Created Things

Depends on your point of view

2012-01-30T18:10:00.002-05:00

Putting Everything in Perspective

"I want to cut his nuts out."--Jesse Jackson on Barack Obama, quoted by the Chicago Tribune, July 10, 2008

"The ultimate insult."--Jesse Jackson on Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's pointing her finger at Barack Obama, quoted by the Chicago Sun-Times, Jan. 28, 2012

Attention, please!

2012-01-23T20:13:00.001-05:00

"What's he telling me?"

2012-01-12T11:15:00.002-05:00

Monday, the New Zealand Herald reported that in a video taken at the Wellington Zoo,

Sofia Walker, 3, was dwarfed by Malik, a 7-year-old "stroppy" lion, as she pressed up against the glass that separated her from the enclosure.

The close encounter happened last Wednesday morning, just after Malik had been given his breakfast.

Sofia and Malik looked directly at each other before the lion angrily pawed at the glass - upset someone disturbed his meal - which seemed to surprise the young girl, but not scare her.

Sofia was called away from the glass by her mother, Sharon, but instead the girl stood her ground and asked: "What's he telling me?"

One of the zookeepers said that Sofia had a "lot of spunk." But her father doesn't think she wants to grow up to be a zookeeper herself. "She'd much rather be a fairy."

Handy translation tool ...

2012-01-04T22:39:00.003-05:00

... for your next Egyptian voyage. (This nice page is due to Chip Ahoy, which I strongly suspect is an assumed name.)

Quote of the day

2012-01-03T12:12:00.001-05:00

Experts say that people need to try new challenges to keep their minds sharp. That's especially important in my case because I plan on living to 140, and I don't want to spend my last 60 years trying to find the TV remote.

- Scott Adams in The Wall Street Journal.

Americathon

2011-12-31T11:43:00.001-05:00

Barack Obama is so eloquent.

Happy New Years, Tokelau!

2011-12-31T11:38:00.003-05:00

The nation of Samoa, and the US dependency Tokelau, are now west of the International Date Line rather than east. This means that they are now the first to see the new year, instead of the last. According to theWashington Post:

The date line dance came 119 years after U.S. traders persuaded local Samoans to align their islands’ time with nearby U.S.-controlled American Samoa and the U.S. to assist their trading with California.

But the time zone put Samoa and Tokelau nearly a full day behind neighboring Australia and New Zealand, which are increasingly important trading partners.

Santa Claus came late this year

2011-12-28T09:27:00.001-05:00

Donald Trump leaves the Republican party.

A very Wisonsin rear bumper

2011-12-20T20:59:00.004-05:00

Here. (via Ann Althouse's blog.)

Kim Jong-il dead at 69

2011-12-19T01:57:00.003-05:00

I doubt that Santa was bringing him anything nice.

Quote of the day

2011-12-15T14:42:00.002-05:00

All other things being equal, we would not expect a 2% resurrection rate.

- Bill Ricker, commenting on the breast cancer survival curves produced by Edward Tufte.

The end of days

2011-12-11T19:31:00.004-05:00

If the above image doesn't convince you that the apocalypse is just around the corner, try looking at this. Grim times. (And if this isn't a sign of the antichrist, then I'm not sure what would be. H/t Overlawyered.com)

Aren't kids cute?

2011-12-03T12:09:00.003-05:00

The stop of defendant’s car was with reasonable suspicion that it was involved in a bank robbery. After the stop, defendant’s three year old daugther was found in the car, and she was asked where they were coming from, and she pointed toward the bank. Asked if they were at the bank, she said yes. The registration of the car was expired, and its impoundment was valid. United States v. Brumfield, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 137834 (N.D. Ga. February 17, 2011).

- from FourthAmendment.com

Um, Congratulations

2011-11-29T13:20:00.002-05:00

It seems that Greg Skidmore and two of his colleagues won a $254,000,000 lottery jackpot.

I was Greg's mathematics professor in college. Since the lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math, I have mixed feelings: my position is roughly the same as that of a Sunday School teacher who finds out that one of his former pupils has won critical acclaim in the pornographic film industry.

Still, he was one of my favorite students, hardworking and honest. So I guess I'm happy about the whole thing.

