August 31, 2005
Free Speech is a Right, Not a Privilege
The shock, the outrage! Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit said "that demonizing the ACLU is a bit silly". And he admitted to working with them! Now some blogs are dropping their links to him.
Now, I will admit that I think that some of the people and groups that the ACLU has represented are bad people. Even evil people. I have mocked them for it. I have expressed wonder that they can stand to associate with these people. I also know that if I or anyone in my family were arrested over a free speech issue one of the first calls I would make would be to the ACLU.
You don't have to like everything the ACLU does or everyone they represent to appreciate the value of what they do. I couldn't do it, but as long as they're out there making sure that some wacko nut case (technical term for "ACLU client") has the right to speak about whatever idiocy he's promoting, I know that my right to speak out against him, or even ignore him, is secure.
I think it's better to let people who want to say things that are stupid, evil, or just plain wrong say them in public. It gives the rest of us a chance to point out how and why these things are stupid, evil, and wrong. Suppressing speech doesn't stop it, it just makes bad ideas harder to fight.
August 30, 2005
The Music Meme
Find the Top 100 songs from the year you graduated from high school. Underline the ones you love, bold the ones you like, cross out the ones you don't like, and ignore the ones you don't remember or don't care about.
There are a lot I don't remember. There are several where I like the band/artist more than I liked their song(s) for that year. It was easier to pick out the ones I don't like than to decide how much I liked the others. Even though I underlined some, I think of it as more of a stronger like rather than a love for the song. If I never heard any of these songs again, the number of the ones that I would really miss could be counted on one hand. Some that I liked when they came out I grew to hate as I heard them played over and over again. I've also come to like some that I didn't like before.
Find your year here (scroll down, it's near the bottom of the page) or continue reading to see my list.
(Found via Dummocrats and Daimnation!)
Top 100 Songs of 1977
(Subject to further editing)
1. Tonight's The Night, Rod Stewart
2. I Just Want To Be Your Everything, Andy Gibb
3. Best Of My Love, Emotions
4. Love Theme From "A Star Is Born", Barbra Streisand
5. Angel In Your Arms, Hot
6. I Like Dreamin', Kenny Nolan
7. Don't Leave Me This Way, Thelma Houston
8. (Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher And Higher, Rita Coolidge
