The worm got away November 26, 2008 8:19 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Health , 2commentsI tried to be an early bird today with much fail. Waking times: 2:20, 3:30, 4:10, 5:30, 5:55, 6:00, 6:30, and finally 6:45. Now that’s sleeping!
2commentsFeeling Old November 19, 2008 8:38 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Exercise, Health , 3commentsFeeling old is when taking three steps across the kitchen to the coffee maker causes you to wince. For the past couple of days, I have had excruciating pain in my lower back. The pain is concentrated in my lower left back just above my buttocks but I also feel it in my left shoulder blade. I thought it was related to sleeping on that horrid air mattress at Frozen Head since I could not find my RidgeRest. I thought my back would improve but it seems to be worsening. I don’t exercise. I don’t stretch. All I do is sit all day long typing. The dogs and Evan make it difficult to stretch but I think that I must return to 20 minutes in the evening and 20 minutes in the morning. I never felt better than I did when I was stretching in the morning and evening.
3commentsOn Hold Friday November 14, 2008 10:29 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Food, Health, Of Interest, Scouts , add a commentI’m trying desperately to get some major code knocked out today. But the day has begun with me listening to hold music which cuts my coding rate in half. I hate having to sit on the phone.
Late this afternoon, in a panic, I will pack for a weekend of camping with Noah and Sarah. This weekend is our Scout troop’s Thanksgiving camping trip. Families are invited and we will cook a turkey and ham in a cardboard box oven. The scouts will build catapults and play games including shooting water balloons at the adult leaders. I have skipped the past 4 months of events. Since my daughter is attending and I think I have taken a bit of ownership on the catapults, I have to be on this trip. Besides, I really miss the camping plus getting into nature dramatically improves improves cognitive function in the brain.
Update: Important phone calls complete. Important email sent. Distracting Internet outage resolved. Cat about to be flung across room. Bug in my code fixed. Moving onto feature requests.
add a commentBecause running on a treadmill should be fun! November 13, 2008 3:57 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Exercise, Health, Of Interest , add a commentDo you find running on your treadmill inside boring? Do you miss the fresh air outside? Then you might need a SpeedFit!
See on Burbia.
add a commentMen Vindicated! October 24, 2008 10:14 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Health, Of Interest , 6commentsFarting controls blood pressure!
6commentsUniversal Health Care? October 20, 2008 11:22 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Health, Politics, Touchy Subjects, United States , 3commentsEveryone go to Daisy Cutter and chime in with your thoughts on Universal Health Care. See also countries with universal health care vs those without.
3commentsNot so close shave October 18, 2008 2:03 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Health , 1 comment so farI am starting to come to terms with the fact that an electric shaver needs new blades more than once every half a decade. For that matter, I probably should buy a new electric shaver more than once decade.
1 comment so farState of Me October 8, 2008 2:13 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Health , add a commentOuch! I just sneezed and I think the left half of my skull fell to the floor. I’m afraid to look. Cathy says my cough has worsened and insists I go to the doctor but she has it too so we have that stubborn Mexican standoff martyrdom don’t waste money on the uninsured adults thing going on. We don’t get sick that often so I guess we are due. All of Knoxville has this so I’ll start into my Oak Ridge secretly testing non-lethal severely debilitating chemical weapon conspiracy theory after I make more progress on today’s programming. Coding stops for no cough!
add a commentState of Me October 6, 2008 7:23 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Health, Mental , add a commentStress manifested itself physically. I am one gigantic ache.Yesterday I crashed hard. Chills. Fever. Dizzy. Muscle soreness. Coughing. Today I still hurt but think I am functional.
add a commentJust one more minute October 2, 2008 6:03 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Health, Mental, Sleep , add a comment"Just one more minute" Those words are like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. Oh. I suppose that expression is going to have to go the way of the slide projector. Do they even have chalk boards in the schools anymore? I utter those words almost everyday. Today I did it at 1:54am. I was awake enough to get up and work. But noooo. I was compelled to take just one more minute From 2am-6am I could have made huge coding progress! Of course, the New York Times reported people are 33% more creative after sleep. To prove the point, that problem which had me stumped at midnight has already been solved.
add a commentRandom searches of students passes unanimously October 1, 2008 8:44 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Education, Health, Local Politics, Of Interest, Politics, Privacy, Touchy Subjects , add a commentThe Knox County School Board voted unanimously to approve random searching of students. The next steps are to have the Law Department issue a legal memorandum then to have a final reading of the policy on November 2nd.
