Foux da fa fa

Mother Flippin'!

Honey

Another study. It seems there are as many studies as there are blogs, but this one is worth a shot. Our little guy has had a night-time cough.

A teaspoon of honey before bed seems to calm children's coughs and help them sleep better, according to a new study that relied on parents' reports of their children's symptoms.
The folk remedy did better than cough medicine or no treatment in a three-way comparison. Honey may work by coating and soothing an irritated throat, the study authors said.

Fuzzy Math

Michelle Malkin writes about a new teaching fad, the "Everyday Math" curricula, which she labels "fuzzy math."

I must admit, after reading the FAQs from the "Everyday Math" homepage at the University of Chicago's Education Department, it does look like a dubious, and confusing technique. Especially the "Alternative Algorithm" section. See if you can make sense of it.

As Michelle noted, there has been a backlash against "Everyday Math" by parents who wonder why their kids have the same homework over consecutive years, or asinine exercises like this:

"A. If math were a color, it would be –, because –.
B. If it were a food, it would be –, because –.
C. If it were weather, it would be –, because –."

Texas recently subtracted the "Everyday Math" textbook for third graders.

Only ran a quick search but I didn't see whether this textbook is used in Alexandria.

Is your computer playing random classical music?

Then you'd better read this.

Be Green Like Al

Thanks for the Songs!

I would like to extend thanks to the anonymous benefactor responsible for giving me 50 free songs from EMusic. They showed up in my account with no explanation and EMusic never answered my email asking why. So, thanks!

Park to Check Out

The Weekend section of the Washington ComPost featured a bunch of unheralded local parks. We went to the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens a few months ago. It is a shame it is in such a terrible neighborhood in NE DC because it is a great park for hiking and nature-watching:







The one park in the article we haven't been to yet is the Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD. The Post's article had many favorable testimonials about it from visitors.

The Madman of Iran

The second that Iranian President Ahmadinejad sets foot in the US he should be immediately arrested and either tried or sent to Gitmo for his role in the kidnapping of American diplomats at our embassy in Iran.

How Did I Miss This?

Internet search guru Tara Calashain has a new book out:
Information Trapping: Real-Time Research on the Web.

Political Progress in Iraq

I've been waiting for someone to finally bring this information to light. Over the last few weeks there has been much hand wringing from the Democrats and their dinosaur media accomplices that there has been no progress on the political front in Iraq.

They use to complain that there was no military progress but since that is clearly not the case they've had to move on to the Plan B bitching. There hasn't been the grand reconciliation that most of us would like to see but how realistic is that over the short term? Let's focus on the areas where there has been progress.

From the White House:

· FACT: On August 26, Iraqi leaders took an important step towards reaching agreement on de-Ba'athification, a provincial powers law, a draft oil law, detainee issues, and developing a long-term relationship with the United States. As Ambassador Ryan Crocker said August 27: "The statement released by the five leaders yesterday is a positive and encouraging message that the government is making all efforts to achieve benefits for Iraqi people. I'm optimistic. I can see there is progress."

· FACT: The Iraqi Council of Representatives completed about 60 pieces of legislation in its most recent session, including a $41 billion budget that includes $10 billion for reconstruction and capital investment.

· FACT: Iraqis are in some cases reaching interim solutions to problems like oil distribution and de-Ba'athification as negotiation over legislation continues:

o Oil money is being distributed to the Iraq people even though the proposed oil law is still being negotiated, with $2.116 billion in oil money allocated for FY07 and $848 million obliged.

o The government of Iraq has contacted thousands of members of the former Iraqi army and offered them retirement, return to the military, or public sector employment.

· FACT: Our commanders report that Iraqi Security Forces are growing in number, becoming more capable, and assuming more responsibility. Currently there are about 140 Iraqi Army, National Police, and Special Operations Forces battalions in the fight, with about 95 capable of taking the lead in operations. As Gen. Petraeus said: "The Iraqi army has, in general, done quite well in the face of some really serious challenges. In certain areas it really is very heartening to see what it has done."

3 Surgeons

Recieved via email:

Three Arkansas surgeons were playing golf together and discussing surgeries they had performed. One of them said, "I'm the best Surgeon in Arkansas . In my favorite case, a concert pianist lost seven fingers in an accident. I reattached them, and 8 months later he performed a private concert for the Queen of England .

The second surgeon said. "That's nothing. A young man lost an arm and both legs in an accident, I reattached them, and 2 years later he won a gold medal in track and field events in the Olympics.

"The third surgeon said, "You guys are amateurs. Several years ago a woman, who must have been high on SOMEthing, rode a horse head-on into a train traveling 80 miles an hour. All I had left to work with was the woman's blonde hair and what was left of the rear end of the horse. I was able to put them together and now she's running for President.

eMusic Now Offers Audio Books

eMusic is branching out. They now offer audio books for $9.99 a month for 1 book, or $19.99 for two. An odd price system. Usually stores discount the price per item at the second tier to get you to buy more stuff. And with the number of books on CD and on MP3 from local libraries the price seems a bit steep. Maybe that is because they will have more newer titles. But as yet they don't have Laura Ingraham's New York Times Best Seller Power to the People.

Stack o' Stuff

How the Fed Works

Getting Organized

Making New Habits Stick

Time Management and Writing

One Scary Cloud

It's just a cumulonimbus, but it looks ominous.

Christmas Stocking

 

 

My aunt asked me to send her a photo of the beautiful stocking she made for our son so she can style a similar font for the stocking she plans to make for our baby girl. Click on the picture for a larger copy.

Good Jazz List

from eMusic:
: Soul Jazz


If you are thinking about signing up for this DRM-free music service, let me know so I can claim credit for their "free downloads for recruitment offer"!

3 Weeks 'Til Ultimate Fun!

I went over to the Ross store to buy for my son a Tomy battery- powered Thomas the Train set that came with a station, a bridge, and a tunnel for about $25. His birthday is coming up and we already got him some other Tomy trains and tracks from the Thomas universe so I was going to save it for Christmas, assuming he is good through the rest of the year.

