Category Archives: Uncategorized

In a rather bold move, I think, Egyptian Christians are putting icthyus bumper stickers on their cars.

As the pendulum swings. Remember when going to college was the way to “lose” your Christianity?

via Instapundit.

Absurdity, n. A statement of belief manifestly inconsistent with one’s own opinion.

So our internet is down, I have a 26.4k modem connection, someone sent me something huge, I now have to download mailwasher so I can delete it, so I can’t really get around on the internet right now. Luckily I just got The Devil’s Dictionary, so you can have a few select quotes while we wait. And we wait, oh so patiently we wait.

Let’s start at the very beginning:

Abasement, n. A decent and customary mental attitude in the presence of wealth or power. Peculiarly appropriate in an empoyee when addressing and employer.

I knew you could. CNN reports Lincoln may not have really said those things on that Star Trek episode. Americans dumbfounded.

Just this weekend I was watching Finding Nemo and thinking the only thing Disney has going for it in the movie department is Pixar. Sure Disney still makes pervert movies like Bad Santa (no, you don’t get a link, you pervert) that do well when there’s no competition, but really, I think they’re missing the essence of Disney. And that ABC TGIF lineup, that’s a killer. Very interesting.

I’d like to thank the farmers between Ellensburg and Moses Lake that put up the Christmas lights to entertain the people on the freeway. You guys are the coolest.

Apparently, we all do. Here is the equation for the proper spreading of butter on toast. There’s a number at the end of the article you can call for more information.

Also, here is the equation for the perfect family game.

Russia’s Joint Staff thinks North Korea is bluffing. And hints that they would take care of any problems that crop up.

“Proximity of North Korea is very sensitive for Russia, and thus we want the region to be more stable than it is now,” he added.

“Russia’s position is not to allow even a potential possibility for this conflict to escalate into an armed one,” he emphasized.

Why is the US building a huge, self-contained embassy in Armenia? I’m sure there are really good geopolitical reasons (OIL?!), but I bet they just wanted to see if they could get away with it.

Mayonnaise in Japan. Pedantic, irrelevant and vaguely disturbing. Hey, I’m here to help.

Bottle found 35 years later near where it was dropped.

Apparently in the UK it is impossible to resist the lure of McDonalds, Pepsi and Cadbury chocolate. Also, somehow, they keep people from getting any exercise.

Not only can everyone in the world spy on you thanks to onboard computers, sometimes the car has a glitch.

A high-ranking Thai official was forced to crawl out of the shattered windows of his luxury car following an onboard glitch that sealed all exits.

In related news, Microsoft is trying to capture the car market.

But even as it earns praise for its persistence, Microsoft continues to face many of the same criticisms it often does–namely that its software is too buggy to be used for things like cars and phones, which people expect to work well. And, although the company has learned to deal better with carmakers, it could still be more flexible when it comes to working with partners, Koslowski said. “That is something the company is a little bit struggling with,” he said.

mostly via Slashdot

When good programs go bad.

Via Slashdot

In all its glory. Remember, he’s just getting started.

Victim wrestles gun away from robber. Victim beats robber to a pulp.

A judge tries to cure stupidity one criminal at a time. If only this were all it took:

Donald Sebastian promised in court yesterday never to be stupid again. If he fails, he goes to jail.

…

The magistrate handed Sebastian a scribbled note and ordered him to read it in court. As Sebastian rose to his feet, Perelman ordered him to “say it with sincerity.”

“I promise that I won’t do anything stupid,” Sebastian said. “If I do anything stupid, I’ll likely end up in pretrial detention.”

Well, isn’t this special. Subdermal RFID tags to replace cash and credit cards coming soon. Maybe. I want to know what happens if you’re, say, waving at a friend at the gas station and accidentally pay for someone else’s gas.

This is funny though:

“… keeps tabs on what many Christians believe are the signs of a coming religious Armageddon. His site is one of dozens that link VeriChip to the apocalyptic prophecy.

Applied Digital officials say such concern is unfounded because people are chipped voluntarily.

