one small step for A man September 30, 2006
Posted by Retired Geezer in Travel.comments closed
I entered this comment in the Travel category, cause that’s just how I roll.
High-tech detective work apparently has found the missing “a” in one of the most famous phrases ever spoken.
Astronaut Neil Armstrong’s first words from the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969, now can be confidently recast, according to the research, as, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Even though Neil Armstrong always claimed that he said the “a”, doubters had claimed that he botched his line.
18-year-old Czech wins Miss World 2006 September 30, 2006
Posted by Michael in News.comments closed
Ladies and gentlemen fellow male IB readers, I present to you the new Miss World, reacting to the announcement of her victory (on the right):
Man, she sure has great teeth.
By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA, Associated Press Writer
1 minute agoWARSAW, Poland – Tatana Kucharova, an 18-year-old student from the Czech Republic, won the Miss World 2006 beauty contest on Saturday.
Kucharova defeated 103 other women in voting by a panel of judges and television viewers around the world during a two-hour finals ceremony in the Polish capital.
First runner-up in the 56th edition of the annual beauty pageant was Joana Valentina Boitor, a 17-year-old from Romania. Australia’s Sabrina Houssami, 20, was third.
Wearing a long white dress, a teary Kucharova blew kisses to the 2,500 audience members in Warsaw’s Congress Hall after she received her diamond crown from Miss World 2005, Unnur Birna Vilhjalmsdottir of Iceland.
Well good for her. But here’s the bit that caught my eye:
She told the judges she wants to attend university and then become a model.
I hate be a spoilsport. Really I do. But is it wrong for me to suggest that a lot of time and money will be wasted on a university diploma for some hottie who just wants to pursue a modeling career? C’mon. I don’t even believe her. I think she just made that up to sound cool.
She likes tennis and horse riding and her personal motto is “Always be an optimist.”
I’ll bet she is an optimist. Heck, these contestants all look pretty optimistic to me.
Farm Aid “Still Needed” September 30, 2006
Posted by Michael in Economics, Food, Gardening.comments closed
I know that this is supposed to be a worthy cause. I suppose they have accomplished some good things over the years. But, why the heck is Farm Aid still going on?
By GEOFF MULVIHILL, Associated Press Writer 7 minutes ago
CAMDEN, N.J. –
John Mellencamp never figured Farm Aid would still be needed now, 21 years after its debut as one of many moments of musicians trying to do good in the 1980s. “We thought we’d have the concert and the government would change things,” he said before taking stage at the nearly annual concert Saturday.
When Mellencamp, Willie Nelson and Neil Young founded the charity in 1985, they were mostly concerned with saving family farms, which were going out of business fast in a time when land values were falling and interest rates were soaring.
So, actually, it’s clear that Farm Aid is not needed, Mr. Moroncamp. Interest rates have come way down and land prices have rebounded. Why is Farm Aid still around?
The mission has changed over the years. With the farm crisis passed, the organization is mostly concerned now with connecting farmers and consumers. They talked as much Saturday about getting kids to eat fresh food as they did about keeping farms commercially viable. [Emphasis added.]
Good grief. They morphed it into a nutrition program. Maybe I’m just getting cynical, but I have a sneaking suspicion that John, Willie and Neil would turn “Farm Aid” into a crusade against urban poverty if it was necessary to keep this publicity stunt going.
“We started out trying to save the family farm,” Nelson said at a pre-concert news conference in which the rockers sat among farmers. “Now, it looks like the family farm is going to save us.”
Where did I put that barf bag?
New York Minute September 29, 2006
Posted by BrewFan in Crime, Heroes.comments closed
On a fall day in Wisconsin, a man got up this morning to go to work and had no idea he wouldn’t live to see the day through. I believe God has a plan for everybody’s life and Mr. John Klang was destined to save the lives of many children. May he rest in peace.
