This is worth a read

These kids did some impressive stuff!

One 14-year-old researcher discovered contamination in water at a local school and a city park. Another built his own radio - and it outperformed a store model. Those are just a couple of the [Tucson Region]

Heh

7.5 inches of snow today... 75 degrees warm two days ago! 

I'm a little behind in my blogging...

The other day I blogged about the outdoor work I was doing. Just Saturday the temperature was in the mid 70's. Today it snowed all day; I measured 7.5 inches this afternoon (picture to follow). Tonight the sky is clear and the temperature has already dropped to about 24 degrees.

Nothing like a hard day's work...

Today I spent most of the day outside working on a project I've been putting off for over a year. I started with a shovel and ended up using a pry bar, a hydraulic jack, and a sledge hammer. In the process I managed to get a bit of sunburn, but that will be nothing compared to how sore I'm going to be. It's been years since I've swung a sledge hammer and I can only imagine where it's going to hurt.

In other news, I had the best dinner I've had in a long time. New York strip steak grilled with asparagus, bell pepper, and green onions. To round out the meal a white wine risotto and a nice tossed salad.

After working so hard today, I plan to take tomorrow easy and read The De Vinci Code.

This Weeks Carnival of Recipies... Meatloaf like my Mother makes

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1/2 package of saltine crackers crumbled fine (1/2 the tube of crackers that come in a big box- use more if you like)
• 1/2 bellpepper chopped fine
• 1 small onion chopped fine
• 2 small cans tomato sauce
• salt and pepper

1. combine beef, egg, crackers, bellpepper, onion, salt, pepper, and one of the cans of tomato sauce by hand in a bowl
2. spray your pan with cooking spray and form loaf into pan (I have a pyrex bread pan I like to use)
3. bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes
4. pour remaining can of tomato sauce over the top
5. bake an additional 5 to 10 minutes

For variations try adding some Italian Sausage to the mixture or studding the loaf with garlic cloves.

In a pinch you can substitute:

• onion flakes or powder for the onion
• a teaspoon of cayenne pepper sauce for the bellpepper
• thoroughly blend a can of tomatoes with the juice instead of tomato sauce
• any bread crumb will work instead of the saltines

The greatest innovations of the 20th Century

I've seen many articles on the greatest innovations of the past Centuryand I've yet to see one that really hit's the mark. They always pick things like the personal computer or the airplane, but these are extraneous things, they dont affect the day to day life of everyman. I think the greatest innovation was the modern washer and dryer for clothes. When it comes down to my day to day life computers don't make the difference that a washer and dryer do. You see I'll work 8 hours a day 5 days a week with or without a computerand I can travel when I have to by some means other than flying. In my day to day life those things are optional, but I'd sure hate to lose an entire day every week to washing my clothes, especiallywhen I can fit that activity into one of those 8 hour work days and spend the weekends doing something I want to do rather than toiling over laundry.

If you watch PBS regularly you've surely caught one of the shows where a family or group of familys attempts to live life like people did in various time periods. There was The 1900 House, Frontier House, Colonial House, and the latest Texas Ranch House (you can apply to appear on this show). If there is one thing that these shows have in common it is to drive home the fact that the modern washer and dryer are two of the greatest inventions of the past century. Think about it, we've gone from pounding our clothes on rocks in a stream and scrubbing them by hand with a brush to basically putting them in a machine for a while and then transferringthem to another machine for a while and then putting them away. I can't imagine a greater time saving device for our day to day lives. Some will still arguethat computers were the real breakthrough, and while I would agree that for business they are when it comes to my day to day life, give me the washer and dryer.

Dean asks a very important question...

The question is: do we as a society believe that if someone works 40 hours per week, that should be enough to live on? If we do believe that, we need to set our minimum wage laws in such a manner that this is reflected.[Dean's World]

I believe that a person working full time should be able to live on the wage they recieve for that work.

