My wacky British chum Mrs Blubridge has been very quiet of late, but now she’ll be completely full of herself. My copy of GUS OPENSHAW’S WHALE-KILLING JOURNAL : A Novel finally arrived, and in the acknowledgements section at the back is this little item: This book wouldn’t have left the dock without Gus Openshaw’s digital shipmates, the bloggers who took part in the hunt via the internet, offering support, advice, navigational aid, and in one case, access to NASA satellite feed to help locate the blubbery bastard. They are: Annie, Bard Sinister, Bastardess, Blueberry, Mrs. Blubridge, JCanuck, Trish Cavendish, Edna,…
-
-
AP Wire | 04/20/2006 | Legendary pilot Scott Crossfield killed in small plane crash RANGER, Ga. – Legendary test pilot Scott Crossfield, the first person to fly at twice the speed of sound, was found dead Thursday in the wreckage of a single-engine plane in the mountains of northern Georgia, his son-in-law said. Searchers with the Civil Air Patrol and others discovered the wreckage of the plane Thursday afternoon but didn’t immediately identify the body inside. In the 1950s, Crossfield flew numerous experimental planes at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and was a key figure in the development of the…
-
Mayor Overrules 2 Aides Seeking Food Stamp Shift – New York Times Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg took the rare step yesterday of overruling his own top two social service officials, deciding not to pursue a federal waiver that would make it easier for able-bodied childless adults to receive food stamps. Well, crap. It seems the left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing (or vice versa).
-
Through the power of the Internet, I’ve been able to get a copy of a picture of a lovely young thing named Marella Stockdale. She’s the second from the left – that’s my mama. I will be working on this image a bit to clean up the edges – but I wanted to get this up. When I called Mom tonight we were talking about old friends and long-ago family memories. She told me the tale of the allegedly “hot” turkey that wandered up the alley behind the family home in Colorado Springs, and how she and her sister Ginny…
-
The secret of FOX News: they use special technology on their website and in the graphics of their broadcasts to make their message more compelling than other, lesser news organizations. Basically, they embed this special technology so that it enhances their message without overwhelming it. Click here to see the unembedded technology that makes them the most trusted news source by right-thinking Americans.
-
Chicago Tribune | Ryan found guilty on all counts At a news conference after the verdict, Ryan said he will appeal. “The decision today is not in accordance with the kind of public service I’ve given to the people of Illinois over 40 years,” he said. What the heck kind of post-verdict statement is that? Is he saying he deserves a pass and a pat on the back for all his years of service? Is he actually justifying his actions??? Yes, there were screwy things going on with the jury in the last couple of weeks. But this comment makes…
-
Police seek warrant for second person in Mormon scriptures theft Late Tuesday or early Wednesday, someone broke through a window at the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Memorial Museum and stole 12 rare editions of the Book of Mormon and one rare copy of the Doctrine and Covenants. They’ll catch the second man soon. It will be interesting to know if the thefts were meant for the rare documents market, or if they were meant for a more specialized, ultra-conservative religious documents market. Hmm.
-
Saw an item at Tennessee Guerilla Women about the upcoming Easter Egg Roll at the White House. It seems this year that Laura Bush invited all families – even gay ones. Goodness. Wish I could be there to see the fun when the kids are squabbling over the last chocolate egg and the nice white right Christian parents are edging away from the pairs of mommieses and daddieses. By the way, I’m more inclined to think this might be Rumsfeld’s next career move. UPDATE: It seems the event was a success in spite of rain – no hitches, very low-key,…
-
Nevada Thunder ? Blog Archive ? Enemy of the Planet Has Exxon Mobil’s war on climate science actually changed policy for the worse? Maybe not. Although most governments have done little to curb greenhouse gases, and the Bush administration has done nothing, it’s not clear that policies would have been any better even if Exxon Mobil had acted more responsibly. But the fact is that whatever small chance there was of action to limit global warming became even smaller because Exxon Mobil chose to protect its profits by trashing good science. And that, not the paycheck, is the real scandal…
-
Cost of Illegal Immigration May Be Less Than Meets the Eye – New York Times But before concluding that immigrants are undercutting the wages of the least fortunate Americans, perhaps one should consider Ohio. Unlike California, Ohio remains mostly free of illegal immigrants. And what happened to the wages of Ohio’s high school dropouts from 1980 to 2004? They fell 31 percent. This would have been interesting to know yesterday when we were sitting around the family dinner table debating the immigration issue at my husband David’s parents’ house. If you’re an American high-school dropout, you’ve got a whole lot…