9. Undercover Angel, Alan O'Day
10. Torn Between Two Lovers, Mary MacGregor
11. I'm Your Boogie Man, K.C. and The Sunshine Band
12. Dancing Queen, Abba
13. You Make Me Feel Like Dancing, Leo Sayer
14. Margaritaville, Jimmy Buffet
15. Telephone Line, Electric Light Orchestra
16. Whatcha Gonna Do?, Pablo Cruise
17. Do You Wanna Make Love, Peter McCann
18. Sir Duke, Stevie Wonder
19. Hotel California, Eagles
20. Got To Give It Up, Pt. 1, Marvin Gaye
21. Theme From "Rocky" (Gonna Fly Now), Bill Conti
22. Southern Nights, Glen Campbell
23. Rich Girl, Daryl Hall and John Oates
24. When I Need You, Leo Sayer
25. Hot Line, Sylvers
26. Car Wash, Rose Royce
27. You Don't Have To Be A Star, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr.
28. Fly Like An Eagle, Steve Miller Band
29. Don't Give Up On Us, David Soul
30. On And On, Stephen Bishop
31. Feels Like The First Time, Foreigner
32. Couldn't Get It Right, Climax Blues Band
33. Easy, Commodores
34. Right Time Of The Night, Jennifer Warnes
35. I've Got Love On My Mind, Natalie Cole
36. Blinded By The Light, Manfred Mann's Earth Band
37. Looks Like We Made It, Barry Manilow
38. So In To You, Atlanta Rhythm Section
39. Dreams, Fleetwood Mac
40. Enjoy Yourself, Jacksons
41. Dazz, Brick
42. I'm In You, Peter Frampton
43. Lucille, Kenny Rogers
44. The Things We Do For Love, 10cc
45. Da Doo Ron Ron, Shaun Cassidy
46. Handy Man, James Taylor
47. Just A Song Before I Go, Crosby, Stills and Nash
48. You And Me, Alice Cooper
49. Slow Dancin', Johnny Rivers
50. Lonely Boy, Andrew Gold
51. I Wish, Stevie Wonder
52. Don't Stop, Fleetwood Mac
53. Barracuda, Heart
54. Strawberry Letter 23, Brothers Johnson
55. Night Moves, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band
56. You're My World, Helen Reddy
57. Heard It In A Love Song, Marshall Tucker Band
58. Carry On Wayward Son, Kansas
59. New Kid In Town, Eagles
60. My Heart Belongs To Me, Barbra Streisand
61. After The Lovin', Engelbert Humperdinck
62. Jet Airliner, Steve Miller Band
63. Stand Tall, Burton Cummings
64. Way Down, Elvis Presley
65. Weekend In New England, Barry Manilow
66. It Was Almost Like A Song, Ronnie Milsap
67. Smoke From A Distant Fire, Sanford Townsend Band
68. Cold As Ice, Foreigner
69. Ariel, Dean Friedman
70. Lost Without Your Love, Bread
71. Star Wars Theme-Cantina Band, Meco
72. Float On, Floaters
73. Jeans On, David Dundas
74. Lido Shuffle, Boz Scaggs
75. Keep It Comin' Love, K.C. and The Sunshine Band
76. You Made Me Believe In Magic, Bay City Rollers
77. Livin' Thing, Electric Light Orchestra
78. Give A Little Bit, Supertramp
79. That's Rock 'N' Roll, Shaun Cassidy
80. Love So Right, Bee Gees
81. The Rubberband Man, Spinners
82. I Never Cry, Alice Cooper
83. Nobody Does It Better, Carly Simon
84. High School Dance, Sylvers
85. Love's Grown Deep, Kenny Nolan
86. Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman), Joe Tex
87. I Wanna Get Next To You, Rose Royce
88. Somebody To Love, Queen
89. Muskrat Love, Captain and Tennille
90. Walk This Way, Aerosmith
91. Whispering-Cherchez La Femme-C'est Si Bon, Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band
92. Year Of The Cat, Al Stewart
93. Boogie Nights, Heatwave
94. Go Your Own Way, Fleetwood Mac
95. Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word, Elton John
96. Don't Worry Baby, B.J. Thomas
97. Knowing Me, Knowing You, Abba
98. How Much Love, Leo Sayer
99. Star Wars (Main Title), London Symphony Orchestra
100. Devil's Gun, C.J. and Co.
Hurricane and Flood Bring Out the Bottom Feeders
I was going to call the looters vultures but decided that the birds deserve better than that. Vultures are useful by providing a natural clean-up service. These people are simply thieves.
One man, who had about 10 pairs of jeans draped over his left arm, was asked if he was salvaging things from his store."No," the man shouted, "that's EVERYBODY'S store."
Looters filled industrial-sized garbage cans with clothing and jewelry and floated them down the street on bits of plywood and insulation as National Guard lumbered by.
Mike Franklin stood on the trolley tracks and watched the spectacle unfold.
"To be honest with you, people who are oppressed all their lives, man, it's an opportunity to get back at society," he said.
Sure, if by "society" you mean the people who own or work in the stores and people who will have to pay more for products later as a result of the thefts. Some smaller businesses that can't absorb the loss may close permanently. Other businesses may decide that the looting just adds insult to injury and relocate. Fewer businesses in the area means having to travel farther to shop and work.
Society is you and your neighbors and that's who the looters are hurting.
Update: Right Wing News has a post with comments from the Democratic Underground about the looting.
August 29, 2005
Birth Order
| You Are Likely an Only Child |
 In friendship, you are emotional and sympathetic. |
August 28, 2005
Vile and Disgusting II
Westboro Baptist Church members have been protesting at funerals again.
The Rev. Fred Phelps, founder of Westboro Baptist in Kansas, contends that American soldiers are being killed in Iraq as vengeance from God for protecting a country that harbors gays. The church, which is not affiliated with a larger denomination, is made up mostly of Phelps' children, grandchildren and in-laws.
The church members carried signs and shouted things such as "God hates fags" and "God hates you."
Isn't there a point where their right to free speech crosses the line and becomes harrassment?
As for their gospel of hate, they may want to reread 1 John 4:8 - He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
Previous related post here.
Carnival of the Recipes #54
Caltechgirl at Not Exactly Rocket Science has this week's Carnival of the Recipes.
