Oil spill swells to 4M gallons; fixes days off yetContest: how would YOU stop the oil?
Prizes???
- the winner ought submit his/her suggestion to BP for real $$$.
... me? I'm just offering a competition!
Monday, May 10, 2010
a contest
Prizes???
- the winner ought submit his/her suggestion to BP for real $$$.
... me? I'm just offering a competition!
i collect playing cards
Tea Party Sells ‘America’s Most Wanted’ Playing Cards With Pictures Of Federal Lawmakers... think I'll order me a deck!
Just in case you, too, collect playing cards:
Tea Party Playing Cards
meanwhile, over there...
In Iraq's bloodiest day of 2010, attacks kill 100How many were killed in domestic violence during Saddam's reign?
Do the Iraqis celebrate W's birthday as a national holiday?
Why not???
this should be fun!
Obama taps Kagan to give court historic 3rd female"... a long, hard look..." Yeah, I can imagine... or maybe I can't.
By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer
10 May 2010... Less excited, Republican senators said they would give the nomination a long, hard look in potentially contentious summertime confirmation hearings.
How many ways will the Senate GOP find to say, "No"???
... has Kagan ever pronounced herself a "wise feminista"?
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Best news of the year!
Ingredient in Dark Chocolate Could Guard Against Stroke
... but I'll still keep taking the "control your cholesterol" tablets!
... but I'll still keep taking the "control your cholesterol" tablets!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
semi pointless
Let me express my gratitude to and appreciation for
... and I am thankful! - otherwise it would just be petty politics, day after day.
FaceBook friendsI ccntinue to be mildly amused by all my correspondents!
Buffoon followers
Random email correspondents
... and, oh yeah - flesh-and-blood friends!
... and I am thankful! - otherwise it would just be petty politics, day after day.
Mature Landscaping: Poisoning Pigeons In The Park
I'm not the only Tom Lehrer fan out there!
Mature Landscaping: Poisoning Pigeons In The Park
Favorite quotations
Short:
"Shut up," he explained.Slightly longer:
[Ring Lardner, The Young Immigrants]
I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did.(The second one has come in useful on more than one occasion!)
I said I didn't know.
[Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi]
Mom's birthday today!
93 years, and still feisty!
My oldest sister is hosting the celebration.
I'll be bringing homemade ice cream - french vanilla & raspberry sherbet.
(the french vanilla requires egg yolks; the sherbet requires egg whites... it's a nice two-fer).
... which reminds me: i need to start the ice cream!
till later!
My oldest sister is hosting the celebration.
I'll be bringing homemade ice cream - french vanilla & raspberry sherbet.
(the french vanilla requires egg yolks; the sherbet requires egg whites... it's a nice two-fer).
... which reminds me: i need to start the ice cream!
till later!
Friday, May 7, 2010
Our far-flung correspondents: topological observations
Again from my USMC bud.
In recent news: A Russian mathematician, Grigori Perelman, was awarded a Fields Medal for proving that a topological property of 3-dimensional spheres extends to 4-dimensional spheres (the Poincare Conjecture... with Perelman's proof, no longer a conjecture, but a theorem). (Strangely, that this property extended to 5- and higher-dimensional spheres was the easier problem.) This guy turned down the medal. On 18 March 2010, Perelman was awarded a Millennium Prize ($1M) for solving the problem. He turned down the award.
Speaking of smoking dope, remember how I brought nice things back from Senegal and Korea? Well, this isn’t Senegal or Korea. I did, however, locate the most geometrically complex objects in Afghanistan that aren’t obviously used for smoking dope. Careful observers will note that all objects pictured have the same topology. At their present rate of development, I expect the Afghans to discover the ‘bagel’ or ‘tea cup’ topology in approximately 7000 years.For what it's worth (not much): the objects pictured (rock, cup, saucer) are all topologically equivalent to a sphere. Imagine you have a lump of clay which you've molded into a ball. Without tearing, ripping, or poking a hole in it, you can transform that ball into any of the shapes shown. The 'bagel' or 'tea-cup' object has a hole - the hole in the bagel, the hole made by the handle of the teacup. Bagels and teacups are topologically equivalent objects.
In recent news: A Russian mathematician, Grigori Perelman, was awarded a Fields Medal for proving that a topological property of 3-dimensional spheres extends to 4-dimensional spheres (the Poincare Conjecture... with Perelman's proof, no longer a conjecture, but a theorem). (Strangely, that this property extended to 5- and higher-dimensional spheres was the easier problem.) This guy turned down the medal. On 18 March 2010, Perelman was awarded a Millennium Prize ($1M) for solving the problem. He turned down the award.
Our far-flung correspondents: one sabbatical ago
My USMC bud frequently includes a "One Sabbatical Ago" feature in his weekly reports.
One Sabbatical Ago (May, 2003) he was deployed on Operation Iraqi Freedom.
This week's feature includes the following, for which I can legitimately claim some credit: I sent him the tabloid he's reading!
One Sabbatical Ago (May, 2003) he was deployed on Operation Iraqi Freedom.
This week's feature includes the following, for which I can legitimately claim some credit: I sent him the tabloid he's reading!
Side trip to Babylon. Not only was it cool to see where Jesus grew up (... don’t bother to check the actual Bible), but I got to go to the stadium where Saddam fed Christians to lions – and read about Saddam feeding Christians to lions.
Our far-flung correspondents
From my USMC bud in Afghanistan:
I’ve taken essentially the same picture after the first big wind storm in each base camp I’ve visited in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and now Afghanistan (in Iraq, I only visited dirt). Eventually, even Marines learn to stake down their Porta-Potties. On this day, 12 of the 13 on my usual running route were blown down, with the last one blocked by 2 that had already fallen.