U.S. National Debt reaches 100% of GDP

2011-11-20T22:49:00.001-05:00

Did anyone throw a party?

Bohemian Rhapsody ...

2011-11-20T14:38:00.002-05:00

... performed by Queen:

... and by the Muppets:

... just in case you've stumbled on my blog and don't want to think about Wall Street or Washington.

You say you want a revolution?

2011-10-28T22:59:00.001-04:00

Open Letter to Herman Cain

2011-10-25T04:22:00.002-04:00

Dude, I love you and I hope to vote for you. But unless you are John the Baptist or Arthur son of Uther Pendragon, musing about your conception isn't uber-cool. Maybe I'll feel differently when I'm 45, though.

Sincerely,
Jeff

Historic picture from East Norwalk: 1961-2011

2011-10-23T22:42:00.003-04:00

Here's a picture that Bob Shriever took this afternoon of Karen Cooke and Floyd Powers at the Community Advent Christian Church in East Norwalk. Karen is the current choir director, and Floyd directed the choir in 1961.

Look for the union label,

2011-10-20T23:50:00.003-04:00

... when buying a coat, dress, or blouse. Or T-shirt.

T-shirt war!

Oh! Best ... headline ... ever ...

2011-09-29T15:57:00.001-04:00

Al-Qaida calls on Ahmadinejad to end 9/11 conspiracy theories

(h/t BotW.)

9/11/2001

2011-09-11T19:28:00.003-04:00

Rivers after the Hurricane

2011-08-30T11:40:00.005-04:00

Two days after hurricane Irene, the Norwalk and Silvermine rivers are still pretty high. Here's a picture of the Silvermine River, looking south from the James Street bridge:

Here's the Norwalk River, looking north from Merrit 7:

and here's the Norwalk River looking towards Glover St. and the old Perkin Elmer building:

Visiting the Supreme Court

2011-08-25T09:25:00.001-04:00

A Russian translation of the booklet that tourists get when they visit the Supreme Court.

How can this go wrong?

2011-08-23T13:31:00.001-04:00

Draft transitional Libyan constitution makes Islam the state religion. but protects non-muslims.

Oh, what a surprise

2011-08-14T21:06:00.002-04:00

The two guys who hassled and assaulted (60-year old) law professor Ann Althouse on Friday turn out to be union rent-a-thugs. (There are videos on her blog.)

Fender-bender last week

2011-08-01T18:31:00.002-04:00

The Daily Mail reports that there was a little fender-bender last week in Monte Carlo, at the Place du Casino. It seems that a woman driving a Bentley hit a Mercedes and then, obeying the cruel but firm law of conservation of momentum, went on to hit a Ferrari, a Porsche, and an Aston-Martin Rapide.

I can't think of a title for this post ...

2011-07-05T12:42:00.003-04:00

... but "pricks suckling the public teat" sort of fits. Probate Judge David Szymanski was the anti-hero of a horrific censorship case in 2008.

Fourth of July

2011-07-05T12:09:00.002-04:00

The first, and last, great Habsburg, Otto, passed away yesterday at the age of 98.

Pearl Harbor, Shmerl Harbor

2011-06-17T13:18:00.003-04:00

The TSA is trying to fire 36 Honolulu screeners because they allegedly neglected to screen certain flights properly for explosives, for several months in 2010.

20 of them have asked their union to appeal their termination. No word yet on what their defense will be; maybe their lawyers can make an ADA argument?

"Please don't Taser the cow"

2011-06-11T15:58:00.002-04:00

Everyone was kinda yelling, ‘Please don’t taser the cow, it’s only going to make it worse.'

Happened in Pelham, NH. 'nuff said. (H/t Simple Justice)

Arabian justice

2011-06-10T09:23:00.002-04:00

I had nightmares, but only once. Then I got used to it, Allah be praised.

- MEMRI, via Passport

Worker's "rights" vs. citizens' rights

2011-06-06T08:18:00.003-04:00

John Gage, president of the union that wants to represent TSA agents, complains that the Republicans are being mean to his workers.

Frankly, my heart completely fails to bleed for them.

