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November 29, 2005
College Debt
Federal policy isn't keeping pace with reality. Soaring education costs and inflation have not been met with aid increases. Caps on federal student loans have forced students to seek private loans, which were up from $1.1 billion in 1995-96 to $10.6 billion in 2003-04.These loans have much higher, often predatory, interest rates.
"Burying College Grads in Debt," by Elana Berkowitz and John Burton, Campus Progress, on AlterNet, November 28, 2005.
via TalkLeft
Isn't the main reason college tuition is soaring is because there is too much cheap 3rd-party-payor (i.e., federal) money sloshing around the student aid world? So if we followed Berkowitz and Burton's prescription, the consumers of college (students and their parents) woud be even more removed from the costs, and we'd increase the amount of money in the system, leading to even more inflation of college tuition? Sounds like health insurance....
Posted at 06:22 AM · Comments (0) · Categories: Economics
November 28, 2005
Fahrenheit 1861
What would happen if Michael Moore and Ken Burns worked together to make a documentary about Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War?
Watch this Google video: Fahrenheit 1861
Posted at 08:31 AM · Comments (0) · Categories: Humor
November 27, 2005
Poor Sports
I rarely watch football, but this Thanksgiving I enjoyed watching the Texas vs Texas A&M football game with my family in Colorado.
It was an incredible game, which, although the Aggies lost 40-29, I thoroughly enjoyed while rooting for the Aggies. During the game I saw many instances of opposing players helping each other up after tackles. It was a well-played game, with good sportsmanship demonstrated throughout.
The Thanksgiving Day game in Texas was in sharp contrast on many levels with a game in Boulder, Colorado, the next day, November 25, 2005: the University of Colorado Buffs vs. the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers.
The Buffs were favored to win, but the Cornhuskers triumphed 30 - 3. Unlike the Texas game, which was a very competitive, well-played, and exciting game, in the game played at Folsom Field the Cornhuskers looked like the only real college football team on the field.
In addition, starting in the 3rd quarter spectators in the CU student section started throwing objects on to the field, which resulted in game officials requiring that 2 sections be cleared before the game would continue. Although that was appalling enough, I was even more appalled when the CU coach made no effort to rebuke the CU fans throwing objects. But it also struck me as typical of CU, a school I don’t think much of.
(CU has a reputation as a party school, it has high-profile poseurs like Ward Churchill on its faculty, and a few years following the scandal of the sex-parties used to recruit CU football players. The school is a national embarrassment, and it could use a housecleaning on the academic and athletic sides.)
Unfortunately, such poor sportsmanship now seems to be the norm rather than the exception.
They don't shake hands anymore in the Northern Neck of Virginia.Too many rude comments were made, too many people got spat on, too many fights broke out. So the principals of five schools in the Northern Neck District agreed to end the policy of having opposing high school athletic teams line up single file to shake hands after the game.
In theory, that was supposed to signal an end to competition and respect for worthy opponents. In practice, football, soccer and basketball teams kept turning into wrestling teams, grappling on grass fields and hardwood floors. Hence, the ban on handshakes, which went into effect at the beginning of the athletic season. That decision has been decried by parents, editorialists and others, but was freshly affirmed by the administrators earlier this month.
You might take it as a sign that These Kids Today have no concept of sportsmanship as we did, back in the day. I'd agree, except that my high school football team used to sprint for the buses whenever they won an away game, because they knew that if the fans and players of the losing team caught them, it would not be pretty. Makes it hard to mount the high horse.
Still, I'd be lying if I said I was not struck by the ban in Virginia. If the lack of sportsmanship is not a new wrinkle, perhaps you'll agree that this acquiescence to it is.
Granted, there's no way to quantify that observation. But can you imagine a principal, a coach, a parent or some other adult authority back in the aforementioned day backing down from an important principle simply because young people resisted it?
"Adults drop the ball when they fail to punish kids' misbehavior," by Leonard Pitts Jr., The (San Jose) Mercury News, November 21, 2005
See "Poor sporting behavior incidents reported to National Association of Sports Officials" up to 2003.
"U.S. coaches lead way in poor sportsmanship," by Adrian Wojnarowski, ESPN, (and yet look how Larry Brown, who demonstrated such poor sportsmanship at the Olympics, is lionized by the NBA: "universally acclaimed as one of the greatest teachers the sport has ever known...." No, he's not. "Larry Brown? With a tirade in Sydney and a timeout in Athens, he created the very international incidents Iverson was supposed to deliver on a silver (medal) platter. Brown also distanced himself from the growing possibility of defeat by criticizing his fundamentally-flawed roster and the executives who assembled it." "Iverson's a winner for not making excuses for loss," by Ian O'Connor, USA Today, August 27, 2004.)
