Category Archives: Uncategorized

Brain games

Partly dyslexia, partly Scrabble, I think led to my noticing this clause in a BBC story about new Barry Bonds perjury indictments:

Making it into the record books as the man who had hit more home runs than anyone else in baseball history should have been the crowning achievement of Mr Bonds’ storied career

'cause, y&#39know, ‘storied’ anagrams to ‘steroid’. What with their being Brits and all, you know the writer did it on purpose.

Why, yes, I am finir!

Got a lovely note from someone who wants me to help him launder a huge sum of money, with this appended:
“En finir avec le spam? Yahoo! Mail vous offre la meilleure protection possible contre les messages non sollicités”

Oui! A thousand times oui!

Some key improvements: 6 years in

Highlights from an article about procedure changes to assist Federal Air Marshals (important: not made for your convenience or safety):

“the mix-ups, in which marshals are mistaken for terrorism suspects who share the same names, have gone on for years—just as they have for thousands of members of the traveling public.”
“one major air carrier reports roughly 9,000 false positive hits on the watch list every day”
“The Terrorist Screening Center announced April 10 it will automatically review nearly 500,000 names on its watch list that are frequently matched during airport screenings and other law-enforcement encounters with the general public, and remove those names that don’t belong to actual suspects.” (emphasis added)
“Additionally, Mr. Chertoff announced Monday that each airline can now create a system of limited biographical data including a passenger’s date of birth to clear up watch list misidentifications.” (but will they?)

An urgent message to commerce

In a half-asleep state last night, it seemed vitally important that I let local restaurants know that it was OK to serve me pasta, potatoes, or bread instead of rice during the rice shortage*.

*Actually seems to not necessarily be a shortage (domestically, anyway), but there may be some sales limits in reaction to hoarding. But other starches are still OK with me.

Mmm… Chipotle

Until I saw this Serious eats article, I hadn’t really thought about how horribly calorific those Chipotle burritos are. Plenty of fiber, though.

Nutrition Facts
Amount Per Serving
Calories 1008 Cal from Fat 356
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 41g 63%
Saturated Fat 17g 85%
Trans Fat 0g  

Cholesterol 125mg 42%
Sodium 2511mg 105%
Total Carbs 104g 35%
Dietary Fiber 15g 60%
Sugars 7g  

Protein 53g  

Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 0% Iron 0%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
INGREDIENTS: 13″ Tortilla,Rice,Black Beans,Barbacoa (4oz),Red (Hot) Salsa,Cheese,Sour Cream

National Week of Shame and Danger also needs a theme song

In the wake of the launch of Sputnik, Henry “Scoop” Jackson (D-WA) proposed a National Week of Shame and Danger. He was doing it to assist the political aspirations of Stuart Symington (D-MO), but I feel that we could get some modern enjoyment out of making a National Week of Shame and Danger an annual observance.

Things one can do to celebrate NWoSaD that are both shameful and dangerous:
Wear flammable pajamas with a hole in the seat
Kitten juggling (sharp claws)
Historic document theft
Fart-lighting
Tease a five-legged scorpion about its disability