Category: Brooklyn

Network feud leads to Net blackout:

On Wednesday, network company Level 3 Communications cut off its direct “peering” connections to another big network company called Cogent Communications. That technical action means that some customers on each company’s network now will find it impossible, or slower, to get to Web sites on the other company’s network.

Power grab could split the Net

For the first time in its history, the Internet is running a real risk of fracturing into multiple and perhaps even incompatible networks.

At a meeting in Geneva last week, the Bush administration objected to the idea of the United Nations running the top-level servers that direct traffic to the master databases of all domain names.

That’s not new, of course–the administration has been humming this tune since June. What’s changed in the last few months is the response from the rest of the world.

Instead of acquiescing to the Bush administration’s position, the European Union cried foul last week and embraced greater U.N. control. A spokesman said that the EU is “very firm on this position.”

This has been driving me nuts over the past day. I’ve had to go through this server to get to the work servers from my RoadRunner connection. The Level 3 – Cogent fight is almost exactly like the same fight as the Time Warner Cable – Cablevision fight over the Yankee YES Network. Level 3 thinks that Cogent ought to pay for a “transfer” connection, where one pays the other, while Cogent believes it is entitled to have a peering connection, where one swaps connections with another for free.

This is what it is all about, isn’t it: the convergence of pay for play versus share and share alike. Open Source vs. Commercial Software. Copyright vs. Creative Commons. Cable vs. TV. RIAA vs. Peer to Peer. Telephone vs. VOIP. Convergence or crisis?

The coverage on Harriet Miers, White House General Counsel-Supreme Court nominee, has been interesting stuff. I like the Slate coverage – amusing stuff. MSNBC ain’t so bad either. Thought it was weird that the announcement of her nomination overshadowed Ch.J. Roberts’ first First Monday, but I guess George W. Bush is doing what he will. Oh well.

I tweaked my 9/3/05 post; I ought to edit myself better.

Major League Baseball playoffs time – Yanks v. Angels; Bosox v. ChiSox; St. Louis v. San Diego; Atlanta v. Houston. Hmm. And, no “House, M.D.” until baseball is over in November. Darn…

FOX sitcoms: Monday’s “Arrested Development” was hilarious. Michael Bluth (played by Jason Bateman) went into denial that he even has a family (so that he may date Charlize Theron’s character). The Bluth family has a new lawyer, since Henry (Fonzie) Winkler (the actor) is unavailable to play the recurring lawyer character. So, of course, if Fonzie’s not in, you go get Scott Baio (the ex-Chachi of “Happy Days”/the ex-Charles of “Charles in Charge”). Scott Baio’s “Bob Loblaw, Esq.” Say it three times fast now. That’s right. Tee-hee. He’s an extremely humorless attorney, too (his personality, that is; he ends up being funny that way): Lindsay Bluth’s all but throwing herself at him (yep, Chachi’s still a cutie at his age), and Bob Loblaw’s just charging her for wasting his time. Darn attorney’s fees.

“Kitchen Confidential” – Monday’s episode: Jack (played by that ex-Alias actor Bradley Cooper, who was so amusingly psychotic on “Wedding Crashers”) has to use his cooking skills to make such decadent food to literally cause his cooking school teacher’s death. John Larroquette (the ex-Dan Fielding, Esq., of “Night Court” fame) plays the tough and cholesterol-filled chef/teacher. His character cannot have anymore bypass surgeries, and feels that if he had to die, he would die eating his best student’s food. (and he nominates Jack to be his favorite student). Only, Jack’s conscience gets the best of him – see, Jack no longer does crazy, stupid things (he’s sober; he won’t go overboard; he won’t kill or do other harm), which disappoints his teacher, who insteads dies after eating a not-very-hygienic hot dog stand hot dog. Oops. But, strangely funny. The show needs work, but has potential. (but, I miss John Cho as the seafood specialist chef; he was funny and he avoided making such a bland looking show).

ABA eJournal reports that Americans are disappointed with judges. Martha Neil writes:

More than half of Americans are angry and disappointed with the nation’s judiciary, a new survey done for the ABA Journal eReport shows.

A majority of the survey respondents agreed with statements that “judicial activism” has reached the crisis stage, and that judges who ignore voters’ values should be impeached. Nearly half agreed with a congressman who said judges are “arrogant, out-of-control and unaccountable.” [….]

