Quick Hitts

I happened on this site whose mission is encouraging people to waste their lives on superstition. I especially liked the FAQ, which encourages a vow of poverty (becuase the Vatican is so austere) and chastity (insert your own pedophile priest joke here.)
But what really caught my eye was the creepy graphic on the home page. [...]

One of the best ways to understand a country is through the eyes of a forginer. Their lack of familiarity with the place gives them a fresh perspective on a country that’s unavailable to people who were born there. We still rely on the writings of Alex de Tocqueville for the definitive [...]

Urologists the UK are warning parents that young boys can’t be trusted to pee on their own.  “Crush Injuries” from falling toilet seats are on the rise.
They’re warning against wooden and ceramic toilet seats, and those stainless steal ones with the sharpened, perforated edges on the front are right out.  They’re advising that “soft fall” [...]

This just in from Defective Yeti:
“The Federal Reserve today cut a key interest rate to zero, allowing borrowers to get money for nothing. In a related move, the Fed also set the short-term lending rate of chicks to free.”
Get the rest of the story here.

It’s not surprising that areas that don’t get snow very often are paralyzed when a snowstorm hits. You can’t fault the DPW in Tennessee for not having the equipment or experience necessary to handle a once in a decade snowstorm.
But places that do experience snowfall on a regular basis should be expected to have [...]

When people say “It’s a free country,” I always ask where they live, because it sure isn’t the US.
I’m old enough to remember when the United States was a fairly free country, but these days just keeping track of all the assaults on our freedoms and civil rights is a full time job. And [...]

This article, How to Commit Armed Robbery in Six Easy Steps, is only moderately amusing.  Now, if someone were stupid enough to take it seriously, that would be funny. 
You can tell from their pictures that these three women are not exactly rocket surgeons.  They followed the article’s advice: “On a side note, you [...]

(This post, with just a bit more embellishment, is now available as a podcast.)
Thursday night an ice storm hit the Northeast. Power flicked off and on a bit, but didn’t go off, and we went to bed.
Friday morning, about 5:30, we were awakened by a squeal from the cellar. All the power was [...]

No comentary neccssary. This is perfect as is.

Source

(This article is also available as an episode of the Quick Hitts Podcast, with a bit more commentary.)
It started with the Helena fraud.  The city of Helena, Colorado, instituted a smoking ban, and then rescinded it six months later.  Two “researchers” claimed that during while the ban was in place heart attack admissions dropped by [...]

I visited the Discover site to see the outakes and extras for Mythbusters.  Most were only a few minutes long, but every one started with a 30 second commercial that couldn’t be bypassed.  I watched a couple of clips, and left, never to return.
I’m seeing this more and more on video sites.  First it was [...]

I’ve been a fan of O’Rourke’s since back when the National Lampoon was funny.  His articles  on world politics have always been not only insightful, but funny as hell.  It’s not often you can get Smartenized while laughing. 
His article “We Blew It” is generating a fair amount of buzz, but I wanted to point [...]

I’ve been watching Heroes since the first episode, more or less enjoying it, but I don’t know how much longer I’ll bother. The most recent episode, a two-parter, really jumped the shark.
The show has been an interesting rip off of X-Men, but has had problems from the beginning. They introduced so many characters [...]

I deal with Christmas differently than most atheists.
I celebrate it. I put up lights and a tree and give gifts and say “Merry Christmas” and mean it. I’ve played Santa Claus on several occasions, with the full costume, enjoyed it, and will probably do it again.
Devout Christians rail against how secular the holiday [...]

I’ve subscribed to Wired for years. At a buck an issue, it makes for good bathroom reading. If it goes up to a buck and a quarter, though, I’ll let my subscription lapse.
You can study good design by A) studying good design and learning from it and B) studying really bad design and [...]

I’m working on a project that needs some into, outro, and background music. I’d like to use music that sounds like music from the late 80’s: Bands like Ah Ha, Supertramp, The Eurymithics and maybe a hair band or two. Since this will be distributed as a podcast, it has to have a [...]

The Republican Part is in shambles. They are now a minority in congress, and more importantly, they’re regarded as far-right fundamentalists by many Americans. They’ve allowed the fundies to take over the party, and the results have been disastrous.
They’ve abandoned their core principles. They claim to be the party of small government, [...]

I swear I’m not going out looking for stories about cops shooting dogs. They’ve just become so common that I stumble across them every couple of weeks in the course of casual surfing.
This time it was in Pittsburgh. A sheriff’s deputy, looking to serve papers on someone, went into the wrong backyard, where [...]

The 1969 Woodstock Festival was the defining moment of my generation. Nearly a half million people attended, and twelve million of them will eagerly tell you about being there.
I’m wondering if the inauguration of Obama will be this generation’s defining moment. How many hundreds of thousands of people will be crowding the capital [...]

It’s over.  Finally!  I enjoy the theater of politics (and am fully aware that it is nothing but theater) but this was like watching Warhol’s movie “Empire” (a single eight hour shot of the Empire State building) without taking a pee break.
The Good
In every election there is fraud, chicanery and a bit of honest [...]