Archive for 8/4/2008 - 3 Av, 5768

I was in the first issue of the wonderfully sick and twisted Scared Naked Magazine (Dec 2002) It appears I am also in what may turn out to be the last (June 2004). The magazine has gone on “indefinite hiatus” for what the publisher calls “personal and printer issues”.

One reason I enjoyed being published in this magazine is that it was one of several “horror” magazines that Locus Magazine followed, so I appeared in their annual Index of Science Fiction. I was only paid $5 for each poem (+ 1 copy of the magazine), but appearing in that list made me feel special. (Someday I will get there for a story rather than a poem.)

Well, I know how at least one regular reader of this blog feels about him, but Peter David at least agrees with me on the how winnable the War against Terror ism is.

I feel inidividual battles against terrorism can be won, and terrorism can be reduced, but any so called war would never end. We’re still fighting Johnson’s War Against Poverty forty years later. The situation has improved. No question about it. But its not a winnable war either. It is however a war we need to continue fighting. I’d have no problem with any politician saying “We are going to fight terroism, and continue fighting terrorism, and we will reduce terrorism around the globe, and we will continue reducing it.”

I know the word ‘reduce’ isn’t a strong one. Maybe a good speechwriter could come up with a better way to phrase it. Maybe I could given some time. But to suggest this is a winnable war is a lie. You’re either lying to the American People, or lying to yourself.

Newt may agree with me too, though I can’t find the transcript, and he is on record as saying that it is the male instinct to hunt giraffes, so he’s not the best source.

The Welfare Queen has some great coverage of the Republican Convention Day 1, with photographs. Her captions are incredible.

Are these fruit wrappers too racy for children?:

Both Democrats and Republicans claim the war on Terrorism can be won. (Bush recently stated it’s possible it won’t be, but has backtracked).

My question, for anyone who agrees, is how?

You can fight a war against a country, and either win, lose, or get lost in a quagmire.

But fighting terroism is like fighting crime or poverty. It can be reduced. Major practitioners can be captured and prosecuted. But actually end it for all time?

The only way that will happen in our lifetimes is if the Messiah comes in our lifetimes.

Christy pointed me here to see this map, which came from here.

She thought it was funny. I do too. (And sadly true in some circumstances.)

The original site the map came from isn’t written in English, so may be difficult for some to read. For example, myself. I direct you to an index of their comics, perhaps someone else can find a direct link to the page the map appears on.

Daily Reason to Dispatch Bush

Hip Hop Artist or Entry on US Govt Terrorist Watch List?

Fake Samarian Gods Referenced in the Motion Picture Ghostbusters, or Surnames of Professional Hockey Players.

Kentucky Derby Winner or Kentucky Headhunters Song

60 scientists were polled, and a list of 10 top SF films of all time were generated. Results

Director Ridley Scott had two films in the top 10 - Blade Runner at #1, and Alien at #4. Kubrick placed #2 with 2001, and Lucas was at #3 with Star Wars. Solaris, Terminator, The Day the Earth Stood Still, War of the Worlds, Matrix, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind completed the list.

Here’s the list of 60 scientists - including Richard Dawkins and Gregory Benford.

They also chose their top 10 SF authors

1. Isaac Asimov
2. John Wyndham
3. Fred Hoyle
4. Phillip K Dick
5. HG Wells
6. Ursula K Leguin
7. Arthur C Clarke
8. Ray Bradbury
9. Frank Herbert
10. Stanislaw Lem

Asimov definitely deserves the #1 spot…Clarke should be higher.

Theresa LePore…does that name sound familiar?

She is the Palm Beach Elections supervisor responsible for the 2000 Butterfly Ballot. Below is her choice for the 2004 ballot.

From the butterfly ballot to the broken arrow, Supervisor of Elections Theresa LePore is setting up the county for another election meltdown potentially, said the Delray Beach retiree, who was communications director for Children’s Hospital in Miami and a communications specialist for the Palm Beach County School District.

Kemp and others wonder why LePore had to complicate matters by using the broken arrow when voters could be asked simply to fill in a circle to indicate their vote, known as bubbling in.

”People have to bubble in a lot of things today, but I’ve never seen where you have to connect an arrow,” he said.

It looks simple enough — but apparently it is confusing to some, and no other counties in the area are doing it that way. Most are using the bubbles.

