Res Ipsa Loquitur

Good Beginning

China's calling for a nuke-free nut zone North Korea.

"China hopes to see a nuclear weapons-free Korean peninsula which enjoys lasting peace and stability," Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing told reporters after meeting European Union (news - web sites) officials and the bloc's outgoing president Greece.

"It is important to address the security concerns of a certain country but should there be disagreements or even conflicts between certain countries the only way to solve them is through dialogue in a peaceful manner," he said.

Interesting diplomatic language there. Perhaps we're being taken a bit more seriously now?

Zhaoxing, a former ambassador to the United States, said a first round of talks in Beijing in April between North Korea, the United States and China were positive but more needed to be done.

"The Chinese government has made persistent efforts ... and the Beijing talks represented a good beginning. But they were only a good beginning," said Zhaoxing.

Well ya know what they say, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. And looks like China's started walking.

SCO Update

The SCO v. IBM lawsuit is heating up a little. Now there's been pro-Linux protestors at the SCO headquarters.

When employees of software maker SCO Group Inc. SCOX.O showed up for work last week, they encountered something they had never seen in front of their headquarters -- a protest.

As about 70 nearby enthusiasts of the Linux operating system demonstrated against the company's dispute with International Business Machine Corp. IBM.N and others, executives at SCO were preparing for a battle that could result in more legal fees than it could afford.

Sounds like word's getting around, helped no doubt by SCO's recent warning letter to some 1,500 companies that their use of Linux may violate SCO's Unix rights. The protestors were primarily asking for the release of the allegedly offending code, which so far SCO has refused to do.

In documents shown to Reuters, portions of software code that SCO said were taken from its Unix system appeared in various Linux distributions. The company said some of the code was transferred over in its entirety, including original typographical errors.

So far, IBM is remaining silent on the issue, saying its license to use Unix can't be revoked or terminated.

Original typos? Whew, that would suck for IBM if true, wouldn't it? Cut & paste is not always your friend, you know.

On the other hand, this isn't the first lawsuit of this type that SCO's been involved in.

Some industry experts see SCO's campaign as an attempt to gain a windfall settlement, most likely by selling itself to IBM or another industry heavyweight.

Previously, Caldera bought the rights to a DOS operating system and used it in 1996 to sue Microsoft and reach a settlement. DOS was the predecessor to Microsoft's Windows, which runs more than 95 percent of the world's personal computers.

So, is Caldera/SCO looking for another big score? Or is it the case that the software giants frequently have played fast 'n loose with each other's code in the past and SCO's the only one so far that has called them on it?

Update

No posting this morning. Bubs is still here, his mom's in the hospital...not sure for how long yet. I have to take him to his wound care specialist appointment this morning, which is "sometime" between 8:30 & 9:30.

Sollie decided to wake Bubs up at 4:30 am, a decision we all regretted....especially Sollie. It's time to finishing clearing out the spare room.

Ma is not a happy camper this morning.

Sunday Roundup

--I got my final grade in college algebra yesterday via e-mail, a fairly respectable "B". Not too bad for an old lady who hasn't been in an algebra class since 1978.

--Mike & I had a delightful lunch yesterday with Adam H....who is even nicer in person. (I took pictures but screwed up posting them, so Mike has to fix that before I try it again.) We could've talked all afternoon I think, but we had to leave to go.....

--Buy fireworks for Bubs, who spent the night last night. He thought the firecrackers were pretty cool until Pa set off a whole string at once....too much noise for a little guy. But he liked the sparkling fountain things and then we came inside & watched "Charlotte's Web" until he fell asleep. He slept like a rock until....

--the dogs woke him at 5:50 am. I could've killed both of them (the dogs, not the kid). Sollie had woke me at 4:47 am, which didn't help any. Until a few minutes ago, Bubs was sitting in my lap while I was reading my blogroll...he was critiquing everyone's site design. He especially liked the dancing pickle at Steve's and the "b'oons'" at Natalie's. Now he's watching Sesame Street in Spanish, clutching a cereal bar that he insisted on having but won't let me open for him. "NO! MINE!"

It's starting out to be a very long day.

Vegans Destroying Amazon Rainforest

Destruction of the Amazon rainforest has increased by 40%....and vegans are directly responsible. Bigwig has the details.

Nothing like a big heaping helping of delicious irony for breakfast!

Emperor Has No Clothes!

Tony asks a very pertinent question.

I think he's right..

Friday Five

1. How are you planning to spend the summer [winter]? Working on another undergrad degree. Woo-freakin-hoo.

2. What was your first summer job? You mean my first real paying job that my mother didn't' have to beat me to get me to do it? That would've been a job at the ripe old age of 12, grading tomatoes at a tomato packing plant. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it means I stood on an upturned bucket beside a conveyor belt and picked out any tomatoes that were too small, blemished, whatever before they were packed for shipping. I think I was paid $1.15 per hour. A violation of OSHA/child labor laws? Hahahahahaha. Of course it was. But it was much easier than the work I'd been doing at home on the farm. I was in heaven.

3. If you could go anywhere this summer [winter], where would you go? To a sunny beach of course. Or maybe a houseboat off the Keys, fish all day, sleep like a baby all night.

4. What was your worst vacation ever? When I was 12 or so, my parents, my sis & future brother in law & I went camping on the Buffalo River at a place called Step Eddy. About 1 am, a severe thunderstorm came down the river & we had to leave because the river was rising so fast. So we had to strike the tent & pack everything in a downpour, high winds, lightning...and then carry everything, including our 16 ft. johnboat, to the truck, up a long steep bank that had turned to mud...in which you would sink with every step past your knees. Then my dad had to back the truck down a narrow washed-out trail in the dark for almost a mile. My sis, my future bro-in-law & I had to ride home in the back of the truck, on top of all our stuff, under a tarp in the pouring rain. It sucked.

5. What was your best vacation ever? When Mike & I got married in the fall of 2000, we spent 10 days in NYC for our honeymoon. We had a blast.

Do Not Call Update

Just saw on CNN Headline news scroll that the gov't Do Not Call website is averaging 108 hits per second this morning....which explains the slooowww response time I got this morning. Took a while, but I finally got us signed up.

You might want to wait a day or two though if you don't have much patience.

Now I've got to go take my algebra final. Wish me luck!

I Want It!

An Aussie inventor, Mike O'Dwyer, has made a gun capable of firing one million rounds per minute, using something called "electronic ballistics technology".

Bet that'd take care of your squirrel problem in a hurry.

Don't Call List

The national Do Not Call registry opened online today. Not too surprisingly, their site loads a little slow, so be patient....their servers might be just a wee bit overloaded.

Now if they'd only start a Do Not Spam registry.

Differences

Andrew Sullivan mentions an interesting genetic study found in a past NYT article:

As often noted, the genomes of humans and chimpanzees are 98.5 percent identical, when each of their three billion DNA units are compared. But what of men and women, who have different chromosomes? Until now, biologists have said that makes no difference, because there are almost no genes on the Y, and in women one of the two X chromosomes is inactivated, so that both men and women have one working X chromosome. But researchers have recently found that several hundred genes on the X escape inactivation. Taking those genes into account along with the new tally of Y genes gives this result: Men and women differ by 1 to 2 percent of their genomes, Dr. Page said, which is the same as the difference between a man and a male chimpanzee or between a woman and a female chimpanzee.

Which would seem to support what I've been saying to feminists for years: Men are men and you can't make them be women. I don't why anyone would even want to, but that's a different subject.

What the Times article apparently doesn't mention, but the BBC does, is what some of those different genes may control.

The scientists found 78 genes in total on the Y, many but by no means all of them to do with sperm production.

One is the sex determining gene, the "master switch" that makes a baby boy; another is a gene that has some sort of function in the brain and is not found on the female X chromosome.

Men have an extra brain gene that women don't have? Now reckon why the NYT failed to mention that?

Gay Sex Ban Unconstitutional

The Supremes have just issued an opinion striking down Texas' anti-sodomy law as an unconstitutional violation of privacy.

The men "are entitled to respect for their private lives," Kennedy wrote.

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented.

As most of you know, I strongly disagree with anti-sodomy laws, as I don't see any legitimate state interest in this prohibition of conduct for one group that's permitted for another. Texas advanced a somewhat bizarre argument in defense of its statute.

