The Real Kato Online

The Minnesota Supreme Court has ordered that Al Franken be certified as the winner of last November's Senate election. Should the Senate proceed with seating Franken next week, that will give the Democrats a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the Senate.

Coleman may still pursue challenges in federal court, but dude... just give up already. The race is over; you lost.

Let the Republican agonizing and wailing begin. (Or perhaps I should say, continue.)

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Posted by Ken in: politics

Back in Blog

Tuesday, 2009 June 30 - 12:38 pm

So, I'm back from a ten-day trip to Japan, hence the long hiatus. I wrote some stuff about Japan earlier and my observations about it haven't changed much... so excuse the re-blog-cycling, but you can just go back and read that older post.

Amy's already posted some photos on Facebook. I'll put some photos here soon, perhaps this weekend.

Oh, in other news? Mom and Dad are now reading my blog. I'll, uh, try not to let that affect my writing.

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Posted by Ken in: life

Sarah Palin says Letterman owes women an apology

Friday, 2009 June 12 - 12:17 pm

In case you hadn't heard the furor about David Letterman and Sarah Palin, the gist of it is that Letterman made a joke about stripper-chasing baseball player Alex Rodriguez having sex with Palin's daughter. The reference was clearly about Bristol, Palin's teenage daughter who was infamously pregnant during last year's elections. But Palin took the reference to be about her fourteen-year-old daughter Willow, who was traveling with her at the time.

So, Sarah Palin was outraged. OUTRAGED! And now she's demanding that Letterman apologize to all women.

Ms. Palin: David Letterman is a comedian who makes cheap jokes at the expense of public figures. You are a public figure, and you seemed to have no qualms about prominently featuring your visibly-pregnant daughter Bristol during your campaign. So Letterman has every right to ridicule you both. Was the joke in poor taste? Perhaps, as are many jokes that are made in late night TV. Does Letterman need to apologize to all women for this? No.

The person who needs to apologize to all women, Ms. Palin, is you. You've spent your life advancing yourself on your looks and your folksy charm instead of intelligence and actual qualifications, and that's precisely the opposite of what feminism is about. You are not the standard bearer for women's rights. The only women you seem to defend are yourself and those in your own family. Did you defend Hillary Clinton when she felt attacked by the media? No. Did you defend rape victims in Wasilla when you required them to purchase their own rape kits? No.

No, you're just using any opportunity you can to stay in the media spotlight during the long run-up to the 2012 elections. If you don't think that's utterly transparent to everyone in the country, then you're even dumber than you look.

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Posted by Ken in: politics, television

Apple WWDC Announcements

Monday, 2009 June 8 - 8:35 pm

A few Apple goings-on today from the World Wide Developer Conference, for those who haven't been following:

iPhone 3GS. Apple announced slightly improved iPhone, with a faster processor, faster 3G networking, more storage, longer battery life, an improved 3 megapixel camera with autofocus, video recording, and a compass. It comes at the same price points as the previous iPhone, $199 and $299 (for 16GB and 32GB) with a two-year AT&T contract. Apple is also selling the previous-generation iPhone 3G for $99, which might bring in a lot of entry-level buyers.

Macbook Pro. Two announcements here: an upgraded 15" MBP with an improved screen, twice the RAM (4GB standard), and a faster CPU. The battery is now integrated and non-replaceable, but it's a lithium-polymer long-lasting battery like in the 17" model. An SD card slot replaces the ExpressCard slot; Apple says that very few users made use of the ExpressCard slot except to add a media card reader. There's also now an entry-level model at $1699, with only the Nvidia GeForce 9400M instead of the dual-GPU option in the higher-end models.

The 13" Aluminum Macbook is now a 13" MacBook Pro; it gets the Firewire port back (now FW800) and gains an SD card slot also. Now only the white Macbook is called a "Macbook". It was recently speed-bumped also.

Macbook Air. The main news is that it's now cheaper; it starts at $1499.

The rest of the WWDC keynote speech was devoted to descriptions about iPhone OS 3.0 and the upcoming Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" update. One tidbit: the Snow Leopard update will be just $29; Apple (rightly) figures that customers won't shell out a full $129 for a bunch of largely-invisible under-the-hood improvements. (Cough Windows 7 cough).

iPhone OS 3.0 will support MMS and tethering (finally), but AT&T won't support either until later this summer. There's no word on pricing plans for tethering, but judging from AT&T's tethering plans for other phones, it'll be pricey.

