January 24th, 2004
Posted by fad at 5:51pm
January 23rd, 2004
Posted by fad at 5:13pm
Ok, I think that's enough crap from me today. For those able to, have a good weekend.
Posted by fad at 3:58pm
I can't let a depressing post stay at the top on a Friday, so how about something nicer. A man bought a $1,000 bill off a friend 20 years ago. He'd kept it in his wallet as a conversation piece (and maybe because he wasn't too bright, I don't know).
Smith's $1,000 note was wrapped in paper and rolled up with more than a dozen other large bills. Police found it in Smith's pocket when officers arrested him for driving while intoxicated.Yes, this does sound really close to a recent Simpsons plot. The mayor just decided to switch out the bill. A previous story said he hoped to turn it into a display/tourist piece. But what is right finally has happened.
While police counted the money as evidence, Pine Lawn Mayor Adrian Wright switched the $1,000 for other cash. He then put the bill in a safe at city hall.
Curtis Smith Sr. counted out 10 $100 bills for a clerk at Pine Lawn City Hall. In return, the woman handed him a white envelope with the rare note inside.Remind me never to have anything rare on my person going through Pine Lawn. Oh. Wait. I don't own anything rare. Guess I'm in the clear.
Posted by fad at 3:11pm
Any of you ever see the Super Mario Bros. movie? There's a chance some of you have, but most likely anyone who did tried their best to forget it. It's terrible. I saw bits and pieces of it at a friend's one night sometime ago. A bunch of us were over killing an evening, a bit of an impromptu party. The TV was just on, no one really paying attention to the movie.
At some point, towards the end of the movie, a couple of us looked up to see an image of the World Trade Center. Then the towers began to disintegrate starting from the top. The special effects were terrible, but eerily accurate. All that was missing was the smoke and dust. The party paused for a moment. You can't just see even a highly fake version of that event and just glance over it.
A few minutes later, the heroes did their hero thing. The Towers restored themselves and all was well. That was perhaps the harder thing to see. If only such a fantastic thing were possible.
What brought this on? They've set a final death toll for those killed at the World Trade Center in the attacks.
Three names have been removed from the list of those killed in the World Trade Center attack, bringing the death toll to 2,749, which could stand as the final count, the medical examiner's office said Friday.2,749. And so many more intended. Had the terrorists had their way, that number would be in the tens of thousands. Thank God at least that much of their planning went wrong.
The official list of those missing for the first time now matches the number of death certificates the city has issued for attack victims, said Ellen Borakove, spokeswoman for the medical examiner.
It's strange the things the mind pulls up. Sometimes these days I can see a story about the attacks and not dwell. Other times it grabs. It doesn't matter the day, whether it is September 11th once again or January 23rd or some random night glancing up to see a scene in a lousy movie. Two thousand seven hundred forty nine dead for doing nothing. Every death intended; every person not killed regretted by the attackers and those who call them hero.
Posted by fad at 2:10pm
Take that tough stand against abuse!
A man convicted of slapping his wife has been sentenced to yoga classes.Admittedly in this case, it at least doesn't sound like the guy has hit her more than just the once.
Judge Larry Standley said yoga should help James Lee Cross with his anger management. Cross was ordered to take the class as part of his yearlong probation.
The judge said Cross' case is unique and prosecutors agreed.New Year's Eve probably isn't the best time to try to have a discussion about drinking.
Cross claimed he hit his wife during a New Year's Eve argument about her drinking problem.
Posted by fad at 1:49pm
Few things worse than a drunken, abusive elephant.
Four wild elephants drunk on rice beer have been electrocuted in the north-east Indian state of Meghalaya, wildlife officials report.I imagine that didn't smell too good.
[...]
As panicky villagers fled for cover, leaving behind their freshly brewed beverage, the elephants drank to their heart's content.
The inebriated elephants then struck an electric pole and brought it down.
But their trunks took the brunt of the shock from the high-tension wire.
Four of the elephants were killed instantly.
Posted by fad at 1:07pm
Oh, this is rich.
"Democracy or any semblance of wider participation will have to come from within societies," said Prince Turki al-Faisal, a senior member of the Saudi ruling family who is his country's ambassador to London.Let me type this slow so that I am clear. Obviously, you will read it at your own pace. I can't control that. Yet. Arafat's term expired years ago, and he has refused to hold new elections, though he has promised to many times. Amazingly the time is just never right for them. Once your term has expired, and you are still the leader even though you haven't held another election, you are no longer a democratically elected leader. You are a dictator.
He complained that the United States talked about promoting democracy in the Middle East yet refused to recognise one of the few democratically elected leaders in the region, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
Posted by fad at 11:42am
Woo hoo! Hopefully things will stay good.
Staff at the agency's Pasadena control centre confirmed that Spirit sent a 20-minute stream of data from the surface of the red planet, easing fears that the probe had suffered a potentially catastrophic hardware failure.Looks like it was just a spat. Time for the make-up exploration.
Nasa's Mars exploration project manager in Pasadena said: "The spacecraft sent limited data in a proper response to a ground command, and we're planning for commanding further communication sessions later today.
Posted by fad at 11:33am
Here's something that, while it inkles with worrisome trends, will probably be made too much of.
The poll found that 18 percent disagreed with the statement that a Jewish prime minister would be "equally acceptable" to a leader from any other faith. About 53 percent agreed with that statement.I tend to remove a couple points in surveys that point out what the sponsoring group may have been expecting or looking for. This survey was sponsored by the Jewish Chronicle which has cause to worry about and try to identify rising anti-Semitism. However, since the current opposition leader is Michael Howard, a Jewish man, that could skew the results. Some reading that may identify a single Jewish man, Howard, as prime minister and just find that distasteful on a political realm. That doesn't discount that a percentage just can't stomach the idea. But they are overwhelmed, thankfully, by the majority.
The poll found that 15 percent of Britons believe the scale of the Holocaust has been exaggerated, while 72 percent disagreed. The rest expressed no opinion.Since 15% hold that the holocaust is "exaggerated", I think we can safely assume a large overlap of that group with the 18% above. Sadly, though, these numbers aren't terribly surprising. Some is hatred, and other is just an inability to accept the horror of something, always assuming someone is exaggerating for their own gain. Like those who refuse to believe the threat of terrorism or that terrorists don't care about their polticial affiliation or which message board they post to.