Posted at 09:15 AM · Comments (0) · Categories: Stupidity
November 26, 2005
"Don't let your daughter dress like a hooker"
Don't want your teenage or pre-teen daughter to dress like a prostitute-in-training? Then tell her she can't.
I heard about it in my kitchen before I read about it in the newspaper: After visiting the expanded Tysons Corner Center this fall, my 23-year-old daughter said, "You won't believe how weird Victoria's Secret's gotten: It's all red and black with a bunch of mannequins that look like porn stars." Some shoppers were so outraged at the raunchy lingerie display that they threatened to boycott the store; others just yawned.I've been hearing a variation on this theme with increasing frequency in my office. Mothers voice distress over the suggestive clothing their teen and preteen daughters are wearing, inside and outside the house. In fact, conflict over clothing is what prompts them to come in for family therapy. The daughters themselves may be imperious or sullen, but almost all employ the everyone-is-doing-it excuse. And an awful lot of girls are doing it.
. . .
The girls who dress the most outrageously are often those most starved for adult male attention, first and foremost from their fathers. This happens most commonly with girls whose fathers have disappeared from their lives, perhaps following a divorce, or because their workaholic schedules leave them little time for their children. Children who are raised with attention and affection tend to identify with and admire their parents. This identification is the basis for both discipline and the transmission of values. Without it, parents can't do their job.I often recommend that fathers be the parent to take the lead in setting limits on their daughters' dress, because opposite sex offspring typically cut that parent more slack. Fathers can say, "Honey, you can't wear that. I know teenage boys -- I was one!" A dad like this is looking out for his daughter and treating her as someone special.
While talk and reality shows and tell-all memoirs thrive and a majority of teenagers today say that they would like to be famous, there are still girls and women who value privacy and modesty. They reveal a quiet confidence, a different kind ofglamour. Even famous people can be modest. They don't have to be Britney Spears. Take Audrey Hepburn, who has no counterpart today. Part of her allure lay in the way she embodied humility and modesty. Yet she also conveyed spirit and originality and a strong sense of self.
Even though she worked in an industry that often promotes commonness, she was an uncommon woman. Even though our daughters live in a culture that clearly promotes coarseness, they can be uncommon, too.
"What's Wrong With This Outfit, Mom?" by Patricia Dalton. The Washington Post, November 20, 2005
I now see teenaged girls and women regularly dressing in ways that remind me of the prostitutes I used to see when I drove a cab.
via Joanne Jacobs
Posted at 07:49 PM · Comments (0) · Categories: Nihilism
"The Biology of Beauty"
Scientists have found that a woman’s hormones relate to how attractive she is. The researchers at the University of St Andrews, found that women with higher levels of the female sex hormone, oestrogen, have more attractive looking faces.
Composite faces of the 10 women with highest (left) and 10 with lowest (right) levels of oestrogen. CREDIT: www.perceptionlab.comThe new study, led by psychologist Miriam Law Smith, could explain the underlying reason why men prefer women with feminine faces. It is the first study to demonstrate that women’s facial appearance is linked to their underlying health because oestrogen is the hormone which impacts on women’s reproductive health and fertility. These effects on appearance are likely to depend on the action of oestrogen throughout puberty.
Law Smith and a team of psychologists at the University’s Perception Lab photographed 59 young women’s faces aged between 18 and 25 and analysed their sex hormone levels. Women with higher levels of oestrogen were rated as more attractive, healthy and feminine looking than those with lower levels.
Interestingly, no relationship between appearance and oestrogen was found in women wearing make- up. Researchers believe that while make-up improves facial appearance it may be masking cues normally seen in the face.
Law Smith said: “Women are effectively advertising their general fertility with their faces. Our findings could explain why men universally seem to prefer feminine women’s faces. In evolutionary terms, it makes sense for men to favour feminine fertile women, those that did would have had more babies.”
The research is published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society.
"The Biology of Beauty," University of St. Andrews, November 2, 2005
More
- "Facial appearance is a cue to oestrogen levels in women," The Royal Society, ISSN: 0962-8452 (Paper) 1471-2954 (Online) ($25 for electronic copy)
- "Hormone levels predict attractiveness of women," by Gaia Vince, New Scientist, November 2, 2005
- "The chemical that makes a woman," by Mairi MacLeod, Scotsman, November 5, 2005
- "Attractive women are more than just a pretty face," by Roger Highfield, Science Editor, The Telegraph, November 2, 2005
Posted at 11:45 AM · Comments (0) · Categories: Research
November 25, 2005
God's love
We know that there is no pit so deep, that God's love isn't deeper still.
