Daily Nonsense

New Years Superstitions

Over the years I have seen and heard a few superstitious things that you are supposed to do either New Years Eve or on New Years Day. A quick search on the ‘net brought me to Snopes.com (my favorite urban legends site) and their long list which I have reproduced below:

• Kissing at midnight: We kiss those dearest to us at midnight not only to share a moment of celebration with our favorite people, but also to ensure those affections and ties will continue throughout the next twelve months. To fail to smooch our significant others at the stroke of twelve would be to set the stage for a year of coldness.
• Stocking Up: The new year must not be seen in with bare cupboards, lest that be the way of things for the year. Larders must be topped up and plenty of money must be placed in every wallet in the home to guarantee prosperity.
• Paying Off Bills: The new year should not be begun with the household in debt, so checks should be written and mailed off prior to January 1st. Likewise, personal debts should be settled before the New Year arrives.
• First Footing: The first person to enter your home after the stroke of midnight will influence the year you’re about to have. New for old Ideally, he should be dark-haired, tall, and good-looking, and it would be even better if he came bearing certain small gifts such as a lump of coal, a silver coin, a bit of bread, a sprig of evergreen, and some salt. Blonde and redhead first footers bring bad luck, and female first footers should be shooed away before they bring disaster down on the household. Aim a gun at them if you have to, but don’t let them near your door before a man crosses the threshold. The first footer (sometimes called the “Lucky Bird”) should knock and be let in rather than unceremoniously use a key, even if he is one of the householders. After greeting those in the house and dropping off whatever small tokens of luck he has brought with him, he should make his way through the house and leave by a different door than the one through which he entered. No one should leave the premises before the first footer arrives — the first traffic across the threshold must be headed in rather than striking out. First footers must not be cross-eyed or have flat feet or eyebrows that meet in the middle. Nothing prevents the cagey householder from stationing a dark-haired man outside the home just before midnight to ensure the speedy arrival of a suitable first footer as soon as the chimes sound. If one of the partygoers is recruited for this purpose, impress upon him the need to slip out quietly just prior to the witching hour.
• Nothing Goes Out: Nothing — absolutely nothing, not even garbage — is to leave the house on the first day of the year. If you’ve presents to deliver on New Year’s Day, leave them in the car overnight. Don’t so much as shake out a rug or take the empties to the recycle bin. Some people soften this rule by saying it’s okay to remove things from the home on New Year’s Day provided something else has been brought in first. This is similar to the caution regarding first footers; the year must begin with something’s being added to the home before anything subtracts from it. One who lives alone might place a lucky item or two in a basket that has a string tied to it, then place the basket just outside the front door before midnight. After midnight, the lone celebrant hauls in his catch, being careful to bring the item across the door jamb by pulling the string rather than by reaching out to retrieve it and thus breaking the plane of the threshold.
• Black-Eyed Peas: A tradition common to the southern states of the USA dictates that the eating of black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day will attract both general good luck and money in particular to the one doing the dining. Some choose to add other Southern fare (such as ham hocks, collard greens, or cabbage) to this tradition, but the black-eyed peas are key.
• Work: Make sure to do — and be successful at — something related to your work on the first day of the year, even if you don’t go near your place of employment that day. Limit your activity to a token amount, though, because to engage in a serious work project on that day is very unlucky. Also, do not do the laundry on New Year’s Day, lest a member of the family be ‘washed away’ (die) in the upcoming months. The more cautious eschew even washing dishes.
• New Clothes: Wear something new on January 1 to increase the likelihood of your receiving more new garments during the year to follow.
• Money: Do not pay back loans or lend money or other precious items on New Year’s Day. To do so is to guarantee you’ll be paying out all year.
• Breakage: Avoid breaking things on that first day lest wreckage be part of your year. Also, avoid crying on the first day of the year lest that activity set the tone for the next twelve months.
• Letting the Old Year Out: At midnight, all the doors of a house must be opened to let the old year escape unimpeded. He must leave before the New Year can come in, says popular wisdom, so doors are flung open to assist him in finding his way out.
• Loud Noise: Make as much noise as possible at midnight. You’re not just celebrating; you’re scaring away evil spirits, so do a darned good job of it! According to widespread superstition, evil spirits and the Devil himself hate loud noise. We celebrate by making as much of a din as possible not just as an expression of joy at having a new year at our disposal, but also to make sure Old Scratch and his minions don’t stick around. (Church bells are rung on a couple’s wedding day for the same reason.)
• The Weather: Examine the weather in the early hours of New Year’s Day. If the wind blows from the south, there will be fine weather and prosperous times in the year ahead. If it comes from the north, it will be a year of bad weather. The wind blowing from the east brings famine and calamities. Strangest of all, if the wind blows from the west, the year will witness plentiful supplies of milk and fish but will also see the death of a very important person. If there’s no wind at all, a joyful and prosperous year may be expected by all.
• Born on January 1: Babies born on this day will always have luck on their side.

