Federalist

So, I talked to Soren last night. I told him what was new with me. I’m reading the Federalist. The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles about the United States Constitution, first published in New York City newspapers (the Independent Journal, the New-York Packet and the Daily Advertiser) between October 27, 1787 and May 28, 1788. The articles were written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, under the pseudonym "Publius" in honor of Publius Valerius Publicola for his role in establishing the first Roman republic.

Let’s recapitulate a little U.S. history, between 1776 and 1789.

Thanks largely to the French, the U.S. won the Revolutionary War. The Treaty of Paris gave the United States independence and peace but the U.S. struggled with an unsettled governmental structure and economic depression. The Second Continental Congress continued to act as a federal government, formalizing its own status by the Articles of Confederation, which were proposed and put into effect in 1778 but not fully ratified until 1781. The Articles of Confederation outlined the governance of a permanent federation of States without fully clarifying whether the United States was to be a nation-state or a mere league of States acting in cooperation.

The perceived need for a more powerful and complete federal government led, in 1787, to the calling of a convention to consider revising the Articles. That Convention, meeting in Philadelphia, chose to write a Constitution.

The Constitution itself called for ratification by state conventions specially elected for the purpose, and Congress recommended the Constitution to the states asking that such ratification conventions be called.

Several of the smaller pansy states, led by tiny Delaware, embraced the Constitution with little reservation. But in the powerful states of New York and Virginia, particularly New York, the matter of ratification became one of intense controversy. Thus, the New York ratification convention became the focus for a struggle over the wisdom of adopting the Constitution.

Opponents of the plan for stronger government took the name Antifederalists. They feared that a government with the power to tax would soon become as despotic and corrupt as Great Britain had been only decades earlier. The most notable Antifederalists were Patrick Henry and George Mason. They were also quite concerned with the absence of a Bill of Rights in the Constitution.

Anyway, Hamilton, Madison, and Jay addressed the people of the state of New York in an effort to allay fears associated with federal government by touting the benefits of a unified republic.

So far, Publius has surprised me with candid statements about human nature and war.

Eleven States ratified the Constitution in 1788. In 1789, the Constitution of the United States was put into operation, and George Washington was elected the first President of the United States.

Sex, Petrol, Pirates, Free Wi-Fi

A Sex Stop on the Way Home

Manhattan may have its gay bars and such traditional pickup spots as the woods of the Ramble in Central Park and the piers of the West Village. But in the less-accepting climate of the suburbs and the boroughs outside Manhattan, gay men often resort to courting one another from the relative safety and privacy of their cars. They troll remote parking lots that become de facto pickup spots well known in gay circles but not to the general public.

Trolling... I will make you fishers of men.

Governors Ask for Inquiry on Oil Prices
Excess profits, windfall, price gouge, bar bar bar. “To make money off the severe misfortune of others is downright immoral.” Where’s the faith in the free market? If it works for the health care industry, why can’t it work for the energy industry?

Writers Sue Pirates(Google), Accusing It of Copyright Violation
Three authors filed suit against Google yesterday contending that the company's program to create searchable digital copies of the contents of several university libraries constituted "massive copyright infringement."

The suit contends that Google knew or should have known that the Copyright Act "required it to obtain authorization from the holders of the copyrights in these literary works before creating and reproducing digital copies of the works for its commercial use and for the use of others."

Google has said from the beginning that its program is covered by the "fair use" provision of the copyright law, which allows limited use of protected works. In a statement issued in response to the suit, Google also said its program respected copyrights.

"We regret that this group has chosen litigation to try to stop a program that will make books and the information within them more discoverable to the world," the statement said. "Google Print directly benefits authors and publishers by increasing awareness of and sales of the books in the program. And, if they choose, authors and publishers can exclude books from the program if they don't want their material included. Copyrighted books are indexed to create an electronic card catalog and only small portions of the books are shown unless the content owner gives permission to show more."

Google temporarily suspended its library project last month to give authors and other copyright holders until November to opt out by telling it that they did not want certain works to be copied.