Economics tutorials

2011-06-06T01:07:00.001-04:00

Blood banks and cupcakes and fiat currency. Oh my.

Four immortal chess games

2011-05-10T12:33:00.002-04:00

Garry Kasparov vs Veselin Topalov (1999)
Donald Byrne vs Robert Fischer (1956)
Adolf Anderssen vs Lionel Kieseritsky (1851)
Robert Fischer vs Pal Benko(1963)

Double points

2011-05-06T11:27:00.001-04:00

It seems that we got Fidel Castro angry when we shot Osama Bin Laden.

One of the great things about living in Norwalk

2011-05-05T13:57:00.002-04:00

One of the great things about living in Norwalk is that you never have to leave notes on your windshield like this one:

Dear Officer,

I have temp plates because someone keeps stealing my front plate. NOT because I'm a drug dealer, but thanks for telling my little brother you suspect me of being one. Also, my FACTORY tints are legal and all 7 tickets you've written me for them have been dismissed. Please find another vehicle to harrass.

Thank you, Corrine.

P.S. If I were a drug dealer, I
could afford a garage!

A picture of the note is at Soignorant. I wonder if Corrine lives in Westport?

Shuffling out of Buffalo

2011-05-04T13:37:00.003-04:00

Per the Buffalo News: Buffalo police are apparently still looking for John Caesar,a 58-year-old man who escaped from custody last week:

Downtown police are looking for a man who is handcuffed to a chair.

The man escaped shortly after 4 p.m. today from the Central District station at Tupper and Main Streets.

A robbery suspect, he apparently fled out of a back door onto Washington Street, according to police radio transmissions.

Described as tall and muscular, he was dressed in black clothing and wearing a white hat.

Police think he still has the chair with him because it is missing from the station.

They handcuffed him to a chair? They should have handcuffed him to a toy poodle; then at least they could have found him by following the dog's yapping.

h/t Lowering the Bar, who shamelessly copied from Fail Blog.

The power of love

2011-05-03T12:30:00.000-04:00

The power of love in a university town ...

United States of Awesome

2011-05-02T08:51:00.002-04:00

Four maps: a map of the United States of Awesome, a map of the United States of Shame, and two maps of the United States of the Environment.

Happy May Day

2011-05-01T23:29:00.001-04:00

Best fucking May day ever.

Ow.ly down this morning

2011-04-21T09:03:00.003-04:00

Injustice Everywhere's links don't work this morning. In fact, no Ow.ly links are working this morning. The master DNS servers for .ly domains are located in ... Libya. Is this "Colonel" Gadhafi's idea of a subtle counterstroke? Strange world, strange world.

Update: Hootsuite.com has a profoundly uninformative service message on its website: "We'll be back in action shortly -- in the meantime go outside and flap your arms around, you may find that flying ain't very easy."

Gilbert and Sullivan fans didn't even make the list

2011-04-15T21:10:00.001-04:00

Scientists have discovered that Coldplay fans are the least likeliest to have sex on a first date.

Quote of the day

2011-04-13T10:36:00.002-04:00

Chessplayers have been setting down rules ever since they discovered it was easier than following them.

- Andrew Soltis, Karl Marx Plays Chess

Thanks, guys

2011-04-11T20:43:00.002-04:00

The first sentence of Lonely Planet's description of Medical Services for tourists in Cuba:

Cubans famously enjoy far better free health care than their far-wealthier US neighbors, and continue to set high standards for developing nations with excellent hospitals and doctors throughout the country.

The last sentence of Lonely Planet's description of Medical Services for tourists in Cuba:

The free health care in normal Cuban hospitals should only be used when there are no private clinics available.

Funny how the "far better" health care in these socialist paradises always seems to disappear when it's time to actually use it. Before the Berlin wall fell, we always heard that health care was free and better in communist eastern Europe, but the reality turned out to be much grimmer. Even two decades later Europe is burdened by two generations of bad environmental and health policies there.

Fun fact of the day

2011-04-05T17:27:00.000-04:00

The U.S. economy actually grew more between 1930 and 1940 than it did during the decade that recently ended.

Quiz of the day

2011-04-05T15:42:00.002-04:00

There are now only two states left in the US with more manufacturing workers than government workers. Which two states are these?