Taking a bit of a break

I'm going to be taking a bit of a break, that doesn't mean I won't be posting. I'll just be posting less for the near future. I'm going to post at least once per day, but I will try for 3 or 4 per day.

This is such an excellent post...

I've said before that Pure Land Mountain is an awsome blog, this proves it...

SLOW ADVERTISING

Last weekend, along our serendipitous wanderings (serendipity in fact being the main point of such excursions) in search - as herein chronicled earlier - of the renowned pond that as near as we could tell is nowhere near its location, we stopped at a local sake brewery up the road a ways in "Irish village," as it is called - for its puzzling rural Japanese village love of Ireland and the presence of a delightful "Gulliver's Village" up there in the low hills.

One day I will get to the bottom of why it is called Irish Village - I have to find the pond first - so many things on that loooong list - but to my present point: as we meandered down the narrow village road I saw a sugidama (sugi: cedar; dama: ball) hung outside the door of a local sake brewery I hadn't noticed before....[Pure Land Mountain]

Carnival time...

This Week's CARNIVAL OF THE RECIPES is up, it's number 29!

You can check out my contribution here.

This is exactly what the test is supposed to do...

To me this is a sign of a valid test. The idea of a good test is to separate out the entire population of students, to discriminate their abilities. The fact that only a small percentage of students at University High School 'exceeded' is good news. Remember this is a school full of high-performing students, but by no means is this a school full of high-performing math students- nor should it be.

Educators, students and parents at University High School are challenging the validity of the AIMS test after a relatively low number of students at the high-performing school exceeded the state's [Tucson Region]

This looks like a good idea...

Naming another building, street or square after civil rights leader Cesar Chavez doesn't give him the honor he deserves, Valley leaders said. Instead, thousands of residents and schoolchildren here and in Yuma will learn how to become community servants, like Chavez. [azcentral.com | news]

I am against this...

School vouchers are part of the mechanism being used to tear down public education. I agree that our education system has problems, but I don't think that destroying it is the answer.

With charter schools and open enrollment under their belts, Republicans now are targeting their biggest prize in the school choice movement: letting parents receive public dollars to send their kids to private schools. [azcentral.com | news]

Update: Per Joe Thomas: "If you are against this, call your local legislators THIS week. They will be voting on vouchers in the next two weeks. Vouchers are a tool of segregation. I have a lot of info at my site. Check it out. Pass it along."

They should have televised this...

I hope someone made a documentary...

The top two law enforcement officers of Arizona and Utah tried Thursday night to explain to a crowded town hall meeting what they could and couldn't do about the nation's largest polygamous community. One suggestion: Decriminalize polygamy [azcentral.com | news]

Martha Stewart Leaving (prison)

Worth the read... I love Dylan's music!

Be careful what you wish for, the cliche goes. Having aspired from early youth to become stars, people who achieve that status suddenly find themselves imprisoned, unable to walk down the street without being importuned by strangers. The higher their name floats, the greater the levy imposed, the less of ordinary life they can enjoy. In his memoir, Bob Dylan never precisely articulates the ambition that brought him to New York City from northern Minnesota in 1961, maybe because it felt improbable even to him at the time. Nominally, he was angling for Leading Young Folksinger, which was a plausible goal then, when every college town had three or four coffeehouses and each one had its Hootenanny night, and when performers who wowed the crowds on that circuit went on to make records that sometimes sold in the thousands. But from the beginning Dylan had his sights set much higher: the world, glory, eternity - ambitions laughably incommensurate with the modest confines of American folk music. He got his wish, in spades. He achieved Leading Young Folksinger status almost immediately, then was quickly promoted to poet, oracle, conscience of his generation, and, in a lateral move, pop star.

Luc Sante, chronicling Dylan, over at the NYRB.

[THE BELGRAVIA DISPATCH]

If this doesn't signal huge problems with the NHL I don't know what would...

AP - An investment firm and a sports advisory company reportedly made a joint proposal to buy all 30 NHL teams for as much as $3.5 billion. [Yahoo! News: Most Viewed]

It's funny to read stories like this one...