And in these days
When darkness falls early
And people rush home
To the ones they love
You better take a fool’s advice
And take care of your own
One day they’re here;
Next day they’re gone
Waterboarding Question September 29, 2006
Posted by skinbad in Terrorist Hemorrhoids.comments closed
Do you think all the discussion of “waterboarding” makes it a non-effective method of interrogation even if it’s still allowed? I’m not saying I wouldn’t beg to stop it (Wikipedia says CIA officers on the receiving end lasted an average of 14 seconds) before cracking, but I would keep telling myself, “They’re not really allowed to kill me.” I keep reading that it feels like you’re going to be asphyxiated. Wouldn’t the worst part of it be not knowing if they were really going to go through with it if you didn’t give them what they want? Now if I didn’t know I was in the U.S., or the people doing it were U.S. agents, that would scare me a lot more. Can CIA operatives lie to a suspected terrorist and tell him he’s really in Bulgaria: “Sure, Bush has talked about this, but those rules don’t apply here. If we don’t stop soon enough? We don’t care and no one will ever know.”
The same Wikipedia article says Khalid Sheik Mohommed lasted over two minutes before “begging to confess.” Did he not know they were being very careful not to kill him? Or is it so physically (and/or psychologically) painful that a person just can’t take it? I’m not saying I couldn’t consider it torture, but it still seems a lot different than someone cutting off fingers until you start to talk.
The broader question, I suppose, is if we have to spell out what we can and can’t do in interrogation, doesn’t the enemy gain an advantage in knowing what to expect?
The First Friday of Fall! September 29, 2006
Posted by Michael in Websites.comments closed
Time to start thinking about what you will year to the Halloween party this year. Not an issue for me; I’ll just wear my work clothes. No, not a suit. I’m not talking about my day job.
You, on the other hand, need to give this some thought. Last year you waited too long before you went to rent something, and all the good stuff was gone. That’s why you looked ridiculous. Kevlarchick, for example, wanted something sexy and ended up going as Mary Poppins (yes, I was watching). Her date spent the entire evening hitting on the French Maid. And that Aquaman costume that was two sizes too small just wasn’t working for Dave in Texas.
When confronted with tough decisions like this, I suggest you get help from the professional third world Halloween fashion counselors at the outsourced Innocent Bystanders Advice Department. It just so happens that they are standing by waiting for your questions at this very moment.
Persistance Pays Off September 29, 2006
Posted by skinbad in Crime, Travel.comments closed
About midnight, a man walked up to a female police officer in her car said, “Hey baby, take me to jail.” About an hour later, the officer pulled over a guy driving a stolen car who had been involved in a fight at a nearby gas station. Guess who?
I know I’m old and stodgy, but how much grief would some people avoid if, when it gets late, they just went home to be stupid?
Sobek Figures Out How to Use YouTube September 28, 2006
Posted by Sobek in News.comments closed
I think I need some video editing software that doesn’t stamp everything with a watermark, but otherwise I’m good to go:
Victim’s Name Tattooed on Child Murderer September 28, 2006
Posted by Michael in Crime.comments closed
1 hour, 23 minutes ago
CARLISLE, Ind. – An inmate serving a life term for molesting and killing a 10-year-old girl named Katie somehow got “Katie’s Revenge” tattooed across his forehead, and prison authorities were trying to determine how it happened.The Indiana Department of Correction placed Anthony Ray Stockelman, 39, in protective custody away from the general inmate population last weekend after authorities discovered the tattoo, said Rich Larsen, a spokesman for the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility.
Stockelman was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to abducting, molesting and killing Katlyn “Katie” Collman. Katie was missing for five days before her body was found Jan. 30, 2005, in a creek about 15 miles from her home in the southern Indiana town of Crothersville.
Protective custody? I suppose they had to do it, but he certainly does not deserve it. I would prefer to let him take his chances with the general population.
A Drive in the Country September 27, 2006
Posted by Lipstick in Ducks, Travel.comments closed
Last month I visited my parents and one of my favorite things to do is drive the back roads and enjoy the scenery.
Naturally, when I saw this sign I thought of you all. . . bunch of perverts:
Innocent Bystanders 
New Feature September 28, 2006
Posted by Michael in Commenting Tips.comments closed
The “Top Posts” now listed in the sidebar are generated by a widget that ranks posts based on the number of hits in the last two days.