But after I picked up the box, checked it over, and was about to make my way to the register, I spotted this hidden in a corner:
The Thomas Ultimate Set! Thomas and eight of his friends plus Cranky the Crane and a Troublesome Truck, a suspension bridge, a little bridge, a station, a crossing, and a couple of tunnels. A good deal at 50 bucks. Now this will be his b-day gift, [don't tell him!] and all that other stuff can wait 'til the 25th of December.

In your face, Mars!

Earth Might Survive Sun’s Explosion.

/That's all I've got.

One Smart Bird

Alex, the world's most famous African Grey parrot, passed away.

RIP.

A Polling Question That Hasn't Been Asked

Of the Presidential candidates, who has the voice you least want to hear over and over again for the next four years?

For me it is a close call between Ron Paul and Hillary Clinton, unless she plans to govern with the ebonics accent she uses whenever she is in the deep south or talking to a black audience.

Fred

Not as up on Fred as I was earlier in the year, he spent a little too long in the am-I-running-or-not? phase and lost a bit of his steam, and deservedly took some media hits on the way.
But now he is finally in it to win it and has a few weeks to rebuild his momentum.

This picture made me chuckle:

Free Classics Library

Questia.com recently made over 5,000 public domain e-books in its library available for free. Several classics are available, fiction and nonfiction. Their reader is similar to Google's Reader.

They also have some advanced features including highlights and notation, but for that you have to subscribe.

"Greeeaaaaat," he said sarcastically.

The new Yahoo mail is going out of beta over the next few weeks. Maybe they are fixing some bugs in the process to make it smoother, but as is, it is a clunky product.

One problem is that it takes a while to load, especially at home where we have a slow connection. I usually pre-empt it by clicking the link to view my mail in the old standard version.

And it always drives me nuts that you have to go through hoops to get to the actual email. What kind of email program doesn't open up by showing its inbox? Instead, you get some screen with a bunch of news links. If I wanted the news I'd go to the DrudgeReport (uh oh, Republican Senator Larry Craig is in a bit of hot water) but I wanted to see my email so I came to Yahoo! Mail. So then you have to click on the Inbox Tab and wait some more for that to load. And don't try to open one of the actual emails before the ads are fully loaded or things may come to a complete halt. Oh greeeaaaat, it finally loaded. I've got spam!

Lolcats and Star Trek

Thanks to a link from the Wall Street Journal (registration required), of all places, I found that Live Granades put together a lolcat version of the Troubles with Tribbles Star Trek: TOS episode.

Self-Proclaimed Pedophile is Taxpayer-Subsidized

Before his server was taken down, Jack McClellan blogged about taking pictures of little girls in parks, other public places, and near child care facilities. He is under a 3-year restraining order barring him from being within 30 feet of children, which, according to the Associated Press, he recently broke:

[McClellan] was arrested Aug. 13 for investigation of violating the order when he was found near a child care center at the University of California, Los Angeles. He had a camera with him at the time, but he told a local TV station that there wasn't any film in it.

Since he didn't have proper notice about a hearing to argue the merits of the restraining order, he was released from jail.

More from the article:

McClellan is unemployed and has been living out of his car. ... McClellan, who said he lives on supplemental security income and suffers from depression, has maintained that he launched the site as a form of therapy and wouldn't do anything illegal.

This, to me, is a case of an individual taking advantage of the welfare system. Why should taxpayers have to subsidize an unemployed, depressed pervert?

New from China!

Put your kid to sleep with some brand new Chinese Flamable Formaldehyde Pyjamas!

China is getting defensive. From the Financial Times:

The latest concerns came as Li Changjiang, head of China’s safety watchdog, claimed the product safety scares were “a new trend of trade protectionism”, and accused some governments of “demonising China’s products”.

It seems the Chinese are doing alot to demonize their own products. Maybe this is some misdirected revenge for the Opium Wars.

Loser Mentality Takes Root in Boston

With the Yankees now just 4 games back, Boston is feeling the heat:

The Boston Red Sox simply shrugged off their lead in the AL East dropping to four games over New York after they lost to left-hander Joe Saunders 3-1 on Sunday.

"If the Yankees win 20 in a row, they'll catch us," Mike Lowell said. "If every division winner got to the World Series it would mean something. But it doesn't mean anything" to finish in first.

Hot New Item: Chinese Lead Bibs!

Sure, your kids may turn out a little "slow", but they'll be safe from X-Rays in the meantime! Buy 'em up before they are all recalled!

From the NYT:

Certain vinyl baby bibs sold at Toys “R” Us stores appear to be contaminated with lead, laboratory tests have shown, making the inexpensive bibs another example of a made-in-China product that may be a health hazard to children.

The vinyl bibs, which feature illustrations of baseball bats and soccer balls and Disney’s Winnie the Pooh characters, are sold for less than $5 each under store brand labels, including Especially for Baby and Koala Baby.

Tests this summer, financed by the Center for Environmental Health of Oakland, Calif., found lead as high as three times the level allowed in paint in several styles of the bibs purchased from both Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us stores in California.

A separate test by a laboratory hired by The New York Times of the same Toys “R” Us bibs, purchased in Maryland, found a similar level of contamination.

Chinese Nazi Chewing Gum

In addition to sending U.S. children lead-coated crap, China is also selling Nazi chewing gum:

An Israeli woman was astounded to find a tattoo- sticker of a Nazi soldier inside a pack of bubble gum she had bought at her local store, Maariv daily reported recently.

"A surprise awaits you," said the "Roll Bubble Gum" pack, showing a picture of a pink wrapper alongside what it said was the sticker, which showed a Nazi officer in uniform and wearing a swastika armband. ...

The newspaper quoted Orna Gutman, 23, as telling its website the pack's label was in Arabic and English and stated the gum was made in China but did not name the importer.

Baby Rap Update

(Added a concluding stanza)

Little baby Shannon
She is demandin'
To be picked up 'cause she thinks she's been abandoned

She was on her mat layin'
With her rattle playin'
For her bottle waitin'
But her peeps they were delayin'

She let out a loud cry
But she got no reply
She said, "I want my bottle and I will not be denied!"

