Goldfish bowls, widely regarded in the U.S. as sanctuaries for goldfish opposed to consumption by predators, are now illegal in Rome.
In Turin, failing to walk your dog three times daily is punishable by a 500 euro fine.
More expensive aquariums do tend to show more commitment toward proper animal care; but, as someone who tends to just let the dog run in the backyard, I hereby endorse James Lileks' suggestion:
The fine for not walking your dog, incidentally, is almost $600. If you were charged with such a thing, I recommend feeding high-denomination Euro notes to your dog, waiting 24 hours, then and leaving the money in a bag on the boulevard outside the city hall.
Trick and treat.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Does That 'I'...
In I. Lewis Libby's name stand for 'innocent' or 'incarcerated'?
A few observations, though...
1) In April 1999, CIA officer Valerie Wilson publicly listed (pdf file) her $1,000 contribution to Al Gore's presidential campaign under her married name, but listed herself as an employee of "Brewster-Jennings & Assoc.", where she was in fact employed covertly as "Valerie Plame", her not-so-covert maiden name.
2) As noted in this amici curiae brief (pdf), "Plame was not given 'deep cover' required of a covert agent" and a Washington Times report pointed to Plame's cover having been compromised at least twice previously. Also, MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell and former New York Times correspondent Clifford D. May suggested that Plame's status with the CIA was well-known in D.C. political circles.
3) Joe Wilson publicly identified himself as a CIA employee investigating weapons of mass destruction, his wife's area of expertise, further drawing attention to what former CIA official Fred Rustmann said was an already unraveling cover as a result of his marriage. Wilson claimed that she "was not a clandestine officer the day that Bob Novak blew her identity," but that phrasing is subject to interpretation. The Washington Times did report that she hadn't been a covert agent since 1997.
Perhaps Libby's alleged cover-up is graver than the alleged original crime.
Update: President Clinton's former counsel more-or-less tells everyone to grow up.
Update II: Heh:
This leaves two possibilities. One is that the mission was intended to result in the New York Times oped all along, meaning that the CIA didn't care much about Plame's status, and was trying to meddle in domestic politics. This reflects very badly on the CIA.
The other possibility is that they're so clueless that they did this without any nefarious plan, because they're so inept, and so prone to cronyism and nepotism, that this is just business as usual. If so, the popular theory that the CIA couldn't find its own weenie with both hands and a flashlight would appear to have found some pretty strong support.
A few observations, though...
1) In April 1999, CIA officer Valerie Wilson publicly listed (pdf file) her $1,000 contribution to Al Gore's presidential campaign under her married name, but listed herself as an employee of "Brewster-Jennings & Assoc.", where she was in fact employed covertly as "Valerie Plame", her not-so-covert maiden name.
2) As noted in this amici curiae brief (pdf), "Plame was not given 'deep cover' required of a covert agent" and a Washington Times report pointed to Plame's cover having been compromised at least twice previously. Also, MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell and former New York Times correspondent Clifford D. May suggested that Plame's status with the CIA was well-known in D.C. political circles.
3) Joe Wilson publicly identified himself as a CIA employee investigating weapons of mass destruction, his wife's area of expertise, further drawing attention to what former CIA official Fred Rustmann said was an already unraveling cover as a result of his marriage. Wilson claimed that she "was not a clandestine officer the day that Bob Novak blew her identity," but that phrasing is subject to interpretation. The Washington Times did report that she hadn't been a covert agent since 1997.
Perhaps Libby's alleged cover-up is graver than the alleged original crime.
Update: President Clinton's former counsel more-or-less tells everyone to grow up.
Update II: Heh:
This leaves two possibilities. One is that the mission was intended to result in the New York Times oped all along, meaning that the CIA didn't care much about Plame's status, and was trying to meddle in domestic politics. This reflects very badly on the CIA.
The other possibility is that they're so clueless that they did this without any nefarious plan, because they're so inept, and so prone to cronyism and nepotism, that this is just business as usual. If so, the popular theory that the CIA couldn't find its own weenie with both hands and a flashlight would appear to have found some pretty strong support.
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Can I ACT?
