Month: January 2005

Yes, I changed the template again. And the header photo. Love it? Hate it? Hit the ‘Sound Off’ link below and let me know what you think. And yes, things might look weird or something in IE for Windoze. But then … well, you use IE for Windoze and you pretty much deserve what happens...

I missed my opportunity (thanks to my annual January bronchitis) to comment on the fool prince’s costume party thing. Even though it’s sorta blown over, I’ll contribute with this: my version of Prince Harry’s Official Coat of Arms: Actually, « the real one is here ». I just couldn’t resist. Oh, lighten up! It’s a parody folks!

« Gore Vidal » is back in the Empire and telling it like it is, thank god: ‘He said that he can foresee the war going so badly that [the Emperor George II] will be forced to resign or be driven from office. “I can’t believe the speed with which the entire republic fell apart. The U.S....

Here’s the REAL Pledge of Allegiance, as written by Non-Sequitor: ‘I pledge allegiance to the flag of the corporate states of America. ‘And to the Republicans for which it stands, ‘One nation, under debt, easily divisible, ‘With liberty and justice for oil.’ — Non-Sequitor Amen.

         « Our Life in Michigan – 2005 North American International Auto Show »

Here are some pics taken by Frank and by me that I’ve been meaning to post: « Our Life in Michigan – 11- and 22-Jan-05 Miscellaneous Wintry Pics »

         « Our Life in Michigan – 11&22-Jan-05 Miscellaneous Wintry Pics »

I was in Kroger last night picking up some groceries. The place was packed, and one of the checkout lines extended past the newspaper rack. I reached over one woman’s basket to grab a copy of the Ann Arbor News. First she gave me a sour look, then she chuckled and said, “Read it and...

I added « Reality-Based Nation » to the blogroll because of wonderful, kick-the-fascists-in-the-face entries like this: ‘Earlier this week, we noted a pending appeals court case in Indiana (article) in which the state’s ban on same-sex marriage was being challenged. Yesterday, while Mr. Bush preached to the world about freedom and liberty for all people, the Indiana...

As we slog around in the weeks of snow that have been dumped on southeast Michigan, it’s mordantly amusing to see what happens in parts of the country that aren’t as used (inured?) to snow as Michigan is: A mere inch of snow was all it took to cripple North Carolina’s capital—and prompt plenty of...

« Airbus A-380 photos at Airliners.net » Looks like, at long last, &laquo the official rollout of the Airbus A-380 », the world’’s largest commercial aircraft, is finally at hand: ‘Airbus, which has delivered more airplanes than Boeing for the second year in a row, is about to unveil another No. 1: the world’’s largest passenger jet. The A380,...

Although it’’s not likely that the Emperor’’s anti-union and anti-worker administration is likely to heed it, « 

It seems more details have emerged about « Delta’s new pricing strategy » this weekend. ‘Under Delta’s new structure, prices for last-minute walk-up fares have been cut by as much as 50 percent, the long-unpopular Saturday night stayover requirement for lower-priced fares has been eliminated, the fee for changing nonrefundable tickets has been dropped from $100 to...

Another 3-4 inches of snow fell overnight; it was soft and fluffy, with no ice. So this afternoon, we took a ride downtown. The Grand continues to perform admirably; you have to do something really stupid to make it fishtail and it simply refuses to skid if you apply heavy brake. I’m loving the heating...

The weather has been abyssmal. Haven’t been able to get outside on the book since New Year’s, since the sidewalks and streets are just treacherous. Since I want to average 5 miles per day all year, I’m already in the hole and have lots of catching up to do. Blast it all.

I love how taken aback the “old school” newsgathering operations are that blogs scooped them, and in many cases surpassed them, in covering the South Asian earthquake and tsunami catastrophe. The best quote I’ve heard in this regard was today on NPR: a “technology contributor” named Xeni Jardin said, breathlessly, that bloggers aren’t just “fat...

Details are still slightly hazy, but « United’s pilots are fighting the weird backroom maneuvering » which resulted in us taxpayers getting soaked with the responsibility of the pilots’ pension fund, thanks to United’s epic and clueless executive mismanagement: ‘Pilots at United Airlines will fight plans for an involuntary bail-out of their pension scheme, threatening to unravel...

I was going to get a good start on my riding program by biking every day, but alas, it was not to be. I biked five miles on Saturday the first, but as I was returning, I noticed the rear tire was low. So I went to the gas station at Packard/Stadium to air it...

I enjoy all the year-end lists that pop up on the WWW around this time, mostly because they demonstrate that if there’s one thing the Web’s good at, it’s making lists. I also enjoy realizing that there’s about a snowball’s chance in hell that I’ll get around to reading, seeing, and listening to all of...

Today comes news that « the Emperor is planning permanent gulags in a number of countries to hold persons merely suspected of … well, doing something of which the Emperor does not approve »: ‘The Bush administration is preparing plans for possible lifetime detention of suspected terrorists, including hundreds whom the government does not have enough evidence...