Maybe They Just Don't Like Idaho
The California Attorney General has filed a lawsuit "has filed a lawsuit to force top makers of potato chips and french fries to warn consumers about a potential cancer-causing chemical found in the popular snacks."
The suit asks manufacturers [see extended entry] of these products [potato chips and similar potato products] to identify the dangers of high levels of acrylamide, a chemical that studies have found is created when starchy foods are cooked at high heat.
Studies found that starchy foods cooked at high temperatures contain low levels of acrylamide. High doses of this appear to cause cancer in laboratory animals. It has not been shown to have the same results on people who consume it at much lower levels.
Acrylamide is found in baked, fried or roasted foods including french fries, potato chips, "roasted asparagus, canned sweet potatoes and pumpkin, canned black olives, roasted nuts, coffee, roasted grain-based coffee substitutes, prune juice, breakfast cereals, crackers, cookies, breads, and toast."
Basically California is asking that potato products with a low level of acrylamide carry a warning about high levels of acrylamide. Other products and potato products made by smaller companies doesn't seem to be part of the lawsuit.
I know that because I'm from a red state in the south that it's God's will due to natural selection I'll never be as smart as those California folks. When they want to get something done, they don't let facts or lack of evidence get in the way. I might have said "don't feed your pet solely on a diet of potato chips and french fries", but I wouldn't have even done that, it seems fairly obvious already.
Defendents in the lawsuit:
Burger King Corporation, french fries
Cape Cod Potato Chips, Inc./Lance, Inc. (parent company), Cape Cod potato chips
Frito-Lay, Inc./PepsiCo, Inc., Lay’s potato chips/Lay’s baked potato chips
H.J. Heinz, Inc., Ore-Ida frozen potato products
Kettle Foods, Inc., Kettle Chips
KFC Corporation, KFC Potato Wedges
McDonald’s Corporation, french fries
Procter & Gamble Distributing Co./Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Co., Pringles
Wendy’s International, Inc., french fries
August 25, 2005
Message From the President
Scott Ott of Scrappleface has stepped away from satire for a moment to post Leak: Draft of Bush Answer to Cindy Sheehan
I'm not going to pick a quotation or try to summarize it, just go read it.
August 24, 2005
Gmail - Send Mail As...
Gmail has added a feature to accounts where users can use it to send mail from other email accounts. Replies will go to the "from" address unless you specify another "reply to" address.
You can't use just any address - Gmail will send a verification message to your other email address to confirm that you'd like to add it to your Gmail account. You'll need to click the link in that message, or enter the confirmation code in the 'Accounts' section of your Gmail account, to complete the process. Once you've verified that you'd like to add the address to your account, you can start sending messages using your custom 'From:' address.
The Truth Hurts
A woman was offended when her doctor told her that she needed to loose weight. She filed a complaint. The New Hampshire Attorney General's office suggested "that he attend a medical education course and acknowledge that he made a mistake."
The article only gives his side of how the conversation with the patient went - You need to get on a program, join a group of like-minded people and peel off the weight that is going to kill you.
That doesn't sound offensive but who knows what he actually said. Even if it wasn't put diplomatically, how can a doctor giving standard, accepted health advise be considered "a mistake"?
Google Talk
Google's new IM program has been released in beta. Along with instant messages, you can also use it to make calls over the Internet.
If you want to try it but don't have the Gmail account needed to get it, just leave a comment. Your email address won't show in your comment but it will show in my blog control panel and I'll send you a Gmail invitation.
Update: You don't need a Gmail invitation anymore. At least you don't if you have a mobile phone (U.S. only for now).
August 23, 2005
Are You Ready For Some...
On Saturday, Oldham County High School hosted the Kickoff Classic. It marked the beginning of the 2005 football season and all three county high schools played games that day. The games were originally scheduled to be at noon, 3:00 and 6:00 but because of the heat index all were pushed back until later in the day. My son's school, South Oldham County High School (the last one scheduled), didn't begin their game until 10:00.
No one thought to reset the timer for the automatic sprinklers.
Play was halted briefly on account of "rain".
August 21, 2005
Bad, Bad Boys
Video games linked to aggression in boys
Teachers of 600 8th and 9th graders, aged 13 to 15, said children who spent more time playing violent video games were more hostile than other children and more likely to argue with authority figures and other students.
