Category Archives: Uncategorized

John Hawkins reads America Alone so you don’t have to.

A nice little video from Scrappleface.

GIs mock Kerry.

For the record, I recognized immediately that he was trying to slam Bush and flubbed it. It is the most obvious explanation, which we all know is usually the correct one, but man, he sure just kept on digging, didn’t he. He should have just apologized to the troops and not tried to blame Bush. Kinda dumb the way he handled it.

Here you go, Jay explains it.

Good news about Iraq, if you can stand it.

Papua New Guinea threatening to cut off Australian aid over something or other.

It’s NaNoWriMo, in case you were planning to write the Great American Novel.

A brief fisking of Maureen Dowd column.

Need I say more?

Oh, okay then. He’s reviewing not funny comedies for snobs.

Seems that 24% of Protestants and 36% of Catholics are confused as to what a Christian is.

Not everyone who described themselves as Christian or Jewish said that they believed in God. Only 76 percent of Protestants, 64 percent of Catholics, and 30 percent of Jews said they are “absolutely certain” there is a God.

It’s World Vegan Day. Vegetable haters rejoice

When I think Depeche Mode, I don’t think Legos.

Until now.

declares Bejing Bob.

I would totally buy a leatherbound laptop, had I the spare cash.

USB rechargable AA batteries. A little steep pricewise at $24/pair, but still an awesome idea.

I too am dead tired of WiPEs. I am looking forward to seeing how everything will become roses and rainbows once there is a presidential election. Birds will be singing, small children will be laughing, the economy will be booming, foreign relation problems will disappear and we’ll all have a white kitten to kiss. The only thing keeping us from that, near as I can tell, is George Bush personally. He’s the anti-Coke.

CBS is looking for people that Muslim’s make nervous.

In the word’s of the immortal Akbar, IT’S A TRAP. Let’s see who falls for it.

I almost said it was cold enough to snow out loud this evening, but I didn’t want to jinx it.

So much for that plan.

This cake, fuhggedaboutit*.

I can’t actually have a piece yet, but there is no conceivable way this could possibly be less than fabulous.

* 3. The subject is unequivocally excellent; further thought and analysis are unnecessary.

You know how your teachers all tell you that you can be anything you want when you grow up? LIES.

I will never be a professional crepe maker. 31 attempted: 25 survived: 6 weren’t badly deformed in one manner or another: 0 proper crepes. Eh well.

Ratbert discovers an immortal truth.

I know I fear backlash against Christians every time a Pat Robertson quote gets out into the public. Practically the same thing.

I then go on to blame the White House, because I know that will draw attention away from me as everyone starts frothing at the mouth at the thought of Bush.

Russian scientists testing the idea that beatings cure depression. Thereby justifying your mother’s “I’ll give you something to cry about” as a remedy for crying. I think I’d rather have a pill with side effects.

I neeeeed bookshelves like these. Regardless of the fact I no appropriate place for them.

via Make

Tim Blair looks at Australia’s mufti apologizing for his “blame the rape victim” speech.

Thinking better of their clever plan, animal rights activist compromise.

Animal rights activists who broke into a circus to liberate a rare white tiger changed their minds after seeing it – and took a bunny rabbit instead.

Hey, I think I could write like this. Given time. And practice.

Computer, did we bring batteries? Computer?
– Eileen Gunn

It’s behind you! Hurry before it
– Rockne S. O’Bannon

The baby’s blood type? Human, mostly.
– Orson Scott Card

Tick tock tick tock tick tick.
– Neal Stephenson

WORLD’S END. Sic transit gloria Monday.
– Gregory Benford

Okay, there’s lots more good ones, but you can go read them yourself.

Okay, okay, okay, one more:

Metrosexuals notwithstanding, quiche still lacks something.
– David Brin

Not that I agree with that, quiche is almost a perfect food: bacon, heavy cream, pie crust, what is it lacking?

The Slashdotters bring the funny with the whole IE7-Firefox cake thing.

I had no idea the Wave was a modern invention. Or so controversial. Surely the Romans had something like that.

Everyone’s talking about the new Firefox, so against my better judgment I downloaded it. My biggest problem with the new Firefox 2.0 is that it doesn’t work. It opens. Nothing will load though. Makes surfing the interwebs very difficult.

