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Sunday, September 30, 2007

free association #37 
Crook :: thief
Career :: fair
Freckles :: juice
Scramble :: eggs
Mistake :: cover up
Telephone :: call
Thank you :: note
Obstruction :: of justice
24/7 :: open all day
SciFi :: channel

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Friday, September 28, 2007

this is post #1314 
funny.


what's more exciting? 
post #1313 or #1314?


Thursday, September 27, 2007

oh, the itching 
i am covered in a very severe case of what i am assuming to be hives.

any suggestions?


Wednesday, September 26, 2007

adorable photo of the day #23 

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rich-poor divides 


this guy posts pics of extreme rich-poor divides, apparently using google maps. there's more, take a look.

talk about relative deprivation.

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Tuesday, September 25, 2007

it's official - the UCR 
the uniform crime report has been officially released [i posted about this earlier in the summer].

overall crime has dropped, though some violent crimes have increased. here's the report, available for your perusal.

talkleft weighs in and suggests that we don't get fooled by headlines. they also point out that overall crime is the lowest in 30 years.

NORML points out that marijuana arrests now comprise nearly 44 percent of all drug arrests in the United States and

the total number of marijuana arrests in the U.S. for 2006 far exceeded the total number of arrests in the U.S. for all violent crimes combined, including murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
that's nice. prison nation.

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Sunday, September 23, 2007

football question 
watching football today, the little one asked what was the most points scored in a game.* good question.

turns out it's the redskins. in 1966 the skins scored 72 to the giants 41. this is also the game in which the most points were scored between both teams, for a total of 113.

* this was, of course, sparked by the eagles having scored 56 points.


Friday, September 21, 2007

sharing secrets 
i'm a librocubicularist.


Thursday, September 20, 2007

FYI 
i've been dreaming about staples lately...

odd, i know. wonder what that means.


amazon recommendations 


why is amazon recommending The Communist Manifesto to me? is it trying to tell me something?

btw- that pig thing is a webkinz. the kid has been mentioning them as of late. i think it is all the rage among the ten year old girls.


i wish more people thought like this 
my sentiments exactly. at the shelter, people bring in the nastiest stuff! i understand the thinking that 'something is better than nothing' but we get so many donations [of the same old stuff, there are always many items in need] that we can afford to be a bit picky. good news for the homeless.

in It’s All Too Much, Peter Walsh has this to say about pawning off your stuff on charities: [via]

Goodwill receives a billion pounds of clothing every year. Ultimately, they use less than half of the clothes they get. Clothing is cheap, and the cost of sorting, cleaning, storing, and transporting the clothes is higher than their value. If you wouldn’t give an article to a family member, it’s probably not good enough for charity. Sure, it’s great to get the tax deduction and it makes you feel like you didn’t waste money buying the clothes, but if you’re truly charitable, be sensitive to the needs of the organization. Charities aren’t dumping grounds for your trash.


Wednesday, September 19, 2007

i don't care to discuss 
the eagles so far this season.

but there is a story, here, where my-smilin-man mcnabb discusses how race is an issue in the nfl. specifically, black quaterbacks face greater scrutiny. now, i've never played in the nfl, nor am i a black quarterback, but i believe this to be true. at the very least, why should it be any different in the nfl than in the greater society?

the story is a preface to HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" to be broadcast Tuesday.


math [and battery] tricks 
no calculator needed. for example, to multiply larger numbers by 5:
Take any number, then divide it by 2 (in other words, halve the number). If the result is whole, add a 0 at the end. If it is not, ignore the remainder and add a 5 at the end. It works everytime.
detailed explanations are provided. these are neat for sure. but it still takes less effort to grab a calculator.

also from lifehacker today, you can hack into a 6 volt battery and find 32 AA batteries. awesome!


Tuesday, September 18, 2007

there's some truth in this 
"Every funny person in the world was from Canada."

taken from 8 Celebrities You Won’t Believe Aren’t American. i'd like to add Ryan Stiles to this list.

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Sunday, September 16, 2007

but he's cute 
i'm referring to this 'useless cat.'


Saturday, September 15, 2007

link of the week month 
the link of the week feature [on the right] should be renamed, at the least, link of the month, due to my slackness as of late. yes, i think i will change that.

this is featured now.


procrastination 
Lina Medina, 1933, gave birth at the age of 5, and is the youngest confirmed mother in medical history.

here's a cute cartoon showing the 'circular nature' of christian arguments.

this man can really work an Etch-A-Sketch.