Are the games the cause or are children who are already more hostile more likely to play violent games? There's not enough information about the research in the article to tell if there is a direct cause and effect. Just finding that two conditions - hostility and playing violent games - exist together does not prove one is caused by the other.
Have any other similarities among those who are more hostile (as determined by their teachers) been studied? The age of the onset of puberty and an increase in testosterone would be one thing that I think would be worth considering here. How about family background? Or would it be too un-PC to consider that the home environment might have something to do with hostility and violence?
The students attend school. Maybe school causes violence. I bet they also brush their teeth. Maybe fluoride causes violence. What other envirnomental factors do they share? Any genetic/physical factors? What's different among them? Each human life is different. If you can't control (or ignore) all of the variables, how can you be sure of your conclusion?
"[O]nly a handful" of the studies she and colleagues examined found no connection between violence and violent video games.
That's a problem with "soft" sciences. How many studies/experiments do you need to prove or disprove something? With "hard" sciences you only need one good study that has opposite results to make you question the validity of a theory. Science isn't democratic, it shouldn't be a matter of the "majority rules".
Perpetrators of violence go unpunished 73 percent of the time in all violent scenes, the group said. "Showing violent acts without consequences teach youth that violence is an effective means of resolving conflict," said psychologist Elizabeth Carll, who helps direct the group's Committee on Violence in Video Games and Interactive Media.
Perhaps they would like to bring back the Hays Code.
More about studies on video games and aggressive behavior here.
Ministry of Reshelving
If you can't find a copy of 1984 in the fiction section of your local bookstore it may be that the books have been reshelved by the Ministry of Reshelving. Try looking in the sections for current events, politics, history, true crime, or current non-fiction.
Photos of the reshelved books are being posted at Flickr.
This idea opens up many possibilities. I'm sure it wouldn't take long for those at the other end of the political spectrum to think of a few titles that could be relocated. I don't think this is going to happen though. Why create more work for the bookstore employees?
The Ministry of Reshelving has asked that people do this only once per bookstore. In a radio interview, one person said that they weren't unsympathetic to bookstore workers but since they already have to reshelve so many books each day, a few more wouldn't matter.
Maybe it won't matter but I think that it isn't my place to create time-wasting, nonproductive work for someone else.
August 20, 2005
Zoe
Zoe will try to get behind the TV or computer monitor to get something she has seen on the screen. I can see a kind of cat logic in that and would like to believe that she is fairly intelligent.
She also thinks it's her job to defend cartons of soft drinks. She'll hide nearby and rush up and grab your hand as you reach into the carton. She's not as bad about this as she used to be. Now it's just a random thing and that makes it worse, you never know when it's coming. The other two cats prefer empty cartons so they can crawl inside. I don't know why Zoe wants to keep them full. This makes me re-evaluate my estimate of her intelligence. Or her sanity.
How can you really tell if a cat is sane? Every one that I've known has been, um, quirky.
Zoe is also a thief with an attraction to make-up brushes, things made of leather, and anything frilly or feathery (half of the stuff in my nine-year-old daughter's room fits in the last category). She has opened my purse to get out make-up brushes and taken gloves out of my coat pockets. It's annoying but not too bad unless she decides to leave her "find" in the cats' water bowl.
August 19, 2005
One Mind Changed
Scott Randolph discusses the differences between the Left and the Right and brings up one of the things that bothers me the most about the anti-war protests.
Soldiers know, when they enlist, that it is entirely possible they will be shipped out and never come home. It’s part of the job. The fact that people still walk in to recruiters’ offices and sign that piece of paper make them heroes. To imply that they are simple kids who didn’t know what they were getting into, or even worse, that they died for no reason, or an immoral reason, does a horrible thing. It strips their sacrifice of the honor that it deserves. Even though those folks sitting out there in the Texas fields claim to honor and support the soldiers, they obviously have been blinded by their own selfishness as to the real way to support them.
Portraying everyone who joins the military as though they are stupid, naive, or have no other choice is beyond insulting. Stereotyping the military may have worked in the 70s but today it might just be doing more to alienate others who don't like the war but dislike the "blame America first" attitude even more.
Happy Anniversary, Carnival of the Recipes
The Carnival of the Recipes #53 is up at She Who Will Be Obeyed! Thanks for a good first year, Beth, and here's hoping the second will be even better.
