Here’s a little Sunday night quiz for ya. What’s the fastest land animal in North America? (Also fastest in the world for more than a short sprint.) It can sprint as fast as 60 mph and can sustain a speed of 30 mph for miles!
Give up? Pretty cool, huh?
writing about childhood
The Guardian has a review of the novel Black Swan Green, by David Mitchell.
“Novels written from the child’s point of view are never written by children; they are written by adults for whom this particular bliss has long been over. Something about that warping is now apparently known about and has prompted the writer to recreate it, to write more knowingly about a time of relative naivety. Children are not interested in childhood, but they can be used to say things in novels that no one else can say, things that are best said by children.
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remembrance of things
William Zinsser, author of On Writing Well, has this advice on writing a memoir.
that’s tellin’ ’em, mr. president
You have to admire the tenacity of our fearsome leader. Like a dog chewing on a chain link fence, he’s tenaciously refused to let go of the guys who cause him the most political backwash. He resigned Andy Card, but in a fit of loyalty replaced him with Bolton, the presumably burned-out guy in charge of the national debt. And in a delicious display of stubborness, he’s holding on to Reichminister Rumsfeld, come what may.
I love it. No matter how deep the hole, he just keeps digging.
Soon, Mr. All Hat, No Catle may actually have hope for a positive legacy: Maybe, when he digs through to China, he’ll send back some of our manufacturing jobs.
important please read
Not really. Sorry, but this is actually pretty trivial.
I get a lot of e-mails with subject lines similar to the subject of this post. It’s not necessarily spam; some is valid e-mail, sent to organizations and mailing lists to which I subscribe. Mail about pet mills, animal cruelty, sick pets, etc. Having long ago concluded we can’t save them all, and I can’t necessarily read everything I get, I choose to delete these mails unread.
I’m sorry, but a subject line like that is just too baldass stupid. What if I wrote a book or a story and called it Please Read This — would you? I hope not. The title of a blog post, or the subject of an e-mail should be a clue to what the item is about. And telling me to read it is just insulting. What else am I going to do with it? Wad it up and stick it in my ear? Use it to polish my truck? Reading it is just about the only thing you can do with an e-mail, don’t you think?
Hmm. Thanks for letting me rant. Not sure I’m finished with this topic, but I feel a little better.
Justice is served
Here’s one to file under Strange But True. This Colorado woman was taken to jail for installing a new garage door, on her own home. I hope she sues the Powers that Be until they can’t sit down without squealing.
a small step toward humane
Domestic abuse protection extended to pets
“PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Spurred by growing evidence of a link between domestic violence and animal abuse, Maine has enacted a first-in-the-nation law that allows judges to include pets in protection orders for spouses and partners leaving abusive relationships.
In helping pets, advocates hope to help battered women and others who aren’t willing to abandon their animals to get out of a bad relationship.
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we have met the enemy
President Bush has betrayed his office and the trust of the American people. Congress is finally beginning to act like they realize he’s only human and should be called to account for his misdeeds. What’s really interesting is that the herd is beginning to turn; the American people are slowly waking up, to smell the longhorn stew that’s been simmering in the crock up on Pennsylvania Ave.
Check out this post at the Post.
The overall results were written up in Tuesday’s story by Richard Morin and Claudia Deane: 45 percent of respondents said Bush should be censured or reprimanded for the warrantless wiretapping program while 53 percent said he should not. The response was more decisive on impeachment, with just one in three voters supporting such a move.
See? One third of Americans polled believe Bush should be impeached. That’s Amazing. Fewer people said Clinton should be impeached when his illicit affair was first revealed. [Link]
If Congress actually had the balls to hold hearings, this president would go down. And lest we forget, his crimes are far from victimless.
It’s not easy to find photos of Iraqi children that look like normal children. Mostly, they’re standing around corpses, climbing on disabled tanks, or lying in hospital beds, bleeding or with their skin burned off. Don’t believe me? Google away!
The war on Iraq never made any sense. It was not necessary. And now we’re facing far more real concerns, and our defenses are weakened, stretched thin. Our treasury has been drained of untold billions, for nothing but to get revenge on Saddam Hussein for trying to kill Bush’s dad. Isn’t this basically what ended the empire of Rome?
We have met the enemy, and we have elected him.
you know
“… President Bush is denying he’s planning an air strike on Iran, and you know what that means. He’s planning an air strike on Iran.”
— David Letterman
cell phone privacy
I received this e-mail from California Senator Barbara Boxer:
Dear Friend:
I am pleased to let you know that the Senate’s Commerce Committee has agreed to my amendment that would expand privacy protections for cell phone users. This is very good news for consumers who want to keep their numbers confidential and who do not want to receive or use valuable cell phone minutes on unwanted calls.
Incorporated into a larger consumer telephone record protection bill, my amendment prohibits the listing of cell phone numbers in a wireless directory without the subscriber granting permission. It requires cell phone companies to give consumers clear notice on their right not to be listed and prohibits carriers from charging customers for keeping their numbers private.
There are more than 180 million wireless subscribers in the United States today. Without the protections provided in my amendment, the cell phone numbers of millions of Americans could be at risk. Subscribers not only could face annoying calls and higher bills, but could also have their privacy and security violated by unwanted calls from stalkers or other criminals. As this legislation moves forward, you can be assured that I will keep working to protect consumers.
Sincerely,
Barbara Boxer
United States Senator
I absolutely support this legislation. I’m surprised that cell phone companies would treat us any other way.
you’ll thank me
I’m going to offer you a bit of free advice. Take what you like …
If you avoid seeing one movie in 2006, make it Derailed. Whatever it takes, don’t see this film. Don’t succumb to the alluring cast, which includes Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston. Don’t be drawn in by the plot, which is really as hard to swallow as barbed wire coated in cough syrup. If you see it in a video store or on netflix, slam your hand in a drawer to ease the temptation to rent it. If you want to see violence for its own sake, at least have some fun doing so, and see Kung Fu Hustle instead. At least it won’t leave you feeling the need for a cold shower to snap you back into reality.
Update: To be honest, I left the room about half way through. The movie was making me very anxious. In retrospect, I probably would have actually liked it if I’d been watching it home alone, where my viewing habits are much different. I like to watch a movie in two or three sittings, over a few evenings, along with other activites. Derailed is so intense, and the protagonist is such an unbelievable victim, that I got overwhelmed that I wanted to line up the screenwriter, director and producer/s, and mow them down with a studio golf cart.
missing me much?
Well I haven’t posted in several days, but my readers seem to be taking it in stride. Good for you! The family has gathered at brother Joe’s chalet, far north in the cool and drippy woods, for nephew T’s 5th birthday kidstravaganza. The main event was yesterday, down a road a fur piece, at the nearest Chuck E Cheese. I came out a bit over-stimulated, but since I didn’t eat anything I’m recovering nicely. Pizza is evil for me.
I’ve got a bunch of pictures on the handy camera, but I won’t post anything for a couple of days, after I get back to el condo del cielo. I know you’re all jonsin’ for my erudite effluent, but you must be patient. So in the mean time, I highly recommend this poem, Patience by Katherine Larson.
Metaphor 