Texas defended its sodomy law as in keeping with the state's interest in protecting marriage and child-rearing. Homosexual sodomy, the state argued in legal papers, "has nothing to do with marriage or conception or parenthood and it is not on a par with these sacred choices."

So apparently heterosexual sodomy promotes those things...though I don't quite see the connection between sodomy and conception myself. But maybe things work different in Texas.

I haven't read the opinion yet, but my initial response is "Right decision, wrong reason." It's Lawrence v. Texas, 02-102, should be posted on their website later today.

You'll just have to make do with my half-baked legal opinion for now.

Arkie Blog Move

In keeping with my Arkie theme this morning, I have neglected to mention that Jennifer of Wildplace has moved, so update your blogrolls accordingly.

She's always posting great pics that show what a beautiful state we live in...and all kinds of other interesting stuff.

Go check her out.

NW Arkansas Ranks First

No, not in trailer trash population, shame on you! There's a new report out by the Milken Institute which ranks NW Arkansas first in the nation....for its strong regional economy. Surprised? I'm not, but then we live here.

The Fayetteville area ranked strongly in all the indexes measured by the institute. It ranked first in job growth in the nation. The region ranked ninth in wages and salaries. But its hightech sector grew faster than any other area. That doesn’t mean it’s the technology Mecca — it ranked 127 th in terms of its total concentration of high-tech firms.

Which is probably one of the reasons our economy's so good...dot com bust didn't bother us any. This doesn't mean there aren't tons of jobs here for techies, there are. (Otherwise I wouldn't be back in college) Besides the obvious WalMart and its ancillary vendors' businesses, there's also Tyson's and JBHunt headquartered here....all high tech businesses. We've become a right smart tech mecca without the Big Boys like IBM.

One of the best side-effects of this is the diversity of the population...like a little NYC without the crime and dirty streets....though ours tends to be more Asian and Indian than European. Of course, there's also the Italian community in Tontitown that's been around since, oh, the 1800's. And the foreign exchange students from all over up at the University.

Plus there's all kinds of places like this that are just a few minutes drive away.

Who could ask for anything more?

New Arkie Webring

Adam H. very sweetly alerted me to a new webring just for us Arkies, started by the very astute Groovy Chick. There's a link to the right (no, your _other_ right, just above the start of my blogroll) that takes you to the homepage to sign up or click on the "List of Members" link to discover new Arkies.

It's easy to join, if you can answer yes to this question you're eligible:

Are you now, or have you ever been, a resident of the state of Arkansas?

Kinda like testifying before a Senate sub-committee without having to smell Ted Kennedy's morning-after breath, ain't hit? So jine up if you're an Arkie, and you'll been emailed the relevant HTML posthaste ex post facto right real quick.

And iffen you ain't God loves you anyway go check out those of us who are lucky enough to be so blessed.

It's all good.

Oklahoma Leader Again?

I was reading a story in the online edition of the Enid News (Oklahoma) about a dumbass who set his house on fire by lighting a cigarette while huffing paint (Link via Fark) when I noticed something I've never seen before.

You can post comments to their articles. Do other newspapers do that or is Oklahoma setting the online curve again?

Or am I just culturally deprived?

Remember This

Life isn't like a box of chocolates...it's more like a jar of jalapenos.

What you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow.

Almost Done

Woo-hoo! Handed in my last homework for my Intro to Computers class and finished the last online tests this morning....so that's all done. One more day of algebra class, then review tomorrow, final on Friday. Then school will be out for....a whole three day weekend anyway. Second summer semester starts on Tuesday.

I hate being too busy to breathe. What was I thinking? This summer school thing is severely interfering with my life.

Oh yeah, hurry up & get it over with....that's the plan.

Local Smoking Ban Update

The smoking ban will considered at the July 15th city council meeting, not July 1st. Here's a list of some of places where smoking will be banned by the proposed ordinance:

• Bars, taverns, nightclubs, cocktail lounges, cabarets, etc.

• Business vehicles with at least one nonsmoker as an occupant.

No smoking in pool halls? That's just so wrong...practically anti-American.

Like my momma allus said, if some people would pay as much attention to mindin' their own business as they did mindin' mine, they'd be a lot better off. Next thing you know they'll be trying to make us switch from butter to margarine.

And you'll get my stick of butter when you pry it out of my cold, dead hands....which wouldn't be as easy as it sounds.

COTV Contest

Not only did Adam H. do a bang-up job with this week's COTV, he's also provided a contest with it as well. Winner gets a genuine Single Guy In The South Coffee Mug.

Me 'n Mike's done and already sent our entry, go try your luck.

He's Alive!

The reports of the death of Baghdad Bob were greatly exaggerated....he's been captured at a roadblock in Baghdad.

Let the inevitable jokes begin.

Presto Chango!

The Professor sezs Bill O'Reilly is now praising the Internet and even seeming to suggest that news anchors should start a weblog.

O'Reilly's weblog...now _that_ I'd like to see. *snicker*

What do you want to bet he wouldn't enable comments?

Disgusting

New York Law School professor Edward Samuels was sentenced yesterday for possession of more than 150,000 kiddie pervert pics he'd downloaded from the internet. The most disgusting part of this story was the sentence he received.....6 months.

The judge admitted she struggled over whether to send Samuels to jail at all. She noted that while she'd seen some of Samuels' pictures and considered the crime "serious," Samuels has "been forced into self-awareness and is seeking help."

But lead prosecutor Maxine Rosenthal had argued that Samuels was only stopped after more than 20 years of amassing his collection - and only after stunned computer techies at the college stumbled upon the pictures during a routine repair.

WTF? 6 months? Judge, have you lost your freakin' mind?

Samuels downplayed his depraved collection as not having directly hurt anyone - and as free for the taking to anyone who goes online.

"Ninety-nine percent of what I downloaded was from newsgroups publicly available to anyone on the Internet," he told Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Brenda Soloff.

Well that's alright then isn't it since you didn't violate any copyright laws. [/sarcasm]

Bill O'Reilly was partially right....there is a lot of scum out there abusing the freedom of the Net. And this judge just patted this pervert on the hand for doing it. The only thing he's gonna learn is to be more careful about who has access to his computer.

"Forced into self-awareness" my ass.

Life Is Crazy

I survived the algebra test....and don't want to even think about what my score will be. Still have about a jillion things to get done this afternoon, including ironing my husband's shirts, (*raspberry* take that Maureen) so probably no posting for a bit. Sorry. The hurrier I go, the behinder I get these days.

Adam M was kind enough to provide links to today's Supreme Court's affirmative action decisions....go here for the law school decision and here for the undergraduate decision. Is he a nice guy or what?

So you guys go give 'em a read and tell me what you think. It may be a while afore I gets to look at 'em.

Affirmative Action Case Decision

The Supremes have ruled in the Michigan affirmative action case....5-4 & 6-3 split decisions.

In two split decisions, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that minority applicants may be given an edge when applying for admissions to universities, but limited how much a factor race can play in the selection of students.

Just checked their site, looks like the opinion hasn't been posted yet. Should be interesting reading.

'Splaination

If you're wondering at my absence this morning, I'm quietly losing my mind cramming for my algebra test later today. A law colleague said last week that in her kingdom, anyone who had a post-graduate Ph.D. equivalent degree (like us lawyers) would never be required to take any undergrad math courses for any reason. I told her when she got ready to take over, she had my vote....but she kindly explained to me that queens weren't voted in, but rather took over from the ruling party.

That's why I like her...and why, come the revolution, I hope she's on my side.

Shameless Plug

I don't usually promote these, but one of my favorite Arkie bloggers, Adam H., is hosting the Carnival of the Vanities this week. And through some glitch in the Force, I was treated to a preview earlier this morning that has since disappeared. Very nicely done, very interesting format.

At least I think I saw it....wasn't really awake yet, you know.

Related Development

Inspired by the anti-smoking fascists, I've decided to start a new campaign to ban stankin' perfume. You see, I have a severe perfume allergy to most perfume...eyes water, sneezing, sinuses stop up, and physical pain so severe it damn near brings me to my knees. And that takes a lot.

We just went grocery shopping. This couple and their ugly kids came breezing by us on the way in. The woman flips her hair as she walks by, so we are inundated by her perfume. I remarked to Mike, perhaps a little loudly because he's a little hard of hearing, that "Jesus God, that is some of the stankin-est crap I ever smelled. That bitch is leaving a scent trail 20 feet long." They heard me. They all turn around and glare. We glare back, me standing there with the neck of my t-shirt pulled up over my nose in a desperate attempt to block the odor so I can breath again. Ms. Stank sticks her nose up in the air and flounces away.