I took the ACT this morning. It was tougher than my last academic exam: more questions, greater complexity, and less time to respond. I found myself rushing, or trying to rush, through nearly every question. My English and reading scores are probably going to be acceptable, but I fell dangerously behind on science (usually my strongest subject), and I fear a grading massacre in mathematics (always my weakest subject).
The most uncomfortable desk in student history became my workspace for a few hours. The torture device was a construction of metal bars and hideously-colored plastic, shaped into a seat that digs into the backside and a desktop barely wide enough to hold an open Reader's Digest. Two examinees forgot to turn off their cell phones, with one in a deep slumber while his phone sounded (and sounded, and sounded). There is the possibility that I am simply making excuses here, but is it too much to ask that conditions for a standardized test be, well, standard? I was already having trouble concentrating; my glasses broke and I had to buy a fresh pair yesterday night, so my eyes are still adjusting to the new lenses. Adding numb buttocks to my testing plan is not appreciated.
My scores should arrive next month. If I receive a composite score of 21 or higher out of a possible 36, then I am all set for college; if I do not pass, I've already reserved a seat for another exam in December. So the bright side is that I am still here to screw up another day!
The most uncomfortable desk in student history became my workspace for a few hours. The torture device was a construction of metal bars and hideously-colored plastic, shaped into a seat that digs into the backside and a desktop barely wide enough to hold an open Reader's Digest. Two examinees forgot to turn off their cell phones, with one in a deep slumber while his phone sounded (and sounded, and sounded). There is the possibility that I am simply making excuses here, but is it too much to ask that conditions for a standardized test be, well, standard? I was already having trouble concentrating; my glasses broke and I had to buy a fresh pair yesterday night, so my eyes are still adjusting to the new lenses. Adding numb buttocks to my testing plan is not appreciated.
My scores should arrive next month. If I receive a composite score of 21 or higher out of a possible 36, then I am all set for college; if I do not pass, I've already reserved a seat for another exam in December. So the bright side is that I am still here to screw up another day!
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Temporary Outages And Outrages
I have an exam coming up, so blogging will be light, possibly nonexistent, till next week. Must git my self en edukayshun!
Meanwhile, a few questions to ponder...
Illustrating the right to be offended is one thing, but is making f-wad Neo-Nazis look better behaved a good way to fight the hate?
Government knows best?
Was President Bush's Iraq conference less staged than Wrestlemania?
Did you know that terrorists hate their bosses, too?
Donated toward Pakistan earthquake relief yet?
Meanwhile, a few questions to ponder...
Illustrating the right to be offended is one thing, but is making f-wad Neo-Nazis look better behaved a good way to fight the hate?
Government knows best?
Was President Bush's Iraq conference less staged than Wrestlemania?
Did you know that terrorists hate their bosses, too?
Donated toward Pakistan earthquake relief yet?
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
What Would Aslan Do?
Frank Cerabino bashes part of an effort to get children to read because the classic literature in question has Christian parallels, and one of the movie makers donated to the Republican party:
When you can combine the forces of Disney, the McDonald's Happy Meal and Gov. Jeb Bush in one tidy package — all of them working together to cram thinly veiled Christian theology down the gullets of Florida's schoolchildren — you've got yourself a hell of a plan.
Please. Prof. Lewis, author of the The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, would be most displeased...
"Some people seem to think that I began by asking myself how I could say something about Christianity to children; then fixed on the fairy tale as an instrument; then collected information about child-psychology and decided what age group I'd write for; then drew up a list of basic Christian truths and hammered out 'allegories' to embody them. This is all pure moonshine. I couldn't write in that way at all. Everything began with images; a faun carrying an umbrella, a queen on a sledge, a magnificent lion. At first there wasn't even anything Christian about them; that element pushed itself in of its own accord."
J.R.R. Tolkien wrote his famed books much the same way. I suppose they ought to be banned as well, since Tolkien stated, "The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Christian work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously so in the revision."
From a letter Lewis wrote in 1951:
"I am glad you all liked The Lion. A number of mothers, and still more, schoolmistresses, have decided that it is likely to frighten children, so it is not selling very well. But the real children like it, and I am astonished how some very young ones seem to understand it. I think it frightens some adults, but v. few children."
It still frightens some adults.