My parents live in Winslow and they didn't feel a thing. Of course that could be because of their ultra cool TempurPedic bed with the NASA developed memory foam!

Nature came knocking early Wednesday morning at Guili Gillman's home. "All of a sudden the house started to shake," she told the Arizona Daily Sun. [Arizona - Topix.net]

The companies that get the Medicade money don't like the budget cuts... Now that is a surprise!

Top Arizona hospital companies and health care industry groups are joining the heavyweight AARP seniors group in opposing proposed Bush administration cuts to Medicaid. [Latest news from The Business Journal of Phoenix]

Here we go again...

Hopefully this won't last more than a couple of days!

Grab all of the sun you can Thursday and Friday, because there are storm clouds looming. [azcentral.com | news]

It's like 3 years from now and I want to know when tickets go on sale!

The 2008 Arizona Super Bowl has a new leader and a date for the NFL championship game. The title game at the Arizona Cardinals new stadium - currently under construction in Glendale - will be played Feb. 3, 2008. Longtime Valley resident Debbie Wardrop, who since 1999 has served as NFL director of special events, will become the host committee's chief executive officer. [azcentral.com | news]

Success!

US adventurer Steve Fossett soars into the record books as the first person to fly solo, non-stop around the globe. [BBC News | World | UK Edition]

This is not a good sign...

USATODAY.com - In what could be a troubling sign for the military, the active-duty Army missed its February recruiting goal by more than 27%. It was the first time in almost five years that the Army has failed to meet a monthly target. [Yahoo! News: Reader Ratings]

I havn't seen much blogging on the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer...

So I thought I'd do a little, within the last 5 minutes, the Global Flyer was here:



You can also check out the live video feeds:
Mission Control Feed Live video, no audio.
Press Briefing Room Live video, some audio.
Mixed Feed A mix of available footage including live cockpit video.

This is a test post

ignore it

I'd do this even if it wasn't baseball spring training time...

The sound of ''Play ball!'' is music to the ears of baseball fans, but it's a curse to some West Valley residents bracing for another season of gridlock on West Bell Road. [azcentral.com | news]

Possible headlines for tomorrow...

Based on this headline...

Steve Fossett crashes the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer just before re-entering the United States just south of Los Angeles.

Steve Fossett crashes the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer in western United States just short of round the world goal.

Steve Fossett sets the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer down early in western United States just short of round the world goal.

Steve Fossett lands in history books; the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer has completed it's nonstop round the world flight.

Check his current location, click here.

This is funny...

Lets take a look at spin...

So I log on and check the NYT website after work and am greeted with this headline: "New Poll Finds Bush Priorities Are Out of Step With Americans." I've been doing this too long, so my instinctual reaction is to stifle a giggle and burrow into the piece to spot the transparent spin (and isn't it Bashar who is "out of step" these days? Didn't anyone tell the Times?). It wasn't hard (to find the spin, that is): [THE BELGRAVIA DISPATCH]

Now read this...

From a NYTimes Poll in tomorrow's paper:

Four months after Mr. Bush won a solid re-election over Senator John Kerry, 63 percent of respondents say the president has different priorities on domestic issues than most Americans. Asked to choose among five domestic issues facing the country, respondents rated Social Security third, behind jobs and health care. And nearly 50 percent said Democrats were more likely to make the right decisions about Social Security, compared with 31 percent who said the same thing about Republicans. [Daily Kos]

Now check out the article both of these posts are referring to.

Dear God, please let this be true!

PERHAPS YOU'VE BEEN WONDERING...

"Gianni Versace's latest book Men Without Ties is a runaway success. And now, at the most progressive corporations of New York, Paris, and London, it is quite permissible for men to appear dressed for business with no trace of silk, rayon, or polyester about their necks. What has come undone? Why, after an unprecedented two-thousand year reign, has the most useless, and yet the most fussed over, element of male attire gradually begun to whither in importance?"