(Answer is here. H/t http://althouse.blogspot.com.)

Three things that I really didn't want to know this morning

2011-03-29T15:57:00.002-04:00

Three things that I really didn't want to know this morning ... but found out anyway.

Moamar Qaddafi and Silvio Berlusconi have the same plastic surgeon.
The strongest supporters of Israel in Norway "seem to be the Evangelical Christians and the gay community."
The police in Ft. Lee, New Jersey are as incompetent as their reputation suggests.

A very Tennessee story

2011-03-27T14:19:00.005-04:00

If he's guilty, Deputy John Edwards has to be the stupidest crook ever. He's accused of taking stealing stuff from his wife and giving them to his girlfriend, and stealing stuff from his girlfriend and giving them to his wife.

You may need to read the following sentence a few times to get the drift of this story. It seems that Officer Edward's wife was giving his girlfriend a tour of their house, and the girlfriend noticed that some of the his wife's things had previously been stolen from her (the girlfriend.) That's no doubt also when his wife realized that John had a girlfriend.

Deputy Edwards was arrested shortly thereafter for a "domestic incident" with his wife. He was later charged with theft of goods over $10,000.00 in value.

I wonder two things about this story. (1) If the allegations are true it is reasonable to assume that the wife attacked the husband when he got home. So why was the husband arrested for the "domestic incident"? And (2) why do alleged creeps like this get two girlfriends when nice guys like me are single? Deep waters, deep waters.

(H/t Injustice Everywhere.)

Mark Smith cartoons

2011-03-27T06:59:00.002-04:00

William Jacobson likes Mark Smith's cartoons. He has good taste.

Oddly, Smith's political cartoons seem funnier than his non-political cartoons. Maybe that's a sign that we live in absurd times.

All the men are in Benghazi

2011-03-21T12:16:00.001-04:00

An old woman, in her late 70s at least, I'm told, entered the bank to collect her 500 Libyan dollars ($410; £253) in state aid announced a couple of weeks ago.

There were two long queues - one for men and one for women. She stood in the men's queue.

The men urged her to move to the women's section. "Why?" she challenged.

A man told her: "Ya haja [a term of respect for an elderly woman] this line is for men, women is the other one".

She loudly replied: "No. All the men are in Benghazi."

The room is said to have been stunned into silence and she remained in her place until her turn came and she walked out with her money.

- BBC coverage of Libya uprising

With friends like this ...

2011-03-04T11:59:00.002-05:00

Ariel Melendez has a problem. Up until a few weeks ago he was a New Haven Assistant Police Chief, but then he resigned shortly after being accused of tampering with evidence, among other things.

One of the men questioned afterwards was his recent colleague Sgt. David Guliuzza. David sound like a very loyal guy, and he offered the police the following absolutely wonderful defense of his ex-boss:

Mr. Luna's cell phone was an Iphone and is a complicated piece of equipment. Sgt. Guliuzza believed that if someone did not own that type of phone, then you would not be able to operate it. A.C. Melendez has a Blackberry cell phone. Sgt. Guliuzza does not think that A.C. Melendez has the knowledge to work an Iphone, let alone erase data from it.

That's right, he believes his pal is innocent because committing a crime involves using an Apple product, and Apple products are too complicated for the accused to use.

(The whole police report is on Scribd.)

Quote of the day

2011-03-02T13:33:00.001-05:00

By the way, what is "hands-on, interdisciplinary study"? Do we get to fondle a sociologist?

- Wisconsin law Professor Ann Althouse, commenting on a speech by Erwin Chemerinksy.

University of Manitoba turning into a "diploma mill"?

2011-01-28T14:29:00.003-05:00

Earlier this month Gabor Lukacs received two letters from University of Manitoba president David Barnard. One invited the assistant professor of mathematics to a dinner in acknowledgement of his teaching excellence award. The other informed him that he was being suspended without pay. (Macleans)

Prof. Lukacs' crime was to publicly dissent from Manitoba's awarding of a PhD to a mentally disabled Mathematics student who failed his comps twice and didn't finish his coursework. The Faculty Association is aghast, but the Graduate Student's Association supports the administration. Eighty-five mathematicians, including Michael Barr, wrote a letter supporting Prof. Lucacs.

