gregladen | April 25, 2009
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
gregladen | April 24, 2009Well, at some level, you should be worrying now. This is serious. But there are a lot of other things you should be worried about as well, such as the nuclear threat and, if you live in tornado alley, tornadoes. But when do you have to start paying attention to current information, bulletins, and so on, and to perhaps start planning to alter your behavior (like, not going to Mexico, or wearing around a mask and staying in the house, or perhaps something in between)?
The World Health Organization (WHO) has a threat level system. The lowest threat level is 1, the highest is at 6. The good…
gregladen | April 24, 2009I was trying to explain to a friend who does not read my blog what I'd written about a set of related topics, and realized that what I've done may be a bit confusing. So, I've assembled the titles and links to these posts into a simple chronological list. If you've only read one or two of these, you might want to read them all. Or, just go back to sweeping out your garage, or whatever you were doing this fine day.
This is also relevant in relation to the Pro-Test thing that has been going on.
From Graduate School to Prison: What is the rational argument for ELF or ALF?
Dinner at Azia…
gregladen | April 24, 2009I had mentioned earlier the discovery of Morris the Jewish hardware store owner and Mr. Bryne the Jewish department store owner. There are two ways in which Jewish people seemed to play a disproportionate role in the retail world when I was growing up. In fact, there was an overarching ethnicity to much of the business community; Diners tended to have been owned by Greeks, sit down restaurants tended to be Italian; and clothing and textile stores Jewish.
In those days, much of the clothing worn by my mother and sisters was made by my mother on her sewing machine using patterns she'd buy at…
gregladen | April 24, 2009I had the strangest afternoon yesterday. I went and picked up Julia at school and brought her back to the U. My plan was to attend the retirement party of an honored colleague, Phil. The first strange thing was hanging out for fifteen minutes or so with my 13 year old Daughter at the University cafeteria ...
... Of course, I 've hung out with her on campus before, but not recently, and not so much post/mid prepubescently. This was strange because it was actually easy to imagine her there as a frosh in some far away college in a few years from now.... (shudder).
So then I went up to the…
gregladen | April 24, 2009Well, a person who edits. Are editors passe, no longer of use, old school, in the New Media of the Internet?
Maybe. Maybe not.
Here is a post suggesting that Editors have a role, and an important role, and I have a feeling that this is going to be the beginning of an interesting discussion.
gregladen | April 24, 2009The first 100 days of totally stupid crap about Obama from the right wing.
gregladen | April 23, 2009The World Digital Library has released the first in a new set of ancient documents. I'm very excited that this includes quite a bit of Sumerian material, because that is what I've been reading lately.
gregladen | April 23, 2009Al Franken is about to be seated as the Junior Senator from Minnesota after a long and costly battle between loser Norm Coleman and Senator Franken. Al won the election by just a few hundred votes, and three of those votes are mine.
So, we have me and about 100 other people just like me to thank for overthrowing the Coleman Regime. Let this be a lesson to all of you who have the opportunity to vote and do not, or who have the opportunity to go out and work for a few hours for a candidate but do not. You are missing out.
How did I get three (or maybe more) votes for Al? Well, one of them…
gregladen | April 23, 2009Please read these over and get back to us in the comments section.
The Startling Effects of Going Vegetarian for Just One Day
13 Breathtaking Effects of Cutting Back on Meat
gregladen | April 23, 2009With all the Internet attacks that exploit Adobe Acrobat Reader people should switch to using an alternative PDF reader, a security expert said at the RSA security conference on Tuesday.
Of the targeted attacks so far this year, more than 47 percent of them exploit holes in Acrobat Reader while six vulnerabilities have been discovered that target the program, Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer of security firm F-Secure, said in a briefing with journalists.
source
But what are the alternatives?
gregladen | April 23, 2009Educator alert: The best example of the Naturalistic Fallacy EVAH!!!! The money quote is....
"Carbon Dioxide is Natural. It is not harmful. It is part of earth's life cycle. And yet we are being told we have to reduce this natural substance, and reduce the american standard of living, to create an arbitrary reduction in something that is a naturally occurring in the Earth."
Here it is... Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann:
hat tip: dump bachmann
gregladen | April 23, 2009
... he went to a foreign country.
... he said "we are not a Christian Country."
... he had religious icons covered up on the stage where he gave a speech (which has been absolutely standard practice for years).
... what would President Abraham Lincoln Do?
.... all American Citizens should be required to pray.
Shouldn't there be a rule against using your floor time in Congress to pray?
Details here.
gregladen | April 23, 2009Next time I get down on you slack-jawed yokels in Texas, which could be any time, I don't want to hear any flack. No excuses. You can take my critique in the gut and live with it OR you can tell me to stuff it. But the latter is only an option if you get off your bovine Texas asses and do what you need to do.
State Board of Education Chairman Don McLeroy, R-Bryan, faced searing questioning during his uncommonly long confirmation hearing Wednesday at the Senate Nominations Committee.
And Chairman Mike Jackson, R-La Porte, said McLeroy's nomination is on shaky ground because he might not be…
gregladen | April 23, 2009I just received a very threatening email from Dave Mabus. Dave is a christian who is rabidly anti atheist. As a person he is about as pleasant as a bad rash and as an intellect he makes a walnut look smart. Very few people send me truly threatening emails and get away with it for long. Remember the Turkish Spammers? I took care of them right good, didn't I. (Details will not be forthcoming ... just notice that they are not around here any more.) And I'd take care of Dave as well, except for one very important detail. He wasn't threatening me, he was threatening my friend and colleague…
gregladen | April 23, 2009It is not easy to quit smoking. It is not easy to be blogger. My friend DuWayne is trying to do both at once.
I'm a soon to be ex-smoker. My name is DuWayne Brayton and I have been smoking for about sixteen years now. I've had enough - though embarrassingly, it has taken the price of tobacco doubling, for me to decide to quit. ... I am hoping to hear from you. I would really like to get some other smokers - current and ex, to post their stories.
If you would like to contribute, you can drop a comment, or send me an email at duwayne.brayton at gmail .com. You will have to sign up for a…
gregladen | April 22, 2009Opposite Marriage ... as a term ... is now in the Urban Dictionary.
Funny. I don't think of my wife as my opposite. Obverse maybe.
"Honey, you're my obverse, and always will be."
"Do you take this man, obversely, until death do you part?"
"You are not bound in Holy Obversimony"
We Demand Reverse Marriage Rights! Marriage is not just for the Obverse!
gregladen | April 22, 2009DO NOT CLICK HERE until you have put your crash helmet on, because the stoopid is going to whack you upside the head so bad your eyeballs are going to spin like a top.
And if that was not enough stoopid for you, Jason has more.
The horror, the horror ...... Linux in Exile has undergone an upgrade. To vista .... "In that final hour, I watched Windows reboot itself no less than 5 times. Watching the progress meter, I could see that each reboot occurred after a major software component had been installed (Office, etc.) I'd almost forgotten that Windows needs to reboot for system changes or…