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Musings from Brian J. Noggle
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Sunday, July 31, 2005
For Other Doubters For those of you whom have doubted LASIK surgery, wherein someone peels your eye open like a grape and sucks out some portion of the inside for your betterment, we offer this heartening story of a plucky survivor: He wins $7.25M in botched eye surgery suit:
The award, handed down by a jury in Manhattan Supreme Court, is believed to be the biggest so far in cases involving LASIK surgery. Mark Schiffer, a 32-year-old Yale graduate, said the shoddy care he got from Dr. Mark Speaker and the TLC Laser Eye Center in October 2000 forced him to ditch his Wall Street career and take a job with his dad's security firm, according to his lawyer, Todd Krouner.
(Link seen on Overlawyered.) Off the Hook Seems I am off the hook for some intemperate comment I might have made on my wife's birthday as she indeed likes her new music production setup. However, remember she has a music minor but is a developer by trade when she says:
Fun With Percentages This graph tells a story: The United States is the stingiest of all countries relative to military budgets. For example, the United States spends the equivalent of 3% of its defense budget on foreign aid. Contrast this with the Danes, who spend the equivalent of 52% of its defense budget on foreign aid. That is, for every defense dollar Denmark spends, it apparently also spends about a half dollar on foreign aid. That's a nice story, Bodie. But what this chart doesn't illustrate is the relative size of these budgets. Ergo, it's possible (but I am to lazy to research to prove) that Denmark's defense budget is so low that 3% of America's defense budget dwarfs the 53% commitment of Denmark's. So one way to bring this into parity would be to raise the foreign corruption contributions and NGO viggorish to 53% of the current US defense budget. The other is to drop the United States' to match Denmark's. One assumes either would please someone who points to these charts as evidence of the United States' stinginess. Personally, I'll be satisfied with the absolute, real number amount our wise and benevolent (or at least smiling) leaders in Washington, D.C., expend or perhaps a little dissatisfied that it's so much. Saturday, July 30, 2005
It's a Constitutional Medley! First, we have "The Interstate Commerce Blues". Next, "Kelo (The Banana Court Song)". Finally, my contribution, "Kelo-Backed Seizure", which goes something like this: The court ruled hard against homeowners' rights Across the country in D.C. Eminent domain is in the eye Of local governments and their greed Our house is ours, it holds all our things Our town doesn’t want it yet But if it wants another mall Or industrial court for someone else.... Kelo-backed seizure Down the road for more tax base Kelo-backed seizure Through enforcement of the law Kelo-backed seizure Once it’s started, what will follow? Kelo-backed seizure An invention of a blight When I was young, I thought I could own A home and land as property But on the weight of New Castle’s want I know now that it’s a dream Yeah Kelo-backed seizure Down the road for more tax base Kelo-backed seizure Through enforcement of the law Kelo-backed seizure Once it’s started, what will follow? Kelo-backed seizure An invention of a blight No, no, no.... No, no, no.... No, no, no.... No, no, no.... Kelo-backed seizure Down the road for more tax base Kelo-backed seizure Through enforcement of the law Kelo-backed seizure Once it’s started, what will follow? Kelo-backed seizure Down the road for more tax base Through enforcement of the law Once it's started, what will follow? An invention of a blight (Other portions of the medley seen on The Volokh Conspiracy.) Perhaps It Calls For Eminent Domain In Nebraska, one government entity wants to take over other separate government entities by force:
OPS wants to annex 21 Millard schools and four in Ralston, which are within Omaha city limits. Eventually, Elkhorn Public Schools also would be part of OPS under the plan. The OPS School Board calls it a plan of one city, one district and said the move would level the playing field. Four school districts have banded together to fight the plan, and Douglas County officials have told OPS that they have no authority to redraw borders or reassign taxes. Friday, July 29, 2005
State Legislator Opens Her Wallet From an op-ed from one of Missouri's state legislators regarding Medicaid budget cuts:
Aw, hell, who am I kidding? By we must accept responsibility, she means we must compel the citizens of Missouri to take fiscal responsibility. Her only effort needs to be to act to ensure that others must act. When You Outsource PR to Fourth Graders You get statements like this:
Kling Sums Up At Tech Central Station, Arnold Kling sums up the expensive and ineffective security measures the government is putting into place in response to terrorism. They might sound familiar, gentle reader, because you might have read similar sentiments right here. The Unspoken Words A tavern closes down in Wisconsin to make room for a Walgreens. Which words are missing from this sepia-toned account? Oh, yeah, eminent domain. But its synonyms and sentiments abound:
"Just because something is old doesn't mean it is historic," said Ald. Bob Donovan, who represents the 8th District, within which the tavern sits, and who made an unusual parliamentary maneuver to get the development the City Hall green light earlier this year after its chances for passing had stalled over the previous two. Donovan said he saw in the $5 million development a chance for the neighborhood to "get a shot in the arm." "What the neighborhood is getting is an investment in their community," said Michael Polzin, a New Berlin native and spokesman for the suburban-Chicago-based chain, which has 31 stores in Milwaukee proper. He's never been to the National Liquor Bar. Slip a Little Unsupported Causation into That Story, Please; I Need To Know What To Think and To Implore My Government to Do Something 3 Teens Accused Of Kidnapping 10-Year-Old Boy: Boys Were Playing Video Games:
Police said the teens stopped playing the games and started a real-life drama with real weapons. Trick Question How many planets are there in the solar system? Ten:
It also has a moon. Birthday Wishes Happy Birthday to Wil Wheaton, born on this date in 1972, and anyone else who might share this birthday. I hope she likes what I got her enough to make up for that.... A Guide to Better Living Dungeong and Dragons for Complete and Utter Idiots.
Some people are green. Look in mirror. Are you green? No? Then kill all green people. TIP! Green people flammable! The English QUAGMIRE! Let the drumbeats begin:
Police snipers participated in a raid in the Notting Hill section of London, where suspects in the failed July 21 bombings were thought to be hiding. The raid took place near Portobello Road in the chic Notting Hill neighborhood famous for its weekend street market. Metropolitan Police confirmed that "an armed operation is currently in progress" but said it was in the "very early stages." Sky News reported two small explosions in the area, where helicopters buzzed overhead and police cordoned off a number of streets, and said one person had been arrested.
