Iriomote Cats, English Teachers, Yellow Submarine, and Bush Declares Martial Law

Today we have another random group of eclectic posts.

1. Way back in December 2006, I wrote about the Baiji Dolphin become extinct. Truly a sad thing, indeed. Well it's about to happen again to another species. Now, Japan’s Iriomote Cat is Headed for Annihilation
according to the latest news. I am far more saddened about this because I love kitties of all kinds. This has been reported in National Geographic. It's a beautiful cat, too as you can see.

2. I am trying to locate Karen Goff; she was my eighth or ninth grade English teacher from McMillian Junior High School in Miami, Florida. It's an off chance, but she was one of the best teachers I ever had -- and in a subject I am rather fond of. I want to thank her. If anyone knows where she is, that would be great. The school was of no help whatsoever nor was the local school boards.

3. In other disturbing news: I am not a conspiracy theorist, and I often ridicule those who are. Let's be honest, most of them are utter and complete crackpots. However there's a new one making the rounds that even my regular "upstanding citizen" type friends are subscribing to. And, I think I do too. As you know Dubya's term is coming to an end -- and he's not happy, nor does he understand why he's the least popular president ever. There are more and more rumblings being made about Iran from inside the administration, but nowhere else. What happens when he uses some random event -- you know the odds are in favour of an event -- to declare martial law and take over and remain in power? Will anyone be able to stop him? Will the military say no? It's looking more and more real to me every day. Him and his cronies are looking for a way to stay -- just like the Kremlin in its heyday. It scares me.

4. Next Wednesday, I am still predicting a Yellow Submarine iPod pre-loaded with the Beatles oeuvre. It will look similar to the current iPhone without the actual phone functionality. Further, regardless of what comes next, I bet you get a Bluetooth iPod so people have no more wires. You'll also get some form of the iPhone touchscreen. Apple has ordered way more screens than it needs for phones. There's really no other conclusion to be had.

Why Cal Still Rocks

I am no apologist when it comes to homerism and the University of California at Berkeley. It is widely regarded as one of the best schools in the world, and on many of those lists it is declared the best university in the world beating out the rest, so says even the London Times. I blogged this previously.

It bears saying again: Berkeley is better than your school. First, with sixty (60_ Nobel laureates and counting, no other university comes close, not to mention a small collection of Turing Award laureates. The list of distinguished Cal alumni is absurdly long and Wikipedia has an entire article listing a small selection. If you want the best education you can get, then Cal is your school. Good luck getting in because it's not easy. But Cal is special inspiring fierce loyalty, giving an unparalleled education, and teaching beyond education by giving a special sense of community found nowhere else on earth. Not to mention, it's near San Francisco, one of the best cities there is.

Here is a small list of Berkeley Alumni (or attendees in a few instances) to give you an idea of what Cal can produce:

Technology amd Science: Nine (9) astronauts, and so many people in the computer industry it’s impossible to calculate. But Cal grads are responsible for Xerox, Intel, Apple, Atari, Rambus, Sybase, and others. Dozens of mathematicians and physicists. Douglas C. Engelbart (inventor of the computer mouse), Steve Wozniak (Apple Computer) are some of the more recognizable names.

Fiction: Philip K. Dick, Robert Baer, Jack London, Terry McMillan, Vikram Chandra, and Amy Tan.

Music: Stewart Copland (drummer for the Police), Susanna Hoffs (Bangles), Stephan Jenkins (Third Eye Blind), and Adam Durtiz (Counting Crows).

Journalism: Scott Adams (Dilbert), Pauline Esther Friedman (Dear Abby), Jann Wenner (Rolling Stone), Peter Chernin (CEO Fox and President of News Corporation), and William Randolph Hearst, Jr. Conservative talk show hos Michael Savage was a Berkeley liberal hanging out with his former friend Alan Ginsberg before his brains were scrambled and he went further right than Bush.

