Finally Fall

Fall officially started several weeks ago but, here in New Jersey it has been unseasonably warm. Until today. There's a chill in the air and, despite my spending a lot of money to remove two large trees a couple of years ago, leaves all over my yard, seemly overnight.

Been busy

Well I have been busy for the past several weeks. Since my last post, a lot has happened in the Presidential race. I won't rehash it all, but with 16 days to go, it looks like Barak Obama will be the 44th President of the United States.

Of course, 16 days is an lifetime in politics. Remember that just over 16 days ago, this race was tied, so anything can happen between now and November 4.

I've been asked to help out the Obama campaign in PA for the last 3 days of the election so that should be interesting. In the meantime, I hope to have this blog updated more frequently. One of the things that I find is I have a hard time trying to find the time to sit down and write posts. But, I may have found a solution. I have never been a big fan of email posts, but I think I might have stumbled upon a great little app for my iPhone that will let me post more frequently. Well see.

Sox Win!

 

I ran from school in 1978 only to have Bucky Bleeping Dent crush my hopes. In 1986, I watched the ball roll behind the bag. Grady Little in 2003. In 2004, I finally got to see the World Championship. Now, 3 years later I get to see another. 

Congratulations Red Sox. 2007 World Champions

Classic World Series Moments: I ain't got my Taco

Here's a conversation, caught by the TV crew and played on the broadcast, from game 1 of the 2007 World Series between Royce Clayton and Coco Crisp of the Red Sox about Taco Bell's free taco promotion.

Royce: You said if somebody steals a base in the World Series... 

Coco: The first time somebody steals a base... Taco Bell is gonna give one taco... to everybody in America. 

Royce: To everybody what? 

Coco: In America. 

Royce: That day? 

Coco: I dunno... [unintelligible] 

Royce: What the hell you talkin' bout? It's gotta be that day. 

Coco: But there's only like two hours left in the day at that point. 

Royce: So what? That's what the deal has to be. How you gonna come in and say, "I ain't got my taco!" You could go to every Taco Bell in the world and say that. "I didn't get my taco!" How they gonna know?

So Royce, on the unlikely event you check my blog, here's the official rules:

During any game of the 2007 World Series, Taco Bell will offer the prize identified below for ANY "stolen base."
For purposes of this event, an eligible "stolen base" is defined as a base stolen during regulation or extra innings play and is subject to the determination/designation of the official Major League Baseball scorekeeper as an official stolen base.
If a base is stolen during regulation or extra innings play by any player for either team, Taco Bell will offer every person in the U.S. the opportunity to obtain one (1) free Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco
Only one (1) Free Taco will be permitted per person, regardless of how many eligible bases are stolen during the Games.
This offer is open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and the District of Columbia only.
Eligible consumers can obtain their free Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco on Tuesday, October 30, 2007 (if base is stolen in Games 1 or 2) OR November 6, 2007 (if base is stolen in Games 3-7).
To obtain the Free Taco, consumers must visit any participating Taco Bell® restaurant in one of the fifty (50) the United States or District of Columbia between 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. (local time) on the Redemption Date only and request a Free Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco.
Limit one (1) Free Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco per person.

So, Royce, I hope that clarifies things for you. Oh, I almost forgot. You don't get a taco:

MLB Entities and employees thereof are ineligible.

And, the "I ain't got my taco" excuse might not work:

Participating Taco Bell restaurant manager reserves the right to deny Free Taco to any person he/she reasonably believes has already received a Free Taco or has engaged in any other fraudulent activity.

So, hopefully Coco will steal a base in game 2 so we can all get our free tacos. 

[UPDATED 10/25/2007: Jacoby Ellsbury, the Red Sox rookie center fielder, just stole 2nd base and earned everyone a free taco]

National Response Framework and US Army Terrorism Guide

The National Response Framework provides a comprehensive, national, all-hazards approach to domestic incident response. The Framework presents an overview of key response principles, roles and structures that guide the national response. It describes how communities, States, the Federal Government and private-sector and nongovernmental partners apply these principles for a coordinated, effective national response.

A poster over at Daily Kos has written an excellent two part summary of the framework: Part I and Part II. Any thing I would write would be duplicative and I recommend you read these posts over (Daily Kos is political site but some things go beyond politics and this topic is one).

Finally, another reference you may want to examine is the US Army Guide to Terrorism in the 21st Century.

Up with Math?

Here is a post that I actually think makes sense. The Author's contention is that the U.S. teaches math wrong, substituting depth for breadth and emphasizing math for science and engineering too early in a student's career. Check it out....

Welcome to Blogger

Hello and welcome. I have had this Blogger account for some time but have never used it. However, I have recently shut down the hosted version of Late Night Pundit, so here we go on blogger.

As the name suggests, I try and post when I have some free time which is usually late at night. I run the table on topics but generally try to stick to technology, with a focus on Apple technology and programming. I will also occasionally post topicd on politics, current events and, of course, the Red Sox.

I am an attorney so you may even find some discussion of legal issues. Be warned however, nothing on this site should be construed as legal advice nor do I assert that anything written here is intended as legal advice. If you have any legal questions please consult with your own attorney as I do not represent you.

With that disclaimer out of the way...off we go!