[Thanks, Snopes]

101 Versions of Stairway to Heaven!

BoingBoing has a list of music sites this morning and one of them really stands out for me. A link takes you to page which then links to 101 different covers/versions of the classic rock ballad Stairway To Heaven. It looks like these covers range from versions by the Foo Fighters to the Vienna Symphonic Orchestra. Should keep me busy for a while!

101 Stairways To Heaven

[Thanks, BoingBoing]

Feeling Better, Posting Now.

I was feeling poorly all week. Caught some kind of stomach virus thing on Christmas day. I’m back.

A real Christmas story

The Chinese don’t donate organs! Only 4.2 in each million people end up being organ donors (very low by American standards). This, for the most part, is due to superstitious beliefs. The mother of 14 year old Miu Chi-ho went against the protests of friends and family and donated his organs to seven recipients last week. An unheard of and selfless donation it seems.

HONG KONG (Reuters) – A Hong Kong schoolboy who died in a traffic accident has brought festive hope to at least seven other patients through the rare mass donation of a large number of his vital organs.

Fourteen-year-old Miu Chi-ho died from brain injuries after being hit by a bus several days ago, but doctors were able to save the heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, skin, bones and corneas of the healthy and athletic teen-ager.

“There were at least seven recipients of the organs,” said a spokeswoman with Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority.

Miu’s 41 year-old mother, a single parent on social welfare, ignored the protests of superstitious relatives in insisting on the donations to “bring hope to other families,” Hong Kong’s Apple Daily newspaper reported Friday.

“Even though I’m devastated, I want to do something for society,” the paper quoted her as saying.

“(My son) is very great. Even though he’s left us … we can still hear him breathe, and his heart beat. He’s already become an angel.”

Doctors hailed Miu’s case as an example to others in Hong Kong where organ donorship is traditionally frowned upon given the Chinese belief in keeping bodies whole to allow the deceased to rest in heavenly peace.

“This is a very encouraging event… we’re desperately in need of organs,” said Dr. Choi Kin, president of the Hong Kong Medical Association.

Last year, only 4.2 of every million people in Hong Kong donated organs to science upon dying, a fraction of the rate in the U.S., according to the Apple Daily.

[Thanks, Reuters]

UK Newspaper Picks Top 100 Most Useful Sites!

For almost one quarter of my adult life I lived and worked in Italy. During that time I came to realize that not all of the world thinks like Americans. In fact, many of the Italians, Germans and English people with whom I worked didn’t have nearly the same view of America and Americans as I once held. I mean, we may be the richest country in the world but were also probably the most arrogant.

During my time in Italy much of my news came from non US sources. SKY News, the BBC and a number of other English speaking web sites. One of these, the Guardian Unlimited’s tech blog is on the list of commercial blogs that I drive-by daily. They have a decided non US twist to the technology news and often highlight EU only issues.

Today I found their list of the top 100 most useful sites of 2006 and I must say it was refreshing to see the other side of the coin. It’s a good thing to be able to see the world through the eyes of someone else.

The link to the list is HERE.

McDonald’s Outsources the Drive-Thru Workers in Hawaii!!!

As some of you know, I recently decided that I need to take a firmer stand on certain social issues. I’m not famous yet, there are no paparazzi or reporters hounding me for pics or quotes, so there’s only a limited scope available to display my displeasure. My displeasure with bigotry, politics, and national pride will be displayed by my money. I’m not going to give any financial support to causes which offend me.

