According to his girlfriend's testimony, Trayvon Martin referred to George Zimmerman as a "creepy ass cracker". Why, then, is Zimmerman the one being accused of racism?
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
A few things I've run across in the last couple of days:
In a hospital in central New York, doctors intent on harvesting a patient's organs suddenly realized that rumors of her death had been greatly exaggerated.
The United States is no longer the world's fattest nation. We've been overtaken by Mexico. Sí, se puede....comer!
Two House Democrats have proposed a new National Historical Park - on the moon. This would present a number of difficulties, starting with the fact that while the moon was explored by twelve Americans, is not United States territory. And any Department of the Interior personnel assigned to such a park would face an exceptionally difficult commute.
A House Republican has inserted an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would protect the religious freedom of military personnel.
If you're a legislator, please be careful how you write your laws. A law in Florida that bans Internet cafes might also ban computers and smartphones.
This next item is two and a half years old, but still relevant in light of the recent Supreme Court rulings on "gay marriage". This is a look inside the gay culture and the gay rights movement, from a former participant.
The Virginia Tech football team has lost a running back, due to his own fault. This past April, Michael Holmes was charged with malicious wounding, a felony, for his actions in a fight that started between his then-girlfriend and an ex-girlfriend. Holmes plea-bargained the charge down to assault and battery, a misdemeanor. School policy allows a misdemeanor offender to be reinstated to his athletic team, but a student judicial panel decided to expel Holmes from both the team and the school.
Scuba divers off the coast of Alabama have discovered the remains of a 50,000-year-old forest.
It would appear that protesters outside the U.S. embassy in Cairo have some complaints about our president. Like many teabaggers/hobbits/wacko-birds back here in the U.S., I say, "Join the club." Thankfully, many Egyptians seem able to distinguish between Barry and America.
The recent train wreck in Quebec, Canada may have been the result of tampering.
To finish, a musical blast from the past. Here's Nat King Cole and Billy Preston (age 11) performing Fats Domino's Blueberry Hill.
In a hospital in central New York, doctors intent on harvesting a patient's organs suddenly realized that rumors of her death had been greatly exaggerated.
The United States is no longer the world's fattest nation. We've been overtaken by Mexico. Sí, se puede....comer!
Two House Democrats have proposed a new National Historical Park - on the moon. This would present a number of difficulties, starting with the fact that while the moon was explored by twelve Americans, is not United States territory. And any Department of the Interior personnel assigned to such a park would face an exceptionally difficult commute.
A House Republican has inserted an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would protect the religious freedom of military personnel.
If you're a legislator, please be careful how you write your laws. A law in Florida that bans Internet cafes might also ban computers and smartphones.
This next item is two and a half years old, but still relevant in light of the recent Supreme Court rulings on "gay marriage". This is a look inside the gay culture and the gay rights movement, from a former participant.
The Virginia Tech football team has lost a running back, due to his own fault. This past April, Michael Holmes was charged with malicious wounding, a felony, for his actions in a fight that started between his then-girlfriend and an ex-girlfriend. Holmes plea-bargained the charge down to assault and battery, a misdemeanor. School policy allows a misdemeanor offender to be reinstated to his athletic team, but a student judicial panel decided to expel Holmes from both the team and the school.
Scuba divers off the coast of Alabama have discovered the remains of a 50,000-year-old forest.
It would appear that protesters outside the U.S. embassy in Cairo have some complaints about our president. Like many teabaggers/hobbits/wacko-birds back here in the U.S., I say, "Join the club." Thankfully, many Egyptians seem able to distinguish between Barry and America.
The recent train wreck in Quebec, Canada may have been the result of tampering.
To finish, a musical blast from the past. Here's Nat King Cole and Billy Preston (age 11) performing Fats Domino's Blueberry Hill.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Today is the eighth anniversary of terrorist suicide bombings in London, which took place on July 7th, 2005. These attacks are often remembered as "7/7", in the same manner as the Al Qaeda attacks in the United States on September 11th, 2001 are remembered as "9/11". During the 7/7 attacks, four bombs were detonated, three on London Underground trains and a fourth on a double-decker bus, killing 52 civilians and the bombers themselves, and injuring over 700 others. The bombers were not known to be members of any terrorist group, but were "home-grown" terrorists who had been "radicalized". Three were the sons of immigrants from Pakistan, while the other was an immigrant from Jamaica who converted to Islam.
Read more at Wikipedia, BBC News, the Guardian, the History Channel and Terror On The Tube.
