It's National De-lurking Week

At least, according to this lovely lady (from whom I stoleborrowed this graphic).

Follow the directions and nobody gets hurt.... 

Come on, you know you've got something to say..... And I'd love to know who you are. 

Don't think I don't see you out there....

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More Kennedy Follies

Methinks Ol' Ted should just pack it in while he's ahead.  Between his opening statements this morning, this misrememberation (See, Dubya isn't the only one!) and this, he's about lost it, I think:

"Meet the latest children's author, Sen. Ted Kennedy, and his Portuguese Water Dog, Splash, his co-protagonist in "My Senator and Me: A Dogs-Eye View of Washington, D.C."

Scholastic Inc. will release the book in May."

You read that right.  The dog's name is "Splash".  Great name for a Portuguese Water Dog.  Bad name for a dog belonging to Ted Kennedy.  Wonder if he has another named "Mary Jo"???

The jokes write themselves on this one, folks.  Good going, Ted.

h/t Prof. Taylor

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Osama Been Dyin?

In the National Review, Michael Ledeen sends:

"...according to Iranians I trust, Osama bin Laden finally departed this world in mid-December. The al Qaeda leader died of kidney failure and was buried in Iran, where he had spent most of his time since the destruction of al Qaeda in Afghanistan. The Iranians who reported this note that this year's message in conjunction with the Muslim Haj came from his number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, for the first time."

Veddy Interesting, but perhaps another instance of crying wolf? I won't believe it until I see the DNA results from his corpse.

h/t Greyhawk and Not Dale Gribble

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For the interested among you....

The California Mafia is back from blogging hiatus!

As is He Who Is Not Dale Gribble!

Welcome back both of you!

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Quick thoughts on the Alito hearing

1.  It's not "the economy, stupid".  This time around it's all about Executive power.  They think they can shitcan a brilliant man based on one contemporaneous issue.  Kennedy, in particular, was "troubled".  I guess that means it's all good.  (see here)

2.Leahy?  He's an unmitigated twat.  Like it's Alito's fault he's a white male?  Jackass.

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Late to the party as usual...

So last night DH and were up late celebrating the last "non-school night" of vacation, and we were watching TV when Bowling for Columbine came on Bravo.  Neither of us had seen it, and as we're not directly paying that Fat Fcuk to see it, we decided to watch it.  Quite an interesting movie, and I had been unaware of the fact that the Fat Fcuk, the Nichols brothers, and Eric Harris (of the Columbine massacre) all lived in the same area of MI as kids.  Kinda creepy.  But still....

Here's my one word movie review:  Hypocrisy.

Here's my 8 word movie review:  Holy shit! What a difference a year makes.

One of the main subtexts of the film, as far as I could tell is that it's hypocritical to tell out kids not to shoot each other while we bomb the hell out of innocent countries....  That is, we cannot simultaneously demand peace and peddle war, even on different scales.

Who does Señor Fat Fcuk (and any number of others in the film) blame for this?  Why President Bill Clinton, of course.  Funny how just 2 years later Clinton is the benevolent savior of the universe and George W Bush is the only bastard that ever peddled war to the rest of the world.  How conveniently the righteous indignation over the bombing of Bosnia was forgotten as soon as we went to war in the Middle East.

The other thing that got to me was this statement "[during the Clinton administration] 500,000 Iraqi children were killed by bombing raids and sanctions", displayed while a picture of a US bomber dropping bombs was also shown.  Clearly implying that US bombs did most of the killing, when the reality of the matter is that the vast majority of those Iraqi children died because Saddam and friends wouldn't cooperate with the sanctions AND pocketed the Oil for Food money.

At least the shithead was blaming it on the Clinton administration for a change, evidently he hadn't gotten BDS yet.....

The saddest thing is, I used to love the Fat Fcuk.  Ben can vouch for this.  We both were HUGE fans of TV Nation, especially after he stood up for Sean Boyd, a weatherman from Fresno who was fired from his job after refusing to lie (scroll down to "Story #3") about the weather forecast during a station-sponsored event.
It was also interesting to see Matt Stone (of South Park) agreeing with the Fat Fcuk, as in subsequent years he and Trey have literally skewered the Fat Fcuk on South Park and in Team America.

Funny how things change.  Hypocritical Fcuk.

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Ted Kennedy, Historical scholar

WaPo's Dana Milbank notes this scholarly gem from Massachussetts' favorite drunken driver:

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), hosting a morning roundtable with reporters, had nothing nice to say about Alito. "We here in the United States are not going to stand for monarchial tyranny," he said, protesting Alito's support for "unfettered, unlimited power of the executive." He faulted Alito for belonging to a group that was "anti-black and also anti-women." Kennedy wondered if "the average person is going to be able to get a fair shake" under Alito.