A survey released by the Anti-Defamation League in December showed 43 percent of Americans also believe Israel is a threat to world peaceRemember that number if you feel a little too smug about Europe's 59% on the same question. It isn't anywhere near as bad, but still ain't good. Nor, based on a lot of the "neo-con" rhetoric that is getting mainstream, is it all that surprising.
Posted by fad at 10:59am
They've solved the mystery of the giant blob in Chile that provide some with great Michael Moore jokes.
The fibers, Pierce’s team found, were totally unlike the fine structure of an octopus or squid. Further, the molecular test results proved that the blob was the highly decomposed remains of a sperm whale. The Chilean blobs DNA matched that of the Nantucket blob exactly and had all the characteristics of all the other blobs that used to be whales.Someday I hope to be a difficult to identify blob.
Posted by fad at 10:15am
About a year ago, the Dairy Queen within walking distance of my apartment shut down. That it was in walking distance was very important. Just like having a Diet Coke with your meal cancels out all the other food you eat, walking to and from a Dairy Queen allows you to order whatever you want without care. This closing was quite a blow to my impulse eating.
Last April, at the site of an abandoned "Jack In The Box" (which, legend told, had the worst service in the history of man) even more within walking distance appeared a sign: "Dairy Queen! Coming Soon!" Well you could not have calloohed my callay any more at that moment. Just in time for the awful summers around here. Tasty treats would soon abound.
But then nothing happened. The sign was there, but no work was being done. The months dragged. By the end of June we were joking, "At this rate they won't even be open by October!" Ok, commenting. That really doesn't qualify as a joke. 'Tis now nearly February and the store still isn't open, though work has been done. Slowly. Taunting me.
I just know when they finally set a date ELF will decide to torch the joint.
Posted by fad at 9:54am
Isn't it keen how Weblogs.com breaks every day at 10am Eastern time? At least it's predictable.
Posted by fad at 9:31am
Remember how MoveOn always described itself as a "grass roots" organization? Turns out the are the tool of big money.
An online liberal activist group that is running television ads criticizing President Bush has raised $3.9 million from just three donors, including billionaire financier George Soros and movie producer Steve Bing.MoveOn has raised $4.5 million. Take out the donations here and you have around $600,000.
[...]
Soros and his business partner, Peter Lewis of Cleveland, donated at least $1.45 million each, while Bing gave at least $971,426.
At least two others gave $100,000 each: businessmen Lewis Cullman of New York and Richard Foos of Los Angeles.Ok, now we're down to $400,000. Still a lot of money, but, by the theories of politically motivated money donations, MoveOn is clearly under the thumb of 5 people at best. This is the few dictating to the many! That's not democracy! The powerful have taken over dissent! It's all a corporate plot! I'd get all worked up about it if I saw anything to get all worked up about.
Posted by fad at 9:09am
Not good times.
Kyocera Wireless has received reports of batteries in the Model 7135 Smartphones short-circuiting, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said. It said the batteries can "erupt with force or emit excessive heat" and said one consumer received minor burn injuries.Officials currently do not suspect terrorism. Mostly because that would be an idiotic suspicion.
Posted by fad at 8:47am
More developments in what will be one of the first rules reversed next time a Democrat is elected President.
A federal judge on Thursday upheld a new Labor Department regulation requiring unions to disclose more details about their finances but she delayed the effective date to July 1.I know I'd like to look under the hood of the NEA sometime.
[...]
Kessler blocked the department from imposing the new regulation until July 1, or until 90 days after it makes available a "fully tested version" of the electronic reporting software (search) it has promised unions, whichever is later.
[...]
The rule requires national, regional and local unions with an income of more than $250,000 to provide much more financial detail in the annual reports they are required to file with the Labor Department.
Unions will have to detail transactions of more than $5,000 for politics, gifts, administration, member representation activities and benefits. For the first time, larger unions also will be required to detailed the finances of related trusts.
Posted by fad at 8:36am
Water, water everywhere including that place way up there.
Europe's Mars orbiter has confirmed the presence of water in the form of ice on the Red Planet's surface for the first time, the European Space Agency said Friday.It's been an assumed for so long, but confirmation is always preferable. Unless talking climate science. Then just go with the worst you can imagine and wait for the grants to ching-ching their way in.
Mars Express, circling high above the surface, made the discovery on the planet's south pole, agency scientist Allen Moorehouse said.
``You look at the picture, look at the fingerprint and say this is water ice,'' Moorehouse said. ``This is the first time it's been detected on the ground. This is the first direct confirmation.''
UPDATE: BBC has more including some purdy pikturs.
Posted by fad at 7:54am
For most guys, getting drunk and making an ass of yourself in front of a woman is just the normal course of life. For some of us, we don't even have to get drunk; we just have to sit there and the ladies, should they notice us, will laugh at us anyway when they aren't looking away in disgust. But I guess doing this on live TV is a wake up call to some.
Joe Namath, whose bizarre behavior during a sideline report in December raised eyebrows, admitted in an interview with ESPN to be broadcast Sunday that he is seeking professional help for an alcohol problem.Hopefully it works out for him, and this isn't just an attempt at damage control.
[...]
On Dec. 20, he slurred his words and twice told the ESPN sideline reporter Suzy Kolber on camera that he wanted to kiss her.
"I can't believe it, and I didn't even see it, and I don't want to see it," Namath told ESPN, referring to a tape of the interview. "That was the wake-up call. Even before that, I said, `Yeah, I'm going to stop, I'm going to stop.' I stopped, and, like I say, I stopped for a few weeks, I stopped for a week, I stopped for two weeks, and then go back and drink a couple of days. Not constantly, just a couple, few drinks. I can't handle it."
Posted by fad at 7:50am
Wisconsin is taking an interesting step on organ donation.
The Wisconsin State Senate passed a bill on Thursday calling for a state income tax deduction of up to $10,000 to cover expenses for residents who donate their organs.This is the state effectively buying organs, but at the same time setting a price control on them.
The law will allow donors to deduct from their taxable income the costs they incur from donating all or part of a liver, pancreas, kidney, intestine, lung or bone marrow. Eligible expenses include travel, lodging and lost wages, and the maximum deduction is $10,000. The law is expected to cost the state about $115,000 annually, the bill's sponsors say.Grrr...it doesn't "cost" the state anything because that isn't the state's money in the first place. Also that $115,000 is only if every one of the average number of donators collects the maximum in tax credit (which I guess means there's an average of 11.5 people in Wisconsin who are living donators).