Actors: Bill Bixby, Jeff Cohen (Chunk in the cult classic film The Goonies), William Hung (sorry), Stacy Keach, Jerry Mathers (The Beaver), Gregory Peck, George Takei, and John Cho.

Business and Finance: Stephen D. Bechtel (Founder Bechtel), Jean Paul Getty, Donald Fisher (founder The Gap), Walter A. Haas (Co-founder Levi Strauss & Co), Edgar F. Kaiser (founder Kaiser Permanente), Howard Lincoln (chairman Nintendo America, retired), Thomas J. Long (fonder Longs Drugs), Sanjay Mehrotra (co-founder SanDisk), Michael Milken (rogue trader), Paul Otellini (CEO Intel), John Riccitiello (CEO Electronic Arts), Arun Sarin (CEO Vodafone UK), John Scharffenberger (dounder of world famous chocolatier), Ralph Warner (founder Nolo Press), and Dean Witter himself. Cal’s first master’s degree was awarded in 1865 to Gardner F. Williams, the first manager of DeBeers Consolidated Mines.

Heads of State and Government and Politics: At least seven (7) presidents, prime ministers, princes, princesses, prime ministers, and at least nine (9) governors. The crown prince of Norway is currently in attendance. Over a dozen secretaries of various governmental departments including Dean Rusk former Secretary of State were loyal Bears. Legislators and mayors (including Ron Dellums) too numerous to list belong to this elite club. As of today there are eight Cal grads in Congress. Jerry Brown is a Cal grad but that may count as a negative. Even historical figures such as Hiram Johnson are Cal grads -- he in 1888, for Cal is historic if nothing else.

Judiciary: Earl Warren, chief justice of the US Supreme Court. Lance Ito of OJ Simpson fame, and others many others far more distinguished but not as famous.

Athletes: Again so many including Jason Kidd, Kevin Johnson (with whom I attended classes), Kyle Boller, Steve Bartkowski, Joe Kapp, Joe Roth, Joe Rose, Russell White, and Chuck Muncie. There are over two dozen Cal Olympians as well, of which Matt Biondi is perhaps the best known. The Cal Rugby team is the best in the NCAA winning 22 out of the past 27 titles including 12 in a row from 1991.

And More: Alice Waters (Chef), Timothy Leary (counter-culture icon), Ted Kazcynski (the Unabomber), and the universally famous Rube Goldberg. And let us not forget Jay Ward, creator of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right, and others. In an interesting side-note many fictional characters are Cal grads too from Jack Bauer on 24, to Monk, to Mrs. Robinson in the legendary film the Graduate.

GO BEARS!

Cal Rocks

Ah, yes, the University of California at Berkeley. Often maligned, terminally underfunded, but home of some of the most loyal alumni there are. The most amazing thing at Cal is our passionate feelings towards our wicked red-headed step-sister Stanford University and Junior High School. It was there long before I attended and will be there long after I am gone from this world. This powerful rivalry spawned "The Big Game" and of course "The Play" -- still ranked as one of the most amazing sports moments ever by Sports Illustrated.

Well, there are a few articles you should read. The first, published in Stanford's own student newspaper is the stunning admission that Cal really is better. We already know it, of course, but it's nice to be validated.
http://daily.stanford.edu/tempo?page=content&id=15400&repository=0001_article#

This comes on the heels of an important announcement. The London Times is ancient bastion of news and one of the more respected newspapers anywhere. They have published an objective ranking of the top universities. And we're not talking the best universities in the US, or the UK, or anything like that. These are the rankings of the finest universities on planet Earth. Rarified names such as Oxford, Yale, Cambridge, and such all appear below Cal. It's satisfying to know that according to the London Times, Cal is the second best university in the entire world. As a former Cal student, and card carrying member of the UC Berkeley Alumni association, I already knew that. And now, so does the rest of the world. The link is here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1343642,00.html

That is today's fine news.

I will have other news down the road.

Yay.
-- Eric