Mel Gibson is a prime example. He’s getting no more money from me. I’m not going to go see any more movies he’s involved in, either as a actor, producer, or director. He’s dead to me.

My list isn’t very long (yet!). Mel, Michael (Kramer) Richards, O.J. Simpson, Michael Jackson, George W. Bush, that’s who’s on my ‘dead’ list.

And now, I’ve got an entire corporation. Mickey Dees. McDonalds made the list. It seems as if they’ve outsourced the drive-thru order-taker position in some of their trans-fat laden fast-food joints. The party line appears to be that the order-takers are somewhere in California, but employees hint that might not be true.

Until we find out that the jobs are really in California and not India, the Golden Arches don’t get a cent from me. Not one cent. Not that I frequent them anyway. I’ve maybe eaten there twice in the last year and I’m pretty sure that both times were during a road trip. But even that’s over now.

McDonald’s Outsources the Drive-Thru Workers in Hawaii McDonalds!!!

Today I had a BigMac attack the first time in a long time and I also wanted to verify a rumour that was going around the office. They guys were telling me that the order taker at the drive-thru was in California, remember I live in Hawaii!

I rolled up to the Golden Arches and got in the drive-thru line. When I got done placing my order I asked the person taking the order if it was true that she was taking orders from California. When she replied yes I said that’s weird, she did not reply. I also asked if she was really in California and not India or someplace else. Again no Reply

The usual window that is open to take money and has the person taking the drive-thru orders was closed, but I could see in the window the ordering monitor was alive with activity. The screen that they usually press to enter orders was updating on it own with no one touching it.

When I got to the checkout window I asked if it the person taking the order was really in California. The guy looked at me and said thats what were supposed to say and gave me a wink? This surprised me and it really pushed one of my get pissed off buttons.

I told him to cancel my order and to inform the manager I would not support a food chain that outsource service level jobs. I was pretty sarcastic when I told him that, I added that at least they could not out source him. That earned me a smile. He actually said thanks when I drove off.

I don’t go to McDonald’s very often, but it makes me really mad that they are outsourcing service level jobs to either a foreign country or another state. Normally those entry level employees would spend their paychecks in this state and add to the tax base.

I am unsure how widespread this is, but I will never step foot in McDonald’s again. They will never ever get a single penny of my families money. I hope this makes you mad enough to vote with your wallet.

[Thanks, Todd @ Geek News Central]

The Espresso from On Demand Books brews you up a copy right fresh

So, you’re sitting in an airport and you realize you’ve only got 10 pages left in the book you’re reading and your ‘backup’ book is in your luggage. What to do, what to do??? It seems like you now have two choices:

1) Saunter over to the bookstore in the airport and pick up the thriller of the week for less than $10.00

or

2) Saunter over to the Expresso On Demand book printing machine and shell out at least 5 cents a page for a book (probably in the public domain) that can be printed, bound and delivered to you in less than 7 minutes. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. .05 X 400pages = $20.00.

Yowee! 20 bucks for a copy of something you can download for free at the Gutenberg web site. I just don’t get it…….

As an idea, on demand book printing is nothing new, and we even spotted that Bookmachine monstrosity doing the whole ATM-for-books thing back in 2004, but it looks like the concept is about to take a big step with the new “Espresso” machine from On Demand Books. The $50,000 vending machine is about to debut in somewhere between 10 and 25 libraries and bookstores in 2007, including the New York Public Library in February. The machine can produce two books simultaneously in seven minutes, a time which includes all the printing, binding and cutting involved. The machine even slaps a snazzy laminated full-color cover on its creations. Books top out at around 550 pages, and right-to-left texts are possible. Production cost is about five cents per page, which should be quite a bargain for the roughly one million public domain English works currently floating around the Internets, but we’re not sure what the exact costs will be levied by bookstores and copyright holders for the other titles — there are currently 2.5 million books available for printing by the Espresso.

[Thanks, Engadget]

Another bLaugh.com Classic!

Top 10 Most Dangerous Toys – EVER!