I could tell you just about every aisle in the store she was in....it lingered that long. I am not kidding. I don't know what it was, but it needs to be banned, burned and washed off.

Now there's a repression of expression I could get behind.

No Smoking in Fayette-nam?

Here's a good example of why we call our town Fayette-nam. There's been a big campaign here to ban smoking in restaurants....hence the signs you've seen around town saying "Support Smoke-Free Fayetteville". [Note: Many have been edited, uh, vandalized to read "Support Free Fayetteville"...not that I advocate vandalism, but I appreciate the sentiment.] We were discussing the issue at breakfast yesterday with some friends, who were wondering when the issue would come up for a vote. According to today's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, it won't. [I don't know why I bother linking to them, they stupidly don't archive their stories past a day or two. They're worse than Blogspot.]

Fayetteville Alderman Don Marr plans to introduce an amendment to the city’s 1991 smoking regulation at the July 1 meeting of the City Council. The current ban applies to a variety of public and private buildings.

A draft version of the amendment would extend the smoking ban to restaurants, bars and other public buildings and workplaces. Only private offices with just one worker would be exempt, Marr said.

Well, we certainly wouldn't want a city-wide vote on that would we? That just pisses me off. As most of you know, I smoke. And I go out of my way to be polite and considerate about it around non-smokers. I think smoking/nonsmoking sections are a reasonable compromise. In fact, we use both depending on whether Bubs is with us or not. It's not because we think second-hand smoke is going to turn him into some six-toed three-eyed freak. (Though as Mike says, that might be cool) He has multiple allergies, one of which is an allergy to smoke. We don't smoke in the house or the car when he's here; we sit in the nonsmoking section when he goes out to eat with us. When he's not around, we sit in the smoking section. Our choice.

It is also our choice to not patronize restaurants that don't offer us that choice. I figure that if you, as a business, choose to not offer me a service which is important to me, then you don't really want my money. It's not called a "service industry" for nothing you know....as in customer service. And if you can survive by catering to nonsmokers, then more power to you. It's that free market thing.

And I don't need no pointy headed anti-smoking hysteric interferring in that process. If they want to try to ban smoking, they should put the issue to a citywide vote instead of trying to sneak its passage through in a city council meeting.

Sneaky underhanded asshats.

Third Time's A Charm?

Hmmmm.....the Observer's reporting that we're awaiting DNA tests on some human remains that may be Saddam & Sons. (Link via Tim Blair)

The remains were retrieved from a convoy of vehicles struck last week by US forces following 'firm' information that the former Iraqi leader and members of his family were travelling in the Western Desert near Syria.

The operation, which has not yet been disclosed by the Pentagon, involved the United States air force and ground troops of the Third Armoured Cavalry Regiment based around Ramadi, a major town 70 miles west of Baghdad.

Don't get too excited yet, nothing's been confirmed so far and we've thought we blowed 'em up real good before. Like my daddy allus said about rumors, "You can hear everything but the meat a'fryin'."

Altered Intelligence

Now this is interesting. A researcher at the University of Sydney is conducting experiments that seem to show that "people undergoing transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, could suddenly exhibit savant intelligence -- those isolated pockets of geniuslike mental ability that most often appear in autistic people."

Hooked up to the machine, 40 percent of test subjects exhibited extraordinary, and newfound, mental skills. That Snyder was able to induce these remarkable feats in a controlled, repeatable experiment is more than just a great party trick; it's a breakthrough that may lead to a revolution in the way we understand the limits of our own intelligence -- and the functioning of the human brain in general.

Can I volunteer to become a test subject....say during my algebra test on Monday?

All silliness aside, this could be a big breakthrough in our understanding and treatment of autism, as well as certain mental illnesses like schizophrenia....and other unrelated uses.

Last year, the Brain Stimulation Laboratory at the Medical University of South Carolina received a $2 million government grant to develop a smaller TMS device that sleep-deprived soldiers could wear to keep them alert. ''It's not 'Star Trek' at all,'' says Ziad Nahas, the laboratory's medical director. ''We've done a lot of the science on reversing cognitive deficiencies in people with insomnia and sleep deficiencies. It works.'' If so, it could be a small leap to the day it boosts soldiers' cognitive functioning under normal circumstances.

Kinda scary if you start really thinking about potential uses in the wrong hands, actually....things Orwell could never have imagined. Talk about the potential for increasing the differences between the haves and have-nots....and for actual mind control.

Maybe I should spend today figuring out to which part of my head I should duct tape AA batteries for my test tomorrow?

Nah, I think I'll spend most of the day studying instead.

New Car!

Mike just bought a new car...new to us anyway. 1999 Subaru Outback Sporty, plenty of room for the Bubster and everything else.

Now we can get rid of my son's POS TransAm and the old Wagoneer. And best of all, I won't have to drive Mike back and forth to work in my little Subaru when the roads get bad next winter...unless we just want to spend a little extra time together.

Sweet!

A Boy & His Dog

Bubs spent the night with us last night. He's doing pretty well, back to wild child status...albeit with one leg bandaged from knee to ankle. All the way home from his mom's, he kept asking "See Shol-lie? Bubs?" And I would affirm that yes indeed we would, after we had some dinner. And he'd giggle.

He had a great time at Cracker Barrel, trying to imitate his Pa's palming of golf tees from the peg game at the table, playing with my daughter & her roommate in the rockers out front. But every so often he would pause and ask "See Shol-lie?" Yep, in a little bit. And he'd go back to whatever he was doing.

By the time we pulled up in the driveway, he was squealing with excitement. Gets his little backpack on and runs across the yard to the front door, squealing and laughing. Of course, "Shol-lie" has heard him by now and is digging furiously at the door trying to get out...which tickles Bubs to no end. He points at the door, yells "SHOL-LIE!!" and starts impatiently dancing & jumping up and down, waiting for us to open the door.

Door is finally opened, and boy & dog are reunited. Both are so excited that they can't contain themselves. Bubs is screaming "Shol-lie! Shol-lie!", laughing and dancing a little jig of joy. Sollie is wagging all over, running around Bubs in a tight little circle, just beside himself with doggie happiness, whining, giving doggie kisses which Bubs enthusiastically tries to return. (I have to explain again that no honey, we don't kiss the dog on the mouth, that's Eeeewwww. Neither are too happy with me about that.)

They haven't been more than 2 feet apart since. I believe they've missed each other.

A boy & his dog. It's a beautiful thing.

Rigged Dems Vote?

There's to be an online Dems primary next week for registered members of MoveOn.org. Sounds like a prime opportunity for some vote rigging....Disclaimer: not that I'm advocating anything like that. Really. Honest.

Some of the candidates, like Gephardt, are complaining that MoveOn is supporting Dean over the rest of the candidates.

"We are not going to change our participation at this point, but we are concerned that the process seems to be rigged," said Erik Smith, a spokesman for the presidential campaign of the Missouri lawmaker. "We think there is a legitimate role for MoveOn to organize grass-roots support for candidates, but we are worried that it appears they are playing favorites."

Dean campaign manager, Joe Trippi, said the other campaigns are just trying to disparage the primary because they know they will not win.

Yeah, so neener neener neener. *eyes roll* Geez, what a bunch of little kids. But maybe Gephardt is onto something. Recently one of MoveOn's employees took a 2 week leave of absence to work on Dean's website. And the top three finishers in a recent MoveOn poll were allowed to write pitches for votes that were then sent out to all MoveOn registered members. Dean's was sent first. The remainder of the candidates are allowed to submit similar pitches, but those will be put on a memo that also describes the endorsement process. In other words, one of those emails that you'd read the first few lines and then delete.

"You want to give everyone a soap box, but different size soap boxes in a sense," Mr. Boyd [one of site's organizers] said.

Everyone's equal, but some are more equal than others? Hey! Isn't that just discrimination dressed up in pretty words?

Oh wait, that's what Dems do.

Trivia Update

I have been remiss in not posting the winner(s) of the trivia challenge and the correct answer to the last question. Mea maxima culpa. I got so busy with school that I just plumb forgot it. Sorry, guys.