Five Year Old goes on joy ride

They watched as he did U-turns, put the car in reverse and then in drive again as he made his way through the neighborhood. Kobi was only in the car for a few minutes, but it seemed much longer, [his mother] said.

“He used his turn signals and stopped at the stop signs.”

…

Kobi told his mom that his Cadillac adventure was fun. But after a face-to-face with police down at headquarters, Kobi changed his tune.

“I was scared,” said Kobi, who, at just around 3 feet tall, could not explain how he could reach the brake and accelerator and see over the dash to drive. But he did explain why he wore a seat belt.

“I didn’t want police to pull me over,” Kobi said.

That last reminds me of the closing lyrics to Tom Lehrer’s Irish Ballad

When at last the police came by sing rickety tickety tin
… these terrible deeds she did not deny
To do so she would have to lie
And lying she knew was a sin
A sin.
Lying she knew was a sin

Dinosaurs WWI Soldiers found frozen in amber glacier. In mountains on Swiss/Austrian borders.

The Reuters article admits the soldiers aren’t alive, but it neglects to mention anything about harvesting their DNA.

“When I got close I discovered they were the bodies of soldiers frozen in the glacier. Nothing like this has ever happened in my lifetime. Bodies haven’t been found in the ice around here for decades.” — Mountain rescue worker Maurizio Vicenzi

But a few decades ago it was a regular occurrence?

A Muslim Swiss citizen has had his US Visa withdrawn.

He was supposed to come to Univ of Notre Dame as a professor of Religion. The visa was issued in May, but withdrawn at the beginning of August, days before he was going to leave with his family.

Ramadan, a well-known intellectual in France and Switzerland, said although he had been told he could reapply, there was little point in doing so until he knew why approval had been withdrawn this time.

“We need that information,” he said, adding that his main concern at the moment was for his family, who had been left in a difficult position by the U.S. about-turn.

“It is very distressing for them. All our things and furniture have already been sent (there),” he told Reuters. “We are living in an empty house.”

Ramadan, who has advised the European Commission on religious issues and addressed conferences sponsored by the State Department, traveled without problems to the United States in April with his wife and four children to choose a house and schools.

A lot of people have discovered that they can make a little extra money by auctioning off on the internet those extra knick-knacks they have lying around. After all, as the saying goes, one person’s trash is another’s treasure.

But sometimes, trash is just trash.

This site is dedicated to the research and study of the most bizarre items found for sale on internet auction sites. Not the obviously fake auctions, like the infamous human kidney, but truly tacky stuff that people really, honestly, believed that someone would (and in some cases did) buy.

“Lynne and I have a gay daughter, so it’s an issue that our family is very familiar with. … With respect to the question of relationships, my general view is that freedom means freedom for everyone. People ought to be able to free — ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to.” — VP Dick Cheney

“Cheney went on to repeat the position he first outlined in the 2000 campaign — that same-sex marriage should be left to the states to decide. He noted, however, that Bush has endorsed a constitutional amendment preventing the states from recognizing such marriages.”

“At this point … my own preference is as I’ve stated,” Cheney said. “But the president makes basic policy for the administration. And he’s made it. ”

Rep. John Lewis (D) Georgia has also been stopped several times at airports and told he couldn’t get a ticket because he was on the No-Fly list.

Should a public school be allowed to start a board meeting with a
prayer, when everyone present is an adult?

The Rutherford Institute says yes, the ACLU says no.

I know even as an adult, if I were at a meeting that began with a prayer that referenced a God I didn’t believe in, I would feel like an outsider. And a public school board meeting “ought to be” welcoming to all parents. But where do we draw the line between “ought to be” and “required by law?”

What recourse would a public school parent have if they felt ostracized at such meetings besides the law? It’s not as if they can take their kids to a different public school.

These are my thoughts, and basically why I tend to side with the ACLU.

I lie somewhere between the ACLU and the Rutherford Institute on most issues regarding religous freedom. Closer to the ACLU. But I have no problem with “moments of silence” or “bible study groups” as an optional afterschool activity. (Both stands of which might surprise some of my Liberal friends and relatives.)

My only problem with school prayer is when it becomes mandatory or organized.

Allegedly all Employees at ILM (LucasFilm’s Industrial Light and Magic) have signed Non-disclosure agreements regarding the possibility of a Star Wars episode 7,8 & 9

When Lucas originally made the first three movies (numbered 4, 5, and 6 just to confuse any non-fan), he said there would be nine films.

