Monday, June 30, 2008
Tunguska
One hundred years ago today, the so-called Tunguska Event, apparently a mid-air explosion of a meteor, levelled the trees across an area of more than a half million acres (~830 square miles).
Friday, June 27, 2008
500 Year Flood
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Fryer Grease
Fryer grease has become gold. And just over a year ago, I had to pay someone to take it away.
-- Nick Damianidis, an owner of the Olympia Pizza and Pasta Restaurant in Arlington, Wash., on grease thefts, New York Times, 30 May 2008
-- Nick Damianidis, an owner of the Olympia Pizza and Pasta Restaurant in Arlington, Wash., on grease thefts, New York Times, 30 May 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Code For The Maintainer
Always code as if the person who ends up maintaining your code is a violent psychopath who knows where you live.
-- From theC2 Wiki Page, http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?CodeForTheMaintainer
-- From theC2 Wiki Page, http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?CodeForTheMaintainer
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Only God Who Appointed Me
Only God who appointed me will remove me -- not the [opposition party] MDC, not the British. ... We will never allow an event like an election reverse our independence, our sovereignty, our sweat, and all that we fought for, all that our comrades died fighting for.
-- Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe, in power since 1980, regarding his presidential run-off vs. MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai
-- Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe, in power since 1980, regarding his presidential run-off vs. MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai
Monday, June 23, 2008
RIP George Carlin
I love and treasure individuals as I meet them; I loathe and despise the groups they identify with and belong to.
-- George Carlin (12 May 1937 - 22 June 2008), Grammy-winning American stand-up comedian, actor, and author, "Ready or Not, Here Comes Another Book", Georgecarlin.com, 2007-01-19
-- George Carlin (12 May 1937 - 22 June 2008), Grammy-winning American stand-up comedian, actor, and author, "Ready or Not, Here Comes Another Book", Georgecarlin.com, 2007-01-19
Friday, June 20, 2008
Windshield Vs. Bug
Some days you're the windshield, some days you're the bug.
-- Captain Phillip Ash, commander, Company K, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, Ramadi, Iraq, New York Times, 23 October 2005
-- Captain Phillip Ash, commander, Company K, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, Ramadi, Iraq, New York Times, 23 October 2005
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Eight To Twelve Minutes? No Way
The Unhealthiest Drink in America
Baskin Robbins Large Heath Bar Shake (32 oz)
2,310 calories
266 g sugar
108 g fat (64 g saturated)
Let's look at America's Worst Drink in numbers:
73: The number of ingredients that go into this milkshake.
66: The number of teaspoons of sugar this drink contains.
11: The number of Heath Bars you would have to eat to equal the number of calories found in one Baskin Robbins Large Heath Bar Shake.
8-12: The average number of minutes it takes to consume this drink.
240: The number of minutes you'd need to spend on a treadmill burning it off, running at a moderate pace.
-- Mens' Health Magazine, via health.yahoo.com,
19 May 2008
Baskin Robbins Large Heath Bar Shake (32 oz)
2,310 calories
266 g sugar
108 g fat (64 g saturated)
Let's look at America's Worst Drink in numbers:
73: The number of ingredients that go into this milkshake.
66: The number of teaspoons of sugar this drink contains.
11: The number of Heath Bars you would have to eat to equal the number of calories found in one Baskin Robbins Large Heath Bar Shake.
8-12: The average number of minutes it takes to consume this drink.
240: The number of minutes you'd need to spend on a treadmill burning it off, running at a moderate pace.
-- Mens' Health Magazine, via health.yahoo.com,
19 May 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Earlids
The best thing about radio is that people were born without earlids. You can't close your ears to it.
-- Anthony Schwartz (19 August 1923 - 15 June 2008), American sound archivist and advertising creator, best known for the controversial Daisy TV ad for the 1964 Lyndon Johnson campaign
-- Anthony Schwartz (19 August 1923 - 15 June 2008), American sound archivist and advertising creator, best known for the controversial Daisy TV ad for the 1964 Lyndon Johnson campaign
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Habeas
The test for determining the scope of this provision must not be subject to manipulation by those whose power it is designed to restrain.
-- From the Supreme Court's decision restoring the writ of habeas corpus to prisoners at Gitmo
-- From the Supreme Court's decision restoring the writ of habeas corpus to prisoners at Gitmo
Monday, June 16, 2008
Worst?
The United States Supreme Court yesterday rendered a decision which I think is one of the worst decisions in the history of this country.
-- John McCain, NBC 13 June 2008, regarding the recent "Habeas" ruling by SCOTUS
-- John McCain, NBC 13 June 2008, regarding the recent "Habeas" ruling by SCOTUS
Friday, June 13, 2008
Oh No!