When you can combine the forces of Disney, the McDonald's Happy Meal and Gov. Jeb Bush in one tidy package — all of them working together to cram thinly veiled Christian theology down the gullets of Florida's schoolchildren — you've got yourself a hell of a plan.
Please. Prof. Lewis, author of the The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, would be most displeased...
"Some people seem to think that I began by asking myself how I could say something about Christianity to children; then fixed on the fairy tale as an instrument; then collected information about child-psychology and decided what age group I'd write for; then drew up a list of basic Christian truths and hammered out 'allegories' to embody them. This is all pure moonshine. I couldn't write in that way at all. Everything began with images; a faun carrying an umbrella, a queen on a sledge, a magnificent lion. At first there wasn't even anything Christian about them; that element pushed itself in of its own accord."
J.R.R. Tolkien wrote his famed books much the same way. I suppose they ought to be banned as well, since Tolkien stated, "The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Christian work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously so in the revision."
From a letter Lewis wrote in 1951:
"I am glad you all liked The Lion. A number of mothers, and still more, schoolmistresses, have decided that it is likely to frighten children, so it is not selling very well. But the real children like it, and I am astonished how some very young ones seem to understand it. I think it frightens some adults, but v. few children."
It still frightens some adults.
Auf Wiedersehen
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, that country's most responsible and skillful leader since a certain Austrian held that job over six decades ago, concedes that he is a loser, but not without taking the opportunity to be a sore one...
"I do not want to name any catastrophes where you can see what happens if organised state action is absent. I could name countries, but the position I still hold forbids it, but everyone knows I mean America," he said to loud applause.
When did Louisiana become just 'America'? Good thing he made an effort at clarification, though, or I would have thought he was referring to Germany's large-scale unemployment, regressive socialist policies, and worse-than-Katrina disaster death toll.
I liked him better when he played piano.
"I do not want to name any catastrophes where you can see what happens if organised state action is absent. I could name countries, but the position I still hold forbids it, but everyone knows I mean America," he said to loud applause.
When did Louisiana become just 'America'? Good thing he made an effort at clarification, though, or I would have thought he was referring to Germany's large-scale unemployment, regressive socialist policies, and worse-than-Katrina disaster death toll.
I liked him better when he played piano.
Monday, October 10, 2005
If You Don't Want To Stereotype, Type With One Hand
Live Science reports on a National Institute of Aging study showing that stereotypes are incorrect. The study found, for example, that Germans are not more efficient (as German elections occasionally remind us), and that Czechs are actually caring people (see the Czech Republic's involvement in Iraq as evidence, such as this good news). Americans and Canadians scored almost identically on aggression in the study, which no doubt comes as a surprise to an almost identical number of both Americans and Canadians.
Stereotyping is a dangerous act of laziness. Lumping people together cuts down on thinking on a case-by-case basis. Fortunately, stereotypes are prime targets: Monty Python, South Park, Blazing Saddles, etc., would be rather unfunny without them.
And now for something completely different...
Stereotyping is a dangerous act of laziness. Lumping people together cuts down on thinking on a case-by-case basis. Fortunately, stereotypes are prime targets: Monty Python, South Park, Blazing Saddles, etc., would be rather unfunny without them.
And now for something completely different...
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Alas, Poor Piglet
I wonder if my review of the Piglet's Big Movie soundtrack makes me a target for Muslim extremists? I ask, because there appears to be a load of Pooh in the U.K. concerning make-believe pigs. (via Instapundit)
Update: First, I read about Piglet's forced exile. Later, I see Thomas the Tank Engine in depictions of the London bombings. Now, the United Nations Children's Fraud is massacring Smurfs.
Is the international community trying to destroy my childhood?!
This sounds like a job for robots in disguise, heroes in a half-shell, or, more likely, well-armed, anti-fascist Americans.
Update: First, I read about Piglet's forced exile. Later, I see Thomas the Tank Engine in depictions of the London bombings. Now, the United Nations Children's Fraud is massacring Smurfs.
Is the international community trying to destroy my childhood?!
This sounds like a job for robots in disguise, heroes in a half-shell, or, more likely, well-armed, anti-fascist Americans.