When he made the fourth film a few years ago (Numbered 1), he denied ever saying this. When the interview transcripts were produced, he still maintained the last set of movies wouldn’t be made.

Now that we are approaching the release of episode #3 or #6 (depending upon how you count), he’s probably asking himself what he is going to do afterwards. And Episodes #7-9 are looking more and more appealing. (Just one hypothesis)

If he does make them, at least everyone will agree on the numbers to assign to them.

1 IP address has been banned from commenting on this blog (and my previous blog) Don’t worry — As long as your server is not located in Taiwan, it is likely not your IP address.

I have also set up a minimum amount of time you have to wait after posting a comment to post another comment. (Currently set at 1 minute). So if you make a comment, and then realize you forgot to say something you wish you’d said, you will have to wait a minute before adding a new comment. I apologize for any inconveniences.

Does anyone know of any Movable Type add-ons that control comment-spam? Preferrably ones that work with version 2.661?

I’d be much appreciative if you emailed suggestions to gavroche at gmail dot com.

I’d like to cut back on the number of comments I have to delete daily dealing with viagra and other drugs.

Edward Munch’s paintings Madonna and The Scream have been stolen from a museum in Oslo. Neither were insured against theft.

No word yet on whether ‘Esther’ or Howard Dean were involved.

Make Louvre (Not War) comic with both paintings from back in April.

I was walking along a path with two friends - the sun was setting - suddenly the sky turned blood red - I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence - there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city - my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety - and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.

Canadian version of Baton Bob jailed for five months

A Canadian man who interrupted an Olympic diving final wearing a tutu and tights has been jailed for five months.

You think phone service is slow in the US?

One Romanian asked his phone company to install a phone.

He received a letter in response stating that no phone service was still available, perhaps he should fill out another form.

This letter came 28 years later.

A Romtelecom spokeswoman said the letter was “nothing out of the ordinary”, adding applications were always followed up, no matter how long it took.

Senator Edward (Ted) Kennedy has five times been stopped at airports, and told he could not purchase a ticket, because he was on the “no fly” list.

Apparently, a terrorist was using “T. Kennedy” as an alias. So anyone with the last name Kennedy, and the first initial T was being told they couldn’t purchase a ticket.

The first three times it happened, Kennedy managed to purchase a ticket. How? Because by the time he got to the airline clerk’s supervisor, someone recognized him. He is one of the more recognizable senators. But, of course, not all T Kennedys would have had such luck. And even after he got the Transportation Security Adminitration to intervene on his behalf, he still got stopped twice before it ended.

“If they have that kind of difficulty with a member of Congress, how in the world are average Americans, who are getting caught up in this thing, how are they going to be treated fairly and not have their rights abused?” Kennedy asked Homeland Security undersecretary Asa Hutchinson.

I’ve been having a rather humorous discussion with some relatives about name changes - as well as a few other things. The details can be left out. However, here are a couple quotes that led to a name I came up with for myself:

“I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” - Moses, Exodus 4:10

“Be slow of tongue and quick of eye” - Miguel de Cervantes

“I am slow of tongue and quick of key” - Miguel Moses de Cervantes Cruvant

(the last being my middle name)

The name could be abbreviated - MMdCC - or 2700

I think it would look real cool on a book:

Peanut Butter, Foreskins and Ice Water - by Miguel Moses de Cervantes Cruvant
Copies would fly off the shelves

if the byline was just ‘2700′, though, I think it might confuse too many people

Maybe there’s a difference between a private choice where to spend one’s money - and a public boycott - or writing to a publisher and complaining about an author’s political speech. (Which is what a former fan of Peter David’s did)

With a public boycott - the intent is often to silence the voice of he/she who disagrees with you. (If they feel it in their pocket book, you reason to yourself, maybe they’ll just shut up.) That is certainly the intent of any letter writer.

A personal choice not to spend ones money doesn’t carry that intent. You don’t care if the person keeps on speaking, you’re just not going to support them with your money.

A boycott based on speech is a private - and not a governmental - attempt to silence said spech, so its constitutional. But it still violates the spirit. In the “Free Marketplace of Ideas” speech is supposed to be encouraged, not discouraged.