Corrie Ten Boom, survivor of a nazi concentration camp
Corrie ten Boom House, Haarlem, Holland
Posted at 02:08 PM · Comments (0) · Categories: Spirit
November 23, 2005
Take Derrida at his word
No, it is much better to do Derrida the courtesy of taking him at his word. And then what? For our part, we think that the English philosopher Roger Scruton had it right when he observed that "A writer who says that there are no truths, or that all truth is 'merely relative,' is asking you not to believe him. So don’t."
"Derrida declawed," Notes & Comments, The New Criterion, November 2004
Posted at 08:05 PM · Comments (0) · TrackBack (0) · Categories: Nihilism
Bumper Sticker
Posted at 09:03 AM · Comments (0) · Categories: Bumper Sticker
November 22, 2005
Christianity and movies
The world does not need a "Christian cinema" so much as it needs Christians in cinema.
"What Is a Christian Movie? Connectedness, and the culture of life help. Whether it will sell is vital. But ultimately, it's all about the people." By Spencer Lewerenz and Barbara Nicolosi, beliefnet (an exceprt from "Behind the Screen")
Posted at 06:05 AM · Comments (0) · Categories: Spirit
November 21, 2005
BREAKING NEWS! Burger King makes its burgers from ...
COWS!
The (London) Telegraph reports:
An advert featuring a cow wearing a Burger King logo has provoked more than 70 complaints, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has said.The industry watchdog has launched an investigation after viewers said that the commercial was distasteful and cruel.
It shows a cow walking along in a field wearing a Burger King-branded blanket.
"Burger King advert 'offensive to cows'," news.telegraph, November 17, 2005
AdJab responds:
I guess Burger King's only recourse is to make a commercial where they explain that hamburgers don't actually come from cattle, but are actually brought here in giant bags carried by storks.
"Burger King's burgers are made from cows," AdJab, November 19, 2005
As Homer Simpson might say, "Mmmmmmmmmm, hamburgers in giant bags carried by storks...." or more likely, "Mmmmmmmmmm, giant hamburgers in bags carried by storks...."
But what is all this "not wanting to cause offence" stuff? First it was lids on ice cream, then Piglet from Winnie the Pooh, and now cows ... what's next?
I thought the English were the folks with the stiff upper lip and all that, but they're starting to seem a bit of a thin-skinned lot to me ... sounds like they could use Panexa ...
Reminds me of something Chuck Williams wrote:
I agree that everyone has a First Amendment right to Piss on Christ and Dung on the Holy Virgin to their hearts' content.All I'm saying is that it does raise the question of why. Well, it does to some of us Catholics, anyway. And it's not a particularly shallow question, I don't think. I mean, if you know that what you're doing will insult somebody and you go ahead and do it anyway, it seems to me you'd expect that one or two of those somebodies might eventually demand an explanation.
But as far as I can tell, the museum's answer to that and every other reasonable question has been, "Shut up."
And then, even if the "why" is answered, even if the museum board or some brainy critic can explain how the artist has an avant-garde reason for insulting my religion (I'm not saying he doesn't), and even if he has a solid First Amendment right to insult my religion (and I'm saying he does), why must the board's supporters act shocked and appalled when I then say well, OK, but I still don't think you should use the government to force Catholics to pay the board to insult us. And it is brute force we're talking about here: if you don't pay your taxes, you go to jail.
The appropriate answer to would-be censors is to say, "if you don't like it, don't look at it." Or just don't read it, or just don't listen to it. The reason that retort doesn't work here is that the Catholic guy isn't complaining that anybody's forcing Catholics to look at Dung on the Virgin. He's complaining that Catholics are being forced to pay for it. He's saying, go ahead and Dung on the Virgin anywhere you like. Just do it on your own dime, or on your fellow Catholic-bashers' dime. Just don't do it on the taxpayers' dime.
Offence, shmoffence ... offend away ... just don't force me to look at it or hear it or make me pay for it ... if I don't like something your business does, I stay away ... or organize a girlcott ...