To refresh your memory, the question was:

What car event did NOT take place in 1948?

a) Whitewall tires became available
b)Tucker Torpedo car appears with a helicopter style engine
c)Cadillac starts its FIN look tradition
d)Pontiac brings out the Hydra Matic -- automatic transmission

The correct answer is A. Whitewall tires were first introduced by the Dayton Rubber Company in 1913.

Ralph and Adam both had the correct answer. (Sorry, Jim) So they are still tied and I surrender. Youse guys are just too good. Congratulations!

Unless I happen to run across a hideously difficult question...then it's back on.

Kindergarten Memories

We were watching a show on the Travel Channel last night about a circus....a behind-the-scenes kind of thing. One of the features was an elephant who was trained to paint....which for some reason triggered a memory of something I hadn't thought about in years. The summer when I was six, my school district had scraped up some funding to start a kindergarten. And I do mean scraped. We were poor, everyone we knew was poor....hell pretty much the entire county was poor....as you will see.

My mother enrolled me thinking it would be a good idea to be around other kids my age, and it was. I enjoyed the hell out of it. But one week, we were told to bring one of our dad's old shirt to wear on a certain day because we were going to be....da da da dum....fingerpainting! Now I was pretty excited about this, I'd never actually seen fingerpaints but I'd read about them and couldn't wait to try them.

The much anticipated day finally arrived and we all donned our old shirts. The teacher and the aides distributed a sheet of crisp, shiny, new white paper to us all. All a-quiver, I eagerly awaited the distribution of the actual fingerpaint....until I noticed that we were getting only one container each. Yep, for some reason, they only had enough money to buy one color of fingerpaint...and it was green. A hideously bright mocking green....that seemed to sneer "Ha! And just what do you think you'll paint with me little girl....some nice boring grass? Bwahahahaha!"

Dull with disappointment, I stared at the green fingerpaint. Now what? My mind raced as I tried desperately to think of some interesting that was green....and came up with nothing but grass. Sighing, I started painting grass along the bottom of my paper. When I finished, I was stumped. One of the aides came along and suggested I paint some trees, the sun, a house, whatever. I looked up at her and thought the sun isn't green you stupid bitch. And you need brown to do the tree trunk, but we don't have any brown do we. (I was resistant to a post-modernist reconstruction of the world even at that early age) But l had been taught not to say such things to grow-ups and so kept my thoughts to myself.

Fairly pissed off by this time, I absently doodled my fingers in the wet paint of my grass....and discovered that my fingers left trails in the paint. Hmmm, I thought, what if.....and I rapidly covered the entire page with green paint, then used just my fingers to draw abstract designs in the wet paint. For some reason that I still don't get, this freaked the teaching staff entirely out. I tried to explain that there really wasn't much else one could do with only green paint with which to work, but they didn't understand. I think I scared them.

Anyhow and anyway, I learned an important lesson that day. Not that when you're poor, you have to make the best of what you have. I already knew that lesson all too well. No, I learned that sometimes, teachers were idiots and there would be days that school sucked, but that I could find creative ways to make it more....interesting. A fairly dangerous lesson to learn that early, you might say.

Just one of several important things that I learned in kindergarten that long hot summer. Another was that most kids my age couldn't read. I had a hard time wrapping my mind around that one. "What do you mean you can't read? Are you one of those retarded kids that I've heard about?" My socialization and peer interaction skills were somewhat lacking, I fear.

Another lesson I learned is that if you sneak into the classroom during recess with one of your little buddies to conduct an experiment about what happens if you drop toy cars from the second story window into the sandbox full of kids below, you get into Really Big Trouble. My creativity and scientific exploration of the world was stifled in a big way.

But that's another story.

When the Party's Over

As you can tell, I've been goofing off this morning instead of studying. But after spending most of the day yesterday struggling to understand factorization of logarithmic functions...which I sincerely believe is enough to even make baby Jesus cry...I needed a break from school. Now I'm off to court today instead of class, so go visit some or all on my blogroll...they're all good.

Like Matt, who has a photo of Hillary that's just begging to be captioned. I was sorely tempted myself, but everything that popped into my little head was just way too obscene to post publicly.

Go see for yourself. Heh heh.

Unbelievable Horror

Wow, today's local newspaper is just full of unbelievable horrors.

A man who police said killed a dog, mutilated the carcass and then put parts of the animal on a small barbecue grill surrendered to authorities Wednesday.

Why in the name of God would anyone do that?

Jared Kemp [the dog's owner] said Friday that Harden and Allison were his friends but that he refused to get involved in some questionable activities with them.

So they killed his dog and butchered it.

According to patrolman Owen Smith, three witnesses reported Harden telling them that he killed a dog, cleaned, grilled and ate it.

Smith said he found two paws in a resealable plastic bag, along with bloodstained paper towels, inside the grill. He also reported witnesses saying that Harden cleaned the dog after tying it to a ladder and gutting it....Roper said police recovered the dog’s head in a shallow swimming pool at an abandoned residence at 1315 S. Main St. south of downtown. "Our investigation led us to that pool," Roper said. The dog’s torso has not been recovered.

Unfortunately, the perps only face misdemeanor charges of cruelty to animals (1 yr. in jail & up to $1000 fine) and theft....though there's people trying to change that.

The case is an example of why the state needs tougher crueltyto-animal laws, said state Rep. Buddy Blair, D-Fort Smith, who introduced a bill during the last legislative session that would have made heinous crimes felonies. Blair’s proposal also called for mandatory psychological examinations for those convicted of cruel acts to animals. The bill passed in the House but failed in a Senate committee earlier this year.

I agree, there's something seriously wrong with someone who would do something like this...and they need more than a slap on the wrist when they do.

And for all you people who voted against a similar amendment to increase penalties for animal cruelty in the last election: Shame on you.

Arkansas Politics

Things are getting....interesting....in the upcoming U.S. Senate race. Blanche Lincoln, who initiated the amendment to pay tax refunds to people who don't pay taxes, is up for re-election. Former Sen. Tim Asa Hutchinson (presently undersecretary in the Department of Homeland Security) and current Gov. Huckabee are a couple of the names that are being tossed around as potential opponents....though neither of them seem too interested at the moment. Either would make it a good race. And then there's this candidate...former Benton Co. sheriff Andy Lee. Now those of us who live around here know what a groaner this is, but for those of you who ain't from around here, here's a few of the things he did while sheriff.

As Benton County sheriff from 1989-2002, he acquired a reputation for, among other things, running a jail without televisions, hot meals or tobacco; posting his own version of the Ten Commandments in the jail before a federal judge made him take it down; and filing a defamation suit against political foes who had filed a series of failed lawsuits and grand jury petitions against him.

And then there's this:

Since he left the sheriff’s office, Lee has been building houses for a living. He recently incorporated his home-building operation called Sheriff Lee’s Construction LLC.

Because he was unable to completely heal from the injury, by the Police Department’s standards, he’s eligible to collect the benefits, he said. "That doesn’t prohibit me from going out and getting a job doing anything," he said.

*ahem* Perhaps our local Republican party could find a more viable candidate, with actual qualifications for the job?

Lee said a friend asked him recently what makes him "Senate material." "You don’t have to have any special quality to be a politician. The best way to represent people is to be a common person, and that’s kind of what I am," he said.

Yeah, I can see where actual knowledge of how the legislative process works, how to write & pass laws that are clear and the potential ramifications of your proposed legislation would be completely superfluous for the job of U.S. senator. Why I bet a person could pick all that up in just the first day or two on the job.

[/sarcasm]

Boxing Matches

Jim did a hilarious riff on the rumored boxing match between Joey Buttafuoco and O.J. Simpson entitled "Celebrity Boxing". (He's on Blogspot, you know the routine...scroll down if it's not at the top.) Here's a sample:

The Match
John “57” Kerry vs. Howard “The Burlington Yawn” Dean

The Result
After twelve rounds, the match is called a draw when neither contestant would strike the other, both proclaiming that fighting is never the answer.

Go read. It's all good.

SCO Update

My apologies to my non-tech readers for harping on this, but I think it's fascinating....the clash between the legal, business and the technical worlds. I suspect we'll be seeing a lot more of this, especially if SCO's successful.

All the comments on my previous post on SCO v. IBM have been very interesting and informative. I really appreciate everyone's input and opinions. If you want more, just click on the extended entry.

