Bad subhead claims iPod is a "target"

Sometimes the sub-headline is pretty anti-factual:"Porn Sites Specifically Target New iPod Video". When they say targets, you'd think porn purveyors were sitting behind a chirping bank of computers, chuckling evilly as their evil smut hacked it's way into the iPod's of innocents. The other interpretation was sadly locked away inside the aforelinked story, where one presumes the sub-head composer was unable to see it:

Some businesses in the adult entertainment industry are specially making files for the iPod

The story has the usual suspects crying out "what about the children", with the assumption that our entire civilization should be redesigned around a hypothetical five year old Christian child. You and I may find it unpleasant that some iPod owners may wish to see boobies while holding a small device in their hand, but let's not pretend they're victims.

Please Joe, save me from the brain eating kids

Senator Joe Lieberman, among others, are objecting to video games. Specifically, the dangers entailed when the dancing pixels on the screen representing characters munch on human entrails.

In Stubbs the Zombie, the lead character eats the brains of humans as blood splatters across the screen.

'It's just the worst kind of message to kids,'; said Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., who joined institute officials at a press conference announcing the group's 10th annual video game report card. 'They can be dangerous to your children's health.'

How true. Just the other day in Lakewood I noticed a group of teenagers devouring the head (and presumably, brains) of a City Councilman. Hardly a day goes by when I walk to work where I don't need to wield a torch, hockey stick, or machete to fend off nine and ten year olds on the way to school. Due to these games, they frequently attack passers by in their quest for the sweet taste of blood.

Now you may think the First Amendment - or as we call it at my house, the Amendment of the Devil - protects the fictional depiction of cannibalism, skateboarding, or whatever else makes the self-appointed guardians of messages to children angry. If you feel safe from kindercannibalism, feel free to keep living in your ivory tower my friend, it my soon turn scarlet with your own blood.

Smaller Government

Senator Arlen Spector, having solved all of America's problems, is bitching about how the NFL is treating a particular player. When our elected officials have time to screw around with sports, I think maybe we have too many officials trying to score press with fans, and too many officials wasting public money building stadiums (don't want to get shot). Next up, the Senate may investigate who stole Bre's granola bars on America's Next Top Model.

The danger of rhetoric

Maybe Paul Martin needs a shake up for other reasons - said Martin:

I hope my children understand it was you who helped build Canada

Paul Wells had the best response to a rhetorical question I've seen in a while:

Boy, so do I. His children are all past 30, and the three of them co-own a major international shipping company.

So in Right wing bloggerland, it's all due to the sponsorship scandal, and Martin is doomed due to it, and pretty soon a pro W. Bush government will come to Canada, and we'll start shipping polar bears to scare all the terrorists out of Iraq. For those who have actually noticed Canada before the last two or three years, though, we're used to minority governments and elections. Most Canadians probably got more upset when they pulled Don Cherry from Hockey Night in Canada. And even if the Liberals don't form a majority or a minority, it's doubtful any party in this election will form a majority...meaning they will have to cooperate with such right wing dream parties as the Bloc and the NDP. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for those polar bears.

Shorter Reynolds

To summarize what he said: GOP, I wish you were less busy being indicted so you could tell me your great ideas for government.

Stein conflates Iraq and bin Laden

Ben Stein has this to say, in part, about Democrats on pulling out of Iraq

The Democrats want us out of Iraq and never mind that the Baathists will fill the vacuum and all Iraq will be screaming in pain except the murderers, who will exult -- especially Osama bin Laden. Can it be that the Democrats really want to surrender to the same man who killed 3,000 civilians on 9/11 and laughed about it?

Is he saying bin Laden is in Iraq? That invading Iraq was a direct response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks? That sending resources there before bin Laden was caught in Afghanistan (or even Pakistan) was a good idea? This seems to be begging the question of why invading Iraq helped the war on terror more than say, invading Pakistan or Saudi Arabia might have. Not understanding this might also stand in the way of analysis of when and how the US would one day leave Iraq.

