October 17, 2003

Gotta Link That

The post ends with

    In the words of John Galt, (no, not those words) "Get the hell out of my way."
My cat speaks.

But, no, seriously, if you haven't already, check out Trey Givens. The man cracks me up (and writes well...one IS the prerequisite of the other, of course).

The above-mentioned post smacks Wired magazine right out of his subscription list. Buh-bye.

hln

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Bathing?

When I picked up this tidbit from the headline, I didn't get what I expected.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) unveiled plans on Thursday to cut the number of deaths from bathing accidents every year — nearly half a million in total — and those caused by infection from polluted waters.
Bathing accidents. You know, when the soap becomes lodged under your arm, and you must be immediately rushed to the ER.

But this is MSNBC. That's all I get unless I take the bait an scroll down. Which I do.

    OFFICIALS OF the United Nations agency said poorer countries would be able to boost their tourist trade by adopting the preventative measures laid out in its new 220-page guidelines for governments and local authorities.

    “Deaths from accidents and drowning, and often long-term illness resulting from pollution in rivers and coastal waters, are a big challenge to public health administration on all continents,” WHO water and sanitation expert Jamie Bartram said.
Ah, that kind of bathing. So these tips are not so helpful to parents who are too stupid to properly bathe their children. Pity, that'd have made for a better topic.

hln

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October 16, 2003

Gold Enclave of Privileged Capitalists

I'm not sure I can properly categorize this post, so I went for the generic.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to present to you the Gold Enclave of Privileged Capitalists.

goldcoins_enclave.jpg

Why, ask you? Well, it's sort of a long short story that I'll make even shorter with a few lovely links. The Nickel and Dimed threads on this post are the result of the Nickel and Dimed thread on another blog, where I commented that I thought the assertions made by said blogger were erroneous. This prompted some general dis-ease and, well, name calling by another visitor of the other blog.

It deteriorated from there.

In my post My First Endorsement, I quoted the "other visitor of the other blog," hereafter to be known as "the troll."

It is from these words that reader Harvey decided that I am "a shining example of the Great American Success Story." Amen.

As are we all.

As we sit here today privileged reading and writing blogs from computers (as TheYeti pointed out), most of us from within the United States of America, surely we must realize that we are, indeed, blessed. Most, if not all of us, have functional, working bodies and minds, temperate homes, and access to nutritional food. I recognize and embrace this. We are Americans - lucky citizens of democracy and capitalism, proud purveyors for our families, and generally good people (at least the bloggers who read me).

No troll with its unfounded personal screeches of "oppression" and "racism" can change this.

And so, in dual purpose of recognizing our great individual wealth (spiritual, mental, and material), I present to you again the Gold Enclave of Privileged Capitalists.

Why Gold? The troll's name is JadeGold.

Why Enclave? Because I like the word. Don't confuse it with Autoclave.

I think I've covered Privileged. But if you want more trolly discussion of the word in a negative connotation, feel free to visit any of the trolled blogs.

And Capitalists? Well, I'm guessing most of us are conservatives - economic conservatives. I certainly am. Cha-ching.

I am putting "founding" people in the enclave if I find they have been harrassed by said troll...so I'm going hunting. I'm happy to take joiners, too. E-mail me. I'll have a list of links with the Enclave logo in the left-hand side of my blog. (You can also e-mail me if I have you in here and you think I'm off my rocker and you want to be removed.)

Without further commentary, here are the founding members:

$ - Uh, me (even though it wasn't my blog - that isn't a qualification).
$ - Mister Green, for this post.
$ - Susie of Practical Penumbra (in the Nickel and Dimed original thread)
$ - Ted of Rocket Jones (also in that thread)
$ - TheYeti of Tales From A Yeti Suit for this post
$ - Dean Esmay for being scored in the comments of TheYeti's above-mentioned post.
$ - Steven Taylor of Poliblog for this post.
$ - Robert Prather of Insults Unpunished for this post
$ - North Georgia Dogma for this post.
$ - John Cole for this post
$ - Matthew Yglesias for this post.
$ - Outside the Beltway for this post.
$ - Just One Minute for this post.

I'm not done yet, but I am out of time at lunch, so I'll have to recommence at a later time. If I've missed you, let me know.

Extra special thanks and mention to Jennifer Larson of Jennifer's History and Stuff for the graphic.

