Standoff at Clinton office ends peacefully

Via Yahoo News and AFP - Hostage-taker at Clinton office surrenders

A man claiming to be armed with a bomb took over one of US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton's campaign offices for more than five hours Friday before surrendering to police.

The man, believed to have a history of mental illness, walked into the New Hampshire office at around 1:00 pm (1800 GMT), taking three women, a man and a baby hostage and reportedly demanding to speak to the former first lady.

[. . .]

US media said that Eisenberg was well known locally, had a history of mental problems and wanted to draw attention to the state of psychiatric health care in the United States.

One has to wonder about such a stunt. What exactly is the point of pretending to (the articles says it was actually road flares not a bomb) try to blow up the campaign office of a presidential primary candidate that is more likely to actually do something about his supposed issue of concern than what the current administration is doing? Well, I guess if he really is mentally ill then logic might not be the place to look for an explanation.

I'm a bit surprised

I don't really have time to read the article in full or blog about it right now, but I was surprised when I saw this headline on my homepage this morning: CNN - Musharraf steps down as army chief

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf stepped down as the country's military leader Wednesday, the day before he was to be sworn in for a third presidential term -- as a civilian.

I knew he said he was going to, but I'm a little surprised he actually did it. However, I would be even more surprised if his stepping down actual changes his relationship with the army in any significant way.

Sean Taylor dead at 24

Via the Chicago Tribune - Redskins' Taylor Dies Day After Shooting

Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor died early Tuesday, a day after he was shot at home. He was 24. Family friend Richard Sharpstein said Taylor's father told him the news around 5:30 a.m.

[. . .]

Taylor was shot early Monday in the upper leg, damaging an artery and causing significant blood loss.

When you first hears that someone has been shot in the leg you don't normally think of it as being a potentially fatal wound if treatment is received right away, but obviously it can be. My prayers go out to his family and friends, especially his baby daughter who will never really get the chance to know her father. What a tragic loss.

Redskins' Sean Taylor shot in the leg

Via WaPo - Redskins' Taylor in Critical Condition After Shooting
Redskins' safety Sean Taylor was shot at his Miami home early this morning and is in critical condition. The motivation for the shooting is still unknown. I'm sure there will be regular updates at WaPo and other news outlets.

President of France or Lounge Singer, you decide

Today I was grading news journals that my students turned in Monday. One student had written about this article from the BBC. When I saw the picture in the article the first thing that came to mind was that Sarkozy looked like a lounge singer and it looked like he and Bush were performing some kind of dance routine when the picture was taken.


What do you think?

It seemed like a good idea at the time

Back at the beginning of the semester it seemed like such a good idea to have my students write news journals. And while I still think it is a good assignment, grading them is NOT fun. It really shows me who is understanding the material and putting real effort into the assignment and who isn't, however. Ah well, some day I'll learn. . .

That's interesting logic

Via WaPo - In Paul They Trust (The Feds May Differ)

Federal agents on Thursday raided the Evansville, Ind., headquarters of the National Organization for the Repeal of the Federal Reserve Act and Internal Revenue Code (Norfed), an organization of "sound money" advocates that for the past decade has been selling a private currency it calls "Liberty Dollars." The company says it has put into circulation more than $20 million in Liberty Dollars, coins and paper certificates it contends are backed by silver and gold stored in Idaho, are far more reliable than a U.S. dollar and are accepted for use by a nationwide underground economy.

[. . .]

News of the raid lit up Ron Paul online forums yesterday, the latest unlikely episode in a campaign that began as an idiosyncratic bid by the veteran congressman but has grown into a cause with the potential to influence the GOP contest. Paul, 72, has attracted droves of disaffected Republicans and independents to his platform, which includes ending the war in Iraq, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service and adhering to a strict libertarian interpretation of the Constitution.

[. . .]

"People are pretty upset about this," said Jim Forsythe, head of the Paul Meetup group in New Hampshire, who said he recently ordered 150 of the copper coins. "The dollar is going down the tubes, and this is something that can protect the value of their money, and the Federal Reserve is threatened by that. It'll definitely fire people up."

So let me get this straight, this is an organization that is trying to undermine the US dollar in an attempt to bring back the gold standard or silver standard or some non-fiat currency. They have been circulating their private currency for some time now, as a way to undermine legal US currency. They are now using the falling exchange rate of the dollar as justification for their actions. This seems like self-justifying logic to me: "we can try to make something bad and then complain when it turns bad." Yeah, that's reasonable.

Some overdue pictures

Seeing Steven Taylor's pictures of fall color from his trip this weekend reminded me that I never posted any pictures from my trip to Washington last month. So here they are. Enjoy!

Addicted to the Internet?

I don't doubt it. I know a few people that probably fall into that category, myself included.