If all we got was a steady stream of stories like this one from England, along with some stories of soccer hooliganism (I mean, attacks by forces loyal to local warlords) to break it up, perhaps we would want to abandon England. (Link seen on Michelle Malkin.) Thursday, July 28, 2005
Looks Like a Paradox From the story Popular combination of Missouri Lottery numbers drawn twice in same day, we get this potentially earth-shaking rethinking of number theory:
Gonder might have said that the two triple number examples are ranked relative to the combination of all possible values and not just triple numbers, but the paragraph is not really clear. Space-time continuum rift: Averted! Because Otherwise It Would Have Been Unsporting NHL returns Oct. 5 with busiest night ever: All 30 teams will be playing when league resumes after missed season:
Not wanting fans to have to wait one extra day to see their teams, the NHL has scheduled 15 games — including all 30 clubs — on opening night Oct. 5. Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Optimism Marks the Start of Major Spending Final funding approved for Highway 40 project:
The regional planning agency approved $329 million in federal money for rebuilding the highway. At earliest, construction would start in early 2007. The Highway 40 work was among more than 175 other construction projects worth $1.1 billion that East-West Gateway approved. The money will be spent through 2009. Charitable Execution: A Nice Job If You Can Get It Hidden in plain sight in the story Hotels taking fresh sheets off room-service menu, we get this tender nugget:
She's annoyed that a growing number of lodgings are now changing them less often. "It's ridiculous," says the executive for a Washington-based charitable organization who stays up to 100 nights each year in a hotel. "I have always looked forward to that feel of clean pressed sheets every night. At $200-plus a night, I think I deserve this." Here's the charitable organization: Advocates for Youth. Its goals:
(Link seen on Outside the Beltway.) Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Perhaps He Was Just Dodging ATM Fees Latest in the UN Oil For Food scandal: Oil-for-food chief 'has overseas accounts':
Officials from investigative agencies, including the UN's Volcker inquiry, say that Mr Sevan has accounts in his native Cyprus, Turkey and Switzerland. (Link seen on Roger L. Simon, that other guy with a fedora.) Monday, July 25, 2005
Our Midwestern Givhan Richard Roeper:
But whose idea was it to dress the kid like a summertime version of Little Lord Fauntleroy? An Easter Egg-colored suit with short pants, white socks and saddle shoes? Was that a tribute to John-John circa 1962? That kid is going to be teased on a lot of playgrounds, even private school playgrounds, if he's dressed like that in the future. Personal Message When the first words of a personal message are FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, you know it's a poll-felt communication from a politician. Some Want Full Irresponsibility For Their Actions Headline in St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Some want unwed dads to pick up Medicaid’s birth costs:
The twin goals: making fathers shoulder more responsibility and reducing taxpayers' costs. "I don't intend for anything to be punitive at all for mom and baby," Senate Majority Leader Charlie Shields said at a recent meeting of the Missouri Medicaid Reform Commission, which he co-chairs. "But the last time I checked, it takes two people to make a baby. And there is some responsibility, not just for child support, but for the cost of bringing that child successfully into the world," said Shields, R-St. Joseph.
But his "responsibility" includes not paying for the actual babies prenatal care and by not marrying the mother because it would reduce her Medicaid eligibility. Also, his responsibility includes having a large family in his early twenties that he cannot support with a retail career. I'd grade his responsibility at "incomplete" at best. But I came not to judge this fellow; instead, I came to judge those critics who say that any state-based assumption of personal responsibility--personal fiscal responsibility--must be exposed as ill-advised and cold-hearted. Climactic Cognitive Dissonance Ice ages linked to galactic position: Study finds Earth may be cooled by movement through Milky Way's stellar clouds:
Resembling the curved contrails of a whirling Fourth of July pinwheel, the Milky Way's spiral arms are clouds of stars rich in supernovas, or exploding stars. Supernovas emit showers of charged particles called cosmic rays. Theorists have proposed that when our solar system passes through a spiral arm, the cosmic rays fall to Earth and knock electrons off atoms in the atmosphere, making them electrically charged, or ionized. Since opposite electrical charges attract each other, the positively charged ionized particles attract the negatively charged portion of water vapor, thus forming large droplets in the form of low-lying clouds. In turn, the clouds cool the climate and trigger an ice age -- or so theorists suggest. Office Buildings with Air Conditioning Set Too High Just answering the question, "Why would someone wear a coat in July unless he or she was hiding Semtex lingerie?" Sunday, July 24, 2005
Historical Perspective The last time someone other than Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France:
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Quick Hits Some quick hits from my browsing at iWon, where I still hope I will win the million bucks or whatever they have left to award:
Irony Alert A murder victim and DNA evidence on the scene, but the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports on a lack of progress with unintentional irony:
That list has been compiled with the help of DNA evidence, found at the scene, that has been compared with voluntary DNA submissions from "people of interest," said Mike Sheeley, a master sergeant with the Illinois State Police. About 30 people have been cleared after giving DNA samples at the request of authorities, he said. It's one example of how the science of DNA is helping to solve crimes that aren't easily solved - including crimes in a village surrounded by corn fields. Now, 30 "persons of interest"--that is, suspects without the presumption of innocence--have now logged their most personal essence permanently within the law enforcement machine for nothing but for the right to be not suspected of a crime they didn't commit. And the killer remains at large. Perhaps if we had a nationwide database of all DNA, excised from birth. But we'd also have the same, or better, crime closure rate if the state merely implanted us with chips at birth. Somewhere where we can't pull them out before committing crimes, like in the brain. A matter of degree, not kind, my friends. And we're giving up the kind rather easily. Friday, July 22, 2005
Book Report: Borderline by Gerry Boyle (1998) I picked up this book from my to-read shelves for two reasons:
The book chronicles a freelance writer, former New York Times reporter (not that there's anything wrong with that), who is working on a travel story following Benedict Arnold's march and assault on Quebec when he finds a mystery. A man has stepped off of a bus at a rest stop in a small Maine town and didn't get back on. Jack McMorrow's curiosity is piqued, and when he finds the man was travelling under a false name and paid for his ticket with a bad check, his big city reporter instincts take over. So McMorrow investigates this possible crime amid his paying job, an article that follows the path of Arnold's march on Quebec and ultimate rebuff at the hands of the English at Quebec. As he meanders through his investigation, the police don't believe him, and actually offer to set him up for a crime to get him out of their small town. As such, this book has a very Existential subcurrent running through it; McMorrow's connection to history, personal life, and alienation from the professional law enforcement led me to think of it in those terms before the author/main character invoked the names of Camus and Sartre. So I related to the character in a way I hadn't before, and I didn't mind so much the slow pace of the book or the ultimately less-than-climactic resolution. I won't dodge Boyle's work in the future, and I might even spend a couple bucks on further hardbacks in this series. I'm wonder, though, whether prolonged exposure to the book's pacing and its ultimately only slightly heroic main character might wear upon me. More Fun With Juxtaposition, Courtesy AP AP illustrates the fun one can have with juxtaposition, especially when it's a non sequitur:
Hours after Rice left the city, witnesses said an explosion rocked a busy street of restaurants and bars in a Christian neighborhood of Beirut. "We would like to see the day when there are good neighborly relations between Syria and Lebanon based on mutual respect and equality," Rice said at a joint news conference with Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Foud Saniora earlier in the day. That Will Play Well In The Middle East Here's an AP account of this morning's shooting in the London underground:
Police screamed at passengers to evacuate and are thought to have shot the suspect as he stumbled on to a train. Alarmed onlookers said they saw up to 10 plain-clothed officers chasing an Asian-looking man before opening fire. Metropolitan Police chief Sir Ian Blair said the shooting was "directly linked" to ongoing anti-terrorist invetigations in the capital. He said the man had failed to comply with instructions from police before he was shot dead. Property Rights Hit Again; "And Stay Down!" Citizens Cry Pluck Big Bird from chimney, Greendale orders:
Trustees voted unanimously this week to deny the special use permit application of artist Al Emmons, who with his family created the chimney ornamentation through their company, Creative Construction of Wisconsin Inc., for the home at 5595-97 Bluebird Court.
