Exploring the Power of Implied Regurgitation.
Archive > January 2003
Cuisine & Crime-Solving: “One of the world’s more unusual crime-solving organizations meets on the top floor of the historic Public Ledger Building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In a famed walnut-paneled meeting room, members of The Vidocq Society honor Eugène François Vidocq, the brilliant 18th century French detective who founded the Sûreté, by applying their collective forensic skills and experience to “cold case” homicides and unsolved deaths. At Vidocq luncheons, Vidocq Society Members (V.S.M.’s) evaluate, investigate, and often solve the unsolved crimes that are brought to them.”
Hong Kong, not a country, can have films nominated for an Oscar. Taiwan, not a country, can have films nominated for an Oscar. Palestine, a country with observer status in the United Nations and recognized since 1974 by 115 countries, is seemingly not a country according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Therefore the Academy will not be considering Palestinian film Divine Intervention.
The Onion reports Craig Schaffner, 46, a Fayetteville-area computer consultant, has earned the pity of friends and acquaintances for his tragic reluctance to embrace the unverifiable, sources reported Monday. “I honestly feel sorry for the guy,” said neighbor Michael Eddy, 54, a born-again Christian. “To live in this world not believing in a higher power, doubting that Christ died for our sins—that’s such a sad, cynical way to live. I don’t know how he gets through his day.”
See link above for full story.
I sure wish there was an online encyclopedia that had over 100,200 entries that could not only be freely reprinted but amended in a democratic fashion. Wait a minute, here’s one now.
The NASA Langly Research Center offers you not one but two pages of common phrases in (english-ized) American Sign Language. I was hoping for things like “We are now ready to be launched into space and journey to Mars” but “I am going to the bathroom” is perhaps more useful.
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
Epicurus (ca. 341-270 B.C.E.) seems to have had a few things to say, like the above and stuff and things.
Extremophiles are life forms that can do things like consume basalt (and that’s all), survive for 30 million years trapped in amber, live three kilometers below the Earth’s surface or on the ocean’s floor or in thermal hot springs, and stuff. Life – this planet is crawling with it!
“In 1990, Barbara Harris and her husband first became foster parents. The first baby placed with them was a 8 month old baby girl born Dec. of 1989. They learned that she was the 5th baby born to a Los Angeles addict. Four months after taking her into their home, they received a phone call from the social worker informing them that she now had a baby brother born Dec 1990, and did they want him? They decided to bring him home so that the two of them could be together. The four older siblings were in four different homes.
“After picking up this baby from the hospital, Barbara and her husband spent countless hours, nights, and months helping him withdraw from crack and the health problems he had as a result of his mother’s drug use during her pregnancy and lack of prenatal care. In April of 1992, the Harrises learned that the birth mother had dropped off her 7th baby at an LA hospital. The social worker wanted to know if the Harrises would adopt her as well. The Harrises took her in an attempt to keep these children together and also her baby brother, the mother’s eighth child, born in August of 1993. Barbara and her husband are happy to now say they have adopted all four children.
“It was out of the frustration of learning that this was happening every day that led Barbara Harris to try to get legislation passed in California that would have made it mandatory that after giving birth to a drug addicted baby the birth mother use long-term birth control. When this Assembly Bill died Barbara was left with two choices: 1) do nothing, and 2) Do Something!
“Nothing wasn’t an option after seeing how her now adopted children had suffered. And thus, Project Prevention was born.
“Addicts and alcoholics hear about Project Prevention in a variety of different ways. Many social workers, probation officers, jails, drug treatment programs, methadone clinics, and police officers refer them to our toll-free phone number (1-888-30-CRACK). They call the toll free number and either leave a phone number or a mailing address. They are then mailed the appropriate forms. They take these forms to a doctor or clinic of their choice and get long-term birth control. They mail back the forms along with proof of their drug/alcohol problem. Project prevention then verifies that they did receive a type of long-term birth control and then mails them a check for $200.”
Now that’s a conversation starter. Or stopper.
Pianographique is worth the shockwave load time (speakers on).
When was the last time you visited vectorpark? Things may have changed since then.
With all the struggles over making copyrights last longer or shorter times, be more or less strict, it must surely mean something that the world’s oldest printed book with a date of publication (868 EV) was intended by the author/publisher to be for “universal free distribution.” And sure enough, you can still get it for free here and here and here and other places. Open source text gets the job done!
“The Itsy prototype offers considerably more computing power and memory than other PDAs, enabling demanding applications such as speech recognition. It is designed as an open platform to facilitate innovative research projects. The base Itsy hardware provides a flexible interface for adding a custom daughtercard, and Itsy software is based on the Linux OS and standard GNU tools.” And if you can’t wait to buy this palm-sized Linux computer, then download the plans and software to build your own.
Given that (a) 15% of the population of Brazil are malnourished and one-third of the population lives in poverty, and (b) the purchase of twelve new military jets would cost between seven hundred million dollars and one billion dollars, and (c) there is a limited amount of funds available to the government, what would you do? President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva postponed the purchase of the jets to apply the funds to social services. He is quoted as saying ‘a campaign against hunger has to involve every sector of government, not just the ministries of agriculture and food security.’ If that isn’t pleasant news then I don’t what what is. Let us hope other governments are able to make similar simple, rational, compasionate decisions here in the year 2003.
Ads from comic books that are fine just as they are or modified.
Since 1996, the Freedom From Religion Foundation has erected a sign that looks like this…
… in the Wisconsin State Capitol building in Madison. The sign has been stolen and defaced in the past – this year, someone threw corrosive acid on it. Praise the Lord!