I've been doing everything I can to kill him off for 30 years, but he seems to be coming back.
-- Walter Williams, on Mr. Bill, the character he created for "Saturday Night Live" who will appear in a MasterCard ad campaign, New York Times, 3 June 2008
-- Walter Williams, on Mr. Bill, the character he created for "Saturday Night Live" who will appear in a MasterCard ad campaign, New York Times, 3 June 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Cheaper Oil
The greatest thing to come out of [the Iraq War] for the world economy, if you could put it that way, would be $20 a barrel for oil. That's bigger than any tax cut in the any country.
-- Rupert Murdoch, Guardian newspaper, 11 February 2003, when oil sold for $34.53 per barrel (it's $134.31 today)
-- Rupert Murdoch, Guardian newspaper, 11 February 2003, when oil sold for $34.53 per barrel (it's $134.31 today)
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Burden Of Proof
Any curtailment of freedom has a burden of proof.
-- Noam Chomsky, Media Matters, 6 June 2008
-- Noam Chomsky, Media Matters, 6 June 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Ridiculous
Imagine a world in which generations of human beings come to believe that certain films were made by God or that specific software was coded by him. Imagine a future in which millions of our descendants murder each other over rival interpretations of Star Wars or Windows 98. Could anything -- anything -- be more ridiculous? And yet, this would be no more ridiculous than the world we are living in.
-- Sam Harris, author (1967- )
-- Sam Harris, author (1967- )
Monday, June 09, 2008
HRC Bows Out
The way to continue our fight now, to accomplish the goals for which we stand, is to take our energy, our passion and our strength and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama the next president of the United States.
-- Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, bowing out of the presidential race, NY Times 8 June 2008
-- Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, bowing out of the presidential race, NY Times 8 June 2008
Friday, June 06, 2008
Violence
Victims of the violence are black and white, rich and poor, young and old, famous and unknown. They are, most important of all, human beings whom other human beings loved and needed. ... [W]hen you teach a man to hate and to fear his brother, when you teach that he is a lesser man because of his color, or his beliefs or the policies that he pursues, when you teach that those who are different from you threaten your freedom or your job or your home or your family, then you also learn to confront others not as fellow citizens, but as enemies. Our lives on this planet are too short, the work to be done is too great. But we can perhaps remember, that those who live with us are our brothers, that they share with us the same short moment of life, that they seek as do we, nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and in happiness. Surely this bond of common fate, this bond of common roles can begin to teach us something, that we can begin to work a little harder, to become in our hearts brothers and countrymen once again.
-- Robert Francis Kennedy (20 November 1925 - 6 June 1968), American politician, "On the Mindless Menace of Violence", speech, City Club of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio, 5 April 1968, the day after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated
-- Robert Francis Kennedy (20 November 1925 - 6 June 1968), American politician, "On the Mindless Menace of Violence", speech, City Club of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio, 5 April 1968, the day after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Tetris In Real Life
I got a job at Fed Ex and it is like playing tetris in real life.
-- Kim Compton, Champaign, IL, 22 May 2008
-- Kim Compton, Champaign, IL, 22 May 2008
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
269m
Eddy Merckx: 49.431km in 1 hour.
In 1972 Eddy Merckx flew to Mexico City to attempt one of the most challenging monuments in sport: the hour record.
Before the advent of advanced carbon materials, disc wheels and lightweight components, the hour record stood as the ultimate measure of man-powered machine.
The day's effort has only been topped twice by traditional bicycles as recognized by the UCI. In 36 years the distance traveled in one hour has grown only 269 meters.
-- Spoke 'N' Word blog
In 1972 Eddy Merckx flew to Mexico City to attempt one of the most challenging monuments in sport: the hour record.
Before the advent of advanced carbon materials, disc wheels and lightweight components, the hour record stood as the ultimate measure of man-powered machine.
The day's effort has only been topped twice by traditional bicycles as recognized by the UCI. In 36 years the distance traveled in one hour has grown only 269 meters.
-- Spoke 'N' Word blog
Monday, June 02, 2008
Extent To Which You Resist
The state can't give you freedom, and the state can't take it away. Freedom is something you're born with, and then one day someone tries to deny it. The extent to which you resist is the extent to which you are free.
-- Bruce "Utah" Phillips (1935 - 2008), labor organizer, folk singer, storyteller, poet; "Golden Voice of the Great Southwest"
-- Bruce "Utah" Phillips (1935 - 2008), labor organizer, folk singer, storyteller, poet; "Golden Voice of the Great Southwest"
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