She's got a big brother
He treats her like no other
When he hears her cry he runs to get her mother

When her mom comes
She gets the job done
She puts a stop to her fussin' and then they have some fun.

They play some peek-a-boo
And little coochie-coo
Then she has to wipe her face; her new teeth make her drool.

It's been a long day
Full of anguish, angst, and play
But she's had her bottle, now she's tired
So it's time to hit the hay.

Is Homer Simpson Writing Legislation?

I just discovered "The MMMMM Act": Missing Mercury in Manufacturing Monitoring and Mitigation Act.

Mmmmm, missing mercury.

Baby Rap

Little baby Shannon
She is demandin'
To be picked up 'cause she thinks she's been abandoned

She was on her mat layin'
With her rattle playin'
For her bottle waitin'
But her peeps they were delayin'

She let out a loud cry
But she got no reply
She said, "I want my bottle and I will not be denied!"

She's got a big brother
He treats her like no other
When he hears her cry he runs to get her mother

When her mom comes
She gets the job done
She puts a stop to her fussin' and then they have some fun.

They play some peek-a-boo
and coochie-coochie-coo
Then she has to wipe her face; her new teeth make her drool.

Disturbing Picture of the Day

Stack o' Stuff

Victor Davis Hanson: Ripples of Retreat: Dark predictions for a post-withdrawal world.

Charles Krauthammer: "Petraeus’ plan is to eliminate all al Qaeda sanctuaries. You hardly hear about that from the anti-war Democrats in the Senate."

Groening on some Comedy Central show via iFilm.

Stupid and Guilty? Or Just Plain Stupid?

Someone who lives on my street (I won't to call him a neighbor because he isn't very friendly) recently had a brush with the law. He is a black barber and traded his SUV, which is probably a couple of years old, to one of his customers for a brand new Land Rover. You could tell it was brand new because it still had the dealer tags.

Turns out, the Land Rover was stolen from a dealership a day earlier. They must have used GPS or something to track it because 7 cop cars surrounded our parking lot and blocked off our street. The barber wasn't put under arrest but was taken away for further questioning. All the while that they were all out there, he was trying to call the customer -- whose name he didn't know -- on his cellphone but surprise, surprise, no one answered.

I guess the barber wasn't complicit in the crime. He certainly seemed shocked and surprised about the whole thing and he now has his old SUV back. But how stupid could a person a be? What a chucklehead.

The Goose Whisperer

The guy in the photo above can communicate with geese and his job is to manage relations between the birds and people in a city in the Netherlands.

WInged Walker

My white-eyed conure has gone from this:

to this:

About 2 weeks ago he started picking at his wing feathers, now he can't get any lift to fly up. I think it was out of jealousy of our 7 1/2 month old baby girl. I've had the bird for roughly ten years and he's never done anything like this before. He also gave me a rather malicious bite around the time picking began.

Once I noticed the problem, I added some news toys and shoe laces to his cage and have been giving him extra attention when possible - though without rewarding the bad habit. I've also added the ladder up to his cage so he can get himself back home on his own from the ol' futon. My son is on the lookout if the conure ever gets down on the floor, he knows to call for me so I can scoop the bird up.

I was never able to train him to "step up" onto my hand, he would always bite to hurt. What I would do is to gently lift him by the tail and slide my fingers under his claws out of beak-range. Now all I have to do is put my hand behind him and he steps up backwards onto my finger.

For his sake, at least the cats aren't around any more now that he can't escape a pouncin'.

Baby Bird Picasa Test

We've had 2 nests of robins outside of our rear window this summer. This little bird left his nest for the first time later in the day the pictures were taken.

Earlier in the week I installed Google's picture program, Picasa. I just used the program to upload the picture straight to Blogger, the process was several times quicker than using the regular upload within Blogger.

Only complaint so far about Picasa is the scroll bar. The scroll bar in iTunes is absolute: moving to the bottom of the scroll moves you directly to the last file. Whereas, in Picasa, the bar is relative, when you move the scroll bar to the bottom, it only moves you in the direction of the last file, you have to sit there and hold the bar toward the bottom while the menu moves gradually to the bottom of the file list. Irritating.

Hero

A Wisconsin state Rep, Frank Lasee (R), thinks there are too many lawyers so he is trying to block funding for the University of Wisconsin School of Law:

We don't need more ambulance chasers. We don't need frivolous lawsuits. And we don't need attorneys making people's lives miserable when they go to family court for divorces," said Rep. Frank Lasee, R-Green Bay. "And I think that having too many attorneys leads to all those bad results.

For Personal Reference

Here are three articles I had open all day to read but never had time to get to:

Democrats Facing a Fight To Lift Domestic Spending.

Getting things done.

55 articles on blogging

TinyUrl

Tinyurl.com is a handy website that transforms long and unwieldy html links into, well, tiny urls. For example, this long map link:

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?ovi=1&mqma
p.x=300&mqmap.y=75&mapdata=%252bKZmeiIh6N%252bI
gpXRP3bylMaN0O4z8OOUkZWYe7NRH6ldDN96YFTIUmSH3Q6
OzE5XVqcuc5zb%252fY5wy1MZwTnT2pu%252bNMjOjsHjvN
lygTRMzqazPStrN%252f1YzA0oWEWLwkHdhVHeG9sG6cMrf
XNJKHY6fML4o6Nb0SeQm75ET9jAjKelrmqBCNta%252bsKC
9n8jslz%252fo188N4g3BvAJYuzx8J8r%252f1fPFWkPYg%
252bT9Su5KoQ9YpNSj%252bmo0h0aEK%252bofj3f6vCP

was shortened to http://tinyurl.com/6.

One problem with tiny urls is that they are blind links - you can't be sure where you are going when you click on one. Well, they've recenlty fixed that by adding a preview feature. Just add the word "preview" and a dot in the link as such: http://preview.tinyurl.com/6.

Or, if you have cookies enabled, you can go here to make "preview" your automatic default.

Happy Independence Day!