There are more details here.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T13:21:00.001-05:00

(h/t Joanne Jacobs)

Hi, I'm Wil Wheaton. I am required by law to tell you that I am moving into the neighborhood

2010-12-21T16:32:00.001-05:00

Do not click here, or here, unless ye be men of iron with nerves of steel.

Lunar eclipse tonight

2010-12-20T11:03:00.001-05:00

Remember to take a nap this evening so that you can see the lunar eclipse. And wear lotion: you don't want to get a nasty case of moonburn.

Quote of the day

2010-12-15T16:20:00.001-05:00

Perl - The only language that looks the same before and after RSA encryption. - Keith Bostic

Money, what a concept

2010-11-14T14:00:00.002-05:00

The great news is that, despite borrowing more money in two years than all of the previous presidents in history combined, Pres. Obama has actually produced a balanced budget.

The bad news is that it isn't ours.

San Fransisco Giants

2010-10-28T17:43:00.002-04:00

I'd always thought that "too much information" and "baseball" were incompatible ideas, but it turns out that I was tragically wrong.

Reductio ad absurdum Rex

2010-10-27T17:10:00.002-04:00

The Democrats' message, in short, is that the Democrats are really lousy at delivering a convincing message. Since nobody finds this message convincing, it has a certain surface plausibility.

- James Taranto, Best of the Web Today

Economics

2010-10-18T20:53:00.002-04:00

Thomas (age: 8): Mommy, when Santa brings us presents, does anyone have to pay?
Mommy: Yes, dear.
Thomas: How does that work?
Daddy: He sends us a bill.
Thomas: So did you send Santa his money?
Mommy: No, not yet.
Thomas: Well, that can't go on forever.

Chicago

2010-10-18T20:24:00.002-04:00

Emma (age four): Uncle Jeff, have you ever been to Chicago?
Jeff: Yes, I have.
Emma: Did you go to the American Girl store?
Jeff: No, I've never been there.
Emma: You went to Chicago but you didn't go to the American Girl store?
Jeff: Nope.
Emma: What stores did you go to?
Jeff: I don't think I've ever been to a store in Chicago.
Emma: You went to Chicago but didn't go to any stores?
Jeff: That's right.
Emma: I think that must have been a different town.

One for you, and one for me

2010-10-05T23:17:00.003-04:00

A headline in tomorrow's Wall Street Journal reads Democrats Look to Cultivate Pot Vote in 2012.

That seems fair to me. The Democrats can concentrate on the pot vote, the Republicans concentrate on the human vote, and at the end of the day everyone's happy.

Speak up

2010-10-04T17:21:00.002-04:00

Paul Caron notes that the IRS only answered 8% of 352,758 calls it got from deaf taxpayers last year.

Glenn Reynolds makes the predictable and scary corollary point: don't worry, government healthcare will be fine.

To be thought a fool

2010-10-02T12:45:00.002-04:00

Prof. Eugene Volokh describes why I don't blog very much.

Have a great ...

2010-09-24T16:07:00.000-04:00

... belated Constitution Day.

Overheard in the men's room of an I-95 rest area

2010-09-18T20:20:00.003-04:00

The southbound rest area off I-95 was full of college athletes of some sort tonight. I heard the following conversation in the men's room:

Athlete with camera: Hey, look at this great pic I took last night in Boston. I'm putting it on my Facebook page.

Athlete at urinal: We played in New York last night.

Athlete with camera: No, we're on our way to New York right now.

Athlete at urinal: Man, bars all look the same nowadays.

Hartford vs. Bucharest

2010-09-13T11:40:00.003-04:00

Lowering the Bar gives its take on the latest news from Romania:

Romanian lawmaker Alin Popoviciu is blaming fear for the failure of a bill he sponsored that would have imposed new regulations and taxes on witches and fortune tellers. He claimed that the legislation had failed because lawmakers were afraid they would be cursed if they passed it.

I'm sorry that Mr. Popoviciu wasn't able to pass his bill. Maybe he could send some of his country's witch lobbyists over here to curse a few members of the Connecticut General Assembly? I could send him a list if hexing works long-distance.