Situations like this underline how few rights you have ceded as a property owner, citizen. If the neighbors don't like what you want to do with your property, you cannot do it:
But once again, when you begin ceding your rights about what you can and can't do with your property, you won't stop. You cannot decorate as you want, then you cannot smoke in your home or shop, and then you won't be allowed to drink soda or eat fast food there (in case The Children would get fat because you do). There's no line that divides one prohibition from the next, no principle which would preclude the other, regardless of how one rationalizes. Hence, we should Save Blue Bird! (Submitted to Outside the Beltway's Traffic Jam.) MfBJN: Unrecognized Civil Liberties Chicken Little (CLCL), Squawking? Michelle Malkin claims some exclusive insight, exclusively for the registration-only New York Post about New York's random backpack searches in the subway system. I squawk here about my concerns, gentle reader, because the searches will become ineffective as suicide bombers subject to search blow themselves up at the turnstiles instead of on trains. Nah, the chicken little hawks ("I'm a chicken little hawk. Are you a chicken little?") think, that won't happen. Checkpoints are never targets in the Middle East, ainna? Thursday, July 21, 2005
The Wages of Campaign Finance Reform Over at Draft Matt Blunt 2008, I take to task a Columbia Tribune columnist who defends state employees--in this case, Medicaid caseworkers--who tell recipients of state aid to call their legislators to demand more aid. This is the face of the future with strict finance reform. "Merit"-based state employees with vested interest in expanding their budgets and power can speak to potential voters who have a specific interest in one set of public policies. And you, citizen, cannot. A Few Good Half-Lives What is the half-life of A Few Good Men? At least 13 years, as these fellows recreate the courtroom scene using Half Life 2. Memo to Magazine Circulation Departments To questions for you, largely rhetorical since you're megalithic corporate entities swaddled in corporate procedure and disregard for individual customers:
Post-Dispatch Columnist: Keen Insight Into Own Stereotype of Opposition Sylvester Brown digs shallowly into his knowledge of Bush supporters to explain why we're delusional in his column today, "Isn’t it time we accepted the truth about Bush?":
"Who you gonna believe — me or your lying eyes?" the man asked. While listening to the comedy routine recently, I finally figured out why President George W. Bush has managed to deflect scrutiny and backlash for his actions. Most Americans, it seems, look upon Bush like starry-eyed lovers. No matter what he's done or what's happened on his watch, most refuse to see their "man's" reckless behavior for what it is.
(Submitted to the Outside the Beltway Traffic Jam.) What We Have Here Is A Failure To Imaginate DC officials have a rather silly idea about how to deal with potential suicide bombers in the Metro stations: random backpack searches:
No decision has been made on the idea for the city's 106-mile Metrorail system, and the logistics would be difficult. But “it would be another tool in our security toolbox,” says Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein.
At worst, these measures will be ineffective or even more dangerous than the current situation, and at best will only send the bad guys to blow something else up. But at least the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority will have done something!!! UPDATE: As a story seen on Outside the Beltway indicates, New York will begin random searches. I hate to be the first cop to try to search a suicide bomber. San Francisco's Right to Riot Cinnamon Stillwell takes a look at the "protest" environment in San Francisco, where criminal miscreants have the right to vandalize and commit mayhem and police are sued for everything but getting their skulls fractured by rioters (but attorneys are still looking into that). Mark Their Words Cigarette tax just the start, some say:
Department of Revenue officials disputed that speculation, saying they would pursue only online cigarette customers. So how much have you bought from Amazon in 10 years? Plus interest, thanks. Not All New Positions Are Executive Level St. Louis Post-Dispatch insightful report: Low-pay jobs outgrow high-pay positions!
Eric Mink: Late to the Rove Scandal Hard-hitting, easy- (if at all) thinking Eric Mink weighs in on Karl Rove:
New motto suggestion for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Commentary on the news for the people who don't care or pay attention by people who don't care or pay attention! UPDATE: McGehee illustrates that Mink might be just in time. Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Book Report: Desperately Seeking Susan by Susan Dworkin (1985) I bought this book at a garage sale in my old eBay days. When cleaning out the backstock of those old books, I decided to add it to my personal library since I've never seen the movie, but I was kind of familiar with the plot. So I read it. What do you want? It's the novelization of a romantic comedy about Baby Boomers being New Wave in the middle 1980s. Man, they actually used to novelize those things. Now, that tradition is only upheld for books that geeks and fanboys will buy. Roberta, an aging (26!) and disenchanted suburban housewife, lives vicariously through the personal ads, particularly a series of ads wherein a man desperately seeks Susan. When she follows the directions to one of Susan's rendezvous, Roberta becomes more immersed in Susan's life than in her own. I took two things away from this book:
eBay Changes Rules to Benefit Community; By Coincidence, Also Results in Additional Revenue for eBay eBay tightens rules for sellers:
Sellers' practice of restricting PayPal payment methods "was creating a bad buyer experience," said PayPal spokeswoman Amanda Pires. "It would be like walking into the grocery store and filling up your cart, getting to the check stand with your credit card and being told sorry, even after you saw the credit card logo outside the store." Under PayPal rules, sellers can accept payment through bank transfers or PayPal balances for free. But sellers in the United States who accept credit card payments are charged between 1.9 percent and 2.9 percent of the value of the transaction, based on volume. Pires sought to quell concerns that eBay was tightening the restrictions merely to boost PayPal's fee collections. "We got a lot of community feedback, which is why we're changing this," Pires said. "And it was a very small percentage of sellers who were doing this." Community that, eBay. New York Times Condemns Activist Judiciary In perhaps a great case of Laphamization, the New York Times is lamenting judicial activism before the judge is even confirmed:
Only when it's wielded by judges of whom the New York Tomes disapproves, apparently. (Link seen on Michelle Malkin.) Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Presented as Straight News Survey: 25,000 civilians killed in Iraq war:
The Iraq Body Count -- a London-based group comprising academics and human rights and anti-war activists -- said on Tuesday that 24,865 civilians had died between March 20, 2003 and March 19, 2005. [Emphasis mine]
"But if journalism is the first draft of history, then this dossier may claim to be an early historical analysis of the military intervention's known human costs."
