Ha, ha. It is to laugh.

Directed by the late, great Chuck Jones. Until Warner Brothers comes along and takes this classic clip down ... enjoy!

Worst news this decade

Dr. Maryam, an Iraqi pediatrician, comments in this long thread about the American imperial invasion of her country. She is not at all charitable to America or Americans, and honestly I don't think there's any reason to be, either. Believe her words, or don't believe them, but I don't think we can afford to pretend anymore.

I'd apologize, but the real damage has been done, and unless I'm willing to go camp on my Congressperson's doorstep, I am only voicing hollow, meaningless words. We need to get out of Iraq now. Recovery and rebuilding will never occur until we do.

Oh brother, what the fuck have we done?

Latest Harry Potter flick

We saw this movie over the weekend. I found it interesting and much more compelling than the others. Not for little kids. Someone gets killed. Yes, the stakes are escalating in what is becoming a classic good vs. evil battle.

So I went out and bought the first two books, and have read 100 pages of book 1 already. So far, the movie (the first movie) is following the book rather closely, but I have a lot more to read. Not really much character development, but how much would you expect in a kids' book?

Lindsay Lohan not really news

It's fairly apparent she's in real trouble, this time.

I have no enmity against her--none at all. I think she's an attractive young woman with good career opportunities in "show business." I'm not rooting for her to crash and burn, but she's getting to the bottom pretty quickly. Yes, it makes me wonder how much further she could fall (without irreparably harming something very valuable to her--like her life).

I don't see her as another Paris Hilton. Not quite. Paris Hilton is a spoiled, rich, brat with a family name and a desire to always be the center of attention. OK, well, I guess Ms. Lohan is quite a bit like Paris Hilton. Except she has parents who either don't care, or only care about money. She could really benefit from someone who doesn't care if she's rich or famous, and who is not looking to make money off her. Let's be daring: someone who might actually care about her. A little.

Funny that she didn't find someone like that in rehab, but perhaps rehab in Tinseltown isn't quite what it's like in other places. That's too bad. I don't want to see her get hurt, but of course not very many of us have the power to do anything about that. What will be, will be.

Should she go to jail? Maybe, but I don't really see that as an appropriate response to her drug and alcohol use. She's an alcoholic; certainly a drug abuser who has gotten out of control. Am I soft on alcoholics and drug users? No, I just know that her behavior isn't criminal in the same sense that the guy breaking into your house is a criminal. Well, OK, maybe he's a drug addict trying to feed his habit, but Ms. Lohan didn't hold up a 7-Eleven.

Inevitably, the media will follow this story. Many people will literally salivate over the news reports hoping that this person--young, female, pretty, and ostensibly talented--will "get what's coming to her." Schadenfreude, plain and simple. Maybe she will find herself in jail, and it will likely be damaging to her. If she's lucky she will stop what she's doing and sober up. Personally, that's what I hope.

"It's Not Torture"

I'm glad we cleared that up.

How many times during this interview did Adm. McConnell use that phrase? Reminds me of the Lenin quote: "A lie told often enough becomes the truth."

Adm. McConnell stated "Tim, it's not torture. I would not want a U.S. citizen to go through the process, but it is not torture, and there would be no permanent damage to that citizen."

As I said, I'm glad we cleared that up.

Best news I've heard all day

Wow! Those optimizing compilers sure have gotten sophisticated

(Programmer humor alert.)

Hehe. If you didn't think the use of "goto" was bad before ...



You've been warned!

Abandonment

Someone forwarded this link to me. They said it was "abandoned photographs", but this site was really photographs of abandoned buildings. Somewhat different.

This is Denbigh Asylum, in Wales. The macro-like focusing technique makes this look like a miniature. Maybe it was just for the added mystery. I see Boris Karloff in the bell tower window.

eBay bidders not always rational! Film at 11

File this under "Duh!"

Yeah, I've bought a few things via eBay. The most expensive item was my current surround sound receiver that I bought via "Buy it now." I had previously bid on a used one of the very same item, but stopped when the item's bid price exceeded the no-risk price of the new item I actually bought. In truth I stopped well short of the fixed new-item price, since the thing was used. But I did see the final sales price.

Gad. Didn't these people look around to see what an Onkyo TX-SR 601 sold for new? Apparently not.

I have also bid on TVs and the like, but you have to read the "fine print" on the shipping. I thought it obvious that you would include the shipping when determining your maximum price, but once again, this most obvious rule doesn't hold. I could not believe that someone would bid up an item--a used item--to the point where its final, delivered price was on par with the street price of the new item.

Only once or twice have I ever bid beyond my initial set maximum price. And then only very slightly. So I guess my predetermined maximum isn't as hard-and-fast as I thought. I mean, if you had set $18 as the max, wouldn't you go to $18.25 if that meant you could get the item? But do I then change my mind and decide that I could afford to go as high as $25? No. Either it's worth $25, or it isn't. If you are willing to pay $25, then set that as your maximum bid.

I guess it's a game for some folks, a "beat the other guy" sort of thing. That's OK, I guess. When you have more money than brains.