A post over at Gear Factor, a blog at Wired Magazine, had a link to the 10 most dangerous toys ever. Featuring Jarts, Cabbage Patch dolls that ate fingers and an Atomic Energy Lab, we get to see the line-up of toys that caused deaths, dismemberment and glow-in-the-dark youngsters. This really is a must read for everyone!

[Thanks, Gear Factor & Radar Online]

Power Restored

As I guessed, we lost power last night sometime after we went to bed. We got it back about 10 minutes ago. I called at 6:30 this morning to report the outage. Since then I heard on the radio that 1.5 million people were without power due to the winds. I guess we’re lucky! Although Brooke bought us both coffee this morning at Starbucks I’m happy to report that a pot is currently brewing. I can’t wait!

Heavy Rain

That’s what the Weather Channel calls it. I’m calling it a big frickin’ storm! There is lightening flashing outside and I hear the wind whipping the rain against the windows. A real tempest. Let’s just see if I lose power again tonight.

Power Outage – The Day After

When we got home after the gym yesterday evening we found the power restored to our home. I just wanted to go on record to say that this is the second time this has happened. Let’s set the scene because it’s kind of odd.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving when it was snowing out we lost power for a while. The odd thing about it was that we were one of only six houses in our immediate vicinity that lost power. The house next door to us, which gets it’s power from a pole across the street, didn’t lose power. We, on the other hand, get our power from a pole running in the alley behind our house. The six houses that lost power on both of these occasions are connected to the lines in the alley. Three are on our street, mine and the next door neighbor who lives on a the corner, and the house across the street, ut on the same side of the strret, from him. The other three are on the next block over in mirror locations.

Anyway, today there are supposed to be high winds again and I want to see if the pattern repeats itself. If it does I’m going to start complaining to Seattle City Light to replace whatever ‘trips’ due to the weather or wind.

Power Outage – Greenwood, Seattle, WA

So, there I was, speaking with my daughter (who lives in Sardinia, Italy) for the first time in a couple of months when the power went out. I had just started using Vonage YESTERDAY, and was making my first real call when the lights went out. What a drag!

I choose Vonage over some of the other VoIP schemes because of the free calling to most of western Europe included with the ‘Premium’ packages. I mean it’s only $24.99 a month and I can call Italy for free. Sweet deal.

It seems like my batteries are finally dying so I need to log off and get these things gracefully shut down. More later

Dobbs: A tree grows in Seattle

Wow, I wish I could write like this. To see so clearly into the heart of the matter……

By Lou Dobbs CNN

Editor’s note: Lou Dobbs’ commentary appears every Wednesday on CNN.com

NEW YORK (CNN) — Merry Christmas! That’s right, Merry Christmas. Whether you’re Christian, Jewish, Muslim, agnostic, pagan, barbarian or whatever, Merry Christmas!

It’s what most of us say in this country come this time of year. It’s about who we are, where we are and where we’ve been. And all the namby-pamby, little sensitive darlings among us who can’t handle this verbal assault on their delicate senses should immediately begin seeking emergency psychiatric care.

This week we were treated to the spectacle of an easily offended and highly offensive rabbi who walked into an airport, gazed upon Christmas trees all around him and suddenly was overwhelmed with an immense, and apparently irresistible, urge to sue the management of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport because nowhere among all the Christmas trees was a single menorah. Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement of Seattle even delivered to the airport’s management a draft of a lawsuit he would file if they didn’t sprinkle menorahs around the Christmas trees.

Political correctness in this country reached an entirely new level of absurdity some years ago. But occasionally, and the situation at Sea-Tac is just such an occasion, we exceed ourselves. The militant fundamentalist rabbi so flummoxed Sea-Tac management with his threat and their perceived obligation to be “politically correct” that, rather than think rationally or simply tell him to stuff it, they started hacking away at all those artificial Christmas trees and quickly descended into a public relations nightmare in which they managed to offend reason, cultural values and the vast majority of Americans.

As CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin told me, “The Supreme Court has held since 1984, the famous ‘Reindeer Rule,’ that if a symbol of Christmas is mostly secular, like a reindeer or a Christmas tree or Santa Claus, that is not a violation of the separation of church and state.”

