Blog: The BM Rant

Cited: Time William Bratton was given the idea by Maple, an employee, for the data-driven policing. When Bratton became police Commissioner under Mayor Giuliani in 1994 these ideas which citywide. This is where CompStat evolved from and became a real-time database of crime statistics and other intelligence for pinpointing trouble spots and targeting resources for the Police Department. Precinct captains and district commanders found themselves in the hot seat and results followed. The crime rate went way down. [...]

Cited: MSNBC Another clunker deal is in the works. The only difference is that instead of your car they want your finances as long as her more than five years old. So if you want some money, it might be time to go shopping. I have a hard time getting rid of things. My parents taught me to use something until it wears out. I guess that's why my wife and I have the same washer and dryer [...]

Cited: MSNBC According to many experts that were surveyed for a look at "The Future of the Internet", in 2020 the Internet just might make us more literate in a different kind of way. Also, the consensus of the experts is that Google "will make people stupid" because people rely on the search engine so much. Of course, privacy will be a little bit more difficult to achieve than it is already on the Internet. [...]

Cited: Variety/Publishers Weekly Columbia Pictures is bringing back the Bronze Age by reviving Doc Savage. Doc Savage is a pulp fiction hero popular in the 1930s and 40s. In pulp novels, movies and comic books he was known as the Man of Bronze and hero to man. Shane Black is attached to direct the film from a screenplay he is penning with Anthony Bagarozzi and Chuck Mondry. Neal Moritz ("Fast and Furious") will produce through his Sony-based Original Film [...]

Cited: Associated Press The attorney for Amy Bishop, the Alabama college professor accused of killing three colleagues during a faculty meeting, may be insane because she cannot remember the shootings. Roy W. Miller, the court-appointed attorney for Amy Bishop, told The Associated Press in an interview on February 18 that his client has severe mental problems that appear to be paranoid schizophrenia. Miller discussed the case hours after hundreds of mourners attended the first funeral and memorial services for Bishop's slain co-workers. [...]

Cited: Reuters Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid got help in his campaign on February 19 from Pres. Barack Obama who unveiled a $1.5 billion housing aid program that will support homeowners in the hardest hit states in the housing crisis, Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada Housing was at the center of the financial crisis that threw the economy into deep recession in late 2007. While signs of stabilization are appearing, home foreclosures are still rising in much of the country. [...]

Cited: Associated Press There was a sharp decline of people falling behind on their mortgages in December of last year, which is a sign that may indicate the foreclosure crisis is beginning to end. This is a very interesting occurrence because if there are going to be any delinquencies it usually happens at the end of the year. The Mortgage Bankers Association said February 19 that the percentage of borrowers who missed just one payment on their home loans fell to [...]

Cited: Associated Press On February 19, Tiger Woods publicly apologized for his behavior and admits that he was "foolish". He also admitted that he was in therapy without revealing any new details about his infidelity and told the world he's not sure when he will play golf again. Speaking before a small group at the TPC Sawgrass clubhouse and a massive television audience, one of the world's most-recognized athletes repeatedly told his family, sponsors and fans — in essence, everyone connected [...]

Cited: Associated Press/Reuters The FBI has declared 2001 anthrax mailings case closed as it has decided that the government researcher acted alone. The long-running investigation has been closed according to a person familiar with the case on February 19. The person informed of the decision to close the case was not authorized to speak about it before an official announcement expected later on February 19 and therefore spoke on condition of anonymity. The anthrax letters were sent to lawmakers and news organizations [...]

Cited: Time Continued from " A Chef at McDonald's? Part 1 " Coudreaut was experimenting with some very non-McDonald's ingredients on the day of my visit. He was working with celery root, broccoli rabe, wild salmon, hazelnuts and candied orange rind. There was a huge pot of veal stock simmering on a back burner of the Wolf. He seemed to want to prove his culinary skills, and he did — he made a delicious lunch — [...]

Cited: Time Nobody would believe that McDonald's has a chef on their payroll because it sounds so ridiculous. How could the big Mac, french fries and the McRib be the work of a chef? The countless foods are definitely salty, but they have a nostalgic flavor to them as well. They could be partly because of the marketing campaigns they put out. And yet — have you eaten at a McDonald's lately? In the past five years, the [...]

Cited: Reuters February 19 The harsh interrogation techniques that were reportedly used on terrorism suspects were authorized by Bush administration attorneys who, according to the Department of Justice investigation into the allegations of misconduct, used "poor judgment". That was the determination of the DOJ on February 19 when they summarize the lengthy ethics report The department's Office of Professional Responsibility had originally found that the lawyers, John Yoo and Jay Bybee, had engaged in professional misconduct, according to a letter sent to the [...]

Cited: Time People are now wondering if it is possible to solve big problems like health care, climate change and terrorism. It does not help the mood of Washington is a bit low. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel of one of the biggest problems this country faces. That light is focusing on violent crime. The US has been facing this problem for years and it seems to have been worse over the last 20 [...]

Cited: Time/Top News The mental health benefits of flexible work environments has had a lot of researchers scratching their heads trying to find out if they believe we work early or arrived late for personal reasons actually have a broader physical health benefit besides being less frazzled. According to the Cochrane Library's Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews , the new research seems to prove it is helpful. In a review of 10 previous studies examining the [...]

Cited: Variety The creative juices are flowing at Warner Bros. as it works its creative muscles to get the army of caped crusaders of the DC world on to the big screen while Marvel continues with its superhero movies. With the success of the last two Batman features, Warner Bros. is boosting its divisions across the board. They are keeping "Catwoman" on their mind as they know like it can mail at the box office. It's been nearly six months since Warners took over DC [...]

Cited: Variety Warner Bros. is meticulously working its creative muscles on getting DC's army of caped superheroes onto the big screen as Marvel advances with its superhero movies. Considering what the last two Batman adventures did for the studio's bottom line, Warner Bros. to boosting its divisions across the board. I also know that movies like "Catwoman" can fail at the box office It's been nearly six months since Warners took over DC Comics, rebranded it DC Entertainment and pulled back development of its superhero [...]

Cited: MSNBC The travel columnist at MSNBC had some excellent information for travelers if you are into social media networking. Apparently, you can boost your online power by utilizing seven simple secrets. So if you happen to have a problem getting good hotels, rental cars or other accommodations and traveling, this information would be an excellent read. It seems that many people think that all I have to do is get on Tweeter and tell the travel companies were problems are. [...]

Cited: Associated Press The US now has a new credit card law that does nothing for many of the old problems. However, you can still get a credit card even if your finances are a mess. It is just going to cost you more than it did before. This new law took effect on February 22 and was supposed to prevent banks from using tactics that pulled credit card holders deeper into debt. On the other hand, there are still many cards and loans that [...]

Cited: Variety Broadcasters and cable biz industry keeps arguing over retransmission consent fees. However, they are overlooking one factor and it is the easy availability of free over the air TV via rooftop or indoor antennas, which could mean free TV is making a comeback. When Time Warner Cable and Fox engaged in their public ad blitz and Brinksmanship in December, with the cable guys threatening to throw the broadcast bums off the air if they didn't stop demanding excessive fees for [...]

Cited: New York Times According to the people involved in the investigation of the hacker attacks on Google and dozens of medical rations, the hackers been traced to two educational institutions in China. One of these schools supposedly has ties to the Chinese military. They also said the attacks, aimed at stealing trade secrets and computer codes and capturing e-mail of Chinese human rights activists, may have begun as early as April, months earlier than previously believed. Google announced on Jan. 12 [...]