A Loosening of Ties

By Willy J. Spat [Pure Land Mountain]

Let the tie go the way of the dodo!

Apparently, the problems solutions may be caught up in politics elsewhere...

I've spent the last 40 minutes looking for an article related to a report on the news tonight, I couldn't find it. Basically they showed a comparison of budget allocation from Homeland Defense to various states... The troubling thing was that Missouri gets more than twice what Arizona is getting. What is there in Missouri that requires more funding then the most porous piece of boarder with Mexico?

REASSURING AND TROUBLING AT THE SAME TIME:

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - A British computer specialist tried to set up a terrorist training camp in Arizona, where he met with Islamic radicals who claimed ties to Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), a government attorney alleged Wednesday.

Babar Ahmad, who is being held in London on charges he ran terrorist fund-raising Web sites, met in Phoenix in 1998 with Yaser Al Jhani, a member of the Islamic mujahedeen militia, and others who claimed to have access to bin Laden, said John Hardy, a British lawyer representing the U.S. government.

"He expressed an interest in developing a training system in Arizona," Hardy told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from London. "That is, a training system, in effect for the mujahedeen to visit and train to fight abroad."

Apparently, there are a lot of problems in Arizona.

[Instapundit.com]

I'll keep looking for the article and update if I find it.

After all of the mining accidents the past few months, this could be politically motivated?

AP - A cache of explosives at the home of a coal mine manager blew up in a town in northern China, killing him and at least 20 children at a nearby grade school, news reports said Thursday. [Yahoo! News: Most Emailed]

Could Kurt Warner be an Arizona Cardinal?

Stay tuned, he's in town for a visit... I actually like the idea of him with the Cardinals!

This brings up a valid point!

This bill is very close to a vote. It will make relief money from the U.S. contingent on the recipient country's adoption of laws that prohibit sexual exploitation of minors.

Which I think is fine, but it also calls for a ban on adult prostitution, which is legal in parts of Nevada. Why make the rest of the world live up to standards that our own don't live up to?

Kolbe is a cosponsor.

[Arizona Congress Watch]

This breaks my heart too...

When I was a little kid I had a cousin who joined the Navy. He was assigned to the Enterprise which had F-14's. It was the first combat aircraft I took an interest in because of that. I still think it's movable wings make it the coolest fighter ever!

Some tech gets older and it has to be retired, I know it's true, but it can still be depressing. This story on the retiring of F-14s effects me so. I remember traveling to San Deigo and seeing them fly across the sky. I remember Top Gun and a buddy and I wanting to be pilots someday, though honestly I always liked the F/A-18 Hornet better. I took another path and never felt a loss after my high school days, I had too many good friends and great experiences to ever regret the choices I made. But the Tomcat has so much character I won't help but miss it. It's the gentle reminder of other dreams of an earlier day.

Goodbye dear Tomcat. [Bear Droppings]

The Phoenix Weblogger Meetup Group

The Phoenix Weblogger Meetup Group

Fuel Motorsports Cafe
2827 E. Bell
Phoenix AZ 85032
602-788-0500
http://www.fuelmotorsportcafe.com/

Get Directions To This Event

Come on out and meet some other area bloggers!

Add This Event To Your Calendar
(iCalendar Format)

[Listening to: Train Travelin' (with The Del McCoury Band) - Dierks Bentley - Dierks Bentley (04:41)]

[verns blog]

We used to joke with our high school math teacher

We would joke that he smoked chalk and snorted chalk dust (he was a smoker and he always managed to get chalk dust on his face during the day). It was funny, but this is not...

A Mesa junior high school teacher who was behaving erratically at school has been arrested for possession of cocaine and driving under the influence of drugs. [azcentral.com | news]

This is a big surprise... NOT!

Imagine people who live in poverty and high unemployment are willing to come and work. Who would have ever thought people would be willing to do that?