Briefly, Kennedy rewrote the outcome of the 1964 election. "This nominee was influenced by the Goldwater presidency," he said. "The Goldwater battles of those times were the battles against the civil rights laws." Only then did Kennedy acknowledge that "Judge Alito at that time was 14 years old."

Yep.  You read that right. Further proof that the esteemed gentleman from Massachussetts lives in an alternate universe.

h/t McGehee, who found it here

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Somehow I don't think this is a coincidence....

Seems that no good deed goes unpunished:

Police in Houston reported a 23 percent jump in murders over the last year as the fourth largest U.S. city grappled with 150,000 evacuees from New Orleans and no extra money to cope with the influx.

Thousands of Katrina evacuees flooded the Houston area (pun intended) in the days after the storm.  While many of them arrived empty-handed, it appears some brought their criminal intentions with them.  According to the article:

The city's murder rate was already increasing before Hurricane Katrina hit on August 29, city officials say, and was worsened by a staffing shortage in the police department.  Police say at least 10 of the deaths have included suspects or victims from New Orleans, a city that had one of the highest U.S. murder rates for years, leading the country in 2002 and 2003.

Houston's spike in murders came sharply into focus over the Thanksgiving holiday when 14 people were killed during the long weekend, about twice the usual number.  "It was definitely a bad, long weekend," Houston police chief Harold Hurtt said at the time.

One of the murders resulted in the arrest of a New Orleans evacuee suspected of shooting another, and city officials say many of the crimes have taken place in apartment complexes where the evacuees are now living.  This week, Hurtt launched a program to increase police presence at the troubled complexes and other areas with increased crime. "Some of these areas that have been identified are clusters of evacuees," he said at a news conference on Wednesday.

It's really not surprising given that New Orleans has consistently been among the most deadly cities in the US, and the murder capital in 2002 and 2003.  Even just statistically speaking, that many New Orleans transplants was bound to increase Houston's murder rate.

What's exceedingly unfortunate is that the usual citizens of Houston are suffering as the police (whose salaries they pay) focus their energies on the New Orleans evacuees  (who don't).  Sure the evacuees don't account for all of Houston's troubles, but they don't help either.

Read the entire article.  What do you think?

Posted by: GMT (DH) at 07:07 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Stolen from Ken

This is an interesting little Meme, especially as folks of different ages have different memories of the same events....

Stolen from Ken, who in turn took it from Wunderkraut

Where Were You, What Were You Doing And How Did You Feel WhenÂ…:

You found out about 9/11
The start of the FIRST Gulf War - When we began combat operations.
The Space Shuttle Challenger exploded
The Space Shuttle Columbia broke up during re-entry
Reagan was shot
John Lennon was shot
The Pope was shot
Berlin Wall came down
President Clinton was acquitted of impeachment
Election night 2000
When Kennedy was shot (for my more mature readers)

My answers in the extended.... more...

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:12 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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For Ariel Sharon

From Ha'aretz:

Say a prayer for the prime minister.
Say a prayer for the man who could not be broken.
Say a prayer for our shattered present. Say a prayer for our shuttered common future.
Pray for the man who could not be stilled. Pray for the man who could not be swayed.
Say a prayer for the future only he knew.
Say a prayer for the people he has left behind. The Jewish People, the people he loved, at times despite himself, despite them. The people who could not bring themselves to love him.
Pray for those of us who once embraced him, and came to curse him.
Pray for those of us who once cursed him, and could not bring ourselves to forgive him.
Pray for those who call themselves religious and see in this, the hand of God.
Pray for those who call themselves non-religious and need now to pray.
Pray for the leaders who, unable to replace him, will now succeed him.
Pray for a miracle. Pray for all of us. Pray that we may know to heal each other.
Pray for this land. That it may know the peace that he never will.

Amen.

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One more

Because I couldn't resist:

Your Stripper Song Is

Closer by Nine Inch Nails "You let me violate you, you let me desecrate you You let me penetrate you, you let me complicate you Help me I broke apart my insides, help me I've got no Soul to tell" When you dance, it's a little scary - and a lot sexy.

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More weird quizzes

I was totally bored tonight....

This is the FUNNIEST one:

You Have Your PhD in Men

You understand men almost better than anyone. You accept that guys are very different, and you read signals well. Work what you know about men, and your relationships will be blissful.

Your Scent is Pumpkin Pie

Warm, comforting, and a bit old fashioned You've got what men want - believe it or not!

You Are Midtown

You love so many things, you don't fit into any one label. Your city girl persona goes to a fancy restaurant one night and a dive bar the next.

You Are a White Rose

You represent youthfulness and purity. Your vibe: Sweet and heavenly Falling in love with you: is like falling in love for the first time

This one is the truest:

You Are a Rose

You are a total alpha female who tends to be a leader. Your friends depend on you to hold things together and make decisions. Men are drawn to your feminine powers and strength. While you are the center of attention, you are secretly introverted and a bit shy.