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Posted by Ken in: techwatch

Sotomayor, Eh?

Tuesday, 2009 May 26 - 11:16 am

In perhaps the least surprising SCOTUS news of the year, President Obama has nominated Sonia Sotomayor to be replace David Souter on the Supreme Court. And while I'm not going to go all Republican and suggest that Obama chose Sotomayor merely because of her sex and her race, those factors had to play some role in the decision-making process. But still: it's a solid selection. She's clearly qualified for the position. If she doesn't breeze through the nomination process, I'll be shocked.

Also: it's fun to say "Sotomay-ORRR" with a pretend Spanish accent.

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Posted by Ken in: politics

Sailing Takes Me Away

Saturday, 2009 May 23 - 8:24 pm

So today was the Raleigh Skirt Chaser 5K race. I have not run in an actual race since, um, Christopher Cross was in the Billboard top 40. Yeah, I was like ten years old.

Also, until two days ago, I haven't even attempted to run 5 kilometers in years. I used to run two miles regularly, and four miles occasionally... but my running has suffered as of late. (By "suffered", I mean "I've run from the couch to the toilet, but not much more.") But I went ahead and signed up for the Skirt Chaser race at my friend Anna's behest, not really believing I could finish the race at all, much less do any better than a humiliating last-place.

But you know what? I finished. And while I didn't come close to catching the ridiculous Kenyan woman who finished in under 16 minutes, I managed a respectable 32:30 (approximately; the official results haven't been posted yet). So, yay me... maybe I'm not quite as hopelessly old and marshmallow-y as I'd feared.

A few photos will be up on Facebook in a day or two.

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Posted by Ken in: life

American Idol Finale: The Gokey Factor

Wednesday, 2009 May 20 - 10:16 pm

Well, I can't say I'm totally surprised by the result of Idol tonight... no doubt, Gokey fans voted in droves for Kris. It's more of an anti-Adam vote than a pro-Kris vote. Still, I have to give credit to Kris; I didn't even think he'd make the top ten, and he flew under the radar the whole way and ended up winning. Good for him.

I still think Allison has the biggest commercial potential.

Contestants aside, I was blown away by the geezer star lineup for the finale episode. Kiss, Queen, and Santana on the same stage? Lionel Ritchie and Rod Stewart, still alive? Cyndi Lauper and Queen Latifa? Wow.

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Posted by Ken in: television

American Idol 2009 Week 11: Top 2

Tuesday, 2009 May 19 - 10:37 pm

Danny went home last week. It's Kris and Adam, in perhaps the most lopsided matchup in Idol history. If Kris wins this, it'll be a huge upset.

Read more...

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Posted by Ken in: television

UR CAPTCHA SUCKS

Saturday, 2009 May 16 - 10:19 am

Lately we've been getting robocalls at 8:00 in the morning, from someone trying to tell us that we need to update our account information for "the Internet", because apparently the we are behind on our payments.

Also, my web site has been seeing more and more comment spam.

Here's the thing: I'm supposed to have mechanisms to stop both of these things from happening, but they're not working right.

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Posted by Ken in: site-business, techwatch

Hockey Good

Thursday, 2009 May 14 - 10:28 pm

Wings win. Canes win. Hockey good. That is all.

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Posted by Ken in: sports

American Idol 2009 Week 10: Top 3

Tuesday, 2009 May 12 - 8:23 pm

Allison went home last week, boo. Also, Simon Cowell publicly predicted that Adam would win it all. This week, with three guys left: the judges pick one song, the contestants pick one.

Read more...

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Posted by Ken in: television

Star Trek

Tuesday, 2009 May 12 - 8:57 am

Star Trek 11? Star Trek Zero? Whatever it's called, this movie is clearly the start of a new franchise, with a hot young cast and a clean slate for future story lines.

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Posted by Ken in: movies, reviews

Today's Headlines

Monday, 2009 May 11 - 9:39 am

The new "Star Trek" movie grossed $76.5 million on its opening weekend, thanks to positive early reviews. I'll have my own review posted later today.

That Georgia professor whom I thought was so smart? Turns out he had evaded police by killing himself. Perhaps not so smart after all.