A reinstallation fixed it. Still, not the best of first impressions.

The IE7 team shares the love with the Firefox team.

Post Falls, Idaho has a Center for Advanced Microelectronics
and Biomolecular Research. Post. Falls. Idaho.

I learned this because the director and one of the assistant professors is lecturing the CCA kids.

Oh sure, help the brain damaged, but I’m thinking: superhuman reflexes. Two cortexes = twice as much thinking = twice the fun.

How the media will manipulate the last couple weeks of the election cycle.

Should someone hit a homer into left or center field tonight Taco Bell will give away a free crunchy taco to everyone.

Free tacos will only be available at Taco Bells in the U.S. and selected franchises in Canada between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Wed., Nov. 1.

The depressing list of dead people that make more in a year than you will in your lifetime.

So I hadn’t really checked in with the Dilbert blog lately, and boy have I been missing some stuff. Seriously odd stuff.

I stopped getting the Botox shots because although they allowed me to talk for a few weeks, my voice was too weak for public speaking.

No really. That stuff is a menace.

The bizarre crackdown was prompted because Vegemite contains folate, which in the US can be added only to breads and cereals.

Despite my hatred—like the fire of a thousand burning suns—of the Tigers, this is a great wootcast.

I think it’s the keys. And the clever lyrics. And the ooooo’s. And the Otis Redding part.

Spock’s mother has died. Father Know’s Best, what’s that?

via Inoperable Terran

Want to immortalize yourself? Yahoo and the Smithsonian are here to help.

At the gym, constant ads for “Broken Government – The Do Nothing Congress“. And by constant I mean four times I ran for about 2 and a half minutes every 5 minutes or so and saw the ad 3 times.

Right before an election, hmm. What are they trying to say? I’m not saying it’s not broken, or fixed. Frankly, the whole lot annoy me with their drunken Democrat-like spending and I would kick all the bums out if I thought there was something better to put into place, but I have to question the timing of a supposedly unbiased media. It may be a fair and balanced report, but the ad doesn’t come across that way, and in American politics, appearance is everything.

A Boston Herald columnist takes the New York Times, and the media in general, to task over their aid and comfort to the enemy reporting.

Our media has repeatedly propagated falsehoods about what the administration and the president have said, about what was known and about what in some cases has been borne out about the threats we have faced from al Qaeda, Saddam Hussein and others. This has been done to such an extent that reasonable people cannot be blamed for believing their president lied to them before committing troops to battle. To the extent that some seemingly responsible people now question whether we face any threat at all.

Lileks serves as someone I can point to and say, “See, I’m not as bad as that.” thereby justifying my moderate packrat tendencies.

This is coming from someone that prefers fake syrup to real tree sap on pancakes so take it with a grain of salt, but the lack of Miracle Whip in the world, not a bad thing.

Girls suspended from school because their friends are morans.

Newly discovered bacteria living deep in rock relies on uranium splitting water molecules for energy. The hydrogen combines with sulfates, so in that they are similar to the bacteria that live in the hydrothermal vents deep in the ocean.

This is just my public school education showing, but I had no idea Poland had a coast. Much less a Coast Guard that is trying to start WWIII, or WWIV, or WWV, depending on where you think we are.

The Halo movie lost its financing.

Ful Disclosure: I would have rented it.

Depending on who you ask, we may or may not be in the annual flu-shortage scare.

Having found our weakness, it appears that the stingrays have begun their offensive.

Oddly enough, work is keeping me from posting. Not my normal work, but special added bonus work. I’m having fun taking computers apart and putting computers together and then taking them apart and putting them together and then declaring them D-E-A-D, dead.

Added bonus advice: A quality power supply is worth the money.

An open letter to conservatives from Iowahawk Howard Dean.

Sound is cool. So is fire. Together, it’s an amusing two and half minutes.

I swear I recognize that guy, and I have no idea why. Sorry dude, whoever you are.

Cod fish are too big for their own good.

“We are not the wide-open spaces anymore,” said Martha Farnsworth Riche, who headed the Census Bureau in the mid-1990s and is now a research demographer at Cornell University. “Our choices are constrained.”

Whenever someone complains about a lack of room in the United States I always recommend driving I-15 from Las Vegas to well, anywhere north of Las Vegas. By the time you get to Utah my point should be made, but southern Idaho and Montana are quite nice too, might as well see that.