I know someone is going to ask me that question due to my previous entry, and here is my current answer.

I say “current answer” because if you go to Peter David’s blog entry linked to in the prior post, and read the comments, you may find some from me. And you will realize my views have changed slightly over the past few days. I have been giving this some thought.

I supported the Domino’s boycott for many years, and that is very easily comparable to boycotting Springsteen or the Dixie Chicks. The Domino’s boycott was based solely on the CEO’s political viewpoints. The CEO gave money to Pro-Life causes. I don’t believe the corporation did. (Some corporations make political donations…but I believe his were in his name alone.) So by not buying Dominos pizza, which I definitely would have otherwise, I was saying the CEO should be punished for his beliefs.

But boycotting Nike is definitely justified. Why? The reason behind that boycott is due to the actions of the corporation — not any individual. Despite what Nike argued in court, corporations don’t have the same freedom of speech as individuals do. The boycott of Walmart over their treatment of workers, the one-time boycott of Borders over their attempts to block unions, these are also justified.

And on the other side, to boycott Ben and Jerry’s because their salary scheme where the highest paid worker could only get paid X% more than the lowest paid worker was Socialist in nature — that would have been alright. (Ben and Jerry’s was sold to a larger company — this is unlikely true anymore.)

Boycotting Disney because of the benefits they pay to non-married partners is also justifiable. (I’m not saying I support it, just that it is an example of a consumer disagreeing vehemently enough with corporate practices they will refuse to purchase the corporate product)

Richard Roeper thinks the idea is Un-American

So does Peter David.

Their arguments are very similar. To refrain from purchasing music, books, or movies you otherwise would because authors, artists, novelists, etc have different political beliefs than you is basically saying you will only support the right of a person to make a living if they agree with you.

It’s one thing if they put these beliefs in their work. But then the above paragraph wouldn’t be true. The work wouldn’t be something you otherwise would have bought. If they keep their views out of their work, and you boycott them, you are directly saying you don’t believe in the freedom of speech.

You would be very upset if your boss fired you because he learned you voted for X in an election, when your boss voted for Y. Most Americans feel their political beliefs should have no effect on their job (Unless they are a politician, obviously). Why should musicians, artists, novelists, actors be treated any differently?

Now - it’s true - there’s nothing unconstitutional about such boycotts.
And many might point out that many are “employed at will” and employers really can fire you for any reason.

I’m not talking about Can or Can’t. I’m talking about what’s Right and Wrong. Ethically. Our employer can fire us come November if he learns we voted for the candidate he didn’t. But we would feel what he did was wrong. And most people would agree with us.

That said, I think sometimes a line can be drawn. There are many who boycotted the work of Cat Stevens when it appeared he supported the death threats against Salman Rushdie. Later on it was learned that Cat Stevens position was slightly misquoted. (He felt Satanic Verses was anti-Muslim, but as a pacifist, he didn’t support the death threats. He may have supported banning it, though.)

But I think Roeper and David might agree that if someone came out in support of terrorism, it would be justifiable to boycott their works. Just as freedom of speech has its limits (You can’t falsely yell fire in a crowded theater, you can’t incite violence, etc), some political beliefs are beyond the pale.

However, merely supporting a political candidate you don’t support isn’t enough to justify a boycott. Merely saying publicly that they don’t like the President, and are ashamed to be from the same state as him, isn’t enough.

Side Note: that line above about crowded theaters is often misquoted. The word “falsely” is often left out. But rest assured, you can definitely yell fire if there really is one.

Drunken bear prefers Rainier beer over Busch

The State Fish and Wildlife Agents recently found a black bear in Baker Lake, Washington, passed out.

Apparently, the animal got into some coolers at a campsite and downed about 36 cans of locally popular Rainier beer, skipping right over the Busch.

This reminded me of an old story from 1999

Yosemite’s Black Bears prefer Hondas.

But these bears are no indiscriminate brutes. Through trial and error, some are refining their tastes and learning to pick out specific models of cars they deem ideal for a good break-in.

Honda and Toyota sedans, popular among park-goers, are thus especially big with bears. According to 186 of the park’s “bear incident” reports, these furry wrecking balls spent last April and May hitting 26 of their pet Hondas and 21 Toyota sedans, the No. 2 favorite. By contrast, the bears only messed with two Buicks and one Lexus.

