The Military Commission's Diabolical Math

On August 7, 2008, the trail of Salim Ahmed Hamdan ended with a verdict and a sentence. Both sides are claiming vindication, but I would be hard-pressed to find evidence of a government victory here. The jury acquitted Hamdan on the more serious charge, and essentially slapped him on the wrist on the lesser charge with a light sentence. Personally, I would not have been sad to see him get a life sentence. But the circumstances of the detention and trial have complicated the government's efforts, to put it lightly.
The most interesting aspect for me, is a delicious, some would say diabolical, bit of math performed by the military jury. They handed a 5 1/2 year sentence with credit for time served, which implies that there are 5 1/2 months left in the sentence (I am taking the major news networks at at their word). If you assume that, the sentence ends on January 22... 2 days after the presidential inauguration !
So the first order of business for a new president is to decide whether to continue Hamdan's detention as an unlawful combatant or to release him. Either way, it will mark an emphatic beginning to the presidency.
Further, if the networks are off by a few days, it may turn out to be the last decision that President Bush has to make before leaving office. Which way will he sway in his attempt to "cement his legacy" ?
I think this maybe a deliberate attempt by the jury to force the issue. I love it !

Going to school on iTunes

There is a new feature in iTunes called "iTunes U", and I cannot recommend it highly enough. It consists mainly of lectures from universities and colleges. While a lot of these lectures are nowadays available on the individual university websites, it is still very cool to have them collected in one place. And the most amazing aspect of it all - they are free, every one of them. It is remarkable to me that so many schools and professors are willing to put their work out there without charging for it.

Some of the pieces are short clips... one I would recommend, for example is a charming series on infinity from Mr. Luis Moreno from Broome Community College. Others are entire lecture series for a graduate course, with links to detailed lecture notes, the tests for the course and a whole lot more. I am currently spending some quality time, vicariously of course, with Dr. Dave Forney from MIT in his digital communication class and Dr. Stephen Boyd from Stanford in his Convex Optimization course. I have had these course before of course, but you will be surprised how much rust accumulates after being a decade out of grad school. It is refreshing for me to go back to the classroom, but without some of the associated pressures. It is you against the blackboard, everything else is peripheral. For brief periods of time, you get to try and match your wits with someone considered great in their field, follow their train of thought and have legitimate voila moments.

For me, however, there is one thing better than being in a class, and that is teaching it. Every so often, events such as viewing these lectures tend to revive a longstanding desire in me to enter the teaching profession.. Unfortunately, I have come a long way down the road in industry to go back.. Especially in my field (telecommunications), but apparently also in a lot of other fields, being on a faculty nowadays has less to do with teaching than with looking for research grants. I think if I had the luxury, I would rather teach in a community college than a major university. If they will have me, of course... I am reminded of Groucho Marx's quip that he won't be associated with any club that would have him as a member! Anyway, this is a whole other discussion.....

Back to iTunesU: There is something for any background and interest, be it astronomy or arts. There are also public radio and television pieces, video from some great museums, etc.

Check it out. You may get hooked.