Rumors of her death
were exaggerated to
say the very least.
It was built, people
came. But our Target Field is
the real Field of Dreams.
At least Las Vegas
magicians have some options
for their retirement.
If you're going to ban
yourself from the casino
make sure you mean it.
They said he had a
criminal record, but his
mom raised him better.
A stock tip for you:
Invest in water treatment
technology firms.
China's government
seeks even to subjugate
reincarnation.
In some states, it's fine
for farmers to abuse the
animals they raise.
Irradicating
smallpox may have led to the
rise of HIV.
Words don't exist to
adequately express the
depths of this... failure.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Haiku News - May 18, 2010
It was built, people
came, now the Field of Dreams could
be yours for a price.
A widespread pattern
of violations exists:
The concern is real.
The right to say curse
words is speech protected by
the Constitution...
...But seriously,
watch what you say on Facebook.
The backlash could hurt.
30,000 years
ago, women already
were multitaskers.
Ingrid the pit bull
needs the little blue pill to
keep her heart going.
Russell Crowe, has a
short temper? Surely, you must
be joking with me.
Is your teddy bear
in need of a vacation?
Try out Teddy Tours.
8,000 dollars
over 5 years is some big
accounting error.
He lost his wallet,
but later it was returned,
everything intact.
came, now the Field of Dreams could
be yours for a price.
A widespread pattern
of violations exists:
The concern is real.
The right to say curse
words is speech protected by
the Constitution...
...But seriously,
watch what you say on Facebook.
The backlash could hurt.
30,000 years
ago, women already
were multitaskers.
Ingrid the pit bull
needs the little blue pill to
keep her heart going.
Russell Crowe, has a
short temper? Surely, you must
be joking with me.
Is your teddy bear
in need of a vacation?
Try out Teddy Tours.
8,000 dollars
over 5 years is some big
accounting error.
He lost his wallet,
but later it was returned,
everything intact.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Friday Photography - Flowering Bush
There is a bush next to the front door of the town house I live in. I rent, so it is technically not mine, but I have sort-of adopted it because we've lived in the same place for so long. When we first moved in, the bush was pretty sorry. Then two falls ago, the building manager hacked away at it almost down to the ground. I was horrified, thinking they had pruned it too early and too extensively. Once again last year it was sorry. This year it is doing something I've never seen it do before.
I didn't know this bush was supposed to flower! Even now, only the bottom branches are flowering, but the bush is thriving. It has filled out considerably, especially compared to how little was left of it at the end of 2008. They are pretty little flowers. Simple little things like blooming shrubs makes me happy.
Flowering Bush
I didn't know this bush was supposed to flower! Even now, only the bottom branches are flowering, but the bush is thriving. It has filled out considerably, especially compared to how little was left of it at the end of 2008. They are pretty little flowers. Simple little things like blooming shrubs makes me happy.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Soda vs. Pop
I like words. Obviously. :) My friends like words, too. We've had many conversations over the years about them, from lamenting the overuse of the word "like" to praising the proper usage of the word "literally". Often we're in agreement, but one argument which we've never been able to lay to rest is whether carbonated soft drinks should be called "soda" or "pop".
I am firmly in the soda category, as are some of my friends. And the ones who are not in the soda category are quite insistent that the "correct" word is pop. I would have to disagree. And they disagree with me.
There is no consensus on this, and there appears to be no rational argument. How do you argue this?
"It's pop."
"Why?"
"Because it is."
"No, it's soda."
"Now you're just being silly."
I did some digging on the subject, which didn't help me much. History seems to advocate that both words are perfectly valid. Soda works because soft drinks are made with soda-water, which create the fizz. Pop was introduced by Robert Southey in 1812 "because ‘pop goes the cork’ when it is drawn."
One person has apparently become so obsessed with it that they have created a Pop vs. Soda Controversy website intended to plot the regional variations in the use of the terms "Pop" and "Soda" to describe carbonated soft drinks.
The map throws a whole new monkey wrench into the equation with the additional term "coke". As in:
"I'd like a coke."
"What flavor?"
"Mountain Dew."
Now who is being silly?
The map does seem to show that soda is typical on the east and west coasts, pop is popular in the north, while coke is the word to use in the south. The raw statistics show what other names people use to refer to soft drinks, such as fizzy drinks or lolly water. Though I may feel a little outnumbered here in the Midwest, I will continue to say soda, not pop and certainly not coke.
Soda or pop: Which do you prefer?
I am firmly in the soda category, as are some of my friends. And the ones who are not in the soda category are quite insistent that the "correct" word is pop. I would have to disagree. And they disagree with me.
There is no consensus on this, and there appears to be no rational argument. How do you argue this?
"It's pop."
"Why?"
"Because it is."
"No, it's soda."
"Now you're just being silly."