The Opinion Research Corp. conducted the survey, calling 1,016 adults throughout the country in early September. Participants included 505 men and 511 women aged 18 or older. Due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina, residents of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi were not polled.

Calls were made to a random sample of American households. Those surveyed were asked questions about their age and education levels, and were asked to give one of six answers—strongly agree, somewhat agree, neither agree nor disagree, somewhat disagree, strongly disagree or don’t know—in response to public statements criticizing the judiciary.

Fifty-six percent of the respondents strongly or somewhat agreed with the opinions expressed in each of two survey statements:

* A U.S. congressman has said, “Judicial activism … seems to have reached a crisis. Judges routinely overrule the will of the people, invent new rights and ignore traditional morality.” (Twenty-nine percent strongly agreed and 27 percent somewhat agreed.)

* A state governor has said that court opinions should be in line with voters’ values, and judges who repeatedly ignore those values should be impeached. (Twenty-eight percent strongly agreed and 28 percent somewhat agreed.)

Forty-six percent strongly or somewhat agreed with the opinion expressed in a third statement:

* A U.S. congressman has called judges arrogant, out-of-control and unaccountable. (Twenty-one percent strongly agreed and 25 percent somewhat agreed.)

Among the respondents, younger adults were less likely than older adults to agree with all three statements. Those with a college education were more likely to disagree with the statements than high school graduates.

Only 30 percent of respondents somewhat or strongly disagreed with the first statement and 32 percent felt the same way about the second statement. The most disagreement was reflected in the responses to the third statement, with which 38 percent took issue.

Two percent to 3 percent responded “don’t know,” and the remainder of the respondents neither agreed nor disagreed with the statements.

The margin of error for the survey is plus or minus 3 percentage points, at the 95 percent confidence level. Opinion Research Corp. says survey results were “weighted by age, sex, geographic region and race to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the total population.”

The congressman referenced in the first question is Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, who made the comment at an April 2005 rally in Washington, D.C. The governor in the second question is Matt Blunt, a Missouri Republican, who reportedly made the comment during an interview with a religious publication in May 2005. The congressman in the third question is House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas, who made the comment in March 2005.

Several legal scholars responding to the survey results were startled by the numbers.

Georgetown’s [Mark] Tushnet says he didn’t realize the level of dissatisfaction was so high. “What I had thought was the case was that there was a significantly higher residue of general respect for the courts,” he says. “And these numbers suggest that that’s not true.”

[Charles G.] Geyh of Indiana University says the survey suggests “a trajectory” upward in the number of people unhappy with the American judiciary—apparently simply because these critics disagree with the law that judges have a duty to apply.

The idea that judges should “somehow follow the voters’ views really reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of what judges are supposed to do,” he continues. “They should only be criticized when they ignore the law and start infusing their own values into the law regardless of the law.” [….]

The way I see it, I think it’s terribly disturbing that neither America’s politicians nor its citizenry seem to understand that voters aren’t supposed to affect the judiciary (unless you’re in a district where you have an elected judiciary, but even then you might end up with a corrupted and dimwitted judiciary). And, certain politicians and citizens seem ill-informed to make evaluations on the judiciary (at least the survey suggests that those with more education wouldn’t make the judgment that the judiciary is “arrogant” and “out-of-control”). If the legislators don’t like what the judges do, they at least can make the law to reverse what the judges did. Do we not know how checks-and-balances work?

Went to a surprise farewell party in Chinatown. She’s moving to Washington, D.C. this weekend. If anyone knows anything about eating out in New York, Monday has to be the slowest day at any restaurant. This was true at the place that we went to, Harmony Palace. If it weren’t for us, they would have just packed it all in. But it was very nice to have the whole place for a fine despedida.

I still have the cold from the 26th, that continues to linger like a bad houseguest. Several of my co-workers are starting to get it, too.

P-‘s sister’s dogs spent the day on Sunday hanging out at our place; it was also the annual Blessing of the Animals that is traditionally connected to St. Francis of Assisi Day (which happens to actually be today, October 4), and P’s sister really wanted the dogs to be blessed as some protection against dog flu.

A friend from law school’s mom passed away on Friday. It was apparently unexpected, and there is so much grief. The wake is on Friday at the funeral home my dad used. The only thing to say is that this annus horribilis cannot end soon enough.

