And that's a Bad Thing?
"I blame Congress over the last 50 to 100 years for not standing up and taking its responsibility given to it by the Constitution. The reason the judiciary has been able to impose a separation of church and state that's nowhere in the Constitution is that Congress didn't stop them. The reason we had judicial review is because Congress didn't stop them. The reason we had a right to privacy is because Congress didn't stop them. "
- from an interview with Tom DeLay in The Washington Times. (emphasis mine)
15.4.05
14.4.05
Agathidium bushi, Agathidium cheneyi, Agathidium rumsfeldi
Not a demon-summoning chant, but a trio of newly-named mold-eating beetle species which are grouped under the heading of "Rove Beetles."
Life on Earth:
Eukaryotes:
Opisthokonts:
Animals:
Bilateria:
Ecdysozoa:
Arthropoda:
Hexapoda:
Insecta:
Pterygota:
Neoptera:
Endopterygota:
Coleoptera:
Polyphaga:
Staphyliniformia:
Staphylinoidea (A.K.A. "Rove Beetles") (Latreille 1802):
Leiodidae (Fleming 1821):
Leiodinae (Fleming 1821):
Agathidinii (Westwood 1838):
Agathidium:
(bushi, cheneyi, rumsfeldi)
- news item from BBC News.
- biological classification from Tree of Life
Not a demon-summoning chant, but a trio of newly-named mold-eating beetle species which are grouped under the heading of "Rove Beetles."
Life on Earth:
Eukaryotes:
Opisthokonts:
Animals:
Bilateria:
Ecdysozoa:
Arthropoda:
Hexapoda:
Insecta:
Pterygota:
Neoptera:
Endopterygota:
Coleoptera:
Polyphaga:
Staphyliniformia:
Staphylinoidea (A.K.A. "Rove Beetles") (Latreille 1802):
Leiodidae (Fleming 1821):
Leiodinae (Fleming 1821):
Agathidinii (Westwood 1838):
Agathidium:
(bushi, cheneyi, rumsfeldi)
- news item from BBC News.
- biological classification from Tree of Life
13.4.05
12.4.05
11.4.05
Take an Ego Trip without Leaving your own Land
"By clearing forest so that a pattern would be visible to landing aircraft, a landowner outside Austin, Texas, created a target that is also useful for evaluating spatial resolution of astronaut photographs. The forest was selectively cleared in order to spell the landowner's name 'LUECKE' with the remaining trees. According to local surveyors who planned the clearing, the plan was to create letters that were 3100 x 1700 ft (944.9 x 518.2 m).
"Astronaut-acquired Orbital Photographs as Digital Data for Remote Sensing: Spatial Resolution." Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center. 10 Nov. 2004.
(via Google Sightseeing, via Waxy.org:Links)
"By clearing forest so that a pattern would be visible to landing aircraft, a landowner outside Austin, Texas, created a target that is also useful for evaluating spatial resolution of astronaut photographs. The forest was selectively cleared in order to spell the landowner's name 'LUECKE' with the remaining trees. According to local surveyors who planned the clearing, the plan was to create letters that were 3100 x 1700 ft (944.9 x 518.2 m).
"Astronaut-acquired Orbital Photographs as Digital Data for Remote Sensing: Spatial Resolution." Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center. 10 Nov. 2004.
(via Google Sightseeing, via Waxy.org:Links)
7.4.05
Pay with $2 Bills, Wait for the Secret Service in Leg Irons
PUT YOURSELF in Mike Bolesta's place. On the morning of Feb. 20, he buys a new radio-CD player for his 17-year-old son Christopher's car. He pays the $114 installation charge with 57 crisp new $2 bills, which, when last observed, were still considered legitimate currency in the United States proper. The $2 bills are Bolesta's idea of payment, and his little comic protest, too.
For this, Bolesta, Baltimore County resident, innocent citizen, owner of Capital City Student Tours, finds himself under arrest.
Finds himself, in front of a store full of customers at the Best Buy on York Road in Lutherville, locked into handcuffs and leg irons.
Finds himself transported to the Baltimore County lockup in Cockeysville, where he's handcuffed to a pole for three hours while the U.S. Secret Service is called into the case.
[...]Finally, Secret Service agent Leigh Turner arrived, examined the bills and said they were legitimate, adding, according to the police report, "Sometimes ink on money can smear."
For Baltimore County police, said spokesman Bill Toohey, "It's a sign that we're all a little nervous in the post-9/11 world."
Google Cache
PUT YOURSELF in Mike Bolesta's place. On the morning of Feb. 20, he buys a new radio-CD player for his 17-year-old son Christopher's car. He pays the $114 installation charge with 57 crisp new $2 bills, which, when last observed, were still considered legitimate currency in the United States proper. The $2 bills are Bolesta's idea of payment, and his little comic protest, too.
For this, Bolesta, Baltimore County resident, innocent citizen, owner of Capital City Student Tours, finds himself under arrest.
Finds himself, in front of a store full of customers at the Best Buy on York Road in Lutherville, locked into handcuffs and leg irons.
Finds himself transported to the Baltimore County lockup in Cockeysville, where he's handcuffed to a pole for three hours while the U.S. Secret Service is called into the case.
[...]Finally, Secret Service agent Leigh Turner arrived, examined the bills and said they were legitimate, adding, according to the police report, "Sometimes ink on money can smear."
For Baltimore County police, said spokesman Bill Toohey, "It's a sign that we're all a little nervous in the post-9/11 world."
Google Cache
5.4.05
I did not know that.
"Under Britain's system, the prime minister can choose an election date any time within five years of the last vote and announce its timing about a month in advance."
- Blair calls for election May 5 - CNN story
"Under Britain's system, the prime minister can choose an election date any time within five years of the last vote and announce its timing about a month in advance."
- Blair calls for election May 5 - CNN story
31.3.05
"I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it." - Mitch Hedberg, 1968-2005
(obituary at Pioneer Press.)
(obituary at Pioneer Press.)
30.3.05
Answers to Your Questions
Question
I think I could do better if you let me invest the Social Security I pay into an Individual Retirement Plan (IRA) or some other investment plan. What do you think?
Answer
Maybe you could, but then again, maybe your investments wouldn't work out. Remember these facts:
-Your Social Security taxes pay for potential disability and survivors benefits as well as for retirement benefits;
-Social Security incorporates social goals - such as giving more protection to families and to low income workers - that are not part of private pension plans; and
-Social Security benefits are adjusted yearly for increases in the cost-of-living - a feature not present in many private plans.
- From the Social Security Administration's Help Pages.
Question
I think I could do better if you let me invest the Social Security I pay into an Individual Retirement Plan (IRA) or some other investment plan. What do you think?
Answer
Maybe you could, but then again, maybe your investments wouldn't work out. Remember these facts:
-Your Social Security taxes pay for potential disability and survivors benefits as well as for retirement benefits;
-Social Security incorporates social goals - such as giving more protection to families and to low income workers - that are not part of private pension plans; and
-Social Security benefits are adjusted yearly for increases in the cost-of-living - a feature not present in many private plans.
- From the Social Security Administration's Help Pages.
24.3.05
Something I've Always Wanted to Do
Brilliant guerilla artist Banksy surreptitiously installed his own works in four museums in New York City.
Banksy in Wikipedia
Brilliant guerilla artist Banksy surreptitiously installed his own works in four museums in New York City.
Banksy in Wikipedia
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