Yeah, and the bible says if you volunteer for the Mark of the Beast, you go to hell. Not that I’m saying this is or is not the Mark of the Beast, I’m just saying that isn’t the strongest argument against it being the Mark.

via Slashdot

Fairy Tales may be damaging children.

The stories contain so many damaging stereotypes that they are as harmful as the lurid sexual images contained in many popular music videos, they claim.

How have children gotten by for the last 400 years?

This is just well put.

Confused by all those Elvish and Dwarvish names in the Two Towers? Here is where you can find out more than you ever wanted to know about Middle Earth.

But there’s VDH at National Review:

So the current conspiracies that arise about Texas drawlers, Christian fundamentalists, neocon Straussians, Likud Jews, and former CEOs in charge of America derives not really from American unilateral provocation, but rather from the horrendous task of restoring some balance to an out-of-kilter world to prevent another disaster in New York and Washington.

Idaho Power needs snow. They can have ours, as far as I’m concerned. Instead they seed the clouds.

“We wanted to enhance the snowfall from a front that was passing through,” Idaho Power Director of Water Management Roger Fuhrman said. “Our goal is to get as much from each storm system as possible.”

The company relies on snowfall upstream of Brownlee Reservoir for enough water to generate electricity at the three-dam Hells Canyon Complex.

Maybe there is something to the searching little old ladies at the airport.

Already! As Rizzo the Rat famously said, “I’m creating scarcity, it drives demand.” Let’s apply that to Christmas as a nation, shall we? I really like Thanksgiving, it’s probably my favorite holiday, please let me celebrate it. Throw up a few pumpkin and turkey decorations, maybe even a pilgrim or two, politically incorrect as that is, instead of Santa and tinsel. Tomorrow you can put up your Christmas trees and pointsettas and whatever the Kwanzaa stuff is. I think you would be better served waiting until say December to decorate, possibly even waiting until the 15th. I know, just call me Ebenezer. But just hold off for a while. At least until tomorrow. Thanks.

Anyone know a really good sweet potato recipe? I don’t eat them so I have no idea what would be good and what would be nasty. Why couldn’t I have just gotten the drinks?

Type it in and the stars will sing it. The hard part is thinking of something for them to sing.

This is also hilarious, but it’s not Thanksgiving yet, much less the week before Christmas, so I hesitated to put it out. You’ll see it again when it’s time.

via Dave Barry’s Blog

The new Zaurus is coming soon. My 5500 is out of date now. And FWIW the stealth keyboard makes it so worth it.

Internet Explorer flaws.

In an effort to turn back in to land mammals over 100 pilot whales stranded themselves. Better luck next time kids.

Canada’s probe might miss Mars.

Canada’s first space mission to another planet — a science instrument riding on a Japanese probe heading to Mars — is likely doomed as the Nozomi spacecraft is escaping control and may miss Mars completely.

…

But Japan acknowledges it can barely control Nozomi, and the spacecraft may crash on Mars within a few weeks, or miss the planet and drift aimlessly around the sun forever.

I’m pretty sure this scaffolding violates OSHA regulations. Bamboo is strong and all, but I’d prefer metal and cotter pins and such. And notice the concrete electrical pole. Everything is made out of concrete around there. If we would use wood, they use concrete. One good earthquake would level the place. Except the scaffolding, I’m sure.

IT World in Bangkok. One of the greatest places on earth. A great place to find anything electronic, and most of it is even legal.

Where they have the gayest thing ever, cops on rollerblades.

Kid’s dad insists on second opinion. Kid lives.

Orson Scott Card on the Democrats, the media and the election that is what? a year away.

Since Bush is quite plainly not the devil, one wonders why anyone in the Democratic Party thinks this ploy will play with the general public.

There are Democrats, like me, who think it will not play and should not play, and who are waiting in the wings until after the coming electoral debacle in order to try to remake the party into something more resembling America.

But then I watch the steady campaign of the national news media to try to win this for the Democrats, and I wonder. Could this insane, self-destructive, extremist-dominated party actually win the presidency?