And have a good day.

hln

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Interview

Jennifer Larson of Jennifer's History and Stuff is interviewing me. She needs questions! She needs 'em quick, as the cut-off is midnight CST...today!

I will, of course, link to this when it's available to be read. Jennifer's e-mail is jenlars@hotmail.com.

She's interviewing others as well, so please be sure to tell her that the question is geared toward me. All questions will be anonymous in origin.

(If you don't send her questions, then I'll be forced to answer such inane standbys as "what are the names of your neighbors' 10 gerbils?)

hln

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Pizza Hut Might Finally Give Me the Proper Amount of Cheese

So, you know, I'm fairly normal. I like pizza. But everytime I order it, I have to explain to the people working exactly how I want it, and their computers probably can't adequately display to the pizza makers what that is.

Until now.

    The company, a unit of Yum Brands Inc., launched a new Fit 'N Delicious pizza that contains half the cheese of a regular pizza served on the brand's thin crust. The pizzas will also use lean meats for toppings.

    "Consumers today are paying a lot more attention to what they're eating," Peter Hearl, Pizza Hut's president, told Reuters.

    A slice of the new pizza has 3.5 to 5 grams of fat, depending on the toppings. That's about 25 percent less than the usual thin-crusted slice, the company said in a statement.
So, now I need about HALF of the cheese on the half-cheese pizza, and don't give me that thin crust, give me the pan. Should be an even trade in what's bad for you, and it'll taste tremendous.

I should save this for future ordering.

hln

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October 15, 2003

Gates the Benefactor

Bill Gates has set aside $25 million dollars to fund nutrition infusions into food.

    WASHINGTON - A collaborative effort to get more nutritious food to the world's poor received a $25 million boost from a foundation set up by Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates.

    HarvestPlus, an alliance of research institutions and agencies, will use the money for a four-year project on biofortification, which crossbreeds crops with high nutritional value and those that are high-yielding and disease resistant, the organization's director, Howarth Bouis, said Tuesday.

    The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said the goal of the initiative is to provide people in poor and developing countries with food already fortified with vitamins and mineral nutrients.

    Worldwide, "half the instances of death among children have malnutrition as important contributory causes," said Dr. David Fleming, director of the foundation's global health program.

    HarvestPlus offers a strategic approach that would address the problem of malnutrition, he said.

    The programs hopes to get improved varieties of crops to the world's farmers within a decade, Bouis said.

    The organization also will conduct research into more controversial genetically modified crops.

    "We're very convinced that this is where the breakthroughs will come in the future, but ... societies, themselves, have to decide whether they're going to be comfortable with genetically modified foods or not," said Joachim Voss, director general of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture.
That's the whole article. And the controversy? Just wait. Introduce the words bacteria, genetic engineering, science, and plants into any one paragraph, and invariably out of same paragraph will manifest a conclusion : Frankenfood.

hln

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Helmet Honor

Victor, my MuNu Godfather, has a very good post up about the cyclist who was stuck and killed by the former Miss America.

Actually, it STARTS off about that but quickly morphs into a very honest, very good rant about why one should wear a helmet while cycling.

hln

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Cancer and Exercise

According this article, 9.5 millions of Americans are living their lives post cancer.

I'm one of 'em, so I look around for information like this. The article, brought to me by Yahoo via the AP, mentions that cancer survivors recover better with an exercise program.

Okay, so maybe that's not relevant per se - I'm nearly 12 years past, but it is nice to see my lifestyle validated in terms that directly apply. Here's some text from the article.

    Nearly two-thirds of cancer patients live more than five years after diagnosis. And starting during treatment, they face choices about food, dietary supplements and physical activity that can affect quality of life, sometimes even survival.

    Yet it's difficult to find consumer-friendly information that separates the fads and frauds from scientifically backed choices. Hence the cancer society's new guidelines, published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

    Topping the advice: there's no magic lifestyle choice that will keep cancer from returning. Beware fads like Gerson therapy, with its emphasis on vegetable juices and coffee enemas. Talk with your doctor about even the seemingly innocuous — high doses of vitamins, for instance, may actually block certain cancer treatments from working.

    In fact, the No. 1 protection against another bout of cancer is to avoid being overweight, Doyle says.
Bingo.