To keep the discussion going, here's something I ran across, an interesting opinion piece on the problems with business use of Linux in general and the SCO lawsuit that y'all might want to look at. And you can find all the filings in the suit here, for example there's a link to Exhibit A which will bring up a copy of the software licensing agreement in question. (Which I should warn you, is annoyingly in .pdf format)

I think the op/ed author brings up an interesting point. The business world depends on contracts being upheld and ownership rights being enforced, which I think will prohibit open source from ever becoming widely used there. From a business standpoint, open source just doesn't make sense.

Let's suppose you have a business that is looking for software to use for some valuable business function like tracking and predicting sales of your product. You know that whatever software you get will have to slightly modified to fit your particular business. But your IT department has developed a particularly effective method of doing that, one that is not widely known in your industry and is in fact a tightly protected business secret....a very valuable resource of your business.

Now, which do you think would make the most business sense? Open source software with the potential for litigation and/or the revelation of your valuable method of predicting sales? Or a software licensing agreement with a non-open source company that says whatever modifications that you make are yours as long as you don't start distributing the modified program to unauthorized third parties? Kinduva no brainer, especially with the potential of a shareholder's derivative suit for not protecting your business's interests hanging over your head....not to mention your own interest in protecting your profit margin.

For isn't that what open source means? That you have access to the modifications made by others, and they have access to any you might make? Now IF that's true, and IF SCO's lawsuit is successful, which I recognize are mighty big IF's, there's going to be all kinds of interesting ramifications for the software development community....and they aren't going to be particularly pleasant.

What do y'all think?

Raisin' Younguns

Saw a commercial last night for one of the online degree colleges...a lady working away on her home computer, voiceover said she can get her degree in as little as 2-3 years. Little girl walks up to the lady, who gives her a hug. I remarked to Mike that if that lady would keep a washcloth in a bowl of ice water next to her computer and scrub the hell out of that kid's face with the ice cold wet cloth every time the kid started bugging her while she was doing her homework, she'd get her degree in 1 year or less.

Oh sure, when I do it, it's called child abuse....but if some fancy scientist published "Reinforcing A Child's Avoidance Response: A Skinnerian Approach to Childrearing", then it'd be all the rage.

You know it would.

Borged Rabbits

Thanks to Dean, I discovered why I haven't seen any updates from our favorite warren...Silflay Hraka has moved to MT. Seems Blogspot's new and improved update had them completely locked out of their site....which was the last straw.

Man, you don't want to piss those rabbits off....they're no ordinary rabbits....they've got a vicious streak a mile wide. Just look at the bones!

Heh heh.

Shades of Swift

The Professor points to one of the funnier takes on O'Reilly's rant against the Evil Internet Empire^TM that I've seen yet.

And don't miss the comments....they're snarkilicious!

Good News

Well this was good news:

He realizes now that the LMDC and PA regard his scheme as little more than a template; other architects will be hired to design actual buildings, bound only by the sizes and locations within the site called for in his "master plan."

While it was always understood that Libeskind would collaborate with other architects, it now it looks as if he'll have to play second-fiddle to them.

Libeskind, you may remember, is the "winner" of the WTC design contest....you know, the one that looks like shit in a pit with a stick.

We'd all be better off if Libeskind - perpetrator of insipid poetry and purveyor of a fraudulent "wedge of light" - hit the road.

Insipid anti-American poetry at that.

"The island's hysteria, language, is tied to the wanton burning of wealth. America turns its mass-produced urine antennae toward Caesar's arrogant ganglion, while history is advocated by utopians as a substitute for defecating."

Ok. Yeah. "Mass-produced urine antennae"? One of the better descriptions of his design that I've seen, actually.

Hit the road? More like giddouttahere.

Interesting Case

SCO v. IBM, a case I've been following for a while, is finally starting to make headlines. SCO, who owns UNIX, has filed suit against IBM, alleging among other things, that IBM basically used its "Unix System V operating system source code" when it developed LINUX....a use which SCO is alleging was unauthorized by IBM's license and a breach of contract. You can read SCO's amended complaint here.

Now I'm just a little ol' country lawyer but it seems to me if SCO can prove half of what it alleges in its complaint, IBM has been very naughty and will get smacked up side the head with a very expensive iron skillet. And it's not just the money. One of the remedies that SCO is asking for is a permanent injunction against IBM using any of its "tainted" software and that all copies of such be destroyed. Can we say bye-bye Red Hat Linux, among others?

So I thought I'd throw this out into the Blogosphere and see what some of those who know more about the subject fill the rest of us in.

What do you think?

Swamped

Sorry for the light posting, but with the end of the first summer semester looming on June 27th, both of my classes are in a rush to complete all their material.....and I'm swamped with homework & tests. Couldn't let O'Reilly's pompous asshattery pass this morning though. *snicker*

Got the giggles in algebra class this afternoon. The instructor was commenting about how the summer class was better since the lag between spring intermediate algebra and fall college algebra could make it seem like a generation since you'd done this stuff. (The stuff being some foolishness involving exponential functions) I got the giggles because it had been a little more than a generation since I'd messed with that stuff.....a son and a grandson in the intervening years.

Geez, I'm getting old. But I still got it.

Tsk, Tsk Bill

Bill O'Reilly's upset about internet reports that his radio show was dropped by a San Franscisco radio station.

Nearly everyday, there's something written on the Internet about me that's flat out untrue.

And this is different from The San Francisco Chronicle that originally ran the story exactly how? Wider circulation? No deep pockets?

Bill says this story isn't true, he was "moved" not "dropped".

If anyone had bothered to make even one phone call, they would have learned that Westwood One made a deal with another San Francisco radio station, weeks ago to move The Radio Factor. Thus the word "dropped" is obviously inaccurate and dishonest.

So shouldn't you be burning up the phone lines to bitch out the reporter who actually wrote the incorrect story instead of whining about the Evil Internet Empire^TM?

We'll see if The Chronicle runs a correction, but you can bet you won't be seeing many corrections on the net.

But Bill, this is the Evil Internet Empire^TM....we can fact-check your ass in a few nanoseconds....and each other's asses. Corrections are posted all the time. I've even done it myself on occasion. Didn't hurt a bit to say "I was wrong". You should try it sometime. It's so...refreshing.

The reason these net people get away with all kinds of stuff is that they work for no one. They put stuff up with no restraints. This, of course, is dangerous, but it symbolizes what the Internet is becoming.

"These net people"? Bill sweetie, we're called "bloggers"....if anyone had taken a few minutes to Google, they would've learned the correct term. Thus to use "these net people" is....ummm.....how did you put it, "obviously inaccurate and dishonest". And makes you look like an ignorant asshat. IMHO. *ahem*

I hate to break it to you Bill, but "these net people" have the same restraints as say, journalists. Like being subject to suit for libel or slander or defamation of character. Of course it's true that, unlike journalists, Anyone Can Post On The Internet, (which is, BTW, where I found your article) but they're also subject to much more scrutiny and ridicule when they post something asinine or untrue.

The Internet has become a sewer of slander and libel, an unpatrolled polluted waterway, where just about anything goes.

True, like everything else, freedom of expression/speech is a double-edged sword....but IMO, ya gotta take the bad along with the good. People post things that *gasp* you don't like or agree with. Isn't that one of the things you'd expect in a free society? You'd think a pseudo-Populist would like that, wouldn't you? The "People" with an unregulated forum for their "Voices", united to speak out against their repression by the "man". Or is that only OK when they're not talking about you?

The point you're missing, Bill, is that the story you say is incorrect was first published in a newspaper, not by "creeps gossiping about celebrities in the crudest of ways" on the Internet. Here's a Clue^TM, it's not the first time a newspaper has published untrue things that were widely circulated. It's likely not going to be the last. It even happened before the Internet existed, believe it or not.

Should people post things that aren't true? Of course not. I'm plumb agin it. Should the Internet be regulated? To an extent, sure. Certain things can't be tolerated by a civilized society, like pedophilia. But I have a real problem with the type of "regulation" you're implying....you, like most philosophers and pundits, seem to think the world would be a better place if run by people like you. I don't think the Internet would be a better place if run by people like you. I've seen your show. You appear to have a real problem with those who disagree with you....as in they don't get to say much at all.

The real "threat" of an uncontrolled Internet to people like you is the aforementioned "fact-checking your ass" and worldwide discussion and criticism of your espoused views. Does that keep you awake at night, Bill?

Or are you just completely clueless?