The irony that escaped the rabid rabbi and the timid Sea-Tac management team is that the Christmas tree’s likely origin dates back to pre-Christian pagan cultures. The Christmas tree is not by any means a religious symbol, and when we’re honest about it, the tree’s become a purely commercial symbol more closely associated with shopping, roasting chestnuts and guzzling eggnog than a nativity scene with baby Jesus.

And hang on, Christians, because you’re in 21st Century America, and our culture celebrates your holiest day of the year with such insensitive gusto that our economy would suffer a serious setback if your religious sensibilities were as easily offended as those of the litigious rabbi.

More than 140 million shoppers spent an average of about $360 on Black Friday alone, the day after Thanksgiving and the unofficial kickoff to the Christmas shopping season, according to the National Retail Federation. And all those Christmas shoppers are expected to spend nearly a half-trillion dollars this shopping season.

Now if I were a fundamentalist Christian, that might strike me as a little politically incorrect. And I think all of you folks should think about suing somebody. You know, get in the spirit of the season.

This mindless movement of political correctness at all costs is one of the most un-American and crazy twists in our culture as anything we’ve witnessed. Remember, we’re Americans, and we have freedom of speech, that whole life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness thing. Or at least we did.

And I hope you’ll celebrate the Christmas season by offending someone. If you’re Jewish, how about a hearty “Happy Hanukkah” to a good Christian? If they’re offended you’ve revealed a fool, not such a good Christian and someone you shouldn’t waste your expression of good will upon. But get ready for a few robust “Merry Christmas” calls to be thrown your way as well.

The operators of the Seattle-Tacoma airport quickly righted a potentially dreadful wrong. The rabbi decided not to file a suit, Christmas trees have sprung back up throughout the concourse, and no, not a single menorah has been spotted. I can only hope this is the beginning of a major movement in America, one that regards thinking as paramount to phony feelings and heightened self-centered sensitivities. Common sense and judgment should always reign supreme over political correctness, no matter what the current trend.

And, my gosh, even Wal-Mart this year has abandoned its generic, politically correct “Happy Holidays” greeting in favor of “Merry Christmas.” I’m starting to think this may be the season to be jolly after all. Ho, ho, ho.

To all, a Merry Christmas. OK, and a Happy Hanukkah, too.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer.

[Thanks, CNN]

Christmas trees return to Sea-Tac Airport

The trees are back, and yet again, the Grinch didn’t win in his effort to kill the Holiday Spirit. In a surprising move (to me!) the rabbi and his legal council communicated to the Port of Seattle that the threatened legal actions would not be forthcoming this year as a result of the lack of a menorah in the holiday display.

Airport officials and workers acted quickly and restored the holiday trees to the public areas of the airport.

The Port of Seattle will work with the rabbi and other members of the community to plan future displays. That is what should have occurred in the first place. Although everyone should realize that it may be impractical or impossible to change the plans which affect an airport of this size in the 11th hour.

By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press Writer
SEATAC, Wash. (AP) – The Christmas trees are back up at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Patricia Davis, president of the Port of Seattle Commission, said late Monday that maintenance staff would restore the 14 plastic holiday trees, festooned with red ribbons and bows, which were removed from public areas of the main terminal over the weekend.

They believed that if they added an 8-foot-tall electric menorah, as Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky had requested, they would also have to display other religious and cultural symbols, which was not something airport workers had time to do at the busiest travel season of the year, Airport Director Mark Reis said.

Port officials received word Monday afternoon that Bogomilsky’s organization, Chabad Lubavitch, would not file a lawsuit at this time over the lack of a menorah.

“Given that, the holiday trees will be replaced as quickly as possible,” Davis said in a news release.

Bogomilsky “never asked us to remove the trees; it was the port’s decision based on what we knew at the time,” she added.

“A key element in moving forward will be to work with the rabbi and other members of the community to develop a plan for next year’s holiday decorations at the airport,” the port statement said.

There were no immediate plans to display a menorah, airport spokesman Bob Parker said.

The Anti-Defamation League issued a statement saying reports that blamed the decision to remove the trees on Jewish opposition to them were wrong and stirred hate.

