March 27th, 2004
Posted by fad at 1:07pm
March 26th, 2004
Posted by fad at 4:44pm
Hooray for science!
Amid well preserved dinosaur footprints along what used to be the shores of a prehistoric lake in southern Utah, scientists have found the rare signs of a dinosaur's posterior.Dinosaur assgrooves!
Two impressions, made about 200 million years ago when the dinosaur sat down, were found March 17 in St. George, in southwestern Utah, as scientists were investigating the area around a planned dinosaur museum.
Posted by fad at 2:36pm
Woo hoo! The route home is flooded out!
It's really not so bad. The long way is only a few more miles.
Posted by fad at 2:27pm
It was a year ago that an explosion ripped a marketplace in a mostly Shia area of Baghdad. To this day it is unsure if it was an errant coalition missile or an errant Iraqi missile, though the former is most likely. In this article the AP takes a look at how things are there now.
Posted by fad at 2:19pm
Sorry for the lacking of late. Yesterday was lack of inspiration, today is just plain being busy.
Oh yeah, and because I hate you. Oh, wait....that's just a mirror. Never mind.
Posted by fad at 12:03pm
So you finally decided it was time to stop singing along and actually take that holiday in Cambodia. But what to do while there? Thankfully, you're a faithful reader of this site where answers are provided you.
Tim Mitchelson discovered the Cambodian Army's jolly little foray into the entertainment industry when his taxi driver in Phnom Penh asked if he would like to try his hand at firing an assault rifle.Just like in life, it's always the choice of coconut, chicken or cow. It is the question of our age; it is the answer that eludes.
[..."]Asked if I got to shoot at anything, they offered me a choice of a coconut, a chicken or a cow.
"Pressing them further on price, they announced their special combo was a cow and a rocket-launcher for US$400: US$200 for each. On the bright side, you got to keep your US$200 for the cow if you missed. I settled for the machinegun and the coconut."Wuss. But I bet just about everyone who read that had a flash of a visual in their mind of exploding cows.
While over in that area of the world, don't just limit yourself to Cambodia. Look what Japan has to offer!
Runner-up in the weirdness stakes would have to be the Parasite Museum in Meguro, Tokyo, which displays 300 varieties of parasites that have been found in humans. Charlie Eng, who discovered it while she was living in Japan says, "Its house, a very small, unassuming building, looks so normal, in fact, it's easy to miss.Free? And there's parasites? Why wasn't I informed of this earlier? You people are slacking.
"The definite highlight is the 9m long tapeworm that was found growing in some poor man's stomach after eating some dodgy sashimi [you can put your nose right up to the glass and see every detailed inch of it]. Oh, yes, you can buy souvenir T-shirts there, and best of all it's free."
Posted by fad at 9:35am
One more thing related to the story below. Sometimes someone says something so mealy-mouthed, cliched and just plain stupid that you want to send Richard Simmons over to slap them. In this case, we have George Miller (D - Where Words Are Just Sounds) of California.
"We need to level the playing field," Mr. Miller said, "but we can't do that if there is no field to play on."Well, since there is no "i" in "team", we'll have to take this fight one day at a time. As a matter of fact, we'll just have to roll up our sleeves and put our noses to the grindstone until we finish the whole ball of wax.
Posted by fad at 7:57am
This will unleash a hellish fight.
Following the Bush administration's lead, Republicans in the House say they will push to overhaul a financial aid system that often sends a disproportionate share of federal education money to wealthy universities with relatively few low-income students.You already know which universities will be the most affected. What was surprising was the extent of the difference.
With many of the old guarantees still in place, Harvard, Princeton and Yale — or any other member of the Ivy League, for that matter — received 5 to 12 times the median amount per financial aid applicant given to the nation's colleges to run their low-interest loan programs in 2000-01, according to an analysis of federal data for more than 4,000 universities by The New York Times.Those are healthy disproportions, there. I'm sure the reasoning some will give is because they are so much more expensive, they need to get more tax money. But if we're really talking about trying to help as many poorer students as possible, the money would be far more effective in smaller Generic State Us and the like.
The Ivy League universities were also given 5 to 8 times more than the median to pay their students in work-study jobs. And they received 5 to 20 times the median amount of grant money to look after the everyday needs of poor students, despite having some of the largest endowments in the nation.
My guess is that these institutions, and their alumni, are way too entrenched, especially within government, to allow any sort of change to occur. I look forward to the cries that this is another sign that the Republicans are anti-education and out to hurt the poor.