I did some digging on the subject, which didn't help me much. History seems to advocate that both words are perfectly valid. Soda works because soft drinks are made with soda-water, which create the fizz. Pop was introduced by Robert Southey in 1812 "because ‘pop goes the cork’ when it is drawn."
One person has apparently become so obsessed with it that they have created a Pop vs. Soda Controversy website intended to plot the regional variations in the use of the terms "Pop" and "Soda" to describe carbonated soft drinks.
"I'd like a coke."
"What flavor?"
"Mountain Dew."
Now who is being silly?
The map does seem to show that soda is typical on the east and west coasts, pop is popular in the north, while coke is the word to use in the south. The raw statistics show what other names people use to refer to soft drinks, such as fizzy drinks or lolly water. Though I may feel a little outnumbered here in the Midwest, I will continue to say soda, not pop and certainly not coke.
Soda or pop: Which do you prefer?
Monday, May 10, 2010
Haiku News - May 10, 2010
Priceless Art Destroyed:
And you thought you were having
a bad day at work.
1 of every 3
pet-owning women think their
dogs listen better...
...Maybe its a sign
their men find them beautiful,
or even deadly.
Put the nail polish
or cell phone down start to
see motorcycles.
Like a typical
man, he could not just stop and
ask for directions.
Don't tell the children:
Wade won a million dollars
just playing a game.
The next time you have
trouble sleeping, remember
it could be much worse.
Bug-eating-bats and
crop pollinating bees are
dying rapidly.
The one hand giveth,
but as always the other
can taketh away.
The crook backed away.
But who would want to mess with
black-beard Johnny Depp?
And you thought you were having
a bad day at work.
1 of every 3
pet-owning women think their
dogs listen better...
...Maybe its a sign
their men find them beautiful,
or even deadly.
Put the nail polish
or cell phone down start to
see motorcycles.
Like a typical
man, he could not just stop and
ask for directions.
Don't tell the children:
Wade won a million dollars
just playing a game.
The next time you have
trouble sleeping, remember
it could be much worse.
Bug-eating-bats and
crop pollinating bees are
dying rapidly.
The one hand giveth,
but as always the other
can taketh away.
The crook backed away.
But who would want to mess with
black-beard Johnny Depp?
Friday, May 7, 2010
Friday Photography - May Showers
The perfect compliment to the April Flowers post is a May Showers post. Especially since most of May has already been pretty rainy. I captured this photo during a rain intermission today.
By happy accident, if you look close you can see a nearby bush perfectly reflected in some of the rain drops.
Rain Drops
By happy accident, if you look close you can see a nearby bush perfectly reflected in some of the rain drops.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Reporters Without Borders Name 40 Predators of Press Freedom
There are 40 names on the 2010 list of Predators of Press Freedom, as determined by Reporters Without Borders. The list includes politicians, government officials, religious leaders, militias, and criminal organisations that treat the press as an enemy and directly attack journalists. Many of this year's perpetrators were already on last year's list.
North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il and the head of Burma's military government Than Shwe are on the list. Iran's "president" Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Libya dictator Muammar Gaddafi also made the list. Yemeni President Ali Abdulah Saleh has been added this year, as well as Taliban leader Mullah Omar, who has directly targeted journalists and news media 40 times in 2009 in a bloody war waged to control media coverage.
Reporters Without Borders also named Mexico as one of the most dangerous countries for journalists. 62 journalists have been killed in Mexico in the last 10 years.
Reporters Without Borders has fought for press freedom on a daily basis since it was founded in 1985. In the past 15 years, access to information has cost the lives of more than 850 journalists. Reporters Without Borders defends journalists and media assistants imprisoned or persecuted for doing their job and exposes the mistreatment and torture of them in many countries. It fights against censorship and laws that undermine press freedom. The organization gives financial aid each year to 100 or so journalists or media outlets in difficulty (to pay for lawyers, medical care and equipment) as well to the families of imprisoned journalists. All the while working to improve the safety of journalists, especially those reporting in war zones.
Here is the full list of 40 press-hating perpetrators in alphabetical order. To learn more about each one, visit the Reporters Without Borders map.