They can’t prove it, but rangers say this selection process appears to be deliberate.

My Honda civic might not be safe in Yosemite, but at least there’s a chance the bears won’t drink my Guinness.

There’s nothing wrong with the sport of gymnastics. It’s a series of tests of strength, balance and agility that take magnificent skills to master. It’s just the politics of the judging on the women’s side that need to be fixed. This is the 21st century. It’s time to ditch the little-girl fantasies and let women play.

The article complains that the average age of the woman’s gymnastics team is 19, and the average age for the men’s gymnastics team is 24. The women are unable to compete years before their athletic prime, and are forced to remain under 115 pounds. All very good solid arguments.

Change the rules of the sport, let women play. (BUT…gosh darn it…let me keep my fantasies!)

The quote is a few months old, but according to a Sun-Times article , US Senate candidate Alan Keyes still stands by it.

Now, you think it’s a coincidence that on Sept. 11th, 2001, we were struck by terrorists an evil that has at its heart the disregard of innocent human life? We who have for several decades killed not thousands but scores of millions of our own children, in disregard of the principle of innocent human life — I don’t think that’s a coincidence, I think that’s a warning…

May 7, 2004 - Transcript - Audio

A Usenet posting of SunTimes article (For when it disappears from their archives)

Of course, Alan Keyes isn’t the only one who has made this suggestion. Some may remember Falwell and Robertson said something very similar just a few days after the attack:

JERRY FALWELL: And, I know that I’ll hear from them for this. But, throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way - all of them who have tried to secularize America - I point the finger in their face and say “you helped this happen.”

PAT ROBERTSON: Well, I totally concur, and the problem is we have adopted that agenda at the highest levels of our government. And so we’re responsible as a free society for what the top people do. And, the top people, of course, is the court system.

(source)

There was such an outcry over these comments, Robertson insisted he had misunderstood what Falwell said, and Falwell backtracked, and apologized a few days later.

One certainly might question the sincerity of both apologies. But giving them the benefit of the doubt, they at least admitted the stupidity of their comments. Alan Keyes still holds to the “God’s Punishment” theory.

Thanks to Ben for pointing out the Sun-Times article.

Oprah Winfrey was selected to be on a jury for a murder trial in Chicago.

Her name came up in the andom selection pool, and
1) She didn’t try to get out of it
2) Neither attorney disqualified her from the jury due to potential distractions her presence might cause.

Her first reaction to the news that she had been selected, allegedly, was “Oh, happy day.”

It’s possible, though this is conjecture, she knew if she did try to get out of it, that would look real bad, and she just assumed at least one of the lawyers would disqualify her. It would be the logical thing to assume.

The billionaire celebrity will get the standard $17.20 (£9.33) a day for her time and be allowed to use a side entrance to the courthouse.

But that is the only special treatment she will receive, authorities have said.

She said she would finish reading Anna Karenina and work on ideas for her TV show while waiting around.

I just finished reading City of the Beasts, by Isabel Allende. A well-known Latin American author of “magical realism”, this was her first YA novel. It was thoroughly enjoyable.

From a review on Amazon.com

Adventure seekers will find plenty of thrills in Allende’s first novel for young readers. When 15-year-old Alexander Cold is sent to stay with his eccentric, gruff grandmother, Kate, while his mother is being treated for cancer, he is more than a little reluctant to accompany Kate on a writing assignment in South America to search for a legendary nine-foot-tall “Beast.”

The characters are well-defined, and the plot isn’t completely predictable. (The latter being the downfall of a lot of YA fiction.) There are definitely some surprises in character-progression in that one character the reader isn’t thrilled with comes through in the end and shows that heroism can come from some unlikely places — and unfortunately with another character the inverse can be true too.

My only complaint about the book is the obvious way Allende made it clear at the end that there would be another adventure - which turns out to be “Kingdom of the Golden Dragon,” which is now on my to-be-read list.

Back from my 1 week trip to Colorado for a family reunion. (22 people total) More specifically - a few days in Estes Park, and another few at Grand Lake. Both adjacent to Rocky Mountain National Park. We were at some pretty high altitudes - I think 12,000 feet above sea level at times. I found myself out of breath quite often. Went on a whitewater raft trip on the Colorado River Saw a lot of moose, elk, rams, and chipmunks. (We saw no bears, but one ranger told us there are only 40 bear in all of Rocky Mountain National Park, so it’s a very rare sight to see them. We had my 3 year old nephew on the lookout for elephants, giraffes, and whales, but he never spotted any.)