Cat War

Did I ever mention how much I hate our cat? She & I are having this ongoing battle over her sleeping on our bed....since I'm allergic to cats and enjoy breathing, she's not allowed on the bed. But she likes to sleep there because she lurves me. And she's a spiteful little bee-otch when I make her move....kept me awake half the night the other night by jumping on my leg while I was asleep. I'd kick her in the floor, go back to sleep and she'd do it again, over and over from about 2 am on.

Last night I caught her on the bed again, picked her up & put her in her bed, which is in another room. Milady didn't like that, so she came into the kitchen where I was getting things ready before going to bed and started squalling to be let outside. Now I'm busy doing other stuff, so I don't immediately jump to do her bidding. Then I hear these weird slurping sounds....and look around to discover the hussy drinking out of my glass of ice water. Bear in mind that she has her own separate water dish in which the water is changed daily. I had in fact just changed it for her. (She won't drink out of the big communal water bowl because it has dog cooties.)

She then looked at me with that cat smirk and licked her lips. Resisting the mighty strong urge to separate her smirking head from the rest of her body, I dispose of my now tainted drink and get a clean one....sitting it down away from her. She tried to drink out of it too, but thinks better of it when I hiss & growl at her. (I speak cat, which is why she lurves me so much) We glare at each other like two gunfighters at high noon. I open the door. She stalks out haughtly...to spend the night outside, a rather Pyrrhic victory for her I'm sure.

Serves the spiteful hussy right. I think I'll start spitting in her water bowl and see how she likes that.

War is hell.

Truth in Advertising

Have you seen the new AOL spam blocking commercial? There's a little girl who signs her name with a heart and passes a note across the classroom to a little boy....he receives the note, looks at the girl who smiles at him...he, all excited, opens the note and discovers it says he can get a new mortgage at low, low rates.

It would've been much more true to life if the note said he could get a larger penis or Viagra without a prescription.

Fadda's Day

We've been busy playing catch up on homework & housework today after spending most of the day yesterday at the hospital with Bubs.....who is, I'm happy to report, scheduled to go home tomorrow morning if nothing else goes wrong. His IV collapsed Friday night, he had to be knocked out to get it restarted yesterday afternoon......understandably after numerous unsuccessful attempts to restart it, he was fighting them pretty hard. Plus, after being on the IV for so long & having numerous blood samples drawn & such, he really didn't have many places left to be stuck. Poor little guy, I'm surprised he doesn't spring leaks all over when he takes a drink of water. But he's much better now, and that's what matters.

We're mostly caught up and now we're heading out to eat to celebrate Fadda's Day....when Mike can eat for free.

We're not cheap, we're frugal....about some things anyway.

Scary Crack Head

A local mother and her 3 yr. old daughter had a close call in Rogers Thursday when a woman on meth tried to kidnap the little girl.

Cradduck said Melinda Coley was driving through the neighborhood, looking for her children. She pulled to the curb when she saw the young girl walking with her mother, and called for the child, using the name of her own child.

The mother called the police to report the incident. Patrolman John Oldfather found Coley going in and out of unlocked homes on Arkansas Street, according to Cradduck.

The crackhead's children were in fact in Oklahoma....I sincerely hope living with someone else.

Now what was that argument about how we should legalize drug use because it's a "victimless crime"?

Oh yeah, completely clueless bullshit.

Lil Playah

Last night, when Bubs was finished with his IV treatment, he wanted us all to go walking in the halls with him....which, as he knows, requires that he's holding someone's hand at all times. So he grabbed his great-aunt's (my sis) hand and his favorite aunt's (my daughter) hand...then tries to also hold my hand and his mom's. Massive confusion. To his horror, he discovers that he does not have enough hands. 4 of his favorite women and only 2 hands. He tries to make it work anyway. By this time I'm LMAO.

He finally settles on his original choice but looks back over his shoulder on his way out the door and tells his mom and me to "C'mon". So here we all go, little mac-daddy and his entourage, up and down the halls. Then he spied a cute little girl, about 1 yr. old I'd say, who is also walking up & down the hall. He goes into hot pursuit, all the time insisting that we all accompany him. I started giggling again, because he's got 4 women at his beck & call and he's off chasing a fifth one.

*sigh* He is his father's son. I have the feeling his teenage years are going to be quite interesting.

Misc., Etc.

--I did reasonably well on my algebra midterm, and have brought my grade up from a low D to a high B. Yay for me!

--There are some real asshat kids in my algebra class. One almost trampled me in his rush to get out the door AND let the door swing back & hit me. Young whippersnapper, thought about throwing my walker at him.

--Have to make this short as my sis is due in a few minutes. I'm taking her down to visit Bubs tonight. She has no idea what a blog is or that I have one...and I plan to keep it that way. Otherwise, she might read that I think she is the slowest human being on the planet. Takes her 15 minutes to get out the car after it stops. You think I'm kidding don't you? Trust me. I'm. Not. Sometimes I just want to scream at her "Look, no one cares what you look like. You don't need to brush your damn hair before we get out of the car! Throw your keys in your purse & jump out. The world will not end, trust me. I do it all the time." And to think she used to make pretty good money doing production piecework at a factory. Unbelievable.

I love her anyway, but sometimes that's very difficult.

Last Trivia Challenge

You guys are good. Jim correctly identified the quote in question 1 as being from "Darktown Strutter's Ball", but the correct answer is B. Taxi....which both Adam and Ralph got. Everyone had the correct answer to question 2, Princess Summerfallwinterspring.

Then I screwed up question 3. As Jim & Ralph pointed out, the Mills Brothers had the hit "Cabdriver"....which was not one of the choices. Adam. like me, thought it was the Ink Spots. I apologize for the error. To be fair, here's a replacement question:

What car event did NOT take place in 1948?

a) Whitewall tires became available
b)Tucker Torpedo car appears with a helicopter style engine
c)Cadillac starts its FIN look tradition
d)Pontiac brings out the Hydra Matic -- automatic transmission

(Question borrowed from a fun little quiz here BTW)

No fair peeking. Oh, and everyone got the bonus question, Carolina Kennedy's pet pony was named Macaroni.

Friday Five

1. What's one thing you've always wanted to do, but never have? Snow ski....and now my knees are too shot to try it. Damn my deprived childhood!

2. When someone asks your opinion about a new haircut/outfit/etc, are you always honest? Depends on how well I know them...I have learned a little tact in my old age.

3. Have you ever found out something about a friend and then wished you hadn't? What happened? Well, sure, haven't we all? And it usually results in them not being your friend anymore. Duh!

4. If you could live in any fictional world (from a book/movie/game/etc.) which would it be and why? None. I mean really, does it get any better than this? Some of the futuristic sci-fi places sound interesting, but there's always aliens trying to kill you or take over your body....or shape changers. How annoying would that be? And you know there'd be at least one in the adjacent cubicle that would always be rearranging his face all gross and popping up over the wall at you.

5. What's one talent/skill you don't have but always wanted? I've always wanted to learn how to juggle....and sing. (Not necessarily at the same time) I love to sing, but have a really terrible voice. I'm not kidding. I used to threaten to start singing in public to make my kids behave. And it worked too.

"Summertime, and the livin's easy..." And they'd be all crying & begging, "For the love of God, Mom, my ears! Stop or I'll report you for child abuse." Tee-hee.

Juggling though, that might be doable. And for an added incentive to learn quickly, Mike's got all these chef's knives....oooo, and we've got a chain saw too.

I smell a new project!

Good Night, David

I was saddened to read that another of my childhood icons has passed...David Brinkley. A nightly fixture when I was growing up, he belonged to an era of honorable journalism that has sadly also passed. You could no more imagine him being undignified in his reporting than you could imagine the Pope conducting Mass in a thong.

Fittingly, he summed it all up best:

"If I were 20 years old, I would try to do the same thing again, all of it," he told a New York Times interviewer — his son Joel — in a February 1997 profile. "I have no regrets. None at all."

We should all be that lucky.

Another Milestone

The previous entry has the dubious honor of being my 1000th post.

*crowd cheers*

I feel as if I should say something witty and erudite, but I'm just too bloody tired this morning.

So just pretend I did, mmkay?

We Have A Tie!

Ok, I think my brain is sufficient unfogged now to tally up the scores from yesterday's quiz. Let's see....there's a tie between Adam and Ralph, who each answered every question correctly as well as the bonus. Jim was a close second, with every question correct, but I should only give him one point for his answer to the bonus question. While it's technically correct that the starter mechanism itself was located on the engine, I meant either the thing in the floorboard (to the right of the gas pedal I believe it was) or the button/lever on the dash that you had to push/move to engage the starter...associated with the preceding question about the location of the dimmer switch. Right? But what the hell, since I suppose the question could've been worded better, Jim goes in the tie-breaker too.