We watched the National fireworks from a marina south of the Reagan Airport. In addition to the display from the Mall , we could see fireworks being launched from about 20 different locations all around the horizon.

Daycare News

Here's the note Ms. A. sent home today for baby girl:

Oh mom, I was so mad with Ms. A. - she took much too long to feed me. I was calling my dad : ) and he didn't come for me. Ms. A. said that he loves me, but that didn't work. I need my dada! My outside play was wonderful and I do like playing on the floor with Ms. A and my friends.

PS I wouldn't eat my oatmeal this morning.

Death to Spammers

In a previous blog post here, someone posted a comment with some funky HTML that hijacked the page, directing it some spam/phishing looking site called Quote Database Home.

Since my page wouldn't display completely before being hijacked, I was unable to delete the comment. Had to delete and repost my article. Word Verification has been turned on now for new comments.

Daycare News

Baby girl sent us this note from her daycare:

What a busy day : ) I played on the floor with Ms. A. Fun fun fun! We ate the books : ) Story time. Mom, I can hold my fingers and toes and I do like pulling the table cloth off the table!

The boy's daycare didn't send a note home today, but he reported to us that one of his teachers, Ms. D., told him "shut up" and "stupid," two words he gets in big trouble for saying. Knowing Ms. D., we remain dubious of his claim.

Pointless Family Photo

Someone forwarded this picture to me this morning:

Daycare News

Yesterday's notes:

Baby girl:

A happy camper : ) My friends talked to me - and sang to me, I was the bright light. Ms. A gave me lots of love. Dad & Mom, I was turning over and over today and playing with my feet : ).

The boy:

"He did good job today."

Los Tios Will Be Busy This Weekend

Our favorite local restaurant, Los Tios, received a fantastic review from the Washington Post. It is one of the most positive restaurant critiques I've read.

Mission Accomplished!

... for now.

Dubya's, Kennedy's, McCain's, Specter's, and Reid's immigration reform bill was stopped dead in its tracks. Let's take a moment to relish the victory. But us real conservatives don't have the hubris and arrogance of George "Mission Accomplished" "See you at the bill signing" "I've looked into Putin's eyes" Bush. We know they'll try to bring this back, probably sooner than later. (Rob Bluey of Heritage has more on this point.)

And before then, we know the Democrats want to shut down, or at a minimum, intimidate talk radio in the run up to the election. The Dems are liberal when it comes to taxing and spending (and morality) but illiberal when it comes to political speech and thought. I really am surprised they want to pursue this course. If they thought Americans were riled up over immigration reform, they haven't seen anything yet. But, some lefty blogger reports that Pelosi "is solidly behind bringing back the Fairness Doctrine."

The Fairness Doctrine is anything but fair. This will be used, not to provide "balance", but to shut down the stations that broadcast political ideas the establishment doesn't want broadcast. It will cost stations millions of dollars to fight off and defend against the challenges that will be filed under the Doctrine.

The so-called Doctrine was disposed of in the 80's because it was so unclear and hard to enforce. It is even more unworkable these days. Senator Durbin says he supports it because Americans should hear "both sides" of an issue. what about the people who think there are really more than just two sides of an issue? It certainly would be unfair to exclude their point of view under a "Fairness Doctrine." So a station that broadcasts Rush Limbaugh will have to devote some air time to an Al Franken, and it wouldn't be fair to dissallow the likes of Louis Farrakahn or David Duke to voice their views as well.

And what about Christian stations? Are they going to have to provide air time for commentaries from Planned Parenthood or CAIR, or some gay group? What about entertainment shows on the networks that have a lefty bias?

AirAmerica tried to establish a lefty foothold on the AM dial but failed. What the liberals couldn't achieve in the marketplace, they now want to ram down peoples' throats through the regulatory power of the federal government. In the grand scheme, talk radio occupies a relatively small portion of the media and information landscape. AM talk radio is a small but powerful alternative to the left's dominance of newspapers, network news, NPR, Hollywood, and academia.

If they try to enforce this Doctrine, they will be stepping into a huge hornets' nest of outrage and protest. If they do impose it, they'll take aim against the Internet as the next threat to their established power. Lefty bloggers, as ye sow...

In Other Daycare News...

Baby girl's daycare sent home this note today:

"I was so very happy. Gnawing on my fingers; my friends talked to me; tummy time with toys; Ms. S. tried to sing again! Oh Boy!
Storytime, watching my friends dancing to music, and excercise. I had a fun-filled day. Hey mom and dad, I love these people :) ! Have a nice evening!"

Follow Up on the Lying, Weasel, Rat-Bastards Who Own Tiny Tots Playroom in Old Town Alexandria

My lovely wife forwarded one of several messages on DC Metro-area moms' elists claiming that the lying, weasel, rat-bastards who own the Tiny Tots Playroom in Old Town Alexandria send some of their workers home -- without pay -- on the days when they have low attendance. And it isn't as though parents don't pay on the days they don't use daycare!

Even More Crap from China

From an Associated Press report:

Imports of five species of farmed Chinese seafood will be detained until they can be shown free of potentially dangerous antibiotics, federal health officials said Thursday.

The Food and Drug Administration said it would detain the catfish, basa, shrimp, dace and eel after repeated testing has turned up contamination with drugs unapproved in the United States for use in farmed seafood.

China: Our Exports Are Quality Guaranteed!

"It can be said that the quality of China's exports all are guaranteed," Wang Xinpei, a spokesman for the Chinese Commerce Ministry.

Maybe that was a Clintonian statement since Wang didn't specify whether he meant to guarantee good quality, or poor quality.

This article is full of amazingly disgusting details:

The statement was among Beijing's most public assertions of the safety of its exports since they came under scrutiny earlier this year with the deaths of dog and cats in North America blamed on Chinese wheat gluten tainted with the chemical melamine.

Since then, U.S. authorities have turned away or recalled toxic fish, juice containing unsafe color additives and popular toy trains decorated with lead paint.

Chinese-made toothpaste also has been banned by numerous countries in North and South America and Asia for containing diethylene glycol, or DEG, a chemical often found in antifreeze. It is also a low-cost — and sometimes deadly — substitute for glycerin, a sweetener in many drugs.