Roxana Saberi, the U.S. reporter who had been jailed in Iran on charges of espionage, has reportedly been released. Most believe it was due to relentless diplomatic pressure from the U.S. and other countries. But I think that secretly, the U.S. government loved having her young pretty face be the symbol of the struggle against Iranian fascism.

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Posted by Ken in: commentary

Today's Headlines

Friday, 2009 May 8 - 8:36 am

Former Illinois police sergeant Drew Peterson has been indicted on a murder charge in the death of his third wife. Wasn't he Sloan's dad in Ferris Bueller? Also: what's the deal with guys named Peterson killing their wives? There was Scott Peterson, Michael Peterson, and now Drew Peterson. Note to women: don't marry men named Peterson.

Senate Republicans are attacking Obama's health care plan... before they even know what it is. Really? I guess the idea is "any change to our health care system would be bad". God forbid we should have the same "socialist" health care they have in Europe (i.e., affordable and convenient). Better to keep our good old American system with its spiraling costs and profit-motivated insurance providers. Note to Republicans: when you talk about reducing the size of the federal government, please keep in mind that the government spends about 750 billion dollars a year on health care. Doesn't that seem like a good reason to reform our system?

Top flu expert warns of a swine flu-bird flu mix. Note to pigs: stop having sex with chickens.

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Posted by Ken in: commentary, politics

American Idol 2009 Week 9: Top 4

Tuesday, 2009 May 5 - 8:06 pm

Matt finally went home last week. This week: rock songs... as solos and as duets... with Slash as a mentor. Ooookay.

Read more...

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Posted by Ken in: television

Today's Headlines

Monday, 2009 May 4 - 9:19 am

Some U.S. senators have suggested that Obama's pick to succeed David Souter on the Supreme Court should perhaps come from somewhere other than the federal appellate courts. Mr. Obama: I agree. Pick me.

Notre Dame's decision to have Obama speak at their commencement has infuriated some Catholics. I suppose a war-mongering torture-supporting President would have been OK, though. Why are people so insistent on making abortion the single defining issue in politics?

I'm fascinated by the story of the professor who allegedly killed his wife and two other people. John Bankhead of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation states: "He's not the typical type of fugitive police have to deal with." In other words: most criminals are dumb; this guy isn't. Hollywood usually portrays criminals as idiots. In the Hollywood version of this story, the professor would be caught after attempting to sneak back into town to cut out the heart from his wife's body or something. No such luck for police this time.

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Posted by Ken in: commentary, politics

Today's Headlines

Wednesday, 2009 April 29 - 9:11 am

Fox News commentator Sean Hannity said he'd volunteer to be waterboarded for charity. Now MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann has
challenged him to go through with it. My hunch says Hannity chickens out.

The San Antonio Spurs are out of the NBA playoffs. Normally I couldn't care less* about non-Detroit teams in the NBA, but if there are two teams that make me happy when they lose, it's the Spurs and the Lakers.

Egypt is slaughtering 300,000 pigs over swine flu fears, despite the fact that no cases have appeared in Egypt yet. Next: Egypt to kill all Spaniards due to fears of Spanish flu.

*And yes, the correct phrase is "I couldn't care less", not "I could care less"... pet peeve grrr.

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Posted by Ken in: commentary, sports

American Idol 2009 Week 8: Top 5

Tuesday, 2009 April 28 - 9:21 pm

Lil and Anoop went home last week. Matt, unfortunately, survived. Lil blames the judges for biasing America against her. Surrrrre.

This week: Rat Pack standards.

Read more...

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Posted by Ken in: television

GOOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLL!

Tuesday, 2009 April 28 - 9:07 pm

1:20 in the 3rd, Hurricanes tie Game 7 against the Devils.

0:31 in the 3rd: Hurricanes go up 4-3. Amazing.

And it's over... Hurricanes advance. That was such an incredible finish; my mind is officially blown. Wow.

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Posted by Ken in: sports

In the News

Tuesday, 2009 April 28 - 1:06 pm

Sometimes I feel guilty about not posting more often. It's not just that my blog is being neglected (and that recent entries are dominated by American Idol posts), but also that I often see interesting stories in the news that seem like they'd be worth a quick comment.

On the other hand, sometimes I don't really have much to say about those stories, so I'm not sure if anyone would care for my one-line analysis. Eh. It's my blog, I guess, so whatevah, I do what I want.

So anyway, read on for a couple of newsworthy tidbits.

Read more...

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Posted by Ken in: commentary, politics, techwatch

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