Sure it’s nicer weather on the coasts, mostly, and our economy is centered there, but that doesn’t mean we can’t grow inland, we just don’t want to.

There’s no point in taking what some stranger typing away thinks so seriously. There’s a saying about the Special Olympics and arguing on the internet that everyone needs to take to heart.

The pair met in an internet chatroom called Yahoo, Islam 10 as both had an interest in the Muslim faith, the Old Bailey was told.

Hmm. Not really helping the Religion o’Peace image there.

Stephen Colbert with Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinam.

Just look at how much humans have changed in the last 1000 years and I think you’ll see where we’ll be in the next 1000.

Kim’s declaring war on the world. His people are starving, desperate to leave the country, he relies entirely on humanitarian aid to feed and clothe his country, his nuclear bomb was minute, his rocket failed, and he’s declaring war. Dream on, little broomstick cowboy.

I didn’t know. Happy Birthday to the Shoeblog of the Manolo.

Tim Blair is celebrating the 300,000,000 Americans with photographic proof. So here’s more of the same.
Hoppe’s of yesteryear:

Here’s us today—well, this summer—minus the parents, plus the in-laws:

When China is talking about a regime change for your country, it’s time to get nervous. And when I think that being a Chinese puppet would be better for your country, you know it’s bad.

Sure, it’s getting cold, the sun goes down earlier and earlier, you have to winterize everything, and no more flowers, but on the other hand you get, dramatic clouds in the evenings, rainbows, and nice leaves.

There really is a rainbow in that picture

And Foster Street. The best looking street in Coeur d’Alene. Between 4th and say, 9th.

CCA has an assembly with Dr. Ben Whittington(name? sp? sorry setting up sound during the introduction) speaking about first century Jewish culture. I’m sitting in because I can. Yes, I have plenty of real work to do, but hey, carpe diem.

• It’s all about the southern accent
• dyadic personality – I just learned a new phrase.
• honor and shame – more important to avoid shame than anything else: he mentions oriental cultures, but it was huge in Uganda too. The point: Jesus being crucified should have shamed Christianity into the ground.

Continue reading →

I love stories with a nice moral.

/brought to you by the letters E and Q and the number 7.

Instapundit puts it well:

THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE HAS BEEN AWARDED — and, in something of a departure, it’s gone to somebody who actually deserves it:

I don’t think this is going to be the great insult they think it is.

The contest, titled ‘Denmark’s King and Pigs,’ offers 5 million rupiah (548 dollars) in prize money to the winner, said Imam Mubarok of Radikal radio station in Kediri, East Java.

‘We will send the winning drawing to the Danish kingdom,’ he told Republika, a Muslim-oriented daily newspaper.

It was unknown whether the contest’s subject is the late Frederik IX, who died in 1972. Denmark’s current reigning monarch is his daughter, Queen Margrethe II.

A fairly comprehensive list of Science fiction cliches. With handy ratings as to viablity for use in your story.

The heady lawless days of video posting fun may soon be over.

“There’s very little that holds YouTube’s audience to YouTube except the belief that whatever they want to see, there is a very good chance YouTube will have it,” said Joe Laszlo, senior analyst with Jupiter Research.

Quoted for truthiness.

For instance: Kitty UFC.

A look at the Iraqi death toll numbers in the Lancet.

It’s a woot-off. Check often for useless stuff you can’t live without at that price.

The market for $50,000 cloned cats isn’t as big as Genetic Savings & Clone was hoping. Little Nicky is darn cute though.

Why does a weed killing robot need a 80g hard drive?

An editorial on the current UN Human Rights Council. Where, apparently, the worst perpetrators of human rights abuses get together to swap stories.

For all its faults, the previous U.N. commission occasionally discussed and condemned the regimes most responsible for human rights crimes, such as those in Belarus and Burma. China used to feel compelled to burnish its record before the annual meeting. The new council, in contrast, has so far taken action on only one country, which has dominated the debate at both of its regular meetings and been the sole subject of two extraordinary sessions: Israel.

Now, I love technology and gadgets more than the next person, but even I think there’s a limit to their usefulness. If there’s one thing Data taught us it’s that the human element is so important.