At the end of the vacation I spent three nights in a cabin at Grand Lake with 8 siblings and cousins ranging from age 13 to 40. (13,17,19. 3 in their 20s, 35,40,40) The three of us in the upper age-range of course had to prove to the younger ones we could still party as hard as they. We did a pretty good job. The poor 13 year old tried to go to bed early, but just couldn’t with all the noise we were making. 3 am is the earliest I got to bed any night.

The cabin was called “Ford Cabin” as Henry Ford was alleged to have slept there once. Some of us renamed it the “Betty Ford Cabin” for the weekend. There were trash bags full of wine bottles, beer bottles, etc every morning for “housekeeping” to empty.

Regarding “Housekeeping”, Saturday and Sunday they did come by our cabin. On Saturday they made some of the beds, vacuumed, and emptied trash. They didn’t do any dishes. Sunday they vacuumed and emptied trash, made no beds, and once again, we had to wash our own dishes. (Whoever heard of housekeeping for a hotel/resort/lodge not doing dishes, and not making all the beds?)

It’s possible they aren’t used to residents of their cabins actually using the plates, glasses, and silverware they provide. It also may be related in some fashion to the note we received from management on Satuday informing us they had received some complaints regarding the noise coming from our cabin and could we please keep it down? Maybe they were trying to bribe us? Suggesting — perhaps our housekeeping will do a better job if you behave?

Well — if that was their intent, I don’t think it worked very well.

It might take me a full week to recover.

Imagine a Middle East in which Arab and Jew make poetry together rather than battle one another. Utopian? Naive? Away from the headlines about bombings and army incursions, promising Arab Israeli and Jewish Israeli poets have been coming together to study their art, learning about verse but also using the creative process as a bridge across a national and linguistic divide.

More

[Explanation: The Top 20 search requests
so far in the month of August
In order
With a few connecting words
and phrases thrown in]

victor hugo
and the blonde star
having sex
in the blonde star commercial
porn sex
sex porn
yes yes yes!

jibjab sued over
drew barrymore sex
and drew barrymore naked

well, not really.
it didn’t have nothing
to do with the blonde star mp3 either

harry potter and the halfblood prince
were found in a tardis
reciting political poetry
and laughing at the
blonde star parody

drew barrymore having sex
with baton bob
would be quite a sight
with or without
drew barrymore topless

ahhhhhh drew barrymore
ahhhhhh harry potter and the half blood prince
ahhhhhh gavroche

Jim Munroe’s new novel in 88 blog entries

Jim Munroe — the author of the wonderful anarcho-science-fiction novels Flyboy Action Figure Comes With Gasmask, Angry Young Spaceman, Everyone in Silico and others; and a former managing editor of AdBusters — has a new novel out, whose premise is that it is the blog of the roommate of a demonness. He is posting the novel one blog-entry at a time for the next 88 days:

When Kate discovers that her roommate identifies as a demoness, she figures it’s too sacrilicious a secret to keep to herself: she tells all on her blog, Roommatefromhell.com.

This is the basic gist of my new book, An Opening Act of Unspeakable Evil, a tale of the urban occult told entirely through Kate’s entries. Starting today, I’ll be posting one a day to the faux roommatefromhell.com blog until all 88 entries (the whole book) are up. After that I’ll be writing a spinoff story based on how the poll on the site goes.

Link.

Some Republicans in Miami are trying to claim Teresa Heinz Kerry helped fund Castro and an internet project in Cuba.

It appears she gave money to the Tides Foundation and the related Tides Center for some projects in Pennsylvania.

And the Tides Foundation helped fund that internet project in Cuba.

Anyone who has worked on a Foundation, or received money from a Foundation, knows the grants are very specific about where the money goes. So if THK gave money to Tides for projects in Pennsylvania, and that money got spent elsewhere, Tides could face lawsuits for misappropriation of funds.

So to claim THK funded Castro is very tenuous indeed. But I am sure the Republicans don’t care as any such accusation will hopefully, they believe, hurt Kerry in Miami among the ex-Cuban vote. Hopefully this allegation will backfire.

I will be away from keyboard for about a week.

I will be attending a family reunion in Colorado.

