Monthly Archives: February 2007

A cry for help from Baghdad

Posted on February 4, 2007 | Comments Off on A cry for help from Baghdad

An exile in Britain talks to his mother on the phone from Baghdad where life goes on amid the truck bombs and murdered relatives and no one is safe: 

"Not even Bush’s death will solve our problem. I’ll be lying if I say I lost hope. When you are in love it is hard to do so. But my aims for Iraq have changed. I want this horrifying hybrid of a government to succeed and the 21,000 extra troops to take control. All I dream of which is no different to the millions of Iraqis is damage control force."

Read it all here.

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Posted in Iraq, The War

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Save the planet, 2

Posted on February 3, 2007 | Comments Off on Save the planet, 2

Professor Reynolds’ snarky suggestion to ban private jets and stretch limos to fight global warming certainly appeals to me. Since the celebs and politicos are gathering behind new demands for restrictions to tame the warmth–even if it may be a natural, and benign, process over which humans have no control–by restricting the rest of us, why not have them belly up to the bar, as well? But the Libertarian professor, Instapundit, accused of being merely snarky, makes a good argument of his own as to what needs to be done:

"Energy conservation needs to be something positive. Nothing sells on a "suffer for the future" model very well. Too many environmental activists are hair-shirt types (at least when the hair-shirt is for other people) and that stuff is poor salesmanship…This lesson applies to lots of other things, too. Neo-puritanism, on the other hand, has a certain personal and political appeal to some people, but it doesn’t sell beyond its niche. The less scold, the more sold."

Worth a read.

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Posted in Scribbles, Weather/Climate

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The advantages of raising children

Posted on February 3, 2007 | Comments Off on The advantages of raising children

I wish I’d known about this before Mr. B. starting walking. Just don’t tell the child protective agency:

"On Saturdays we strap sponges to his hands, knees and forehead so he can mop the kitchen and dining room floors. Sure he misses a couple of spots, but he’s learning quick that if he wants to eat the following week he’ll do the job right…Sure some people think its cruel and inhumane when they see the little guy working like a slave, but they normally quit fussing about that when I explain to them how I dust the ceiling fans with the cats."

A funny read for free. Via Miriam’s Ideas

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Scribbles

Poor Piglet

Posted on February 3, 2007 | Comments Off on Poor Piglet

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The Soviets used to airbrush formerly acceptable, henceforth undesirable people out of their official photographs. In Qatar, sensitive Muslims prefer straight-up vandalism. They use magic markers to eliminate Pooh’s friend Piglet from children’s books in a Saudi chain’s bookstore. Piglet’s crime? He’s a pig. Next up: vanishing pork recipes in cookbooks.

Via Mystic Chords 

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Posted in Scribbles

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The poisoned Israeli balloons of death

Posted on February 2, 2007 | Comments Off on The poisoned Israeli balloons of death

Israel Massacres Lebanese by Poisonous Balloons
TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Genocide by poisonous balloons is the new method employed by the Israeli army for killing people in southern Lebanon.

The Iranians are on the case, biting hook, line and sinker into this marketing-stunt-gone-awry by an Israeli newspaper. The U.N. is even testing the helium in the balloons. Yourish has the yuck. 

Via Simply Jews 

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Posted in Israel

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181 things to do on the moon

Posted on February 2, 2007 | Comments Off on 181 things to do on the moon

Not a joke list, or even a few of the more serious, yet non-scientific, things I could think of to try in near weightlessness. But a list of scientific things to do, such as studying the color of Earth’s oceans to gauge their health, and analyzing Earth’s atmosphere to learn how it really works. The one I like the best is this:

"A radio telescope on the far side of the Moon would be shielded from Earth’s copious radio noise, and would be able to observe low radio frequencies blocked by Earth’s atmosphere. Observations at these frequencies have never been made before and opening up a window into this low frequency universe will likely lead to many exciting new discoveries."

Read the whole list here. 

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Posted in Science/Engineering, Space

Not too much pink

Posted on February 2, 2007 | Comments Off on Not too much pink

Mr. B. is improving, breaking away (somewhat) from the I-hate-girls stereotype of some of his male peers in first grade. He had originally intended only to invite boys to his birthday party. Then, out of the blue, he announced he wanted to invite one girl, a classmate named Riley. Why? "She doesn’t have a lot of pink stuff and she plays rough like the boys do." Sounds reasonable.

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Posted in Mr. Boy