Yes, Ms. Althouse, this is too creepy

2010-09-09T14:36:00.001-04:00

Gee, a girl sure plucked a lemon in
Being born so weak and feminine.

Google's animation today

2010-09-07T10:13:00.002-04:00

Google's ~~annoying~~ unusual bouncing-balls animation caused some buzz this morning. In the Washington Post, it was suggested that it celebrates the 12th anniversary of Google's founding or the 15th anniversary of Javascript.

I wonder if it celebrates the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm/ Markov chain method? It looks like the location of each ball is being randomized and then bounces around its natural position. Towards the end, the x and y error (perturbation away from the natural position) of each ball would look like a fuzzy caterpillar if plotted against time.

Redecorating ideas

2010-08-31T15:25:00.001-04:00

... assuming you have a very big office of course.

Quote of the day

2010-08-31T13:37:00.000-04:00

Does the Left really cherish the rights of Islam, or is theirs but a short-sighted alliance with the enemy of their enemies?

- Andrew Klavan

The Amazon

2010-08-09T10:07:00.001-04:00

I wanna be like Ed Stafford when I grow up.

Never say I-told-you-so

2010-07-28T05:35:00.002-04:00

"US warnings on Megrahi release have come true" - headline of a story this morning on the (Scotland) Herald's web site about the release of the Lockerbie bomber.

True daughter of old time

2010-07-27T23:36:00.002-04:00

On Pajamas Media, Frank Tipler asks:

According the Faculty Senate of the University of Virginia, “science,” and indeed “scholarship” in general, is no longer an attempt to establish truth by replicable experiment, or by looking at evidence that can be checked by anyone. “Truth” is now to be established by the decree of powerful authority, by “peer review.” Wasn’t the whole point of the Enlightenment to avoid exactly this?

You silly mathematician. Don't you know that whole point of the Enlightenment was to provide Merchant Ivory actors with an excuse to dress up in powdered wigs and frilly dresses? Or was that the Renaissance? I forget. Which one starred Helena Bonham Carter?

State Department releases Lockerbie letter

2010-07-27T23:29:00.002-04:00

From the State Department's web site, via Powerline:

August 12, 2009

Rt Hon Alex Salmond, MSP
First Minister for Scotland
The Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh
EH99 1 SP

Dear First Minister:

I have enclosed a copy of a communication from my government that was passed to the Scottish Ministry of Justice on August 9. I am aware that competence for the decision on the matter discussed lies with the Scottish Minister of Justice, but given the gravity of this matter, I thought it important that you receive directly and be aware of the views of my government as your authorities approach a decision.

I am at your disposal to discuss this matter further.

Sincerely,

Richard LeBaron
Chargé d'Affaires

Enclosure: as stated

BEGIN TEXT OF ENCLOSURE:

-- We greatly appreciate the Scottish Government's continued willingness to solicit the views of the United States and the families of its victims with respect to a decision on Megrahi's transfer. This issue is of great importance to the United States.

-- We understand that Scottish law permits the Scottish Government to release individuals in Scottish custody on license if there are compassionate grounds justifying the release, and that as a matter of practice such release is not granted unless the prisoner has a life expectancy of less than three months. We also understand that the Scottish judiciary has the ability to grant bail, and in the case of Megrahi the judiciary has indicated that it is prepared to entertain a renewed bail application on compassionate grounds if Megrahi's prognosis worsens and becomes more certain.

-- The United States respects that decisions concerning compassionate release and bail are reserved to Scottish authorities and are to be made in accordance with Scottish law and policy.

-- The United States is not prepared to support Megrahi's release on compassionate release or bail. We understand that Scottish authorities are ensuring that Megrahi receives quality medical treatment, including palliative care, while incarcerated. The United States maintains its view that in light of the scope of Megrahi's crime, its heinous nature, and its continued and devastating impact on the victims and their families, it would be most appropriate for Megrahi to remain imprisoned for the entirety of his sentence. This was the understanding and expectation at the time arrangements were made for his trial in Scottish Court in the Netherlands, were he or his confederate to be convicted and their appeals upheld.