“The Port of Seattle’s decision and the adverse and incorrect publicity that followed has led to a surge of anti-Semitism, including hundreds of hate mail messages directed against the rabbi who sought permission for the menorah display,” the league said.

Workers put the trees back in place overnight.

The rabbi, who had offered to give the port an electric menorah to display, said publicly Monday morning that he would not pursue a lawsuit, and his lawyer, Harvey Grad, said he later conveyed that decision to the port’s chief counsel, Craig Watson.

“We are not going to be the instrument by which the port holds Christmas hostage,” Grad said.

The rabbi received “all kinds of calls and emails,” many of them “odious,” the lawyer said, adding he was “trying to figure out how this is consistent with the spirit of Christmas.”

Bogomilsky was not reachable by phone Monday evening. A phone number rang unanswered.

“For many people, the Christmas tree is an important symbol of the season. Our goal was to include a menorah in the airport as well so that we could bring extra light with Hanukkah’s universal message of hope,” Bogomilsky wrote earlier Monday on behalf of Chabad of Greater Seattle. “Our discussion of possible legal action was never about removing Christmas trees – it was about protecting the right to add menorahs.”

As to the port’s consideration of a plan for next year, Grad said, “I think it’s bogus – ‘We’ll talk to you next year.’ All they’re offering is what they were to begin with.”

Thirteen of the original trees were placed above foyers leading outside to the airport drive. The largest tree, which Reis estimated to be 15 or 20 feet tall, was in a large lobby near the baggage claim area for international arrivals.

Some airline workers took the holidays into their own hands Monday, decorating ticketing counters with miniature Christmas trees. Airlines lease space for ticket counters and can display trees there if they want, Reis said.

Stefania Cottriel and other Frontier Airlines customer service agents pooled their money to buy four 1-foot Christmas trees. Atop a Delta counter, workers put up a tree several feet tall.

Poinsettias and wreaths were also popular, but it was unclear if any of those had been added in response to the airport’s decision. Cottriel and other airline workers said their supervisors told them not to speak with reporters.

Army Pvt. Jeff Klein, 18, who was on his way from Fort Collins, Colo., to Fort Lewis, near Tacoma, said he could appreciate why the trees were removed but added that it would have been better to just add the menorah.

“Everybody comes through here, from every different religion,” he said. “I’m a Christian, and I love Christmas, but this is international. They should try to make it a little more homey for whoever they can.”

[Thanks, KOMOTV.com]

I want to welcome the holiday spirit back to Seattle!

Oh, but this one is rich! I really love these comics from bLaugh.com.

‘Tis not the season at Sea-Tac Airport

What a sad commentary on the religious partisanship we now enjoy here in America.

Due to the hurtful actions of one rabbi and his lawyer, traveling children will not be able to enjoy the holiday decorations that normally grace the public areas of Sea-Tac International Airport in Seattle, Washington.

The holiday season is one of celebration, peace and joy. Not one of petty religious secularism.

By KOMO Staff

There will be no more Christmas trees at Sea-Tac Airport this season after the Port of Seattle received a complaint about them.

For more than 25 years, the airport has celebrated the holidays with Christmas trees over its entrances. But now the trees that decorated the entrances to Sea-Tac can only be found down back hallways out of the public’s view, after the Port of Seattle ordered all 15 trees removed.

Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky asked the Port of Seattle to include a menorah among the holiday decorations beginning in mid-October.

“At first we got a light yes, then we got a strong no,” he said.

Then Bogomilsky’s attorney got involved. “I did have, I did have a lawyer. Just sort of have a backup plan,” he said.

The Port of Seattle told KOMO 4 news the rabbi with the Central Organization for Jewish Learning threatened to sue.

According to airport spokeswoman Rachel Garson, the two sides could not reach an agreement before the lawsuit was to be filed.

“Since this is the busiest time of year, we decided to take the decorations down now and consider a new policy after the new year,” she said.

The sudden change left the 75,000 travelers that walk through Sea-Tac each day wondering where the trees have gone.

“I think it’s very unfortunate. Why lose the Christmas spirit? Christmas is for kids,” said passenger Lisa Jones.