The blue & white objects at right are two of the cans that we live in, unassembled.
Speaking of storms, we just had the worst dust storm I have ever experienced. Unfortunately, it was at night, so I couldn’t take a picture. This is one from back in my Dwyer days. Cameras now have special modes for sunsets, fireworks, pets, etc. I need one with ‘dust storm’ mode. This storm looked like the world was ending, but the photo is unimpressive.
Entirely theoretical question: if you can’t navigate 150’ to the bathroom because there is 2 foot visibility, both for you and everyone else, is it okay…well, never mind.
Everyone else wanted a picture of the end of the world as well, but nobody I know got a good shot of it. Oh, and the world survived, but it got really dusty.
Game on!
A previous post references a FaceBook comment which noted:
TedTheCat joined the game, suggesting:
"If there were any truth to the idea that a particular name can guarantee a particular character trait for the child — or vice versa — most people would be named Vaguely Dissatisfied. Or Kinda Bitter."I suggested that "Mildly Amused" would be another popular name.
TedTheCat joined the game, suggesting:
Happily Apathetic.If you'd like to join the game, please do!
Quietly Resigned.
Proudly Ignorant.
The Golden Age
I am currently reading Gordon S. Wood's Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815, and trying desperately - and futilely - to discern the civility that surely must have permeated all political discussions in our early Constitutional Republic.
No - even without formal political parties, the debates in 1792 were as rancorous as those today. The personal calumnies unleashed by one side against leaders of the other were, if anything, far more devastating and demeaning than anything seen today... even on Fox News!
... and one does come away with the sense that, for all his priggish prickliness, Washington was the only man who could have steered the ship of state in these first tumultuous years.
His reputation for virtue was acknowledged by all.
This seems to be only thing distinguishing those days from this: the reputation of the president (if not of the presidency - which one faction viewed with great suspicion).
No - even without formal political parties, the debates in 1792 were as rancorous as those today. The personal calumnies unleashed by one side against leaders of the other were, if anything, far more devastating and demeaning than anything seen today... even on Fox News!
... and one does come away with the sense that, for all his priggish prickliness, Washington was the only man who could have steered the ship of state in these first tumultuous years.
His reputation for virtue was acknowledged by all.
This seems to be only thing distinguishing those days from this: the reputation of the president (if not of the presidency - which one faction viewed with great suspicion).
shameless blogging
From Buffon follower JC's FaceBook posting:
... and I think "Mildly Amused" would be in the top five most popular names!
This appeals to the curmudgeon in me. Except I am not old enough to be a curmudgeon, and hope never to be so old! "If there were any truth to the idea that a particular name can guarantee a particular character trait for the child — or vice versa — most people would be named Vaguely Dissatisfied. Or Kinda Bitter."I pointed out that "curmudgeon" has more to do with attitude than age, and confessed pride in being a curmudgeon.
... and I think "Mildly Amused" would be in the top five most popular names!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Re-runs: the Republican fight song
Thanks to HS friend Ed for posting this on Facebook.
Yeah - I've posted it before, but it's just too good!
Groucho Marx (Prof. Quincy Adams Wagstaff), Horse Feathers, 1932.
Free advice for DNC (worth every penny!): acquire the rights to this clip to use in national ad campaign in October!
[... or maybe Rep. Cantor's (R-VA) now moribund policy group, the National Council for a New America, could use it in their effort to re-brand the GOP!]
Yeah - I've posted it before, but it's just too good!
Groucho Marx (Prof. Quincy Adams Wagstaff), Horse Feathers, 1932.
Free advice for DNC (worth every penny!): acquire the rights to this clip to use in national ad campaign in October!
[... or maybe Rep. Cantor's (R-VA) now moribund policy group, the National Council for a New America, could use it in their effort to re-brand the GOP!]
Times Square bombing & bomber...
Loyal readers may have noticed my silence regarding the failed Times Square bombing and subsequent apprehension of the alleged perpetrator.
Our national media's coverage of terrorist events has been less than stellar.
In the days immediately following events all sorts of stuff gets published as "fact".
Recall the over-hyped news conference announcing the JFK airport plot a few years ago - you'd have believed the plotters were only minutes away from successfully unleashing an inferno on Long Island. 'Twasn't true.
The case of Faisal Shahzad is no less fluid, and no more credible.
"He's a lone wolf"... "No, he's in league with Pakistani Taliban"... "No, Pakistani Taliban disavow him"... "No, he's a convert to Catholicism abused by priest as a child"...
(Well - actually I've not seen that last one... but wait a couple of days!)
So - until the hysteria dies down and some real facts start emerging, I'll remain silent.
... I WILL note that Mr. Shahzad was Mirandized and is still talking.
Yes - criminal investigations really can proceed and be effecive within the rule of law... no matter what John McCain might say to the contrary.
Our national media's coverage of terrorist events has been less than stellar.
In the days immediately following events all sorts of stuff gets published as "fact".
Recall the over-hyped news conference announcing the JFK airport plot a few years ago - you'd have believed the plotters were only minutes away from successfully unleashing an inferno on Long Island. 'Twasn't true.
The case of Faisal Shahzad is no less fluid, and no more credible.
"He's a lone wolf"... "No, he's in league with Pakistani Taliban"... "No, Pakistani Taliban disavow him"... "No, he's a convert to Catholicism abused by priest as a child"...
(Well - actually I've not seen that last one... but wait a couple of days!)
So - until the hysteria dies down and some real facts start emerging, I'll remain silent.
... I WILL note that Mr. Shahzad was Mirandized and is still talking.
Yes - criminal investigations really can proceed and be effecive within the rule of law... no matter what John McCain might say to the contrary.
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