Critics of the legislation question whether such a tax credit would violate the 20-year-old National Organ Transplant Act. The federal law bans the purchase or sale of human organs, an industry that spawned organ brokers overseas but that is a crime in the United States punishable by a $50,000 fine and a five-year prison term.Sponsors claim they have enough wiggle room to get around that ban, but with most cases involving wiggle room arguments, it usually comes down to whether the judge thinks it's right or not. Not if it is legal or not.
State Representative Bob Ziegelbauer, a Democrat from Manitowoc, northeast of Madison, was the only Assembly member to vote against the bill, saying it would needlessly complicate the tax code for a marginal deduction at a time when his state faces a fiscal crisis.In many ways I agree. I don't know Mr. Ziegelbauer's record, but I hope he votes with that idea in mind on cigarette taxes, liquor taxes, proposed taxes against food, and other behavior modification tax credit ideas that are so popular with governments at these times.
"Why should the government be in the business of handing out rewards to people when they do good things?" he said. "I think we need to keep the tax code simple and understandable."
Posted by fad at 7:39am
Things Gephardt learned. One, endorsements don't matter so don't bother with them.
"Obviously they all want your help in this thing," Gephardt said, saying that Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts had called him twice since he decided to drop out of the race. "But I'm not doing anything at this point and I may never do anything."Endorsements are for people hoping to get a job by hitching on to a winner, or for people who just have a desperate need to get their name in the media.
Asked if he would make an endorsement before Missouri's contest Feb. 3, he said, "I don't think so."
He added: "We're in a world today where the people decide this, and these endorsements haven't been of great effect."
Asked if he planned on watching the remaining presidential contenders duel it out in New Hampshire in Thursday's debate, he said he had already forgotten about it.Two, DEBATES OF ALL TYPES ARE BORING! And he was right, there were two really great games on last night with unranked Richmond taking out Kansas and unranked Florida State beating UNC.
"I think there may be a good basketball game on," he said.
Posted by fad at 7:12am
I might as well do a boring ol' Friday Five whilst trying to get the day going here.
At this moment, what is your favorite...
1. ...song?
Geez, that's impossible to pin down. It almost changes by the hour. Right now I have trouble getting "Leave Me Alone", "Drunken Chorus", "Special", "Dead of Winter", and "3 Speed" out of my head this morning. Ask me next week and it'll be completely different.
2. ...food?
Usually I just default to pizza, but lately a nice medium rare ribeye is the craving.
3. ...tv show?
The Simpsons. It is life. It goes off the air, so do I. Though Scrubs could maybe give me reason to live. Nah.
4. ...scent?
Failure in the Morning. (or the smell of a real wood fire)
5. ...quote?
I don't have one. I'm not much of a quoter (outside Simpsons references). I prefer to use my own thoughts to those of others.
Posted by fad at 7:07am
January 22nd, 2004
A crafty German thief escaped police after his arrest by faking a heart attack and fleeing when his handcuffs were removed for treatment, authorities in the western city of Duesseldorf said Wednesday.Authorities say the suspect called out for a "Lizbeth" and may be hiding with her.
"He started complaining of chest pains in custody and said he was having a heart attack," a police spokeswoman said. "It seems he gave quite a convincing performance, and you can't be too careful in these situations."
Posted by fad at 5:32pm
It's official. Grief counselors have been deployed. Please, do not take out your disappointment on society.
Some four months after nixing their lavishly planned nuptials,Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez have split, her camp has confirmed.Why anyone even bothers to try after Billy Bob and Angelina proved that love is a lie, I'll never know.
Posted by fad at 4:20pm
The world needs more pictures of monkeys riding dogs*.
Posted by fad at 4:16pm
I find it a little disturbing that while my work had no problem losing my health insurance forms several times, they seem quite keen on giving me every chance to sign up for the life insurance they have. They've sent me the form multiple times in email and even regular mail no matter how many times I inform them I have no life insurance nor do I intend ever to have life insurance.
Good thing I refuse to eat or drink anything they try to give me.
Posted by fad at 3:34pm
Phew. Justice will be had.
"Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin won't be charged with any offense for holding his 1-month-old son while feeding one of his crocs, a public display that shocked viewers around the world.I can call off that hungerstrike I was intending between now and 7pm tonight.
Posted by fad at 2:16pm
I found this headline to be curious considering the content.
"Indiana lags on obesity spending"
An estimated $1.64 billion was spent last year in Indiana for health care costs to cover obesity-related illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, several types of cancer and gallbladder disease, a new study found.So Indiana spent less, that means it "lags". Nowhere is it stated for sure if Indiana needed to spend more or if there were things Indiana wasn't covering that the neighboring states were. Progress is merely judged in pure dollars.
The study, to be published Friday, evaluated state-by-state expenditures related to weight problems. It found Indiana spent less than most of its neighboring states, both in total dollars and as a percentage of total medical expenditures.
Posted by fad at 1:01pm
What is it about the office environment that creates such an inability to use language? I'm not talking proper grammar or even proper spelling, but just normal, everyday language that makes you sound like a human being. Email probably worsens the whole thing. The whole "How R U doing?" thing predates the text messaging which has just made it worse. And I've already gone on and on about "LOL" and "ROFL", not to mention the idiocy of things like "kewl". But in the business environment, words are used in ways they never would anywhere else, nor need to be used that way period.
Some of the most famous and common ones are discussed briefly in the comments here at Jackie D's. One of the worst days of my professional career (up to that point; now every day at this job is the worst day of my career) was when the CEO walked into an all-employee meeting (called "all-hands", another unnecessary term) and the first words out of his mouth were, "I'd like to dialogue with you all a while..." I knew at that moment it was time to get out.
I'm not totally immune to this. I've picked up the habit of using the term "ping" when I mean "check with". Here at this place we have a guy who ends every email or announcement with "please advise" That's it. "Please advise." It took me a while to realize he meant, "Please let me know if you need anything else or if this messes anything up." He did not mean for me to tell him to lose some weight or to try wearing something other than the same fucking black turtleneck everyday.
