a link at the bottom. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty in the post to be stricken by, but the link at the bottom really took the cake.

It is a link to an article (term used lightly) on global warming. Here, see for yourself. What's the problem? It is a sad piece of work, that's what. First note the title:

Survey: Less Than Half of all Published Scientists Endorse Global Warming Theory

The first problem with the title is that it implies that it is a survey of scientist that have been published. It conjures images of a phone call that goes like this:

"Hello, Doctor Smithenson?"
"Yes"
"This is Pauline from Survey USA, do you have time for a few questions?"
"Sure"
"As a published scientist on climatology, do you believe in global warming?"
"No"
"Thank you"

Now, if that was the case, you would have the well informed opinion of a published scientist. However, this is not the case at all. This article refers to the papers themselves, not the scientist. The survey was conducted by reading a number of papers and deciding if the paper endorses global warming. Hmm.

Now, it really gets bad when you look at the data they are presenting. First off, 45% of the papers implicitly endorse the idea of global warming, while on 8% reject it. All the others are neutral on the topic. In fact, we have no idea what the papers were about at all, they might not be on the topic at all.

However, when actual scientist are asked about their opinion on the topic, they say things like:

"The evidence for warming having happened on the planet is unequivocal," said U.S. government scientist Susan Solomon, who also is a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

"We can see that in rising air temperatures, we can see it in changes in snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere. We can see it in global sea rise. It's unequivocal," she said.

That quote came from a recent meeting of the foremost scientist in the field. Hundreds of scientists signed onto the paper the report they produced.

Now, I accuse Carol of grasping on to anything, no matter how thin, as long as it supports her views. Why is it that it seems that conservatives are much more apt to deny global warming? I mean, why does this issue so often come down between the left and right? Why should it be a political issue? Well, there is precedent:

IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Bush administration is trying to stifle scientific evidence of the dangers of global warming in an effort to keep the public uninformed, a NASA scientist said Tuesday night.

“In my more than three decades in government, I have never seen anything approaching the degree to which information flow from scientists to the public has been screened and controlled as it is now,” James Hansen told a University of Iowa audience.

Hansen is director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York and has twice briefed a task force headed by Vice President Dick Cheney on global warming. He was also one of the first government scientists tasked with briefing congressional committees on the dangers of global warming, testifying as far back as the 1980s.

Well, they take this view because their leaders do. Why do their leaders take it? Because industry tells them to.

Another Question That I Just Have To Ask

While I am asking questions about bloggers, there is one more that I just have to ask. I often see comments from people that I know are not the 'normal commenters' out there. They are real journalist or actually hold political positions. I have to wonder about one of Montana's better known bloggers. We all know the infamous Mark Tokarski of Piece of Mind and Montana Netroots. Now, look at his picture from Montana Netroots:




Nice enough picture, eh? I have to wonder though, does he secretly hold a position of importance in the federal government? I think that he might. Look back at the picture of Mark, and then look at this picture of John Roberts, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America:

There are only three possible scenarios as I see it:

1. Mark Tokarski moonlights as a SCOTUS justice.
2. John Robert gets his jollies off by trolling the Montana blogosphere.
3. It is a separated-at-birth-evil-twin-good-twin thing.
   

If it is #3, I will leave it to the reader to determine which one is the evil one. Hint, it isn't my buddy Mark T.

A Question That I Just Have To Ask

I have been looking around some of the conservative political blogs in Montana and found a trend that just drives me crazy. Why, pray tell, would one choose to write a blog in third person?

Some examples. Carol, from Missoulopolis, writes about her picks in Missoula races:

WHEREAS most people pay not the slightest attention to City politics, yet are often greatly affected thereby, Missoulapolis offers her election guidance for the edification of her loyal readers.

Emphasis mine. Generally, that part of the sentence might be written as:

I offer some election guidance for the edification of my loyal readers.

OK, so Carol prefers to refer to herself in the third person, but then I followed some links and found The Scoop. Watch as The Scoop discusses something or other:

The Scoop agrees. It is time to plan ahead.

