March 6, 2003: President held a news conference concerning Iraq and Saddam Hussein.
Editor and Publisher has a column about that press conference.
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The small explosion at a Times Square military recruiting station has given the media something other than the election campaign to talk and write about today. This recruiting station cost you and I $1,000,000 for 520 feet of floor space and a bathroom. Or nearly $1925/square foot. I want one in my town!
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
For Gwen, PJ, and H
Felix (aka: Bubbie, the Rat, and Not My Cat*)
SHFB has a fantastic little video about cats training their owners.
SHFB has a fantastic little video about cats training their owners.
Stupid Videos and Nothing to Say
I was taken to task because of my "embedding these damn Doo-Doo Tube videos".
I don't always have something to say. Occasionally I find something that is funny to me and that someone else might also enjoy. My feeling about this is a lot like my advice to uptight parents about what their children see on the television: If you don't feel like watching the damn thing, don't!
Captain Crab's High Sea Adventures was not started to change the world. And By God I'm not going to start now.
I don't always have something to say. Occasionally I find something that is funny to me and that someone else might also enjoy. My feeling about this is a lot like my advice to uptight parents about what their children see on the television: If you don't feel like watching the damn thing, don't!
Captain Crab's High Sea Adventures was not started to change the world. And By God I'm not going to start now.
$2,000,000,000,000
That's a whole bunch of zeroes isn't it? That is also what Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel prize winning economist and Robert Hormats, of Goldman Sachs International, project it will cost American taxpayers for the Iraq War (or the Intervention of Iraq, to save us from those nasty WMDs).
Bob Herbert of the New York Times explores this in a bit more detail here. An excerpt:
Mr. Hormats mentioned Social Security and Medicare, saying that both could have been put “on a more sustainable basis.” And he cited the committee’s own calculations from last fall that showed that the money spent on the war each day is enough to enroll an additional 58,000 children in Head Start for a year, or make a year of college affordable for 160,000 low-income students through Pell Grants, or pay the annual salaries of nearly 11,000 additional border patrol agents or 14,000 more police officers.
Bob Herbert of the New York Times explores this in a bit more detail here. An excerpt:
Mr. Hormats mentioned Social Security and Medicare, saying that both could have been put “on a more sustainable basis.” And he cited the committee’s own calculations from last fall that showed that the money spent on the war each day is enough to enroll an additional 58,000 children in Head Start for a year, or make a year of college affordable for 160,000 low-income students through Pell Grants, or pay the annual salaries of nearly 11,000 additional border patrol agents or 14,000 more police officers.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
How Old is Your Car?
If you have a 1998 model car you want to get rid of, head south!
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March 2, 2008 22:23 PST Hidalgo, Texas (AP)
Some are dented, scratched and rusty. Others rattle and belch under faded paint jobs. But the "'98" soaped onto their windshields and a surprise change in Mexican import rules have turned a single year's worth of used cars into pick of the used-car lot.
Beginning Monday, only cars made for the 1998 model year, none older and none newer, can be legally imported into Mexico. Car dealers were given notice only a month ago.
Until now, used cars 10 to 15 years old were scooped up at auction by South Texas used car dealers and rapidly sold to Mexicans hungry for affordable transportation and "la novedad", or novelty, of unfamiliar makes and models.
Cars newer than that were banned from imports as unwelcome competition for Mexican car dealers, and anything more than 15 years old was seen as a potential environmental and safety hazard.
But now, under pressure from Mexico's new car dealers who say "vehiculos chatarra," or jalopies, undercut their sales, the Mexican government is allowing only 10-year-old used cars to be legally imported into Mexico.
All of a sudden, 1998 Luminas, Astro vans and Ranger pickups are sought-after trophies.
The Mexican Association of Automobile Distributors, which pushed for the change, said it was needed to "stop the accelerated conversion of our country into the world's biggest automotive garbage dump."
The Mexican Consulate in McAllen said the change was made "to restrict the entry of vehicles that compete with the Mexican car industry."
A mile north of the Rio Grande, 80 percent of the customers at Walester Auto Sales are Mexican. But this past week, only one out of the 24 cars on the dirt lot boasted the magic "1998." That vehicle was a white Chevrolet Blazer with a "Redneck" sticker on the windshield and a vanity plate of a silhouetted couple embracing in front of a tropical sunset. It was priced at $3,200.
With the sudden change in demand, such 1998 models are appreciating for the first time since they rolled off the lot, their prices rising by $500 to $800, while dealers cut prices on slightly older models in a frantic effort to move them out before Monday's deadline.
"At this point we have a lot of merchandise that was going to Mexico that now will stay," said Elena Garcia, who owns Walester with her husband, Armando Garcia, who was in Florida scouring auto auctions for more vehicles.