Via NYT - In Korea, a Boot Camp Cure for Web Obsession

Up to 30 percent of South Koreans under 18, or about 2.4 million people, are at risk of Internet addiction, said Ahn Dong-hyun, a child psychiatrist at Hanyang University in Seoul who just completed a three-year government-financed survey of the problem.

They spend at least two hours a day online, usually playing games or chatting. Of those, up to a quarter million probably show signs of actual addiction, like an inability to stop themselves from using computers, rising levels of tolerance that drive them to seek ever longer sessions online, and withdrawal symptoms like anger and craving when prevented from logging on.

I don't really get angry when I can't log on, but I often spend waaaay more than 2 hours a day on the Internet. But if I have to go to boot camp, I can think of at least a couple of people that I'm planning to drag along with me.

Which do you like better?

Here is an old FFM that I found by accident.

Which do you prefer:

01. CHEESE or CHOCOLATE? (that's a tough one)
02. BLUEBERRIES or STRAWBERRIES?
03. COFFEE or TEA?
04. CORN MUFFIN or ENGLISH MUFFIN?
05. PANCAKES or FRENCH TOAST?
06. YOGURT or CREAM CHEESE? (by itself, yogurt; in things, cream cheese)
07. RICE or PASTA?
08. CAKE or PIE?
09. GROUND BEEF or GROUND TURKEY?
10. HOT DOGS or HAMBURGERS?
11. JELLY or MARMALADE?
12. AMERICAN CHEESE or SWISS CHEESE?
13. DIET SODA or NO SODA? (I mostly don't drink soda anyway)
14. LEMONADE or ICED TEA?
15. CHERRIES or GRAPES?
16. CHOCOLATE QUIK or STRAWBERRY QUIK?
17. WAFFLES or PANCAKES?
18. WHITE BREAD or WHOLE-GRAIN/WHEAT BREAD?
19. PEAS or CARROTS?
20. PUDDING or FRUIT-FLAVORED GELATIN?
21. COLD CEREAL or HOT CEREAL?
22. KETCHUP or MUSTARD?
23. MUSTARD or MAYONNAISE?
24. MAYONNAISE or KETCHUP?
25. BLACK OLIVES or GREEN OLIVES?
26. ONION or GARLIC?
27. PLAIN BARBECUE or BARBECUE WITH SAUCE?
28. SCRAMBLED EGGS or FRIED EGGS?
29. EGGS or EGG REPLACEMENTS?
30. MEAT or VEGETABLES? (depends on the meal)
31. CHINESE TAKE-OUT or PIZZA?
32. SUSHI or DELI SANDWICH?
33. WHITE CLAM CHOWDER or RED CLAM CHOWDER? (don't know)
34. KEY LIME PIE or LEMON MERINGUE PIE?
35. PIE & ICE CREAM or CAKE & ICE CREAM?
36. WHIPPED CREAM or CAKE FROSTING?
37. HONEY or MAPLE SYRUP?

Feel free to join in.

Maybe that explains it

As a teacher I often wonder how it is that what I say can be so totally misunderstood or misinterpreted. Maybe this quote explains it.

A stupid man's report of what a clever man says can never be accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand.
-Bertrand Russell

It would explain a lot, that's for sure.

Speaking of things I like

I love this song!One line in the song talks about saying "I love you":

Those three words
Are said too much
They're not enough

I can definitely understand the sentiment there. Sometimes saying I love you just doesn't seem to get the point across well enough.

On the other hand, I would say that while I love you is often said too much, it also isn't said enough. Too often in life we say I love you when we don't really mean it and we don't always say it when we do really feel it. It is okay to say I love you to your spouse or significant other, your child or your parent. But so often we have people that are so important to our lives, our dear and close friend, that we don't say I love you to, but we wouldn't know what to do without them.

So, to my dear friends, I do love you, even if I don't say it. You're the best!

I like this cartoon

Cartoon via WaPo

The Strike is On

Via CNN - Hollywood writers go on strike

The strike by Hollywood writers is on. Writers and studios broke off talks late Sunday after 11 hours of negotiations.

The talks between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers were called by a federal mediator. The producers said a deal couldn't be reached.

The writers want more money from the sale of DVDs and a share of revenue generated by the sale of TV shows and films over the Internet. The studios say the demands are unreasonable and will hamper attempts to experiment with new media.

Picketing starts in the morning in New York and Los Angeles.

The walkout will affect late-night talk shows first, then daytime talk shows and soap operas. Studios have stockpiled movie scripts and prime-time TV has completed shows in hand to last until early next year.

As it won't affect things like reality shows and sports broadcast, I guess people won't have to go back to reading books right away. Who knows, if it goes on too long maybe the producers will turn to buying the rights to film fan fiction.