A Mere Detour

Rain Garden

2009-06-21T09:29:00.001-04:00

Pardon the dust

2008-08-09T22:55:00.002-04:00

On Hiatus for a ~~little~~ long while...

Rainfall totals: June 2007 = 2.78 inches; June 2008 = over 10 inches

2008-07-04T14:08:00.002-04:00

What a difference a year makes.

Last year: "So damn dry"

This year: "Wettest June on Record for Columbus"

Hillary Clinton Must Think Her Supporters Are Stupid...

2008-05-30T21:22:00.009-04:00

Having once had a great deal of respect for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, primarily because her health care plan was and is superior to Obama's, I signed up for her campaign email announcements. I'll still on that list and every now and then a new email will trickle in. As her campaign has faltered, her messages have become increasingly ludicrous. I just received this doozy:

"...We're ramping up our efforts for the final three primaries, which are critical to extending Hillary's lead in the national popular vote and winning the nomination."

Extending her lead in the national popular vote? Huh? In order to extend a lead one must actually be in the lead - which Clinton isn't. Does she really think that her supporters are too stupid to notice such an important detail? Clinton uses some really creative math to make her assertion. First, she ignores the results in the caucus states of Iowa, Nevada, Maine, and Washington State. Second, she includes the results of Michigan and Florida - states she had previously said should not count because of their violation of DNC rules. Third, while including Michigan, a state where she was the only major candidate on the ballot, she doesn't bother to count those voters who voted 'uncommitted' as a way to register their support for Obama. So, in other words, if the votes are counted in such a way as to put Hillary in the lead, then she will be in the lead. That's basically her argument, and its a stupid one. This all becomes even more absurd when one remembers that several months ago her campaign was arguing that popular vote totals should be irrelevant to determining the nominee.

Simple Answers to Stupid Questions

2008-05-26T11:45:00.001-04:00

Is Barack Obama Muslim?

Phoenix Opens Its Eyes...

2008-05-26T11:25:00.000-04:00

Science/Technology is Frickin' Awesome

2008-05-26T10:45:00.003-04:00

100 million miles away. NASA is about to analyze the chemical composition of soil from another planet that is 100 million miles away. Utterly amazing. From time to time I just have to marvel at the scope of our species' technological advancement. A short time ago we were running naked through the African savanna chasing our food - now this:

Irrelevant Update: If we can send machines to Mars why can't HP make a decent monitor? Anyone have a clue as to why the image on my HP w2207 monitor keeps getting worse? Everything 'smears' a couple of centimeters to the right. Get a pencil; write something down on a piece of paper. Now get an eraser and rub it, one time, across your writing. That is what the images and text look like on my monitor. It is subtle but very annoying.

After

2008-05-23T21:44:00.004-04:00

Before:

Puerto Rico Primary

2008-05-23T21:28:00.003-04:00

This post has nothing to do with the Puerto Rico primary; however, with Puerto Rico being in the news recently, I am reminded of some odd photos I took while visiting there about a year ago.

Public safety does not appear to be a high priority in Puerto Rico.

Dear Miracle-Gro Co.,

2008-04-25T22:15:00.003-04:00

What's wrong with your chemicals?

'Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. was ordered yesterday to stop selling and using products that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said contain two "illegal and unregistered" herbicides.'

-Columbus Dispatch

Worst. Sales Pitch. Ever.

2008-04-20T12:41:00.003-04:00

I received this in the mail a couple of days ago:

Scotts advertising model:
Step #1: Insult prospective customers
Step #2: Profit?

Can you imagine if other companies used this approach?

Jane Doe, why is your face so ugly? Maybelline cosmetics has a new product that....

or

Mr. and Mrs. Doe, why are your children so stupid? Sullivant Learning Centers can help your kids with their...

etc etc etc

Asshat Of The Day

2008-04-08T22:01:00.006-04:00

Illinois State Representative Monique Davis (D-Chicago)

Update:
Olbermann chimes in on Davis' Asshattery...

You Don't Need To Know What's Not On The Test

2008-03-30T12:11:00.002-04:00

An anthem for our times...

Total Snow Accumulation of 20.4 Inches

2008-03-08T19:46:00.003-05:00

Wow!

Does Obama Need Edwards?

2008-03-04T21:04:00.003-05:00

White males in Ohio went for Hillary Clinton... By 11 points! Up until now, that demographic segment had been a rock-solid base of support for Obama. My thoughts:

#1. Yes, Obama is going to win the nomination... eventually.

#2. No Republican candidate has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio in the general election. Ever.

#3. I suspect that the working class in Ohio haven't bought in to the Obama hype. They don't want hope, they want affordable food. They don't want change, they want to return to the day when they didn't have to worry about foreclosure.

#4. No Republican candidate has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio in the general election. Ever. (This is worth repeating.)

#5. For Obama to win Ohio, and thereby the presidency, he will have to, (a) trade in his 'rock-star' image and focus on the very real economic hardships facing Ohioans (Think, "I feel your pain" circa 1992.) or, (b) select an economic populist as his running mate - perhaps Edwards.

Robinson's Apollo II Proposal

2008-02-24T22:42:00.003-05:00

It is refreshing to see a politician offer forth a bold vision for dealing with our nation's systemic oil dependency problem.