-- Nevertheless, if Scottish authorities come to the conclusion that Megrahi must be released from Scottish custody, the U.S. position is that conditional release on compassionate grounds would be a far preferable alternative to prisoner transfer, which we strongly oppose.

-- If a decision were made by Scotland to grant conditional release, two conditions would be very important to the United States and would partially mitigate the concerns of the American victims' families. First, any such release should only come after the results of independent and comprehensive medical exams clearly establishing that Megrahi's life expectancy is less than three months. The results of these exams should be made available to the United States and the families of the victims of Pan Am 103. The justification of releasing Megrahi on compassionate grounds would be more severely undercut the longer he is free before his actual death.

-- Second, the United States would strongly oppose any release that would permit Megrahi to travel outside of Scotland. We believe that the welcoming reception that Megrahi might receive if he is permitted to travel abroad would be extremely inappropriate given Megrahi's conviction for a heinous crime that continues to have a deep and profound impact on so many. As such, compassionate release or bail should be conditioned on Megrahi remaining in Scotland.

-- Again, while we are not able to endorse the early release of Megrahi under any scenario, we believe that granting compassionate release or bail under the conditions described (i.e. release with a life expectancy or less than three months and with Megrahi remaining in Scotland under supervision) would mitigate a number of the strong concerns that we have expressed with respect to Megrahi’s release.

-- We appreciate the manner in which the Scottish Government has handled this difficult situation. We recognize that the prisoner transfer decision is one that the Scottish Government did not invite, but now must take. We hope that the Scottish Government would consider every available alternative before considering the granting of Megrahi's prisoner transfer application.

Quote of the day

2010-07-16T15:51:00.006-04:00

(pro se defendant cross-examining his accuser)
DEFENDANT: You sell drugs out of your house, don’t you?
WITNESS: No.
DEFENDANT: I know that’s a damn lie. I’ve bought weed and crack there myself.

- Overheard in Court, via Legal Antics.

Quote of the day

2010-07-16T13:50:00.002-04:00

Kill them all, starting with the math teacher!

- Professor Farnsworth, Futurama (Season 6, Episode 5.)

Futurama

Thursdays 10pm / 9c

Doomsday Machine

www.comedycentral.com

Futurama New Episodes

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Quote of the day

2010-07-14T14:16:00.002-04:00

Maintenance is a dirty word around a DVB sign.

- Jackie Lightfield, yourct.com

Happy Friday

2010-07-09T15:11:00.001-04:00

Every compliance manager's nightmare

2010-06-30T14:47:00.002-04:00

A British oil broker spent $520,000,000 of his clients' money while in a drunken haze. The drunken binge happened last June. Apparently, this caused world oil prices to jump $1.50 a barrel last summer. His employers' procedures failed to stop or even notice the half-billion dollar trades made late at night from his laptop.

Thank goodness things like this don't happen with medical devices.

Bridgeport courthouse found too corrupt for Madoff

2010-06-24T15:32:00.000-04:00

... 'nuff said.

Spokeswoman: "it was something we decided to address and make the edit"

2010-06-22T17:09:00.003-04:00

New Haven's high school grads are getting their diplomas Thursday.

Superintendent of Schools Reginald Mayo confirmed through a spokeswoman that this year’s diplomas were printed without the phrase “in the year of our Lord.”

“That was a complaint that came in from a parent last year and it was something we decided to address and make the edit,” said schools spokeswoman Michelle Wade.

(Abbe Smith in the New Haven Register.)

Erk

2010-06-21T13:18:00.001-04:00

I've been sick all day, and learning about what women find attractive in men hasn't helped my mood much.

Magnificent quote of the day

2010-06-21T13:15:00.001-04:00

.. the Church by the gang of liberticides and libertines that misrules this country ...

- Fabio Paolo Barbieri

Quote of the day

2010-06-18T13:31:00.001-04:00

Obama would rather the Gulf die than anger his Big Labor buddies

- Jeff Goldstein, Protein Wisdom

We live in Lenin's country

2010-06-18T13:02:00.002-04:00

Мы живем в стране Ленина.