But wait there’s more…

Am I saying that critics of the war aren?t patriotic?

Not at all ? I?m a critic of some aspects of the war. What I?m saying is that those who try to paint the bleakest, most anti-American, and most anti-Bush picture of the war, whose purpose is not criticism but deception in order to gain temporary political advantage, those people are indeed not patriotic. They have placed their own or their party?s political gain ahead of the national struggle to destroy the power base of the terrorists who attacked Americans abroad and on American soil.

You should probably just go read the whole thing.

via Occam’s Toothbrush

We all owe a little debt thanks to this man.

James Taranto of the Best of the Web:

Bush is right. Christianity, Islam and Judaism are all monotheistic religions, united in the belief in a single God. (Muslims often call God by the Arab name Allah, but then so do Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews.) The three religions conceive of God differently, and Muslims and Jews do not share the Christian belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ. A Christian may well believe that Islam’s conception of God is wrong, but if you believe in only one God, it makes no logical sense to describe a fellow monotheist as worshipping a “different” God.

Who will win?

More like, who will stay out of jail?

What’s with the food articles today? I must be hungry. Here’s something completely different. Andrew Stuttaford is upset about the Pulitzer decision concerning Walter Duranty.

Indian guy says he hasn’t eaten or drunk anything in 68 years.

via Fark

I’m not a big baloney fan anyway, so this doesn’t help at all.

Border agents last week landed a meaty bust, seizing 756 pounds of bologna arranged into the shape of a car seat and covered with blankets in a man’s pickup.

via the obviously hungry Drudge Report.

Turkey and Gravy soda. Just kidding. I really do like Jones’ normal flavors. Fufuberry is excellent, and their vanilla coke is great, but turkey and gravy flavor just sounds wrong.

via Drudge Report.

Scrappleface on government spending.

This is a great idea.

By this statement:

Counterfeit DVD copies of Friends are already available in Chinese cities, the Beijing Star Daily newspaper said.

But I’m not holding my breath. Archaeological finds in Israel.

Archaeological finds confirming biblical narrative or referring to figures from the Bible are rare, and this is believed to be the first discovery of a New Testament verse carved onto an ancient Holy Land shrine, said inscriptions expert Emile Puech, who deciphered the writing.

This is part of the village that the villagers were walking up to in yesterdays photo. Essentially the houses are made mostly from bamboo, one or two rooms, dirt floors, a fire burning in the middle and their belongings on a shelf or hanging on nails from the walls. It’s a miserable way to live.

Oh, and notice the pointsetta TREE growing in front of the house on the right.

A Thai butterfly. It looks suspiciously like other ethnicities of butterflies, but hey.

In Bettendorf, Iowa.

“You don’t just get away with stealing books from the public library,” Bettendorf Police Chief Phil Redington said.

via Dave Barry’s Blog

CAIR is upset over the November 10th B.C. comic strip. Now that’s clever. Go Johnny.

via Inoperable Terran

Yes, it’s snowed in Idaho. I am now forced to risk death every time I want to drive somewhere. Walking merely risks maiming. Where’s all this global warming I hear about? I have to drive home tonight after church, which ends after 4:00pm so it’s dark and cold, and the roads will have turned into giant slabs of ice. It’s hard to stop on ice. Try it some time.

Interesting thoughts on the future of online music.

The Dullest Blog in the World is back and full of fresh dullity.

Daily Mirror infiltrated by journalist.

Britian set to do away with double jeapardy law “if compelling new details, such as DNA evidence, come to light.”

I see trouble coming.

Victor Davis Hanson:

If privileged Western protesters cannot tell the difference between what Saddam did and what America is trying to do in Iraq, if they think that tomorrow’s Saddams, Milosevics and Kim Jong Ils will be awed by Nobel Prize awards, barristers in The Hague and EU resolutions rather than aircraft carriers, or if they assume in their end-of-history world that their worship of reason is equally shared by all those outside the West, we may be soon entering a far scarier world, when America in exasperation — as it did for most of its history before the European wars — will simply shrug and say: “Good luck to you all.”