Also, be sure to see "If you're hosting Thanksgiving, make sure your guests sign this"
Posted at 08:06 AM · Comments (0) · Categories: Stupidity
November 20, 2005
If you're hosting Thanksgiving, make sure your guests sign this
This Thanksgiving, as you and yours gather around the table to give thanks, be sure to have a signed copy of the Center for Consumer Freedom's Thanksgiving Guest Liability and Indemnification Agreement nearby, just in case anyone asks for a side of litigation with his or her turkey.
"Don't Sue The Hand That Feeds You," The Center for Consumer Freedom, November 17, 2005
Thanksgiving Guest Liability and Indemnification Agreement (1-page pdf)
Posted at 07:24 AM · Comments (0) · Categories: Humor
November 19, 2005
The main event associated with abortion
Where to begin:
"Death is such a rare event associated with medical abortion that it's startling," Cullins said. "But this is a way for the anti-choice extremists to push the agenda of banning all abortions."
"rare event"? Death is the main event associated with abortion, medical or otherwise.
(Dr. Vanessa Cullins is vice president of medical affairs for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.)
"Teen Death Steers RU-486 Bill to Congress," by Rebecca Vesely, Women's enews, November 15, 2004
Posted at 10:21 PM · Comments (0) · TrackBack (0) · Categories: Nihilism
Update - Egg & Muffin 2-Slice Toaster and Egg Poacher
The Egg & Muffin 2-Slice Toaster and Egg Poacher arrived this week and I can report that it works as promised ... the 14-year old loves it ... and although I wouldn't describe it as "amazing," if you like egg or sausage mcmuffins this is a much better appliance to have than, say, an eggbeater, or a clothes iron, or anything that requires talent and skill to use ...
Posted at 07:54 PM · Comments (0) · Categories: Tools
November 16, 2005
She's so brave
came across a story on Sarah Silverman, a female comic famous for swearing and "breaking taboos." Because, as you know, we have so many taboos, and the penalties for breaking them are so severe. The article talks about the "disconnect between her feminine beauty and the decidedly unfeminine spew that comes out of her pretty mouth." According to this article, this includes "the final gag in 'Jesus is Magic,' when she comes on stage for an encore and sings 'Amazing Grace' in three-part harmony with her butt and her vagina."
"Later," by James Lileks, The Bleat, November 16, 2005
Oooooooooooo, she's so brave, like that guy who puts a crucifix in a bottle filled with urine. She ought to try a show called "Mohammed is Magic" and show us how "brave" she is. And then Entertainment Weekly could run a fawning story showing us how brave it is, too.
Or, she could really show us bravery and do a show about the Amish, or the Friends ... Sarah Silverman, so funny and so brave ...
Posted at 06:20 AM · Comments (0) · Categories: Stupidity
November 15, 2005
"Put in a lot of time on work that interests you."
If it takes years to articulate great questions, what do you do now, at sixteen? Work toward finding one. Great questions don't appear suddenly. They gradually congeal in your head. And what makes them congeal is experience. So the way to find great questions is not to search for them--not to wander about thinking, what great discovery shall I make? You can't answer that; if you could, you'd have made it.The way to get a big idea to appear in your head is not to hunt for big ideas, but to put in a lot of time on work that interests you, and in the process keep your mind open enough that a big idea can take roost. Einstein, Ford, and Beckenbauer all used this recipe. They all knew their work like a piano player knows the keys. So when something seemed amiss to them, they had the confidence to notice it.
Put in time how and on what? Just pick a project that seems interesting: to master some chunk of material, or to make something, or to answer some question. Choose a project that will take less than a month, and make it something you have the means to finish. Do something hard enough to stretch you, but only just, especially at first. If you're deciding between two projects, choose whichever seems most fun. If one blows up in your face, start another. Repeat till, like an internal combustion engine, the process becomes self-sustaining, and each project generates the next one. (This could take years.)
It may be just as well not to do a project "for school," if that will restrict you or make it seem like work. Involve your friends if you want, but not too many, and only if they're not flakes. Friends offer moral support (few startups are started by one person), but secrecy also has its advantages. There's something pleasing about a secret project. And you can take more risks, because no one will know if you fail.
Don't worry if a project doesn't seem to be on the path to some goal you're supposed to have. Paths can bend a lot more than you think. So let the path grow out the project. The most important thing is to be excited about it, because it's by doing that you learn.
Don't disregard unseemly motivations. One of the most powerful is the desire to be better than other people at something. Hardy said that's what got him started, and I think the only unusual thing about him is that he admitted it. Another powerful motivator is the desire to do, or know, things you're not supposed to. Closely related is the desire to do something audacious. Sixteen year olds aren't supposed to write novels. So if you try, anything you achieve is on the plus side of the ledger; if you fail utterly, you're doing no worse than expectations.
