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.

— prose Munch wrote to go along with his most famous painting

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.

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.

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.