Category: Uncategorized

Posted on

Holey moley, indeed!

Well, maybe this will get the attention of those troglodytes over at NASA
 
heh
 
I’m no fan of the “Kill space exploration” efforts by entrenched bureaucrats over at NASA, but this seems a little much. From Overlawyered via a tip from a commenter on Jerry Pournelle’s Chaos Manor in Perspective‘s Current Mail page, yesterday:
 
Russian court: astrologer can sue NASA
 
“A Russian court has ruled that an astrologer can sue NASA over plans to bombard a comet whose destruction would ‘disrupt the natural balance of the universe’.” Reversing a lower court, the panel ruled that it was appropriate for Russia to take jurisdiction over Marina Bai’s lawsuit, which demands $310 million…
[More at the link.]
 
I mean, OK, NASA, as it currently functions is a dinosaur that ought to be put out of our misery (heh), but this is just a wee tad much, don’t you think?
 
I guess it just goes to show ya that the good old U.S. of A. has no corner on the market of stupid lawsuits.
 
See more of this kind of thing at Overlawyered.  There’s enough overlawyering noted there to bring on one of Kim du Toit‘s (shameless plug for one of my fav blogs 🙂 patented RCOB (Red Curtain of Blood) moments… read only if your blood pressure meds are working well.  🙂
 
LIL UPDATE: Whizbang!’s generous Carnival of the Trackbacks (now in edition #XII) will have this story listed in the links.
Posted on

Secure Our Borders?

In the never-ending search for the best way to protect our borders, the U.S. government has explored many options for sealing our borders.
 
Some  of the earliest leaders in the race emerged from the idea of adapting proven technologies from the food service industry.
Containment
 

field wrap 
 
Those proved impractical for various resasons, but our intrepid leadership was not deterred. Rapid advances in new technologies showed some promise.

force field
 

“May I serve you?” 
 
Finally, congresscritters and their ilk decided the best method would be to simply require citizens to meet the ravening hordes, bowing and scraping in efforts to serve their every whim… while remaining bowed to serve the perverse desires of congresscritters from behind…
 
Welcome, IMAO readers. Come on in.  Make yourselves at home. Kick off your shoes; put your beer on the coffee table; raid the fridge.  I’m here to serve you.
 
heh
 
 

Posted on

Carnival of the Recipes #40, already? And did someone say “Comedy tonight”?

Gee this week has flown by… Wonder Woman’s de-bionicized and Carnival time has fogged in on cat feet…
 
It’s already carnival time, and Carnival of the Recipes #40 is hitting concurrently with the Carnival of Comedy . Check all the goodies in the Carnival of the Recipes #40 at Curmudgeonry . Then, after snarfing up the goodies there, laugh off the pounds with the Carnival of Comedy #4 , posted by spacemonkey at IMAO .
 
My humble offerings (“ Quick Cheese Popcorn “  and  “ Secret agent… man?“) are definitely on the lite side this week, but check them—and other posts—out while you’re here.
 
UPDATE: Resitance is Futile’s Taco Casserole is in the oven now.  My stomach’s rumbling and my mouth’s watering. Despite one silly misreading of the recipe (minor–a tad “wet” as a result, more cooking time) this recipe was as good as it looked. And it’ll be even better when I make it without the (minor) mistake.
 
UPDATE #2: (Saturday) Taco Casserole was hit last night and as leftovers today.  Gullyborg makes mention of my eagerness for some menu variation on Resitance is Futile. Circular references, here we go!  ;~)
 

Posted on

Venting Spleen

Some reviewers see “Revenge of the Sith” as poorly-scripted, badly-acted juvenile pap with so-so special effects…
 
And those are some of the better reviews from the sane folks who’ve seen it.  But what did you expect?  It’s a last gasp of a series, and it’s not as though the Star Wars movie franchise has consistently improved with age, anyway. Here’s a sample of commentary rounded up by Glenn Reynolds.
 
Oh, and Tyler Cowan, of Marginal Revolution, has a few pertinent observations about the Star Wars fictio-verse. (Yeah, Tyler! heh)
 
[OUCH! Update: Anthony Lane, writing in The New Yorker ( 2005-05-16) is just a wee tad vicious:
 
The general opinion of “Revenge of the Sith” seems to be that it marks a distinct improvement on the last two episodes, “The Phantom Menace” and “Attack of the Clones.” True, but only in the same way that dying from natural causes is preferable to crucifixion.
Lighten up, man.  It’s just a movie! h.t. “Dave” commenting at Ann Althouse’s blog]
 
Ahhh, I know some Star Wars fans (one in my own home) who’ll probably roast me alive for this post.  So?  I’ll see it when it comes out on DVD. Either as a rental or… mooching a watch off the Star Wars fan in the family.
 