That's not all though! You see, The Scoop is not an ordinary blogger. The Scoop has magical powers. How so? The Scoop is not constrained to a single perspective, but can slide effortlessly between the third and the first person. The very next sentence:

I can’t argue with the fact that a defensible barrier around homes makes sense.

That dude kick ass! Imagine if you could switch planes of existence like that!

While these authors are generally using a rather benign limited third person, I think that they are working on secret powers to be able to write from the omniscient third person.

An omniscient narrator, as in more limited third-person forms, is also disembodied; it takes no actions and has no physical form in or out of the story. But, being omniscient, it witnesses all events, even some that no characters witness. The omniscient narrator is privy to all things past, present and future - as well as the thoughts of all characters. As such, an omniscient narrator offers the reader a birds-eye view about the story.

I mean hell, they have all the right answers anyway. Montana is lucky to be in the presence of such power. Let me try:

WrongDog thinks that they must be putting something in the water in Missoula.

The Excluded Middle (A Fallacious Argument)

A series of comments to this post at Montana Netroots made me spend a bit of time reconsidering our old enemy 'The Excluded Middle'. Of all the fallacious arguments, this one causes me the most grief.

In this case, the OC said:

We should just ban all mining. We just don’t need coal, gold, copper, silver, and uranium.

My argument, being against only a single type of mining, says nothing of the other types of mining. The commenter has built a false dichotomy of only two possible scenarios

1. All tops of mining should be legal.
2. No tops of mining should be legal.

This sort of action instantly reduced the richness of possible debate and solutions to the real problem. If I and the commenter were forced to make our choice, they would not be the same ones. We would be deadlocked. That sucks.

Not excluding the middle leaves a plethora of possible solutions. Consider the true spectrum of possible solutions between 1 and 2 above. Why reduce the argument to the extremes?

If I had to choose one place where I think political discussion goes wrong in this country is at the fallacy of the excluded middle.

Messed Up Stuff Republicans Have Said This Week

This is an addendum to yesterdays post.

---

Don Larsen, District Chairman of the Utah County's Republican Party

Ever wonder why Pedro and Lopez are coming across the border? To take your job? Not exactly. According to Don Larson, it is all a part of

Satan's plan to destroy the U.S. by stealth invasion

What? Oh yeah. It was predicted in the scriptures after all.

There are ways to destroy a nation other than with bombs or bullets. The mostly quiet and unspectacular invasion of illegal immigrants does not focus the attention of the nation the way open warfare does but is all the more insidious for its stealth and innocuousness.

So, Don has introduced a resolution to acknowledge this is a part Satan's plan to destroy America. Have fun with that Don, have fun.

Messed Up Stuff Republicans Have Said This Week

A few notes on some crazy crap that Republicans have said in the last week or so.

---

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (Republican CA)

In an intelligence oversight hearing last week, Congressman Dana Rohrabacher said a couple of messed up things.

At one point, Rohrabacher argued that imprisoning and torturing one innocent person was a fair price to pay for locking up 50 terrorists who would “go out and plant a bomb…and kill 20,000 people.” When members of the audience groaned, Rohrabacher said, “Well, I hope it’s your families, I hope it’s your families that suffer the consequences.”

First he made the claim that we ought not be so concerned with due process, you know the basis of democracy. When folks were amazed at the stupidity of that statement, he said that he hoped it was their family that were killed. Watch the video.

---

Laura Bush (First Lady)

On the Today Show this morning, first lady Laura Bush made the following statement when asked about Iraq (video link).

No one suffers more than their president and I do.

How about the people who have husbands, wives, fathers, mothers serving? What about the ones who have had loved ones die there? What about the children who will grow up missing a parent? What about the ones who are there?

That's messed up Mrs Bush.

---

Montana State Representative Mike Lange (Republican Mt)

Just watch the video here to see how Republican's in the Montana state house have been behaving. Governor Brian Schweitzer attempted to compromise and here is how Michael Lange responded:

The governor can go straight to hell as far as I’m concerned for trying to do that

I’m pissed off at that SOB on the second floor (Schweitzer) that thinks he’s trying to run the state like a dictator. What matters is your integrity.

So my message to the governor is: Stick it up your ass! Stick it up your ass!