And angry airport employees have started a campaign urging people to call the Port of Seattle to complain.

“It’s a Christmas tree! It’s not like they were displaying crucifixes or menorahs or anything religious, but Christmas trees that have been around here for years,” said an employee who asked not to be identified.

“If this is the evergreen state, how offensive can evergreen trees be by simply putting lights on it?” said another employee named Jim.

But the rabbi says he hopes the holiday spirit may still be saved, offenses mended and the trees returned to the front of the airport.

“Took them less than 24 hours to remove the Christmas trees, I’d hope they’d reinstall all those Christmas trees throughout the airport, and hopefully allow us to display the menorah,” he said.

Bogomilsky said there are more than two dozen menorahs desplayed throughout the state.

[Thanks, KOMOTV.com]

When I consider just how much more my children know about computers, the web and game consoles; despite the fact that I consider myself to be mostly geeky, This isn’t as funny as it appears at first blush!

You too can get this kind of quality humor in your e-mail every day. Just sing up after the jump! bLaugh – The unofficial Comic of the Blogosphere!

No one shot on Cheney’s quail hunt

Oh, but this one is rich. Our VP manages to go hunting and NOT shoot someone. And it becomes news! I guess it had to happen.

Cheney will live with this over his head for the rest of his life. But hey, he could become a CIA assassin and no-one would ever really think twice about it as hunting ‘buddies’ drop left and right around him.

By JAMES ROSEN
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON – Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Vice President Dick Cheney went quail hunting last week, and the senator lived to tell the tale.

Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford joined Cheney and Graham for two days of hunting on a plantation that friends of Chambliss own in southern Georgia.

The outing was Cheney’s second hunting trip since he accidentally wounded a close friend, Texas lawyer Harry Whittington, in February by spraying pellets into his face, neck and chest.

Even though almost 10 months have passed since the embarrassing episode, it was fresh on the minds of the Cheney group — and was still remembered by some of the folks they met.

A local gun-shop owner cracked wise about the incident when Cheney and the rest of the hunting party walked in, Graham said.

“It was brought up a couple of times,” Graham said in an interview. “He makes people feel comfortable so they can joke about it.”

Cheney broke up other guests at a dinner by recalling President Bush’s reaction when the vice president returned to the White House after the incident.

“Dang, Dick, you shot the only trial lawyer who supports me!” Bush mock-scolded Cheney.

Graham said Cheney handles the joking about the incident well.

“It’s every hunter’s worst nightmare,” Graham said. “It could have happened to anybody. I felt so sorry for him, but what can you do? It hurt him personally a great deal.”

After requiring a faxed request for an interview, an aide to Cheney said his boss would not comment.

[Thanks, Star-Telegram]

RIAA moves to reduce artist royalty payments

One of the more interesting bits of news this week is the RIAA’s move to REDUCE the payments to artists for music sold as ringtones. When you thought that they couldn’t stoop any lower, they jump out from behind a bush and shout boo.

Notice that the word ARTIST does not appear their name!

Posted Dec 6th 2006 6:07PM by Grant Robertson

Sometimes you just have to ask yourself if the RIAA could display more greed or avarice without actually hiring Satan as its general counsel. The Hypebot points to an article in Radio and Records which reads, “During the period when piracy was devastating the record industry, the RIAA argues, profits for publishers rose as revenue generated from ringtones and other innovative services grew. Record industry executives said there was nothing strange about seeking a rate change that would pay less to the people who write the music.”

So, let’s see if we get this straight. The RIAA alienates its fans and customers by overcharging, failing to embrace new technology and suing anyone who tries to give music fans what they want. At the same time, the publishers work hand in hand with innovators (such as ringtone publishers) and find great success. Now, as a thank you for all the hard work and deft thinking, the RIAA asks the feds to lower the amount of money they pay artists under statutory deals?

I’m reminded of the Simpsons spin off episode when they launched “The Critic.” Jay Sherman asks the Arnold Schartzeneger-alike, “How do you sleep at night?”, to which he replies, “On top of a big pile of money, with many beautiful women.” I’m left to wonder, exactly how does the RIAA sleep at night?

[Thanks, Digital Music Weblog]