I leave tomorrow morning, goddamn early, and arrive home Monday night.

I may or may not post anything between now and tomorrow goddamn early.

If you are under 21 stop reading this now, and go to my next post. If you don’t, I cannot be held responsible….

SCARED NAKED MAGAZINE (sk’rd na’kÓd): A savagely erotic quarterly volume of warped sexuality and feral fantasy created to lend voice to the newest, rawest, most depraved and talented renegades around; authors and poets whose writing instruments are registered with the police as deadly weapons, are worn in holsters fashioned of human skin…

[Warning: Some network servers may block that link]

I have a poem, called Deep in the Heart of Texas, appearing in the June 2004 issue (Volume 2, Issue 3)

Let me call your attention to the list of contributors for June 2004. I am listed first! I haven’t received my contributors copy yet, so I don’t know if this means my poem is first in the magazine or not. Near the bottom of the list is the name “Jane Gwaltney”. She is a good friend, and a member of the same writer’s group as myself. I feel honored to be in the same magazine as her, once again. (We both appeared in Volume 1, Issue 1 of this twisted magazine as well.)

This makes me think of the geographical map below. South Dakota must be in Bhutan.

After the “body of a gnat and the mind of a dragon” part of the description below, the rest of Bhutan is a joke. Me? Climb? You’ve got to be joking. (Perhaps metaphorically…)

I also don’t view myself as hard-headed or into drugs, but not every quiz can be perfect.

You’re Bhutan!
With the body of a gnat and the mind of a dragon, you are a bundle
of energy.  You enjoy mountain-climbing, rock-climbing, stair-climbing, pretty much
any kind of climbing you can manage.  This has lifted you into the clouds in more
than one way, helping you achieve some inner peace above the fray of madness all around
you.  People would seek you out for advice if they could ever find you.
Take the Country Quiz at the Blue Pyramid

You’re South Dakota!
You have a particular talent for drugs, and may even have been an
apothecary in a past life. Nowadays, of course, the big pharmaceutical companies have
sullied the reputation of your beloved profession, but you still yearn for the walls of
the old soda fountain. Beware of roadside bandits when traversing uneven freeways. Above
all else, remember that your hard-headedness will get you through.

Take the State Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

These two quizzes, like the Book quiz, also have 64 possible results.
For those good at math, you may be wondering where the creator of the quiz found those extra 14 states.

The site does contain some partial stats on the results, and you can see a few of those extra states here.

The quiz is only six questions long — and there are 64 possible results. (Each successive question depends on your answer to the previous one, so if you go back to change an answer, you will get new questions…)

I feel happy with my results.

You’re Watership Down!
by Richard Adams
Though many think of you as a bit young, even childish, you’re
actually incredibly deep and complex. You show people the need to rethink their
assumptions, and confront them on everything from how they think to where they
build their houses. You might be one of the greatest people of all time. You’d
be recognized as such if you weren’t always talking about talking rabbits.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

An early question asked me whether I feel young or old. That varies on time of day. I retook the quiz with the opposite answer, and was very pleased with the result.

When I’m feeling young I’m Watership Down, and when I’m feeling old I’m Les Miserables. I can accept this.

What if the world map was drawn by a committee of idiots?

People submit geographical comments they have heard, and the map is updated on a continuuing basis.

Here’s the current result.

Thanks to the Ranting Librarian for pointing this out.

Local figure, “Baton Bob” Jamerson was arrested on Friday at the Kerry/Edwards rally at Union Station by local police. Allegedly for “trespassing”. He was wearing a wedding dress at the time.

The incident may be the final straw…it appears Bob is planning on moving to Atlanta, in hopes they’re less narrow-minded than St. Louis.

When reading polling reports of bounce or no-bounce for Kerry/Edwards during the convention, or how close the election is, you have to take into consideration we do not elect a president by popluar vote. We do it by electoral vote.

Zogby’s poll on the “battleground” states Is the only poll I know of which is polling by electoral vote.

From Zogby site: Please note that this chart reflects the race based on the premise that the 34 states not included in the poll will fall to the candidate of the same party to which they fell in 2000. This chart reflects only an estimation of where the Presidential race is, in part because the race in several states is within the margin of error. Four states are so close that their Electoral College votes are not included in this calculation. Those states are Missouri, Nevada, Tennessee, and New Mexico.