Posted by fad at 7:51am
March 25th, 2004
Posted by fad at 2:27pm
March 24th, 2004
On March 25, 1954, Radio Corporation of America began manufacturing color television sets at its Bloomington, Ind., plant. It built 5,000 sets with 12-inch screens, known as the model CT-100 color receiver. They sold for $1,000 each, astronomical in those days.Where are the parades celebrating this? Why the hell are businesses open tomorrow? We should all be home enjoying the greatest thing to ever come along.
Posted by fad at 4:05pm
Hmmmm...this day needs some brightening. Time for a look at the ole Oddly Enough page.
"Man on Trial for Decapitating Mother with Sword"
HAHAHAHAHA! That's more like it! I don't know about you, but nothing brightens my day like a good decapitation story. Takes me back to those carefree days in college when it was just me, my sword and the truth.
Posted by fad at 1:55pm
Back in college, there was a very hard-core vegan who lived on the same floor. He considered himself "straight-edge" (I think that's the name). He ate tons of beans and took supplements to stay healthy considering his diet. Unfortunately, he took it so far, whether through idiocy, poverty or both, that he rarely bathed for fear of using an animal product in the process of cleaning himself. That adds up to one hell of a smell, folks. His neighbors successfully lobbied to make him keep his door shut at all times so that others wouldn't gag.
Of course all this self-righteousness couldn't be completely contained. He would show up and start lecturing you on the evils of your lifestyle. If he saw someone carrying an animal product down the hall he'd start yelling at them. A friend of mine shut him up once by just saying, with a laugh, "Oh go eat a steak!" This nearly set the guy in tears. Seriously. Tears. We always wanted, after feasting on a huge mound of hot wings, to take the bones back and set them outside his door in hopes they would trap him in his room, and we would be left alone.
I bring this up because of this story.
Starting next month, Norfolk-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals plans to hand out "Buckets of Blood" to children outside KFC restaurants and at schools near the restaurants. The buckets are part of PETA's campaign against what it says are farming and slaughter abuses by KFC's suppliers.I don't necessarily approve of the spokeswoman's use of the phrase "corporate terrorism", but this is clearly twisted even for PETA's regular standards. Like in the story above, I wish there was some easy something we could hand out to these people that would cause them similar dismay. It'd have to be something they don't catch on at first (hiding it in a bucket is a good idea), clever (if I'm using their tactics, I at least want it to rise to a certain level), but not evil or twisted (like real animal blood or roadkill).
The 5-inch-tall, red-and-white striped containers mimic KFC's buckets. But instead of fried chicken, each is filled with items including a bag of fake blood and bones, a bloodied plastic chicken and a cardboard caricature of a blood-spattered Colonel Sanders holding a butcher knife toward a terrified-looking chicken.
Labels on the bucket proclaim, "Shhh! The 'secret recipe' in this bucket of body parts is ... cruelty" and "The Colonel's secret recipe: live scalding, painful debeaking, crippled chickens."
I can never quite think of anything, except maybe bringing a small grill and tailgating all around them.
Posted by fad at 1:52pm
Alright. Take this headline.
"Senate Democrats stave off attack on OT"
This is about Senate Democrats trying to force debate on the administration's plans to clarify/change some overtime rules. The AP has decided, in a news piece, that it is an objective fact these changes are an "attack on" overtime. It's a good thing the AP is there to make these judgements for me.
Posted by fad at 12:43pm
I don't envy them this task, but I'm glad it is being done.
Russia's leading human rights groups released a list Wednesday of more than a million of people who fell victim to Josef Stalin's purges - an attempt to draw public attention to the Soviet dictator's crimes in a society still divided over his legacy.If this information is truly documented, this project is an invaluable resource.
The 1,345,796 names, compiled on a CD-ROM along with brief biographies of the victims, represent only a small portion of those who suffered in the purges, but are all the cases that activists have been able to document so far.
[...]
The CD contains the names of those on the so-called "Stalin's lists" - some 44,000 people tried for political offenses on Stalin's personal orders, the majority of whom were executed.
It also has maps and statistics about the Soviet gulag, or labor camp system, and the location of monuments to victims of Soviet repression.
Posted by fad at 11:23am
A few weeks back, a terrorist group in France claimed to have set bombs all about the rail system. In a refreshing, throwback change, the group just wanted money, not to see as many infidels killed as possible. More explosives have been found. But there's a catch.