Another popular one here amongst some management is the phrase, "We need to increase the vertical." Now I thought we were in the business of networks, not erectile dysfunction for the reclined man, but what do I know? I'm just below the inanimate carbon rod on the org chart. Well, if there were one. When pressed what that phrase means, none of them can really explain it. But we did find out that one of them had just come back from a management conference.
We've really not moved far away from witchdoctoring and magic words.
Posted by fad at 12:30pm
Well. This definitely sucks.
NASA last heard from Spirit early Wednesday. Since then, it has returned just random, meaningless data - and only then sporadically, scientists said.Sounds like this blog over the last week.
Posted by fad at 11:52am
Damn. Who turned up the gravity in here?
Posted by fad at 11:00am
I have to say, the History Channel's recently aired "Barbarians" specials really, really sucked.
There. I feel better.
Posted by fad at 10:24am
Attention. They are no longer hate crimes. Please update your terminology as needed.
Police were investigating the attack as a possible bias incident, Detective Eric Crisafi said Thursday.Emphasis added by me for purely educational purposes. I'd think the beating of a man to death with a bat would be enough to investigate.
Posted by fad at 9:39am
As if there wasn't enough reason to hate the abomination of dome stadiums.
The authority that oversaw construction of the Edward Jones Dome brushed off criticism that it spends taxpayer money loosely and voted Wednesday to invest $17 million to keep operating for 20 more years.This board was started to build the dome (originally the TWA Dome now the Edward Jones Dome which most people just call the Jones Dome which amuses me because we generally refer to one of my friend's from college as Jones. Hey, it's these amusements that keep me from spreeing.) which was finished eight years ago. How much do you want to bet that the dome isn't even around in 20 years?
One floor above where Wednesday's vote was being taken, workers were ripping out the wallpaper in the authority's luxury box where the authority and staff members and their guests routinely watch Rams games at no charge. The renovation - including new carpeting, marble countertops and wood paneling - will cost taxpayers an estimated $50,000. The suite was renovated for $24,000 in 2001.I really need to get on one of these eternal commissions.
[...]
[T]he board ... hired its own unpaid chairman, Kent Underwood, last year for a $90-an-hour part-time consulting job as executive director.
Posted by fad at 8:35am
Damn AmeriKKKa! It's always finding ways to crush dissent.
Edwardsville High School students in February stood outside the Madison County Courthouse waving signs reading, "Honk For Peace." In the following months, groups in Jefferson County and downtown St. Louis asked motorists to honk in support of American troops.If I can't honk for pork steaks, then truly freedom is dead.
Last fall, union members held signs outside local groceries asking for supporters' honks.
In November, more than 100 medical workers in Swansea waved "Honk to save health care" signs.
Even the Post-Dispatch ran headlines in the last year that read, "Honk if you hate taxes," "Honk if you are a crummy car pooler," "Honk if you love pork steaks."
[...]
Motorists who give in to that temptation, though, are violating Missouri and Illinois law.
Posted by fad at 8:27am
A very interesting point over at Virginia Postrel's site about one of the just plain practical problems of depending on the rich for so much of the state's tax money. Setting aside philosophies of whether heavily progressive taxing is right or wrong, or theories of investment and trickle down, there is a straight out mechanic at work here that shows a weakness in the whole idea.
The idea is to fund programs by getting a very large percentage of total tax monies from the wealthy who, by this idea, won't miss that money in their day to day lifestyle. The problem with this is that the incomes of the wealthy at that extreme are extremely fluid and very sensitive to the overall economy. Wealthy people can see income swing quite a bit from year to year, yet perhaps not feel it in their lifestyle. However, when the state's tax stream is skewed so heavily from taxing that income, it can have a dramatic effect on the state's budget. As the example at her site points out has happened in California.
I guess it's an obvious point, but one that had never really hit me before.
Posted by fad at 7:52am
Internet voting. Coming whether we want it or not.
The Pentagon is standing by an Internet voting system it developed for U.S. citizens overseas despite an independent analysis that said it was so vulnerable to attacks that it should be scrapped.As things stand now, and even in the next few years, I will not trust the results of any election in which a significant number of votes are cast via these internet voting systems. My opinion on this doesn't even count my distaste for voting from home which I can see increasing participation at the cost of informed voters taking it seriously. I work with people who, due to their nearly anarchist natures, will work as hard as possible to make internet voting as insecure as they can. These are also the same people who will work as hard as they can to guarantee that a national ID card of the type many have proposed to increase security will also fail.
In a report released Wednesday, four computer security experts said the Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment, or SERVE, could be penetrated by hackers, criminals, terrorists or foreign governments.
Posted by fad at 7:43am
Also since it is morning, when scanning headlines and I see "Endgame nears in Pooh legal row", I cannot help chuckling, "Heh heh. Pooh." Thankfully just to myself and not aloud. Normally, I would have kept this to myself, but there is one piece of information at the very end that explosively increases the chances for comedy.
The event promises to be spectacular, gathering together some of America's highest-profile legal talent.Johnnie Cochran arguing about Pooh. The possibilities are endless.
Top of the bill will be Johnnie Cochran, arguably the most famous lawyer in the US, who was hired last year by the Slesingers.
Posted by fad at 7:33am
Every morning should start with a nice, long article about bacon.
Bill Niman's nitrate- and nitrite- free line of bacon from Niman Ranch in California is sold at many Whole Foods stores and is considered almost organic. "Our hogs are antibiotic-free, with a vegetarian diet," he said. "Our pigs are all raised outdoors and never tethered."Isn't it fun when your food's diet was healthier than yours is by eating it?
Posted by fad at 7:25am
January 21st, 2004
Posted by fad at 5:50pm
I'm taking (or took by this point) a day off. Probably be back tomorrow.
Posted by fad at 2:00pm
January 20th, 2004
Posted by fad at 5:43pm
There goes the Bush administration playing the Patriots card again.
Guests of President Bush and Laura Bush in her VIP box during the State of the Union speech:John Ashcroft is currently out crushing Panther fans' dissent. This must be that creepy Patriots-ism that chased Gwynneth Paltrow to England.
[...]
-New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady
Posted by fad at 5:36pm
Now this is sad.
For more than three years, Professor Hawking, who is paralysed as a result of motor neurone disease and can speak only through a computerised voice box, has been the victim of a catalogue of accidents.His family has suspicions.
[...]