My New Enviro-Double-Plus-Good Machine

OK, TMM posted his new toy, so I wanted to show off mine. We had many many options and in the end, we chose the black one.



50 mpg on the highway and 60 mpg in town. An amazing amount of room on the inside.




and really cool interior gear



It is zippy, does fine on the passes and has a really cool set of engines



To be truthful, it is a lot more car than I thought it would be. Did I mention 50 mpg on the highway and 60 mpg in town? Yeah, even better in town than on the highway.

Some Notes On Carolina Dogs

I was watching a show last night on National Geographic Channel about the origins of the dog when I saw a familiar sight: A pack of yellow dogs. Pronounced 'yaller dawgz', these are wild dog's from the Carolinas and Georgia. I remember seeing them occasionally as they ran across fields around my house, or the occasional tentative road crossing. I remember that a pack of them had once treed a cousins boyfriend for hours while he was hunting. That was the only attack I ever heard of though.



The thing is that I remember asking where they came from and someone said that they were just feral dogs. Once porch dwellers, now they had lived wild for several generations. I thought it was sort of funny that they all looked a lot a like.

Now I see that they have another name besides 'Yaller Dawgz', they are being called the American Dingo. According to this piece by American Geographic:

Brisbin was studying the origins of the world's remaining wild, ancient dogs, including the dingo, which may have reached Australia walking alongside that continent's original human inhabitants thousands of years ago. Such primitive dogs are uncommon because the canine passion for choosing diverse mates often complicates breeding patterns.

Brisbin was struck by the physical appearance of an American wild dog that ended up in a pound near his South Carolina home. "You look like a dingo," he thought in a moment of revelation, "I wonder how many of you other guys are out there that look like dingos?"

The answer: possibly quite a few, but only in selected places. Although their wild numbers seem to be rapidly decreasing, Brisbin located a number of these animals in secluded areas far from the presence of humans or domestic dogs. Their appearance first led him to propose his theory of their ancient origins—they could have arrived in America along with the earliest migrating humans across the Bering Strait land bridge. If so, Carolina Dogs could be among the earliest dogs to enter North America many thousands of years ago.

How cool is that? That means that these are not domestic dogs gone feral, but America's first dog. They are very primitive in structure and have some unique habits not shared by other dogs.

That settles it, I am getting one.

I Made This!

Some of you may not know, but before I went to college and got a degree in computer science and became a software engineer, I worked in construction for many years. I had graduated to the level of trim carpenter with a great amount of pride.

Anyways, over the last few weekends, I have been hard at work on a set of end tables, and I wanted to share them with you.



The body is made of poplar, while the top is made of 3/4 inch birch plywood. The top is dadoed into the body with a blocked-notch corner joint.



Overall, the design is Mission inspired, you might note from the slat bottom. I am not a huge fan of the full blown Mission style, so I tried to keep it light.



I wanted to go with a light stain, but my wife talked me into a dark stain. We went with a Jobobean and I think it went really well overall.



Oh, and for those of you who don't know, you can find most of my posts these days at Montana Netroots.

Hero Of The Tooth

Earlier this week my youngest daughter, five years old, was sitting at the computers playing a game when she suddenly started howling.

What's wrong sweety? What happened?

My tooth is sticking out and it really really bugs me when it is sticking out!

She opened her mouth, sure enough one of her top teeth was sticking out at a 45 degree angle to the others. Her mom and I tried to console her for the next two hours, but there was just know consolation to be had. Her mom suggested that she wiggled it until it came completely loose, but she wouldn't hear of it.

No! It hurts and it will just always be that way! My tooth will always be like this!

Sweety, I know it hurts and it will until it comes out. If you want, I'll pull it out for you.

No! That will hurt too.

Only for a second and then it will be all better.

No! I am scared. No!

OK, you just tell me when you are ready and I'll pull it right out.

For the next hour she sat on her Mom's lap, alternating between hysteria and muffled sobs. We both felt bad for her but didn't really know what to do. Then from out of no where

OK Daddy. I am ready for you to pull it now.

What a brave girl! You'll be glad.