This road is at the bottom of a mountain. The village is 11 miles up that mountain. Mostly straight up. These villagers had gone to the market and were walking back. We picked these people up and added them to the 13 people and bunch of luggage we already had in our truck. It was a nervous drive up that mountain.

Nuetlong. He just looked at me like I was nuts the whole time.

This is Somchay. He was very concerned with teaching me Thai and him learning English. Him and Nuetlong were a crack up. (All spellings are phonetic and probably wrong.)

Islam strikes back.

There’s pictures of the trip here. I am in the one with the rad tribal vests. Oh yeah, I’ll get Jeff back for that one. I’ll post some here when our internet connection improves.

No really, that’s not an oxymoron. I suspect the Return of the King is already available.

UPDATE: Here is the Register’s article.

The Atkins Diet is worrying the bread makers of the world. They shouldn’t worry so much, it’s just a fad. I know one person who has stayed on it for more than three months. I expect them to keel over of good health anytime now.

You know, there’s nothing like a good toilet and yesterday was World Toilet Day. Sorry this is late, but it’s never to late to go give your toilet a hug. Use a squatty potty for a week or two and you’ll see what I mean.

Well, the people have spoken and the blogging will continue, but not until tomorrow. I need to go watch The Two Towers: Extended Version to recover my strength and put me on the right timeline.

I don’t know if I feel any better knowing that despite the fact that there has been no new content, the number of visitors hasn’t changed. Perhaps I’m putting too much work into this.

Two weeks cut off from civilization and nothing changes? Iraq, Bush, Shwartzenegger, Michael Jackson, and gay marriage. Geez.

Watch out!

It’s pretty bad when a third-world country, with horrible drivers, has a better traffic light system than the one in the city you live in. I had managed to forget that.

What I learned on this trip is that the American flush toilet is the greatest invention ever. And knowing where your toilet paper is is more important than knowing where your towel is. Airplane food sucks the world over. Rice should not be served for breakfast. Much less served for breakfast every day. Dog meat is good, so is squid jerky. And people and churches are essentially the same no matter where you go.

More fascinating geopolitical commentary, and possibly a picture or two, when my brain begins functioning again.

I have duct tape. I know where my towel is and my Zaurus says “Don’t Panic” in large friendly letters. You guys are on your own.

Kelsey should be filling in occasionally to make you all more pretentious. I’ll be back in two weeks.

P.S. Don’t have any fun.

This made me laugh out loud. Go now

via Dave Barry Blog

Well I am hopping on a plane tomorrow, so I fully expect trouble to break out. That’s right, America’s terrorist troubles revolve around my vacation plans. You could chart an astrological-like table based on my travel plans and that would clue you in to key events. Aren’t you glad I don’t take more vacations?

What?

Or something like that. Some guy grew a “tomacco” based on a Simpson’s reference.

Episcopalians divided over gay bishop.

Nigeria’s Anglican leader Peter Akinola bluntly signaled a north-south divide, saying: “We can not and will not recognize the office or ministry of Canon Gene Robinson as a bishop.

“We deplore the act of those bishops who have taken part in the consecration which has now divided the Church,” he said in a statement representing over 50 million Anglicans in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Archbishop Greg Venables, the Anglican leader in South America, said: “The United States have declared independence. I think the chances of consensus are very slim.”

Australian Church leaders joined the conservative camp with Sydney’s Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen telling Reuters: “It is a very sad day for the Church… As far as I am concerned, he is not a bishop.”

I wonder how long until Africa and Asia start missions in Great Britian and Europe. I know a few Americans missionaries there myself, but I could see a whole reverse of the 1800’s coming, African and Asian missionaries flooding into Europe to save the heathens. I may be wrong, but I think it’s an interesting thought.

The guy trying to destroy power lines has been caught.

A member of the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane, Wash., Poulin participated in anti-war rallies earlier this year.