A commenter with good common sense from Volunteer TV’s comments regarding the Knox County School Board wanting to implement random searches in the school (emphasis added):
Posted by: Keri Location: Knoxville on Oct 1, 2008 at 09:46 AM
Are we, as members of a free democracy-protected by a Constitution, going to allow the constitutional rights of our children to be trampled upon? I am as concerned as most citizens about the safety of our children at school, but I am more concerned about the intimidation and conditioning of our children to accept infringements on their rights as American citizens. If we accept policies that not only allow, but encourage the powers that be to randomly search our children, without cause or evidence of wrong doing, how much longer before these policies obscure the rights of every citizen? These children are the future policy makers and leaders of our country and they will lead us based on the manner in which they have been lead. It is time to send a message to our children and the policy makers of our community that we value our Constitutional rights and those who fought and died to secure those rights, far too much to allow anyone, for any reason to strip our children of their liberty. [Source, VolunteerTV.com, Knox Co. School Board considering random search proposal, Keri]
Quit looking for quick fixes and think about the future. Please.
See also: teenagers are not criminals
add a commentPlease vote NO to random searches in our schools October 1, 2008 12:56 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Education, From the mouths of babes, Health, Local Politics, Politics, Touchy Subjects , add a commentI felt compelled to email each of our school board members (and the ACLU) since tonight they will vote to approve random searching of students in our schools. This is the email I sent. Will you send one?
Dear School Board,
Please vote NO to random searches in our schools. Our money and time will be better spent developing a rapport with the students.
These websites informed me that Knox County School plans to pass a measure to allow random searching of students in the schools:
http://schoolmatters.knoxnews.com/forum/topic/show?id=879777%3ATopic%3A28290
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/sep/30/random-searches-at-schools-studied/
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/oct/01/Knox-school-superintendent-proposes-random-search/After the Central High School shooting, didn’t security experts advise you that the security cameras were a waste of money and that we’d be better served by having personnel interact more frequently with the students? See this quote from Knox School Matters:
I do not agree, I have a teenage daughter and do not want anyone “doing a pat down” search on her. They had a random metal detector search at Powell the other day and they only ran every 7th kid through it and yelled at the kids to shut up and just go through and dont ask questions. The kids were terrfied not knowing what was going on and being yelled at like criminals. Source, Knoxschoolmatters.com, Cindi
Our students deserve to be treated better than that. The students will not talk to the staff and warn them of impending doom when the student body fears the staff. We gain nothing through fear. In the penitentiary system random searches are to “breakdown” the inmates. Is that our goal? To brainwash and breakdown the children and parents? What legacy will we leave with these children when they graduate and start passing laws for us? For our own safety, will they legalize random searches in our retirement homes? The malls? Our houses?
Random searching is nothing more than theater. It is a waste of staff time, humiliating to the students, and ineffective. Ineffective? The student that wants to bring a gun to school isn’t going to be deterred by the possibility of a random search but I bet that student will be talking and exhibiting behaviors that give warning signs long before the gun comes in. You will pick up on the warning signs by interacting positively with the students. Negativity begets negativity and random searches are very negative.
Random searches at a school are different than random searches at an airport (although equally ineffective and very much theater). At the airport, we have the option to decline being searched and leave. Will our students have the right to decline a search and leave school?
You cannot build trust and safety on a foundation of fear and false suspicion. Please vote no.
Thank you!