So you three try your luck with these three questions:

1. "I'll be down to get you in a ________, Honey"

a. SUV
b. Taxi
c. Streetcar

2. What was the name of the Indian Princess on the Howdy Doody show?

a. Princess Summerfallwinterspring
b. Princess Sacajewea
c. Princess Moonshadow

3. What was the name of the singing group that made the song "Cabdriver"
a hit?

a. The Ink Spots
b. The Supremes
c. The Esquires

Bonus question: What was the name of Caroline Kennedy's pet pony?

a. Old Blue
b. Paint
c. Macaroni

BTW, no fair Googling for the answers. We are all honorable people here, right?

Answers to the previous quiz are in the extended entry, if you're interested.

1. b) On the floor, to the left of the clutch. Hand controls, popular in
Europe, took till the late '60s to catch on.

2. b) To sprinkle clothes before ironing. Who had a steam iron?

3. a) 1946 Studebaker.

4. a) Wax for your flat top (butch) haircut.

5. a) Immediately sniffed the purple ink to get a high.

And So We Did

Bubs was getting an IV antibiotic treatment when we got there, so I popped in "Milo and Otis". He promptly renamed it "Kitty and Sols" and seemed pretty interested in it. I think he thought the puppy in the movie really was Sollie cuz every time it would show the kitten & puppy rolling & playing, he would yell "NO NO Kitty!" and run over & smack the tv. Bad kitty, attacking his little buddy.

As soon as he was unhooked from the IV machine, he pointed "Door?" so we went out in the hallway. "Dance?" he inquired. And so we did....up and down the halls endlessly.

My feet hurt. I'm going to bed.

In My Kingdom...

....there would be NO need for rate/distance/time problems. I would forbid them. If someone asked me one day if a plane traveled 3360 miles to a place with the wind and arrived in 5.25 hrs, and the trip back against the wind took 6 hrs., then what was the windspeed....before I chopped off his head for violating my ban on such questions, I would tell him to ask the damn pilot.

Because I don't give a shit. I really, really don't.

Why yes, the algebra midterm was a real bitchkitty...how did you guess?

Elderly Quiz

Here's a history quiz for us old fogeys to keep y'all occupied while I'm gone.

Put your answers in the comments and I'll post the correct answers & announce the Old Fart of the Day winner tomorrow morning.

(Yeah, I'll be back before then, but after my algebra midterm today, math is the last thing I'll want to do this afternoon....trust me.)

Each question is worth 2 points, and I've even included a bonus question.

Good luck.

1. In the 1940s, where were automobile headlight dimmer switches located?

a. On the floor shift knob
b. On the floor board, to the left of the clutch
c. Next to the horn

For 2 bonus points, where was the starter located?

2. The bottle top of a Royal Crown Cola bottle had holes in it. For what
was it used?

a. Capture lightning bugs
b. To sprinkle clothes before ironing
c. Large salt shaker

3. What postwar car turned automotive design on its ear when you couldn't
tell whether it was coming or going?

a. Studebaker
b. Nash Metro
c. Tucker

4. How was Butch wax used?

a. To stiffen a flat-top haircut so it stood up
b. To make floors shiny and prevent scuffing
c. On the wheels of roller skates to prevent rust

5. What did all the really savvy students do when mimeographed tests were
handed out in school?

a. Immediately sniffed the purple ink, as this was believed to get
you high
b. Made paper airplanes to see who could sail theirs out the window
c. Wrote another pupil's name on the top, to avoid your failure

About Damn Time

Our neighboring city of Rogers has passed an anti-thumper ordinance.

The amendment to the city’s public nuisance laws prohibits music that sounds louder than the normal conversation to someone standing 30 feet away. It takes effect in 30 days and will bring Rogers into line with Fayetteville and Springdale, which already have similar rules in place.

Those cited for violating the noise ordinance face up to a $500 fine.

I _hate_ those damn cars. You know the ones I mean, that you feel the bass vibrations through your own car seat way before you see the offending car. I hate their "music" for the same reason I hate Baroque...that low insistant bass thump makes my brain hurt.

You know, music can sometimes also bring out the savage beast. And there's something about that particular frequency that just pisses me off. Makes me want to get out of my car, drag that person out by his or her hair and just beat the living shit out of 'em.

And then blow up their car....blow it up real good.

Heh heh. Real good.

Bubs Relief Mission

Wasn't able to visit Bubs yesterday, but talked to one of his other grandma's....he's still improving, but has to stay in the hospital 5 more days to finish his IV antibiotic therapy. He's been there since last Thursday, and is terminally bored with it all....bouncing off the walls. He's tired of his toys & books, so the nursing staff brought him a TV with a VCR yesterday & a puzzle...designed for 5+ yr. olds. Which he figured out in short order so now he's bored with it too, as well as the 2 movies they brought him.

So this afternoon after my algebra midterm, my daughter & I are heading down with new movies, markers that will only write on special paper (he used his blue crayon to color his bedside tray), and a Magna-Doodle. And since he is only hooked up to the IV when he gets a dose of antibiotic, I suspect he and I will be tangoing up & down the halls until I'm sore.

It'll be good to have my little dance partner back in action.

Totally Clueless

Mo-Mo is so totally freaking clueless....just when I think she can't get any more stupid, she goes a step further into La-La Land.

I hate to play into stereotypes, but when I see men following women around the couture departments of Bergdorf's on a rainy Saturday afternoon like trained poodles, it crosses my mind that they should be home on their Barcaloungers watching ESPN and eating a Jerry's sub.

Jane, you ignorant slut. (Dan Ackroyd, old SNL news skit, in case you don't remember the quote.) There's all different kinds of men, in case she hasn't noticed. Some, like the fat ladies you see in black spandex (it's not slimming BTW), can't be trusted to dress themselves. Most of them manage to dress themselves quite adequately. And some, like Mike, have a better eye for clothing than most women.

Which is why I'd rather shop with him than anyone. He not only knows the difference between salmon & pink, but also that orange & brown make me look like crap.

"Trained poodle on a leash"? Puh-lease.

More like a Rottweiler on a logging chain.

Warship Baby

What the hell was this woman thinking?

A Marine gave birth aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer in the Persian Gulf last month, marking what Pentagon officials believe is the first time an active-duty woman delivered a baby on a combat ship in a war zone.

How does that even happen?

A Pentagon official said the Marine in this case told superiors that she did not know she was pregnant.

So what now, mandatory monthly pee-on-a-stick tests for all female military members? This is just great. Women finally get to significantly participate in a major military operation, and some moron calves in the middle of the war zone.

Thanks alot, bee-otch. It's stupid women like you who give the rest of us a bad name.

Summertime

You measure the passage of time differently, I think, when you grew up on a country farm. Although the calendar says otherwise, I know summertime has arrived here in the hills.

• The terrapin that lives in the yard has come out of hibernation.
• Dewberries are ripe, and our plums & raspberries soon will be.
• Junebugs are hatching.
• Fireflies are dancing in our yard at night.
• The toad that lives under our front porch step made his first appearance this morning....I know because I had to rescue him (her?) from Sassy.

Ah, summer....time for watermelons, fireworks & swimming.

And air conditioners....cranked down to Holiday Inn cold.

Forgot One

I knew I was forgetting someone...Frank the Monkey-Hater at IMAO. Not that he needs any traffic from little ol' me, but it helps me keep track of his updates....so I don't miss any goodness like this bit about what he didn't learn from Hillary's new book:

* That every time she lies, her thighs grow larger.

So _that's_ what causes that.

Who knew?

"Old Grey Lady" Ain't What She Used To Be

I was reading an article in today's NYT about a Supreme Court employment discrimination decision...that was so badly written I had to read it about 5 times to figure out what the actual holding of the case was. Then the thought struck me:

The NYT has turned into the newpaper equivalent of Helen Thomas.

*shudder*

Iran New VRWC Member?

Apparently Iran's a new VRWC member:

An Iranian government official with ties to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Tehran sides with the Americans on one big issue — Saddam Hussein's weapons.

"Yes, we agree with the Americans. Our intelligence indicated that Iraq did possess weapons of mass destruction and was hiding them from the U.N.," the official said.