On Wednesday, three Japanese importers recalled millions of Chinese-made travel toothpaste sets, many sold to inns and hotels, after they were found to contain as much as 6.2 percent of diethylene glycol.

Wang, the Commerce Ministry spokesman, said Chinese experts have already "explained the situation."

He gave no details, although the country's quality watchdog has in past cited tests from 2000 that it said showed toothpaste containing less than 15.6 percent diethylene glycol was harmless to humans.

The New York Times reported early Thursday that about 900,000 tubes of tainted Chinese toothpaste have been distributed in the United States, showing up in correctional facilities and some hospitals.

Officials in Georgia and North Carolina told The Times there had been no illnesses reported, and that the toothpaste in question was being replaced with brands not manufactured in China.

Earlier this month, a spokesman for North Carolina's Department of Correction said Pacific brand toothpaste was distributed to prisoners who could not afford to buy a name brand at prison stores. The tubes were taken away after trace amounts of DEG was found in them.

Also Thursday, state media said Beijing police raided a village where live pigs were force-fed wastewater to boost their weight before slaughter, underscoring the country's chronic food safety problems.

Plastic pipes had been forced down the pigs' throats and villagers had pumped each 220-pound pig with 44 pounds of wastewater, the Beijing Morning Post reported.

Paperwork showed the pigs were headed for one of Beijing's main slaughterhouses and stamps on their ears indicated that they already had been through quarantine and inspection, the paper said. Suspects escaped during Wednesday's raid and no arrests were made, it said.

The case underscored China's chaotic food safety situation, where manufacturers and distributors often use unapproved additives, falsify expiration dates or find other methods of cutting corners to eke out small profits.

Earlier this week, inspectors announced they had closed 180 food factories nationwide in the first half of this year and seized tons of candy, pickles, crackers and seafood tainted with formaldehyde, illegal dyes and industrial wax.

"These are not isolated cases," Han Yi, an official with the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, was quoted as saying in Wednesday's state-run China Daily newspaper.

Han's admission was significant because the agency has said in the past that safety violations were the work of a few rogue operators — a claim aimed at protecting China's billions of dollars of food exports.

I'm a Cool Dude Dad!

We recently had a big day-care disaster thanks to the lying, weasel, rat-bastards who own the Tiny Tots Playroom in Old Town Alexandria. I would counsel against sending your children there; if you have to, get information from them in writing so you can nail their asses to the wall if you need to. They were over-capacity and shut down without any notice, failed to communicate clearly with parents about the situation, and flat out lied to me.

Anyway, after an extremely stressful 48-hour period we made alternative arrangements with an in-home provider for our now 7 month old girl. At first, I thought the new place was merely adequate, but their stock rose with me over the first few days we were there. Baby girl is very happy.

And they send entertaining notes and cards. Here is the Fathers' Day card they made for me:

My Dad is a Cool Dude...
When my dad comes
home from work at
night, He says, "Hey man,
give me five," and I
lay it on him. My dad is
a Cool Dude!
So there it is, fully-documented proof.

The Wild Wild East

A Western reporter tried to visit the Chinese factory that made the Thomas the Train toys with the lead paint, he was detained for hours and hours as an industrial spy. Thanks to corruption and a weak regulatory regime, factories in China have felt free to cut corners and produce substandard, shoddy, and sometimes dangerous goods. The ChiCom government should focus less on restricting speech and access to information and more on setting basic life-preserving standards for industry.

Fairness Doctrine?

I just heard a teaser on CNN that strongly implied that Ann Coulter called for terrorists to kill one of the Presidential candidates. Maybe the full story put Coulter's statement in its proper sarcastic context referencing Bill Maher's asinine statement, but even so, that is irresponsible journalism.

Update: Rob Bluey has some more details and background on the Edwards Vs. Coulter controversy. In a nutshell, Edwards' people are attacking Coulter for making personal attacks, while at the same time they are using Coulter in fundraising pushes to raise a boatload of cash.

Widespread Problems in China's Food Factories

China is in the midst of a serious crackdown after all the international outrage over tainted and deadly Chinese exports. 180 food factories were shut down for using illegal chemicals.

More Chinese Crap

Lead paint used on toys, tainted pet food, poisoned toothpaste, and now China has sent us faulty tires.

A New Jersey importer has asked the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for help in recalling about 450,000 light-truck tires made in China after a fatal rollover crash. ...
Foreign Tire Sales told U.S. safety officials tires sold under the names Westlake, Telluride, Compass and YKS could fail at highway speeds. It also told federal officials at least six other U.S. distributors had sold tires of similar construction by the same manufacturer.

The Chinese are giving free trade a bad name.

The Enemy We Face

The AP reports on a 6-year old who says the Taliban tried to trick him into carrying out a suicide mission.

Mapping the Net

Some mathematicians devised a model to map out the internet. Here is what it looks like:


They mapped it by "nodes": internet service providers and large organizations with a lot of web traffic. Then they were grouped according to the number of links they had with other nodes.

The researchers discovered that the Internet consists of a dense, heavily connected nucleus of about 100 nodes, including Google and U.S. telecommunications giant ATT WorldNet. Surrounding this core was a region they called the 'peer-connected' component, which is able to connect to the bulk of the Internet without causing congestion in the nucleus. It is possible for data to get between any two points in the peer-connected component within about four links. The final, outermost layer is more sparsely connected, and must travel through the nucleus to reach other nodes.

The Office: The Video Game?

This is odd.

In a somewhat strange deal with network television's NBC Universal, MumboJumbo games has licensed the rights to "The Office" which will be recreated as a casual video game. The plan is to turn The Office into a inexpensive game where players must finish odd jobs around the office as well as join in office pranks.

Link to the full article.

Caption This Conure

The Real Ending of the Sopranos

Someone posted the un-aired real ending of the Sopranos:



It is still better than what David Chase came up with.

Congressional Limbo

The latest Gallup survey finds that 71 percent of respondents express disapproval of Congress. the congressional job approval rating stands at 24 percent.

