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 [...]