The other thing that I totally missed when I blogged on the 26th because of my sickness was the blog’s second year anniversary. Muchos kudos to SSW and YC for writing, for making up for my slack, and just being damn interesting. For all you people who bother to read our rantings (amazingly, it’s like 900 unique people a month, 600 of which are probably search engines), thank you.

As I’m writing this in the wee hours of Monday, I shall say that this will be an interesting First Monday at the US Supreme Court, as it is the first day of the Ch. J. Roberts Era.

A little rundown –

Saw “Serenity” on Saturday. Interesting movie, picking up where the cancelled FOX show “Firefly” left off. (I never got to watch “Firefly,” but knew enough about the show). Sad but triumphant ending for the Serenity crew (brought to us by that Buffy/Angel creator, Joss Whedon, who’s gifted with the sardonic dialog).

“Veronica Mars” season premiere was interesting; so it turns out that Veronica opened her door, and – considering the hesitancy in her voice – it might not have been exactly the person she expected (who was she expecting we may never really know). But, it was her bad boy toy Logan, who was beaten up and accused of assault. Did he commit the crime? Unknown. But, Veronica took the summer off from crime detection, only to be persuaded back into it by the time her senior year begins. And, inevitably, her relationship with Logan did not last. She’s back with her ex (and Logan’s best friend) Duncan. Hmm. And, a new season-long mystery begins…

“Alias” – that show drives me nuts. The latest season premiere was nutty as heck. Oh, and the local FOX station has the “Alias” reruns, showing Season 1. Great nostalgia for me (especially as I haven’t gotten the Season 1 DVD’s). Season 1 was crazy, but fun crazy.

Weird to see “Enterprise” reruns syndicated on the local NBC station, when “Enterprise” used to be on the local UPN station (which used to show “Voyager” reruns and would have expectedly shown the “Enterprise” ones). Oh well. Nice to see a little Star Trek somewhere on non-cable tv (’cause I’m still cable-less).

Local UPN station is showing syndicated reruns of the Season 1’s “Stargate Atlantis.” Good stuff so far. And, thanks to the local UPN, now I can watch “Farscape”! Geez, I’m getting my geek tv sci-fi fix (without going cable/DVD/or checking on-line).

Something of note for Asian-Americans, reported by NY Times’ Winnie Hu:

Shemini Atzeret, Id al-Fitr, Immaculate Conception, Election Day, Purim and the Asian Lunar New Year – all important days, to be sure. But to New Yorkers of any religious, cultural or political background, they have another significance.

It may sound crass to say, but for those who drive in the five boroughs – and spend endless hours looking for a spot to park – these are among the 33 holidays each year when alternate-side parking rules are suspended, freeing up infinite acres of curb space.

Now, those drivers have Diwali, too.

For Hindus, Diwali is an annual festival of lights that begins at the end of October. It is believed to ward off evil spirits and usher in prosperity for the community. For drivers, it is parking holiday No. 34. Mark your calendars: the final day, and the culmination of the festival, falls on Nov. 1 this year.

But just as Manhattan motorists who find themselves racing to the same precious spot engage in a little verbal road rage, so too have arguments boiled over Diwali. The City Council yesterday unanimously passed a law to suspend parking rules on that day, but only over the objections of city sanitation officials. Those officials have opposed the proliferation of parking holidays, saying they hamper their ability to keep the streets clean.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who is seeking re-election in November, is expected to veto the Diwali legislation – even though that could cost him votes in predominantly Hindu communities in Queens and elsewhere, and even though Council leaders say they have enough votes to override a veto. Aides to Mr. Bloomberg said they were reviewing the legislation.

More than a dozen Hindu business and civic leaders showed up at City Hall yesterday to demand respect and equal treatment from the mayor when it comes to parking privileges for their religious holiday.

“Hindu doesn’t have a single holiday yet, and we also contribute to the business and professional communities,” said Subhash Kapadia, senior adviser to the Jackson Heights Merchants’ Association, which has 250 members. “It’s high time for us. This is about honoring Hindu just like the other religions in the city calendar.”

In one of those accepted peculiarities of New York street life, parking is prohibited during certain hours on one side of the street and then on the other, to allow for street cleaning and unimpeded traffic flow. [….]