"We welcome the attention given by this report to Iraqi victims of violence but we consider that it is mistaken in claiming that the plague of terrorism has killed fewer Iraqis than the multinational forces," said the prime minister's office, citing recent terror strikes, including the Musayyib bombing that killed nearly 100 people on Saturday. "The international forces try to avoid civilian casualties, whereas the terrorists target civilians and try to kill as many of them as they can." Brian J. Kills the Small Talk Them: How is Heather? Me: I'm sorry, HIPAA regulations prohibit me from sharing medical information about my wife with a third party. A Real Estate Challenge The Noggles Share Where to put the books:
So that's what Thomas and Katherine Cole needed when they moved to New York. Mr. Cole, 71, who retired five years ago as a classics professor at Yale University, likes working from home, which means having on hand the thousands of reference works he might need. (He is writing a literary study of Ovid.) When Scienceocrats Attack! A new study questions whether conversion of corn into ethanol actually expends more energy than it stores. When confronted with contrary data, modern scienceocrats do the obvious: they attack the study on merits other than scientific:
"It discourages me," said Martha Schlicher, director of the research center. "People tend to remember negative news instead of becoming educated in what may not be as interesting. I worry that in a time so critical for energy security and the environment that this detracts from getting accurate information to consumers."
Allow me to quickly consolidate the new, revised, and more better Twenty-First Century Scientific Method
Monday, July 18, 2005
Book Report: Ring of Truth by Nancy Pickard (2001) I inherited this book from my aunt, which explains why I've read a chickthrilla. That in itself lends itself to some interesting contrasts with the crime fiction I tend to read, where every protagonist has a shot in an equal fight with amateur bad guys. Here, the protagonist is a foot shorter and a hundred pounds lighter than commone adversaries. Weird. This book revolves around a true crime writer who has put to bed a book on a south Florida crime of passion. A minister who has argued against the death penalty has been convicted of killing his wife to cover up an affair or to be with his lover. Coincidentally, he's now on death row in the next cell from the inmate whose cause the minister championed. But as she sends the book off, the narrator has some niggling doubts about the crimes, and she investigates a little more. The book intersperses chapters of the fictional true crime book with current thoughts of the true crime author/sleuth, Marie Lightfoot. It struck me as odd that the chapters of the book are all in third person past tense, but the current investigations are in the first person present. I mean, that's just weird. I'm sure the author (Pickard, the real author) used the conceit to differentiate the fictional book from the real fictional book, er, story. It's more jarring than it needs to be, though, and I could have done without it. Overall, it's a serviceable book with an interesting plot but with an ending and whodunit resolution that seems sudden, but part of that's the function of the first part of the book including a higher portion of fictional chapters from the true crime book, which presents the story as it's thought to be, and the last part of the book includes a higher portion of contemporary investigation of the fictional author. I don't regret reading it, unlike some books with which I have burdened myself of late, but I won't actively seek out other works in Pickard's Marie Lightfoot or Jenny McCain series on the basis of this exposure. Dilemma Brett Favre could easily win election to anything in Wisconsin. But how would I feel if he were to run as a Democrat, like Heath Shuler? It's too depressing to speculate. Libertarians Tear Hair Out In Missouri Nudity or lap dances in strip clubs? Now illegal!
The Missouri chapter of Adult Club Executives plans to seek an injunction next week against the law, scheduled to take effect Aug. 28, said Kansas City attorney Richard Bryant, who represents the group. The legislation, signed Wednesday by Gov. Matt Blunt, would prohibit customers and employees younger than 21 at strip clubs. It also would ban nudity and require seminude employees to remain at least 10 feet away from customers and behind a 2-foot-high railing. The bill would prohibit employees from touching customers.
A law signed by Gov. Matt Blunt will allow patrons to stroll in and out of restaurants and bars without dumping their alcoholic beverages. Kansas City officials are reworking the city's alcohol ordinance to make it conform with the state's law. Saturday, July 16, 2005
Brian J. Does Potter
Friday, July 15, 2005
Casting Call for the Plame Scandal Getting a jump on the movie version of the Plame scandal, which will be as ageless and relevant as All The President's Men for future generations, we at MfBJN proffer the following suggestion for cast:
Scheduled for release in October 2006. Just in time for Poor Form, Peter A radio station here in St. Louis suspends two morning personalities who had an on-air discussion of how to fight cops effectively. Yes, that's crass and abominable, but free speech and all that. The radio station has taken steps and public outcry should lead to outright firings and "you'll never work in this town again!"-esque corporate blacklisting. None of which is censorship because the government isn't involved. This, on the other hand, is very, very bad:
If the deejays aren't fired, Otten vows to write and call his fellow officers to have them contact the KATZ advertisers, and urge them to remove their ads. Thursday, July 14, 2005
Summer of the Pit Bull! Part XIV A shocking image of a vicious killer about to strike! BAN THESE MENACES NOW but leave the chows, akitas, dobermans, and dachshunds alone. Book Report: The Last Jihad by Joel C. Rosenberg (2002) The Publishers Weekly blurb that appears on the Amazon page for this book begins, "Timeliness adds considerable juice to Rosenberg's frenzied political thriller, set a couple of years in the future." Riiiiiight. The book is set in 2010. Saddam Hussein is behind a plot to assasinate the president who wants to bring peace the Israel, finally, by talking to Chairman Arafat and with the deus ex discovery of oil off the shore of Israel and the Gaza Strip. Or something. I bought this book for $5.98 off of the discount rack at Barnes and Noble, using gift cards, natch. I picked it because I thought Joel C. Rosenberg was Joel Rosenberg. I started reading it last week because I heard Rush Limbaugh talking about Joel C. Rosenberg. Friends, don't be fooled. Although Joel C. Rosenberg gleefully blurs the distinction to draw suckers like me in (why else is is Web site JoelRosenberg.com when he's diligent about putting his middle initial on his book covers, hmmm?), he's not Joel Rosenberg. He's not even a decent fiction writer. All right, so I've already mentioned the gripping premise of the book, whose shelf life expired by the end of 2002. Now, I will break down the book's composition for you:
Neither does this ordeal of a book. Lord amighty, although I took some snickering amusement from the book (what was it with using rimming BlackBerries all the time, including the middle of a firefight between the Wall Street protagonists and the dreaded uberterrorists in the red shirts? Why do the bad guys send clandestine e-mails to each others' AOL accounts?), I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone at any price. It's Clancy without the technology. Or suspense. Or any redeeming feature one finds in Clancy. How many rules of fiction does it break? I just wrote an essay about things fiction writers should avoid, partially inspired by this book. I mean, when he wrote the book in 2001 or early 2002 (that long weekend this book took, three whole days, no doubt), its premise was believeable and compelling, but Rosenberg mistakes the personalities of the enemy (Hussein and Arafat) for systems (the Cold War Soviet Union of countless fiction writers or the WWII Nazis of Alistair MacLean and others). And then he projects their existence almost a decade into the future--probably because they existed for most of his adulthood. Three years later, both Hussein and Arafat are gone, and five years before this book's setting, the world is a different place. Rosenberg also dips technologically into waters that will change by 2010. BlackBerries? Who's going to have a BlackBerry in 2010? We could have chip implants by then. Telling us how careful the bad guys are to empty their deleted items folder in Microsoft Outlook? In 2010? Eight years before this book was published, Outlook was a twinkle in Bill Gates' eye. This book is the equivalent of a contemporary conservative book attacking Bill Clinton or George W. Bush. They're designed for quick bucks and quick obscurity. This one, on the discount racks as late as 2005, won't be on a publisher's backlist because it's irrelevant and dated before its action takes place. (Note: Hi, MLI! You're the only one who reads these things in their entireties, and I laud you for making it this far even though I told you in person how bad this book sucked even before Joel C. Rosenberg reached his word limit and destroyed Baghdad with a last minute Deus Ex Nuclea. I hope I've adequately ruined the ending so you never, ever, bother with this book.) Maybe this C. Rosenberg guy got better after this, his first fiction book, but I'll never know because from now on I shall be vigilant in avoiding the C. and in not taking Rush Limbaugh's advice on fiction. I weep for the portion of my life I sacrificed for this book. I got nothing from it. From Your Cold, Dead Hands Ah, so that's what Hillary needs 100,000 new troops: Grand Confiscation Video Game. I am getting my conspiracy theories in place just in case (Heaven forfend!) she wins the presidency in 2008. I don't want to have to merely parrot the byzantine crackpot gossip of others. Family Planning Surprised by a multiple birth? MfBJN offers handy motifs for naming multiple simultaneous children: Presidential ThemeTwins:
Musical ThemeTwins:
Summer of the Pit Bull! Newspapers make do with the stories they have: Pit bull chases puppy into house. Meanwhile, here in the Noggle home, Summer of the Tabby continues as one tabby chases the other around the house. Or is it vice versa? (Link seen on Ravenwood's Universe.) Wednesday, July 13, 2005
That's A Big Twinkie From a story profiling the guy behind Internet Haganah in the Washington Post called "Watchdogs Seek Out the Web's Bad Side":
(Link seen on Free Will.) Nontraditional Columnist: Tradition is Inflexibility Bryan Burwell of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on the move of the Cardinals from KMOX to KTRS in his column today:
Tradition, the bedrock loyalists call it. Inflexibility, the mystified outsiders mock it. However, in the last couple of years, the Cardinals (singular corporate entity) has provided a number of other guys in the broadcast booth. That "See! You! Later!" guy and Wayne "When Will A Real Market Call" Hagin. As the Cardinals has proven its flexibility by breaking its bonds to my youth, I've gone to fewer games. Now that the team will play in a new stadium that I don't associate fondly with growing up and which will bear numerous names in its existence and the games will play on a new, lesser radio station, I'll probably listen to fewer games, too. Because the Cardinals is not a hometown team any more; it is a corporate franchise owned and operated by a company based elsewhere with no respect--none--for St. Louis and tradition other than the tradition of taking money from St. Louisans for baseball. Of course, we insular Midwesterners wouldn't expect the well-travelled sports columnist to embrace tradition. He's only here in the local paper because it offered the best check for now. Suburban Cred That's right, I got my first L.L. Bean catalog today. You know, it's really got absolutely nothing to do with Rowan Atkinson. Now I, too, am privileged to share in that information with my other Casinoport, Missouri, brothers. Stage Directions From Bill McClellan's online presence today:
Click for full size ITALICIZE BILL'S RESPONSES, please Engaging Discourse 10 Lines To Get Republican Gals -- Like Ann Coulter -- Into Bed. Geez, I would add, for Republican gals like Ann Coulter, something along the lines of Hey, I see tax policies soaking the wealthy are starving you. Can I buy you a sandwich? (Link seen on Dustbury, who is currently travelling the country and performing field research on the efficacy of the study.) International Blog Star Registry Send me $8, and I'll name a star after you and register it in blog post form on this blog, covered by common law copyright. And since I don't have to waste money on the "book form" at the United States Copyright Office, I can save that filing fee and add it right to my bottom line. Boo-yah! Perhaps I shouldn't have brought that last bit up as it's not a salient selling point. Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Reynolds Overlooks Benefit of Surveillance Camera In a post on Tech Central Station, Professor Reynolds overlooks certain benefits of surveillance cameras. The professor says:
That's a mistake. As Jeffrey Rosen wrote in a superb essay published just after 9/11 (but sadly no longer available online), London's "ring of steel" camera network never caught a terrorist... Monday, July 11, 2005
The Fifty-First State It won't be Puerto Rico:
In it, Leon Craig, professor emeritus of political science, lays out a case for Alberta to declare unilateral independence. And he lays it out well. Craig makes no bones about it. Alberta, he says, should go it alone. Almost overnight, we would become one of the most prosperous nations in the world. But -- and this is his key point -- the main reason to secede is not because Albertans would have more money. Not that there's anything wrong with money. More importantly, we would create a country that reflects our own political and social beliefs, values and traditions, and our understanding of the common good. Canada, says Craig, has been so badly governed since the Trudeau era, it has doomed itself to a Third World, banana republic fate. Just think, we could drive to Alaska without a passport again. Come home to US, western Canada. You can finally charge American dollars for hockey tickets. Lyrics Never Misheard The Police, "Wrapped Around Your Finger":
I know what you're up to just the same Recent Reasons to Draft Matt Blunt 2008 Why should we make Matt Blunt president?
