Terri Schiavo

May she rest in peace finally. My only hope is that
there weren't too many hearts jumping with happiness
when the news broke. The questioins posed by her case
are too important to be reduced to our-side-their-side.

Weird Games

At the third annual Weird Games, Olya proves once again
that those Belarussian girls can kick a dog higher and
further than anyone.

Friends around a table

Tonight I spent an evening with old friends, from the days when
our group was a danger to civilized society. Well, a danger to
ourselves mainly, but society did register a few complaints. We
met at my friend Ed's childhood home, which looked just as I remembered
it. Not one of us had aged a day, or so we said. Course by the end
of the evening I had heard at least two conversations concerning
hair growing out of ears.

We talked about the old days, and our old cars, and the ditches
our old cars ended up in. I got misty eyed talking about la Bomba,
my old Ford Torino. (Starsky and Hutch's car, only in need of paint)
It was a heap when I bought it, and still a heap when
I sold it to Ed, and a heap when it ended up in a west virginia
ditch. But it always *looked* bad; you had to careful when you drove
la Bomba because it would draw police from miles around.

And a first.... tonight I sat for the first time on a couch that
Ed's mom had put a plastic cover on thirty years ago. She's in a
retirement home now so two days ago the covers came off. And you
know what? Those plastic covers really do work; the couch looked
brand new. Course, for a generation nobody dared sit on that couch
so it's hard to argue that it's life has been extended. It's sort of
been in hibernation. A couch deferred.

baseball

Ah, smell the hot dogs, hear the crack of the bat,
see the flashing ambulance lights. Must be spring again.

self exploitation

From Reuters:

Harvard in Lather Over Campus Maid Service
Thu Mar 10, 2005 04:02 PM ET
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Reuters) - A Harvard University student's fledgling dorm-cleaning business faced the threat of a campus boycott on Thursday after the school's daily newspaper slammed it for dividing students along economic lines.

The Harvard Crimson newspaper urged students to shun Dormaid, a business launched by Harvard sophomore Michael Kopko that cleans up for messy students.

"By creating yet another differential between the haves and have-nots on campus, Dormaid threatens our student unity," the Crimson said in an editorial.

"We urge the student body to boycott Dormaid."

Like many elite American universities, Harvard comprises a mix of affluent students as well as those who are less well-off.

But Kopko, 20, said he could not understand the Crimson's reaction to his business, which he said was all about creating jobs and wealth at the Ivy League school.

"In a free economy it's all about choice, and the Crimson is trying to take choice away from people," the student entrepreneur told Reuters. "I think it's a very uneconomic and narrow view. It's essentially against creating wealth for society."

Kopko said since launching his dormitory-cleaning service last month in the Boston area, he has signed up 50 clients. He plans to expand the service to other parts of the country and is aiming for $200,000 in annual sales in a year's time.

Reminds me of those who would close down maquiladora shops because
the workers aren't being paid enough. Never mind that *any* paycheck
is better than none at all. Why not ask the exploited worker what
he wants?
(Anyway, I suspect that in ten years time, Mr. Kopko will be
squarely in the "haves" camp.)

the mind boggles

From Leftwing Media Machine How to get the liberal "message" out there? Splice it to a porn video, of course:

I suggest that leftists learn how to make porn videos. Integrate the teaching of progressive ideas and progressive-oriented contemporary history with the "plot" of the porn video. If you have a high quality video, you could attract a large, albeit male, audience. You could use willing and attractive progressive females, or, seeing as how digital cameras are getting ever cheaper, and broadband is everywhere, raise funds to do it in 3rd world country--outsource the creation of progressive porn.

Then distribute it for free on the p2p networks. And the good thing about good video that has been distributed on the p2p networks--it becomes immortal: it lives on forever, traveling from computer to computer in an onanistic valhallah, forever spreading the progressive message to ever more young and impressionable American male minds.....
A good porn video might be seen by tens of millions of men.

Now, understand that this does not necessarily have to be hardcore porn. It could be something like "PROGRESSIVE GIRLS GONE WILD!". And then insert graphics or text to teach the viewer something you want them to learn about. For example, you could insert facts or graphs about how the highest marginal tax rate has been dropping as the the quality of life has also been dropping. Or you could list facts about universal healthcare in other countries. There are a hundred ways or more to get across a progressive message.

Progressive Girls Gone Wild? My poor milk squirting nose.

Forklift Driver Klaus

Click on the picture for a very odd video. It starts out
looking like a training film but at about the two minute mark
things start going terribly wrong. Lots of blood and gore but
it's more hokey than disturbing. It goes on for about 9 minutes
total.

this may work better than the link:

And the winner is.......

100_0738, originally uploaded by lumberjack.

NordicThunder

Lutheranocity

"I have nothing against English, I speak it every day," he
said, "But if we don't teach our children Norwegian, what
will they do when they get to heaven?"

Not me

retrieve, originally uploaded by lumberjack.

the sun came out

I've never figured out why it is that whenever I have
to work outdoors, the weather decides to punish me. Not
today though; the sun is shining and it's just cool.
A great day for starting up a chainsaw.