It is unusual for congressional job approval ratings to be at or below 24%. Congress has been rated this negatively only a few times in the four decades Gallup has measured this item -- in 1979, during the energy crisis; at several points during the "term limits era" of 1990 to 1994; and last year.

That low, and they have only just begun their orgy of spending and taxing.

Slick Hillary Whacks David Chase

David Chase had 8-10 years to come up with a conclusion to his hit series, The Sopranos. After all that time, his big idea was to cop out on a conclusion with a concussive cut to black.

What a horrible way to go out and I think his choice was disrespectful of his viewers. That's not good story telling.

Some people think that with the recent flashbacks of Bacala's (sp?) discussion of being shot, that Tony was whacked. But David Chase gave the viewer absolutely no grounds for knowing what happened to the characters at the moment the screen went dark.

My interpretation is that Chase was having a little joke with the viewers. It wasn't Tony who was whacked at that moment. It was the audience.

And, ultimately, my guess, is DVD sales. It will be a long time before I would even want to watch any of the shows again, knowing that it ends on such an existentially disappointing and unsatisfying beat.

And, then along comes Hillary's parody:




I enjoyed Mr. Clinton's line about the onion rings. It would have been even better if he payed homage to AJ's famous quote from the first episode: "What?! No #$%^in' ziti?!" But, you know, in a family-friendly way.

Mrs. Clinton is still cold, clammy, and creepy. Johnny Sac's menacing glare must represent the scorn and distrust that male voters have for Hillary. But kudos to her and her team for creating an entertaining video that puts David Chase to shame.

So That's What Happened to Andy

All season I've wondered why the Yankees went with Josh Phelps over Andy Phillips at first base. I never noticed a big difference defensively, and Andy has more pop out of his bat. Turned out he had a family emergency that kept him occupied for a while. He was recalled today and Phelps was released.

A List Worth Recommending

Sometimes lists about the internet seem cobbled together for the sake of generating an article. This PC World list of "25 Web Sites to Watch" is an actually interesting compilation of websites worth bookmarking.

The 10 Second Rule

Copyblogger.com posts lots of great blog-writing tips, including this article, The 10 Second Rule:
How to Write for Diagonal Readers.

61+?

The Daily News figures that Alex Rodriguez is on pace to break Roger Maris's American League homerun record.

He hasn't been my favorite Yankee because he often acts or speaks without thinking first, and, of course, because he goes cold in October. But if A-Rod could eclipse Barry Bonds' records, I would be eternally grateful!

Thomas the Tank Engine Recalled!

The Chinese have done it again. More dangerous products Made in China have been imported.

RC2 Corp. in cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall for several toys in the Thomas the Tank Engine set that may include lead paint.

The affected 1.5 million toys recalled include:
Red James Engine & Red James� # 5 Coal Tender
Red Lights & Sounds James Engine & Red James� #5 Lights & Sounds Coal Tender
James with Team Colors Engine & James with Team Colors #5 Coal Tender
Red Skarloey Engine
Brown & Yellow Old Slow Coach
Red Hook & Ladder Truck & Red Water Tanker Truck
Red Musical Caboose
Red Sodor Line Caboose
Red Coal Car labeled �2006 Day Out With Thomas� on the Side
Red Baggage Car
Red Holiday Caboose
Red Sodor Mail Car
Red Fire Brigade Truck
Red Fire Brigade Train
Deluxe Sodor Fire Station
Red Coal Car
Yellow Box Car
Red Stop Sign
Yellow Railroad Crossing Sign
Yellow Sodor Cargo Company Cargo Piece
Smelting Yard
Ice Cream Factory.

The toys were sold during 2005. RC2 recall web page, http://rc2corp.com/company/recalls.asp, isn't working at the moment, probably crushed under the traffic load. They can also be reached at (866) 725-4407.

The press release says that packages coded "WJ" or "AZ" are not included in the recall, but who saves the packages over 2 years? Are there Thomas geeks like the Comic Book Guy who preserve Percy, Mavis, Toby, et al. pristinely in their original packaging?

Here is a picture of the leaden toys:

SciFi News

While doing some research on QubeTV, the conservative alternative to YouTube, I found this "news" site that takes articles from Yahoo's world news page and auto-replaces certain words with sci-fi phrases. The challenge is to figure out what the original news stories were.

Mars Rover

The little Mars Rover has been getting around. Here is a nifty map of its progress across the Martian surface.

Al Gore Wants to Kill People on Life Support!!

As part of this summer's hypocritical concert, Live Earth, Al Gore had wanted all viewers to switch off their lights at the same time. Great Britain's National Grid pulled the plug on the idea:

[T]he power surge when people switched their lights back on could cause disruptions in supply and even endanger hospital patients on life support machines.

If the artist are truly concerned about energy use, shouldn't they be playing on acoustic instruments? They probably shouldn't broadcast the event either, that only encourages people to burn electricity when they turn on their televisions, radios, and internets.

Smile, You Might Be on GoogleCam

Google added a new feature to its maps enabling users to see street-view pictures in certain cities. They drove around the selected cities in a van with multiangled cameras on the roof filming everything as they went. GoogleBlogoscoped has a gallery of some of the scenes people have found in the new service.

CNET has more photos here.

A Fred 4th of July?

If this Politico news story is correct (they've had some accuracy problems this year), Fred Thompson plans on making a formal announcement on July 4th to run for the Presidency.

Outsmart Your Toddler

CNN has an article of tips and tricks to get your toddlers to do what you want them to.

These ideas are also useful around the office.

And now, a reading from "The Congressional Record"

Today's reading is from March 19, 2007 as our Congressional heroes discuss designating the Bob Hope Memorial Library:

Rep. Rob Bishop [R-UT]: Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in support of H.R. 759, which has been well explained by the subcommittee chairman. We support the designation of the Bob Hope Memorial Library. We urge the adoption of this particular bill.