Never count your money while sittin' at the table

I'm not opposed to the idea of a casino in Cleveland, I just don't think the government needs to spend dime one on it if it's economically viable. Cleveland Mayor-elect Frank Jackson is skeptical as well, which in my mind gives him some extra chips. Note these two quotes about casinos:

In Detroit, three casinos generate $150 million annually in taxes and fees while the city "is in the dumps," [Jackson] said.

Contrast with this sunnier view:

A study the partnership released in August showed casinos in Ohio could generate $8.2 billion annually and create 85,000 jobs

This boils down to 610 million in tax revenue (link follows) if you accept the gaming industry study. An anti-casino take is also in this link. I get the feeling the gambling gang is trying to take a swig of our whisky for little in return.

Bush on the job

Some - including 60 Minutes contributor Andy Rooney - think President Bush spends too much time away from the White House. I think there are a couple of problems with this line of thinking. As M_ pointed out to me last night, part of the President's job is to go overseas on trade and diplomatic missions. As for the time he spends in Crawford, it probably sticks in the craw of the more liberal of us as many do not like Bush - and think that by being at his ranch he's not working hard enough. I don't think it makes any difference if he's in Crawford or Washington as to how much work he actually does. People who think it would be better if he hung out at the White House all the time are the same crowd thinking that staying late at the office every day means you're working harder. To me it just means you're too inefficient to get things done during normal business hours. Thinking the Pres will do a job more in line with your political views if he sits at a desk longer is just plain silly. Would they rate how he's doing highly if he had more hours working out some nifty spreadsheets? Are they afraid no one will call him if he's not in the Oval Office? Perhaps they think it looks "unpresidential". For those of you not from America, when they say their leader is looking more or less "Presidential", substitute "royal" and it clarifies what they mean.

Unfortunate questions

Some say I ask too many questions. Some say I'm rather annoying. But I can't help but feel annoyed that the Partis Québécois (not to be confused with the blog québécois) wants to have Canadian laws to a certain extent, and use our passports, and our currency. And then selectively ignore laws to let them seperate and make a country out of the province of Québéc. But if you live in a world where you can selectively ignore facts, I might ask where the English language section of the party website. Perhaps I should give up talking politics on here as I have found people mostly tend to read what they already agree with. Eventually all political web sites will consist of pictures of the opposing leaders, with all the readers of each blog offended by the very face so much that words are no longer needed.

I should move to areas that could be fraught with interest. That being said, let me announce now my plan to be the Medical correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor

Walk the Line

Let it not be said that I am not reviewing any movies here. The new Johnny Cash biopic, Walk the Line is an interesting take on the man in black. Some wonder if Joaquin Phoenix can pull off the role, but I think this clip (requires Quicktime) shows that Joaquin has Cash nailed. I think the hat really helps, as well.

Money well spent?

Last graf of a story on the county health dept:

The Health Department already distributes about $800,000 for sex education programs in seven high-risk communities. Two school systems offer comprehensive sex education, while five use the money for abstinence-only education.

I would like to offer my services for several health-related programs for the low low price of $200,000:

- anti-drowning program consisting of me yelling at kids to stay out of the damn water, possibly with some fist shaking for emphasis
- anti-drinking and driving program. I will explain to kids how much more they will enjoy drinking and driving after they are married.
- anti-corruption. Teaching kids that only by paying me money that won't go to schools, can we explain to them that taking bribes is wrong. Really, really wrong!!! This program features an unprecedented number of exclamation points, which have been known since the days of Socrates to be the irresistable force of logic and reasoning.

After all, if you avoid explaining biology to kids, they are unlikely to have sex. Look at all the millions of years of pre-history, when no one had sex until married in a church or suitably holy cave, not knowing what sex even was due to a lack of left-wing, anti-family pamplets.

The future media?

I say this with the conviction of someone who does not plan to write a blog for a living, either now or ever, but I think blog hype is just a little bit out of control.