Once there was a broken arm; another time, he turned up with a broken wrist; on a separate occasion, the doctors were shocked to see him with a large gash on his face; he also arrived with black eyes and a torn lip.
But despite being repeatedly asked, he refused to divulge exactly how the injuries had come about, except to say that on one occasion he had fallen out of his wheelchair.
They also believe it is probably someone close to him, but say they are powerless to do anything because Professor Hawking has been, up to now, resolute in his refusal to identify his attacker.One of the world's greatest brains, above all his other problems, could be a victim of abuse. Right now they are investigating his current wife (Hawking left his first wife of many years for his nurse/caretaker).
"The assaults just keep on happening and the family do not know if they will ever end," a family friend said.
Posted by fad at 5:25pm
The Independent, kindly reprinted in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer says, "George W. Bush may be not only the worst of America's last five presidents, but one of the worst, if not actually the worst, ever," in a piece that sums up every complaint and/or myth about the Bush administration.
Of course one gets the idea that the Independent's idea of a great President is Jimmy Carter, coddler of (and sometime speech writer for) tyrants, speaker of the right words with no consequences or caring for actions, and willing to sit American down and tell it that it sucks and should really just accept it and stop trying so hard (malaise).
Posted by fad at 4:28pm
Usual Saline.
Eyes no longer burning red.
Eye boogers reduced.
Posted by fad at 2:39pm
What a sad day.
More than 100 FBI agents and police officers arrested dozens of suspected mobsters Tuesday in an early morning raid that prosecutors called a decisive blow against a weakened Bonanno crime family.Ok, that's not quite the sad part. This is.
Law enforcement officials unsealed a 20-count indictment that charged 27 members and associates of the Mafia family with murder, conspiracy and other crimes.
The indictments stem from a four-year investigation that for the first time in memory saw a high-ranking member of a New York City crime family wear a wire to high-level family meetings, prosecutors said.A high-ranking member wore a wire? I guess family values are breaking down in America.
Posted by fad at 1:23pm
And now, a collection of some of the (intentionally) worst Lord of the Rings photoshops around.
Posted by fad at 1:20pm
This dance is as tiresome as it is predictable.
Iran has reneged on a promise to fully suspend uranium enrichment, making it likely the Tehran government will be under intense scrutiny when the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency next meets, Western diplomats and nuclear experts told The Associated Press on Tuesday.But they haven't reneged. They just view the words of the agreement differently.
Diplomats told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that even key European nations who negotiated the deal with Tehran have started to question Iran's commitment because it appears to be using semantics - the meaning of the word suspend - to keep some of its nuclear enrichment program operational.Don't worry, the UN and the IAEA are ready for this.
The IAEA continues to negotiate with Iran on what constitutes suspension, but one diplomat told AP that Mohamed ElBaradei, the agency's director general, "feels strongly" that Iran should also stop making and assembling centrifuges.He "feels strongly"? Well, hell, that'll do it. Nothing is more effective than one of them UN Frownings of a Lifetime.
Posted by fad at 12:23pm
Wow. How bad has it gotten for Dean? Companies now want nothing to do with anything named Dean!
Legendary country crooner Jimmy Dean says the Sara Lee Corp. has dropped him as spokesman for the sausage company he founded more than three decades ago.You gotta love it when sausage goes in a whole new direction.
[...]
Julie Cetay, a spokeswoman for Sara Lee, said Monday that the company chose not to renew Dean's contract in May because the "brand was going in a new direction" that demanded a shift in marketing.
Posted by fad at 11:55am
At some point someone less lazy than I am needs to set up a "Super Bowl or Primary Cliche" game. This is where you selectively quote from a story, and the quiz takers have to decide where the cliche comes from.
Fresh from an upset victory in the first test of the Democratic presidential campaign, John Kerry barreled into New Hampshire on Tuesday and promptly proclaimed himself the underdog in next week's first-in-the-nation primary.Two weeks of Super Bowl hype this year provide plenty of time for the "We're the real underdog" stories as well. You can't avoid these cliches in sports or politics. Everyone wants to portray themselves as the underdog for the hope for sympathy factor.
Posted by fad at 11:32am
Maybe they could call in the UN too.
Russia has sent in the army to bolster a week-long struggle to rescue 10 tons of beer trapped under Siberian ice, Itar-Tass news agency said Tuesday.No cost is too high to save that supply.
Posted by fad at 11:27am
I often give a hard time to groups such as Amnesty International. They too often are overly harsh to Western nations in a misguided attempt at what they perceive to be balance, and often times seem more interested in raising money for their causes through exploitive sob stories than in actually doing something. But they still shine lights where needed.
Starving North Koreans have been publicly executed for stealing food and others have died of malnutrition in labor camps, Amnesty International said in a report released Tuesday.This is an antidote to the weird trend of North Korean normalization stories that have been showing up of late. There seems to have been an unconscious reaction to the North Korean nuke crisis to try to convince people that it is a rational regime that can actually be negotiated with and will actually hold to its agreements.
[...]
"Public notices advertised the executions, and school children were forced to watch the shootings or hangings," he said.
"We were always so hungry and resorted to eating grass in spring," said one person, identified only as Kim, who served four years in a labor camp on treason charges. Kim spoke of meals being taken away as punishment if detainees were caught speaking to each other.This is a revolution that has completed. Contrast this with Chavez's government attempting to decriminalize stealing of food if "great need" is shown. That is a revolution in progress. Exploit the people's needs until control is yours, then the people are no longer necessary. Well, except to give them health care and literacy.
"Those caught hiding (stealing) vegetables had to beat each other," said one person, identified only as Cho. If they didn't hit each other hard enough, Cho said, they would be beaten by the labor camp guards.And people want to call the North Korean government evil.
Posted by fad at 11:01am
Tennessee joins the nest of sinners.
Lottery fans dreaming of riches waited patiently until after midnight to try their luck as Tennessee became the last state in the Southeast to offer legal gambling.Soon there will be pig-fucking, polygamy and toilet paper hung in improper overhand manner. The handbaskets of hell are woven of discarded lottery tickets.
The start of the Tennessee games, with proceeds earmarked for college scholarships, comes over a year after voters overwhelmingly approved a measure to lift the state's constitutional ban on lotteries, which are now expected to bring in $900 million a year for the state.Yeah, the education of Satan!
[...]