In 1940, Bob Hope starred, with Paulette Goddard and Richard Carlson, in a remake of the movie "The Ghost Breakers." In that picture, as they are talking about zombies that would be attacking the house that is owned by Paulette Goddard, she said, "Zombies! That's horrible." Richard Carlson said, "It's worse than horrible because a zombie has no will of his own. You see them sometimes walking around blindly with dead eyes, following orders, not knowing what they do, not caring." At which time Bob Hope said, "Oh, you mean like Democrats."

I am very grateful that the other side of the aisle has taken this opportunity to recognize and reward both the wit and the wisdom of Bob Hope with this piece of legislation. I firmly support it.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Thus concludes today's reading of "The Congressional Record."

Epilogue:

Now That's Irony

From the Associated Press:

"Zimbabwe, a country suffering from acute food shortages and rampant inflation, won approval to lead the important U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development despite protests from the U.S., European nations and human rights organizations."

Hat Tip to the Club for Growth.

He Oughta Know

Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker and perhaps future presidential candidate, denounced [the immigration deal] on Sean Hannity's radio show as "a sellout of every conservative principle."

The State of the GOP

I can't think of any thing good resulting from any previous Republican deals with Kennedy.

Tip of the Day

If your cellphone ring tone is the theme song for Mission: Impossible and you are attending a wedding service, make sure that you turn your phone off.

Thank you.

Marshmallow!

Our three-year old, I'll call him "the boy", went through a phase recently in which he thought "Marshmallow!" was an imprecation (kind of like saying "Haley Scarnato!") that would get a rise out of people, his parents in particular.

He picked it up from a video called "Arthur" which is really geared for children a little older than him so we don't let him watch that series anymore. A girl character on the show got very mad at the protagonist because she was wearing a white outfit and thought that Arthur said she looked like a marshmallow.

So whenever the boy got mad at me or his mom, he would look at us and say, "Marshmallow!" in an angry, yet unintentionally cute and comedic tone. I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing.

Unfortunately, he moved on from that to "shut up" and that doesn't sound quite so cute nor comedic. He got in a lot of trouble for that so at least that was a short-lived phase.

But every so often, he tests the waters by mouthing the words without vocalizing them. He will learn quickly that I can read lips!

Since I don't have time ...

at the moment for something more substantive, here is a funny email that was forwarded to me:

Subject: New lyrics for Baby boomers

It was fun being a baby boomer... Until now. Some of the artists of the
60's are revising their hits with new lyrics to accommodate aging baby boomers.

They include:

Herman's Hermits--- Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Walker.

Ringo Starr--- I Get By With a Little Help From Depends.

The Bee Gees--- How Can You Mend a Broken Hip.

Bobby Darin--- Splish, Splash, I Was Havin' a Flash.

Roberta Flack--- The First Time Ever I Forgot Your Face.

Johnny Nash--- I Can't See Clearly Now.

Paul Simon--- Fifty Ways to Lose Your Liver

The Commodores--- Once, Twice, Three Times to the Bathroom.

Marvin Gaye--- Heard It Through the Grape Nuts.

Procol Harem--- A Whiter Shade of Hair.

Leo Sayer--- You Make Me Feel Like Napping.

The Temptations--- Papa's Got a Kidney Stone.

Abba--- Denture Queen.

Tony Orlando--- Knock 3 Times On The Ceiling If You Hear Me Fall.

Helen Reddy--- I Am Woman, Hear Me Snore.

Leslie Gore ---- It's My Procedure, and I'll Cry If I Want To.

And last but not least:

Willie Nelson--- On the Commode Again

Peeps in the Hood

There is a flock of Quaker parrots living in the Bronx. Several states ban ownership of Quakers because they tend to escape, flock together, and make life difficult for farmers.

A Shifty Way to Boost Your Memory

LiveScience reports on a study suggesting that moving your eyes back and forth improves memory. The theory is that this somehow causes the two brain hemispheres to interact.

Japanese Poodle Scam

Since sheep are rare in Japan, a company sold thousands of them to unwitting customers who thought they were getting poodles.

The scam was uncovered when Japanese moviestar Maiko Kawamaki went on a talk-show and wondered why her new pet would not bark or eat dog food. ... One couple said they became suspicious when they took their "dog" to have its claws trimmed and were told it had hooves.

Read the original article here.

The First Couple Gets Down

Here is a different camera angle: DancingBush.

Swept and Chase-d

I didn't have a chance to read the New York rags after the horrible pitching performance from the Yankees over the weekend. I wonder what rookie Chase Wright had to say about his inglorious achievement of surrendering back-to-back-to-back-to-back homeruns. Oi.

We'll see what happens in the rematch in the Bronx next weekend, but I have to imagine Boston fans are a tad concerned about the way the Yankees lit up Boston's starters. Sure, they outslugged the Yanks for three games, but the worst damage was off of a couple of rookies. Yanks built a lead in each game against the starters. Dice-K was just average and the Yanks seem to do okay against Beckett most of the time. On paper at least, the Yanks will get better arms once everyone is off the DL finally. And with Posada behind the plate calling the shots instead of the backup.

More on Google Bookmarks

I just noticed another feature of Google Bookmarks (see earlier post here): It just prevented me from creating a duplicate bookmark.

When you click on the special bookmarklet to save a webpage, Google remembers if you've already bookmarked it and also shows the labels or tags you've assigned to it. This is something that neither Backflip nor My Yahoo does currently.

A Web Site to Check Out

Someday when I have the time, I'll have to check out NetVibes. A serious-websurfer raves about it over at Slate.com as a way to cram lots of links and RSS feeds into a single, versatile, tabbed-page.

Why NBC Should Not Have Aired the Tapes

Just a week ago, NBC canned Don Imus because of three words he spoke. Such content was not appropriate. But the ravings a lunatic striving to make a name for himelf is deemed appropriate for the network.

I've been turning off the news whenever they start showing the pictures and video of the Virginia Tech sicko. NBC should have just described the "manifesto" to its viewers then turned it over to the FBI. There is nothing in there to help investigators and lots in there to insult the departed as well as their friends and families. I was surprised they aired this but shouldn't have been: few in the media have respect for others or shame for their own actions.

ABC News interviewed a psychiatrist who called the airings a "social catastrophe", and outlined several important reasons why NBC should not have broadcast that garbage.