Kathy Dawkins, a spokeswoman for the Sanitation Department, emphasized that the parking rules were intended solely as a cleaning tool. “Alternate-side-of-the-street parking helps us to sweep streets and keep streets the cleanest they have been in more than 30 years,” she said.

When parking rules are suspended, she said, 250 sanitation workers who would normally clean streets have to be reassigned. This year, the 33 holidays stretch over 39 working days for the department; for instance, Id al-Fitr lasts three days.

Councilman John C. Liu, the chairman of the Council’s Transportation Committee, said that suspending parking rules on Diwali would be a small inconvenience for the city but a large source of pride for the city’s Hindu residents.

“The precedent was set decades ago,” he said. “It’s now a question of equal treatment, and that’s what we’re saying.”

The passing of Judge Constance Baker Motley, Civil Rights trailblazer. A pioneer, indeed:

Judge Motley was the first black woman to serve in the New York State Senate, as well as the first woman to be Manhattan borough president, a position that guaranteed her a voice in running the entire city under an earlier system of local government called the Board of Estimate.

Judge Motley was at the center of the firestorm that raged through the South in the two decades after World War II, as blacks and their white allies pressed to end the segregation that had gripped the region since Reconstruction. She visited the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in jail, sang freedom songs in churches that had been bombed, and spent a night under armed guard with Medgar Evers, the civil rights leader who was later murdered.

But her métier was in the quieter, painstaking preparation and presentation of lawsuits that paved the way to fuller societal participation by blacks. She dressed elegantly, spoke in a low, lilting voice and, in case after case, earned a reputation as the chief courtroom tactician of the civil rights movement.

Roberts was confirmed and sworn in as Chief Justice today. He definately had the credentials, a lot of things broke his way, and I’m pretty convinced that he is not going to be a Scalia. However, Senator Richard Burr’s statement during the floor debate that I caught on the PBS NewsHour describes my worry about the political process:

If we’re not careful, the best and the brightest legal minds in this country that would serve on the bench and serve with distinction, regardless of what party they’re from, when they get that call, they will say, ‘Mr. President, I want to pass. I can’t put my family through it. I can’t put myself through it. The risk of going through with it is too great to everything around me to serve my country.’

I ask all of us – what message are we sending to our children when the best and the brightest pass, when they elect not to go through the process that we in this body have control of?

I know that it what is happening right now and America is the worst for it.

I should have mentioned this previously, but I’ll post this now — the passing of Don Adams, a.k.a. Maxwell Smart of the “Get Smart” tv show. Check out the NY Times obit, or the Associated Press article. I didn’t realize that he did the voice of Inspector Gadget, although that makes sense, since that was his voice all right. (yeah, I watched Inspector Gadget when I was a kid).

The Museum of the Chinese in the Americas is going to expand. Cool.

“Veronica Mars” Season 2 starts tonight. The question is, when Veronica opens her door, already anticipating who it is, who will be it? Hmm.

I was out cold today because I caught P-‘s cold. Woke up with a splitting headache, so I took the day off and spent most of the day couched out and watching random things on TV, which turned out to be Discovery Channel.

On to the recaps… Amazing Race: Family Edition looks like it’s a very different Amazing Race. It looks like they are going to spend a lot of time in the U.S. That’s perfectly fine — many parts of the U.S. might as well be another country. They could barely figure how to get onto the Brooklyn Bridge, and they started the race under its shadow. Then, they were sent to the Delaware River in New Jersey, and then Amish country. I also think that 4 person teams allow for interesting activities that require more musclepower than 2 person teams. The buggy task was one clever task where a 2 adult, 2 child team had an advantage over a 4 adult team.

That brings up the continual gripe about the lack of minority participants in the Amazing Race. The only minority team, the Black family (that’s their last name, I’m not making it up) was eliminated by a very small margin. Where’s the Hispanic team? Where’s the Asian team?

On the other tuner, I watched Commander in Chief, ABC’s new series about a woman U.S. Vice President that assumes the presidency unexpectantly. A number of opinion writers in Slate and the Washington Post have mentioned, and I agree — why are our TV presidents so much better than our real ones? This is a series to watch.