Summer of the Pit Bull XVII Seen on the Web site of the Animal Protection Association of Missouri: ![]() Click for full size
Current standings, Summer 2005: Pit Bulls: 20 Sharks: 6 Alligators: 1 Sea Lions: 1 (Submitted to the Outside the Beltway Traffic Jam.) Illinois Secedes Well, Governor Rod Blagojevich won't surrender his arms:
In a letter sent to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, the governor argued that under federal law if he does not consent to the realignment, the change can not legally be made. McClellan on Kelo I often disagree with Bill McClellan of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, but when he pans Kelo, who am I to argue? He says:
I have a duty to look at these plans, he said solemnly. Why? That's what I wondered. Since when do local officials have the responsibility to decide whether to use eminent domain to let developers take away homes and businesses? By the way, ideologically, this seems to be an equal opportunity crime. It was the liberal wing of the U.S. Supreme Court that recently declared local governments have that right, but the mayor of Maplewood is a former radio executive who yanked the Dixie Chicks off his station when they criticized George W. Bush. It's as if both sides of the political spectrum have come together to agree on one thing: Money rules. Sunday, July 10, 2005
Suspect Taken Quietly; No Congratulatory Demonstrations Family sets up murder suspect's surrender:
Johnson, 19, was the subject of an intense manhunt after Tuesday's shooting of police Sgt. William McEntee. McEntee was responding to a call in Kirkwood's Meacham Park neighborhood just before 8 p.m. when he was shot several times. Johnson surrendered at the Ventura Village Apartments on Jacobi Drive and Nemnich Road, police said. Northwoods Police Chief Greg Moore said Friday night a detective in his department received a call from one of Johnson's family members just after 5 p.m. Friday. Moore said Johnson "wanted to turn himself in without any fanfare and without being harmed." The detective who received the call and another officer drove to pick up the family member, then headed to Ventura Village Apartments, Moore said. When they arrived, the relative directed them to an apartment near the back of the complex. Moore said another relative greeted them at the door. Johnson was sitting on a couch in the apartment with his hands in front of him, Moore said. Moore described Johnson's demeanor as "humble and cooperative" as he was taken into custody. That didn't happen in this situation; as a matter of fact, the aphrension of the suspect was smooth and without conflict. Perhaps we don't live in the racial agitators' alternate universe after all, but this possibility hasn't inspired any marches. Saturday, July 09, 2005
Smoking Now Abrogates Contractual Obligations Jury finds heavy smoking to be grounds for eviction:
The landlord who rented the Sleeper Street unit to Erin Carey and Ted Baar ordered them out within a week last November, after neighbors complained of the smoke odors filtering into their apartments. Carey and Baar, who each smoke about a pack a day and run an information technology sales business out of the one-bedroom unit, fought the eviction, arguing in court that the converted warehouse's shoddy construction and aging ventilation system were to blame for the wayward odors. Last Friday, a jury ruled in favor of the landlord and the eviction. Even though the landlord could have written a nonsmoking clause into the lease and didn't, the jury found that the couple's heavy smoking violated a more general clause banning ''any nuisance; any offensive noise, odor or fumes; or any hazard to health." Of course, this is not so much a smoker's rights issue as an issue for all of us. Within any of the standard contracts that govern our rights--from the terms of use for our Web hosts, to the service contracts for ISPs or cellular phones, and into the terms of our leases or mortgages, any number of the clauses are written to make the big corporation with the shrewd attorneys and uninformed, gloss-overish salespeople who only want you to sign the standard contract so they can get their commissions. Those corporations won't renegotiate the finer points with you because you, individual customer, are not worth the trouble. But when someone wants to cut you out, revoke your lease, or foreclose upon you, they rely upon these nebulous things within the contract stacked against you to do so. This Must Be On A Loop
"In spite of the fact that all acts of 'Islamic' terrorism blatantly contradict Islamic teachings, such acts serve to further distort the image of Muslims and Islam," it said. Friday, July 08, 2005
Word Problem If John is as dumb as a sack of hammers, and if Mary is as dumb as a three-quarters-full sack of hammers, who is smarter? Arithematically, we might express it this way: JohnIQ = 1s(h) MaryIQ = .75s(h) So on the surface, it would look obvious that John is smarter than Mary, but this assumes that the intelligence factor of multiple hammers is measurable in a number greater than 1. However, if each individual hammer actually reduces intelligence, that is, each individual hammer's contribution to overall intelligence actually detracts from overall intelligence, in which case Mary, by having her intelligence diminished by a smaller number of hammers in the sack, would have the higher intelligence. Man, I should have taken more, that is to say "any," mathematics in college. However, as I do hold a degree in English, I can identify quickly within the word problem the patriarchy's obvious oppression of Mary, wherein she's only worth three quarters of the hammers of an equivalent male. This realization provides me with enough indignation to determine that to answer this word problem is to support the capitalists that hold Mary down. Also, I need to determine whether the hammers within the sack represent the proletariat and whether, by keeping them in the sack, both John and Mary (Biblical names--ergo Christians) are actually oppressors, but that's another word problem of its own.... UPDATE: For my gentle European and Canadian readers working on this problem, I'd like to point out that 1 sack of hammers (SoH) is equal to 2.54 boxes of rocks (BoR), the metric measurement. Mohair Supply Also In Jeopardy London attacks fuel debate over U.S. transit security:
I suppose the alternative is providing an unimpeachable and unavoidable extension of the TSA to cover these public/private companies. No word on when the Federal government will begin providing additional security for restaurants, shops, and other soft targets, but it will probably follow the realization that these groups can band together to lobby to push off another cost of business onto the taxpayer. (Link seen on Law, Terrorism and Homeland Security.) Dark Day Evan Hunter, who wrote Ed McBain detective series, dies at 78:
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Wherein the Author Uses The London Bombings to Flog His Political Points Still believe them when they tell you surveillance cameras make you safer? SUMMER OF THE SEA LION! Sea Lion Attacks Lifeguard:
Please Don't Feed the Moonbats AP reports on the London bomb attacks:
Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had planned to attend an economic conference in a hotel over the subway stop where one of the blasts occurred, and the warning prompted him to stay in his hotel room instead, government officials said. Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said he wasn't aware of any Israeli casualties. UPDATES:
Book Report: Naked Prey by John Sandford (2003) This book represents the third of the Lucas Davenport series that I inherited from my aunt. It's the second book following Chosen Prey, so certain personal situations within Davenport's life have resolved themselves. Not really to the detriment of this particular item in the series, as they really only provide characterization and background in this book instead of Important Life Decisions which the main character must face. Lucas Davenport now works for the state of Minnesota (crap, I ruined it for the single reader who's made it this far into the review). He's got fewer of the previously-developed characters within the Minneapolis police department to prop him up, but a richer supporting cast of temporary (but perhaps recurring) characters to help him out. The plot deals with a northwestern Minnesota car theft/drug dealing ring exposed when small-time members decide to kidnap and kill children for ransom. Well, they only kidnap for ransom and then kill, but the whole thing comes crashing down when a murderous Republican comes to town and inadvertently destroys the compassionate drug-reimportation smuggling ring run by some Catholics with conscience. Aside from the laughable political aside and the other implications, the book makes a quick read. I like the Minnesota winter as a character slightly more than the millionaire political appointee detective main character, but Sandford makes the book compelling enough to read if it falls into your hands. "Do you want to buy more in the series?" my beautiful wife asked. "Not for more than $1 a book," I replied. So there you have it. A good set of stock novels set in the upper Midwest, but in a Democrat stronghold (which the books remind you). Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Starting a Rumor Hey, did you hear that Roger Waters and Dave Gilmour were seen going into King's Rood Studios outside of London on Monday? Me either, but since this is the Internet, it might be true. If true is a synonym for "made up on the spot." Spam of the Day
is your business or organization utilizing broadcast email advertising to reach millions of people a day for free...? Wisconsin Lottery Discriminates Against The Poor, Journal-Sentinel Imagines Apparently, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel wants to paint that picture. Poor get poorer in lottery land: Higher-poverty areas win less:
Longtime lottery player Tim Butler, who lives on Milwaukee's west side, didn't need to see the numbers to know that he and his neighbors are not exactly reaping big rewards from their investment in lottery tickets. "I have never won any decent amount of money with tickets I bought in the inner city," said Butler, a Milwaukee County bus driver, shortly after returning home with another $20 worth of Pick 3 and Pick 4 tickets. He said in the seven years he has been buying lottery tickets - usually several every day - his biggest prize has been $500 won in the Super Cash game with a ticket, he makes a point of noting, that he purchased on the city's south side. Shame on the Journal-Sentinel. Analysis? (Submitted to the Outside the Beltway Traffic Jam.) Serendipity? Great minds move in tandem? Who knows? All I know is that Inaniloquent and Dustbury both mentioned the Champaign County Rifle Association's Burma Shavesque signs yesterday. What are the odds of that? Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Disextinction Scientists flip over new dolphin:
The Australian snubfin dolphin, or orcaella heinsohni, was originally believed to be the Irrawaddy dolphin, found in coastal waters and rivers in Asia and northern Australia. But James Cook University Townsville marine researcher Isabel Beasley said yesterday investigations carried out in collaboration with Dr Peter Arnold from the Museum of Tropical Queensland revealed enough differences to identify the mammal as a new species. Supply and Demand Strike Fear In IT Hearts Coding for $15 an hour?
Oh, yeah: the government or the Other. SUMMER OF THE ALLIGATOR! Wilmington Man Attacked by Alligator in Lake! Granted, the alligators remain behind the pit bulls and the sharks in the standings, but the summer's not yet half over. Monday, July 04, 2005
Three Steps Not Given 2 dead in apparent murder-suicide:
His first shot hit a man in the head. Then the woman he was dancing with and the gunman were fatally shot. Police, who have not released the victims' names, are investigating the incident as a murder-suicide and have no suspects. Steinberg Blames Republicans for Kelo Isn't that what I should make of this?
The man once called me a genuis. Just so you know what his standards really are. Someone Understands Mass Transit The transportation columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (transportation columnist?) compares light rail to buses:
Book Report: Chosen Prey by John Sandford (2001) This bookis the second of the three that I have inherited from my aunt and all three are well along in the series. I'm glad I read the preceding book, Easy Prey, since that book begins with some characterization of the main character and his relationship with his team. Chosen Prey jumps right into the chaotic world of Lucas Davenport and his special Minneapolis police team. Well, no, it starts with a quick insight into the mind of the named criminal, a sex fiend academic (do I repeat myself?) named James Qatar who likes to do kinky things to artsy blondes and then kill them. We know this in the first chapter, because the semi-omniscient narrator follows Qatar to a tryst. So the book is a race between Qatar and the police, who must track him down before he kills again. Or at least must stop him before he depopulates Minnesota and western Wisconsin. The book's pace captures the nature of the frantic team investigation captained by Davenport. His personal life interrupts, as his True Love and recently (Easy Prey) returned Weather wants to have a child and marry Lucas. The sub plotline would detract had I not read the preceding book and known who she was and why this was different or difficult for Davenport. It's an okay turn for a series book, but I'd hardly recommend it as the first in the series, as the author expects the reader to be familiar with the characters. Heck, I probably missed most of the inside humor. On his worst day, McBain does a better police procedural and characterizes the familiar so even the uninitiated can pick up on them. Sandford doesn't, and he doesn't seem to try. Of course, this isn't much of a police procedural, either, since the main character is at a high level and although he does do some interrogation himself, he's also a millionaire zipping around in a Porsche (when the weather's good) and a deputy chief with all the resources of the police department at his disposal. So it's not so much a police procedural as as a simple suspense page turner. So Sandford's no Ed McBain, but no one really can hold a candle to that. He's no Randisi either, and he actually suffers from that particular comparison. Unless he really is Randisi in a different pseudonym. Blogger Problem Wow, it looks as though each post I put up yesterday overwrote the preceding entry, so instead of 3 posts, you only get the last one, and that's not without some work since Blogger wants to overwrite it with this post. Allow me to assure you that you are definitely missing out on a lot of my eloquence, but rest assured that the only post that displays for yesterday is in fact probably the best. I guess I shall have to return to the habit of saving all of my posts outside of Blogger. Again. Sunday, July 03, 2005
Hearsay Here's what some are saying and how that's headline material for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Saturday, July 02, 2005