If you really need a look into the mind of a disturbed individual, to understand where they are coming from, go and read Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground and Crime and Punishment. Human nature hasn't changed over the past few centuries.

Google Bookmarks

In anticipation of losing the flexible functionality of bookmarks in the current MyYahoo page, I've been adding bookmarks to Google. This is a component of the Google Search History (beta) feature that I just rediscovered. Since I rely so heavily on my bookmarks in My Yahoo I ignored this until now. Since it looks like Yahoo will completely change the way My Yahoo users' bookmarks are organized, I thought I should look for another alternative and was reminded of Google's bookmarks in the Google Hacks book which described how easy it is to tag, sort, and search for your stored links. And it is.

I couldn't figure out a way to import bookmarks from another source so I've been adding some each day. The ones I set up in Yahoo are well organized in topical folders and subfolders so I've been trying to get through a folder a day.

Since I have to go through each one, it is at least a good opportunity to update some links that have been changed, delete others that I never use anymore, and rediscover some bookmarks I forgot about, like this Government Accountability Office report about the myriad insurance programs the federal government operates.

Google has a bookmarklet that you can drag up to your Bookmarks Toolbar, so that all you have to do is click on it to create a Google Bookmark for whatever page is in your browser. Each bookmark can be given various tags or labels that you create, and Google remembers which labels you've already created and provides for autcompletion to speed things along.

Added Some Links

Added a link to the JihadWatch blog, which keeps an eye on what the radical Muslims are up to around the globe, and its companion site, DhimmiWatch, which tracks the West response (which all to often capitulatory) to Islamic extremism.

Fred Fever!

The more Giuliani talks, the less-suited he becomes to head the Republican Party and the nation. In light of the conservatism of primary voters, it was certainly bold of him to proclaim support for public funding of abortions. But then to tell the conservatives that they need to get over their conservatism isn't effective leadership. I doubt that primary voters will bury their key values to support a candidate who vows to fight terrorism. The ongoing cultural war is just as important.

Bring on Fred Thompson!

Gmail Tip

I've been reading Google Hacks 3rd Edition (by Rael Dornfest, Paul Bausch, and Tara Calishain) and learned this handy tip for Gmail.

If you are trying to enter site where you have to register your email but don't want to be deluged with emails and newsletters, simply use your gmail account and append a special prefix ending in a plus sign in front. For example, to register for the Washington Post, enter washpo+youremail@gmail.com. The email address will work as normal, but then you could set up a filter to either delete or track any email that you get from the Washington Post.

You could also use this feature to see who is trading or selling your email address to others.

Regarding Imus

I have always disliked Imus personally, but would tune in to the show on occasion. Regarding his current crisis, Patrick Buchanan has crystallized my thoughts most eloquently.

Except to add, who the hell made Sharpton and Jackson Reverends anyway? What kind of church would bestow the honorary title of Reverend upon someone such as Sharpton who is so forthrightly unapologetic about the harm he has inflicted directly and indirectly to others? Or, upon Jackson with his bastard "love child" and shakedowns?

You've Got to Be Kidding Me

A hospital in the once great Britain banned staffers from distributing hot cross buns on Easter for fear of offending non-Christians.

Idol Rant

I'm starting to get sick of nearly all the contestants at this point in the show.

Melinda and Blake are the only two whose singing I can tolerate. Melinda is a fantastic singer but her whole "you *really* like little ol' me?!" routine is grating and strikes me as insincere. Blake does a good job of mixing it up and not sounding the same each week.

Lakisha seems genuinely sweet but I think she over-sings every song, except for last night's which she uncharacteristically under-sang. She didn't quite fill it out. Maybe the band was just too loud.

Jordin seems to be the front-runner right now, which I don't quite get. She misses as many notes as she hits. And she absolutely must stop saying "I love you!" to the camera and making those goofy faces whenever she is on stage in the background.

Nosferatu, Nasal Boy, and the Bada Bing Girl were all forgettable.

The judges were disappointing last night, too. They go in with such low expectations for that weird little Indian girl that they don't trash her like they should.

These Guys Are Good

Two voice actors from the Simspons were on with their old buddy Conan O'brien performing some samples of their work. It is fascinating to see them switching from voice to voice.

Sopranos Reading Assignment

The Smithsonian Magazine conducts an interview with the chief of the FBI's organized crime unit about the history of the mafia. Apparently, he doesn't watch The Sopranos. With his background, he doesn't need to.

Hats Off to the Mathematicians

From LiveScience:

The New York Yankees will win a whopping 110 games this season, more than any other major league team, according to a mathematician who applies math to real-life situations.

Using his computer model, he also discovered that in order to maximize runs, pitchers should bat eighth in the order, rather than ninth.

Improbable Commercials

Interesting commercials from Bangkok Insurance via iFilm.com.

A Vision of the Future?

These head scarfs, or worse, could become mandatory if the Party of Appeasement has its way.

DocuTicker

I just discovered search guru Gary Price's Docuticker:

DocuTicker offers a hand-picked selection of resources, reports and publications from government agencies, NGOs, think tanks and other public interest organizations.

I'm not wild about its font and colors (I suppose it is better than his old website, Direct Search) but it is a good reference source nonetheless. It is browsable by various categories.

There is an RSS feed for the site as a whole, if it is possible to get RSS feeds for any one of the categories, I couldn't figure out how.

Yikes!

(... in Concord, N.H., Friday, March 30, 2007. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

This looks like it could be the poster from a 50s era horror flick.

Google Notebook Improvements

Google Notebook provides a jiffy way of clipping and saving text and pictures from the web pages you are browsing. Once you install it to your brower, all you have to do is highlight and right-click on whatever you to save. The data is then copied (with links back to the original) to its own notebook page. These notebooks can be updated, published as webpages, and shared.

I noticed today that Google made some useful upgrades to the service. For starters, it is now easier to direct a new clipping to the notebook in which you want it. Likewise, it is easier to move clippings within a notebook, and from one notebook to another one.

That's all I've noticed so far.

Apparently, it has also gone multilingual.