2011 archive
Happy Fourth of July 0
Any of these folks coming to your barbecue?
Facebook Frolics 0
Greta Garbo would never have managed to alone these days. Now there’s a new ultimate social networking app.
One app the find them,
One app to bind them,
And in the mosh pit grind them.
“It canvasses the Internet for people who have declared themselves there,” he said.
It then provides the user with a list of the other people at the location and how they are relevant — whether they share Facebook friends, went to the same college or like the same bands.
I’m betting it will be obsolete by Labor Day.
Dust Bowl Days 0
Not then.
Now.
This summer, it doesn’t take much for the wind to kick up sand in western Kansas.
A 10 to 15 mph wind will cause the horizon to dim; at 30 to 40 mph, it darkens the sky and visibility is less than a 100 feet.
Much of Morton County is in an exceptional drought, the driest rating, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Already it is drier than the driest years of the Dust Bowl.
Since last September — 10 months ago — Morton County near Elkhart has received 2.99 inches of moisture. The normal average rainfall for that corner of Kansas is about 19 inches.
The Kansas agricultural economy is withering, like the heat.
No doubt laying off more teachers will bring rain.
After all, that seems to be the magical mystical solution these days.
The Constitution of the United States of America 0
If you have never read it all the way through, doing so would be a good way to celebrate Independence Day and takes less time than an episode of Jersey Shore and is a damned sight more coherent.
After you read it, open your blue books and answer this discussion question:
- To what extent does what you have just read resemble the representation made of it by the current Republican Party? Support your conclusions with examples.
Portions in italics were altered by subsequent amendment.
Source: The National Archives.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Driving while Brown 0
Dan Rodick of the Baltimore Sun has a modest proposal. A snippet:
Update from the Foreclosure-Based Economy 0
Kamal Sharma paid for the house in full. With cash.
After the foreclosure notice arrived, other curious things happened. A potential buyer came snooping around the neighborhood, and then a property management firm refused to list the house as a rental due to the foreclosure notice.
Unable to reach BofA for answers, Sharma headed to West Sacramento City Hall on June 22, the day his house was scheduled for auction. That’s when the bank abruptly called off the sale just as buyers were lining up.
Sharma still hasn’t heard anything directly from BofA. But in response to a Bee inquiry, the bank apologized and attributed the problem to a “data entry error” that restarted an old foreclosure action against the home’s previous owner.
When does the frequency of this sort of stuff elevate it from “error” to “strategy.”
“Attempted negligent home-icide.” Sounds like felonious conduct to me.
I Get Email 0
Actually, if the IRS thinks you qualify for a refund, say because of a mistake on your return, they just send it to you.
Dear Internal Revenue Service customer,
After the last annual calculation of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $120.50.
Please submit the tax refund form and allow us 3-5 business days in order to process it.
To access the form for your tax refund, please Click Here.
NOTE!
Thank you,
Tax Refund Deparment Internal Revenue Service.
A whois tells me the “Click Here” website is hosted in Taiwan.
whois 220.132.160.64
% [whois.apnic.net node-1]
% Whois data copyright terms http://www.apnic.net/db/dbcopyright.htmlinetnum: 220.129.0.0 – 220.143.255.255
netname: HINET-NET
country: TW
descr: CHTD, Chunghwa Telecom Co.,Ltd.
descr: Data-Bldg.6F, No.21, Sec.21, Hsin-Yi Rd.
descr: Taipei Taiwan 100
admin-c: HN27-AP
tech-c: HN28-AP
status: ALLOCATED PORTABLE
changed: hostmaster@twnic.net 20030611
mnt-by: MAINT-TW-TWNIC
source: APNIC
(snip)
Export the Troops, McMansion Dept. (Updated and Kicked to the Top) 0
Absurd.
Their plans were for a 2,700 square-foot house.
I don’t think the big old Southern farm house at Pine View Farm has that many square feet; if it does, it’s just barely (see the banner–that’s it right there). I know that the largest house I have owned since growing up and leaving home was an 1800 square-foot three bedroom split, which was large enough to raise three children just fine with only occasional bloodletting.
Addendum, Later that Same Week:
Check out StevenD’s post on this. He goes in to much more detail and it’s even more infuriating than the short item I found in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution led me to believe.
(Link fixed.)