Sheehan Leaves Texas
Cindy Sheehan has left her camp in Texas for Los Angeles after learning that her mother had suffered a stroke. I can't say that I'm sad to see her leaving but I do wish it had been under better circumstances and hope that her mother has a full and speedy recovery.
August 18, 2005
Australian Steak House Bread
1 1/2 cups of warm water
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
1/2 cup molasses
2 cups bread or all purpose flour
1 2/3 cups wheat flour
1 Tbsp. cocoa
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 package yeast
1/2 tsp brown food color paste (optional, amount approximate)
Combine the flours, cocoa, sugar, and salt in a lage bowl. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour the warm water into it. Then add the butter, molasses, yeast and food coloring.
If you do not have the food coloring, just leave it out. The bread will taste the same, it will just be lighter in color.
Slowly mix the ingredients using a strong mixer or by hand. When you can handle the dough, knead it for at least 10 minutes or until it is very smooth and has an even color. Set the dough in a greased bowl, turn it over to coat all sides of the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm place to rise for about an hour.
When the dough has risen to about double its original size, punch it down and divide it into eight even pieces. Form the pieces of dough into loaves about eight inches long and two inches wide. The dough is somewhat thin and sticky so you will need to flour your hands and work surface well. Place loaves on a greased cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise again for about an hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Uncover dough and bake the loaves for 20 - 24 minutes. Serve warm.
Paper Crafts
Yamaha has printable (pdf) paper craft designs for creating replicas of some of their motorcycles, rare animals, and seasonal items.
Austin Community College
A decorated Marine enrolling in college was shocked to learn his Texas driver's license, car registration and bank records weren't enough to get the lower resident tuition rates.Carl Basham said officials at Austin Community College recently told him that he lost his Texas resident's status because of the years he spent out of state on two tours of duty in Iraq.
Not having the in-state designation would mean paying around $2600 a semester in tuition, instead of about $500.
The school's response surprised the 27-year-old Beeville native, who is registered to vote in Travis County, has a Texas driver's license and does his banking in Austin.
Officials at the college said that Basham didn't meet state requirements as determined by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. A school spokeswoman says privacy laws prevent prevented her from commenting on his case.
According to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board members of the military are "presumed to maintain the same domicile that was in effect at the time of entering service" (pdf link). This might make a difference if he had gone to Texas from another state but since the article refers to him as a Beeville (TX) native that doesn't seem to be the case. There are more rules governing military but without more information it's hard to tell which, if any, apply here.
If only he had gotten arrested instead of enlisting. Inmates of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice are considered residents for tuition purposes.
August 17, 2005
Military Families' Bill of Rights
Kentucky State Treasurer Jonathan Miller has proposed a Military Families' Bill of Rights.
Provisions include help from the state in educating families about financial matters; protection from predatory financial practices; access to counseling when a service member is deployed, activated, or killed or disabled in action; to provide a financial safety net; make it easier for the spouse of a deployed service member to earn a living; adequate and appropriate death benefits; tax incentives for businesses to encourage them to pay Guards and Reservists supplemental income during active service; lifetime heathcare; incentives for businesses to hire veterans; and access to affordable higher education and occupational training.
This is not to be confused with John Kerry's "Strengthening America's Armed Forces and Military Family Bill of Rights". (That's the short title?) While there are some general similarities, both want to increase financial aid to military families, the Kentucky proposal includes something that I think is very important - financial education. Providing funds is important but adding the knowledge of how to take advantage of all that is offered and then how to manage it will help to make sure the aid is as effective as possible.
I also haven't seen anything from Kentucky asking military families to share their story. It sounds as though Kerry is trying to turn it into some Jerry Springeresque event.
August 16, 2005
See You in September August
The start of school always meant the end of summer to me when I was growing up. Not any longer, there's still a good bit of summer left but my kids are going back to school tomorrow.
I'm not looking forward to having to get up before dawn but the idea of having a few kid-free hours of peace and quiet does have some appeal.
August 15, 2005
Disagreeing Isn't Demonizing
La Shawn Barber thinks some bloggers have gone too far in criticizing Cindy Sheehan.
The left is using her plight to espouse more anti-Bush rhetoric, and the right is demonizing a woman grieving over the loss of her child.
