Purell Politics
Because if we don't fight them down there on our hands, we'll be fighting them up here in our nose.
In Clean Politics, Flesh Is Pressed, Then Sanitized
Trump is of course mentioned in this article, as he is legendary for refusing to shake hands. I wonder if this attribute is an aspect of megalomania, where one considers "commoners" unclean.
mike sold out at - 22:33
10.29.2006
Black Tom Explosion
Piddling around on the internets, I am reminded about the Black Tom explosion, an act of sabotage in 1916 by German agents where an ammunition depot in Jersey City exploded. The site is now on the southern end of Liberty State Park.
The thing I find interesting about it now is that 9/11 wasn't the only attack to close the Statue of Liberty- the Black Tom explosion did some actual damage to the Statue. As a result, she was closed temporarily and public access to the arm was permanently ended.
Other fun NY Harbor facts: the natural areas of Ellis Island are in NY, the landfilled parts are in NJ, while all of Liberty Island (neé Bedloe Island) is entirely in NY.
Also, yesterday was the 120th anniversary of the dedication of the statue, officially called "Liberty Enlightening the World".
mike sold out at - 22:49
Credit where credit is due
10.24.2006
Elections are da bomb!
Fun articles about Republicans!
Jon Kyl,
Rick Renzi,
J.D. Hayworth,
John Doolittle,
Richard Pombo,
Brian Bilbray,
Marilyn Musgrave,
Doug Lamborn,
Rick O'Donnell,
Christopher Shays,
Vernon Buchanan,
Joe Negron,
Clay Shaw,
Bill Sali,
Peter Roskam,
Mark Kirk,
Dennis Hastert,
Chris Chocola,
John Hostettler,
Mike Whalen,
Jim Ryun,
Anne Northup,
Geoff Davis,
Michael Steele,
Gil Gutknecht,
Michele Bachmann,
Jim Talent,
Conrad Burns,
Jon Porter,
Charlie Bass,
Mike Ferguson,
Heather Wilson,
Peter King,
John Sweeney,
Tom Reynolds,
Randy Kuhl,
Robin Hayes,
Charles Taylor,
Steve Chabot,
Jean Schmidt,
Deborah Pryce,
Joy Padgett,
Melissa Hart,
Curt Weldon,
Mike Fitzpatrick,
Don Sherwood,
Lincoln Chafee,
Bob Corker,
George Allen,
Frank Wolf,
Mike McGavick, and
Dave Reichert.
Thanks to Alpie, from whom I stole the links.
mike sold out at - 16:42
10.20.2006
Ballot Oopsie
Oops
A missing "l" in the word "public" forced Ottawa County, Mich., officials to blush and reprint 170,000 ballots with the proposed state constitutional amendment - at a cost of $40,000.
Don't forget to proofread, folks.
mike sold out at - 15:21
Credit where credit is due
10.16.2006
Chicago Pictures
I've been remiss in posting my pictures from family vacation to Chicago, so here they are.
Millenium Park near the loop is pretty cool and has a "fountain"
that is more like a wading pool with giant TV monoliths on each side.
We went on an architecture boat cruise on the river and I took
about a two dozen of these pictures of the underside of bridges.
This rail bridge was stuck up in the air permanently.
There were lots of cool-looking manufacturing buildings along
the river that have been well-restored.
One of the atriums in Marshall Fields
In Wicker Park
mike sold out at - 22:58
10.12.2006
Camping at low, low prices
This from a rather random article, but the one thing I gained from it is that RV's can park overnight for free in Wal-Mart parking lots. Sounds much better than sleeping in a south Florida rest-stop.
mike sold out at - 15:13
10.06.2006
Want to Register to Vote in Any State?
Click here.
It couldn't be more easy. Do it today. In NYS you must register at least 25 days before the election.
Courtesy of Working Assests.
mike sold out at - 11:16
10.05.2006
This is disturbing
Learn Spanish words for parts of the face.
mike sold out at - 21:05
Um...
A Poll on GOP.com
If the Democrats took control of Congress, what part of their agenda would concern you the most?
Cutting and running in the War on Terror
Raising your family's taxes
Impeachment and investigations
All of the above
No comment necessary.
mike sold out at - 16:25
10.04.2006
Caught
I forgot to write about this a couple weeks ago. I couldn't wait for the third season of Arrested Development to come from Netflix, so I headed down to Photoplay, the local video store. Whilst checking out, this was the exchange:
Me: I'm really excited about the third season. I love this show.
Clerk: Yeah, it's a great show.
Me: Yeah, I couldn't even wait for it to come from Netflix.
Clerk [shooting me with rays of death from his eyes]: Net. Flix.
Me: Oooo... yeah. Sorry. You caught me with lipstick on my collar.
mike sold out at - 22:18
Falling on Deaf Ears?
This is quite a load of crap.
WPost: Whitehouse Briefing
P. Bushie: "If you don't think we should be listening in on the terrorist, then you ought to vote for the Democrats. If you want your government to continue listening in when al-Qaeda planners are making phone calls into the United States, then you vote Republican."
Are people even listening to this guy anymore? I'm sure there are people who think like this, but please. If you think your President isn't above the law, vote Democratic.
mike sold out at - 22:14
Credit where credit is due
10.03.2006
The "Wright Flight"
Naming a plane after a living person is just asking for a round of bad luck, especially if that person is a baseball player: NY1
mike sold out at - 09:17
Credit where credit is due
10.02.2006
Globalization of Waste
Fact: The biggest exports of the New York port are empty shipping containers and various kinds of garbage, including scrap metal, concrete rubble, etc.
One of the things I frequently talk about at work is how industry in NYC (and the US at large) has become much, much cleaner than in the recent past. Our environmental laws from the 1970s have a lot to do with this. But so does a more unfortunate trend: globalization has, in part, taken the ill-effects of modern society and essentially moved them offshore.
This story (NYT: Global Sludge Ends in Tragedy for Ivory Coast) highlights this trend with a story about waste dumped in Ivory Coast
[The toxic waste] came from a Greek-owned tanker flying a Panamanian flag and leased by the London branch of a Swiss trading corporation whose fiscal headquarters are in the Netherlands.
[ed: Got that? It took me a couple readings]
Safe disposal in Europe would have cost about $300,000, or perhaps twice that, counting the cost of delays. But because of decisions and actions made not only here but also in Europe, it was dumped on the doorstep of some of the world’s poorest people...
After analyzing the waste, Amsterdam Port Services [in the Netherlands] told Trafigura’s London office that the price to treat and dispose of it would now be much more expensive, close to $300,000. Trafigura, which in 2005 had revenue of $28 billion dollars, balked at the cost.
And who is Trafigura? A commodities trading company. Juh? For a few hundred thousand dollars (less than $1,000 per ton), the company could have disposed of the waste. But instead, in order to turn a quick buck, they took it to the Ivory Coast, where it sickened many and killed several people.