WASHINGTON - A survey of mostly undocumented Mexican immigrants found that a majority want to stay in the country permanently, but many more would be interested in signing up for temporary work permits even if it requires them to eventually return to Mexico.* Immigrant activists upset over Utah 'driver privilege' bill * More on border issues [azcentral.com | news]

The problem is that those who hire undocumented workers would have to deal with documented workers. This would make it harder to exploit their labor and cost the employers more than the current system of minimal enforcement costs.

I should be outside...

I'll blog more later!

Aaaahhhh. Springtime in the desert. [azcentral.com | news]

If you don't ususally watch CBS news, tonight will be a good time to make an exception...

They seem to have the inside line on this investigation.

AP - Audio tapes released Tuesday indicate at least 1,500 conversations in which traders employed by disgraced energy company Enron Corp. engaged in or discussed violations of federal regulations, a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staffer said in testimony. [Yahoo! News: Reader Ratings]

Recipe Carnival time again... this week Enchilada Pie

A couple of weeks ago Caltechgirl did a recipe called Mom's Enchilada Casseroll, there are several variations of this that have been in my family for generations. The basic recipe is the same, only the sauce is different. This week I'll build on Caltechgirl's recipe with a variation done entirely from scratch and I'll show a couple of shortcuts.

First here's her recipe:

Here's this week's entry for the Carnival of the Recipes. The CaltechMom has made this to rave reviews.

Enchilada Casserole
12-15 corn tortillas, depending on size
1 lb hamburger
1/2 medium onion
Spices to taste
3-4 cups of your favorite Green Chili sauce (Mom uses Stokey's chili sauce with pork) *
Shredded Cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg. F
2. fry tortillas until soft, drain on paper towels**
3. slice onions to your taste, fry with hamburger and spices to your taste. Don't add chili powder unless your chili sauce is too weak!
4. add 1-1.5 cup of chili sauce to meat mixture, heat through
5. Layer tortillas, then meat mixture, then cheese in a 9x13 baking dish as a lasagna. Usually makes 2 layers in a 9x13, more in a smaller dish.
6. Cover top layer of cheese with more tortillas, pour rest of chili sauce over the top, sprinkle cheese over all.
7. Bake 30-40 minutes in 350 deg F oven, or until hot.
Enjoy!

*My first sauce variation is done entirely from scratch:

• 1/3 cup Crisco Shortning (feel free to substitute canola oil.. I do!)
• 4 teaspoons hot red chili powder
• 1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin (optional-careful My mom is not a fan of cumin)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 - 1/3 cup flour
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 15 ounce cans water

1. melt shortening (or heat oil) in a large sauce pan over medium heat (see next step for why this is important)
2. add chili powder (this will release essential oils from the chili, be careful about breathing any fumes or smoke from this step)
3. add flour till thick but bubbly, cook 1-2 minutes over medium heat
4. add remaining dry ingredients and stir well
5. add tomato sauce and water
6. mix and bring to a simmer stirring frequently until thickened
7. simmer up to one hour

This makes a great red chili sauce for enchiladas, burritos, and of course enchilada casseroll.

*Rather then going through the chili extraction described above, you can use a frozen chili puree from your local supermarket. Our family preference is Eva's Blue Ribbon from an IGA market in Belen, New Mexico (I have an aunt who lives there and brings us all chili a couple of times a year), but you can use any brand as long as it's uncooked. Depending on the puree you may need to season with salt or garlic salt.

Basically you just want to thicken the puree into a gravy like consistency. I do this by heating flour and canola oil in a sauce pan to create a rue and then add the puree and simmer until thickened. My Uncle Dave does the same thing but he uses bacon drippings instead of or in combination with the canola oil.

**To further simplify the recipe, you can skip frying the tortillas. It isn't really necessary as you'll hardly notice any difference in the finished product.