The Interior Ministry said the device did not resemble bombs described in threats by a mysterious and previously unknown group calling itself AZF.It is possible, and I believe likely based on this little information, that this device is still related to that other group, but enough doubt is sparked especially when you add in these threats.
``A heavy offensive will take place on the grounds of the allies of Satan and we are going to plunge France into terror and remorse,'' the letter stated, according to Le Parisien newspaper.They threaten death and destruction, and would likely carry it out, over a head-scarf law. In other words, they threaten the same actions over that as they do over an active war against terrorists.
[...]
``With this head scarf law, you have participated in an unjust aggression,'' said the letter, which was written in French under an Arabic-language letterhead. ``You have decided on your own to put yourself on the list of Islam's worst enemies.''
I'm looking for that beamspace that suggests there can be a safety level of appeasement and accomodation, but it does not appear to exist.
Posted by fad at 10:58am
Too bad things are much worse now.
Iraqi doctors were forced to cut off ears, falsify reports on torture and participate in other human rights abuses during Saddam Hussein's regime, a survey of physicians there found.That's a rather small sample, but no one seems to dispute the findings.
Fewer than 10 percent of the 98 doctors surveyed said they had performed such abuses, but their responses indicated they believed human rights abuses by other physicians were not uncommon.
Posted by fad at 10:47am
Why would anyone want ride an open basket hot air balloon to 42,000 feet up in -75 degree temperatures?
He said he would also like to fly over Antarctica and perhaps Mount Everest, but said he did not know what he would try next. "We're going to go for beer later on, and that's where most trips discussed, over a pint of beer," he said.Oh. Admittedly, this is a much grander version of "Hold my beer and watch this."
Posted by fad at 10:29am
Little bit o' site news. I changed my name. Not the site name, but the "posted by" name. After hearing much criticism, and never really being fond of it myself, "Rodya"* has been dropped. I'll just be going by the site nickname "fad", now.
If I have any other news to shatter your earth, it will be passed on at the appropriate time. Now, please, go about your day as if nothing happened.
*The stupid name was picked because "Crime and Punishment" is one of my favorite books.
Posted by fad at 9:12am
Aznar, of Spain, today in Opinion Journal.
I have said that terrorism is not a local phenomenon, confined to particular areas or countries, to be confronted with domestic means alone. On the contrary, terrorism is a global phenomenon, one that crosses borders. And it gains in strength when we think that it is the problem of "others" and should be taken care of by "others."It will want a registered email to read it. Just use slappy@squirrel.com if you aren't already registered.
Posted by fad at 9:01am
When children are death, then death is all that can be.
Israeli forces stopped a young Palestinian boy wearing a suicide bomb belt from crossing a West Bank checkpoint, police said Wednesday.
[...]
Witnesses said the boy appeared to be between 10 and 12 years old.
Posted by fad at 8:42am
Look what Mel Gibson hath wrought.
Monty Python's film The Life of Brian is to return to US cinemas next month following the success of The Passion of the Christ.I bet the word "synergize" or "synergy" was used many times in the meetings to decide this.*
The Biblical satire will be re-released in Los Angeles, New York and other US cities to mark its 25th anniversary.
*Sorry for my obsession with that term. We are going through a merger here and the consultants hired to facilitate that meet loudly right behind me all day. They use that term constantly, "I'm not seeing the synergies here." The code for the inevitable layoffs is "realizing workforce synergies". I imagine them all eating Reese's Peanut Butter Cups because they can't resist the realized synergies of chocolate and peanut butter.
Posted by fad at 6:58am
March 23rd, 2004
Five planets (search) are arrayed across the evening sky in a spectacular night show that won't be back for another three decades.It'd better clear up soon so I can catch this one. I don't have that many years left in me.
For the next two weeks, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn — the five closest planets — should be easily visible at dusk, along with the moon.
[...]
Standish said this particular planetary grouping may offer the best nighttime views until 2036.
Posted by fad at 2:16pm
A story containing this phrase needs to be read.
"I was sure someone would tell me they'd seen a drunken monkey or a drunken ape," Dr. Milton said.Unfortunately it's more dull -- all about theories of evolutionary biology explaning humanity's love of alcohol -- than one would hope after reading that, but the fact that statement needed to be made and inquiries into such things are going on makes the world seem a little more bright.
Posted by fad at 1:49pm
I just got spam from a "Chi Guevara".