I wish she had provided links to some examples. The posts that I've read have expressed sympathy for her and dismay that she is allowing herself to be used by the Left. As an American, she has the right to express any views she wants. Others have the right to disagree. Just because we sympathize with her loss doesn't mean the death of her son should be used as a shield to protect her from further upset. If you seek attention, you have no cause to complain about the kind of attention you get.
August 14, 2005
Family Affair
Kobina Annan, the brother of Kofi Annan, is being investigated for a possible connection to the UN oil for food scandal.
Defense of the 'Hood
The Washington Post reports on Sunnis defending their Shiite neighbors from attacks by followers of Abu Musab Zarqawi.
Along with threatening Shites, Zarqawi had issued threats to clerics who were urging Sunnis to participate in the next elections. Considering the concern the Sunnis have over the new constitution and the possibility of a separate Shite state, the Sunnis must be regretting not participating more in the past election.
August 13, 2005
New School
Emma and I went to the open house at her new school.
You are welcome to view the building anytime between 9:00 AM -3:00 PM. During your visit you will be able to go on a self-guided tour, find out your child’s teacher and meet your teacher along with the related arts teachers, administration, office staff, The Jungle staff, and bus representatives.
First we had to wait in line for over half an hour to turn in one form (emergency health information). Doing this allowed us to get her classroom information.
The school is new and very nice looking but her teacher wasn't in the classroom so we didn't stay long. Since it was an open house and parents were expecting to meet the teachers it would have been nice if she had left a "be back in ___ minutes" sign so we would know whether or not to bother waiting.
A couple of thoughts I had while waiting in line: It's times like this when the differences between businesses that depend on customers' good will and institutions that are paid for by taxes becomes most apparent. If I ever decide to homeschool it will probably be the result of a build up of small annoying details rather than a big difference in philosophy.
The best thing about the visit was her school fee was only $15. Trevor's fees for his high school classes was $174 (plus about $1000 or so for marching band.)
The Cause of Global Warming
I blame windmills. The blades going through the air create friction. Friction generates heat. The heat warms the atmosphere.
Sometimes I even manage to amaze myself with my crackpot brilliant theories.
Read This
A message for Cindy Sheehan from Mohammed at Iraq the Model.
Just for comparison, Cindy Sheehan's Veterans For Peace speech.
Update: An article in The Cincinnati Enquirer:
...they're not telling the whole story. And anyone who dares to try is attacked as "right-wing Bush lackeys who smear the Heartbroken Mom.""Dead soldier's mom wants answers," the headlines say - but they don't ask tough questions.
"Bush refuses to meet with mother of dead soldier," they say - without mentioning that he already met with her.
...Their (New York Times) editorial Aug. 9 said: "Mr. Bush obviously failed to comfort Ms. Sheehan when he met with her and her family. More important, he has not helped the nation give fallen soldiers like Casey Sheehan the honor they deserve."
That's not just false. It's journalistic malpractice.
August 12, 2005
Whiskeytown Falls
Giant waterfall discovered in California
A wildlife biologist makes the news for finding something several others already knew about.
There's no doubt the falls have had visitors over the years. The Wintu Indians were probably the first, although archeologists have so far found no traces on the site. A small band of loggers that harvested Douglas firs in the early 1950s left behind a choker cable and part of a bulldozer. A knife blade stuck in a nearby tree indicates that others have also made the trek.
Like Columbus and the New World, it's not the finding, it's the publicizing.
Hobson's Choice
Political Correctness Watch writes about how the New York City health department urged all city restaurants to stop serving food containing trans fats.
In a letter sent to all food suppliers in the city last week, Dr. Frieden wrote: "Consumers want healthier choices when eating out. Our campaign will increase consumer demand for meals without trans fat."
It sounds as if it's more about removing choices than providing them. If consumers really want something, they will seek it out and businesses that want to be successful will adapt to provide it. Attempting to force a change is not about what consumers want but about what the NYC Health Department wants.
It's Been One Year...
This week's Carnival host is Blonde Sagacity who presents the list of recipes in an Italian restaurant menu format. Buon appetito!
J-Walk Blog Link Experiment
As part of an experiment to see how "findable" blog references are J-Walk Blog has asked bloggers to link to a post so here's my link to the J-Walk Blog Link Experiment.
FedEx is Stupid
From a Wired News article: This guy built some furniture out of FedEx boxes. He took pictures and posted them on his website.
