10 Thoughts for August 18, 2014

1. The other night at Kelley Point Park, I caught a glimpse of a bat flying just a couple of feet overhead.  It's been a while since I've seen a bat in Portland.  You can tell it's a bat, by the way they fly and the way their wings spread.  Don't ask we what kind it was -- it was dark.
2. So much for German outage at US spying.  It turns out, Germany had been spying on American officials and had arrested a German spy official who had informed the US about it.  Ouch.  Germany says that officials were accidentally recorded while Germany was spying on ... wait for it ... a NATO partner, Turkey.
3. To get an app through the Windows Store (for Win 8), it must go through a lengthy review process: "certification testers install and review your app to test it for content compliance."  So, how can it be that the store contains so many fake apps, including ones obviously involving copyright infringement?  Oh that's right, they're not concerned about other people's rights, just theirs.  Doesn't that also apply to Google?  Nope.  Google's got an automated scan for malware, but no curated process as the type used by Apple and Microsoft.
4. Some parts of the web are asking why Loren Thompson, as a Forbes contributing blogger (non-paid), got his critique piece against SpaceX pulled from Forbes, just days from posting it.  I guess I'm wondering why Loren Thompson remains a contributing blogger for Forbes despite the blatantly biased posts that say only good things about his employer's actions while introducing FUD against its competitors.
5. The Koch Brothers are discovering that their ads are not working in Oregon, so they've gone desperate and now claim that Jeff Merkley is lazy, having written just one bill that has passed.  In reality, that's actually an accomplishment.  It turns out, very few bills are passed (feel free to peruse the list of senators and their failures to pass bills), in particular, this Senate has had a bad record on passing bills.  Why?  Well, part of the problem, of course, is that Senate Republicans have blocked action on most bills, by way of filibuster (failure of cloture on a bill).  So, the guile of the Koch Brothers is exposed: Republicans block action on bills, so that they can complain that Democrats are ineffective.  I suggest attacking the Koch Brothers where it hurts the most, by pointing directly at the cause-effect: "Who blocked votes on judges, even though they supported them?  Republicans.  Who blocked votes on the very bills that they supported?  Republicans.  Who spent most of their time chairing politically-driven committees on issues that have produced nothing?  Republicans.  It's time to tell the Koch Brothers to stop wasting their money on a do-nothing party."
6. The saddest part of losing Robin Williams, to me, is thinking about the fear he must have felt at the thought of slowly losing his abilities to earn the laughter of people due to a neurological disease.  It's easy for everyone to say that they'd be there for him through it all, but it's another thing to see their smiles displaced by concern.
7. I'm not concerned with the "militarization" of police forces.  As first responders to mass shooting / existential threats, I believe that they actually do need this sort of equipment.  I'm not someone who wants to wait for the FBI to make an appearance at their discretion, hours later, to respond to an immediate threat.  The way I see it, the police response in Ferguson, was an issue of leadership and tactics.  Rather than deescalate, they chose to escalate with a show and use of force.  There's so much more on Ferguson and the Michael Brown story, but I'm waiting for the story to play out a bit more before offering a full write up of my thoughts.
8. When I saw the photos of the new, 49er Levi's Stadium, I was underwhelmed.  It looks like a stadium built on a shoestring budget, having realized that it looks like crap, was flooded with "tech" to try to make it better.  This is what the Atlanta Falcons are proposing.  Notice the gap in design.  Heck, CenturyLink in Seattle is still far sexier than Levi's Stadium.  When the Vikings stadium is completed, it'll blow the socks off Levi's...and cost less.
9. 12: The number of named tropical storms to form in the eastern Pacific.  15: The number of named tropical storms, per season, on average, to form in the eastern Pacific.  With still 3 months left in the hurricane season, if this is not an El Nino season, then you have to wonder what the heck is going on.
10. Wow, what a wrench in the system: Shin Bet apparently uncovered a Hamas plot to kill Fatah leader / Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.  Why it was just last week I was imploring online to distinguish the West Bank from Gaza, and how Hamas has only Hamas to blame for its current position.