Walter England of Brentwood bought the store's first tickets and spent $110.
"I'm doing this just to help education," said England. "If I win, this might be the last time I play."
Posted by fad at 9:52am
2004 is the Year of the Monkey by the Chinese calendar. So what hack will be the first to use the upcoming New Year to try to make some grand point with "Smirking Chimp" or something similar in their column or on their site? I mean besides me. You know it's gonna happen if it hasn't already.
Posted by fad at 9:24am
One Iraqi has a message for those who call the attackers in Iraq a "resistance".
"We were liberated from oppression that lasted for 35 years," said a neighbor, Bilal Ibrahim, 20, referring to the ouster of Saddam. "No jihad or resistance is needed at all."That at the end of a story about how Iraqis are increasingly turning in especially the foreign fighters. While the article doesn't mention it, other sources indicate that the capture of Saddam dramatically increased this trend.
Posted by fad at 8:55am
Ban the worm!
Squirmy and slimy though they may be, earthworms are harmless little creatures.I no longer feel guilty for cutting so many worms in half to see if both halves really would survive. Ok, I never did.
Wrong.
They have a destructive impact on plant and animal life in local woodlands.
Posted by fad at 8:50am
I need to redesign this site to be more like this.
But once you click on the icon of the happy, smiling cartoon school kid you enter a Kremlin the like of which you've never seen or heard before.Background music makes every website sing!
The piped music sounds as if it would be more at home in a corporate video or a supermarket. Still, this is a fun, friendly, almost fluffy world of colourful cartoons and capers.
On this new website, you can visit Mr Putin's office - there you'll find a virtual Vladimir sitting with his back to you - click the cup of tea on his desk, and he'll answer some important questions.I like answering questions too! This idea is perfect for me. Let's look at the questions they use, and I'll give you the appropriate answer as applied to me.
"Are you allowed to touch the President with your hands?"This will be taken case by case. But, judged by reality, you wouldn't want to anyway.
"Who's more important, the President[--in this case me] or your mother?"Me, of course. Your every thought should be of me and how my being me makes you, as a non me, better off.
"What should you do if you love the president[--meaning me] too much?"No such thing. I've got enough to go around, baby.
This idea needs to be implemented here immediately.
Posted by fad at 8:01am
I always figured we'd find the Fountain of Youth at the bottom of a bottle.
Anti-ageing beer was presented to the world at a German agricultural fair this week - a drink which the brewer says will bring body and soul into harmony.Dammit. And me with a bad liver unable to enjoy its benefits.
It is brewed in the normal way, but then key ingredients are added.Sounds...tasty.
There is spirulina algae, which, as the German version of Men's Health magazine notes, is well known to health fanatics as an extra source of minerals.
Another key element is the protein flavonoid, which is supposed to work against cancer.
But this great hope for health-conscious beer lovers has encountered a legal problem.How about "Morning Regret Juice" or "I Called Him/Her Over Again? Punch".
The Reinheitsgebot, the world's oldest valid law, dating from 1516, states strictly that beer can contain only four ingredients: hops, barley, yeast and water.
A court hearing in the next few days is likely to order Mr Fricher to rename the product.
Posted by fad at 7:54am
"Bush's State of Union to outline agenda"
Damn. I was really hoping he would take the time to break down the Super Bowl. But since it'll just be the usual list of new spending and boring applause lines, I think I'd rather spend the time seeing which public toilet within walking distance has the best tasting water fresh from the bowl. Thank God for transcripts.
Posted by fad at 7:15am
January 19th, 2004
The big winner is also the obvious one. This was huge for John Kerry. After being in the press merely for cussin', fake tokin' (and, really, grow up. If it's such a joke, come out for legalization.), and general disarray. Now he's the guy with the momentum going into New Hampshire. He will be the focus of media profiles and commentary, negative or otherwise. It will be his name mentioned first.
The next biggest winner is Edwards whose campaign has been a nothing to this point. Going into New Hampshire, he just wants a decent showing going into South Carolina. These results are absolutely huge for him. He too will suddenly get more prominent media attention.
The big loser wasn't Dean; it was Gephardt. It's over. Word is he's flown back here to St. Louis tonight and will likely withdraw in the next couple days. He has already pledged not to run for his House seat, and I expect him to keep that promise. Expect him to be a firebrand in the House this his lameduck year. His time had simply passed. This isn't the end, though. He's still relatively young. There are Senate seats and governorships should he want them. Others who have lived here longer will be better able to gauge his plans. He could also try to pick a winner hoping for a cabinet spot, but I somehow doubt that.
This hurt Dean. Word is he's already whining about his media treatment. The guy simply isn't ready for the big time. It won't totally hurt him, though. New Hampshire could still be strong for him. Plus the "angry" voters seem to be more the students and elitists who will easily discount the rubes, as they see them, of Iowa. Much has been made about the amazing organization of the Dean campaign, but there is a fine line between well organized and slick. I think Dean's campaign has drifted into slick, and that's off putting.
I think Gephardt's showing also is a really bad signal for Lieberman, who stayed away from Iowa. He's just too strong for the war, and the people doing the nominating want nothing to do with that.
Clark may also want to worry a bit. He has been casting himself as the other anti-war and anti-George Bush. That tack didn't work for Dean, which may have been due to his personality. Kerry can challenge Clark on other perception issues such as Veteran and, I think, is stronger with women voters.
So what do we know? Nothing. Just one less candidate, one even whinier one, one coming from nowhere to have maybe a chance, and an incredible dork with the momentum.
UPDATE: YYYEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!
Posted by fad at 9:14pm
I'm not one of those who equates dislike for reality TV with intelligence, though you'll find plenty of others more than willing to praise themselves for their dislike as if not watching reality TV or Buffy (when it was on) or something else is equivalent to curing cancer or something. That said, this is pretty stupid.
Inside, bleary-eyed critics attending their 111th presentation of the tour listened in stupefaction as UPN Entertainment President Dawn Ostroff and CBS CEO Leslie Moonves (who oversees UPN) announced the new series that takes five 16-year-old Amish kids who leave their cloistered community for the outside world and all of its temptations -- "things we take for granted," Ostroff explained. The five teens will be matched up with five "mainstream young adults" of UPN's choosing in a house in a city that has not yet been determined.Those who live near Amish communities will often times tell you that many of those kids are quite good at temptation already.