Friday, September 14, 2007

cheating brings a clever sanction 
for the patriots and bill belichick: he's been fined $500,000 and the team $250,000. but here's the part i like: the team loses a first round draft pick next year [assuming they make the playoffs, which they invariably will. if not, they lose a second- and third- round guy. this is a quite clever way to punish a team for any advantage they received.]
It was the biggest fine ever for a coach and the first time in NFL history a first-round draft pick has been confiscated as a penalty.
more here.


Thursday, September 13, 2007

were the judges in texas drunk this morning? 
cause this one finally did something right.


what walmart knows 
for some reason, this story on GMA this morning interested me. because [according to the reporter] 89% of americans shop at walmart, they know some stuff about us. they know what we buy, at least, and that may say a lot:

  • we buy more bananas than anything else. my thoughts here is that it is a cheap fruit, and most kids find it agreeable.

  • we buy frozen pizza [sales have increased 12 times in the past 10 years].

  • the second most popular shopping day [after black friday] of the year is Dec. 23 followed closely by Dec. 22. more last minute shoppers, like myself.

  • Ohio buys the most TVs. New Mexico, Wyoming and California lead the nation in dog food purchases. Maine is the state for cat lovers. the average female shopper at walmart is a size 14 who wears a size 8½ shoe. the average man's shoe size is a 10½. also, which some might find interesting. sales for boxers and briefs are tied [though southern men prefer boxers]. we love those southern men.


  • Tuesday, September 11, 2007

    it's patriot day 
  • i think a colleague of mine would appreciate this, based on his comments last night in class. it's table for two: a program to donate a school meal in a developing country for every "healthy" meal purchased at participating company cafeterias, restaurants, or retailers. [via chris uggen]

  • in response to bob at tvsquad: given that your post about picard for president states that it's the 20th anniversary of ST: TNG, it makes me feel old, too!

    btw- that was always my favorite star trek.


  • Monday, September 10, 2007

    rules of thumb 
    If the term "lift-kit" is in your vocabulary, you've never kept a journal.


    Friday, September 07, 2007

    curb service 
    i've seen so many doumar's bumper stickers lately, i'm wondering if they are giving them away free* with the saltboxes.

    * in truth, i think they must be.


    Wednesday, September 05, 2007

    steroids and concussions 
    chris benoit, the WWE wrestler who killed his wife on a friday, his son on saturday, and hanged himself on sunday, is back in the news. after those tragic events in june, it was then found that he was on steroids, and testosterone to compensate. [later WWE restrictions on steroid use were enforced.]

    remember when there was the news that some people at WWE seemed to know of the weekends events beforehand? [info here.]

    can either of these things help explain why this man, who some say was quite the family man, suddenly went 'nuts?'

    well, now they have tested his brain. and according to the doctor on GMA this AM, he snapped due to repeated concussions and the resulting damage to his brain. [no link yet here's one.]

    i would need to hear much more about this. the doctor's interview was not convincing.

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    Tuesday, September 04, 2007

    report says affordable housing scarce 
    more proof of the obvious:

    click for larger image "Data from the Census Bureau’s 2005 American Community Survey, which forms the basis of the report’s housing findings, show that in all five South Hampton Roads cities, half or nearly half of the renter population spends 30 percent or more of its income on rent and utilities ... 'Families who pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing are considered cost-burdened and may have difficulty affording necessities such as food, clothing, transportation and medical care'...

    'There was a time when affordable housing was considered to be a problem afflicting primarily the poor, or minority groups subject to discrimination,' the report states. 'No longer. Our current housing-affordability challenges impact young Caucasian adults, many single parents, workforce professionals such as teachers, firefighters and police, and elderly citizens living on limited incomes.'"

    this is the stuff i write about all the time. that doesn't make me any less bothered by it.

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    Sunday, September 02, 2007

    carnival game tricks 
    whether you are trying to win a toy for a child, or a date, you may be one of the many who spend a zillion dollars trying to win prizes at the carnival or fair. maybe this will come in handy.

    an example: Balloon Dart Throw
    The balloons are under-inflated, and the dart tips are dull. Forget accuracy and throw the dart as hard as you can. Most people aim for the middle, so the game operators will often hide the "good prize" tags behind balloons on the outside edges.
    oh, and say your birthday is in october.


    Saturday, September 01, 2007

    i bet you can't guess the race 
    of the recent and scheduled Texas executions. nope, this is not a trick question.


    adorable photo of the day #22 

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    the good news is that i get none of these this semester 
    profgrrrrl relays an email from a student that reminds me of the good things about not teaching this semester.

























    you made it down here?

    what? you want a reward?