Seen on Little Green Footballs:

Open Source Media is a new multi-aspect business concept in which many of the top superstar and mega-hyper superstars of the internet blogosphere have formed a powerful alliance

. Per Sitemeter stats on of Instapundit, who is generally known to be the most popular blogger: Average Per Day 156,256.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer, by comparison, has a daily circulation of 883,690, most of which presumably involve reading for longer than the 4 second average length of the Instapundit reader. And that's the top blog. And, I am sad to say, the PD is a paper I don't even like, that is not generally thought to be among the big national papers. Now there is a difference of scale - the PD has a whole staff, Reynolds is just one guy, ergo he could conceivably beat up the PD on costs alone to make a better profit one day. Blogs are growing, papers are shrinking. But sometimes I think the excitement over blogs is a little 90's net-bubble-like. Or, maybe I'm crazy and people will make money hand over fist and have superbowl ads with sock-puppets and generally take over the world.

Answering rhetorical questions

Glenn Reynolds gets an email that states

I think it's about time the 'Bush led Americans to believe Saddam was connected to 9/11' meme has to die.

Hmm, yes.

MR. RUSSERT: The Washington Post asked the American people about Saddam Hussein, and this is what they said: 69 percent said he was involved in the September 11 attacks. Are you surprised by that?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: No. I think it's not surprising that people make that connection.

MR. RUSSERT: But is there a connection?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: We don't know. You and I talked about this two years ago. I can remember you asking me this question just a few days after the original attack. At the time I said no, we didn't have any evidence of that. Subsequent to that, we've learned a couple of things. We learned more and more that there was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda that stretched back through most of the decade of the '90s, that it involved training, for example, on BW and CW, that al-Qaeda sent personnel to Baghdad to get trained on the systems that are involved. The Iraqis providing bomb-making expertise and advice to the al-Qaeda organization.

We know, for example, in connection with the original World Trade Center bombing in '93 that one of the bombers was Iraqi, returned to Iraq after the attack of '93. And we've learned subsequent to that, since we went into Baghdad and got into the intelligence files, that this individual probably also received financing from the Iraqi government as well as safe haven.

(link). I'l let Dick know the meme must end now.

Friday photoblogging

Uncool choices, facts pulled out of "somewhere"

Bill Callahan is a Cleveland blogger who is, as I would like to coin the term, full of facts some might term inconvenient. He takes a look at a Cool Cleveland controversy that featured a flurry of comments on Brewed Fresh Daily. Given the relatively fluffy nature of Cool Cleveland it's not all that surprising. Bill manages to zero in on a detail that does not put a good light on anyone that was critiqued in this dust-up

So... here we have Voices and Choices preparing its Town Hall participants for a discussion of 'challenges' related to regional governance by giving them a dramatic -- indeed politically incendiary -- 'fact' that's been lifted, uncredited, from another organization's material, which also offers it without a source and can't provide the source when asked.

I don't know if pointing out flaws in "facts" is considering carping, but it's valid to question the wisdom of those professing to offer advice on how to develop our economy if they can't back up assertions.

November blogger meet-up

The monthly blogger meetup was at The Town Fryer this month, and veered between delicious southern cooking, chaos, and the occasional series of questions and discussions. George Nemeth of Brewed Fresh Daily had some pictures here, and I snapped a couple as well...




This month, there were very rapid intros which I was not able to write down, so we're still looking to see if anyone wrote down a list of links which I will add here if I find them. There was some discussion from a non-blogger from Seniors Connect about how to draw older folks into the web. Jeff Hess of Have Coffee, Will Write had an ingenious suggestion to get Seniors using Flikr to view and share photos of their grandkids, something they already do in the analog world. Also noted, with a librarian present, was the extreme ephemeral nature of this medium of blogs. I advised against getting hung up on the many buzzwords which to non-bloggers sound like Star Trek Speak: blogs, wikis, podcasts, blogikis, plogs, plogikis.

There was also talk that we should begin having a "Carnival of the NEO blogosphere", but the person behind the idea was not there, so that may be on hold unless some brave soul takes up the reins. I didn't quite understand one person who wanted Tim Russo of Democracy Guy to answer personals questions in the style of Dear Abby, which is akin to chopping green onions with a chain saw.

UPDATE: 11/17/2005 5:31 PM Jill fleshes out the Carnival idea here.