Posted by fad at 4:48pm
As could only be expected, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebrations turned into anti-Bush rallies. Since this was so predictable, I planned to ignore it. But I can't ignore this spat of moral idiocy.
"We have to be concerned not just about us. We have to be concerned about all our brothers and sisters throughout our nation and world," King's son Martin Luther King III said in a service at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where his father preached until he was assassinated in 1968.Mr. King is one of those who believes that "our brothers and sisters" in humanity in Iraq were far better off under Saddam Hussein. The only conclusion from his words is that he thought Iraqi children were better off with Hussein in power. I guess he figures a regime that filled mass graves with children is better. Or is it that we should only care about our "brothers and sisters" and The Children™ when America or George Bush can be blamed?
"How many Iraqi children have been killed? When will the war end? We all have to be concerned about terrorism, but you will never end terrorism by terrorizing others."
I have no problems with pacifistic opposition to the war or to the pre-emption doctrine, being emotionally a pacisfist myself. I may think that pacifism is not a viable or very smart answer to all problems, but, hey, some people believe it. I have no problems with people being against the war to take out Saddam because it was not currently in America's interest. I myself held that position. I say "held" because now, since the war happened, the only reasonable position to have is to see that Iraq is rebuilt and truly left better off than it was.
I cannot accept completely foolish statements claiming Iraqi children and the average Iraqi citizen was better off with Saddam in power. Making such stupid statements completely undercuts your ability to present a convincing argument. It's like saying we should be against the administration's plan to go to Mars because of the costs and the fact that Mars is made of billions of cherry tomatoes that are all soaked in botchulism which would poison our astronauts. Initial reasonable reason completely undercut by fantastic claim.
Posted by fad at 4:18pm
In college, one of the guys on the floor had a habit of declaring things impossible before anyone would try them. Because of him, we started using the phrase, "See what I'm doing? This is impossible." But he had a Playstation so we had to be careful not to piss him off too much. On the topic of impossibility.
If you've ever tried to float one magnet over another (and who hasn't?), you know that the stupid thing just keeps flipping over -- an irritation formalized in 1842 when the Rev. Samuel Earnshaw published his famous theorem establishing mathematically that such magnetic levitation just can't be done.But there is one great power against the impossible.
Well, not so fast. It turns out that Earnshaw's theorem is absolutely correct, but it has a couple of loopholes large enough to drive all sorts of stable magnetic levitation devices through, including one you can now buy in any novelty shop for about $30: the Levitron.Hmmm...so ignorance isn't always bad! Now if only hatred could be as useful I'd be set.
[...]
This spinning top, which hovers above a magnetic base, was patented in 1983 by a Vermonter named Roy Harrigan. Harrigan had one distinct advantage over all those scientists who had tried and failed to levitate magnets before him: complete ignorance of Earnshaw's theorem. Having no idea that it couldn't be done, he stumbled upon the fact that it actually can.
Posted by fad at 12:40pm
Just a reminder that just because the EU's Beagle 2 lander failed, doesn't mean the mission was a complete loss. There's still the orbiter.
Mars Express, the mothership of Britain’s ill-fated Beagle 2, has sent back its first pictures of the Red Planet’s Grand Canyon.Pictures can be seen at the European Space Agency's site.
The pictures show Valles Marineris – more than six times deeper than the famous Grand Canyon on Earth and as long as the whole of Europe.
As a strange aside, ever since I was a kid, when I see a picture of a cratered landscape, I often have trouble perceiving the craters as craters instead seeing them as bumps. It's really weird.
Posted by fad at 12:27pm
Cool.
A French archaeological team has retrieved more than 1,000 bronze artifacts, including statues and busts of Pharoanic gods and goddesses, from the site of an ancient port city off Egypt's northern coast, officials said Sunday.I can't wait until they dig up my backyard in 2,500 years. I've seeded the site with so many statues of myself that future generations will consider me a god!
Posted by fad at 12:07pm
Well, that settles it.
Psychic Uri Geller defended his friend Michael Jackson on Sunday, saying the pop singer denied under hypnosis that he had sexually abused children.I don't know how this is going to turn out, but as George Costanza once said, "It's not a lie if you believe it."
[...]
''He answered me under deep hypnosis that he had never touched a child in a sexual way,'' Geller said. ''He said -- and here I'm using his exact words -- 'My relations with children are very beautiful.'''
Posted by fad at 12:02pm
So we're told that mentioning a candidate on tv within days of an election is a terrible, corrupting, monied evil. Well, make that only the last election.
It's not just the Democratic presidential candidates who are buying time for political TV spots in Iowa.To be consistent, shouldn't our high minded regulators also be fighting to disallow such ads before votes that influence even the nominating process? Since they believe such use of money and such speech is ultimately corrupting, why would they allow it to continue to corrupt all the way up until just the end?
At least 34 special interest groups have run 7,808 spots in 2003 in the main markets watched by Iowa viewers: Des Moines, Davenport, Cedar Rapids and Omaha, Neb.
Posted by fad at 11:58am
Excellent!
The number of mountain gorillas roaming forests shared by Rwanda, Uganda and Congo has risen in recent years in a sign of hope for one of the world's most endangered species, a census showed Monday.Every day is a good day when there are more monkeys running around.
Trackers prevented from conducting their research for years by war said the population of the majestic apes in the Virunga volcano chain had risen to 380 from 324 when the last census was completed 15 years ago.
Please, no one bother to tell me that apes aren't monkeys.
Posted by fad at 9:58am
Oh yeah. It's caucus day. I guess I should pay attention to it.
Nope. Still can't care yet. At least enough to follow it before the results are in.
UPDATE: One of the reasons I have trouble caring is that, as the end drags out, we get great insight like this.
The key, for all of the candidates, will be whether the newcomers actually show up.A whole bunch of people voting or not voting can make a difference in the results? Do tell!
"Usually, we have a small percentage of newcomers," said David Redlawsk, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Iowa. "But if we see a large number this year, it could be decisive."
It's a little unfair to go after that point just because it's obvious, or it would be if the media and some grabbed expert didn't make the same damn point every election. Primary/election/caucus coverage is in an infinite loop with the same insights made by the same sages every single time. Someone, as the event draws near, always makes the point that the "new" voter, whether young or "newly energized" by their excitement at repeating back the buzzwords of a particular candidate could swing the vote one way or another. While fully accurate, it's also fully boring. Just part of the dull repetition part of the election cycle.