But Mr. Aiken said that offer turned longstanding precedents in copyright law upside down, requiring owners to pre-emptively protect rights rather than requiring a user to gain approval for use of a copyrighted work.

Some aspects of the Google Print program have encountered relatively little opposition, particularly one that invites publishers to submit their books to Google for scanning and inclusion in the Google search engine. Most of the large commercial publishing houses have submitted books to Google for scanning, in the hope that the program will lead users to find and buy their books more easily.

Avidly Seeking Wireless Clues From Google
Google had begun a limited test of the wireless service, which may be offered for free.

Race

Race by % in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Omaha, Lincoln, Hastings, Lexington, and New Orleans.

Minneapolis
The racial makeup of the city is
65.13% White
17.99% African American
2.19% Native American
6.13% Asian
0.08% Pacific Islander
4.13% from other races
4.36% from two or more races
(7.63% Hispanic or Latino of any race)

St. Paul
The racial makeup of the city is
67.02% White
11.71% African American
1.13% Native American
12.36% Asian (mostly Hmong and Vietnamese)
0.07% Pacific Islander
3.84% from other races
3.87% from two or more races
(7.91% Hispanic or Latino of any race)

Omaha
The racial makeup of the city is
78.39% White
13.31% African American
0.67% Native American
1.74% Asian
0.06% Pacific Islander
3.91% from other races
1.92% from two or more races
(7.54% Hispanic or Latino of any race)

Lincoln
The racial makeup of the city is
89.25% White
3.09% African American
0.68% Native American
3.12% Asian
0.06% Pacific Islander
1.81% from other races
1.99% from two or more races
(3.61% Hispanic or Latino of any race)

Hastings
The racial makeup of the city is
93.39% White
0.79% African American
0.42% Native American
2.02% Asian
0.04% Pacific Islander
2.39% from other races
0.96% from two or more races
(5.58% Hispanic or Latino of any race)

Lexington (aka Mexington)
The racial makeup of the city
64.20% White
0.44% African American
1.17% Native American
1.10% Asian
0.02% Pacific Islander
30.78% from other races
2.30% from two or more races
(51.15% Hispanic or Latino of any race)

New Orleans
The racial makeup of the city was
67.25% African American
28.05% White
0.20% Native American
2.26% Asian
0.02% Pacific Islander
0.93% from other races
1.28% from two or more races
(3.06% Hispanic or Latino of any race)

Business

Ford Completes Sale of Hertz to 3 Private Equity Investment Firms
Ford will receive $5.6 billion in cash for Hertz, the nation's largest auto rental company. The total transaction, including debt, was valued at $15 billion. The deal includes a cash tender offer of up to $2.3 billion. The infusion of cash comes at a time when Ford's cash reserves are shrinking.

Ford and Visteon Reach Agreements on Deal
Ford Motor Co. and auto-parts maker Visteon Corp. said Tuesday that they have reached definitive agreements to transfer unprofitable plants back to the automaker. Visteon has failed to make a profit nearly every year since it was spun off from Ford five years ago. Visteon, the No. 2 U.S. auto parts supplier behind Delphi Corp., relies on Ford for 64 percent of its business. Visteon has blamed its financial woes on production cuts at Ford, lower prices for parts and high labor costs it inherited after its spin-off from Ford. Goal: savings on auto parts.

Oracle to Pay $5.85 Billion for Siebel
Oracle, the giant database-software maker, announced on Monday that it would pay $5.85 billion to acquire Siebel Systems, its largest competitor in the market for sales automation programs. The deal will bolster Oracle's effort to topple its German rival SAP as the leading seller of business applications software for big corporations.

EBay to Buy Skype for $2.6 Billion
EBay said yesterday that it would buy Skype Technologies, the Internet phone provider based in Luxembourg, for $2.6 billion in cash and stock, a move that eBay hopes will bolster trading on its online auction site.