More Summer Colors

2008-02-17T15:09:00.004-05:00

Re

Moonflower

How not to store a gourd

2008-02-02T16:28:00.000-05:00

Remember those birdhouse gourds that I was going to turn into functioning birdhouses? Well, I may have to try again next year. I made the mistake of storing the gourds in my (apparently) damp basement. They were attacked by mold. I sprayed some Lysol on them and tried to clean them up as much as possible. Time will tell if they can be saved.

Hillary Clinton sums up my argument against Hillary Clinton

2008-01-13T12:59:00.000-05:00

Floor Speech of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on S.J. Res. 45, A Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq

October 10, 2002

"President Bush's speech in Cincinnati and the changes in policy that have come forth since the Administration began broaching this issue some weeks ago have made my vote easier. Even though the resolution before the Senate is not as strong as I would like in requiring the diplomatic route first and placing highest priority on a simple, clear requirement for unlimited inspections, I will take the President at his word that he will try hard to pass a UN resolution and will seek to avoid war, if at all possible.

... [A] vote for the resolution best serves the security of our nation. If we were to defeat this resolution or pass it with only a few Democrats, I am concerned that those who want to pretend this problem will go way with delay will oppose any UN resolution calling for unrestricted inspections.

This is a very difficult vote. This is probably the hardest decision I have ever had to make -- any vote that may lead to war should be hard -- but I cast it with conviction."

http://clinton.senate.gov/speeches/iraq_101002.html

The Huffington Post publishes racist tirade

2008-01-12T09:31:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, The Huffington Post published a racist tirade by Lawrence O'Donnell, former executive producer or The West Wing. In his column, Mr. O'Donnell asserts that a major presidential contender ought to drop out of the democratic primary, in part because of the color of his skin. Here is the money quote:

"If John Edwards stays in the race, he might, in the end, become nothing other than the Southern white man who stood in the way of the black man. And for that, he would deserve a lifetime of liberal condemnation."

I knew that Obama's historic candidacy would bring out horrible racist impulses in some people; it is disheartening to see it happen on "my side" of the political spectrum.

Ha!

2008-01-10T19:14:00.001-05:00

CIGNA's new logo

2007-12-21T08:10:00.000-05:00

BTW... The CEO of CIGNA, Edward Hanway, raked in $38.79 million this past year.

Murder by Spreadsheet claims another life

2007-12-21T07:40:00.000-05:00

Doctors: This young woman needs a liver transplant to live.

CIGNA: Sorry, we won't cover it. It is an experimental procedure.

Doctors: No, it isn't an experimental procedure. We are the doctors, not you. If we say that it isn't experimental then it isn't experimental. We have a liver available to give to her and we need to do this operation NOW.

CIGNA: No.

Time passes...

CIGNA: OK, we've changed our mind. We'll cover the operation.

Doctors: She's dead now you dipshits.

See:

Following Massive Protest, Insurer Authorizes Transplant for 17-year-old

Girl dies while awaiting transplant

Opie, it ain't right to torture people.

2007-12-20T16:58:00.000-05:00

I wish that the Andy Griffith Show had produced an entire series of episodes in which Andy lectures Opie for violating someone's constitutional rights.

The straightforward dialog between Andy and Opie could enlighten elected officials, such as Pat Tiberi, on the basics of human and constitutional rights.

Opie: Hey Paw! I just waterboarded old man Blake down at the jail. You wouldn't believe what he confessed to! Just listen to this.

Andy: I can't listen to that. Now I told you about torturing people.

Opie: But Paw, this is different.

Andy: Yes, it's worse. Not only did you have to overcome your basic human decency to torture Mr. Blake, the information he provided is likely false. You see Opie, when people are tortured they'll say anything to make the pain stop. Not only did you violate Mr. Blake's human rights, you hurt our nation's intelligence gathering by providing false information to our analysts.

Video H/T Plunderbund

Res ipsa loquitur

2007-12-16T15:11:00.000-05:00

This past week the U.S. House, following the advice of 30 retired generals and admirals, passed a bill that would prohibit the CIA from waterboarding detainees. Waterboarding, of course, is widely considered to be a form of torture:

"In the media, waterboarding is called "simulated drowning," but that's a misnomer. It does not simulate drowning, as the lungs are actually filling with water. There is no way to simulate that. The victim is drowning.
Unless you have been strapped down to the board, have endured the agonizing feeling of the water overpowering your gag reflex, and then feel your throat open and allow pint after pint of water to involuntarily fill your lungs, you will not know the meaning of the word.
How much of this the victim is to endure depends on the desired result (in the form of answers to questions shouted into the victim's face) and the obstinacy of the subject. A team doctor watches the quantity of water that is ingested and for the physiological signs that show when the drowning effect goes from painful psychological experience, to horrific suffocating punishment to the final death spiral.
Waterboarding is slow-motion suffocation with enough time to contemplate the inevitability of blackout and expiration. Usually the person goes into hysterics on the board. For the uninitiated, it is horrifying to watch. If it goes wrong, it can lead straight to terminal hypoxia - meaning, the loss of all oxygen to the cells.
The lack of physical scarring allows the victim to recover and be threatened with its use again and again. Call it "Chinese water torture," "the barrel," or "the waterfall." It is all the same.
One has to overcome basic human decency to endure causing the effects. The brutality would force you into a personal moral dilemma between humanity and hatred. It would leave you questioning the meaning of what it is to be an American."

Having overcome his basic human decency, my congressman, Pat Tiberi, voted against the bill, thereby condoning the use of torture by our government.