There’s nothing like an awesome whale-watching tour to take your mind off a heartbreaking football loss. :) Becky and I went looking for Pacific humpbacks on board the Ocean Explorer this afternoon, and we were lucky enough to run into a “competition pod” of males vying for a female’s attention (sort of like what you see on any given night at The Backer). That meant lots of fun whale antics, which made for great pictures. The gorgeous rainbow in the background didn’t hurt, either…

Standard caveat: stay tuned for more photos, and higher-resolution versions of the above photos, probably after the honeymoon is over. Same goes for other honeymoon pics, and wedding pics. This is just a preview of the yummy photographic goodness to come! :)

Good old Mechanical Lever machines. / Very reliable. Very sturdy. Very old. Very very Heavy. But Enough about Me. :) By God, maybe I’ll just Unretire & go back to work at CTSOTS. Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose. / Joe Loy, guestgloating. :)

My former Employer says that the Electronic voting system that meets our persnickety Yankee standards ~ apparently hasn’t been Invented yet. :> (Of course our current Old Clunkers now violate federal law all over the place but that’s OK, our beloved state Career AG Dick “Sue the Bastards” Blumenthal says The Feds are being very Nice about the whole thing:

Connecticut gave up Wednesday on meeting a federal mandate for using a new generation of voting machines in 2006 that must protect against fraud and be accessible to disabled voters.

Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz said the state will use its mechanical lever machines one more time, because no vendor offered a replacement that meets state and federal requirements.

…Her decision was praised by local voting officials and some academics who claimed that Connecticut’s efforts to procure new voting technology was biased toward computerized voting machines.

…The secretary of the state had been expected Wednesday to announce her selection of a new computerized machine that would comply with the federal Help America Vote Act, or HAVA, which renders obsolete the lever machines used by generations of Connecticut voters.

Instead, she disclosed that state officials learned on Dec. 21 that her tentative choice for a new machine was not certified as compliant under HAVA.

“We were misled by the finalist company, because they said they could meet all the requirements,” Bysiewicz said.

Bysiewicz said she is reopening the search for voting technology that is reliable, easy to use and meets requirements…

HAVA requires the states to buy machines that can be used without assistance by the disabled and that guard against fraud by leaving an audit trail. Connecticut’s mechanical machines fail on both counts.

The U.S. Department of Justice has not formally waived the 2006 deadline, but it has indicated by letter that federal officials will work with Connecticut.

“It is in no way threatening or coercive. It is an invitation to additional cooperation,” Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said. “In summary, it draws no lines in the sand. It threatens no enforcement action.”

Ah, me. :) ElectionProcess Nerds, read the whole thing.

Of course the big Problem with the voter-friendly Optiscan-tally paper-ballot systems is precisely that they are TOO voter-friendly. I.e., because they all must employ some form of Paper Ballot which is, in Whatever fashion, directly Marked by Hand by the Voter, they can do relatively little ~ much less than the pre-programmed Touchscreens (Direct Recording Electronic, aka DRE’s) can ~ to Prevent or Deter the single biggest cause of flawed election results: Voter Error. (OTOH the Optiscans do have this Huge advantage over both the New DRE’s AND the Old mechanical lever devices: they seamlessly accomodate the Absentee ballots, which are essentially identical to the in-person Regular [also sometimes styled the “Legitimate” :] ballots, and thus are electronically Countable by the same Scanners.)

Note: first Commentposter to Comment “Why don’t we just have all Hand Counting?” gets the prize: a lovely framed photo of that Florida 2000 Recount Guy scrutinizing the Paper Punchcard ballots with his magnifying glass. :)

Apparently Pat Robertson must have felt that his call for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and telling the citizens of Dover Pennsylvania not to ask for God’s help in their time of need was not enough in his apparent quest to be labeled the Stupidest Man Alive ™. Now he has said that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s stroke was God’s hand striking him down for splitting up the Holy Land. Sharon as you may recall called for the historic withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip, fully turning control over to the Palestinian government.

Guestblogger: David Kreutz

Tropical Storm Zeta — the storm that formed on my wedding day, and has now extended the cold, dead hand of the historic 2005 hurricane season well into 2006 — is still out there, still alive and kicking, and still breaking records. It briefly weakened to a tropical depression at 4:00 AM EST today, but regained tropical-storm strength at 10:00 AM, and the 4:00 PM advisory stated:

…TENACIOUS ZETA STILL HANGING ON TO TROPICAL STORM STATUS OVER THE CENTRAL ATLANTIC OCEAN…

Zeta is only the second tropical cyclone in recorded history to span two calendar years, the other being Hurricane Alice of 1954-55, which also formed on December 30. And now, Zeta has officially maintained tropical-storm status deeper into the new year than Alice did, making it the “latest” tropical storm in recorded history. (Alice weakened to a tropical depression at 7:00 AM on January 5, 1955, according to Unisys, and never regained tropical-storm status.)

