Friday cat blogging (sorta)
(“`-”-/”).___..–””`-._ `6_ 6 ) `-. ( ).`-.__.`) (_Y_.)’ ._ ) `._ `. “-..-‘ _..`–‘_..-_/ /–‘_.’ ,’ (il).-” (li).’ ((!.-‘ Found in Calpundit’s comments.
Archive of entries posted on February 2004
Rats!
What’s your definition of unpleasantness? I have many, but close to the top is having a kitchen range exhaust fan’s blades blocked by a dead rat. The vent goes down below the floorboards and outside, and it (presumably) has a flap over the opening, but somehow…well, you get the picture (or the odor).
Scientific outrage
I’ve been squalling about the Administration’s politicization of science and scientific advisory panels for some time (see here, here, here, here, and here). Now a group of scientists, including 20 Nobel laureates, has weighed in in agreement with me and all the previous articles I cited. The two documents accuse the administration of repeatedly censoring …
Good cops
The NRA’s leadership is disingenuous in its support of legislation to protect gun dealers from lawsuits. So says Chief William J. Bratton of the LAPD. So, he and 80 other police officials have begun an ad campaign to lobby the US Chamber of Lords Senate to vote down a bill which would do just that. …
Mean or Green?
This is a content-free posting. Greenest Cars, 2004. Not an American make in the bunch. Meanest Cars, 2004. Half of them are American, and virtually all are SUVs. Those are the picks of the American Council for an Energy- Efficient Economy. Rejoice or repent as your situation suits.
Neocons explained
They said Saddam had WMDs. He didn’t. They said he was in league with Osama bin Laden. He wasn’t. They predicted that no major postwar insurgency in Iraq would occur. It did. They said there would be a wave of pro-Americanism in the Middle East and the world if the United States acted boldly and …
Halliburton and privatization
Here’s a rather damning article about Halliburton in particular and crony capitalism in general from The New Yorker. It details the “revolving door” between government and industry, among other things, citing Vice President Cheney’s dealings as just the most obvious example. One rather startling item: somebody estimates that if all the jobs Halliburton and its …
Follow-ups
Our week of diary-keeping for the Nielsen people ended Wednesday night. I’m afraid that none of the exotica (The Bachelor, Survivor, etc.) got any votes from us. In fact, if you look at the evening logs, it’s really boring. Local news at 5:00pm, ABC news at 5:30pm, local news again at 6:00pm, the News Hour …
Translations wanted
Professor Juan Cole of Informed Comment is starting a project to: translate important books by great Americans and about America into Arabic, and to subsidize their publication so that they can be bought inexpensively. I hope also to subsidize their distribution. This is a non-profit project, but until it grows large enough to become a …
Scientifically speaking…
Shangri-La no more? The Dalai Lama has “concluded that to achieve genuine happiness, it is important to understand both inner consciousness and external phenomena,” so he’s asked that science and math be incorporated into monastic teaching. More at (I love this URL!) Science for Monks Dot Org. If that’s not enough science for you, go …