We've Moved.

My blog is shutting down at this location, and I will be posting under my new location from this point forward.

http://myopiczeal.blogsome.com

Please update your bookmarks and MyYahoo! feeds.

Eric.

What a sale!

In a bit of blatant marketing, here is a link to April's post announcing the Discovery Toys Winter Sale. It really is great stuff and right now they're running a pretty good sale.

Stock up for those birthdays!

Bredesen discusses ambitions for the next two years

Now that's a long discussion.

Carnivore is Dead.

Anyone believe this? :-)

Hasn't Slept in 20 Years

You read it on the internets, it must be true.

SHHH

Print 'em. Hand 'em out as needed.

"Just so you know: Everyone around you is being forced to listen to yer conversation"

"Good Old Europe"

"'Good old Europe has made this possible,' German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder told a packed hall in Airbus's headquarters in Toulouse, southwest France."

Minnesota Town Hits 54 Below Zero

"it gets old after a while"

Yeah, I would guess so.

Now She Weighs 111 lbs

Kate Stelnick may weigh only 100 pounds, but her appetite is remarkable. The college student from Princeton, N.J., is the first to meet a restaurant's challenge by downing its six-pound hamburger - and five pounds of fixins' - within three hours.

Via Wizbang (with Photos!!)

Things Not To Take to a Presidential Inauguration

PSA:

"Firearms, weapons of any kind, ammunition (either real or simulated), explosives of any kind (including fireworks), knives, blades, or sharp objects (of any length), aerosol sprays, coolers, thermal or glass containers, mace, pepper spray, sticks, poles, pocket or hand tools (such as a leatherman), packages, backpacks, large bags, duffel bags, suitcases, laser pointers, posters, signs, placards (including supports structures), animals other than guide dogs or service dogs assisting handicapped individuals, strollers, chairs, umbrellas, alcoholic beverages, and any other items at the discretion of the security screeners that may pose a potential safety hazard."

Airbus to Unveil Largest Passenger Jet

For some reason I found this fascinating. By changing the type of paint on the new A380, Airbus dropped 440 pounds off the weight of the plane.

"By using chromate-free paint, engineers got the outer paintwork down to about 350 kilograms (770 pounds), Schoepf said. 'That's compared to 550 kilograms (1,210 pounds) for a plane of this size using other paints.' "

Kennedy on Osama, er, Obama.

Kennedy Slip up:

"Kennedy also mangled the name of the Democrats' new star, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, calling him 'Osama bin ... Osama ... Obama.'"

How To Write Good

This is a great list.

Always avoid alliteration.
Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
Avoid clichés like the plague -- they're old hat.
Employ the vernacular.
Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.

Lots more...

Kennedy's Abortion Rhetoric.

"Referring to abortion, [Ted Kennedy] said Democrats should not yield on a woman's right to choose, but should also acknowledge that 'we are a better society when abortions are rare.'"

I wonder what his reasoning is that we are better off when abortions are rare? Are we better off when plastic surgery is rare? Or hair cuts? If not, what's the difference? Inquring minds want to know.

The silence screams.

Myopic Zeal : The $1 Billion Surplus1.

Where's the MSM?

Toyota drops 'Tsunami' name for sports car model

Good idea. Celica Tsunami, "the new wave of bold style."

Hat tip: Illuminated Donkey.

If a Kid Can Do it...

Kind of a cool story about the "Indian Bill Gates."

Ajay was first exposed to computers as a baby, sitting on his grandfather's lap while he worked. At nine-months of age he could type A B C on the computer, and when he was just two-years-old he managed to surprise his parents by working out how to send email to his grandparents.
...
When he was just five-years-old, Ajay passed the Microsoft Office User Specialist (MOUS) core level examination, scoring 98 percent and becoming the youngest person to pass the examination. He went on to achieve the Expert Level, scoring 93 percent.
...
Enrolled in the third grade at Harrow International School, Ajay's life is not that different from that of other students. He has to take time to do homework, play football, cricket, and hockey.

Worse than Saddam?

"FORT HOOD, Texas (Reuters) - A former inmate at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison forced by U.S. guards to masturbate in public and piled onto a pyramid of naked men said on Tuesday even Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein did not do such things."

Humiliating? Yes.
Torture? Questionable.
Worse than Saddam? Well, if you call being forced on a pile of naked men worse than this.

BAGHDAD — Pictures of dead Iraqis, with their necks slashed, their eyes gouged out and their genitals blackened, fill a bookshelf. Jail cells, with dried blood on the floor and rusted shackles bolted to the walls, line the corridors.

Bike Helmets.

Do bike helmets make you safer? Not according to the British Medical Journal.

[I]n 1988 the largest survey of cycling casualties ever undertaken concluded that helmets did not prevent injury; indeed, increased use correlated with increased risk of death."