Book cover of the day

2010-06-07T10:51:00.002-04:00

Blog post headline of the day

2010-06-05T10:03:00.001-04:00

IDF Boards Another Flotilla Ship, Crew Amazingly Cooperative This Time

- Doug Powers

Quote of the day

2010-05-28T19:25:00.002-04:00

Your views and mine are currently very much the same on the euro. . . . What most troubles me as it does you is that members of the euro have thrown away the key. Once the euro physically replaces the separate currencies, how in the world do you get out? It’s a major crisis. As a result, I would strongly agree with your view that the euro should be abandoned before January 1, 2002. At the same time, the odds are very great that it will not be abandoned. The defects of the euro will take some time to show up; nothing happens very rapidly in this area. There are fewer than three years to go. Even if difficulties deriving from the euro occur in those three years, the political system is unlikely to react quickly enough to end the euro. As a result, I think it would be very desirable for some systematic thought to be given to devising some way to get out of the straitjacket of the euro after 2002. The least Italy should do is to keep intact the plates which are used to produce lira.

-Milton Friedman, from a letter to Antonio Martino, in 1999 (!). Quoted by Christoper Fountain.

My teenage nephew visited last week

2010-05-25T17:29:00.002-04:00

(via Ann Althouse.)

Quote of the day

2010-05-07T11:05:00.002-04:00

Dr. Rekers, if you’re listening, I want to tell you two things: (1) I am, among other things, prideful, wrathful, slothful, and gluttonous, and (2) I’ve always wanted to take a three-week trip to Australia.

- Ken at Popehat (this post is NSFW)

Health care and the 27th amendment

2010-04-13T23:17:00.003-04:00

Congressmen seem to be surprised that a provision of the kazillion-page health bill they voted for after a few hours debate ends their taxpayer-financed health plan. The Democrats might understandably want to get back their health benefits by quietly amending the bill after the election, or by bullying some poor bureaucrat into interpreting away that part of the law.

But the twenty-seventh amendment to the Constitution says that

No law varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives shall take effect until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.

So unless the twenty-seventh amendment means something very different than its plain text (*), it seems to me that Congress can't get fed to the wolves like the rest of us until after the 2010 Congressional election, and they can't vote to save their coverage unless they opt themselves out before the election.

(*) this phrase may a sure sign that I have scientific mind and not a legal mind. Hallelujah!

James Joyce lives on at the Connecticut Department of Transportation

2010-04-09T11:48:00.002-04:00

Driving to Simsbury this morning, I realized that I forgot my laptop and had to go back. By the time I got on I-91 it was pouring so heavily that it was tough to see the car in front of me. Passing under a digital information sign, I noticed that there was a traffic message. I took my eyes off the road for a moment to try to read it through the rain.

It read:

Distracted driving kills.

Selling stolen property on EBay

2010-03-01T16:51:00.002-05:00

Klaus, whose nom-de-eBay is "game_seller88", is selling a ring that his uncle plundered from Dachau. (He bills it as an "ORIGNIAL JEWISH Holocaust RING".) The Simon Wiesenthal Center reported this transaction to eBay 3 days ago; but they haven't canceled the transaction yet.

If the Simon Wiesenthal Center after three days can't get eBay to cancel an auction of property stolen during the most thoroughly documented crime in the history of mankind, then what chance does an ordinary person have of recovering their stolen I-Pods and cell phones when they are auctioned on eBay?

Quote of the day

2010-02-20T22:50:00.003-05:00

Yes, I'm a man possessed by many demons. Polite demons that would open a door for a lady carrying too many parcels: but demons nonetheless.

- Kevin McDonald, Kids in the Hall, Season 2 Episode 2.

The "vice" in middle-school vice principal

2010-02-18T15:50:00.004-05:00

If you don't home school your kids, you might want to consider it.

(H/T: Volokh Conspiracy, Boing-Boing.)

Happy Valentine's Day Eve

2010-02-13T00:21:00.001-05:00

When Linux guys fall for Windows chicks.

How many communists does it take to row a boat?

2010-02-11T11:18:00.002-05:00

Luo Yuan, a researcher at the Academy of Military Sciences, gave an interview with Reuters (via Best of the Web):

"Just like two people rowing a boat, if the United States first throws the strokes into chaos, then so must we."

(Note to self: never, ever row a boat with this guy.)