I think most people would look at this and think, wow, those are some strong boxes. They would remember this the next time they needed to ship something. FedEx looked at the site and told the guy to take it down. They claimed it was a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, that he "clearly intended to operate a business from his website because he used the .com domain suffix, and that his site violated the Terms of Use of fedex.com.
fedex.com is provided solely for the use of current and potential FedEx customers to interact with FedEx and may not be used by any other person or entity, or for any other purpose.
If they were concerned that he might sell something from the site, they should have written and asked what his intentions were. As it is now, those "potential FedEx customers" might be thinking about whether or not they want to do business with a bully who turned what could have been good publicity into bad.
August 10, 2005
Clik4Cathy
Chris Muir's sister Cathy is being treated for cancer and he has asked people to link to the cancer center's web site. (See the cartoon for August 10.)
I was going to link to it as soon as I read the cartoon this morning but decided to wait until I had time to add it to JoeAnt too. I added American Cancer Ablation Center to the Cancer Centers topic. (It will show in the public view after tonight's database update.)
Note: Right now, it's number one on Blogs Now.
Update: I sent Jerry (the main man behind JoeAnt) an email letting him know about this and he added the site to the Sites of the Month on the index page and changed the listing of the site to show "sponsored" which means it will show at the top of the topic.
Thanks, Jerry!
The Relaxation Exercises Aren't Working
My 16-year-old son and I went out today so he could practice driving. It left me with one burning question. Why do they even have drive through pharmacies if we can't drive up, explain the situation, and have them give me a trial sample of Xanax?
August 09, 2005
Get On the Bus For the Blog Tour
Michelle Malkin posts about Air America and Al Franken. According to a New York Post article, Franken said, "About three weeks into the life of Air America, I became an involuntary investor — I stopped being paid."
Um, no. If you show up for work the day after you expected to get paid but didn't, it's no longer involuntary. Or is he accusing Air America of slavery?
Dan Savage who is guest blogging for Andrew Sullivan tells about a man who joined the army after 9/11 and served two tours in Iraq. An investigation into the man's background came up with evidence that he is gay so he is no longer in the army.
This is just dumb. (Beyond what I see as the obvious stupidity of removing someone for feelings rather than actions.) If wars can be aided by propaganda and given the Islamic extremist views on homosexuality, then the news that there are gay guys kicking terrorist butt would be a good thing, no?
Lileks on Intelligent Design. It's pretty much what I was thinking here. Only more. And better said. I was beginning to worry that I didn't understand the arguments over ID. I just don't see the conflict in accepting scientific evidence while still believing in God.
That doesn't mean I believe ID should be taught in schools. Let them teach the science. Let me worry about finding a way to integrate the science with my religion.
Speaking of schools, there is a proposal in Kentucky to ban "junk food" in schools during school hours. Diet sodas and non-carbonated water would be permitted. A proposal to ban caffeinated beverages from being sold during the latter half of the school day was deleted because there wasn't enough evidence to show that caffeine is bad for children.
Parent Stella Woods applauded the state's effort to reduce students' access to sugar and fat."I think it's excellent; they don't need the sugar," she said. "Their health is very important because they're young, growing children."
Her daughter, Christina, however, said school lunches are terrible. "They don't fix it good," said the 14-year-old, who likes to buy Mountain Dew from the vending machines at school.
If that sentence came out of my child's mouth, my complaint would have been about the quality of her education, not about whether or not she can get something with sugar in it.
Riding Sun (who has moved to a new URL) writes about the destruction of Mecca.
In lighter "news", Scrappleface reports "NCAA Considers Ban on Hostile Animal Mascots". It's worth reading just for the phrase "perky men wearing fur suits with gigantic foam heads".
And last, not from a blog but just because I thought it was funny, The Laws of Anime.
August 08, 2005
Beer Money
In April, Anheuser-Busch Co. -- based in St. Louis, Missouri -- wrote a $5,000 check intended for the state Republican Party.Instead, the envelope was addressed to the state Democratic Party, which promptly deposited the money.
...Democrats say they have sent a refund check back to Anheuser-Busch: "Nobody should expect us to write a check to the Republican Party," said Lachlan McIntosh, the Democratic Party's executive director.
The article doesn't answer my question, what bank would allow someone to deposit a check made out to someone else without that other person's (or in this case party's) endorsement?