FC’s the real Amazing Race fan, so I’d rather let him comment on it. But, I’m watching the 1st episode of this season, and it’s kind of annoying (I mean, families of four? And, where are the other people of color? Only one African-American family? Come on, Asians go around the world too!). nice start though – going from the park under Brooklyn Bridge and getting to Soho and racing to 92nd St/Lexington — a nice spin around NYC as a first leg. Let’s see who gets knocked out first.

P caught a cold on Thursday, and she’s still suffering from it today. However, today was the Atlantic Antic, the annual Brooklyn street fair. P- and I plowed through paella, chorizo, conch fritters, beef brisket, and Sex in the City-sized cupcakes, and Virgin Island rum cake. Also picked up a Circulon Dutch Oven for only $10.00. Availed of the $10 Chinese massage stand which has become a fixture at these street fairs — these guys tend to be good, because he picked up right away that I had overstressed my hands and shoulders on my Korean layout marathon. All in all very nice.

Saw Corpse Bride on Saturday. Neat stop-action movie; however, I didn’t walk away with a catchy theme I still have with The Nightmare before Christmas.

Finally put together the Ikea dresser that we had bought 2 weeks ago. It took me about 3 hours to get it together, but it is neat.

Desparate Housewives is quickly going into this bizzare Twin Peaks mode where a lot of people start dying. At least it isn’t like Lost, where they revisit the reverse speaking bit-character from Fire Walk With Me.

Amazing Race 8 starts on Tuesday. Let’s see how family teams of four can manage without needing counseling…

Thanks to the handy-dandy VCR, I’ve taped “Everybody Hates Chris,” so I’ll get to watch the show that the pro tv critics (and according to preliminary ratings, all other viewers) loved or were eager to try out. Eventually, anyway(Imagine if I had TiVo?)… Heavens knows, I’m a little behind on viewing things and reading things, and writing things…

But, I did get to watch the new “The Apprentice: Martha Stewart.” It’s Martha, for gosh sake, so it’s very tasteful (as opposed to the usual pomposity of Donald Trump). Martha seemed very mellowed out (I suppose prison time does that, not to mention house arrest and the ankle bracelet to keep track of oneself). I thought the first episode played up the whole Martha brand very well – Martha built her company, made mad money, and is a true corporate big shot (I’d rather buy Martha or Oprah approved water over Trump bottled water, I shall say; Oprah Winfrey’s bigger than Martha or Trump, I might add – although, I’m sure she wouldn’t just pick any lousy Apprentice and would take the higher road of teaching the universe). Martha’s Apprentice contestants are already sickeningly obnoxious – one guy was such a jerk. To me, though, the weirdest thing was that the contestants were so white. Only one Asian female. Huh? Martha, I could have sworn the corporate world is getting to be/trying to be more diverse. And, yeah, Martha handwriting a letter of consolation to the fired contestant is a bit of a, well, hokey-pokey thing if you asked me. Like, don’t you have an assistant to just type it up for you, Martha? As Newsday’s tv critic Verne Gay (who didn’t really like the new Martha show all that much) observes:

And there lies the key problem with “The Apprentice: Martha Stewart,” which is otherwise better looking than the original.

There is no fear in this show or any of the doom, shame, ignominy or flat-out reprobation that comes with getting one’s head handed to one by the Donald. This show’s light (his is dark.) This one’s happy (his threatening.) Martha laughs (he scowls.)

Without fear, there is no danger and without danger, no drama. And drama, along with that magnificent cheeseball, Donald Trump, is what makes the original “Apprentice” work so well.

The contestants are good — sharp, obnoxious and terribly blonde for the most part. But where is an African-American contestant? Just wondering.

Yeah, sure, you almost miss the stereotypical Angry Person of Color. Too many obnoxious white folks don’t make “a good thing” (and, yeah, I’ll borrow that Martha-ism).

Hurricane Rita coverage.

Alma Mater Young Alumni organization held a wine tasting event on Thursday night, at the Burgundy Wine Company in the vicinity of the Flatiron Building. I like this kind of stuff – for a decent price, you get to sample stuff. I’m not a wine drinker, but I figure if I like it, I like it. Red wines and white wines were available; the two red wines I tried – I liked them – they were “earthy” (as the purveyor said) and fruity (I’m no expert, but that’s the word I’m picking); the whites were a little more dry for me, so I’m more partial to the reds (I liked the color and smell too). TV food shows capture the food sense; I haven’t been appreciative of how wines get taught on the tv food shows. Ah, well.