Monthly Archives: May 2006

Who Says NPR is Stuffy?

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NPR : A Cabinet and Blog Shakeup

Who says that? Because this post about why they had to change this week’s Blogger On Duty is funny. Not only are both Steve Inskeep and Scott Simon on jury duty this weeek, but no one else was available, either:

What made matters worse is that everyone approached by NPR’s management was unavailable. Bill Jefferson was busy cleaning out his freezer. Harry Reid was at some boxing match. Lou Dobbs was redoing the fence outside of his house — and extending it to somewhere near the Mexican border. Kiefer Sutherland was on a vacation cruise to Shanghai.

Snerk. Ken Rudin is quite fine, and quite funny, as this week’s blog host. I tend to prefer JJ Sutherland, but he’s not always available (such as now).

Out With The Bathwater, Into The Dryer

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BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Australian baby ‘put in dryer’

Samuel Siddall, 21, was left in charge of his girlfriend’s baby while she went to the gym for an hour, police said.

She returned to find the baby had suffered serious burns. Doctors notified police because of the suspicious nature of her injuries.

They expect the baby to make a full recovery and leave hospital this week.

Is this guy clinically STUPID? Even I know better than this.

First you have to rinse the juice off, or it’ll be set by the heat of the dryer.

(Yes, this is mordant humor. Deal.)

And now for the reality-based analysis of this story – I don’t know who is more stupid here, the boyfriend, or the girlfriend who went off and left the baby (evidently not his) with him. You never leave the baby with the boyfriend. Sometimes, you don’t even leave the baby with the babydaddy. The well-being of the baby is in jeopardy, because too often, the boyfriend really doesn’t want it around, or can’t deal with it when the baby won’t stop crying. That’s where things like “shaken baby syndrome” come from.

In the animal kingdom, leaving an infant with a male that is not its sire is likely to result in a dead infant, because it’s not to the genetic advantage of males to leave infants that they didn’t father alive. In some species, the mother never lets the father near the infants, because he’ll kill them just to bring the female back into heat or estrus or whatever (doesn’t make sense, but that’s how it is).

Fortunately, humans don’t operate exactly like primates or felines (great and small), or there would be a lot more dead infants and boyfriends attempting to make lame excuses like “I put her in the dryer ’cause she spilled on herself.”

Yeah, right.

EU: Passenger Name Record Deal Illegal

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EU court voids pact on data on passengers – Business – International Herald Tribune

The European Union’s highest court ruled Tuesday that an EU-U.S. deal on passenger data was illegal, saying it did not provide adequate privacy protection for European travelers.

The trans-Atlantic agreement compels European airlines to turn over 34 pieces of information about each passenger – including name, address and credit card details – within 15 minutes of departure for the United States. Washington maintains that the information is vital to combat terrorism, and it has warned that airlines will face fines and a loss of landing rights if they do not comply.

The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, however, found that the data would not be “adequately protected” by the United States.

I work with this kind of information every day. In my world, each reservation I make is called a “Passenger Name Record (PNR).” I’ve often wondered at how easily some of the information could be snagged inappropriately – especially now in light of the NSA domestic wiretapping scandal, and how easily some phone companies rolled over and provided data. It would be just as easy for US airlines (and more to the point, US airline reservations vendors, which are often separate entities) to provide a “feed” to the NSA.

I’ve been somewhat aware of the controversy swirling around PNRs and data privacy for a while now, mostly because of Edward Hasbrouck’s travel/privacy related blog category. It’s interesting that now, government and judicial bodies outside the US are emboldened to call a US request or policy “illegal.” He recently posted on this very issue.

I have to hope that our own judicial would also call this policy “illegal” for domestic travel within the US, too.

Shatner: Going Boldly with Ponies for Peace

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I can’t decide if this is a crazy idea, or yet another Kirk Maneuver; just crazy enough to work:

The Seattle Times: Horses can help disabled kids

JERUSALEM — The captain who dared to “boldly go where no man has gone before” has targeted a new destination: William Shatner believes he can contribute to Middle East peace by helping disabled children through horseback riding. The former “Star Trek” actor was in Israel on Monday to promote “therapeutic riding.” He hopes to raise $10 million for nearly 30 riding programs in the country. Shatner said that placing injured people on horseback has been shown to improve their conditions. “We know that
the use of a horse in their therapy takes them beyond their handicapped body, their injured body, and into another area of health,” he said.

I’m not sure if getting different groups of disabled children together will actually do anything, but it’s an interesting concept.

In Memoriam

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I don’t really have that much to say about Memorial Day that stems from personal experience. I can talk a little about the VA from personal experience. Basically, I had a small income that Mom put away for college and things because Pop was a veteran, and he died of a service related heart ailment. I remember getting checks from the VA, and having to register in a special line in college because of my benefits. I wasn’t a very good student and I regret that, now. I got a couple of hundred dollars a month
that basically got signed directly over to my alma mater (hence the special line). I ran across an article today about how little money the children of fallen Iraq and Gulf War vets get nowadays… and was shocked to find it’s not much more than I got. Apparently, our wonderful Congress (both parties) failed to institute a timely and retroactive increase in survivor benefits, and there are inequities galore.