Abdallah ibn Al-Saud - Saudi Arabia King
Alexander Lukashenko - Belarus
Ali Abdallah Saleh - Yemen
Ali Khamenei - Iran
Bashar Al-Assad - Syria
Choummaly Sayasone - Laos
ETA - Spain
Executive Force - Palestinian territories
FARC - Colombia
Gotabhaya Rajapakse - Sri Lanka
Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov - Turkmenistan
Hu Jintao - China
Ilham Aliev - Azerbaijan
Islam Karimov - Uzbekistan
Islamist militias - Somalia
Israel Defence Forces - Israel
Issaias Afeworki - Eritrea
Kim Jong-il - North Korea
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - Iran
Mswati III - Swaziland
Muammar Gaddafi - Libya
Mullah Mohammad Omar - Afghanistan
Nepalese armed groups - Nepal
Nong Duc Manh - Vietnam
Nursultan Nazarbayev - Kazakhstan
Ogbonna Onovo - Nigeria
Organised crime - Italy
Paul Kagame - Rwanda
Private militias - Philippines
Ramzan Kadyrov - Russia
Raúl Castro - Cuba
Robert Mugabe - Zimbabwe
Sinaloa, Gulf and Juárez Cartel - Mexico
Teodoro Obiang Nguema - Equatorial Guinea
Than Shwe - Burma
The Palestinian Authority's security forces - Palestinian territories
Vladimir Putin - Russia
Yahya Jammeh - Gambia
Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali - Tunisia President
'Black Eagles' - Colombia
North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il and the head of Burma's military government Than Shwe are on the list. Iran's "president" Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Libya dictator Muammar Gaddafi also made the list. Yemeni President Ali Abdulah Saleh has been added this year, as well as Taliban leader Mullah Omar, who has directly targeted journalists and news media 40 times in 2009 in a bloody war waged to control media coverage.
Reporters Without Borders also named Mexico as one of the most dangerous countries for journalists. 62 journalists have been killed in Mexico in the last 10 years.
Reporters Without Borders has fought for press freedom on a daily basis since it was founded in 1985. In the past 15 years, access to information has cost the lives of more than 850 journalists. Reporters Without Borders defends journalists and media assistants imprisoned or persecuted for doing their job and exposes the mistreatment and torture of them in many countries. It fights against censorship and laws that undermine press freedom. The organization gives financial aid each year to 100 or so journalists or media outlets in difficulty (to pay for lawyers, medical care and equipment) as well to the families of imprisoned journalists. All the while working to improve the safety of journalists, especially those reporting in war zones.
Here is the full list of 40 press-hating perpetrators in alphabetical order. To learn more about each one, visit the Reporters Without Borders map.
Abdallah ibn Al-Saud - Saudi Arabia King
Alexander Lukashenko - Belarus
Ali Abdallah Saleh - Yemen
Ali Khamenei - Iran
Bashar Al-Assad - Syria
Choummaly Sayasone - Laos
ETA - Spain
Executive Force - Palestinian territories
FARC - Colombia
Gotabhaya Rajapakse - Sri Lanka
Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov - Turkmenistan
Hu Jintao - China
Ilham Aliev - Azerbaijan
Islam Karimov - Uzbekistan
Islamist militias - Somalia
Israel Defence Forces - Israel
Issaias Afeworki - Eritrea
Kim Jong-il - North Korea
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - Iran
Mswati III - Swaziland
Muammar Gaddafi - Libya
Mullah Mohammad Omar - Afghanistan
Nepalese armed groups - Nepal
Nong Duc Manh - Vietnam
Nursultan Nazarbayev - Kazakhstan
Ogbonna Onovo - Nigeria
Organised crime - Italy
Paul Kagame - Rwanda
Private militias - Philippines
Ramzan Kadyrov - Russia
Raúl Castro - Cuba
Robert Mugabe - Zimbabwe
Sinaloa, Gulf and Juárez Cartel - Mexico
Teodoro Obiang Nguema - Equatorial Guinea
Than Shwe - Burma
The Palestinian Authority's security forces - Palestinian territories
Vladimir Putin - Russia
Yahya Jammeh - Gambia
Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali - Tunisia President
'Black Eagles' - Colombia
Monday, May 3, 2010
Haiku News - May 3, 2010
Creatures great and small
in the news make for furry
and feathered Haiku.
A seventeen-mile
journey was all it took for
Boots to make the news.
This Canada goose
somehow knew just where to land
to find healing hands.
Owls are portrayed as
wise, but Troy doesn't seem to
know he is an owl.
A brave tabby named
Zoe has adopted three
little lynx kittens.
Nibbles and Bits didn't
break the law, but they'll landscape
in prison for life.
Two hungry pigs sniffed
out World War II anti-tank
weapons, not truffles.
Einstein, the wee foal,
may break a Guinness Record
for being so small...
...while Big Jake did break
another Guinness Record
for being so tall!
To be fair, Cletus
probably made a lot of
hamburgers and steaks.
The barnyard tale is
complete with the surfing sheep
that loves to hang two.
in the news make for furry
and feathered Haiku.
A seventeen-mile
journey was all it took for
Boots to make the news.
This Canada goose
somehow knew just where to land
to find healing hands.
Owls are portrayed as
wise, but Troy doesn't seem to
know he is an owl.
A brave tabby named
Zoe has adopted three
little lynx kittens.
Nibbles and Bits didn't
break the law, but they'll landscape
in prison for life.
Two hungry pigs sniffed
out World War II anti-tank
weapons, not truffles.
Einstein, the wee foal,
may break a Guinness Record
for being so small...
...while Big Jake did break
another Guinness Record
for being so tall!
To be fair, Cletus
probably made a lot of
hamburgers and steaks.
The barnyard tale is
complete with the surfing sheep
that loves to hang two.
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