Posted by fad at 9:21am
It'll be a slow start maybe even slow day today. My company has the day off for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. Plus after finding out this morning that I am hateful and ignorant, I need to spend some time re-evaluating my life.
Posted by fad at 9:09am
January 18th, 2004
I have a whole new perspective on the preciousness of my life now. No...wait..just gas. Never mind.
Posted by fad at 7:26pm
One down, one to go. That game went about as could be expected in the conditions. Now to see who plays the Patriots. You know, I'd be pulling for the Eagles all things being perfect. I like the team. Andy Reid rocks, and the organization has been classy. However, I'd only want them to win if somehow their fans could be left unaware of it so they can't enjoy it.
Posted by fad at 5:36pm
Isn't this interesting. Haloscan, which I know many blogspotters and other comment-free-system people use, provides a free service. They appear to be supplementing this with ads or sponsors. Nothing unusual there. However, they all so far seem to be anti-George Bush ads. Is this coincidence, or does Haloscan have a particular bent?
UPDATE: As if anyone cares. Looking around today, it appears it was indeed just coincidence that a bunching of ads for one bent showed up during looking yesterday.
Posted by fad at 2:08pm
Some quick thoughts upon seeing "Return of the King" again:
The music sucks. Sorry, it's just really annoying.
I need a sword (pronounced "sah-woard-eh")
The Legolas scene is fine as a stand alone, but within the move just went too far and became ridiculous.
My dream house will randomly shoot off a greenish white column of energy.
Also, the basement will be full of dead people I can boss around. That'll be cool.
I still feel shortchanged by the Eowyn killing the Witch King scene (and, to a much lesser extent, the changes to Eowyn's character from book to film).
The real change that most bothered me was the mess everyone made of Denethor. I've heard some praise it as "Shakespearian", but, in my experience, 90% of the time someone uses "Shakespearian" they mean, "It was overly melodramatic and way over the top, but I liked it and want to sound smart."
The whole thing about Arwen dying if the bus went under 50mph was stupid. I hate escort missions.
And now I shall sing for no reason.
Oh, you thought that was the end?
"Cool Hand Luke" is rumoured to be the sweatiest movie ever made. I'd like to nominate "Return of the King" as the Man-weepiest movie of all time. For the purpose of this post I am defining hobbitses, elveses and the likeses as "men". If this bothers you, then you scare me.
UPDATE: Spelling corrected out of fear.
Posted by fad at 11:22am
Since the title games are later today, I thought I'd give a fisking a try. This time with Maureen Dowd's newest. Yeah, I'm not good at these, so I doubt I'll do it again. But I had to try at least once. So here's the crap.
I went to Iowa hunting Howard Dean. His campaign said he might give me five minutes. On the phone.She went to Iowa? I'm actually rather impressed. I've always thought of her as some perverse form of dryad who, if she strays too far from her home of beltwayism and society, begins to fade upon the realization she ain't all that important.
At first, five minutes sounded pretty cursory. But I decided to be philosophical. Out of his 15 minutes of angry fame, Howard Dean was willing to devote a third of it to me.Yeah! 5 minutes? This is Maureen Dowd, man! She could snark the hell out of you if you don't cooperate. Like say you only have 15 minutes of fame coming your way.
How best to figure out someone who comes out of nowhere and wants to lead the world in five minutes?Tacos. Take him to Taco Bell and listen to him order. If he says "hard taco" for just "taco", then he's out.
I quizzed Tom Harkin, Mr. Iowa, about why he had endorsed Dr. Dean, even though it infuriated his spurned Senate buddy John Kerry and disappointed fellow Midwesterner Dick Gephardt. Senator Harkin didn't seem especially close to the Vermont governor. At the 2002 Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner here, he twice called the Democrat John Dean (as Martin Sheen did in a speech here last week).Better than "Jimmy", I suppose.
"He's a fire hydrant," Mr. Harkin said over dinner at Bambino's in Cumming. "If you kick it, it's going to hurt you. But it's stable and secure and there when you need it."This does beg the question of who actually kicks fire hydrants.
It wasn't the most glamorous metaphor. But I knew what he meant.Well, figured. She wouldn't have mentioned it to then say, "Beats the hell out of me what he meant. So now I'll talk about lesbians." Ok, that's not outside the realm of possibility.
Democrats yearn for somebody tough enough to stand up to the Bush family machine. They're still smarting that Al Gore lost a presidency he won. They watched even a fellow as gritty as John McCain crumple during the 2000 South Carolina primary, stunned by the sulfurous personal attacks of Bush supporters.I'm impressed. Just about every important myth of the 2000 election in one li'l package. Even though her own paper's recounts showed that George Bush got more votes in Florida by any reasonable standard, she just runs on with the myth that it ain't true. And you have to love this devotion now to the popular election (which due to the electoral college being in effect isn't accurate anyway (depressed voting for one side or the other in states dominated by a party)). Can we retroactively extend this great sympathy to Dick Nixon in '60? Secondly is the myth that John McCain was Skippy McPure in South Carolina or any of the primaries. He went to South Carolina and ripped the Christian right to shreds. Whether that was right or not, it still was his own actions that cost him that vote. Also, I still remember him bitching and moaning about how terrible "cold calls" were and that he wasn't going to do them. A few days later before the Washington primary, I got a phone message, which I still have, of a cold call from the McCain campaign furiously and negatively going after George Bush. But he had reporters on the "Straight Talk" who say he'd never do that, so I must be lying.
A fire hydrant sprays back.As it is Sunday, I shall not make any of the many jokes presented by this statement.
Dr. Dean has certainly proved he's tough. The press critiques on him - "hotheaded," "arrogant," "mercurial," "a jerk" - echo the knocks on W., back before "the Roman candle" of the Bush family ran for Texas governor and transformed himself into a disciplined and genial campaigner.Now let me see...what is the glaring difference here. Something so obvious. Oh yeah, when George W. Bush was properly labeled as such, he had not been in politics at all except one loss for Congress. His maturity also came with getting out of his 30s and 40s. Not a surprising change for anyone. Dean is the 4 billion term governor of Vermont and is in his 50s. I'm thinking if he were going to calm down, that would have happened by now.
Continue...
Posted by fad at 10:36am