Previous entries:
Welsh Pancakes
Pan Fried Steak with Red Wine Reduction
Hot Peanut Chicken Stir Fry
Uncle Dave's Green Chili Stew
Corned Beef from Scratch
Canton Beef and vegetable soup

LOL

When four of Britain's most famous musicians were guests at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, the Queen didn't recognize them and had to ask, "And what do you do?" Brian May, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, and Jeff Beck were surprised when, after learning that they were all noted guitar players, Her Highness produced a vintage 1954 Fender Stratocaster and joined in on an impromptu 40-minute jam session. Source
[Regurgitated News]

Duh...

Human Rights Watch says a Sudanese militia leader in Darfur has revealed his forces took government orders. [BBC News | World | UK Edition]

This goes hand in hand with my last post...

INTERESTING INTERVIEW ON LEBANON AND SYRIA with Syrian opposition figure Farid Ghadry.

UPDATE: Three years ago, I wrote on preference cascades, and concluded:

This illustrates, in a mild way, the reason why totalitarian regimes collapse so suddenly. . . . Such regimes have little legitimacy, but they spend a lot of effort making sure that citizens don't realize the extent to which their fellow-citizens dislike the regime. If the secret police and the censors are doing their job, 99% of the populace can hate the regime and be ready to revolt against it - but no revolt will occur because no one realizes that everyone else feels the same way.

This works until something breaks the spell, and the discontented realize that their feelings are widely shared, at which point the collapse of the regime may seem very sudden to outside observers - or even to the citizens themselves. Claims after the fact that many people who seemed like loyal apparatchiks really loathed the regime are often self-serving, of course. But they're also often true: Even if one loathes the regime, few people have the force of will to stage one-man revolutions, and when preferences are sufficiently falsified, each dissident may feel that he or she is the only one, or at least part of a minority too small to make any difference.

One interesting question is whether a lot of the hardline Arab states are like this. Places like Iraq, Syria, or Saudi Arabia spend a lot of time telling their citizens that everyone feels a particular way, and punishing those who dare to differ, which has the effect of encouraging people to falsify their preferences. But who knows? Given the right trigger, those brittle authoritarian regimes might collapse overnight, with most of the population swearing - with all apparent sincerity - that it had never supported them, or their anti-Western policies, at all.

Is this what's happening? I certainly hope so.

[Instapundit.com]

This is an interesting read...

Political Scientist: "This is the way the world works."

Poli-Sci geeks will want to make note of this. Political scientist R.J. Rummel notes that we shold not be shocked that we suddenly see breakouts of democracy all over the Middle East.

This is the way the world works. It is a process of things being in equilibrium, an equilibrium that increasingly is out of balance with the underling reality, then a sudden breakdown in the equilibrium caused by some trigger, and a jump to new equilibrium better fitting reality. This also gets increasingly out of balance, breaks down, and another new equilibrium is created, and this over and over ad infinitum.

He compares it to the shifting pressures of tectonic plates, in which tensions build up and then finally snap to a new position, causing earthquakes. Political change works much the same way in his view, and he gives the following illustration:

For his full article on the subject, CLICK HERE. If you're mathematically inclined, you'll probably even more enjoy his paper entitled A CATASTROPHE THEORY MODEL OF THE CONFLICT HELIX, WITH TESTS. Since I don't know calculus I don't understand the math, but I'll bet some of you would.

Somehow when reading it it brought to mind Isaac Asimov's concept of "psychohistory."

[Dean's World]

If I was one of the people who complained about being called, do I get a cut of the fine?

A local firm may have pushed the term "toll call" to new limits. [Latest news from The Business Journal of Phoenix]

I didn't think so!

Arizona was a little shakey this morning...

