I'd like to smack Jonah for posting this link in the Corner.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 07:49 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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And of course it's from Mark Steyn. Excerpt:

Even Sen. John Danforth, who should know better, got in on the act, taking half a page in the New York Times to give the Full Monteagle to the "religious right." Blog maestro Andrew Sullivan decided that America was witnessing a "conservative crack-up" over Terri Schiavo and the embrace of her cause by extreme right wing fundamentalist theocrat zealots like, er, Jesse Jackson and Ralph Nader. Sullivan was last predicting a "conservative crack-up" during the impeachment era, on the grounds (if I recall correctly) that Republican moralizing would dramatically cut into Strom Thurmond's share of the gay vote. In the '90s, the Weekly Standard ran innumerable special editions devoted to the subject: Conservative Crack-Up; Conservative Crack-Up 2; Conservative Crack-Up -- The Musical; Abbott And Costello Meet The Conservative Crack-Up; Conservative Crack-Up On Elm Street; Four Weddings And A Conservative Crack-Up; Rod Stewart Sings Timeless Favorites From The Great Conservative Crack-Up, etc.
...
The notion, for example, that poor Terri Schiavo will cost Republicans votes in a year and a half's time is ludicrous. The best distillation of the pro-Schiavo case was made by James Lileks, the bard of Minnesota, responding to the provocateur Christopher Hitchens' dismissal of her as a "non-human entity." "It is not wise," wrote Lileks, "to call people dead before they are actually, well, dead. You can be 'as good as dead' or 'brain dead' or 'close to death,' but if the heart beats and the chest rises, I think we should balk at saying this constitutes dead, period."

Posted by: Physics Geek at 07:39 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I have no further comment on this story. The headline says it all.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 07:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Brain On Drugs Rock the Vote has joined forces with the AARP to oppose private retirement accounts. Check out the following quote:

"To us, it's totally black and white. This is the first generation ever that would be asked to pay for their own retirement and Social Security at the same time. This is what private accounts do. They saddle young people with an unfair burden."

Roll those words around in your head a while. Try and make some sense out them. I think a hefty dose of mescalin mixed with LSD might be useful in that regard.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 07:13 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Aaron's Rantblog has re-opened for business with a new name: Aaron's cc:. I've finally gotten around to updating my blogroll and changing all references from la4israel.org/wordpress to aarons.cc. I've been too lazy to complete this trivial task before simply because all of the old links automatically connected to the new site. That, and bookkeeping has never been a strength of mine.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 06:05 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And no one gave a flying f*ck, especially when they're leading the charge to regulate blogs. Hat tip to the Puppy Blender.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 01:40 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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TexasBestGrok, another fine Mu Nu blog, is the host for this week's Carnival of the Recipes. Go and check it out.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 08:16 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Very soon, Pope John Paul II will pass away. He's been a voice of hope and faith for people all over the world. His death will leave a gaping hole that world will struggle to fill.

Jonah Goldberg weighs in:

I suppose I'm with Ramesh & co. Though I am not a Catholic, I can muster many emotions at the the thought of John Paul II passing away. But grief really isn't chief among them. The man has been suffering for a long time and he has endured that suffering with greater dignity than most of us could dream of mustering. He lived a long life of great courage and conviction, acting nobly when acting otherwise would have been much easier and less dangerous. Through his actions and his example he left the entire world a better and safer place than when he left it. When his time comes, be it in hours or days or whenever, few will say he hadn't done more than his fair share. This is no tragedy. His life isn't being brought short by the hand of man. There's no cause for rage. But there's room for gratitude and the sort of remorse one feels when the world is made a little less by the loss of someone it sorely needed. So why overly grieve for a man who is surely worthy of reward in the next life?

Perhaps the answer is simple, because it is human to do so.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 09:06 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Okay, there's no such thing, but I might have to institute one. Bill posts a couple of images for Desperate Red-Blooded males over here. See extended entry for more. more...

Posted by: Physics Geek at 08:31 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Actually, it was a trip to Ireland and Scotland, but I spent the majority of my time in Scotland. I and my friends stayed in Stirling, using it as a central point from which to investigate the surrounding areas. Anyway, I haven't scanned any of my pictures from that time yet. Until I do, I'm posting some pictures found on the 'Net. Here's a great shot of Stirling Castle:

Oh, and one more place that I visited in Scotland: Eileen Donan Castle. If you've seen the original Highlander, you've seen at least a few images. Here are a few more:

Posted by: Physics Geek at 06:51 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Tartan Day is coming, so let's celebrate. My Scottish/Irish/English blood warms at the thought. Okay, not so much the English part. Ith of Absinthe and Cookies is preparing a blogosphere celebration of all things Scottish. Drop by and leave a comment or send an email if you want to participate. FWIW, the name of my Scottish ancestors predates the clans. Ergo, no clan tartan. However, since they originated in the county Galway, I have the right to proudly display the Galloway tartan:

Or the Galloway district hunting tartan:

Ith has created TartanBlogs group on Yahoo! Here is the image displayed there:

Also, I've added the Gathering Blogroll to the side bar, complete with button pilfered from Absinthe & Cookies.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 04:43 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I actually bought into it for a minute. Hey, it's early and I'm not a morning person. Anyway, go here right now. Assuming that it won't be there tomorrow, I've putting a screen shot in the extended entry. more...