And finally, for my darling sweet hubby who loves John Cusack movies:

Your Life is Like

Serendipity

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PostGame Show

Well, more like PostGame blogmeet.

This lovely lady and her husband and some friends were parked outside of our house during the game, and they were nice enough to drop in and say hello after the game.  Then we all went out and had some food since they had been at the stadium all day.

Despite differences in allegiance, a good time was had by all and I was pleased to see so many SC fans congratulate the UT fans on their win.  In fact, the folks at the next table were the family and friends of the UT placekicker.  Not a great night for him, but his mom was so happy.

They had an early flight, so I hope they're well on their way back home.

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WooHoo!

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

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Good game

even if they did have to have the booth ref cheat for them.  Real score: 38-35, USC.

But I guess that's how the cookie crumbles, huh?

That's ok.  Makes it easier for me to get tickets next year.

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This stays at the top all day.... Scroll down for new content

Fight on Trojans!



Beat the Longhorns!

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MeWeirdMe

So Margi's crazy in the head and she thought that not only could she tag me with this silly meme, but that her pregnant ass could outrun me!

So, here we go, 5 weird things about me:
1.  I love acting like an idiot.  If you read this blog, you know that I love to use colloquialisms and Southern language (like ain't) and I'm a closet valley girl.  Like totally.  Dude.  I think it tends to disarm people.  When people (even my friends) hear I have a PhD, they tend to back off.  When they find out that I'm a goofball, it thaws them out.

2.  I have this OCD thing about even numbers.  Like when I eat M&Ms or Reese's Pieces, I have to eat them two at a time, both of the same color.  And yes, sometimes one goes on either side of my mouth.  When I was a kid, I used to be like this with everything, but I've managed to get it down to candy, for the most part.  I also count things compulsively.

3.  I am the remote control queen.  Most people think guys have the flipping itch, but I'm WAY worse than DH with it.  I also yell back to the TV.  Especially during football and hockey, at which point the language level falls to the gutter.

4.  I get really damn impatient with my entertainment.  I hate getting into a book or a movie and then finding it has a crap ending.  I fast forward parts of movies that I consider tiresome or embarassing (to the characters), and I can't stand poorly done situation comedy or pratfalls.  Not there aren't some great comedies and even some fabulous physical comedians, but if it makes me uncomfortable I hit the fast forward button.  It makes me really frigging grumpy.

5.  Ummmm... not sure what else.  I know I'm weirder than this. Huh.  Well, maybe more later when I think of something.

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Fight called on account of Hockey

Best.  Hockey.  Fight.  EVER.

The only thing missing was a Roy/Osgood style goalie throwdown....

h/t The Pirate

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An academic's guide to Hollywood

Or, how to get paid for being a nerd.  Hollywood producer Kate Coe writes this interesting and informative piece on academic consultants and their role in production.

You might have a named chair at Hallowed Halls U, but on a film set,
status is measured by the size of your budget -- and you don't have
one. With no budget, there's not much reason for the camera operators,
set designers, or props department to take you too seriously. On the
other hand, an adviser does have access to the director and to the
star. (You have access to the writer, too, but writers don't have much
status, as they will be quick to complain.) So work with decorum, be
collegial, and go through channels.

Interestingly the piece features the contributions of several Caltech professors to the current CBS show NUMB3RS, including Gary Lorden, who allowed me to pass Math 2C/1D (statistics) with a D, and Richard Wilson, who is famous as the Math 1A (freshman fall term math) prof, and who was long destined for Hollywood between his penchant for flute playing in class (to demonstrate harmonics) and his tendency to name functions ("Take f(x), let's call it Frank...")

h/t Joanne Jacobs

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So I was trying to write this Meme....

...that Margi tagged me with, and I was watching the PC about the miner who went to the hospital, when a woman ran up to Anderson Cooper screaming that all the other miners were dead.  Seems that just when they told us all was well, the worst possible thing happened.  And I'm sobbing.  Just sobbing.

How in God's name did they fuck this up so badly?  We were wondering why we didn't see the miners come out, why the ambulances weren't running, why the hospital only received one patient.

Now we know.  What kind of cruel bastard would let this happen to these poor people who have suffered so much over the last two days?  How could they have been taken from the depths of despair to utter joy, back to horrified pain again?

The president of the mine company is on TV right now, eating a big shit sandwich.  Trying to cover his ass, but frankly the man is going to burn for it.  He says his company never said everyone was alive.  But in reality, they never said that they weren't either.  His company could have avoided this SNAFU by saying that they COULD NOT CONFIRM that there were any survivors.

Now he's spinning like a top.  Your ass is SO toast buddy.  Your company is going down in a blaze of courtroom glory.

Anyway, maybe tomorrow I'll answer that meme and Fight On! for USC, but tonight, I just don't have the heart.

Let your dear ones know you love them everyday.  You never know which day is the one when they won't come back to you.

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