A light earthquake struck northern Arizona Wednesday morning. People more than 100 miles away reported feeling the tremor. [azcentral.com | news]

A little humor from the Monkey Cage

If I were a lumberjack before I cut down each tree I would say to it "Let me AXE you something"
________________________________________
You know not to fold, spindle or mutilate - but if someone told you that you HAD to spindle something would you even know where to begin?
________________________________________
Remember when we were kids and a "firewall" was part of a car?
________________________________________
So what IS Victoria's Secret anyway?
________________________________________
I found myself waving to a Budweiser truck rolling down the highway as if he were a long lost friend - and then a thought crossed my mind: "I MIGHT be a redneck..."
________________________________________
Sure they TELL YOU that they like someone who "can think on their feet" at interviews - that's what they SAY - but later they'll fire you for never being at your desk or at work.

[The Monkey Cage]

Fossett plane bid in fuel worry

Steve Fossett's attempt to fly solo, non-stop around the globe without re-fuelling is in trouble. [BBC News | Science/Nature | World Edition]

This is stupid...

Some how I don't think this is the intent of the bill...

PHOENIX - The House of Representatives voted Tuesday to let people carry weapons - including guns, grenades, rockets, mines and sawed-off shotguns - into schools, polling places and nuclear plants [Tucson Region]

Of course the way schools are today, it might not be a bad idea! Columbine would never have happened if the library had been mined and the teachers had all had grenades!

Not everyone in Arizona is upset about the boarder situation...

But, this goes too far!

NORTHERN SONORA - In the afternoon lines of migrants can be seen moving like long dark centipedes, inching their way north along the desert floor. They stick to the washes and brushy hillsides that [Tucson Region]

This will end up being worthless...

I don't know about you, but I never had access to a vending machine in school until High School. There may have been a soda machine in Jr High, but I really don't recall. The point is, the only vending machines I remember from elementry school were in the teachers lounge and off limits to students. If schools are still like that then this bill will be meaningless.

A bill that would ban candy and soft-drink sales during the day at public schools likely will get watered down to exclude high schools when it goes before the state House of Representatives later this week. [azcentral.com | news]

There is no doubt that the Mason Jar needed to be remodeled...

I just didn't expect it to change this much!

The Mason Jar, a bastion of hard rock, punk and, more recently, hip-hop in Phoenix for more than two decades, has temporarily closed for remodeling and will reopen as a gay bar, according to the owner of the property. [azcentral.com | news]

Why is this odd?

Why is it so hard to comprehend that some people support the right to bare arms but do not support the right to own a semiautomatic assult weapon that can easily be converted to fully automatic?

THIS IS ODD:

A Springfield woman who began lobbying against gun violence after her son was shot to death in 2002 was arrested last week when police allegedly found an illegal gun and drugs in her home. . . .

Since her son's death, Stevens has become involved in the anti-gun-violence movement. She helped establish and is president of a Springfield chapter of the Million Mom March, an organization that aims to prevent gun violence.

Last fall, she appeared with other anti-gun advocates at a Statehouse news conference to urge federal officials to renew a ban against semiautomatic assault weapons.

Hmm.

[Instapundit.com]

If a special exemption is needed...

Then the whole thing probably has problems!

AP - The Senate on Tuesday adopted a GOP-authored plan aimed at shielding active-duty military personnel and some veterans from key proposed changes in bankruptcy laws that would make it harder to shed debts. [Yahoo! News: Most Viewed]

Darfur still a topic of blogs...

DARFUR UPDATE:

WASHINGTON, Sudan's government and the militia it supports persist in committing atrocities in the Darfur region despite repeated promises to end brutal abuses and killings, the U.S. State Department says.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed over the past two years, many as a result of disease and hunger, and more than 1.8 million displaced from Darfur in fighting which the United States has called genocide.

"Despite the government's repeated commitments to refrain from further violence in Darfur, the atrocities continued," said the State Department's annual report of human rights abuses worldwide, published Monday.

Last year, then Secretary of State Colin Powell concluded genocide was being committed against the people of Darfur and that Sudan's government and the Janjaweed militia bore responsibility.

The United States wants the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions against Sudan but China and Russia have opposed such penalties, particularly on oil.

The full report is here. The section on Sudan and Darfur is here.

