October, 2005 archive
Career Choices 2
For those not settled on a career, I suggest Chiropractic. Twenty years from now, there will be no end of patients who need their backs “adjusted.” I have received chiropractic treatments (referrals available upon request) and they really did wonders for me.
I see these potential chiropractic patients every day: Young males (and some females), driving with their seats almost fully reclined, hunched forward just barely reaching the steering wheel with arms fully outstretched, the tops of their heads just high enough for them to peer between the top of the steering wheel and the dashboard as they weave reckles slice gracefully through traffic.
Serious spinal compression and malformation coming up when they get a little older, methinks.
(I asked my son where this style of driving was covered in his Driver’s Ed. class. He said it wasn’t. I guess it’s just k3wL, dUd3.)
Ample professionals will be needed to help them with their impending spinal problems.
Conservative Intellectuals Deserting Bush 9
Robert J. Samuelson in today’s Washington Post:
Is compassionate conservatism (a) a genuine governing philosophy or (b) merely a clever sound bite?
Five years later, we know that the answer is (b).
and
In practice, Bush has taken the most self-serving aspect of modern liberalism (its instinct to buy public support with massive government handouts) and fused it with the most self-serving aspect of modern conservatism (its instinct to buy support with massive tax cuts).
And George Will reflects on the Miers nomination:
The president’s “argument” for her amounts to: Trust me.
There is no reason to, for several reasons.
He has neither the inclination nor the ability to make sophisticated judgments about competing approaches to construing the Constitution. Few presidents acquire such abilities in the course of their pre-presidential careers, and this president particularly is not disposed to such reflections.
and
In addition, the president has forfeited his right to be trusted as a custodian of the Constitution. The forfeiture occurred March 27, 2002, when, in a private act betokening an uneasy conscience, he signed the McCain-Feingold law expanding government regulation of the timing, quantity and content of political speech.
Of course, a lot of folks may not agree with Mr. Will that the McCain-Feingold law is an unconstitutional abridgement of political speech; rather, many see it as a (flawed) attempt to release political speech from rope of big money that has been slowly garrotting it for years. Those same folks, though, might look at the secretiveness and disdain for civil liberties shown by the current Federal Administration and draw the same conclusion:
The current Federal Administration has little respect for the Constitution or for the values expressed therein.
My Little Gas Price Survey, 10/4/2005 1
Another day of not much change. Cumberland Farms, Getty, and BP dropped a bit. Everyone else held steady. Perhaps a little stability is returning to the market.
Of course, our natural gas rate is scheduled to go up 26% at the end of the month.
Claymont, Del., Exxon, Sunoco, Getty, $2.79.
Claymont, Del., Gulf (Cumberland Farms) and Wawa, $2.77
Claymont, Del., BP, $2.83.
Claymont, Del., Gulf, $2.82.
Mr. Bush Is Certainly Enamored of the Military 0
From Reuters. Follow the link for the full story.
He said the military, perhaps the National Guard, might be needed to enforce quarantines if the feared H5N1 bird flu virus changes enough to cause widespread human infection.
“If we had an outbreak somewhere in the United States, do we not then quarantine that part of the country? And how do you, then, enforce a quarantine?” Bush asked at a news conference.
How Not To Troubleshoot Your Video Card 1
My boss emailed us this under the subject line, “Please Never Do This.”
Click the link to see the picture. It’s too big to fit in the confines of this page.
Oh, my.
My Little Gas Price Survey, 10/3/2005 1
Hmmmph! Many of the prices in Delaware seem to have floated to $2.79. The two stations I observed in New Jersey dropped 10 cents since the last time I observed them, about a week ago.
Penny Hill, Del., BP, Exxon, 2.79.
Holly Oak, Del., Mobil, $2.79.
Claymont, Del., Exxon, Sunoco, Gulf (Cumberland Farms), and Getty, $2.79.
Claymont, Del., BP, $2.87.
Claymont, Del., Gulf, $2.82.
Penny Hill, Del., Getty, $2.83.
Claymont, Del., Wawa, $2.77.
Paulsboro, NJ, BP and Exxon, $2.89
A Further Delay 0
From Morning Edition Sunday:
William Gibson Jr., the 76-year-old foreman of the Texas grand jury that indicted Rep. Tom DeLay, says jurors saw abundant evidence. Included were testimony and phone records supporting a conspiracy charge against the Republican leader.
It is a fascinating interview. Follow the link to listen to it.
@ 2
“No, no — it’s strudel , that little A sign,” he says. “I think you call it ‘at’?”
Of course. With a little imagination, I could see that a slice of strudel resembles the @ sign that separates user name from host in e-mail addresses. “Strudel!” I hoot. Winkie, agreeing that it’s funny, later sends me a list of words that people in other countries have used for the @ symbol — most of them a lot more entertaining (if less efficient) than our simple “at.”
Interesting little reflection in today’s Washington Post on the different ways speakers of different languages interpret the @ in “Somebody at somewhere dot com.”