At Gutierrez Brothers, a few Mexican car dealers milled about, shaking their heads at the limited selection. "The worse thing we can do is buy something that we don't know if it can go across (the border)," Juan Gutierrez said. "If a 1997 worth $3,000 can't cross, it's not even worth $1,500." He had to unload about 1,000 cars last month at sharply reduced prices just to avoid getting stuck with them in March.
Gutierrez said his buyers at auto auctions across the country tell him that when a 1998 rolls into the garage, 20 buyers line up where there used to be a handful.
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March 2, 2008 22:23 PST Hidalgo, Texas (AP)
Some are dented, scratched and rusty. Others rattle and belch under faded paint jobs. But the "'98" soaped onto their windshields and a surprise change in Mexican import rules have turned a single year's worth of used cars into pick of the used-car lot.
Beginning Monday, only cars made for the 1998 model year, none older and none newer, can be legally imported into Mexico. Car dealers were given notice only a month ago.
Until now, used cars 10 to 15 years old were scooped up at auction by South Texas used car dealers and rapidly sold to Mexicans hungry for affordable transportation and "la novedad", or novelty, of unfamiliar makes and models.
Cars newer than that were banned from imports as unwelcome competition for Mexican car dealers, and anything more than 15 years old was seen as a potential environmental and safety hazard.
But now, under pressure from Mexico's new car dealers who say "vehiculos chatarra," or jalopies, undercut their sales, the Mexican government is allowing only 10-year-old used cars to be legally imported into Mexico.
All of a sudden, 1998 Luminas, Astro vans and Ranger pickups are sought-after trophies.
The Mexican Association of Automobile Distributors, which pushed for the change, said it was needed to "stop the accelerated conversion of our country into the world's biggest automotive garbage dump."
The Mexican Consulate in McAllen said the change was made "to restrict the entry of vehicles that compete with the Mexican car industry."
A mile north of the Rio Grande, 80 percent of the customers at Walester Auto Sales are Mexican. But this past week, only one out of the 24 cars on the dirt lot boasted the magic "1998." That vehicle was a white Chevrolet Blazer with a "Redneck" sticker on the windshield and a vanity plate of a silhouetted couple embracing in front of a tropical sunset. It was priced at $3,200.
With the sudden change in demand, such 1998 models are appreciating for the first time since they rolled off the lot, their prices rising by $500 to $800, while dealers cut prices on slightly older models in a frantic effort to move them out before Monday's deadline.
"At this point we have a lot of merchandise that was going to Mexico that now will stay," said Elena Garcia, who owns Walester with her husband, Armando Garcia, who was in Florida scouring auto auctions for more vehicles.
At Gutierrez Brothers, a few Mexican car dealers milled about, shaking their heads at the limited selection. "The worse thing we can do is buy something that we don't know if it can go across (the border)," Juan Gutierrez said. "If a 1997 worth $3,000 can't cross, it's not even worth $1,500." He had to unload about 1,000 cars last month at sharply reduced prices just to avoid getting stuck with them in March.
Gutierrez said his buyers at auto auctions across the country tell him that when a 1998 rolls into the garage, 20 buyers line up where there used to be a handful.
Feats Don't Fail Me Now!
Since embedding has been disabled, for some great music, you will have to make a trip over to YouTube to see Rock & Roll Doctor.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
I have epilepsy, but this isn't why
In the middle of the 19th century, it was commonly thought that epilepsy was caused by masturbation. Sir Charles Locock noted that potassium bromide calmed sexual excitement and thought this was responsible for his success in treating seizures.
Writing is SERIOUS Business!
One would suspect that people who write blogs are merely sitting at their computers typing without having done anything special to start the creative juices flowing. After all, most bloggers are probably regular folks, or at least THINK they are, no matter what the subject matter they are writing about.
aaaaarrrrrrrrr! But not the Crab! I have to make special preparations before even thinking about doing this. And dear, sweet, lovely PJ has probably done more to help me get in the mood than anything or anyone else.
aaaaarrrrrrrrr! But not the Crab! I have to make special preparations before even thinking about doing this. And dear, sweet, lovely PJ has probably done more to help me get in the mood than anything or anyone else.
Here is the Pirate hat she bought for me and the brand new shirt that just arrived today! Wearing the hat gives me extra special writing prowess and helps me maintain focus when a mental blockage tries to overtake my brain.
This extra special coffee cup* is also necessary. However, if it is empty or without the coffee drops on the side (I spill a lot sometimes) I spontaneously play a game of "FreeCell", thus killing the "spur of the moment" or "by the seat of my pants" writing style that is my trademark**.
*given to me by our good friend C who divides her time between Philly and Florida.
**at least that's what I think
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For all of you Michael Jackson fans, here, courtesy of 23/6 is a quiz.
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