Sunday, October 02, 2005
After Katrina, Rita
Continued from an earlier post.
Please note that most of the charities on Instapundit's list of Katrina relief programs now include Rita relief.
As usual, the media's self-satisfied posturing [edit: link corrected] outpaced the media's actual position. From coaching commentators to "get angry", to failing to fact-check, to calling for a socialist revolution, the press did a good job of misinforming the public (with the aid of certain personalities) and putting lives at greater risk. British Prime Minister Tony Blair allegedly noticed this spreading in the U.K. Among the exceptions, Nicholas Lemann wrote a must-read reflection on the good and the bad of New Orleans, Paul Recer challenged the environmentalist takeover of Hurricane Katrina, and Rondi Adamson dared to debunk critics in one fell swoop.
This post from August 31 is a reminder that undue finger-pointing over the Katrina response began almost immediately. I suggest that blaming the Democrats who slammed disaster preparedness is equally undue. Individuals themselves, not some political entity, are most responsible for their lives. Why not simply blame the hurricane that was outside human control (unless we are writing about the Japanese mafia), as well as specific failures of humans--including, but not limited to, government officials--to react accordingly (unless, "It's called a disaster because it overwhelms our ability to respond"). We can debate what qualifies as a specific failure (I think of this, this, this, this, and this) and where accountability lies for that error, but it is rare for any one person, party, community, or institution to have a monopoly on mistakes. The persistent squabbling seems increasingly out of touch with reality, especially after revelations that the federal response was atypically swift (and superior to, say, another's grasp of how to cope with a heat wave), the smoother response to Hurricane Rita, and the president further establishing himself as wanting to help the poverty-stricken.
Jeff Goldstein wrote, "I just want SOMEBODY to point out FEMA’s actual failures instead of using a disputed resume blemishes and a lot of showy handwringing to suggest Brown’s failures," in response to an "understanding" of FEMA's role. My own understanding centers the reasoning behind federalism. A case can be made for centralized government. After all, it is theoretically easier to repair when in error because it is only one bureaucracy, the federal government has more resources to deal with large-scale events, and opportunism by local authorities would be a thing of the past. On the other hand, having such a bureaucracy may very well make matters worse, because centralization too often does nothing more than exacerbate confusions and divisions by attempting to force them together (think: Soviet Union), and a case can be made for having other sovereign institutions when a government falters. It also requires removing many of the checks-and-balances that are in place to keep government honest, such as the Posse Comitatus Act and our having, in Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu's words, "a democracy and a citizenship that has elected mayors, county commissioners and governors..." (My suggestion is that the U.S. should create an emergency & peacekeeping organization specifically for circumstance in America and abroad where military-style precision is required, but an actual military is not.) Another asset is that people have more of their own funds to donate to worthy charities: Americans delivered, and showed their strength. So is the problem "small government" federalism? I am unconvinced.
Update: He did not have to give, but he did anyway:
The anonymous donor turned up at a U.S. diplomatic office and presented an envelope with 1,000 euros (about $1,245) for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
It was a way of repaying a debt to the United States for being liberated by American soldiers from a concentration camp and treated more than 60 years ago, Sean McCormack, the State Department spokesman, said Wednesday in relating the incident.
Update II: Animal rescues.
Please note that most of the charities on Instapundit's list of Katrina relief programs now include Rita relief.
As usual, the media's self-satisfied posturing [edit: link corrected] outpaced the media's actual position. From coaching commentators to "get angry", to failing to fact-check, to calling for a socialist revolution, the press did a good job of misinforming the public (with the aid of certain personalities) and putting lives at greater risk. British Prime Minister Tony Blair allegedly noticed this spreading in the U.K. Among the exceptions, Nicholas Lemann wrote a must-read reflection on the good and the bad of New Orleans, Paul Recer challenged the environmentalist takeover of Hurricane Katrina, and Rondi Adamson dared to debunk critics in one fell swoop.