[Instapundit.com]

This is worth a read...

This month may turn out to be a late Christmas for credit card companies if the Republican supported bankruptcy bill passes Congress. The bill would force middle-class workers to pay some of the debt they owe even after they go bankrupt. You could make a good case for this bill if it were narrowly focused on those who truly abuse bankruptcy laws. Instead, the bill sweeps away protections for worthy and unworthy debtors alike. This will make it much tougher for those who fall on hard times to escape burdens they confront through little fault of their own.
[The Proponent of Reason]

Geek alert...

This sounds pretty cool! Speaking of Gmail, I have about 50 invites to give away... Email me your name an a return email address if your interested (my address is in the sidebar).

This sounds like a good way to put my unused Gmail account to good use.

 From Engadget: Use your Gmail account as a personal file server.

This is a fairly simple and useful trick to score yourself a gigabyte's worth of free online file storage. If you already have a Gmail account, you can use it as a central file server that is accessible from anywhere you can access Gmail. If you don't have a Gmail accountÂ… read on.

We're going to install a shell extension that will allow you to mount your Gmail account as a virtual drive on your desktop, so you can perform basic file manipulation operations without having to go through the web-based interface. Drag and drop, batch copy, create folders and delete files as you normally would in Windows Explorer, and be able to access your virtual drive from virtually anywhere.

[J-Walk Blog]

LOL

Costanza:
 


BTK dude:

 


The prosecution rests.

CWCID: A devoted TigerHawk reader. [TigerHawk]

You better believe it!

Take a look at the stats for my blog.

TechWeb - Mozilla's Firefox keeps chipping away at Microsoft's massive lead in browser usage. [Yahoo! News: Reader Ratings]

I'm not sure how to react to this...

At least they are not trying to build a new stadium or anything stupid like that.

AP - After four years of negotiations, the Chicago Cubs and the city agreed on a plan to add 1,790 seats to Wrigley Field, the National League's oldest ballpark. [Yahoo! News: Most Emailed]

I want to do this too!

This looks AWESOME!!!

Boomer Shoot!

Interested in the newest and most extreme in extreme sports?

Have a real blast with guns and explosives!

This is the net home of the Palouse Practical Shooters Boomershoot.  This is a long range, high-power, precision rifle shooting event with high explosive, reactive targets up to 700 yards away.   As if you needed one -- this is a great excuse to visit Idaho.

How cool is this?!? You combine the best of shooting guns with blowing shit up!!!

The only thing better would be to have vats of testosterone you could just drink, and plenty of liquor to mix in!!!

[Listening to: Fly into Love - Charly McClain - Biggest Hits (03:16)]

[verns blog]

This sounds cool...

Avid warplane watchers shouldn't wonder whether they're in a time warp this weekend. Davis-Monthan Air Force Base will be hosting vintage aircraft training for future air shows. A mixture of both [Tucson Region]

What would happen if all teachers did this?

People have no idea how much time classroom teachers put into things like this!

AP - Berkeley students aren't getting written homework assignments because teachers are refusing to grade work on their own time after two years with no pay raise. [Yahoo! News: Most Viewed]

TigerHawk disagrees...

You're thinking, "he's not going to rag on teachers, is he?" Yes he is! Not all teachers, but teachers who make this argument: Berkeley students aren't getting written homework assignments because teachers are refusing to grade work on their own time after two years with no pay raise. So far, a black history event had to be canceled and parents had to staff a middle-school science fair because

[TigerHawk]

To me, this says were not prioritizing our money correctly...

The US has one of the highest rates of relative child poverty among the world's wealthiest states, a UN report says. [BBC News | World | UK Edition]

My sister isn't going to like this...

Throw out all your old NAU sweatshirts, blue and gold are gone, blue and sage are the new colors!

FLAGSTAFF - Northern Arizona University unveiled a new logo and new colors Thursday, the beginning of the most aggressive marketing campaign in the school's history. [azcentral.com | news]