Not helping the Inland Northwest’s reputation here.

Iraq’s constitution and ours.

Well, a nice costume for sale. But the real reason I posted this was to say I actually saw a homestarrunner bumper sticker the other day. That’s just wrong.

Over at Instapundit there’s this story about honesty and this story about Chief Wiggles.

I’m going to Thailand tomorrow, so this is fascinating to me. YMMV.

A Bangkok businessman was slightly injured after his mobile phone exploded, a news report said.

Company executive Wichai Thongwiangchan, owner of the exploding mobile phone, was slightly injured on his hand.

“I was using a remote control to open the front gate. As the gate was closing behind me, I took my mobile phone from my belt, thinking the battery had run down,” Wichai was quoted as saying by The Nation newspaper.

When Wichai tried to turn his phone on, it exploded into small pieces, spreading fragments over a three-metre area.

Rumsfeld’s mojo has been found. Phew.

I feel sorry for the kids around here. It’s what, 20 degrees out? It really limits what you can dress up as. Uh, a polar bear, a snowboarder, or any of those animal jammy things. Otherwise, it’s just going to be miserable.

Simpson remark a joke. Imagine my surprise. I thought it was funny.

Rumsfeld and Mojo (Jojo).

Here’s a reflective paint. Can you tell what I’ve been doing today? That’s right, insider trading. I haven’t tried it naturally, but I really like the potential, with a name like Screen Goo you can’t go wrong.

Kids reading Harry Potter books get headaches. Instead of going outside to play for a while, they get meds.

“If children can take a break from time to time, read at a desk and with good light, that certainly would help,” he advised parents worried for their sons’ and daughters’ health.

Duh.

Microsoft wants Google. Heaven help us all.

The always clever Andrew Stuttaford discusses modern witches. He’s okay, even if he does hate Dr. Pepper, the greatest drink created by man.

There are tales of devils and stories of ghosts, depictions of demons, and everywhere, orange, black, and nasty, the pumpkin’s evil grin. And don’t forget the witchcraft, except it’s “Wicca” now, and slicker. The wicked witches of old, warty, cackling, and vile, slinking out of deep, dark woods to cast spells over crops, tiny tots, and the unlucky peasants’ luckless livestock have vanished, only to be replaced by even creepier creatures. Heaped like kindling (unfortunate simile, I know), are books by and about those legions of women (and it is mainly women) who have taken to “magick,” chanting, drumming, howling at the moon, and delving into the supposed wisdom of a largely invented past.

It’s Friday. This is how it starts:

There are certain predictable symptoms to watch when a widespread amorality begins to infect a postmodern society: cultural relativism, atheism, socialism, utopian pacifism. Another sign, of course, is fashionable anti-Semitism among the educated, or the idea that some imaginary cabal, or some stealthy agenda — certainly not our own weakness — is conspiring to threaten our good life.

It just gets better from there.

I like this discussion on money and its worth.

“Money is like fertilizer. It should be spread around encouraging things to grow.”

Fox News may or may not have threatened to sue the Simpsons.

The episode of the Simpsons in question showed a rolling news ticker at the bottom of the screen, which read: “Pointless news crawls up 37 per cent… Do Democrats cause cancer? Find out at foxnews.com… Rupert Murdoch: Terrific dancer… Dow down 5,000 points… Study: 92 per cent of Democrats are gay… JFK posthumously joins Republican Party… Oil slicks found to keep seals young, supple…”

via Juan Gato blog

Apparently people should all just cram together on the coasts. Granted they tend to do that, but why eliminate the choice of living a hundreds of miles from anyone if you want to? The idea is to turn the Midwest into a vast federal reserve (reg.req.). Of course, enviromentalists tend to not want anyone soiling the beauty, so there goes tourism. Can’t have those nasty people driving around scaring the animals.

Israeli company looking at making optical processor. Now that’s fast.

World’s Ugliest Laptop Bag (and bag is an appropriate term). Available from Intel. Luckily it’s a limited edition.

via The Register

Cutting back on piracy.