Some folks who said they got ripped off by their domain host for their blog asked how much we should expect from hosting services, and what recourses we legally have. I said they should try and seek out domain host review sites, to avoid having the website hosted in someone's apartment in Seattle, and dumped when they decide to move. They point that it's up to each blogger to take care of backups on their own even if their host says they will do it for you.

All in all, a little random but informative meeting.

Town Fryer

M_ and I enjoyed an evening out at The Town Fryer on Superior in Cleveland. They had the monthly blogger meetup so we decided to try the Cajun themed restaurants wares. It's an inauspicious looking building nestled near the train overpass on Superior, and if you didn't know how carefully the food was prepared you might not look twice. Below is the excellent Fried Chicken:

It's boneless skinless chicken breast breaded nicely without a single hint of grease. The fries are excellent, crunchy, and not oily, and all in all they manage to give you the fried experience without the usual risk of artery hardening you would expect. M_ enjoyed a hot dog and their very well prepared onion rings...

It's not easy to get fried food that both satiates man's ancient hunger for Southern-esque comfort food without resorting to an overabundance of oil, but they do it here. The menu - which has many first-person asides to let you know it's not a coporate souled chain - also has some catfish dishes, and an intriguing sounding fried macaroni I'll have to try on another visit.

Update: 11/17/2005 5:23 PM George adds: "my chick po' boy was mighty tasty."

Ohio funding stemmed?

In a race to make sure no one thinks Ohio is smarter than, say, Kansas, they're trying to ban funding of stem cell research.

Rep. Mike Gilb, a Findlay Republican who wrote the House version, said he talked to some stem cell scientists...

Just to interject, this makes me think of listening to someone in ages past who says "I've spoken with many women, and believe me, they don't want the vote!" - end interjection

...when writing his bill. Jordan said he relied on research by anti-abortion groups for his argument that adult stem cells are superior to the embryonic kind.

Gilb has also argued that dozens of treatments for disease have resulted from research on stem cells that come from adults, while none has come from embryonic cells.

Statements like that are among the reasons for the fact sheet, Carlson said.

"So far passion is ruling the legislation and not the status of the technology,'' Dennis said.

Adult stem cells, which are in tissues such as bone marrow, the liver and the lining of the intestines, have been researched for about 50 years, said Douglas Kniss, an OSU professor. Embryonic stem cells were first isolated in 1998.

Whoops. far be it from me to say the Ohio government shouldn't bow to the throngs of those they fear, though.

Knock-off blogging

It's not "Fantastik", but it's simply "Fabulous".

A billion served

Since I've moved away from Nova Scotia, the famous bridges across Halifax Harbour are nearing their billionth crossing. The lucky crosser will win a home theatre system and a shark trip. Like most Nova Scotians, I crossed many a time from Dartmouth to Halifax. Halifax is known as one of North America's oldest ice-free ports, a fascinating college town, and cultural center. Dartmouth is famous as the town your drive through to get to the bridge. It used to be you could get across for 50 cents, but now the price has gone up to several dollars and an optional pelt. From the bridge you could always see the habour and the occasional cruise ship docking, tourists flocking down to the waterfront and the historic properties to buy fridge magnets shaped like lobsters. The gently sloping hill coming down from the old Citadel fort allows the college students passing out at the many bars to gently slide down to the docks in the winter, where they could then visit the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

Many have crossed the bridges, whether it's commuters going to the 99% of the provincial government jobs in Halifax, tourists looking to see if you can ski on Citadel Hill, or the average bluenoser trying to get away from yet another tedious description of the Halifax explosion, the iconic bridges will always signal an escape from our otherwise desperate lives, and for that we should salute them. And to those depressed by the thought of the coming winter, please don't consider jumping from these symbols, as I have many friends and associates who park underneath.

Just when you thought it was safe to soul-kiss transvestite prostitutes in Bangkok

It's almost enought to make you cynical.

Clothes make the North Korean woman?

Arguably the most insane country on earth, North Korea, is whining about women wearing pants - and not the metaphorical kind deried by misogynists here in America.