I got some dental floss, tied a slip knot and yanked. Oh boy, she wasn't glad at first. She yelled and howled. Fortunately, I remember being a kid and my dad pulling my teeth by trying the string to the door and slamming the door. I remember howling. I also remember that it just takes a bit of warm water and it's all better. It worked 30 years ago and it worked last Tuesday. She looked up at me with a smile that melts a daddy's heart

Wow. You were right! It doesn't hurt at all anymore!

Cool! Are you going to put it under your pillow so the Tooth Fairy will bring you some money?

No way! The Tooth Fairy isn't taking my tooth! I love it!

Really? You aren't going to let the Tooth Fairy take you tooth?

No! She better not take my tooth!

With that, she was off to watch a little TV before bed. Her mom and I were laughing about the Tooth Fairy thing when we suddenly heard that familiar howl again. I went to the kitchen to get her a bit more hot water and went into her room. Instead of the in-pain-daughter I expected to see I got a I-did-something-bad daughter.

What's wrong sweetheart? What happened?

I was washing my tooth and it went down the drain! Now I don't have it! I loved my tooth!

Really? I can get it sweety.

How can you?

I know some tricks.

What if you can't?

Then you wont have a tooth.

I hope you can.

She followed me into the kitchen while I fetched a big bowl. She sat beside me while I unscrewed the trap on the sink. She watched as I poured the water into the bowl. Her eyes lit up when I plucked her special tooth out of the bowl. She patiently waited while I screwed the trap back onto the drain and then washed off the tooth ( holding it tightly ). She waited patiently while I got a zip-lock bag and put the tooth into it. Her eyes lit up again when I handed it to her

Thank you daddy! You are my hero!

Yeah. Its good to be a hero. That tooth has a treasured spot in her vanity, and I am a hero in her eyes. Its good to be a hero, even when it is an ordinary, everyday hero.

Speaking Of Giving

Oh, since I am on the topic of donations, I wanted to remind you about this. Craig and Matt came up with the idea to set up a donation page from Montana bloggers for the Montana Food Bank. Right now the total is at $1600! Special thanks go out to Matt and Craig for setting that up and to all the bloggers and readers who gave $25, $50 and $100. A big fat thanks to the Montana Main Street Blog who gave a $500 donation in the name of the Montana Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

It is still open for the next week or so. This is a worthy cause, so give if you can. The donation page is here. You can give anonymously, or use your name.

Blood For Iraq Website

I ran across this little tidbit today. It is a site that, in their on words:

The mission of this website is to create a constructive and tangible form of protest against the war in Iraq that is more than just talk.

Our beloved troops are shedding their own blood EVERY SINGLE DAY because of poor decision making in Washington.

So, they want you to schedule a blood donation through their site as a form of protest. A great idea if you ask me.

An Explanation

The other night I was reflecting on one of the most glorious events from my youth in very cryptic terms. The lone commenter to that post took the time to try and decypher it and so I want to take the time to try to explain it.

Thanks to the beauty of YouTube, I found the perfect audio visual aid. This live James concert is from the same year. Watching it made me shiver, remembering when I saw them. It was on top of Mount Hood as the closing act for a music fest. MC 900 Foot Jesus, House of Pain and the Violent Femmes were there. Late in the day it started raining and got really really cold. Most people came to see the Violent Femmes (including me) and after they played 95% of the crowed left. The difference between this video and the show I saw was that there were on about 300 people left in the giant ampitheater on Mount Hood on a rainy night. The band and the audience still put 110% into it. It was very intimate and very powerful and has since become a part of me. If you have the patience, watch the whole thing.

When I watched this video, it all came back to me. Then I read this in the comments:

Thanks for posting this vid. My brother was in the audience, this is James' high point, I remember James vividly - the flowers, the mad dance, the songs - magic! Man I wish I was 16 again!

Watch the kids in this video. Realize that what one is experiencing, they are all experiencing. In so many ways they are one.

Happy New Years Folks!

I hope that everyone had a nice and safe New Year's Eve. Mine was excellent. Craig and family came over for Appletinis ( heavy on the tini ). It is always great fun to watch the kids playing, talk politics and sip a cocktail that is more like a Jolly Rancher than a drink. Craig forgot one of his kids, so if anyone sees him...