There's a dog under there

100_0736, originally uploaded by lumberjack.

no, really

Lucky for me, I get to tuck in the kid who owns this dog. She
is old enough to put all the monsters in the closet herself and
turn out the lights, but she humors me. Even though she knows I'll
carry on one-sided conversations with the closet monsters and
thereby make them more real. "you shelf monsters get up top; it's time
for bed. And I don't want you floor monsters crawling under the bed.
It's just too messy when you snip off children's toes and I'm tired
of cleaning up after you."
The best part of tuck-in is talking about nothing in particular. Which
just happens to be my field of expertise. Last night we talked about
the catapult we (well *I*) made for social studies. I'm pretty sure
we can put an eye out with it. [to guard against this actually happening
I cautioned strongly not to use more than 5 rubber bands.... but, there
are boys (patooie) in the group, and I suspect the device has been stretched
to it's operational limits -- after the first day I had to make a
new throwing arm -- the old one had mysteriously snapped] Our ammo is
broken erasers and Barbie heads by the way. It's the only way to fight
a war.

Maybe that explains his aversion to it..

The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called "truth"

-Dan Rather

Riddled?

Click on the picture for 5 other views of the "riddled" Sgrena car from
la Repubblica.it.

Update:
I knew there would be better pictures soon.
This one from the AP *clearly* shows unriddledness.

Oh the colors...

Sorry, I was playing around with the background and I didn't
realize I'd left the sherbert colors up. Ah well, I'll find the
old colors later.

Hey, know what I saw on Discovery Health? Only tuned in for
a second but I heard this woman talking about her face-lift-tune-up.
She was saying that grief had changed her face, and so I was
thinking, poor woman, she'd lost a child, or a friend, or whatever.
Then she's in with the doctor.... and she's saying, "And this line
here, [indicating a crease in her forehead] this was from the
first Bush administration..." Hahahahahahahahaha.

I never watch those Health ouchie-cringe shows so I didn't see
if the doctor fixed her face. Imagine though, the poor woman
blames even the natural effects of aging on the president. Amazing.

heh, heh, heh

Funny, though there are probably those who believe it, from Davids Medienkritik:

Germany's Diplomacy is Paying Off

Finally: Germany 's patient, multilateral diplomacy approach is paying off!

Democratic elections in Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq. Masses in Lebanon demanding Syria's withdrawal. Elections (sort of) in Saudi Arabia (men only) and Egypt (hopefully). Marrocans marching for freedom. Kuwaiti women demonstrating for equal voting rights. And so on...

Play the Cats

A fun flash techno music machine with bobbing
cats' heads. May want to make sure your volume isn't
on high first.

Free at Last

Martha Stewart contemplates her 5 month home detention. "At least I'll
have access to make-up," she said, "I really missed not being able
to moisturize inside the prison."

boggled mind

You have to wonder what they were tinking, publishing something
like this:

Flight marshal numbers disputed
By Audrey Hudson
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Flight reports by the Federal Air Marshal Service show that federal agents were on less than 10 percent of the nation's flights in December, a number several air marshals say was inflated to make it appear to Congress that commercial air travel is better protected than it is.
"The numbers reported to headquarters come back higher than originally reported and are sometimes upwards of double the number of what is actually flown," an air marshal said. "Everyone knows they are padding the numbers."

Are there any reporters out there who spike stories just because publishing
them would help terrorists with their projects? I can't see why anyone would want
to let the world know our security weaknesses.
Ah well. Just a matter of time before there's an article explaining just where
to kick a cockpit door to take it off it's hinges. And no doubt some reporter
will claim that the public has a right to know where to buy weapons that can
make it through the security check-points. First amendment ya know.

When Dan Rather is gone,

I won't miss his partisan reporting but I'll be saddened
not to have Ratherisms anymore; saddened like the last
lonely shrimp in an all-too-quickily-eaten cocktail, getting
soggy, and knowing the end is near.

From the Media Research Center:

Rather’s Ridiculous Ratherisms

“This presidential race is hotter than the Devil’s anvil.”
“This presidential race, you know, it’s been crackling like a hickory fire for at least the last hour and a half.”
“Situation in Ohio would give an aspirin a headache.”
“John Kerry, his lead is as thin as turnip soup.”
— CBS’s election coverage, November 2, 2004.

“Bush has had a lead since the very start, but his lead is now shakier than cafeteria Jell-O.”
“If you’re in the kitchen, Mabel, come back in the front room: 145 for Gore, 130 for Bush, 270 needed to win.”
“The presidential race, still hotter than a Laredo parking lot.”
— During CBS News coverage of election night 2000.

“In New Hampshire, closest Senate race in the country, this race between Dick Swett and Bob Smith is as hot and tight as a too small bathing suit on a too long car ride back from the beach.”
— During CBS News 1996 election night coverage.

“A lot of tight Senate races out there. Let’s hit those chips with another dash of salsa, Ed Bradley.”
— During CBS News 1994 election night coverage.

“I think you’re more likely to see the Pope ride through this room on a giraffe.”
— On the possibility of a CBS News cable channel, to the Philadelphia Inquirer‘s Gail Shister, February 18, 1997.

“Mr. Clinton was about as relaxed as a pound of liver.”
— Referring to his earlier interview with Bill Clinton, January 20, 1993 CBS This Morning.

“Stay with CBS now for more news, including: Is there a pall over the mall as holiday shoppers think small?”
— Previewing an upcoming segment on the CBS Evening News, December 2, 1991.

Another funny

Another work-safe video.

More at Wimp.com , though there may be a few that aren't what you'd want to
open in front of the kids or the boss.
Also from Wimp, imagine the proud parents:

New Car

I think I've decided on a model. (video-safe for work)

snowy

100_0732, originally uploaded by lumberjack.