"What you'll wish you'd known," by Paul Graham, January, 2005 (excellent advice for young people)
Posted at 04:50 PM · Comments (0) · TrackBack (0) · Categories: Good Advice , students
November 12, 2005
If you're not Catholic....
If you're not Catholic, and especially if you're an atheist or agnostic, then it makes sense to regard the church as just another worldly institution. After all, you don't believe in papal infallibility or the guiding hand of the Holy Spirit. But if you do believe in these ideas, what could it mean that you oppose the new pope and his adherence to tradition, other than that you're disappointed in or angry at God for not changing his mind?
"Controversy in Reuterville," Best of the Web Today, April 20, 2005
Posted at 08:10 AM · Comments (0) · TrackBack (0) · Categories: Catholicism , Good Advice
November 11, 2005
"Where are the Atheist's hospitals, or soup kitchens?"
They're state-run, supported by taxpayers....
Let's see, we have scores of Baptist Hospitals, Method Hospitals, Jewish Hospitals, Catholic Hospitals, etc., etc.. Each of these have 'outreach' programs both here and in the most dismal places on earth, staffed with dedicated medical doctors and nurses. Where oh where are the Atheist's hospitals, or soup kitchens? I, perhaps somewhat leaning to your ideology, am not so religious... but I am married to one of the most delightful, beautiful and dedicated Catholics on this earth. I delight in her absolute faith, her praying, her laughter, her zest for life, her acceptance of those of lesser faith (like me), her tolerance. All which seems so absent from the liberal atheist.
"Atheist Hospitals," an email to Jonah Goldberg, NRO, November 9, 2004
Posted at 05:30 PM · Comments (0) · TrackBack (0) · Categories: America , Spirit
November 10, 2005
Cool Tool - Egg & Muffin 2-Slice Toaster and Egg Poacher
I'm getting one of these for the 14-year-old ...
[T]he idea of being able to have perfect egg mcmuffins (without meat) at home was enticing. After making a couple, I'm hooked. The product does exactly what it's supposed to do, making sure both the egg and the muffins are perfectly done at the same time (it waits a while to toast).
"Awesome, awesome, awesome," by Matthew Haughey, a whole lot of nothing, November 8, 2005 (via A Full Belly)
Toaster, egg cooker, and meat warmer--this innovative unit combines all three functions into one easy-to-use appliance. The unit can be used solely as a full functioning toaster, or it can simultaneously toast bread, poach or steam-scramble an egg, and warm a pre-cooked slice of meat--or any combination of these three functions--to make the ultimate breakfast sandwich at home in just four minutes.
Back to Basics TEM500 Egg & Muffin 2-Slice Toaster and Egg Poacher, Amazon.com
Posted at 05:56 AM · Comments (0) · Categories: Tools
November 08, 2005
Cool Tool - FlightAware
FlightAware is "A free and powerful flight tracker that will change how you think about flight status, tracking, and analysis."
Check out this very cool movie ... "Animation of all flight movements tracked by FlightAware during a 24-hour period in September, 2005"
Live Flight Tracking: "View schedule and track activity for any private (IFR) or commercial flight. See scheduled, enroute, and recent flight activity for any airport."
via Lifehacker
Posted at 12:05 AM · Comments (0) · Categories: Technology
November 07, 2005
Timewaster - blueballfixed
Great timewaster ... bluballfixed ...
Posted at 11:05 AM · Comments (0) · Categories: Timewaster
"Any Color As Long As It's Black: August Wilson, 1945-2005"
In the more exposed medium of film, for example, Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet clearly felt obliged to pay lip service to the theory, but in the end, rather than risking an African-American Polonius or Horatio or even Rosencrantz, confined the black actors to the extras, dotting them among the Norwegian soldiers and Danish servants. However, Wilson’s rejection of color-blindness is even dottier; in insisting that black actors can only play black roles, he’s mounting an assault on the very foundations of the profession. Acting is what it says: an act. It’s not about being what you are, but about being what you’re not. To that end, you wear costumes, you slap on greasepaint. For Wilson to exalt one criterion above all others is to mock the very notion of acting. If black actors cannot do Chekhov, who can? Russians? Is the defining qualification for Macbeth that you be Scottish? Or a regicidal maniac? The more one considers Wilson’s assertions, the more it sounds as if he should be working in some other profession altogether. The salient fact about James Earl Jones is not that he’s black, but that he’s James Earl Jones. As such, he’s more persuasive as Timon of Athens than as, say, a gangsta rapper: his limitations are not imposed by his color.