Franklin Graham is attempting to get his aid workers in Sudan killed, apparently. Remember how well it went when the Pope made an oblique reference to violence and Islam? Yeah. The Dafurians are already either rioting or on the verge of rioting. This will be a great excuse.

Wil Wheaton reviews some Star Trek: TNG episodes for TV Squad.

In an attempt to actually win something I’m asking you to go sign up for Blingo and use it. Please. If you win, I win.

This is a test of th emergency blogcast system. This is only a test. Had this been an actual emergency you would have been instructed to run out of the building screaming.

UPDATE: Figured it all out. The timestamps are screwy. Right on.

Had Bush concentrated on North Korea, he would have been focusing too much on poor little North Korea who hadn’t done anything to hurt anyone.

This is an interesting article. In South Korea, conservatives blame Roh, progressives blame Bush. Strikingly similar to the US, no? Except they blame Bush for doing too much to push NK into doing something and Roh for not doing enough.

Google and YouTube, together at last.

Complain away, Mexico. We all know how much pull the UN has.

Americans are happy to mostly ignore the UN and assume they are doing good things in other countries, what if they tried to boss us around?

“What should be constructed is a bridge in relations between the two countries,” Derbez said.

Like a bridge over the wall? We don’t need a bridge, we already have dozens of 4-lane highways, chief.

Isn’t this going to do terrible things to the environment? Sucking water out of the air on any sort of large scale can’t be good for the atmosphere.

Yesterday was Columbus Day and I didn’t even realize. The one day a year I can claim some land, pillage some resources, and I missed it. I guess there’s always next year.

So, I happen to have some of that recalled lettuce. Should I risk it? My immune system isn’t compromised, I’ll probably just get sick on the slim chance my head of lettuce is contaminated.

 So far, no one has reported getting sick after eating the Foxy brand lettuce. The problem was discovered early enough so most of it never made it to market.

Tis a puzzlement.

The success of invading Russia seems to be very weather dependent, historically speaking.

In frustrating one page per event form

Joe Carter describes Generation X conservatives. Rather accurately, I think.

The Nigerian scammers are selling out, apparently. Michael Leydon wrote me a rather lengthy email that starts:

I am Mr. Michael Leyden, the principal accounting officer of Private Banking Services at the Bank of China (BOC). I am
contacting you concerning our customer and, an investment placed under our banks management 4 years ago.

I would respectfully request that you keep the contents of this mail confidential and respect the integrity of the
information you come by as a result of this mail. I contacted you independently of our investigation and no one is
informed of this communication. I would like to intimate you with certain facts that I believe would be of interest to
you.

In 2002, the subject matter; ref: bb/boc/bank/0012 came to our bank to engage in business discussions with our Private
Banking Services Department. He informed us that he had a financial portfolio of eight million three hundred and fifty
thousand United States Dollars, which he wished to have us turn over (invest) on his behalf.

And it goes on, and on, and on. It’s nice to see the Nigerians are doing so well that they can build 419 factories in China.

The moon is 12% bigger than usual and other fun moon facts. Like:

There is no proof the Moon makes people crazy.

There’s no proof it doesn’t either, now is there? Gotcha there, didn’t I?

BB guns are now illegal in Chicago.

I understand their concern about people pointing realistic guns at cops, but if you’re pointing anything at a cop you are stupid and your mother failed somewhere in your upbringing. That’s right, I said it.

Ray Sings, Basie Swings

Smoove awesomeness.

I have seen the future and it is disposable.

In New York, diabetes is a communicable disease. I guess I better make sure those I know with diabetes don’t cough on me.

Keep your day job guys. You won’t make it on your dancing skills.

The Daily Show has as much substantive news as network news. And is far less likely to make me want to throw something at the TV, it should be noted.

“It should be noted that the broadcast network news stories about the presidential election were significantly shorter, on average, than were The Daily Show with Jon Stewart stories,” said Professor Fox. “The argument could be made that while the amount of substance per story was not significantly different, the proportion of each story devoted to substance was greater in the network news stories … On the other hand, the proportion of stories per half hour program devoted to the election campaign was greater in The Daily Show.”

Bonus quote:

Is it time to tune out World News Tonight and tune into The Daily Show? Professor Fox doesn’t think so, saying that “we should probably be concerned about both of those sources, because neither one is particularly substantive. It’s a bottom-line industry and ratings-driven. We live in an ‘infotainment’ society, and there certainly are a number of other sources available.”