Why? Possibly because:

The likelihood is that when wearing a helmet cyclists feel less vulnerable and therefore ride less cautiously. As a result, they are more likely to have an accident. Consequently, the benefits attributed to helmets by the studies are at best highly exaggerated. At worst, wearing a helmet may expose cyclists to greater danger.

The Right Has the Wrong Legal Theory

Tech Central Station has an interesting read:

Take the three isms one at a time. The basic idea behind federalism is to avoid concentrated power -- to give more authority to Austin and Boston, and less to inside-the-Beltway power brokers. Actually, judicially enforced federalism does the opposite. In a world with strong constitutional lines between the federal government and the states, the greatest power is held by whoever draws those lines. That power goes to nine unelected Supreme Court Justices, answerable to no one. So much for limiting the influence of Washington power brokers.

via Volokh.

Tongue Tied - Ski-For-All

Hate speech?

“Although this week should be fun for those not offended by alternative lifestyles, with scheduled events including The Pleasure Hunt, The Blue Ball Dance, In-Drag Races and more, we are strongly suggesting that families concerned with exposing their children to the homosexual lifestyle and homosexual behavior schedule their vacations another time,” Heirich wrote on his site.

Browser Statistics

Fascinating stuff. Check out the rise of Firefox (formerly, Mozilla) over the last year.

Jan 2004:
IE: 84%
Mozilla: 8.2%

Dec 2004:
IE: 71%
Mozilla: 21.3%

That's HUGE, considering the number of people browsing the web.

The Undercover Dilemma

This is the best one sentence summary of the dilemma an undercover agent must face that I've read:

"In order to penetrate you not only have to be language-proficient, you also have to commit acts that exceed criminality. It's very hard. "

[The full story is about the idea that we are better off if Bin Laden is left at large].

American Pies with Something Extra: Hot Peppers

I've got some friends in the southwest who might be interested in this.

The apple pie is actually a green chile apple, while other options include cherry chipotle and habañero peach.

//slightly embarassed to be caught having listened to NPR....

All Gas Stations Look Alike

One of the funniest dumb criminal stories in a long time...

After cleaning out the till, the robber and a passenger took off in a red Honda, and cops from four towns and sheriff's deputies gave chase.

The caravan zoomed at speeds up to 100 mph through the winding roads of western Puget Sound, where twists and turns can leave even locals disoriented.

After a while, the fugitives managed to lose their pursuers in the darkness, but they had no idea where they were.

So the stickup man pulled into a Chevron station to ask for the way to Seattle, unaware that it was the very same establishment he'd just robbed.

Hat tip: Taranto

Judge Denies Woman Divorce Due to Pregnancy

Interesting law in Washington

"'It is the policy of the state that you cannot dissolve a marriage when one of the parties is pregnant,' "

Blue County

This band has some great lyrics...

[Country Music Alert] Listen here.

Yet another hat tip.

FSBO: Biosphere 2 Center

Interested?

The company that owns Biosphere 2 Center, 3.1 glass-enclosed acres designed to simulate the Earth’s environment, has put the site up for sale.

Hat tip: David at Agape.

Gingrich '08?

"If nothing else, they said, Gingrich understands that talk [of his potential presidential aspirations] could help sell his book, which goes on sale Monday."

Allah off the Richter scale

Interesting theory.

"The killer wave that swallowed tens of thousands of Muslims was an act of Allah designed to punish the Christians. So went the convoluted logic of some Muslim imams in recent sermons from Saudi Arabia to the Palestinian territories. "

100 things we didn't know this time last year

This is sort of a fun list. A few of the 100...

• The collective noun for rhinos is "crash".


• The Sydney Harbour Bridge contains just 16 nuts and bolts. The rest is held together by rivets, because it doesn't need to be dismantled.


• Herrings break wind to communicate and keep the school together.


• A "jiffy" is 10 milliseconds in computer science terms.

Greatest Threat to Freedom

Great quote, found on Walt Williams' home page:

"' The greatest threat to the future of our nation -- to our freedom -- is not foreign military aggression or internal communistic subversion but the growing dependence of the people on a paternalistic government. A nation is no stronger than its people and the best measure of their strength is how they accept responsibility. There will never be a great society unless the materialism of the welfare state is replaced by individual initiative and responsibility.'
-- Charles B. Shuman, The Freeman [February 1977]"

Man accused of fake report to get keys out of car

Keys are locked in the car. What's the best way to get them out? Call the fire department and tell them your car is on fire.

Keys no longer locked in. Man locked up.

BuzzMachine on Equivalencies

More on the "equivalencies" comparing Tsunami deaths v. death by Saddam.

We've been hearing a lot about equivalencies lately: People are comparing the money pledged to tsunami relief to the money spent on the inauguration. People are equating the money dedicated to tsunami relief to the money spent on the occupation of Iraq.

Well, let's look at this tragic equivalency, too:

By the latest count, 160,000 people have died in this tsunami.

