The Frequent 1

Given a string of at least four numbers sampled from one or more of these sets of data, the chance that the first digit will be 1 is not one in nine, as many people would imagine; according to Benford's Law, it is 30.1 percent, or nearly one in three. The chance that the first number in the string will be 2 is only 17.6 percent, and the probabilities that successive numbers will be the first digit decline smoothly up to 9, which has only a 4.6 percent chance.

Shall Not Be Violated

"Since 2002 the U.S. government has been monitoring for suspicious radiation levels outside more than 100 predominantly Muslim-related sites in the greater Washington, D.C., area, as well as various sites in other cities, several government officials with knowledge of the program confirmed to CNN Friday.
One government official said the authorities don't obtain warrants because the testing is conducted from outside the buildings on what they consider public property."

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was created in 1978 after widespread domestic surveillance on civil-rights activists and war protestors. The act states the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court must grant a warrant for domestic government surveillance. The act permits the government to begin surveillance without a warrant, provided a warrant is requested within 72 hours.

US Constitution, 4th Amendment.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The 4th amendment specifically applies to the government. Intelligence agency civil servants are not upholding the US Constitution, and are infringing American civil liberties.

Vehicle Steam Engine

BMW has an add-on kit that uses engine waste heat to "power a steam engine which also contributes power to the automobile – an overall 15 per cent improvement". Hopefully after-market steam engine kits will be available for other vehicles.

NYC Transit Strike

Second day of strike by NYC Transit Workers. News accounts say there is a state law that makes it illegal for them to strike. News says they are striking to protest proposed reduction in retirement benefits for new employees (not existing employees).

If the pension reduction for new employees does go into effect, then in ten or fifteen years these new employees will be most of the work force. At that point they may start wondering how effective the union leaders are at negotiating, and wonder why they send money each month to the union and union leaders. The employees would begin to consider keeping their money instead of sending it to the union.

This strike is about the union bosses protecting their own jobs and protecting the status and clout of the union. The striking employees are only helping protect the long term job security of the union leadership.

Future employees will make a market-based decision of whether the pay and benefits are fair.
This strike is not about future employee's pension benefits - it's about union bosses protecting their fat paychecks over the next two decades.

Higher Gas Price

"This ratcheting down of allowable sulfur adds to costs and also strains the refining system," Lundberg said. "In 2006, the EPA could well cost gasoline consumers more than Hurricane Katrina did."

Adding to market pressures will be a government-mandated increase in the production of gasoline-additive ethanol, Lundberg said. Ethanol, which is made from fermented corn or other starchy grains, is mixed with gasoline to stretch available fuel supplies.

While touted as a greener fuel additive, Lundberg said the government requirement translates into an ethanol demand increase of around 5 percent compared with this year, "enough to wreak some havoc in the market."

Qwest Accounting

Took a long time to get Nacchio for the accounting gimmicks during the bubble days.

Ex-Qwest CEO may face charges on Tues-sources
Tuesday December 20, 1:23 AM EST
By Keith Coffman and Robert Boczkiewicz

DENVER (Reuters) - The former chief executive of Qwest Communications International Inc. may be indicted by a federal grand jury as early as Tuesday for his role in profiting from the firm's overstated results at the tail end of the telecoms boom, people familiar with the matter said.

Joseph Nacchio, who ran the regional telephone carrier as its stock price soared in 1999 and then into a scandal that saw it inflate revenues by $2 billion, could surrender to authorities in Denver and make his first court appearance on Tuesday, one person close to the Qwest investigation said.

Farmers Insurance

Click the title to link to a site that features upset Farmers customers and employees.

I have Farmers, so this is making me more nervous. I started getting nervous when they wouldn't add my child to the policy without a taxpayer ID. Our child does not have a taxpayer ID, and insurance has nothing to do with taxes, so I think they are being nosy. Iwill continue to look for an alternative insurance carrier.

Lap Child

We have flown with our child as a "lap child". By booking flight date/times that would have extra seats, we were able to have a seat for our child at no cost.
We just booked international, and found out United charges about $160 just to register the child. That does not provide a seat, so we paid for another seat.

Eminent Domain

Government land grabs for commercial development are legal in China and the USA.

DONGZHOU, China (AP) -- The commander of forces that shot and killed people protesting land seizures in a southern village has been detained, the Chinese government said Sunday, as police in riot gear patrolled the community and appealed for order.

The police shootings Tuesday were the deadliest known clash yet amid growing anger in areas throughout China over government land seizures for construction of power plants, shopping malls and other projects.

More Surveillance

After killing an American in Miami last week, the air marshals have decided to try to expand their role to all modes of transportation. If they keep creating work for themselves, they will have better job security. Maybe next year they will expand their role to guard the nation's milk supply.

http://apnews1.iwon.com//article/20051214/D8EG3LTO0.html?PG=home&SEC=news

Federal air marshals are expanding their work beyond airplanes, launching counterterror surveillance at train stations and other mass transit facilities in a three-day test program.

American Airlines pilot Denis Breslin, spokesman for the airline's pilots' union, said air marshals ought to stick to airplanes. "I don't think there's enough air marshals to cover commercial aviation as it is," Breslin said. "That's what transit police are for."

"TSA expects to find new ways to quickly deploy resources, in the event of an actual threat, that adds complexity to security measures outside of the aviation domain," the agency said in a statement.

Free Medical Care To Illegals

"Sweden places more restrictions on healthcare provision for illegal immigrants than almost any other country in the European Union, according to MSF. Countries including Spain, France and Italy provide free emergency healthcare to all immigrants."

Automated License Plate Reader

"The system incorporates Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags in stickers that would go on a vehicle’s windshield as well as in reflective sheeting placed over the license plate.
As vehicles drive past sensors, the 3M tags would send vehicle registration and insurance information as well as data about inspection compliance, such as overdue smog checks, to a database. Automatic notices could be sent to the vehicle owners."


Government finding more ways to track people and their moving taxable machines.


Most people don't share more than one or two cars (and then only within their family), so when RFID readers are placed on most roads, government will track even those people who turn off their cell phones.

New Element

The recent hurricanes and skyrocketing oil and
gasoline prices helped to prove the existence of a new
element. In early October 2005, a major research
institution announced the discovery of the heaviest
element yet known to science. The new element has been
named "Governmentium."

Governmentium (Gv) has one neutron, 25 assistant
neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy
neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312. These 312
particles are held together by forces called 'morons'
which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like
particles called 'peons.' Since Gv has no electrons,
it is inert. However, it can be detected, because it
impedes every reaction with which it comes into
contact. A minute amount of Gv causes one reaction to
take over four days to complete, when it would
normally take less than a second!

Gv has a normal half-life of 4 years; it does not
decay; but instead undergoes a reorganization in which
a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy
neutrons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium's
mass will actually increase over time, since each
reorganization will cause more morons to become
neutrons, forming 'isodopes'. This characteristic of
moron promotion leads most scientists to believe that
Gv is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity
in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is
referred to as 'Critical Morass.'

When catalyzed with money, Gv becomes "Administratium'
(Am) - an element which radiates just as much energy
as Gv, since it has half as many peons but twice as
many morons.

Unknown Author. Leave a comment if you know the author.

Water Heater Using Microwaves

..."microwave technology to heat water on demand".


Microwave water heating units sized to fit under sinks would be very useful. Potentially just a cold water line could be run to each sink.