When I think of Memorial Day, I don’t think of barbecues or shopping the big happy fun sales. I think of endless rows of headstones in huge cemeteries all over the globe – Arlington, Normandy, and Hawaii – and little American flags placed on each grave.

It’s strange how forgetful we are on Memorial Day.

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Sex Education: Not Just For Horny Teenagers

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local6.com – News – STDs Running Rampant In Retirement Community

A doctor blamed Viagra, a lack of sex education and no risk for pregnancy for the spike in sexually transmitted diseases at The Villages.

Yep, STDs are running rampant at a retirement community in Florida. It’s probably traceable to just a few old guys with more little blue pills than sense who refuse to wear raincoats.

Bleach is available for sanitizing your brain after reading this story.

Police Aren’t Perfect

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From One Utah � Blog Archive � Police Aren’t Perfect

Police aren’t perfect, but this cop comes close to winning the ingenuity award.

A driver did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection. The tailgating woman behind him went ballistic, pounding on her horn and screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to drive through the intersection with him.

Still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed and placed in a cell.

After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

He said, “I’m awfully sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping the guy off in front of you, and cursing a blue streak at him. I noticed the “Choose Life” license plate holder, the “What Would Jesus Do?” bumper sticker, the “Follow me to Sunday School” bumper sticker and the chrome plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk. Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car.

It’s an oldie, but a goodie – it’s been kicking around Google and on a number of joke sites for years.

Quality Driveway Delivery

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Mom’s still not getting her morning paper delivered to her front stoop; the Salt Lake Tribune’s “Quality Driveway Delivery” means she still has to get all dressed just to get the news.

I sent an email to the Home Delivery Manager at the Trib, and if she doesn’t start getting her paper on the porch soon, it may be time to pick up the phone and call some honchos. My niece Holly got porch delivery reinstated, so Mom ought to be able to get it, too.

Here’s the list, right handy:

Find an Employee Search Results

The Defiant Requiem

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NPR : Verdi’s Requiem Revived as WWII Tribute

I heard my friend Debbie singing on the radio the other morning… she’s one of the musicians that performed this piece! When she told me about the project I was so thrilled for her, because she’s had some amazing performance opportunities with the Washington Chorus, and this one just gave me chills when she told me about it.

According to the NPR story we heard Monday morning, they performed Verdi’s Requiem (AKA, the Defiant Requiem) on Sunday in the Terezin concentration camp (she tells me the performance space had been an old barn.

During WWII, hundreds of prisoners in the Terezin concentration camp in Czechoslovakia performed Verdi’s Requiem as a way to passively defy their Nazi captors. On Sunday, American musicians performed the same requiem in the former Nazi camp as a tribute to Terezin’s victims and survivors.

There were survivors in the audience; the whole undertaking commemorates the power of the human spirit to fight for life and dignity to the end. These people went down fighting, and singing, for their lives. May the original performers be at peace, and let the echoes of Sunday’s performance reach to the highest vaults of heaven so they will hear that they are not forgotten.

Trainwreck Confessional

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Dog has his day despite tragedy | Chicago Tribune

HONOLULU — Duane “Dog” Chapman, star of A&E’s reality show “Dog the Bounty Hunter,” has married his longtime sidekick, Beth Smith.

The sunset ceremony on the Big Island took place Saturday, a day after the death of Chapman’s daughter. Barbara Katy Chapman, 23, was killed in a car accident near her home of Fairbanks, Alaska.

Okay, first of all, that’s pretty sad. Trainwreck though their lives may be, losing a child on is bad enough,

I have to confess that I occasionally watch “Dog The Bounty Hunter.” I know all about Dog and Beth, and Beth’s incredibly unique fashion sense, and her incredibly fashion-forward boobs, which jut shelf-like from her sternum in a fantastic way. Often, they are adorned with patriotic flags and such.

Dog also has the most carefully maintained mullet I’ve ever seen, and he has a unique belief system that combines bad-boy biker chic with come-to-Jesus fervency.

The show portrays them as people with a job to do – they appear to be trashy, but the image is part of what gets the job done, because the bail jumpers they track down both fear and revere him. It’s cool to be brought in by the Dog, but also you’ll get a tough-talking sermon on the ride in.

I had to comment about this next bit about the wedding:

Besides his trademark mullet, Chapman wore white jeans to match his white leather vest, boots and American Indian jewelry, representing his heritage.

Smith wore an off-white lace gown with nude backing designed by Eduardo Lucero.

Favors include dog tags with the inscription “Dog & Beth. Captured. May 20, 2006.”

Yowza. I’m sure the wedding pictures will be eye-popping. Gotta love them – they really go for broke in the tacky tasteless couture department. Can’t wait to see Beth in (or mostly out) of the dress.