Alright people, let's make 'em feel welcome....and now we need a volunteer or two to go over there & teach 'em the secret handshake.

Anyone?

Too Funny!

I was glad I didn't have a mouthful of my morning tea while reading Andrea Peyser's column today about Hillary's book signing yesterday:

Her jaw deftly working a wad of chewing gum, Hillary Clinton plunked her blinding, yellow pantsuit into the "Science Fiction/Fantasy" section of a Midtown bookstore.

No, that's not the drink spewer, though it's pretty good. The best part is about halfway down the column, in a little text box entitled "Sponsored Links:"

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It hurts to laugh that hard this early in the morning. But it's a good hurt.

More New Links

Since I was over there anyway updating Tony's new address, I've finally gotten around to adding some new links to my blogroll.

First up is Natalie at Pickle Juice...always something interesting going on there.

I was gonna add John Lemon too, but he says he's quitting...*sigh* scroll down to the June 7th entry "Bottom of the Barrel", you know why. Anyway, go tell him why he shouldn't leave.

Next, there's Peppermint Patty, who's back to posting more regularly since getting hitched. Gotta love someone who writes things like this:

"Where's the link? 200 million years and you still haven't found them! Liar! Darwin was Selected, not Elected!". Although I may be forced to reconsider the next time James Carville opens his gills.

There's also the always practical Marti at Cherokee Mud. When confronted with 4 squealing sissy men in distress due to office flooding, she promptly takes action:

Leaving the three stooges to help the fourth, I went to see if I could find out what was causing the flooding. It was a water heater that sits out in the warehouse directly above the ladies restroom. I immediately shut off the water to the tank and amazingly the flooding downstairs stopped.
Idiots

Tee-hee.

There's more I've been meaning to add, but since my beloved son forgot about Daylight Savings Time and called from Japan at 4:30 a.m., I think I should probably get back to ingesting massive amounts of caffeine.

Kids.

Please Adjust Your Links

Always Right Tony has kindly let me know that he's moved, so adjust your links accordingly.

Yay! Now he'll have links that work! Another worthy soul borged rescued.

BTW, Tony, you didn't have to apologize for leaving your new URL in the comments. That's what they're for. I'm glad you did.

BTW

Did you know that Kit-Kat comes in a limited Dark Chocolate edition? They are my favorite candy bar. Mike got me a whole case of them when he went to Sam's Saturday while I was at the hospital with Bubs....and a 3 CD Janis Joplin set.

I think he missed me.

Sorry So Swamped

I've been swamped since about 5 a.m. and no relief in sight. Bubs did NOT have to have further surgery this morning, thank goodness, and is doing very well. He insisted on running up and down the hospital halls once the anesthesia wore off....tried to get on the elevator & leave....did a little happy dance around the candy machine pole...you name it, he was into it.

So it appears he will recover in time. Looks like he's just like his father, get desperately ill, scare the holy hell out of everyone....and recover quickly. This afternoon I've been remembering repeatedly saying that infamous curse to my son:

"I hope someday you have a son just like you."

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go eat those words....then do my homework.

What Dog Am I?

What Common Breed of Dog Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Well, that's a big surprise...not. (Stolen from my favorite bulldog, Rodger)

Vehicle Rampage

According to our local news crime report, there's been a rash of vehicles behaving suspiciously.

--10:27 p.m. A woman reported a suspicious white vehicle at N. E. J Street and Allencroft.

No word on whether or not it was a Ford Bronco.

--12:47 p.m. A caller reported suspicious activity involving a go-cart and a scooter on Kings Drive.

Now that's just kinky.

--2:07 a.m. A man at 422 W. Elm St. reported a suspicious blue Ford Ranger in the parking lot of Regions Bank for three to four hours.

Probably casing the joint....you just can't trust a Ford you know.

--2:04 p.m. A man at North Crossover and East Zion roads reported another man chasing a vehicle and taking off his clothes. The caller then reported the vehicle pulled over near the Botanical Garden sign and a fight broke out.

I'da paid good money to watch a fight between a nekkid man and a vehicle....wonder who won?

And at least one vehicle apparently went on a rampage:

A caller at 14055 Cincinnati Creek Road in Summers reported an old, gray Chevrolet pickup came through his gate and did "doughnuts" in his field while chasing his cattle.

Yeah, an idle truck can be really dangerous when they get bored.

Good Dog!

Sollie has a knack for finding little lost things....like odd socks, bits of paper and so on. But yesterday and this morning, he's turned up with....money. Fifteen bucks yesterday and a dollar bill this morning. We have no idea where he's finding it...we just hear paper rustling & turn around to find him with a mouthful of cash.

He's probably been playing poker with the cat again.

Telling Tell-All?

Hmmm, looks like a close reading of Hillary's new book may be more revealing than she realizes.

There are many glowing passages about the man who became the nation's 42nd president. Despite his persistence, Hillary turned down several of his marriage proposals. Not until he surprised her and bought a house for them did she agree to marry him.

Wouldn't marry him until he bought her a house? What's that word I'm looking for that describes women like that?

Golddigger?? Is that it?

Update

Bubs came through the surgery well, though the area that had to be removed from his calf was much, much larger than anyone anticipated. An additional large pocket of another type of bacteria was found, which has been sent to two labs for typing. This brings the types of bacterial infection found up to four. No prognosis yet; he's scheduled to be knocked out again Monday morning to examine the surgery site, determine whether more surgery is needed and if so, do it then, and the site will be repacked. I'm just wondering how much more of his little leg they can cut out before there's nothing left.

At any rate, he's doing better this afternoon, though very grouchy & demanding...understandably so. At one point, he begged me to get him up & dance with him....I had to tell him no. He cried, but I convinced him we would do it later. Every so often the rest of the afternoon, he would look up at me hopefully, hold up his little hand and ask "Dance?" But before I could answer, he would shake his head sadly and say "No, dance no." And I would again promise that we would dance later.

I think my dance card will be filled indefinitely.

TTFN

Just got the call...they are going to do surgery on Bubs today. We'll be heading out shortly, probably for most of the day.

Later, dudes.

Magic of DSL

Susanna tells a great story of the magic of DSL that I'm still giggling about.

It's great to know I'm not the only person who does things like that.

Live or Memorex

U.S. officials have been unable to confirm whether Saddam's alive or blown to smithereens....so they're renewing efforts to excavate the bombing site in Baghdad.

But Steve H. reveals the truth....he's alive and trapped in Sartre's Hell.

Unnatural Associations

I ain't much of a scientist, but why would farmers want to fight global warming? (Assuming it exists.)

Wouldn't warmer temperatures and increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere actually increase crop yields?

Or am I not much of a farmer either?

Take A Left

Someone's done an interesting study on how men & women differ in finding their way around.....a contentious subject.

Woman: "We're lost."

Man: "No we're not, I just don't know where we are."

I understand exactly what guys mean when they say that. I've said it myself. And it's because I, like most guys, find my way around by landmarks, not street directions. But it's not because I think like a guy (though I generally do). It's because I grew up out in the boonies, where there are no street signs. Just turn left by that big tree in the corner of Old Man Johnson's hay field, and all that.

Mike's much better at finding his way around than I am...he does both landmarks & street directions. But occasionally, I'm stubborn enough to think that this may be one of those rare instances when I'm right and he's not.

Then we get really lost.

Bad Wife

Mike had to go in to work extra early this morning, and let me sleep an extra 20 minutes since I was out so late last night with Bubs. Very sweet, but it also meant I was barely awake when he left and forgot to run through the checklist.

1. Phone
2. Pager
3. Stinkin' badges
4. GLASSES

I just found them lying on the head of the bed where he'd left them last night. And he's driving. Yikes!

Bad Wife!

Bleh!

I've been taking online exams this morning over Word...I've learned how to use it, but I still think it sucks compared to Word Perfect.

Except for that cool multiple items on the clipboard thingy for cut & paste.

That really rocks.

Bubs Hospitalized

Bubs had to be rushed to the ER yesterday afternoon with what I suspect is septicemia caused by his wound debridement. Haven't heard an official diagnosis yet, but he's a very sick little boy....so sick that he wasn't even interested in the Scooby Doo sucker that his aunt & I took him last night.

Now that's sick. All he wanted was Ma's lap and someone to take that damn IV out of his hand & stop putting cold washcloths on