And, for more information on the topic of exercise and cancer, well, there's always Lance Armstrong, who is in town today for the Tour of Hope.

hln

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Sonnet 2

A strange thing has occurred within Google; for some reason it has ranked a sonnet I wrote for Brian as it's #1 hit for Sonnet 2

I slapped the 2 on it when I posted it on the old site because it, well, it had no title. Now it has many, many viewers, which I guess isn't a bad thing.

It's ranked above Shakespeare's, which is third. Some other sonnet (or so it SAYS it's a sonnet. I can't find the meter) is below mine.

Very strange.

hln

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October 14, 2003

John Galt Update

Galt is recovering. He is happy to be home, and he should be healthy. The tumor removal was a success.

frankengalt.jpg

Ain't he dapper? The deal was pretty expensive, too - about $418.00.

And, yes, I realize I could have fed dinner to 418 homeless crack addicts for that hefty sum. I CHOSE NOT TO.

My regular good humor should return soon.

Good night, all.

hln

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I Think I'll Play Letter of the Day

Because I have a bunch of linkage to do, here's the letter of the day, Heather style. Today's letter is H, so that's fitting.

Aitch.

h.gif Do you believe in hell, higher powers, heaven?

h.gif Hell again. As a destination.

h.gif Harrassment...or hardly?

h.gif Hapless Hyperbole

h.gif Harvey!

h.gif and Hans

h.gif Headline I missed.

h.gif Formerly hefty

hln

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My First Endorsement

Yay! I am LOVED! Loved, I say! LOVED!

Exalted! Read these words!

    Once again, Heather goes into attack mode (a common trait among high school-level objectivists). Her indignation is that we don't hold her aloft as a shining example of the Great American Success Story to those she believes remain mired in subsistence-level jobs because they don't possess Heather's strength of character, will, moxie, spunk, etc.

    The facts remain, however, that Heather's very brief foray into the entry-level world was not without a safety net. And, in fact, she worked with multiple safety nets and was unencumbered by burdens and/or responsibilities.

    As Ehrenreich's book vividly illustrates, many people simply don't have the advantages and safety nets Heather had. For these people, an illness, car problems, a sick child, a job loss are not mere inconveniences--they are often cataclysmic events all too often resulting in homelessness.

    Of course, underlying Heather's disinclination to look at the facts is her unwillingness to realize her current lifestyle is largely subsidized on the backs of these people she scorns. Like all High School Ayn Rand-wannabes, she regards her lifestyle as an entitlement; there's a fair amount of insecurity involved as well.
Brought to you by the Venerated Jade Gold in comments for the previously mentioned Barbara Ehrenreich thread on Andrew Hoog's blog.

Isn't it amazing when others know you ever so much better than you know yourself? They're able to grasp your every thought, circumstance, history, word, idea, and possible consequence!

Perhaps this person is a psychic! I've been waiting for an endorsement fit enough to describe this blog. Which paragraph should I use?

(Oh, and, as my mama always told me, "Never take to heart the opinions of those whom you do not respect.") Kate, we have our snark.

hln

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Visit Harvey of Bad Money

Why is today the day to visit Bad Money? Any day's a good day, really. Harvey posts a lot, usually five or six good-sized snippets a day - often more - to keep one interested.

And then there's the currency graffiti. He also links to Blackfive a lot - always a good idea, exalts his wife on a daily basis (ALWAYS a REALLY good idea), and has recently been blogrolled by the Great Emperor Misha, who has not yet noticed MY grace, wit, and not-so-surreptitious stops and comments.

But this post is about Harvey! It's about to get quite cold in Wisconsin; perhaps that'll mean he'll post even more!

hln

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October 13, 2003

Nickels (Dimes in about a week).

As you all know if you've been visiting this site, I've tasked myself with reading and critiquing Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America.

This will be a long post. I plan to offer the book's premise, talk a little bit about how Barbara defines science, illustrate what I find to be unrealistic, offer places where I identify with the author, and then conclude the analysis of what I've read. I'm 119 pages into the book, which is a natural stopping point because of the book's structure.

The Premise

The author tasks herself with working low-wage jobs and then writing about how she fares. She works (so far) as a waitress, a housekeeper, a maid, and a kitchen worker in a nursing home. (There are other jobs, but I've not read that far) and then chronicles her experience for you, for me, and for anyone else who is interested.