OTOH, reading some of the reviews has me in the mood for something a little camp, competently scriipted and acted, maybe a wee tad B-movie-ish.
 
hmmm…
 
 
 
 
 
 
🙂
Posted on

Quick Cheese Popcorn

[BUMP!]
 
A simple snack
 
This one takes much longer to describe than to do. Really simple stuff this week, cos Wonder Woman’s cut n paste job at the cardio’s  is tomorrow was today. (Went well, her pacemaker/defibrilator is removed!)
 
Quick Cheese Popcorn
 
Ingredients
 
1 bag low-fat microwave popcorn (you’ll be adding oil later)
1 package cheese powder (from mac n cheese box mix)
oil
 
Equipment/tools
 
Microwave oven
Large bowl with lid
Pump aerosol sprayer (with your fav oil)
 
Prep
 
Pop the popcorn (There, now, that wasn’t so hard, was it? Bag in microwave, hit “Popcorn,” hard part over.)
Place popped corn in large bowl
Spray with oil (I prefer olive oil)
Cover with lid and shake to spread the oil around
Open, sprinkle with cheese powder–maybe 1/4 of the package
Cover and shake
Remove cover and eat.
 
Hard, huh?
 
Sometimes I’ll take dried serano (or other) peppers and whiz them in my “spices-only” coffee grinder, take the powder and add it to the cheese. Or maybe do the same to some parmesan cheese to add some parmesan powder to the mix. 
 
And yes, you can melt butter, drizzle it on the pocorn and then shake it up before adding the cheese powder, but why?  Butter flavor’s nice, but this is supposed to be quick and easy . And spraying it with your fav oil dispensed from one of those neat lil pump-up aerosol sprayers is as easy as it gets.
 
Next week” My fav fruit salad: “Mocking Wussie Waldorf Salads Salad.”
 

Posted on

Cardio-non-blogging today

[BUMP!]
 
Today’s the day…
 
[posing this early, but dating it tomorrow]
 
UPDATE: Procedure went well. Time in cardio recovery unit extended a bit, cos they gave her a larger dose of “happy juice.”  Still, home 2night.  Feeling well, back tomorrow for followup, then another in next 10 days or so.
 
Anyone have suggestions for selling a used pacemaker/defibrillator?  :-)  Ebay?  *VBG*
 
[UPDATED ABOVE] And while I can say it is good to know that Wonder Woman’s heart is operating at “better than normal” capacity, now, and that her last three stress tests have come back “clean, cleaner and cleanest,” it’s still always a tad stressful to tender her to the care of others for a surgical procedure, even if it is a simple “pull the device and cap the leads” procedure under a local anesthetic…
 
(There.  Was that sentence long enough to bump my Gunning Fog Index to the next level?)
 
Scheduled for 8:00; only want her there a half-hour before the procedure. She’ll be under observation for a couple of hours afterward and we’ll likely be back (with her having an opportunity for some rest) by noon-thirty.
 
I’ll be a wreck.
 
🙂
 
So it goes…
 
Posted on

Browser Wars Redux

A recent PC Magazine article had me shaking my head in amazement… at the stupidity of the author
 

Better than Internet Exploder?
Not even on the same planet.
Better than Firefox?
Yeh. By at least an order of magnitude. 
 
The PC Mag article, “ Make Your Browser Better ,” assumed that the reader would be attempting to improve Microsoft’s Internet Exploder or Mozilla.org’s Firefox—by adding functionality via add-on software, plugins or extensions.
 
OK, I’m not going to deal with the lame attempts to add junk onto Internet Exploder, since anyone who’s still using it as their primary browser pretty much deserves what it yields in the way of a crippled interface/functionality and lack of secueity for their internet experience.  Anyone who hasn’t upgraded to a better browser by now, buh-bye!
 
But for those of y’all who have been suckered by the apparent Firefox bandwagon, here’s some news: every roundup I’ve seen so far of Firefox improvements and extensions (things to download and install separate from the browser itself), including the referenced article at PC Magazine, has been replete with tools to add functions that come built into Opera, right off a fresh install!  
 
Yeh. Want the ability to highlight a word in a web page and look it up? Download and install an extension for Firefox (usually requiring a restart of Firefox–some require a reboot of your system!).  OR, just do it in Opera, cos that’s built into the software–but not just a dictionary lookup, with the same context menu, you can choose to look in encyclopedia entries, a google (or other) search, have Opera speak the highlighted text or any of a number of other options.  And you can add to that context list… without having to download and install additional software.
 