A month ago, Tony Blair said that 400,000 victims of Saddam Hussein's tyranny and murder have been found in mass graves in Iraq.

Both are humanitarian tragedies, humanitarian issues, humanitarian needs.

More ->

Misses Hearing Due to Long Toe Nails

Let me guess... he wants to borrow a pair of really sharp toe-nail clippers and promises to be good.

"Prosecutor Adina Ekiel added: 'He is complaining that his toe nails are too long.' "

Social Security Formula Weighed

Great analogy:

'This is going to be very much like sticking your hand in a wasp nest,' said David C. John, a Social Security analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation and an ally of the president. 'And the reaction will be similar.'

No Compassion for Saddam's Victims

Rush Limbaugh makes some creative points regarding the comparison between the outpouring of compassion for a natural disaster like the tsunami, versus the relative lack of compassion for the victims of manmade tragedies like are seen in Rwanda, Darfur, or Iraq (claim: Saddam killed twice as many people as the tsunami did - though it was over a period of years).

Only in Tennessee

Get in an accident while wearing a seat belt ... win a T-shirt from the state of Tennessee!

Astronauts survive on candy.

"Chiao and Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov, who arrived at the station in October, had to cut calories because the previous crew got into their food rations.
They had permission to do that but did not record how much they had eaten and 'It was not until we got well into the mission, we started seeing on board we weren't going to have enough,' Chiao said."

Queen tumbles at Christmas feast

Ah, the timeless "pull the chair out from under the Queen as she sits down" prank.

Marketing Genius

This is hilarious.



From The Sun.

The Underground Economy

Michelle Malkin quotes at length a Barron's article regarding illegal aliens. Of note:

If the IRS could collect all the taxes it says that it is owed from the underground economy in a given year, then the current budget deficit would disappear overnight. And if the IRS could collect these taxes every year, then the nation would have surpluses as far as the eye can see.

Secret Meeting, Clear Mission: 'Rescue' U.N.

"The U.N., without the U.S. behind it, is a failed institution"
- Richard Holbrooke, quoted by NYT Jan 3, 2005.

Pi and Music

Bored?

Where have the commas gone?

Creative writing from a high school senior:

"Punctuation is a serious problem, too. Imagine if we all took your easy way out, you punctuation slackers. Something as simple as a comment on the weather could turn into an insult. 'You look ugly today huh' is very different from the intended, 'You, look! Ugly today, huh?'"

In Loco Parentis

Michelle on Nanny 916.

Fines against children for playing with toy guns that look realistic?

Sandy Froman will lead NRA

She peered through the peephole and saw a stranger trying to break into her home. Fear gripped her. As she waited for the police, she tried to scare the man off: She banged on the door. Cranked up the stereo. The man left, but the feeling of helplessness was life-changing.

"I realized that no one was going to take care of me but me. The police can't be on every street corner. You need to be prepared," said Froman, who lived in California at the time but now lives in Tucson.
...
"'The media wants to paint us all as a bunch of bubbas and rednecks, but it's simply not true,' Froman said. 'The image of the NRA needs to be corrected. The stereotype needs to be debunked.'

She's a Standford and Harvard Law School grad. And...

"She's from Berkeley," said Norton, co-chairman of Sportsmen for Bush in Arizona. "She's not the person that the anti-gun people can easily pigeonhole. She's extremely articulate and intelligent."

Found it via Michelle Malkin.

Tsunami Steals a Generation and the Future

Posted on Agape's blog. Worth reiterating.

===

Hopefully we do not become numb to these stories, simply because there are so many. It is amazing how short our memories can be, and a world away we will tend to forget or immunize our minds to this tragedy.

Shiva’s sons, Sunder, five, and Gautam, three, were having breakfast while their six-year-old sister, Abhinaya, fetched water from the village well when the wall of water hit.

A neighbor saved the little girl and Shiva and her sister each grabbed one of the boys and ran.

“I was holding him very hard, but it was a tremendous force. I just couldn’t hold on,” she sobbed. “When I lost him, I still believed that all my children would be alive. But 15 minutes after the wave, they brought me Gautam’s body.”

She never saw Sunder again. Her sister’s husband identified the small body as it was tossed into the pit of a mass children’s grave, one among hundreds.

I have three children. 6, 4 and 1. Heart wrenching. “She never saw Sunder again. Her sister’s husband identified the small body as it was tossed into the pit of a mass children’s grave, one among hundreds.” One among hundreds. One among thousands.

Reminds me of the lost sheep. The lost coin. Every single one is important. To Someone, everyone is not just “one among thousands.” Let us not forget.

===

Where's Kerry's Foreign Policy Team Today?

Drudge tells us:

"In the heady days before the election, Kerry's top aides sat around picking a cabinet. Nowadays the foreign-policy team still meets on the assumption that it could be reconstituted for '08. But the reality is, 'it's mostly sitting around some lawyer's office and asking each other if we've heard about jobs,' says a member of the team."