And yes, Mr. McIntosh, unless there was a reason other than childish petulance, I would expect someone who had received a check by mistake to immediately forward the funds to the person/party for whom they had been intended as soon as the mistake was discovered.
Impressively Cheesy
| Cheese Pizza |
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August 07, 2005
Inside Hate
The London Times reports on an undercover investigation.
A Sunday Times reporter spent two months as a recruit inside the Saviour Sect to reveal for the first time how the extremist group promotes hatred of “non-believers” and encourages its followers to commit acts of violence including suicide bombings.
The reporter witnessed one of the sect’s leading figures, Sheikh Omar Brooks, telling a young audience, including children, that it was the duty of Muslims to be terrorists and boasting, just days before the July 7 attacks, that he wanted to die as a suicide bomber.After the attacks that claimed 52 lives, another key figure, Zachariah, justified them by saying that the victims were not “innocent” people because they did not abide by strict Islamic laws. In the immediate aftermath the sect’s leader, Omar Bakri Mohammed, said: “For the past 48 hours I’m very happy.” Two weeks later he referred to the bombers as the “fantastic four”.
Read the whole thing.
Blogging Mob
Blogs are a wonderful thing. They can bring attention to people you might never hear of otherwise. Before today, I had no idea who Nancy Clark was. Nor did I know of any of the people she mentions in her rant column. Thanks to Patterico and Captain Ed, I know who she is. Thanks to Google, I know who the people she mentions are.
According to Clark, "bloggers and some radio and cable talk show hosts make up stories and spread rumors. Too often, consumers don't know the difference between these lies and mainstream news reports." (All bloggers? My oldest son's comment on her statement here was, "The New York Times is a blog?") She left out sports discussion forums and chat rooms (until later in the article) which, from the little I've read of them, seem to be a "good" source of rumors. Maybe she doesn't understand the difference between blogs and forums. She wouldn't be the first journalist to make that mistake.
I will agree that readers should consider the source of news. I don't agree that "trust me, I'm an accredited reporter" is enough.
Usual scenario: A loser tries to make himself seem important by posting information that makes him appear to be an insider, "in the know."Worse case scenario: Gambling interests, bookies, the mob pass off inaccurate information about a player or team as truth to try to influence wagering or the outcome of a contest. They're counting on readers and viewers to be gullible.
The mob blogs? That's the most interesting bit of information in the whole article. I wish she had included some facts on how she verified that. I tried Googling it but the only information I could find about Des Moines organized crime and sports was all from the 1930s. If these guys are still around and blogging, anything they have to say has got to be more interesting than a list of whom Clark is going to interview.
August 06, 2005
Carnival of the Recipes #51
It's Carnival time at Mountaineer Musings! Lots of recipes and a song to go with each of them. That sounds like a good start to the weekend.
What's Your Summer Ride?
| Your Summer Ride is a Beetle Convertible |
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My first car was a VW convertible. Unfortunately due to my own immaturity and stupidity it didn't last long. I still like convertibles and would have liked to have gotten one when I was shopping for my current car but I couldn't find one that would seat a family of five comfortably (and that I could afford). When my oldest son leaves for college in a couple of years the need to seat five won't be as big an issue but the affordability thing might be more of a problem.
Vile and Disgusting
"Members of the Rev. Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., are picketing military funerals."
"The first sin was being a part of this military. If this young man had a clue and any fear of God, he would have run, and not walked, from this military," said protester Shirley Phelps-Roper. "Who would serve a nation that is godless and has flipped off, defiantly defied, defiantly flipped off, the Lord their God?"One protester had an American flag tied to his belt that draped to the ground. He was holding a sign that read, "Thank God For IEDs," which are explosive devices used by insurgents to blow up military convoys.
Phelps-Roper is the daughter of Fred Phelps. Her father began as a lawyer and civil rights activist but is now best known for being an idiot. (My blog, my opinion.)
Wikipedia entry for Westboro Baptist Church.
Photo of Shirley Phelps-Roper at an anti-gay protest.
August 02, 2005
Elevator Hack
TheDamnBlog.com posts that pushing the door close button and your floor button at the same time will put the elevator into express mode. No stops at other floors on your way.
It's a good thing that I am seldom around any buildings with more than a couple of floors. The temptation to try this out might be too much for me to resist.