Alice didn’t dissipate entirely — losing even tropical-depression status — until 1:00 AM on January 6, 1955. Zeta will break that record, too, unless the next advisory, the 10:00 PM EST, is the final one. If there’s a 4:00 AM advisory on Zeta, it will be the deepest into the new year that an Atlantic hurricane season has ever been extended by a rouge, out-of-season cyclone.

One thing is certain: when Zeta dissipates, the 2005 hurricane season will finally, really and truly, be over. The next tropical cyclone to form — whether it’s in January, June or whenever — will be considered part of the 2006 hurricane season, and it will be named Alberto.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press is reporting on a libel case filed against a Minnesota blogger. The case which involves a story posted by self-described Republican operative Michael Brodkorb, in which he claimed that public criticism of the congressional campaign of Coleen Rowley by PR Executive and Democrat Blois Olsen stems from a summer 2005 decision by the campaign not to hire Olsen’s firm, New School Communications.

Olsen contends that while an employee contacted the campaign, he did not do so in an official capacity and his criticism had nothing to do with a job offer. He is seeking $50,000 in damages and a removal of the offending post from Brodkorb’s website, MinnesotaDemocratsExposed.

The courts will be left to decide whether to hold the blog to the same standards as traditional media such as print or TV, or to cut the blog some slack since it lacks any professional standing.

Guestblogger: David Kreutz

Congrats to Brian Dupuis (a.k.a. “DUP”), who came from behind to win the Irish Trojan’s first annual College Bowl Pick ‘em contest, finishing with 35 of a possible 50 points and clinching victory when the buzzer sounded on Texas’s national-championship victory over USC.

Josh Rubin, who would have won the contest if either Florida State had won the Orange Bowl or USC had won the Rose Bowl, finished second with 34 points.

Mark Gardner — who, like Dupuis, correctly picked both Penn State and Texas — finished third with 33 points.

Eric S., the only contestant to guess the exact combined score of the championship game (79), finished fourth, winning the tiebreaker over Greg Rauen and Alex Whitfield as a result of that prediction.

Doc, Joanna Mari, Courtney and Matt Scarborough round out the Top 10. Complete standings here.

Not a single contestant managed to correctly predict all four BCS bowls. Ohio State, West Virginia and Texas were all considered underdogs, according to the aggregate picks of all contestants.

Joe Loy, guestblogging ~

* May God bless Ariel Sharon, and preserve His people Israel; and

* may He also bring solace to the loved ones of the lost miners in West Virginia; AND, in connection therewith,

* if He still has some Mitzvahs left over after that Tall order, may He teach us somehow Not to demand that all the Facts be known before they are, in fact, Known. / Or, as his good & faithful servant John Cardinal Newman put it:

“…We mourn for the blossoms of May because they are to wither, but we know withal that May shall have its revenge upon November, in the revolution of that solemn circle that never stops and that teaches us, in our height of hope ever to be sober, and in our depth of desolation, never to despair.”

Well, sh*t. Longhorns 41, Trojans 38, final. The winning streak ends at 34. Congrats to Texas, the national champions.

Vince Young scored the final touchdown and a last ditch effort by the Trojans came up short.

FINAL

Texas 41
USC 38

Congratulations to Vince Young and the Horns, that was what a Championship game should be played like. I fully expect to see Texas atop the rankings if Young stays.

And if the voters have any sense it will be

1 Texas
2 USC
3 Penn State

In the final rankings.

Guestblogger: David Kreutz

Guestblogger: Josh Rubin

OK, with 3:00 left in the game, USC has a 5-point lead, ahead of Texas 38-33 …

Not only is the “game on the line” as the announcers keep saying, but so is the race between myself and DUP for the Brendan Loy Pick ‘Em Contest …

Update:With 2:09 left, USC failed to get the necessary 1 yard on a 4-and-1. Texas has enough time to score the 6 that they need and they’re at their own 44!

Update 2: With :57 left, they have to REVIEW a possible fumble … Which is probably not a fumble … So they’re giving Texas an essential time-out!

Update 3: :30 … and Texas is inside the 10!

Update 4: :26 … 4th and 5

Update 5: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO … Texas scores! :19 left on the clock, Texas up 39-38

Update 6: Only :19 left … Texas up 41-38 … Now a field goal will only tie it …

Update 7: Texas wins. And I still haven’t won a friggin’ LRT/IT Pick ‘Em.

Did you see that?!?! DID YOU SEE THAT??!?!? THAT my friends is what a Heisman trophy winner looks like.

USC 31
Texas 23

I’ll keep the posts coming since Brendan is having modem difficulties.

