May, 2009 archive
Geek Irony 0
My folder for the alt.html newsgroup currently has 404 unread posts.
Gun Nuttery 0
Handguns, semiautomatic weapons, and all types of ammunition are flying off store shelves, despite the recession.
The FBI reports a 27 percent increase in background checks for guns purchased by federally licensed dealers for the first three months of this year compared with the same period in 2008.
Meanwhile, the family that slays together stays together:
(snip)
Authorities said the couple fired when they mistakenly thought the group was trespassing on their property.
(snip)
Liberty County Chief Deputy Ken DeFoor said Sheila Muhs fired a 12-gauge shotgun once, then handed it to her husband, who also fired once.
Mancini: Peter Gunn 2
The music starts 35 seconds in.
Snail Spam 2
Since the Republican Party was kind enough to send me a business reply envelope, I figured I’d put it to good use by sending them a subscription form for the Nation.
Maybe they’ll get a clue. Forget that.
Home Decorating 3
Tips for the rest of us.
I have to run right out and get a telescope (wonder whether two pairs of binoculars count?), a safe, and a spice rack (my spices are stuck on sconces in the kitchen where I can reach them easily).
Truth. No Reconciliation. 0
Vs. Broderism. Eric Alterman in The Nation discusses David Broder’s reluctance to seek the truth about torture. Sadly, Broder is just one amongst many who view politics as some sort of game divorced from ethics, morality, and the rule of law:
Brand Loyalty 0
There was a Republican from Nantucket,
and ev’rything he touched he’d–never mind.
Read something from someone who knows writing:
Stray Question 0
If I were a Sharpie, now where would I hide?
Living in the Past (Update) 0
(When I read this story, I thought I was back in high school in the olden days when the fight was over boys having long hair.)
A local school district, which is down the road a piece and on the right, mandates that girls wear skirts or dresses at graduation.
But that’s what the school says she has to do.
High school graduations in this part of the world are usually held outside to accommodate the crowds and normally take place on a broiling hot day–even if all the surrounding days are cool, graduation day is broiling hot. It’s a law of nature.
Unless it’s cold and downpoury (it’s never just rainy on graduation day–on graduation day, it doesn’t rain, it monsoons–another law of nature). Then the ceremony is held in a broiling hot, steamy gym whose HVAC is incapable of dealing with the crowd.
Also, what the students wear will be covered by polyester graduation robes which are designed primarily to cut costs while raising the skin temperature by five degrees (I know the robes are polyester–I have two of them left over from various kids hanging in the attic), since polyester is to air circulation as a space suit is to a vacuum.
Let ’em wear shorts and halter tops (remember halter tops?) under their gowns if they want.
That would probably still be more formal than what they wear to school every day.
Addendum, the Following Tuesday:
They’re making an exception for the girls who are protesting. The girls have to wear slacks and ties, like the boys. They are going to “study” the graduation dress code.
The ACLU is looking at the case.
Put butter on it. The dress code is toast.
Another One Bites the Dust 0
Westsound Bank, Bremerton, WA, is no more.
Field Office 0
FDIC sets up shop in Florida, Because the southeastern banking system is so, you know, healthy.
(snip)
Throughout its history, the FDIC has used these offices to keep temporary asset resolution staff closer to the concentration of failed bank assets they oversee. As the work diminishes, the temporary satellite offices are closed.
Bonddad on the Stress Tests 0
Follow the links for the full analyses:
Part 1:
GDP is already performing more poorly than the Fed’s stress test.
The worse case scenario for unemployment is the most realistic possibility.
Home prices are already closer to the Fed’s worst case scenario than the median baseline forecast.
Bottom line: the worst case scenario is the most realistic scenario.
Part 2:
Let’s move to the latest report from the Treasury Department. It indicates several problems.
Let the Sun Shine In 0
Balmy weather. And just plain balmy:
Cars whizzed by on St. Paul’s Boulevard as the man raised his shorts aloft on a stick.
(snip)
Court staff pressed against the narrow windows that line the side of the building facing the street as sheriff’s deputies and police surrounded the man. Officers eventually covered him with a leopard-print blanket and took him away.
“At least he didn’t have a hula hoop,” said Clerk of Court George Schaefer.
Quake in Your Boots 0
I really can’t improve on this.
Tempest in a DoubleD-Cup 0
’nuff said.
(snip)
Under pressure M&S dropped its £2 surcharge last night, signalling a win for frustrated campaigners.