Book Report: The Long Valley by John Steinbeck (1938) This book collects a number of John Steinbeck short stories. They're centered around the Salinas Valley in California, and I feel a little more connection with them and the topography that Steinbeck describes since we visited northern California this year. Suddenly, I understand mountains at the edge of the ocean. Steinbeck's writing is accessible enough for modern readers steeped in commercial fiction (like me) to grasp. James Joyce, Benjy Campson, and all the tangled verbiage artists have done more to drive readers away from any literary fiction than Steinbeck or Hemingway could hope to save. I find Steinbeck's style a little disengaging, although easy to read, and it can take me a while to get into a rhythm where I appreciate the characters and want to find out what happens next. In Steinbeck's novels, this doesn't pose difficulty other than the initial start-up costs of turning the first few dozen pages by discipline. However, with short stories, you have to start over with a new character or set of characters. So a number of stories just don't work. However, the last set of stories features the same set of characters, so I was able to plunge, enjoyably, through the last quarter of the book. So I enjoyed the book, but not unabashedly. But this completes my hardback study of Steinbeck spurred by the purchase of a set of these hardback editions at an estate sale two years ago. Although I still have East of Eden in paperback, I don't know how quickly I will get to it. US Imperialists Attack Sovereign Comet Deep Impact Spacecraft Ready for Mission:
Perhaps I'll have to retool the t-shirt: ![]() Balance The St. Louis Post-Dispatch demonstrates balance in this article: Reverse mortgages can be a godsend or a curse to the elderly. Unfortunately, the balance is only in the ill-written headline. It sits atop an otherwise evenhanded explanation of the reverse mortgage, including a number of anecdotes of people whom the instrument has helped, coupled with a financial advisor who explains some of the risks involved. Where's the curse besides the headline? Kelover City forces out 2 downtown businesses: Action follows high court ruling on eminent domain:
But to John Revelli, whose family has operated a tire shop near downtown Oakland for decades, the implications hit home on Friday. A team of contractors hired by the city of Oakland packed the contents of his small auto shop in a moving van and evicted Revelli from the property his family has owned since 1949. "I have the perfect location; my customers who work downtown can drop off their cars and walk back here," said Revelli, 65, pointing at the nearby high- rises. "The city is taking it all away from me to give someone else. It's not fair." The city of Oakland, using eminent domain, seized Revelli Tire and the adjacent property, owner-operated Autohouse, on 20th Street between Telegraph and San Pablo avenues on Friday and evicted the longtime property owners, who have refused to sell to clear the way for a large housing development. Friday, July 01, 2005
Philosophical Question If you, like, bust a vampire in the mouth and skin your knuckles on its teeth, are you in danger of becoming a vampire? Please let me know within the next night or so. Thanks. Update Your Scoreboards Pit Bulls: 19 Sharks: 6. The Sharks are really pouring it on and could mount a comeback! Must We Resort to Name Calling? Juvenile division missing $13,152. As reported by the Busybody division, no doubt. The Obvious Replacement Who better to replace Sandra Day O'Connor than Daniel Day-Lewis? It keeps the Day parity on the court, which is vitally important, since the judiciousness and meaningful career are less important to opposition forces than trivia. Misleading Headline of the Day Minn. Government Shuts Down; 9,000 Jobless. Jobless? Hardly. It's not as though the Minnesota government will not come back. It should be Minn. Government Shuts Down; 9,000 On Unscheduled Paid Vacation. But how would that play out the evolving epic of governments tearing dollars from the hands of the little guy? The St. Lawrence Seaway Is Ours! The Canadians can no longer adequately defend it:
Of the four used subs Canada acquired from Britain for $891 million, Halifax’s HMCS Windsor is the only one that can go to sea. HMCS Victoria has stopped sailing from its British Columbia base and will go into an extended docking work period next month that will last almost two years. "We have no choice," said Lieut. Diane Grover of navy public affairs.
Think Of It As Air Space Eminent Domain Neil Steinberg, Chicago Sun-Times, supports government reduction of property rights:
We seem to be doing it the right way, too, slowly whittling away the social space allowed to smokers. Smoking has gone from being cool to being an embarrassing personal lapse, somewhere between picking your nose and bedwetting. Soon the guy standing on the corner smoking a cigarette will carry the same cachet as someone standing on the corner sucking wine out of a bottle in a bag. I'm not gloating. I'm sad for cigarettes -- a lovely habit, a nice vice. Except for the kill-you part. But it's in society's interest to shuck them as soon as possible. Women used to paint their faces with white lead, but it had bad side effects, like death, so they got out of the practice. Habits change, if we're lucky. They wouldn't do that? Why not? It's a public health issue, and property rights mean nothing any more. Perhaps we could just think of it as though the local governments were condemning the airspace within private property and offered just compensation in the form of their continued indulgence in the "owner's" "right" to own/operate the property/business. Update: Apparently, this set off William Squire: Neil Steinberg is a Bigot. (Submitted to the Outside the Beltway Traffic Jam.) |
To say Noggle, one first must be able to say the "Nah."
"I will." Heather L. Igert, angelweave.mu.nu "Genuis." Neil Steinberg, Chicago Sun-Times "Some wanker." Kim du Toit, on the Noggle Library. "Brian J. Noggle apparently forgot that the proper design for a tin foil beanie calls for the shiny side out." Robb Allen, Sharp as a Marble. "I'm weeping openly right now. Thanks for hurting my feelings, pinhead." Bob Rybarcyzk, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Instapundit Protein Wisdom Ace of Spades HQ Wizbang! Outside the Beltway Robert B. Parker Dustbury Damn Interesting Michelle Malkin Radley Balko's The Agitator Exultate Justi The McGehee Zone Signifying Nothing The Jawa Report Master of None Dr. Helen The Anchoress Electric Venom Kim Du Toit Belmont Club Little Green Footballs Overtaken by Events Rocket Jones Boots and Sabers Triticale Ann Althouse The American Mind Ravenwood's Universe Asymmetrical Information Boondoggled VodkaPundit Professor Bainbridge Virginia Postrel Ken Jennings Joanne Jacobs Faster Than The World Dilbert Blog Junkyard Blog In DC Journal IMAO Baldilocks Powerline Q and O Hugh Hewitt Buzz Machine Daniel Drezner Roger Simon American Digest Blackfive The Volokh Conspiracy Cold Fury Captain's Quarters Tim Blair Chequer-Board Emperor Misha Just One Minute Blame Bush Inaniloquent Trey Givens OverLawyered Suburban Blight Another Rovian Conspiracy Angelweave Bad Example Rachel Lucas View from the Porch StL Recruiting a big victory Spector's Hockey Fark /. TechDirt F*****d Company CNet News Joel on Software James Lileks Mark Steyn Bob Rybarczyk Richard Roeper Neil Steinberg John Kass Steven Chapman Drudge Report Ananova Slate Reason's Hit and Run Best of the Web Today National Review's The Corner Tech Central Station Fox News CNN Washington Post Washington Times Chicago Tribune Chicago Sun-Times Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel St. Louis Post-Dispatch San Francisco Chronicle New York Post Shepherd Express Riverfront Times New York Observer ScrappleFace Bob from Accounting The Onion Top Five List David Letterman's Top Ten BBSpot U.S. Constitution Declaration of Independence Snopes.Com (Urban Legends) Dictionary.com Internet Movie Database Complete Works of Shakespeare Marvel Directory Blooberry HTML Reference
Visualize World Hegemony
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