UPDATE
Looks like Texas got away with ANOTHER lucky break. Instead of a reception, fumble and Trojan recovery its ruled an incomplete pass. Count your blessings Longhorns.

Holy Cow though, how many times are they going to allow the Texas O-line to shove the Trojans FROM BEHIND.

UPDATE 2
USC bottles up Young and holds Texas to a field goal, which this time Texas makes.

USC 31
Texas 26

UPDATE 3
Leinart to Jarrett! Touchdown USC!!!

USC 38
Texas 26

And a big injury for Texas, CB Tarell Brown #5 appears to have broken his arm, as he was taken off the field with his forarm in a splint after a collision with Jarrett and another Texas player. Brown has been a big force for the Longhorns secondary in this game.

UPDATE 4
And Vince Young scores almost singlehandedly.

USC 38
Texas 33

4 minutes left.

Guestblogger: David Kreutz

The perfect people at Google — who are brilliant, rich, creative, and apparently have loads of free time — decided to band together and get a bulk order of that childhood toy, silly putty. Hilarity ensued.

So: What would you do with 250 pounds of pliable fun?

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

Texas 16, USC 10, start of the second half.

All right, Pete Carroll & co., do your thing…

UPDATE: USC took a 17-16 lead… then Texas took it back, 23-17… then USC took it back again, 24-23, and that’s where things stand now, with 3:54 left in the third quarter.

LenDale White has scored all three of the Trojans’ touchdowns so far, which just goes to show that if your defensive scheme involves putting multiple defenders on Reggie Bush, the Trojans have plenty of other ways of killing you.

This will probably be my last update until after the game is over, because my cell-phone modem is being really, really slow, and it’s driving me nuts. I’m sure all you commenters can keep things up to date. :)

GO TROJANS!!!!!!!

Here we go!

source file

UPDATE: Texas defense completely stopped USC’s vaunted offense on its first drive, 3-and-out. But then on the punt, USC’s much-maligned special teams forced a fumble, the Trojans got the ball back around midfield, and the offense took advantage. Trojans 7, Longhorns 0!

UPDATE 2: Texas just got a 46-yard field goal, a career long for their kicker, so it’s now 7-3 Trojans in the second quarter. The ‘Horns wouldn’t have had the chance for the FG, if only USC had recovered Vince Young’s fumble two plays earlier. By my count, there have been four fumbles in this game, and Texas has recovered three of them. One of the three was a rare bonehead play by Reggie Bush on the preceding possession — an unnecessary lateral-turned-fumble that probably cost the Trojans a touchdown.

Overall, both defenses are playing well. Vince Young is easily the player of the game so far. I’m not feeling at all comfortable at this point. It feels like Texas is winning, even though they’re behind on the scoreboard. A nice long Reggie Bush run — that doesn’t end in a fumble — would be just what the doctor ordered.

UPDATE 3: Texas scores a non-touchdown that’s incorrectly counted as a touchdown (why do we have replay again?), then misses the extra point. So it’s Texas 9, USC 7. Or, if you prefer, USC 7, Referees 6, Texas 3.

Quasi-senile ABC announcer Keith Jackson lays the blame at the feet of the USC coaching staff, saying the Trojans should have called timeout so the officials would have had time to review the play. BULLS**T. The officials had plenty of time, and USC should not have to waste a timeout in order to make the officials do their jobs!! It’s the officials’ fault they didn’t review a clearly incorrect call, not USC’s fault.

Okay, that’s the last you’ll hear from me about that. Unlike a small but vocal minority of Domers who are still upset about the “Bush Push,” I’m not a sore loser, and if USC ends up losing this game by the margin of that non-touchdown, I’ll accept the loss without further complaint. (Besides, Texas probably would have scored a touchdown anyway, given the way Young was picking apart the Trojan secondary on that drive.)

C’MON TROJANS!

UPDATE 4: USC suddenly can’t tackle. Texas scores again. Longhorns 16, Trojans 7, with 2:34 left in the first half. Time for some Pete Carroll Second Half Magic ^TM…

UPDATE 5: And now a bad call goes USC’s way. Texas had an interception there, but it wasn’t called, and no review. Again: why do we have replay?? Well anyway, now the teams are even on really important bad calls. But this officiating crew needs some Second Half Magic as well.

UPDATE 6: WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE USC COACHING STAFF TODAY??? Why did we let, like, 13 seconds run off the clock before calling timeout??? Jeez!

UPDATE 7: Dinello hits the 43-yard field goal. Texas 16, USC 10 at halftime.

Guestblogger Kristy says…

I am no mathematician, so perhaps that is why I find this article so fabulous. The best line is the professor’s quote, “We’re super excited.” It’s the little things in life!