Read more at Wikipedia, BBC News, the Guardian, the History Channel and Terror On The Tube.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Foamhenge is a model of the ancient British monument Stonehenge, but made of polymeric foam. It is located in Virginia, just off U.S. route 11 between Natural Bridge and Lexington. The parking lot is basically a short dirt road, part of which had turned to mud because of recent rains (as indicated in my earlier post today). Even so, I was able to find a feasible place to park, as did a family in a vehicle that showed up less than a minute after I did.
Between the sign and parking lot (such as it is) is a sign indicating that Stonehenge was build over 1500 years by thousands of people using stones from the local area or other part of Britain, while Foamhenge was built by "4 or 5 Mexicans" and "one crazy white guy" who transported the foam pieces from Winchester, VA over several months. The foam monument is a short walk uphill from the parking lot. Here's a view, looking uphill, of part of the foam circle, including three lintels (horizontal stones, or in this case fake stones, that sit on top of two adjacent vertical fake stones).
On the other side of the ring are these three vertical fake stones, with another lintel sitting on two of them, thus forming a fake trilithon. The stones on or partially in the ground are real. The blue figure behind the trilithon will be explaned below.
The figure and the fake stone on which it stands illustrates one theory about how Stonehenge was built. According to this theory, the stones were moved magically by Merlin the magician. Serious archaeologists, of course, know that Stonehenge was built far earlier than the time when Merlin and King Arthur were supposed to have lived.
Here are two more vertical foam pieces of different sizes, with the hills of Virginia in the background.
Another theory of how Stonehenge was built is that the stones were lifted with wooden structures similar to those shown here. The two adult humans behind it give some idea of perspective.
Before leaving, I caught another shot of Merlin.
Between the sign and parking lot (such as it is) is a sign indicating that Stonehenge was build over 1500 years by thousands of people using stones from the local area or other part of Britain, while Foamhenge was built by "4 or 5 Mexicans" and "one crazy white guy" who transported the foam pieces from Winchester, VA over several months. The foam monument is a short walk uphill from the parking lot. Here's a view, looking uphill, of part of the foam circle, including three lintels (horizontal stones, or in this case fake stones, that sit on top of two adjacent vertical fake stones).
On the other side of the ring are these three vertical fake stones, with another lintel sitting on two of them, thus forming a fake trilithon. The stones on or partially in the ground are real. The blue figure behind the trilithon will be explaned below.
The figure and the fake stone on which it stands illustrates one theory about how Stonehenge was built. According to this theory, the stones were moved magically by Merlin the magician. Serious archaeologists, of course, know that Stonehenge was built far earlier than the time when Merlin and King Arthur were supposed to have lived.
Here are two more vertical foam pieces of different sizes, with the hills of Virginia in the background.
Another theory of how Stonehenge was built is that the stones were lifted with wooden structures similar to those shown here. The two adult humans behind it give some idea of perspective.
Before leaving, I caught another shot of Merlin.
It seemed that no sooner than I arrived at my parents' house this past Wednesday that the news arrived that President Mohammed Morsi of Egypt had been ousted by his country's military. The Egyptian constitution has been suspended and the head of constitutional court, Adli Mansour, has been appointed interim president. Morsi is now under house arrest. President Obama has called for a review of U.S. aid to Egypt since American law forbids aid to countries in which a democratically elected leader is ousted in a coup. Egypt's people are divided between supporters of Morsi and supporters of his ouster, stirring fears of civil war. In reaction to Morsi's ouster, Egyptian stocks surged and oil prices had a slight decline.
I drove through light rain on the way down to Virginia on Wednesday. The rain became heavier during the last 20 miles or so of my trip. The heavy rain continued during the evening and most of the following might. On Thursday, July 4th, I saw water spouting through a hole in a manhole cover down the street, and slightly downhill, from my parents' house. Friday morning, it was still coming up.
Now that I'm back home in Maryland, I find out that an airplane come Seoul, Korea has crash-landed at the San Francisco Airport. Some facts and video of the crash may be found here. More on the story may be read here, here and here.
I drove through light rain on the way down to Virginia on Wednesday. The rain became heavier during the last 20 miles or so of my trip. The heavy rain continued during the evening and most of the following might. On Thursday, July 4th, I saw water spouting through a hole in a manhole cover down the street, and slightly downhill, from my parents' house. Friday morning, it was still coming up.