Nuclear bombs for everyone!

Um, something about entanglement and cesium and lasers, they say it’s teleportation, but I have my doubts. Sounds more like a quantum cookie cutter.

Which is not to say it’s not a fantastic achievment. You go guys.

And this is why it is so important for the government to ban trans-fats.

The US will reach the 300 million person mark this month! Go us!

And of course we have more trash than developing countries. If we lived in crude houses and couldn’t afford more than food, yes, there would be less trash. And that would suck. Also, there would be no trash pick-up, we would all just pile it on the side of the road for the goats to eat.

But red-light cameras are for our safety, right?

via Instapundit

Wonder if John Howard would run for president here?

Saying the truth out loud is incomapatible with a democratic and enlightened society, apparently.

The 2006 Weasel Poll. There’s some stiff competition in some categories.

The coolest graph of Federal discretionary spending you’ll see today. Not for the weak of bandwidth.

via EO

Democrats do have political principles, they just don’t want to tell us them.

But, Democrats? They have an entirely different problem: their principles are unpopular. That’s why they don’t want to come out and say, “We’re for big government, more regulation, higher taxes, gay marriage, unrestricted abortion, gun control, Affirmative Action, massively increasing legal and illegal immigration, more lawsuits, a weaker US military, Kyoto, the International Criminal Court, and socialized medicine.”

Yes, that’s it exactly. We were hoping you wouldn’t figure it out, but you have. Those 50 other reasons were just excuses. Flimsy ones, at that.

THE followers of Moqtada al-Sadr believe that the US invaded Iraq to prevent the return to Earth of their sect’s messiah-like figure, the Mahdi, or 12th imam.

We would have got away with it if it weren’t for those darn kids.

So there you are, just sitting there with a nuclear bomb. What do you do next? Wired has the answers for you.

That’s so cute.

Humans taste like sweet, sweet bacon. According to a robot. Yeah, we’re going to need those Three Laws soon, lest Earth end up a giant proccessing plant.

The motherlode of tiny Swedish chef video clips.

Question of the day that I have been wondering for some time but haven’t bothered to look into: In fall does the change of the angle in relationship to the sun do something to make the sunsets look more fall-like? Gives it that golden-y, summer is ending feel. Is it the light is passing through more atmosphere emphasizing the yellow or something?

Yes, yes, it’s all about you darn hippies.

If only I lived near somewhere with cool museums I could go visit for free since tomorrow is Museum Day. But nothing’s stopping you metropolitian type people.

I know people who would be willing to pay ridiculous money for 4 hour delivery times. I, however, will continue to pay less and get things media mailed. It’s fun when you forget you ordered something and it shows up after a few weeks.

First off, 19-11? Were they using Little League pitchers?

Secondly, Brewers 9, Cardinals 4? Heh.

Thirdly, it’s only the top of the 8th, but I’m going to figure they have this one wrapped up. Yay Padres.

A little bit from Ahmedinejab’s translator for his recent visit. Really interesting.
via The Corner

The rover on Mars strikes me as being as bad as taking the dog for a walk.

The rover has been heading for the crater for more than half its time on the planet. Its journey as been interrupted by “frequent stops to examine intriguing rocks” and even a sand ripple, that kept the rover pinned down for more than five weeks.

Except it’s geology instead of smells.

Ideology influences dreams.

Which reminds me that I had a dream last night that I actually remember parts of, which is rare for me. It involved a house from my childhood, family, real life friends, and bloggers. And a trip to and from India. Air travel isn’t easy, even in dreams.

No, seriously, what would Macgyver do?

What Macgyver would do is use the tent poles (duct tape the joints for added airtightness) and towel (used as a face mask) as a snorkel for the guy, wet the bandana and cover his mouth and nose with it, climb down there, splint the guy’s leg with the walking stick and duct tape, make a sling for the guy with the deflated mattress and rope, climb back up and hoist the guy up.

That’s what Macgyver would do. I would call the park ranger.

Sorta makes me want to go camping.

UPDATE: At lunch it occured to me that the stove, tent, rope and mattress might be made into a hot air balloon, but that strikes me as problematic, I would go with the more prosaic hoist action.

Rehabilitiation nothing. It would just be cool to have robotic arm assist.