Labor
* Boeing machinists are on strike.
* Delta asks pilots' union for second round of cuts in wages and benefits.

Suddenly, Those Solar Panels Don't Look So 1970s
Solar power used to be pie in the sky. It’s still expensive, but technology is progressing. Without subsidies, solar panels for your home cost $20,000 to $25,000. Giants like BP and Royal Dutch Shell in the energy industry, or Sharp and Kyocera in electronics, make most solar gear.

New Approach From Gap to Cut Down on Clicks
"Gap's new sites leapfrog every other retail site out there today," said Carrie Johnson, a retail analyst with Forrester Research, an online consulting firm. "They're providing a customer experience that other retailers will quickly try to figure out how to copy."

Samsung Unveils New 16GB Flash Memory Chip
This is great news.

What the hell is flash memory?

Storm God

Is global warming responsible for the hurricanes experienced in the past few years?
Your credulity amazes me. Look at 1881-1890 or 1941-1950.

U.S. Hurricane Strikes by Decade

The word hurricane is derived from the name of a native Caribbean Amerindian storm god, Huracan, via Spanish huracán.

In Europe, High-Tech Flood Control, With Nature's Help
All you need is a Dutch boy.

Alarm Growing on Storm's Cost for Agriculture

Barbara Bush Calls Evacuees Better Off
Class Warfare
"What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas," Barbara Bush said in an interview on Monday with the radio program “Marketplace.” "Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway," she said, "so this is working very well for them."

Kanye West's Torrent of Criticism, Live on NBC
"George Bush doesn't care about black people!"

Jay-Z backs Kanye West's telethon outburst

The perfect storm and the feral city

Houston Finds Business Boon After Katrina

Big Red

On Saturday Klinker, Chanda, and I traveled sans AC in the Saturn down to Lincoln for the Huskers' 6pm game versus the impious deacons of Wake Forest. My sister joined us and we joined more than 77,300 big red fanatics. The number of consecutive sellouts in Memorial Stadium was extended to 270; a streak that dates back to 1962. In Osborne we trust.

Nebraska 31 - Wake Forest 3

The blackshirts (Nebraska defense) scored three touchdowns.

Land Speed Record

5.72 miles
16:24
20.93 mph

I shocked the world.
I will never break this mark.

In other news:
Next summer will feature two duathlons. The first will be the Dundrearies Duathlon; the winner will hold the title of Lord Dundreary until the following year. Later in the summer athletes with mettle and moxie will compete in an event of gravitas, an event with a hoary history: the 2nd Annual Mustache Duathlon. Tell your friends. Details to follow.

BWCA: Day 4

We rose early Sunday morning with hopes of canoeing on calm water. Marye and I had broken down our tent and were packing up when we heard one of the more quotable quotes of the weekend come from Andrea, Megan, and Tim’s tent: “Once this tent broken down there will still be one tent standing.” The ode to morning wood caused a little shrieking. As we paddled off into Big Sag it became apparent that the night did not quell the wind. We struggled across Big Sag toward the reprieve east of Camper's Island. Whereas yesterday we were facing a headwind, today we were facing crosswinds. It is difficult to control the direction of the canoe in large waves and strong wind. It is also a little unnerving when waves are crashing into the canoe parallel to the keel line. We paddled to the leeward side of Clark Island to recuperate before we hit the big waves. And they were big. We rose up onto crests and down into troughs, the starboard side of the canoe rising and then dipping, vulnerable if a second wave arrived too quickly. Tim said he looked over at Marye and me and saw only our heads when we were riding in the trough of a wave. I’m glad I didn’t know that. We made it. We went gently down the Sea Gull River, to Gull Lake, and to the boat ramp. We were at the end of the Gunflint Trail. We called the lodge and waited for the pickup van in the chilly wind. We packed up the MV (minivan) and headed to Sven and Olie’s. Take it back to the city. There was a traffic jam in Two Harbors, so we stopped at DQ to mollify the road rage within. When we parted from Megan’s house, we wished each other good showers. The end.