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Give to Caesar what is Caesar's

I think I finally figured out why java liked the windows path format on the classpath option. Even though I am running shell script under cygwin when I crank up java it is running the version that I installed under Windows.

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Résumé Library works with cygwin…finally!

I finally got the makefile that drives résumélibrary to work completely. This really was a waste of time but I was curious. This java stuff had me going for awhile. Actually the big problem was with the path used in the classpath parameter when invoking java. It couldn't find the class to run it. I think I finally settled on the windows version of the path. My logic says it should have looked like the unix path since I am running it under cygwin but I was wrong. I ended up fixing up two shell scripts and having the makefile call them rather than running java directly as was written. I also modified the makefile to make the rtf in addition to the html, text, and pdf. The nice gui app the folks at xmlmind created to convert docbook to rtf ran without an obvious error message. However, the rtf file that was output was unchanged from the input. Oops! I got the cmdline version to run so I should be able to make the gui work, too.

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Résumé Library

I finally got my résumé updated to work with the latest dtd from resumelibrary. I ended up installing cygwin, Xerces/Xalan, and modifying the classpath. I got conflicting recommendations on classpath. I ended up setting an environmental variable that pointed to the directory with the jar files. Sun thought I should enter the -classpath option on the command line. I tried both and the environmental variable was easier. Xalan immediately pointed out some dtd related errors and offered to upgrade my xml to the new version. The error messages are relatively good so far. I liked Mark Pilgrim's xsl but I can't use it with the new dtd. The new xsl is difficult to figure how to customize. On the whole, this exercise has been fruitful. I have successfully worked through an updated dtd, worked with two xml parsers, and improved my résumé quality and content.

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Xml parsers

I got nailed yesterday with resumelibrary. I was working from a copy that Mark Pilgrim had cobbled together and then I thought I would get fancy and use the latest dtd. Bad idea! I blew a lot of time trying to figure out why I couldn't get my resume in xml to validate. It seemed so close but I was really so far away. I finally decided that it was interesting enough that I should commit some time so I am going to get my resume to validate with the latest dtd. The first problem to fix is the lack of error messages by the parser. The online version of resumelibrary was not much help. I will try running the parser, xerces/xalan, locally to see if I can get a better location of the problem. I will also give quick a check to saxon and the M$ parser for kicks.

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Recycling Day

Today I committed myselft to six loads of recycling. Actually it consisted of spreading six loads of compost out on the fields. A load is approximately 9 bushels since that is my manure spreaders capacity. It may weight as much as 1000 pounds. Horses generate a lot of manure and waste bedding. If you wait about six months before you spread it on the fields you can call it compost. It also becomes a lot more dense as the microbes do their job. Procrastination makes it sound so good! It was starting to get in the way so it was time to move it out. Any day that is not bitterly cold is probably a good day to spread compost. The big problem is to make sure you have good traction for the tractor. Cold is good unless you have ice. Warm is good as long as you don't get stuck in the mud.

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Resumes, XML, Saxon, and Python

I started work on my resume today and ended up installing Python, wxPython, and Saxon. Actually I installed Instant-Saxon as I gradually figured out I didn't need the full Saxon. I was looking Mark Pilgrim's resume in XML format and figured out that he had used resume library. So I after downloaded the latest copy off of Sourceforge, I started to download Xerces/Xalan. I was about 25% done when I noticed that Mark had used Saxon and Python. A little internet search later and I had identified that Saxon was a much smaller program and Instant-Saxon was really small. For kicks I tried Instant-Saxon on Mark's xml resume and it worked. Mark really didn't need to use Python. He uses it to create a Word document and there are easier ways than using Python.

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The Buck Stops Here

The President—whoever he is—has to decide. He can't pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding for him. That's his job.
Harry S. Truman

Tonight President Bush sounded a lot like Harry Truman. During his speech tonight he said we are going to call for a vote to disarm Iraq with force even if we don't have the votes. Twelve years of passing the buck on what to do about Iraq's infractions is going to stop. If UN is to exist in the future, France, Germany, and Russia will either vote to enforce the resolution or get out of the way. Maybe then Saddam will decide to flee and avert a war.

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A Prayer for Iraq

I have had difficult time rationalizing the United States going to war with Iraq. As a Christian and a student of history I have low expectations for the benefits of this proposed war. It is difficult to get a clear picture of the threat that Saddam poses to people in the United States. I am not afraid of the weapons of mass destruction that Saddam possesses because I live far, far away. I am bothered with the brutality Saddam has used on his own people so that he can maintain control. I may not like it but the rest of the world thinks Saddam's brutality to his people is okay. I don't believe that Saddam is a credible terrorist threat. I do believe that Osama dislikes Saddam almost as much as Osama dislikes the United States.

I am bothered by Saddam's attitude. I work with children and young horses and I have found that it is important to set boundaries and to "capture teachable moments". Teachable moments are those short periods of time when corrections have the greatest positive effect. When you set up suitable boundaries and enforce them, everyone is happy. By quickly penalizing bad behavior at the time of the infraction, you get the greatest positive change in behavior. Boundaries have been set up by the UN in the past to control Iraq's behavior. Like a little kid, Iraq has ignored these boundaries. Like the derelict parent, the UN has failed to enforce them. The best "teachable moments" have come and gone. Like the derelict parent who now realizes their mistake, the UN is in denial. They are scrambling to show the world that they have some control of the wayward child. Iraq is emboldened by his past successes at circumventing the boundaries. Like a child well trained in manipulating their parents, Iraq replays the old scripts that worked in the past. Saddam and Iraq are confident that they do not have to change anything. Regime change is the only tool left that can change their behavior. Whether we like it or not, the United States is the world's policeman. This policeman no longer believes that the UN can continue to be the "good parent" without a major change in this wayward child, a regime change in Iraq. Without a regime change I believe Saddam will gradually dismantle all existing boundaries. Saddam will eventually export the terror he practices on his own people to the rest of the world as the UN continues to look the other way. The other children, North Korea and Iran, have been watching closely. I believe there is still hope for them.

So I will pray for a short war. I will pray for a war with minimal casualties. I pray that the whole world will join in efforts to rebuild Iraq. I pray that the Iraqis will form a government that will not repeat Saddam's mistakes against his people and his neighbors. I pray that Iraq will one day forgive us.