Harriet Done In

Harriet Mier's goal of being on the Supreme Court ended Thursday.

She withdrew her name due to her concern about Senate requests for documents that chronicle her time with the President. Miers felt that this request could damage her work as Bush's lawyer.

In my mind, this is a major league cop-out. Personally, I felt there were other reasons.

I place blame for this in three directions. The first place for blame is the White House itself. It seemmed out of focus and lost. My other candidate of blame is the various right wing losers who opposed her nomination. These were the same folks who were whining about Democrats were then blocking other judges being judged (no pun intended) though the Senate. You also have to admit that Miers herself is to blame. According to an editorial I read, she failed to impress Senators and some also said that she would flunk her confirmation hearings. The questionnaire she gave to the Judiciary Committee failed to impress the committee further. In short, Mier's lack of experience was worse than we fought.

Bush now has one more chance for this seat. Will he use it effectually or squander it?

It's gadget time!

Recently Apple and Palm released updates.

First Apple finally added video playback to the iPod. While this has long been expected, to me it is too soon. Besides the stuff avilable on iTunes, there's a real lack of content for a video iPod. My other problem with a viedo iPod is the whole portability aspect. Who would want to watch video on a small screen like that? I have a portable TV with a smaller screen than the new iPod with video has. I don't take it with me all the time due to the fact of the small screen. In short, Apple will have to go a long way to convince me video is the way forward on an iPod.

I am more happy over the updates Palm has made. Palm has finally broken the US$100 mark with a new color model called the Z22 (the name Zire has been dropped). Before this new Z22, all of the previous Zire models were monochrome. Compared to those previous models, the Z22 lacks a SD card slot. For being the first sub US$100 Palm, I guess this was one place were Palm made cuts. If I were buying my first Palm now, the Z22 would be a good choice. But I guess i'm not Palm's target here.

The Tungsten name has been dropped as well with the new generation of this model being known as the TX. Unlike the model I was previously interested in (the Tungsten E2), the TX has a lot a more. A nice addition is Bluetooth (for connecting devices) and Wi-Fi (for wireless Internet access). Combine that with a MP3 player and Documents to Go (a Microsoft Office clone for the Palm), and you have a device that could subvert a laptop!

I can't wait to see it.

Getting fit, getting personal

The Apprentice is back!

Compared to the last three seasons, there have been some changes. For this episode, Trump bragged about how many companies he owns. There were also comments from the contestants about their lives. One had a child at sixteen. Another was born in Russia, and another has five degrees. And as a first, one candidate is gay. Unlike the pervious seasons, Trump met the candidates at his golf course, rather than at Trump Tower. There is also a rule change with exemptions. They will own be given to the project manager if that person wins a vote. I feel this is good. On the other hand, Trump started out with a stupid tactic: he had each team race to his helicopter. The team who got there first would use it.

When the teams got back to NYC, they went to their gyms. The girls, being late, picked a gym in Spanish Harlem. It was here that Melissa went on and on about how pricing should be low, since she knew Hispanics. The guys had their own problem. Markus, their project manager, seemed to be unsure of himself. That annoyed his teammates. I felt both of their actions were poor.

The women named themselves Capital Edge. They also seem unfocused. Their only marketing was on the street for a workout that consisted of abs, kickboxing, and pilates. The men named themselves the Excel Corp and targeted people with a work out of abs, yoga, and butt-boxing. The women had more problems when they put out a flyer that had three X's for their workout. Some questioned the bad taste. Also Melissa caused more problems when she complained to Carolyn about Kristi's work ethic and leadership.

The task ended with Excel winning by less than 20 bucks. The men got lunch with Trump. While there, they fought over Markus's leadership skills. Randal's grandmother had died and Trump let him take time off for the service.

The boardroom was a masterpiece. The girls got hammered for their marketing, with the XXX flyer for their workout program being the center piece. Talk then turned to Melissa's conduct. All the girls said she was disruptive and a pain to work with. In the boardroom, Melissa sealed her own fate by declaring that she doesn't work well with women. This outburst, combined with Kristi's poor marketing and leadership, forced Trump to make a choice. Melissa was on the losing end of the choice.

That's why I say it's good to work with others.