Doug McCaughan
phone number
Update: A commenter at Knoxnews has this:
The Supreme Court Case that most directly deals with student searches is New Jersey v. T.L.O (469 U.S. 325). The written opinion states that althought students have not “necessarily waived all rights to privacy in such items by bringing them (legitimate, non-contraband items) onto school grounds,” a search can still be conducted if determined to be “reasonable.” The following describes the factors used to determine reasonableness:
“Determining the reasonableness of any search involves a determination of whether the search was justified at its inception and whether, as conducted, it was reasonably related in scope to the circumstances that justified the interference in the first place. Under ordinary circumstances, the search of a student by a school official will be justified at its inception where there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that the search will turn up evidence that the student has violated or is violating either the law or the rules of the school.”
In other words, officials must have a reason to search (less cause than suspision) a student. Random selection, by definition, is not a specific reason.
No matter how the school board votes, allowing random searches would be in direct violation of a Supreme Court ruling, and state and county law can not supercede federal law.
Update: No response from any board member. The ACLU called almost immediately!
add a commentThe Cupboards Were Bare September 30, 2008 6:53 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Family, Food, Health, Of Being Dad , add a commentWhen the bedtime stories talk about bare cupboards, they mean ours. For the past 2 weeks, I have been saying, "We need to go to Sam’s. We need to go to the grocery." Time has not permitted. Somehow we have managed. Through creative cooking, every last crumb has turned into a child’s lunch for school, an afternoon snack, or a meal. When the stocks are running to nothing, resourcefulness and creativity kick in. This morning I looked in one cabinet and it was literally devoid of all but a single item! I could feel its vacuum trying to suck me in as if the Haldron Large Collider actually made its black hole in my kitchen cabinetry. The food shelves and fridge had barely enough to make Amy’s school lunch. I could have made pancakes or eggs and toast and avoided a trip to the store but this was looking bad. So for the sake of a happy family, I quested for food at Kroger before anyone woke.
I dodge boxes and employees while walking down the isles of Kroger for it was restocking time. The store is a bustle of activity and I feel like I’ve accidentally become privy to Disney’s afterhours magic. As I pull boxes of junk into my cart, knowing fruit rollups would please the children, I lament feeding them processed junk and ponder what I could do to send them to school with healthy snacks that they would still enjoy. Feeding a family is tough. Feeding a large family is more difficult. Feeding a large family healthy food on a tight budget and frantic schedule is nearly impossible! None the less, I make strides to improve. For instance, we have instant mashed potatoes in a fix but I prefer to make mashed potatoes from scratch.
The kitchen is a little less barren now. The children are happier. I still look forward to getting to Sam’s for we survive on bulk!
add a commentInspired to do home improvement September 22, 2008 12:23 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Health, House, Juggling, Of Interest, Publishing, Video , add a commentCathy wants me to work on the house more. I want to juggle more.
add a commentCliff Stoll on Everything September 19, 2008 10:12 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Education, Technology , 4commentsIn the movie Conspiracy Theory, Mel Gibson’s character is compelled to buy copies of The Catcher in the Rye which is a play on the fact that numerous assassins and murders have had on their possession or made reference to the book when caught. For me, the book that randomly liters the house is Clifford Stoll’s The Cuckoo’s Egg. I have a hard copy over there. There’s a paperback version on my headboard. That bookshelf has a tattered paperback and I think there are several other copies laying around. At the time Cliff Stoll tracked his spy, I was deeply ingrained in computers and learning about databases, telcom, and obsessed with assembly language. Two years later I was working on Unix machines at the same level as Cliff Stoll so each read of the book brings vivid memories. Two years later his book was released and became mandatory reading for computer science majors. Shortly after that, if my memory serves correct, he spoke at the University of Tennessee (but honestly, that could be a fabrication of my aged brain). Clifford Stoll ranks on my list of fascinating people. See if you can get through Stoll’s 18 minutes at TED. It’s worth it!
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