Jazzfest

OMG! The past two days were simply awesome! Fantastic music, great food, incredibly good weather, good company.

The highlights on Saturday included Buddy Guy and Susan Tedeschi both of whom just rocked! Dave and I had dinner at Arnaud's (the Shrimp Arnaud's was to die for!) and then tried to get in to see Taj Mahal at Tipitino's, but the show was sold out. The only bummer of the whole weekend.

Sunday's best at the fest included Jon Cleary and the Swamp Pop reunion of which possibly the best was Phil Phillips' Sea of Love. The guy has to be pushing one hundred, but his pipes sound like he's in his twenties. Dr John was ok, but frankly not what I had hoped to hear. Seemed like he was just mailing it in.

Last night, Dave and I saw Jon Cleary, Chris Thomas King, and Charlie Musselwhite at the Snug Harbor club just outside the French Quarter and we were simply blown away. I've got some pics which I'll post when I get the chance.

The thing I can't get over though is the quality of the acts that they have assembled. Glen told Dave that the 2nd weekend is often the better of the two... check out these head-to-head matchups in next weekend's schedule:

• Dave Matthews, Ike Turner, Elvis Costello
• B.B. King and Jack Johnson
• Issac Hayes and the Neville Brothers

How the heck are you supposed to choose!!!

Fortunately, some of the acts are recorded and available on CD... Unfortunately, the one act that I wanted dearly to get on CD was not recorded! Argh!

Where in the world is Chris?

You can find me here starting tomorrow. Woo hoo!

This is starting to become an annual tradition... three years running. Good food, good music, good friends -- what could be better?

Oh, and I guess I should mention that there's also this Symposium thing:-) I'll be moderating the afternoon session on Monday. The line up of talks looks quite interesting and I am really looking forward to them all.

Given the announcement this week that we will be submitting the WS-RM specs to OASIS, I imagine that there will be no end to the fun and games!

Interface constraint visualized

While I agree that this is what we all seek, this and this are our reality.

I hate when that happens!

On the road again... this time via Chicago to San Jose. On the Boston-Chicago leg, I didn't bother with an upgrade (the plane was nearly full) and had to take the middle seat in the exit row. The guy in the window seat next to me had to be about 350 lbs at least. He was spilling over into my seat he was so large! I'm not exactly small in the shoulders either, so this made for a rather unpleasant two hours. The poor guy in the aisle seat was leaning out into the aisle. I don't think he was all that pleased either.

I was actually surprised that they let this guy have the exit row he was so large. I thought that there were supposed to be guidelines.

Oh well, I did manage to get an upgrade for Chicago-San Jose leg which made up for the trouble on the previous flight.

Talk about run amok...

Be sure to read this article in the WaPo.

The american taliban wants remedy for "judicial tyrrany", including the suggestion that the likes of Justice Kennedy, a Reagan appointee to the Supremes, be impeached.

Conservative leaders meeting in Washington yesterday for a discussion of "Remedies to Judicial Tyranny" decided that Kennedy, a Ronald Reagan appointee, should be impeached, or worse.

Next, Michael P. Farris, chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association, said Kennedy "should be the poster boy for impeachment" for citing international norms in his opinions. "If our congressmen and senators do not have the courage to impeach and remove from office Justice Kennedy, they ought to be impeached as well."
...

Ominously, Vieira continued by saying his "bottom line" for dealing with the Supreme Court comes from Joseph Stalin. "He had a slogan, and it worked very well for him, whenever he ran into difficulty: 'no man, no problem,' " Vieira said.

The full Stalin quote, for those who don't recognize it, is "Death solves all problems: no man, no problem." Presumably, Vieira had in mind something less extreme than Stalin did and was not actually advocating violence. But then, these are scary times for the judiciary. An anti-judge furor may help confirm President Bush's judicial nominees, but it also has the potential to turn ugly.

Reading the article, you can easily visualize the foam frothing from the mouths of these rabid wingnuts.

Be very afraid. These people are deadly serious. However, what's worse is that the really unbalanced among us may be taking these rantings as a call to action. If I were a judge, I'd be out purchasing a kevlar vest and one of those armor kits for my Humvee that the Pentagon has been holding out on our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan right about now.

When Harry Met Nancy

Reid and Pelosi invite the President to a National Town Hall on Soc Sec dismant... er privatiz... er personal accounts... yeah, that's it, personal accounts (emphasis mine):

Dear President Bush:

We are writing today to discuss with you directly our views on the ongoing debate over Social Security and your continuing efforts to sell your plan to privatize the system.

As you may know, throughout this entire session of Congress including this most recent Congressional recess, we and the members of our Caucuses have traveled throughout our states and districts, talking directly to the American people about Social Security and our concerns about privatization. We have heard from our constituents and Americans from all across the country that they are concerned that the deep benefit cuts and massive new debt required by your privatization proposal will do more to dismantle the Social Security system than strengthen it.

As we have watched you and members of your administration travel throughout the country on your “60 Stops in 60 Days” Tour, we have seen and heard numerous accounts indicating that your events have been carefully staged and scripted to ensure that you will only hear from handpicked participants who support your privatization plan. Despite your statements that you welcome hearing all views on this important issue, it seems increasingly clear that the vast majority of Americans who oppose your privatization plan are excluded from participating in the conversation.

We believe it is critical to hear voices from all sides of the debate to ensure that the positions we take and the decisions we make truly reflect the national interest.

Therefore, as you reach the mid-point of this sixty day tour, we would like to invite you to participate in a National Town Hall on Social Security privatization. We would work with you and your staff to ensure that members of the general public would be invited so that you could hear first hand the concerns most Americans have about your privatization plan and its deep benefit cuts and massive debt increases.