Posted by: Physics Geek at 04:30 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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S P E C I A L    A N N O U N C E M E N T

Internet Cleaning
DO NOT CONNECT TO THE INTERNET FROM MARCH 31st 23:59 pm (GMT) UNTIL 12:01am (GMT) APRIL 2nd.

*** Attention ***

It's that time again! As many of you know, each year the Internet must be shut down for 24 hours in order to allow us to clean it. The cleaning process, which eliminates dead e-mail and inactive ftp, www, and gopher sites, allows for a better working and faster Internet.

This year, the cleaning process will take place from 23:59 pm (GMT) on March 31st until 00:01 am (GMT) on April 2nd. During that 24-hour period, five powerful Internet-crawling robots situated around the world will search the Internet and delete any data that they find.

In order to protect your valuable data from deletion we ask that you do the following:

1. Disconnect all terminals and local area networks from their Internet connections.

2. Shut down all Internet servers, or disconnect them from the Internet.

3. Disconnect all disks and hardrives from any connections to the Internet.

4. Refrain from connecting any computer to the Internet in any way.

We understand the inconvenience that this may cause some Internet users, and we apologize. However, we are certain that any inconveniences will be more than made up for by the increased speed and efficiency of the Internet, once it has been cleared of electronic flotsam and jetsam.

We thank you for your cooperation.

Fu Ling Yu

Interconnected Network Maintenance Staff Main Branch,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Sysops and others: Since the last Internet cleaning, the number of Internet users has grown dramatically. Please assist us in alerting the public of the upcoming Internet cleaning by posting this message where your users will be able to read it.

Please pass this message on to other sysops and Internet users as well.

Thank you.

Update: Click on extended entry for more information. more...

Posted by: Physics Geek at 01:49 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Received the images below from a friend. Open the extended entry:

more...

Posted by: Physics Geek at 01:26 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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And Rachel Lucas provided the humor for me, although it appears to have been unintentional. Heh.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 04:36 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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1 Sounds like "Who's on First"!

Posted by: Bob at March 31, 2005 05:11 PM (/nofi)

2 heh heh m heh heh. He said Wood. Heh. Thanks for sharing

Posted by: caltechgirl at March 31, 2005 08:37 PM (dNB1l)

3 You mean it's not Who's on first?

Posted by: physics geek at March 31, 2005 08:38 PM (Xvrs7)

4 Who's got six inches of wood? I tell ya, that conversation would NEVER happen at MY house, since TNT & I are both always on the lookout for double-use words :-)

Posted by: Harvey at March 31, 2005 08:52 PM (tJfh1)

5 Halfway through that conversation my wife would have started giggling like a schoolgirl; she's got a dirty mind. So I've got that going for me, too.

Posted by: physics geek at March 31, 2005 09:04 PM (Xvrs7)

6 A wife with a dirty mind? You, PG, are a man blessed of God :-)

Posted by: Harvey at April 01, 2005 06:38 PM (tJfh1)

7 Don't I know it. :->

Posted by: physics geek at April 01, 2005 07:37 PM (Xvrs7)

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A quadraplegic able to control artificial limbs by mental powers alone. Science fiction you say? Not anymore.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 03:11 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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My wife just called to inform me that Terri Schiavo passed away. Her ordeal has now ended, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the issue for this country is just beginning.

Update: Jeff Goldstein expresses an opinion that I agree with one hundred percent:

IÂ’ve said on numerous occasions now that were Terri Schiavo my daughter, IÂ’d be storming the hospice with a bottle of Gatorade and a box of donuts. IÂ’d force the cops to shoot me or put me down with a taser gun, if only to draw more attention and sympathy to my cause.

He goes on to mention that he would do so with full awareness that his actions would be considered unlawful, based on court decisions. Yeah, I'd be aware of it too, but I wouldn't give a f*ck. You pull the plug on one of my children and you'd damn well better enter the witness protection program. I'd let God handle the forgiving because I'd be too busy setting up the meeting.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 03:08 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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From Richard Brookhiser:

The hardest case for the culture of life is capital punishment. Some of those who wanted Terri Schiavo to live were distressed that President Bush could not simply reach down and pardon her. He couldnÂ’t do that because of her innocence; pardons are for the likes of Marc Rich, not for the guiltless.

Ugh. And I'll be treated to the spectacle of Scott Peterson's endless federal appeals for the next twenty years or so. Just to clarify, he did get convicted in a state court, right? So what the fuck is he doing appealing in federal court? To make certain that his civil rights haven't been violated? I'm very confused by this intrusion of the federal courts into a state matter. Very, very confused.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 02:03 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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First, from Dylan Thomas:

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And from Tennyson:

Sunset and evening star
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For though from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.

And yes, these two poems are in keeping with my theme the last couple of weeks.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 07:25 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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And this time it's from Harvey. Excerpt:

During the course of your marriage, your wife will - from time to time - say something thoughtless and brutal to you, and you will be tempted to exercise your power.

Forbear.

Always.

No exceptions.

You are correct, oh great one.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 07:06 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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