"Any Color As Long As It's Black: August Wilson, 1945-2005," Mark Steyn, The New Criterion, March 1997
Posted at 06:22 AM · Categories: Bigotry
November 06, 2005
"You Have To Break A Few Humans To Prevent An Omelette"
Incredible ...
Dafydd at Big Lizards notes this Robert Novak column blurb about an exchange regarding ecoterrorism at the US Senate last week. Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) interrogated ecological activist Dr. Jerry Vlasak about the aims of the radical environmental movement. Novak has the key, chilling exchange that reveals the utter lack of perspective that produces ecoterrorists:Dr. Jerry Vlasak of North American Animal Liberation was quoted as saying at an animal rights convention: "I don't think you'd have to kill, assassinate too many. I think for five lives, 10 lives, 15 human lives, we could save a million, 2 million, or 10 million non-human lives."
Questioned by Inhofe whether he was "advocating the murder of individuals," Vlasak replied: "I made that statement, and I stand by that statement."
That, however, gives only part of the story. Americans for Medical Progress has more of the transcript, which oddly does not appear readily accessible on the Senate's website. (Animal Crackers has the entire exchange archived, along with pungent and dead-on commentary.) Inhofe only got the ball rolling. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) becomes more and more disgusted with Vlasak as the hearing progresses, finally demanding that the witness be removed from his presence. But first, Inhofe makes sure that Vlasak hasn't been misunderstood:
Read the whole incredible thing ... "You Have To Break A Few Humans To Prevent An Omelette," Captain's Quarters, November 6, 2005
Posted at 12:58 PM · Comments (1) · Categories: Crime , Ignorance , Nihilism , Stupidity , Terrorism
Pitbulls :: Porcupines & 7-11 Burritos
Common element in these stories = pitbull ...
Snopes says these photographs and the accompanying story are true ... I admit I don't particularly like pitbulls ... my taste runs towards collie/shepard mutts, standard poodles, German shepards, and Yorkies ... my impression is that pitbulls are tenacious ... now I will add "and stupid" ... no pics of the porcupine were provided ...
Inca apparently did not know when to quit when she encountered the porcupine on Victoria Day, May 23rd. These are the pictures the vet sent before the long (and expensive) procedure to remove the quills. She had thousands of quills, and her tongue was so covered, she could not close her mouth.
"Dog vs. Porcupine," Snopes, July 25, 2005
via Neddy's Palaver
And here's another story with a pitbull in it ... "Police: Burrito Sparks 7-Eleven Fight: Girl Allegedly Releases Pit Bull On Attackers" ... Ai yi yi yi yi ... proof that merely wanting to eat 7-11 burritos will turn you into an idiot ...
via Moonbat Monitor
Update:
A commenter points out, "The dog with the porcupine quills is not an American Pit Bull Terrier; the dog in the picture is a Bull Terrier, a tenacious breed as well; but most certainly not a 'pitbull'." Thanks for the correction. (Looks like Snopes got it wrong, too.)
Posted at 09:18 AM · Comments (2) · Categories: Stupidity
November 05, 2005
Hummers
Tim Iacono, who blogs at The Mess That Greenspan Made, took a lot of pics of many unsold Hummers in southern California ...
... the scuttlebutt was that inventory had been building for months now and the local Hummer dealer had panicked. He had begun storing his Hummer inventory at an undisclosed location, far from the dealer showroom so as not to spook jittery, prospective buyers with the mounting number of unsold H2s and H3s. . . .When the counting was done, there were about 150 H2s in lot #2, for a grand total of around three hundred Hummers, just looking for someone to love them.
"Hummer Overfloweth," November 3, 2005
"The H2 is the ultimate poseur vehicle. It has the chassis of a Chevy Tahoe and a body that looks like the original Hummer; i.e. it's a Chevy Tahoe in disguise."
To be entirely fair, most folks are not in a budgetary position for putting a $140,000 vehicle into their garage. This immediately places the Hummer H1 into a category all its own. Approaching the civilianized military utility truck from this perspective allows one to better understand what this vehicle is all about.Buyers in this price range don't particularly care that they can purchase four full-sized Fords for the same money; nor do they care about overall practicality. They want to make a statement. Analyze the people all you want, but rest assured the Hummer H1 makes a very big statement.