We hope that you will join us for this conversation with the American people.

Sincerely,



NancyPelosi Harry Reid

House Democratic Leader Senate Democratic Leader

Rep. DeFazio rips the prez a new one

Rep DeFazio (D Ore.):

Mr. Speaker, well, the President was on the road again today with yet another tightly controlled scripted, so-called town hall, before a carefully screened, invitation audience to tout to his plan to privatize Social Security.

Now, that is not unusual; in fact, the scripted town halls are all so similar that they can save the taxpayers a lot of money if he just stayed at Camp David or Crawford, Texas, and they just replayed the recordings of his earlier scripted, rehearsed town halls.

But the President did say today something extraordinary, in Parkersburg, West Virginia, and suggested something unconscionable. The President said, ``There is no trust fund.'' And then he went on to suggest that our Nation might not honor its debt to Social Security. This is what the President said does not exist.

Let me read from this. This is a Social Security Trust Fund bond, considered the best investments in the world, U.S. Treasury Bond. This is the most privileged of Treasury bonds issued to Social Security, redeemable at any time at full face value, unlike any other bond that they issue. These are the most privileged of their bonds. The President says it is nothing but an IOU. Well, here is what it says: This bond is incontestable in the hands of the Federal Old Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund. The bond is supported by the full faith and credit of the United States. And the United States is pledged to the payment of the bond with respect to both principal and interest.

The President questions that? He is questioning whether we are going to repay our most privileged debt to Social Security. We have $7.9 trillion of debt. He is adding to it at a record rate, borrowing $1.3 million a minute. Who is he saying we are going to repay and not repay?

Are we going to repay the Chinese but not the Social Security Trust Fund? Are we going to repay President Bush, he happens to have some U.S. Treasury Bonds in his personal portfolio, but not the Social Security Trust Fund? Are we going to repay other wealthy investors around the world and in the U.S., but not the Social Security Trust Fund? We are going to selectively default on our debt.

Suggesting something like that, if the bond markets believed the President, the dollar would drop to near zero tomorrow, and there would be an economic catastrophe, but they do not believe him. They know this is just politics and rhetoric on his part. There is no intention of the Government of the United States defaulting on its debt.

This year Social Security will collect $170 billion more than it needs to pay Social Security benefits, and they are invested in the trust fund. If what the President said is true, there is no trust fund, and we are not going to honor it, then Congress and the President are perpetrating a fraud of extraordinary magnitude on the working people of America, extorting through taxes $170 billion more than they need to pay current benefits that this President has no intention of repaying. That is unbelievable.

Every minute, every minute, this President and this Congress are borrowing $320,000 of Social Security taxes and spending it on something else. And the President says he is replacing it with worthless IOUs; they are not bonds, they are not investments. He questions whether they will be repaid. He questions the full faith and credit of the Government of the United States of America and its willingness, our willingness, to meet our obligations and our debt.

If what the President says is true, then we ought to give the working people of America, instead of the rich people of America, the biggest tax cut in history. Reduce the Social Security tax, which falls more heavily on working people. More working Americans pay more in Social Security taxes than they do income taxes to the Federal Government.

If he has no intention of repaying that $170 billion that he is borrowing this year of excess Social Security taxes, then we should not collect it under false pretenses. We should give people a big tax break. That would stimulate small business, employment, and put a lot of money in the pockets of working people. I am not advocating that.

But if he does not repay it, he should be advocating it, and instead of trying to switch the game and having an irrelevant debate over a so-called privatization plan which actually makes the funding problems of Social Security worse and would require another few trillion dollars of borrowing, in which I guess people would get these worthless bonds that the President questions.

Now, who is going to buy those worthless bonds? How is he going to continue to run the Government of the United States borrowing $1.3 million a minute if the bonds of this country are worthless?

This is an extraordinary and reckless statement for the elected President of the United States to make.

Help! I'm being repressed!

Via Mark: xml-dev - Monty Python REST joke ROFLMAO!

The countdown for the extinction of CDs is about to begin

(Via Tim) The countdown for the extinction of CDs is about to begin

+1

Close, but no cigar

Google Maps comes close, but seems to have the street numbers off by about one lot on my street. Mine's the one just to the right with the pool in the back.

Pretty damn kewl though!

Shameless plug...

Kewl! our book Web Services Platform Architecture : SOAP, WSDL, WS-Policy, WS-Addressing, WS-BPEL, WS-Reliable Messaging, and More has been published! My wife called to tell me we had received a copy today (only one!?). Be sure to check out Chapter 10 on reliable messaging. ;-)

Sanjiva has more.

Be sure to by a copy or two or three to help the "send my kids to college" fund:-)

Basic B2B Profile

w00t! Details on my dWorks blog.

The theocracy has infiltrated the IETF!

RFC4041: Requirements for Morality Sections in Routing Area Drafts.:

Even if one or more of these subsections are considered irrelevant, they MUST all still be present, and MUST contain a full rebuttal of this deviant thought.

ROTFLMAO!

UTF-9

Via Stefan -- UTF-9:

Transformation between [UTF-8] and UTF-9 is straightforward, with most of the complexity in the handling of [UTF-8]. It is hoped that future extensions to protocols such as SMTP will permit the use of UTF-9 in these protocols between nonet platforms without the use of [UTF-8] as an "on the wire" format.

Almost, but not quite as good as this one.

R.I.P.

John Paul II

I'm not Catholic, or even all that religious. There were a few of his policies with which I did not agree, but I think that in general, he proved himself a great steward of his post.

Update: I'm not dead yet! Apparently, Drudge is not infallable as is the Pope!

Update II: This time, for real.