I have found a friend to promise me to tape the episodes, since I don’t get Showtime on my cable, and I’m not sure if he followed through on my request yet for last night.

However, apparently, Chrissy Gephardt was the first candidate to drop off from the competition. (Kind of like her father was in reality).

So I am now left rooting for my former college roommate, Director of PETA, Bruce Friedrich. (Even if I didn’t know him, anybody who was caught streaking at the site of a lunch for the Queen of England and the Bush family, and who spent 18 months in jail for protesting nuclear weaponry, is worthy of support.)

We don’t need no Rodgers and Hammerstein
We don’t need no Lerner and Lowe
Hey, Broadway, leave those songs alone!

The walls on Broadway will soon be painted Pink.

Pink Floyd’s The Wall is being made into a musical. (The script will be written by Pink Floyd Co-Founder Roger Waters)

“Now I can write in some laughs, notable by their absence in the movie,” Waters said in a statement.

A few days ago I mentioned the Reality Show on Showtime — The American Candidate.

Here’s the original news story I linked to

“American Candidate”
When: 8 p.m. Sunday
Where: Showtime

Here are the ten candidates:

Keith Boykin, 38, New York; author, professor and gay-rights activist
Bruce Friedrich, 34, Virginia; PETA director, vegan and animal-welfare advocate
Chrissy Gephardt, 31, Washington; social worker
Park Gillespie, 38, Charlotte, N.C.; middle school teacher
Malia Lazu, 27, Hawaii; voter-turnout organizer
Richard Mack, 51, Provo, Utah; former sheriff and gun-rights crusader
Joyce Riley, 55, Versailles, Mo.; radio talk-show host and veterans’ advocate
Jim Strock, 47, San Francisco; author and environmentalist
Bob Vanech, 35, Los Angeles; venture capitalist and advocate of electoral reform
Lisa Witter, 31, New York; consultant and strategist for groups that include MoveOn.org and the American Lung Association

Another candidate who has gotten equal (or perhaps even greater) press than Chrissy Gephardt over the years is Bruce Friedrich - Director of Vegan Outreach for PETA. I didn’t pay close enough attention to the list of candidates back when I originally posted this, and just noticed his name. I went to college with him. (And mentioned this in a blog entry on PETA back in April).

I wish I got Showtime so I could watch the show.

Missouri Sales Tax Holiday for back-to-school supplies

The legislation states certain back-to-school purchases, such as clothing, school supplies, computers, software, and other items as defined by the statute, will be exempt from sales tax for this time period only.

Cities and Counties that will not honor the Holiday:
Cities
Counties

This may look like a lot of cities and counties not honoring the holiday, but that’s because there are a lot of cities and counties in Missouri.

For those in the St. Louis Area:

St. Louis City isn’t on the list of cities that have opted out
And St. Louis County isn’t on the list of Counties -
meaning it is up to each individual city within St. Louis County to decide.

It is hard to spot cities that are missing from a list. It would have been nice to have a “Participating List” However, here is a short list of St. Louis Area cities I didn’t see:

St. Louis City
St. Ann
St. John
Creve Couer
Sunset Hills
Olivette.

All businesses in areas that haven’t “opted-out” of the holiday must honor the holiday.

The sales tax exemption is limited to:
Clothing ñ any article having a taxable value of $100 or less
School supplies ñ not to exceed $50 per purchase
Computer software ñ taxable value of $200 or less per purchase
Personal computers ñ not to exceed $2,000
Computer peripheral devices ñ not to exceed $2,000

More information on how those categories are defined

Happy Shopping

(I, unfortunately, will be in Colorado all three days)

It is August 6. We have had 6 days this month so far.

And we have already used about 88% of the bandwidth we used last month - the entire month.

Now — I don’t think this is going to be a problem. My entire website has never been a high bandwidth site.

If I am right in assuming 1,000,000 KB is 1 GB, as long as there aren’t 50 weeks in a month, or there is a 13-fold increase in usage, my host shouldn’t complain. But if they do…I know what file is causing this.

The Blonde Star parody commercial MP3.

It’s a more popular search item than Victor Hugo so far this month — and for this website, that is unusual. It’s even outnumbering all fans of Drew Barrymore porn combined, and that’s almost unheard of.

(I’m already Google’s #1 response for Blonde Star Commerical…)