The point is that it is nice to ring the new year in with family and friends. Though Jan 31 is a man made 'switch', it is nice to have a starting point. What did I start the New Year with? Why, I cranked this up:

Instant karmas gonna get you
Gonna knock you right on the head
You better get yourself together
Pretty soon youre gonna be dead
What in the world you thinking of
Laughing in the face of love
What on earth you tryin to do
Its up to you, yeah you

Instant karmas gonna get you
Gonna look you right in the face
Better get yourself together darlin
Join the human race
How in the world you gonna see
Laughin at fools like me
Who in the hell dyou think you are
A super star
Well, right you are

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well we all shine on
Evryone come on

Instant karmas gonna get you
Gonna knock you off your feet
Better recognize your brothers
Evryone you meet
Why in the world are we here
Surely not to live in pain and fear
Why on earth are you there
When youre evrywhere
Come and get your share

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Yeah we all shine on
Come on and on and on on on
Yeah yeah, alright, uh huh, ah

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Yeah we all shine on
On and on and on on and on

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Yeah we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun

Those who feel the breath of sadness

It was raining that night on Mount Hood those many years ago. I stood in the rain, loving it run down my cheeeks. Cold and fog in August, and I let it roll down. I let the water roll down. I was lost and almost alseep, but I remebered a love that was lost and gone. I closed my eyes and let the water roll down...

It was some time later that I opened up my eyes. The water still rolled down. Cold water falling from the sky.

It was some time later that I heared that song and it woke me from my dream. My eyes were wide open the entimre time, while I watched the water roll down. I heard his gentle voice as he said to me:

Ill sing myself to sleep
A song from the darkest hour
Secrets I cant keep
Inside of the day
Swing from high to deep
Extremes of sweet and sour
Hope that God exists
I hope I pray

I hoped and I prayed, but the word in my mouth were sweeter...

Drawn by the undertow
My life is out of control
I believe this wave will bear my weight
So let it flow

Oh sit down
Sit down next to me
Sit down, down, down, down, down
In sympathy

In sympathy? I will sit with you James, but I was standing then as the water rolled down:

Now Im relieved to hear
That youve been to some far out places
Its hard to carry on
When you feel all alone
Now Ive swung back down again
Its worse than it was before
If I hadnt seen such riches
I could live with being poor
Oh sit down
Sit down next to me
Sit down, down, down, down, down
In sympathy

Oh, I have a bleeding heart and as such I have much sympathy. So, I imagine now that I choked back a tear and wished that I had sit down with him in sympathy.

Those who feel the breath of sadness
Sit down next to me

I fealt that breath, but declined to sit with him though I noticed that many did.

Those who find theyre touched by madness
Sit down next to me

I find myself touched by madness right now, but I declined to sit with him then.

Those who find themselves ridiculous
Sit down next to me
Love, in fear, in hate, in tears

I was the last one standing in the audience. So many had long since left and so may had long since sat, but I was left as the water rolled down. I stood alone as the water rolled down. But I did (and do) find myself rediciculous so I sat down next to him as the water rolled down. I sat and we all watched as the water rolled down.

Down
Down

Oh sit down
Sit down next to me
Sit down, down, down, down, down
In sympathy

Oh sit down
Sit down next to me
Sit down, down, down, down, down
In sympathy

James. Sit Down

The PVR Saga

Let the saga begin. I got a new capture card for Christmas and the task of setting up a Linux based media center. I love this kind of stuff and right now I am like Timmy the Tool Man Turner with a new project! Before I begin, let me make five predictions:

1. I will be too eager to get started to read all the docs before I get going and will fall into a typical newbie trap that will cause be to have to backtrack.
2. I will do this several times.
4. I will stay up much too late.
5. I will get it working by tomorrow evening.

Right now, I am going to get started. I'll let you know how it goes.

If the rest of this sounds like a tutorial dialog, you are right.

Operating System

For the operating system, I will be using the Edgy Eft release of KUbuntu Linux. Start off with a standard install.