Addblock?  Sure, you can download and install a special extension for Firefox to do that.  Big. Stinking. Deal. I blocked the ads on PC Magazine’s website using a lil addition to Opera’s default CSS file.
 
Want to customize tabbed browsing and placement for toolbars?  Right.  With Firefox, you have to… download another blasted extension, install it, yadayadayada.  Opera? It’s built in.
 
Even something as essential (well, it’s become essential to me ever since Opera introduced it several versions ago along with tabbed browsing) as mouse gestures is an add-in for Firefox users.  And even there, you have to choose between competing extensions that do the same darned things! *sheesh!* Opera?  You guessed it.  User configurable.  You can toggle mouse gestures on/off.  The first time Opera notices you making something that it recognizes as a mouse gesture, it asks if you want to use mouse gestures. 
 
Oh, tons more usability features that are standard in a 3.8 megabyte download of Opera that are not included in a Firefox download that’s more than 50% bigger.  Voice recognition capability/commands? Built in. (N/A in Firefox) Image zoom? Built in. (An add-on with Firefox) The list just goes on…
 
Firefox: compared to Internet Exploder it’s wonderful.  Compared to Opera, it’s just so-so.
 
Download Opera
 
Oh, and browser speed?  Check this page, if you have the time to read through a lengthy research project.  Conclusions? Generally, Opera is the fastest web browser for Windows users and in the top 2 or 3 for Mac and Linux users for speed.  With compelling speed, a full feature set, fresh on install, almost unlimited customizability (for those who, like me, want that) and rock solid security, what’s not to like?
 
Oh, the fact that registered versions are $39 and unregistered versions have small text (or graphic–your choice) ads inserted at the top menubar space? Pfft.  I use the ad-supported version now, and I have more usable viewing space than when I use either Firefox or *spit* Internet Exploder.
 
(For the next few days, expect some of these canned posts, written up, saved and ready for posting. Probably not much over next few days’ll be current events related. Time. Other things.)

Posted on

“Drink up!”

 
heh
 
Well, if he’s got taste that’s bad enough to drink either of those “beers” he probably got what he deserved… Nah.  Getting fired for drinking a competition’s “product” while off the clock and out of uniform is just flat wrong, even if he did drink one of the few beers that tastes worse than Budweiser’s p***-poor offerings.
 
Read Whizbang!’s post and the comments, and you decide.
Posted on

“Sue the bastards!”

Too rich to pass up…
 
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – Afghanistan’s government said Tuesday that Newsweek should be held responsible for damages caused by deadly anti-American demonstrations after the magazine alleged U.S. desecration of the Quran, and it suggested that foreign forces may have helped turn protests violent.
 
Pakistan joined the international criticism of the magazine’s article and said Newsweek’s apology and retraction were “not enough.”  – MyWay News
 
 
And from the Daily Star, a Lebanese paper, this statement,
“They (Newsweek) should understand the sentiments of Muslims and think 101 times before publishing news which hurt feelings of Muslims.”–Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad
Well, pardon me, bubba, but how about sentiments of Christians when Islamic camel lovers used pages from Bibles as toilet paper after taking (and trashing) the Church of the Nativity in 2002? Oh.  No riots and murders by Christians as retaliation?  Maybe that’s because one of the differences between Islam and Christianity is that the normative influence of Christianity is toward more civilized behavior and the normative influence of Islam is toward brutality and barbarity.
 
Gee, I’m really concerned about the sensitivity of Islamic barbarians who murder women for walking without a keeper or for having been forceably raped. Blech.  Let them eat cake.  Made with pork fat.  (And may they choke.)
 
[UPDATE: more sympathy for the devil(s)]
 
The Wall Stree Journal’s Claudia Rossett offers a little perspective:
 

“Let’s pause right there. We are hearing that Muslims, infuriated by a report of blasphemy, went on violent rampages that resulted in . . . dead Muslims and burned mosques. Meanwhile, not only is Newsweek apologizing and retracting, but the U.S. government is regretting the loss of life.”

 
Yeh.  Concerned about desecration of their so-called “holy book” Muslim savages… kill other Muslims and burn mosques (in which we must assume no Korans were kept, eh?). Here’s a little sympathy for these devils: Give ’em all C4 suppositories.
 

Posted on

The Wicked Witch of the West Hexes Jeff Jarvis

Do not walk, RUN to Dan Riehl’s Riehl World View for a look…
 
…at Arianna Huffington “hexing” Jeff Jarvis of BuzzMachine.
 
And while you’re at it, bookmark or blogroll Dan’s site and make it a daily read, ‘K?
 
(For the next few days, expect some of these short or canned posts. Probably not much over next few days’ll be current events related. Time. Other things.)