Tesler's Law: Conservation of Complexity

This post is an interesting treatment of a phenomenon we should all be aware of: something is as complex as it is, and no less. To quote: "The important point here is that inherent complexity is inherent complexity."

When tying to reduce the complexity of a problem, there comes a point where you are no longer simplifying. You are just moving the complexity around. As Teh Spork has been known to say: "Ya gotta write it down somewhere," and "It takes what it takes." Seems apropos.

I feel this way, sometimes

Not really. Check out this rather funny webcomic.

McCain is McGone

Yeah, I actually liked McCain back in 2000. He talked and sounded like someone who could govern. Being a war vet didn't hurt him, either.

I am so disappointed, as is Ed, as well: "Even in politics, where shifting alliances and shifting positions are the norm, McCain has flipflopped and pandered so blatantly that he's made himself a laughingstock."

I am coming to realize that a politician who has a position and stands by it is all but unelectable. But sucking up to W and his Administration of Evil--that's just sad. And what's saddest is that it appears he (McCain) is reaping the rewards for it.

Obscurity.

Bloody Diamonds

I found this article on a blog that another blog I read regularly had cited and linked to. Got it?

I have no desire for diamonds. Of course, I am male (as if that makes any sense), and the only use a diamond has for me (well, given that I wear very little jewelry) is perhaps to be looked at on someone else's finger.

I tried to argue for (er, well, suggest) a stone other than a diamond when I got engaged last year. There are lots of other pretty glittery things to choose from. I even provided links to well-written articles that I thought made the case against diamonds very well. I wasn't successful, but I tried. DeBeers has been too successful, methinks.

We're too wealthy, too lazy, and too complacent. We're not really evil, but it's easy to see why others might view us that way.

Im in yr compilrz rytun yr programz

HAI-WORLD
CAN HAS STDIO?
VISIBLE "HAI WORLD"
KTHXBYE

It's a "real" language, I swear. We're doomed.

T-T-T-Travel in this Estados Unidos

Perusing BoingBoing today I noticed a couple of articles on the actions of those folks in the TSA. There is probably no reason to think they're doing a good job, nor any compelling reason to think they're doing a bad job, either. It seems mostly they just confiscate bottled water and body search grandmothers to be sure they're not carrying bombs in their double-Ds.

Leaving Columbus on Thursday we were regaled with admonitions that "the threat level is Orange". Oh, right, the Terrorists know it's a holiday weekend and are preparing to strike. Whatever.

No such warnings on Sunday night when returning from Fort Lauderdale. In fact, I'd say the TSA folks in FLL were infinitely more relaxed that those in CMH. Note to terrorists: Start in a tourist city, since the airports there are usually so busy they might not notice you. Do not try to hijack a plane from the Midwest--they'll watch you like hawks, and your brown skin makes you more conspicuous.

Humorous aside: The TSA inspectors in FLL visually inspected the soles of my 75-year-old-mother's bare feet. I'm not sure what they expected to find, but it's funny nonetheless. And yes, she can still stand on one foot.

Ratatouille

I saw this new Pixar film over the weekend. We were in Melbourne, FL on a Friday night with nothing to do, so we went to a movie and had a late dinner.

Brad Bird (the director) succeeds again. I loved The Iron Giant and The Incredibles, and this movie is no exception. However, it is not a kid's movie, despite the G rating. The very young children in the theater completely lost interest during the second act (whole middle of the movie), but despite their incessant chatter (the disinterested toddlers), I found the movie very funny and completely enjoyable. Oh, and it had a good story, too.

Same theme as Mr. Bird's other two CG animated classics: You Can Be Whatever You Choose To Be, or Be Yourself/Be All You Can Be. You get the idea. Rat can cook? Rat becomes chef. Favorite line: "Want to see my Little Chef?" (I paraphrase.)

I give it a full 5 whiskers. I believe I will buy it on DVD when it comes out.

Republicans Show They Know Which Way the Wind is Blowing

Not to reiterate today's news, but it appears some prominent Republican senators (well, certainly those facing 2008 elections) are astutely recognizing the ugly atmosphere surrounding the administration's handling (mishandling?) of the Iraq war. They even have joint legislation brewing, backed by Dem. Senator Ken Salazar and Rep. Senator Lamar Alexander, calling for implementation of 79 recommendations of the Iraq Study Group.

Yeah, this would be the same proposal that W and Co. politely ignored when it came out. Go figure.

My only question, purely rhetorical, is where were these guys five years ago? One year ago? Five months ago? I think they had their noses in the air, testing the breeze. It's only now they're realizing the necessity of change, before their constituencies force it upon them. You could say that what they're saying (they have yet to do anything) is admirable, if not for the over 3,500 American soldiers who've already died.

I should add: My stepson is in the US Army. He's been told his unit is going to Iraq this fall, sometime in September. However, he says the rumor around camp is that Bush "may be gone by then", so who knows? Personally, I can only hope, as does my wife. She is not at all thrilled to be sacrificing her son.

Would you be?