"Real-Worlders Need Not Apply," By Harold Osmer, LACar.com, September 5, 2005
Southern California Hummer Owners Group
"HUMMERs in Action," slide show
Posted at 12:07 PM · Comments (0) · Categories: Economics
Rules of Life - 3
"High School grads: One last reading assignment: 25 things you should know that you probably didn't learn in school," by Dayle Shockley, Jewish World Review, June 5, 2002
As you make plans for your future, here are 25 things you should know that you probably didn't learn in school:1. You have the power to keep a positive attitude, no matter what your circumstances are.
2. It never is right to do the wrong thing.
3. Telling lies is exhausting. Telling the truth will set you free, and even an ugly truth is better than a pretty lie.
4. Self-discipline is the key to success.
5. The Creator wants to be part of your daily life, but you have to open the door.
6. No day is more important than today, for tomorrow isn't here nor promised.
7. No matter what your vocation may be, you will have to answer to someone.
8. Marriage is a sacred covenant between a man and a woman and shouldn't be entered into lightly.
9. Don't use a handicap as an excuse to fail but as a driving force for succeeding.
10. Really listen to the old folks. They are wellsprings of wisdom.
11. People you thought you could depend on will let you down.
12. Living dangerously will catch up with you. And when it does, don't blame the Creator for your troubles.
13. No amount of book knowledge can make you a person of integrity.
14. Don't run from suffering. There are valuable lessons in life that can't be learned by any other means.
15. The most glorious things in life are free.
16. Never step on other people in order to get to the top.
17. Trying to be someone other than yourself is a strenuous exercise.
18. Don't put all of your energies into building palaces and empires; it only takes a moment for them to be ashes at your feet. Instead, build memories with the people you love, for memories always are with you.
19. The more things you acquire, the more problems you will have.
20. Have an opinion. The middle of the road will get you run over.
21. As you grow older, make sure you grow up as well. Nothing is more pathetic than an immature middle-aged human being.
22. Every choice you make will bring with it a reward or a consequence. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. Maybe not even next year. But it will come just the same.
23. Make time in your world for silence - time in which to think, to dream and to listen to that still small voice.
24. At the close of the day, capture some of your feelings and activities on paper, even if the words sound ridiculous. Consider it the writing of your story for future generations.
25. Live each day as if it were your last, because one day it will be.
Posted at 09:22 AM · Comments (0) · TrackBack (0) · Categories: rules of life
November 04, 2005
Alien Abduction and Recovered Memories
Speculation about extraterrestrial beings is ancient, but "alien abduction" as we know it originated in the 1960s, after a New Hampshire couple named Betty and Barney Hill claimed to have been kidnapped by extraterrestrials. Betty was a fan of movies like Invaders From Mars. Her story inspired a best-selling book, a TV movie, and Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Many more people began to report abductions, which in turn led to more books and movies, which led to more people claiming to have been abducted—in a sense, it was Hollywood that had abducted them.
"Beam Me Up, Godly Being: Is alien abduction real—or a creation of Hollywood?" by Karen Olsson, Slate, October 31, 2005
Posted at 08:55 AM · Comments (0) · Categories: Ay Caramba!
Prom "culture" and decadence
It takes Catholic moralists, not therapists, to put parents back in touch with their anti-materialist and nonconformist adolescent impulses, that old Puritan streak that ran through their otherwise hedonist youth. If they can't fight their teens' dissipation with fervor, they've got better ground to stand on in denouncing precocious conspicuous consumption. And if high-rolling parents can't pull it off, a screed from bold school administrators can give kids a defiant model to follow. Amy Best salutes youths for such subversive gestures as wearing Doc Martens with their tuxes or sticking radishes in their lapels ("using irony as a rhetorical tactic to disrupt, expose and resist the adult meaning systems through which the prom is defined"). But if kids are looking for a truly radical way to assert their power and signal that they've finally grown up, they can tell their parents to take their lavish prom-night clothing allowances, liquor-stocked limos, and condos, and go to hell.
"Take Back the Prom: How, and why, one school called it all off—and you can, too," by Ann Hulbert, slate, November 3, 2005
We posted about this last month, and have a link to the letter sent to a parent of a student at Kellenberg Memorial High School: "The lust for money is the root of all evil - Prom Culture," Ishkabible, October 18, 2005
Posted at 08:22 AM · Comments (0) · Categories: Nihilism
Panexa, wonder drug - it cures DHMO poisoning!
Panexa, from MERD, is a new drug that does everything ... even cures dihydrogen monoxide poisoning!
"The wonder drug that does whatever you think it does" mister snitch!, November 4, 2005
And don't forget to check out the Acme Klein Bottle to store that dangerous dihydrogen monoxide ...