Now that I'm back home in Maryland, I find out that an airplane come Seoul, Korea has crash-landed at the San Francisco Airport. Some facts and video of the crash may be found here. More on the story may be read here, here and here.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
I'll be away for a few days visiting family for the 4th of July, so here are some stories to pass on before I go:
From Canada Free Press, millions of Egyptians are protesting against their president - and ours.
From Al Arabiya, the Egyptian army has drafted a plan to suspend the country's parliament and contsitution.
From CBS News, Egyptian President Morsi refuses to step down.
Also from CBS News, Pope John Paul II, who died in 2005, is on track for sainthood. Are you ready for Święty Jan Pawel, a.k.a. Święty Karol Wojtyła?
From Investor's Business Daily, electric cars aren't all that clean.
From Fox News, the Obama administration has announced that the employer mandate provision of Obamacare will be delayed until 2015.
From Science Recorder, a 15-year-old student invents a flashlight that runs on body heat.
From AMOG, Aaron Hernandez and the ten most infamous athletes.
From Israel National News, Canadian police have arrested two British Columbia residents for an alleged terror plot.
From The Corner at National Review Online, abortion-rights activists and their signs.
From Bare Naked Islam, the British government, who recently decided to ban Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller from entering their country, had already stopped an American Jew from doing so.
From The Blaze, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has apologized to Congress for lying to them earlier this year.
From Time, alleged leaker Edward Snowden just can't find a country that will give him asylum.
From the Swampland section of Time, President Obama and his immediate predecessor meet in Tanzania.
And from The Guardian, beware of the Mongolian neo-nazi environmentalists.
From Canada Free Press, millions of Egyptians are protesting against their president - and ours.
From Al Arabiya, the Egyptian army has drafted a plan to suspend the country's parliament and contsitution.
From CBS News, Egyptian President Morsi refuses to step down.
Also from CBS News, Pope John Paul II, who died in 2005, is on track for sainthood. Are you ready for Święty Jan Pawel, a.k.a. Święty Karol Wojtyła?
From Fox News, the Obama administration has announced that the employer mandate provision of Obamacare will be delayed until 2015.
From Science Recorder, a 15-year-old student invents a flashlight that runs on body heat.
From AMOG, Aaron Hernandez and the ten most infamous athletes.
From Israel National News, Canadian police have arrested two British Columbia residents for an alleged terror plot.
From The Corner at National Review Online, abortion-rights activists and their signs.
From Bare Naked Islam, the British government, who recently decided to ban Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller from entering their country, had already stopped an American Jew from doing so.
From The Blaze, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has apologized to Congress for lying to them earlier this year.
From Time, alleged leaker Edward Snowden just can't find a country that will give him asylum.
From the Swampland section of Time, President Obama and his immediate predecessor meet in Tanzania.
And from The Guardian, beware of the Mongolian neo-nazi environmentalists.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Several weeks ago, I received a summons for jury duty, requiring me to show up at the county court house tomorrow (July 2nd) if the "call-in" number on my summons fell within a range of such numbers that would be revealed today. According to the court house's website, my number is outside the range, which results in my being excused for two years, without even having to show up.
My only previous experience with the jury system came during the late 1990's, when I was summoned and required to show up, the practice of revealing "call-in" numbers the previous evening not yet being established. I remember that we jurors were initially told that eight trials had been scheduled for that week, but later on were informed that three of them had been cancelled because of one or two plea bargains and one or two out-of-court civil settlements. (I don't remember which kind of deal there were two of, and which there was one of.) Another trial was put on hold because the defendant did not show up. As a result of all this, the courthouse had about twice as many prospective jurors as they needed, so before noontime had even rolled around, a large number of us including myself were excused. I grabbed a quick lunch and soon afterwards showed up at work, and told my boss how things had gone.
Tomorrow, some of my co-workers might learn that there had been a possibility that I would not be at work, but otherwise, everything will be normal.
My only previous experience with the jury system came during the late 1990's, when I was summoned and required to show up, the practice of revealing "call-in" numbers the previous evening not yet being established. I remember that we jurors were initially told that eight trials had been scheduled for that week, but later on were informed that three of them had been cancelled because of one or two plea bargains and one or two out-of-court civil settlements. (I don't remember which kind of deal there were two of, and which there was one of.) Another trial was put on hold because the defendant did not show up. As a result of all this, the courthouse had about twice as many prospective jurors as they needed, so before noontime had even rolled around, a large number of us including myself were excused. I grabbed a quick lunch and soon afterwards showed up at work, and told my boss how things had gone.
Tomorrow, some of my co-workers might learn that there had been a possibility that I would not be at work, but otherwise, everything will be normal.
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