Posted by fad at 12:54pm
The labor theory of music?
Violinists at a German orchestra are suing for a pay raise on the grounds that they play many more notes per concert than their musical colleaguesPrevious experience with temperamental violinists preclude me from commenting further.
Posted by fad at 11:23am
I am not a funny man.
After looking at some of those photos from this weekend's tortured performances, I was going to write a post explaining how I wanted to form a performance art troupe to play along at these protest festivals. The name of this group was to be "Mumiaschanz".
HAHAHA! Get it? God, I hope not. This is what happens when I start thinking I'm clever.
Posted by fad at 11:05am
God bless good old American innovation.
As a five-decade livestock producer, Jim Farmer wants his son and two daughters to follow in his footsteps.Mmmm...beef fresh from the can.
He hopes ready-to-eat beef -- in a can -- is the ticket.
The offerings are limited to ground beef and leaner chunk beef, each in 14-ounce cans. Eight- or 9-ounce cans might be coming.Sorry, I prefer my ground beef in pints.
Posted by fad at 9:07am
I can't believe it's already been a week since the show. It sucks when the highpoint of your year is so early. Oh well, back to enjoying the gentle slide.
Posted by fad at 8:27am
Americans are a constant disappointment to her elites. They warned us that our barely constrained racism was going to explode against Arabs and Muslims after the attacks of 2 and a half years ago. It did not. We were warned that a movie, The Passion, was going to cause us to break out in pogroms because we just can't help ourselves. Again, it did not. Thank goodness there is France for them to look to.
Attackers set fire to a Jewish community center in southeast France overnight, causing slight damage to its entrance hall, police said Tuesday.It is probably wrong to highlight isolated incidents like this one and call them the norm, but I'm just tired of people searching for anti-Semitism everywhere except where it actually is.
Posted by fad at 8:17am
I saw a commercial for KFC last night that ended up with me thinking about my ankles. Believe me, there is a connection here. I'm not really a fan of most fried chicken. When the commercial came on, my mind, for whatever reason, decided to try to find the time I most enjoyed fried chicken from some joint. Eventually, I came to some place in Newport, CA, almost exactly 14 years ago.
[Continue reading incredibly dull, self-indulgent crap]
Posted by fad at 8:03am
March 22nd, 2004
Posted by fad at 2:55pm
Ooo! Cometary closeups!
Posted by fad at 1:54pm
I always knew Gwynneth Paltrow would play me in the movies.
You are Sylvia Plath! She committed suicide by
shoving her head in a gas oven.
Congratulations! She was mentally troubled
throughout her life, and toyed with the idea of
suicide many times. She wrote brilliant and
insightful poetry, although it was all
autobiographical; poor sylvia had a hard time
getting outside herself, and her connections
with members of the opposite sex were troubled
at best. She has been picked up since her
death in the early sixties as a champion of the
feminist cause.
Which famous poet are you? (pictures and many outcomes)
brought to you by Quizilla
Posted by fad at 1:33pm
I know how things are in political campaigns, but this is still one of the most transparent things I've seen this year.
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said Sunday he has asked for copies of a new book in which a former White House counterterrorism coordinator accuses the Bush administration of manipulating America into war with Iraq with dangerous consequences.As if Kerry were just now suddenly aware of Clarke and these charges that the media are airing to help sell the book. As found out here(via Instapundit), Clarke is teaching a course with Rand Beers. Why does that matter?
He began work on John Kerry's Presidential campaign in May 2003 as National Security/Homeland Security Issue Coordinator.Kerry and his campaign have to have known about this book all along. It speaks even worse of them if they were not. This feigned sudden interest in what this book reveals is just poor showmanship. It's laughable, but he won't be called on it outside little sites like this.
Posted by fad at 12:44pm
Over the last few weeks a lot of new (to here) people were moved to this office. One of them takes pleasure in clogging up toilets in the bathroom. We don't know who it is, but it has happened at least once a week for nearly two months now. I wonder if this rises to the level of a tire-slashing offence should he ever be identified?
Posted by fad at 9:28am
I can't seem to think of anything today, so I'll try something foolish. I'm taking requests for posts. We'll see if any come in, considering my readership's relationship to vastness. So, send in requests via email for anything you want me to post on. Email only, not in the comments.
(Secretly I know none will come in so that I won't have to write on anything, but this way it isn't my fault.)
Posted by fad at 8:51am
This applies to pretty much all internet discourse.
Posted by fad at 7:10am