“We are trying step by step to eliminate Microsoft,” said Nguyen Trung Quynh of Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology. Quynh and other government tech officials want Vietnam to be on the cutting edge of an international movement to embrace open-source software — products that can be downloaded from the Internet for free and perform the same tasks as Microsoft Windows or Office.

The initiative is Vietnam’s solution to software piracy, a rampant problem that threatens to derail the country’s economic aspirations.

Interesting solution. Just go around the problem.

What 11 people want from technology (evil reg.req.) in the future (actual requests on sidebar). Some are cool (laptop that does it all), some are dumb (non-addictive recreational drugs: Hello Utopia!), some are hilarious (instant communication).

I like the smart laptop.

via Slashdot

Longtime enemy of computer users, Gator, has changed it’s name to Claria. I know I’d feel better about letting them hijack my computer with a nice name like Claria.

Pay your fines or lose US aid.

If I wanted to live under the laws of some other country, I would move there.

The computers in your car are recording more than you think.

The data these devices record varies with the make, model, and year of a particular vehicle. One recent GM model, for example, keeps track of vehicle speed, engine speed, brake status, throttle position, state of driver’s seat belt, and time from vehicle impact to air-bag deployment. Other metrics of a more technical or administrative nature, like how many times the engine has been started, are recorded as well.

…

THERE ARE THOSE who think there’s a major privacy issue here–specifically concerning who owns the data in the black boxes and what those owners should be able to do with that information. There seems to be general agreement that use of non-personally identifying data for safety studies should be allowed. But beyond that, there’s still much debate.

It is a interesting article, read the whole thing.

Possibly to you. If the sky is clear tonight where you are, don’t forget to look up.

Google looking to copy Amazon?

Google declined to specify its plans, saying only that it has had some contact with the book industry. “We’re talking to a few publishers and always looking to add more content that will make the search more useful for customers,” said the firm’s Cathy Gordon.

But according to a report from one publisher, Google has said it has reached agreements that allow it to enter as many as 60,000 titles in its database and also presented extensive mock-ups to publishers of how book-relevant searches will look.

Gender Genie. Plug some type in and it guesses your gender. It guessed me right.

via Instapundit.

It is taking me longer to install a stupid keyboard than it did to add a hard drive. Stupid USB. I’m back on the old one for the moment, but I haven’t given up yet.

On top of everything, it’s sort of snowing, more like sleet, but darn close to snow. But it won’t stick.

UPDATE: The snow didn’t stick, but I gave up on the keyboard. And to clarify it was one of those keyboards with all the other non-alphabetical/numerical buttons on it, it was a Compaq, and from what I can figure out, rather old and not compatible with XP. So it’s not like I can’t install a PS2 keyboard or even a USB one, given the proper drivers.

This is great:

“These rumours are all wishful thinking,” Simon Khaya-Moyo, Zimbabwe’s envoy to South Africa, said. “President Mugabe is in good health and he is attending to his official engagements.”

Not that the people of Zimbabwe want Mugabe gone or anything.

I think he’s right.

Iraqi constitution (reg.req.) woes. Why don’t they just xerox the US contitution (and the Bill of Rights) and change the names to protect the innocent?

The new $20’s are being counterfeited. I’m shocked, shocked at this development.

Of the Enterprise. And Slashdot’s take on it.

I keep seeing this article so it must be something big. I think it’s a good sign that there is so little wrong in our lives that we have time to worry about stuff like this. If nuclear bombs are going off or everyone is in abject poverty this sort of thing sits on the back burner.

Being fair and even-handed requires me to admit that Canada is good at something. Something besides beer and hockey I mean.

Details here and here. If I go down Thursday, you’ll know why.

A Japanese woman in her 20s is seeking asylum in North Korea after swimming across a river from China, government sources said Tuesday.

I think she might be sorry in the long run.

via Fark

Sez hacker. It was the computer. I could see it.

Mugabe collapsed. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like too much change is coming for the country.

Scott reams Michael Schiavo.

I need to read this.