Need a zero-volume bottle?Searching for a one-sided surface?
Want the ultimate in non-orientability?
Posted at 08:08 AM · Comments (1) · Categories: Humor
You say Girlcott, I say Boycott ...
Now A+Fmarketeers have come up with a new word -- girlcott -- and some T-shirts aimed at pissing off feminists.Oh yea, I can see Bella Abzug coming down to the A+F store to decry exploitation. What? She is dead? So is this dumb idea.
"Girlcott This Linkfest," Don Surber, November 4, 2005
Posted at 08:05 AM · Comments (0) · Categories: Humor
"A fuse that's been lit all over Europe"
I'm actually thinking of going to Paris. I went to one of these suburbs that's currently ablaze three years ago. And what was interesting to me is I had to bribe a taxi driver a considerable amount of money just to take me out there. They're miserable places. But what was interesting to me is that after that, I then flew on to the Middle East, and I was in Yemen, and a couple of other places. And what was interesting to me was that I found more menace in the suburbs of Paris than I did in some pretty scary places in the Middle East. I mean, there is a real...this, I think, is the start of a long Eurabian civil war we're witnessing here. . . . you know, we kept hearing all this stuff ever since September 11th, you know, the Muslim street is going to explode in anger. Well, it finally did, and it was in Paris, not in the Middle East. . . . You know, the Europeans have been tolerant of, for example, Palestinian terrorism for years, and of the intifada that's been going on in France against synagogues and Jewish schools and Kosher butchers and all the rest. And now, it's moved on to more general targets. They're suddenly finding it's kind of harder to appease these people.
"Mark Steyn on the Euroarabian war currently happening in the suburbs of France," transcript of Mark Steyn interview on the Hugh Hewitt Show, Radioblogger, November 3, 2005
As I see it, the religion of Islam is inherently incompatible with the concept of individual liberty, a crucial component of western countries.
"Paris Riots: Coming to an American Street Near You," La Shawn Barber, November 3, 2005
And Americans should take no satisfaction in the French predicament, for there are close parallels here to all these phenomena. We learned the hard way that, first of all, our cities need law and order and that talk and dialog must wait until riots have been suppressed. We have learned, also the hard way, that welfare corrupts those who receive it. But we have still to grasp the danger of that combination of Islam and crime that afflicts France — and is beginning to appear here.
"The Ongoing Muslim Riots In France," Pseudo-Random Thoughts, November 2, 2005
Posted at 07:48 AM · Comments (0) · Categories: Gynephobes , Nihilism , Terrorism
November 03, 2005
"We must say No to those movements that would exploit freedom only to abolish it."
In his book Orthodoxy, G. K. Chesterton championed freedom of thought, but wisely noted that "There is a thought that stops thought. That is the only thought that ought to be stopped." Our society is extraordinarily accommodating of diverse points of view—especially, it sometimes seems, to those that are hostile to the ideal of diversity. In order to continue to enjoy the luxury of freedom, we must say No to those movements that would exploit freedom only to abolish it. "In order to defend itself," Kolakowski writes, "the pluralist order should voice [its fundamental] values ceaselessly and loudly. There is nothing astonishing or outrageous about the fact that within the pluralist society, the defenders and enemies of its basic principles are not treated with exactly the same indifference."
"Leszek Kolakowski & the anatomy of totalitarianism," by Roger Kimball, The New Criterion, June 2005
Posted at 10:13 PM · Comments (0) · TrackBack (0) · Categories: Terrorism
November 02, 2005
DMCA notice and takedown procedures
from Chilling Effects:
- DCMA notice and takedown procedures for web sites
Frequently Asked Questions (and Answers) about DMCA Safe Harbor Provisions
Posted at 10:32 PM · Comments (0) · TrackBack (0) · Categories: Technology
November 01, 2005
Works for us....
The amusing thing is that men do, more or less, want this, but not her – at least not the confused persona that comes across in the essay. I mean, they want the hard-faced flame-haired dame with the ginormous gunboats to pack a pistol and a sob story, which may or may not be on the level, but it doesn’t really matter; what counts is that you can square your shoulders, stub out your Lucky, and head into the fog to make sense of it all. . . . I have no problem with Strong Women. On the contrary. But I am less than fascinated by Strong Women who have issues like the Roman sewers had mice.
"Boo!" by James Lileks, The Bleat, October 31, 2005
Our favorite from the captions at Drudge Report under the pic of Maureen Dowd sitting at a bar:
Posted at 12:05 AM · Comments (0) · Categories: Humor