'Keeping alive our dress style is a very important political issue to adhere to specific national cultural traditions at a time when the U.S. imperialists are maneuvering to spread the rotten bourgeois lifestyle inside North Korea,' the Joson Yeosung (Woman) magazine said, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

Oh, North Korea, you're so campy you make John Waters cringe. No to worry, my friend. The bourgeois lifestyle includes things your people won't have, like food.

Blog wanderings...The Paragraph

Found an interesting news blog called The Paragraph by Quinn Hungeski. The aforelinked story has a footnoted summary of the whole Plame mess who find it "confusing".

Rules of thumb

Call this the Machaskee Rule:

If the Cleveland Plain Dealer is in favour of something, as Roldo Bartimole points out on Lakewoodbuzz.com, its probably the most rational course to oppose it.

This is the now ignomious "Believe in Cleveland" campaign, which on the grand scale of stupidity is somewhere between thinking giving Wal-mart tax breaks will help the economy and thinking the city will improve and change course by electing one of it's two current top officials.

Neighbours dig (literally) our ivy bed

So we spent about $500 on a new ivy bed out back, which I thought looked nice (those pics might be called the new 'before')...then our neighbours, without warning, decided to dig a trench right through it:

They were thoughtful enbough to leave pieces of wood and debris - as well as all the torn up roots and dirt - on top of the surviving ivy. How much does a 10 foot stone wall with iron spikes on top run for?

Cat blogging

Won't win this contest, being Biblically incorrect

Here I was thinking I might win $100,000 in a writing contest (link via Jessa Crispin of Bookslut). But then I read this passage in the rules

Biblical quotations must be taken from an accepted and popular edition of the Bible, such as the New International Version, The Living Bible, the King James, or the Revised Standard Version.

So I can't quote the version of the Bible my uncle Rory gave me, which has the story of the ten strippers, with ten apostles heads on plates, not to mention being one of the rare versions of the Bible to feature chapters written from the point of view of a cat.

T-shirt mania grips Columbus: tens of people said to be concerned

Abercrombie and Fitch has some new t-shirts out causing a stir in our beloved "City-with-one-less-sniper-recently"

The Columbus-based retailer is selling shirts marketed to teenage girls bearing slogans such as 'Give me something to scream about,' 'I had a nightmare I was a brunette,' and 'I'd look great on you.'

The aforelinked TV news story even enlists a psychologist to talk about the negative effect the shirts could have on girls. But while we're busy pontificating about what's written on shirts, we shouldn't ignore old evils that have been allowed to fester in the cotton heart, as it were, of the t-shirts of the world's children. I refer of course of the dreaded "Too cool for school" shirts, which are doubtless still ruining the educational system wherever good people are afraid to throw them into burning piles.

A study in contrasts - a bus stun gun attack versus good manners

Back in my old stomping grounds of Halifax, NS some teenage thugs used a stun gun on a woman on a bus

: The group then began harassing the woman. When the boys got off the bus two spat on her and one shocked her, causing the woman to cry out.

The story by Davene Jeffrey goes on to mention that Metro Transit is enacting a "good manners" program:

The transit system is planning on launching a good-manners program. 'There tends to be a growing trend toward not treating people as they should,” Ms. Patterson said...

I've never quite understood the theory that when someone starts assaulting others, a class in why you should not assault others is called for...It reminds me of the drive to try to teach more ethics classes in business schools in response to the Enronesque scandals of recent times. Perhaps we do need classes to correct crime, though...

Crime	Class
Tire iron to the knee	Etiquette for Dummies
Murder	How to make friends and not slaughter people
Armed Robbery	Sharing and Caring 200: don't knock over banks
Kidnapping	How to avoid mailing human ears
Bombing abortion clincs	Why Mr. Explody is no one's friend
Stabbing	Blood, and why you should leave it inside other people

Novel ideas

Mel of the life cycle of a fruit fly is working a finishing a novel in a month, per the National Novel Writing Month project (link). This is one of those ideas just insane enough to work. Although I have to consider I will have little to no time to work on this for about 12 hours per day, not counting sleep....if I actually start this insane thing, I'll keep you apprised.