This post from August 31 is a reminder that undue finger-pointing over the Katrina response began almost immediately. I suggest that blaming the Democrats who slammed disaster preparedness is equally undue. Individuals themselves, not some political entity, are most responsible for their lives. Why not simply blame the hurricane that was outside human control (unless we are writing about the Japanese mafia), as well as specific failures of humans--including, but not limited to, government officials--to react accordingly (unless, "It's called a disaster because it overwhelms our ability to respond"). We can debate what qualifies as a specific failure (I think of this, this, this, this, and this) and where accountability lies for that error, but it is rare for any one person, party, community, or institution to have a monopoly on mistakes. The persistent squabbling seems increasingly out of touch with reality, especially after revelations that the federal response was atypically swift (and superior to, say, another's grasp of how to cope with a heat wave), the smoother response to Hurricane Rita, and the president further establishing himself as wanting to help the poverty-stricken.
Jeff Goldstein wrote, "I just want SOMEBODY to point out FEMA’s actual failures instead of using a disputed resume blemishes and a lot of showy handwringing to suggest Brown’s failures," in response to an "understanding" of FEMA's role. My own understanding centers the reasoning behind federalism. A case can be made for centralized government. After all, it is theoretically easier to repair when in error because it is only one bureaucracy, the federal government has more resources to deal with large-scale events, and opportunism by local authorities would be a thing of the past. On the other hand, having such a bureaucracy may very well make matters worse, because centralization too often does nothing more than exacerbate confusions and divisions by attempting to force them together (think: Soviet Union), and a case can be made for having other sovereign institutions when a government falters. It also requires removing many of the checks-and-balances that are in place to keep government honest, such as the Posse Comitatus Act and our having, in Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu's words, "a democracy and a citizenship that has elected mayors, county commissioners and governors..." (My suggestion is that the U.S. should create an emergency & peacekeeping organization specifically for circumstance in America and abroad where military-style precision is required, but an actual military is not.) Another asset is that people have more of their own funds to donate to worthy charities: Americans delivered, and showed their strength. So is the problem "small government" federalism? I am unconvinced.
Update: He did not have to give, but he did anyway:
The anonymous donor turned up at a U.S. diplomatic office and presented an envelope with 1,000 euros (about $1,245) for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
It was a way of repaying a debt to the United States for being liberated by American soldiers from a concentration camp and treated more than 60 years ago, Sean McCormack, the State Department spokesman, said Wednesday in relating the incident.
Update II: Animal rescues.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Not-So-Weekly Roundup
How could anti-U.S. sentiment be on the rise in China after the United States has done so much to help the country (sometimes unwittingly)? A clue: "An American college student in Beijing recently read a Chinese textbook stating that Martin Luther King Jr. never had the sympathy or help of white Americans, and that blacks in the south are hated by whites. 'It wasn't even entirely true in the 1950s civil rights movement period,' commented the student, who hails from Atlanta, Ga." The piece goes on to observe some liberalization of views (specifically the change from an outright damning perception of the Iraq intervention to a damning-with-faint-praise view), but China's rise in global power may have an accompanying rise in anti-American paranoia.
Airbus is bringing death-defying adventure back to transcontinental voyages!
Do you have low self-esteem? Maybe you're not so bad.
March of the Penguins has backing from the Religious Right. I wonder, do they know about penguin same-sex marriages in Bremen, or the divorced couple in New York City?
BBC states the obvious: People are booming in Gaza.
Dean's World states the obvious: "For a country that's on the verge of collapse, we seem to be doing pretty well."
Some folks think we would do better if we repealed the Seventeenth Amendment.
A comet started the Chicago Fire? That is unlikely.
On another spacey note, the 10th planet has a celestial companion.
Color perception.
Animal lovers should note that National Geographic is engaging in warthog profiteering.
Airbus is bringing death-defying adventure back to transcontinental voyages!
Do you have low self-esteem? Maybe you're not so bad.
March of the Penguins has backing from the Religious Right. I wonder, do they know about penguin same-sex marriages in Bremen, or the divorced couple in New York City?
BBC states the obvious: People are booming in Gaza.
Dean's World states the obvious: "For a country that's on the verge of collapse, we seem to be doing pretty well."
Some folks think we would do better if we repealed the Seventeenth Amendment.
A comet started the Chicago Fire? That is unlikely.
On another spacey note, the 10th planet has a celestial companion.
Color perception.
Animal lovers should note that National Geographic is engaging in warthog profiteering.
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