Science

Barbara, as I will refer to her from here on out, calls this a science experiment. Unfortunately, there's nothing scientific about it, as the setting is not real. In the illustration section, I'll point to snippets from the book that seem like vagaries to me, since I'm someone who's had to subsist on a pretty small budget for a lengthy period of time. But, I'll jump right in, in the interest of keeping the post short (HA!)

more...

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Nickel and Dimed...a Prelude

I've now read 106 pages of the book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. I have another 10 or so to go before I've completed the third section - the second section that's actually about Barbara's work experiences.

Expect a long, long, long post tonight. I probably won't finish it until after the gym, though, so it may not be up until 9:30 p.m. CST or thereabouts.

Oh, and I commented on Andrew's blog about this again. Please, everyone, be the courteous and wonderful people I know you to be (and thanks for the support). Andrew is my former boss, and I believe some of this is tongue in cheek - for purposes of discussion. Anne is his wife and has done some wonderful things with educating children in other countries.

I agree that there is injustice in this world and that, as one of you said, "life isn't fair." I also believe in charitable work and charity organizations and the wonderful things they do. I just don't believe they should be run by the government and mandated thus (yours an my tax dollars).

hln

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Frank J's "In My World"

These are hits or misses with me. This one's a hit.

    The screen then showed O'Yama, eyes glowing red with evil, giving a speech before a crowd of reporters. "When I am president, the oceans will boil, the cities will be destroyed in fire, and there will be universal health care!"
hln

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Quick Links (Otherwise Known as Massive Backlog)

In 15 minutes, how many links can I make? We'll see.

Wizbang links to a blogger who translates Baby Got Back into the romance languages and beyond.

Kelley of Suburban Blight has a new Cul-de-sac.

I missed entry for the Carnival of the Capitalists. I don't suspect I'll miss it again.

Aaron of Free Will drop-kicks the logic of the Democratic Underground. And, oh, so eloquent is he.

The Agitator tells a tale of To Kill a Mockingbird and politcal correctness.

Eugene Volokh cashes in on the strange mess that is Missouri's Conceal and Carry law (at least, I thought it was a law).

Robert Prather provides an excellent view of the EU's economic failings.

Pregnant cows killed by lightning (okay, it's early, and _I_ found it interesting).

Oh, and my spouse called me a sex symbol. I think perhaps he's a bit biased.

Good morning.

hln

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Headline of the Day

US surgeons part twins.

I always thought it was that humans were all twins or not twins at all. What one can learn from Europe!

hln

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October 12, 2003

Six Months!

10/12/2003 is my six-month blogiversary, one week after Brian began.

And, a couple of weeks ago, I moved to this "shiny new site," as someone put it. I've spent a bunch of time tonight putting together a list of my early posts that it's likely that no one's seen. Also, visit my About Me page; I've put my 100 things up (finally). Thanks for reading!

The list:

  1. Extremely Disjointed First Post
  2. Turkey Vanquished
  3. Softball
  4. Pineapples for Peace
  5. Shut Your Seed-Cracking Beak
  6. "Are McLawsuits Legit?"
  7. The Search for the Sympathy Card
  8. Botox! Botulinum Toxin Type A (baby)
  9. Oh, THAT Appointment
hln

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October 11, 2003

Housekeeping, Blog and Otherwise

Today is a "do" day instead of a "write" day, so I'll be pretty much absent (as I have been already). But, tomorrow should be good.

Tomorrow's my 6th month blogoversary, if that's how you spell it. I plan to finish the 100 things about me I've been working on and put that up on the About Me page. I'll put a post up and link it when it's done. Also, I'm going to pull together some of my best posts from the first month (ones that no one saw because, well, I was under the radar). So, that's the deal.

In the meantime, Brian posted today about the phrase "Sanity Check." I told him he misused it, but he said the project manager from whose lips those words were spoken used it in that manner. The post is amusing, nonetheless.

If by some odd chance you've not caught John Cole's post yesterday about The New Definition of Quagmire, please visit. John's Balloon Juice is one of my early discoveries. Blackfive also links to this (as did a myriad others, so you probably have NOT missed it.

Munuviana's own DFMoore educates us on selenium

And, finally, the grocery strike (I have a post about it below) means most of the main stores are sparsely stocked, says Brian. What a fabulous excuse to do this week's shopping at Whole Foods. Insert maniacal laughter here. (I like Whole Foods a WHOLE lot.)

hln

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