So when I opened CNN this morning, I noticed that Michael Jackson had trumped Iran in the media spotlight, in that each set of articles had a separate heading apart from the other headlines, but MJ’s waon top.  Reading through the Iran section, I learned that Ahmadinejad is accusing the CIA of killing Neda.  He argues that it was almost too convenient that this beautiful, peaceful young woman should die so violently just when the cameras were there to catch every agonizing moment.  This played so nicely into the hands of the anti-govenment protesters, creating an instant martyr and symbol, that it must have been staged…and what nefarious, anti-Iranian group would be more likely to pull such a stunt than the CIA?

“Well,” I though, looking back at the headline, “isn’t it also quite convenient (this time for the Iranian govenmen) that another big story should come along this week to distract the media from brutality being inflicted on the pro-Mousavi crowds…”  Almost too convenient?

It was in that moment that I realized it: Michael Jackson was killed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad!

I don’t know what this facebook thing is the kids keep talking about, but I do know that this sounds like the best proposal ever, and I don’t see why the author is complaining about it.

Politicians, the media, and other public officials frequently try to use language to deceive the public. For example, a politician caught having an affair has an “error in judgment”. Torture is a “stress position” and a plane crash is called a “water landing” by the flight attendants. With all of the Michael Jackson coverage lately, everyone has decided to go with the line that Michael Jackson was “troubled”. In the name of equal time, I would like to point out that Michael Jackson raped small children! You may now go back to mourning this “troubled icon of American music”.

Don’t ask how I found it, but I stumbled across a short story entitled “The Philadelphia Flyers have a time machine“. In it you see the true story of David and Goliath. Awesome. (There are also installments two, three, and four which I haven’t read yet).

Hippy Car 03

Originally uploaded by Phayte

We have a winner in the “most liberal car” contest (and I’ll bet you didn’t even know there was such a contest). You can also see the back and other side for more bumper stickers.

In the name of equal time, I also present the winner of the most conservative car contest (which was of course won by a truck, but you probably expected that already).

Rick Reilly is one of the better sports columnists there is. Now that he’s writing short pieces for ESPN, he lets his sense of humor show in his recounting of various semi-random tidbits. Recently he volunteered with a habitat for humanity project and had the following to say about a conversation he had with the foreman of the construction site:

The best part, though, was when I asked the foreman what the dumbest thing one of his volunteers had done on site.

He recalled: “Had to be the woman who came up to me and said, ‘Gosh, your Port-O-Potties are so nice. They even have little purse holders on the side!’” He couldn’t bear to tell her what the purse holder actually was.

A urinal.

Gone are the days when proposing on the jumbotron at a baseball game was considered a big deal - it has gone the way of the airplane pulling a “marry me” banner. Instead we now have things which are bigger, better, more public, and far more complex. One man painted a highway exit ramp so that it would appear on google maps. He had to coordinate the next satellite image acquisition with when there would be light enough traffic for him to paint the ramp without getting hit by a car. Then wait for his love to happen upon the image. Now that takes some coordination.

Wired has a list of 10 ways to provoke a geek argument and 10 more ways to provoke a geek argument. Matt Blum (the author) is good. I nearly started a flame war just reading them. My three favorites:

1. “I don’t see what’s so bad about DRM!”
2. “Internet Explorer is much better than Firefox—why else would it be the most popular browser?”
3. “If open-source software was really that great, they’d charge for it.”

The problem of course, is that there are people who have said all three of those things.

Best craigslist post ever.

My son is turning 16 and really wanted Lil Wayne to perform for his birthday gala. Unfortunately his schedule will not permit him to make it. I need a Lil Wayne impersonator desperately.

Here is the kicker my son is blind so you do not need to look like the rapper just sound like him. I understand he grunts and mumbles a lot. I don’t care if you are 67 and Jewish if you can sing the songs you’re hired. Money is not an issue. Name your price. Interested individuals please let me know your rap experience, video of you performing as Lil Wayne would be better. If that is not feasible we can arrange for a live audition.

Serious inquiries only, this is very important to my family. Young Money Baby!

• Location: DC-MD-VA
• it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
• Compensation: Negotiable

PostingID: 1218083689

While channel surfing Rebecca and I came across a “show” on CSN that showed an animated man getting hit repeatedly in the testicles with a baseball, interspersed with pictures of baseball players doubled over in pain. Needless to say, we stopped channel surfing. It turns out it’s a show called sports science, and they were showing off a new type of athletic cup. It included videos showing how a baseball hitting a groin with several thousand pounds of force distributed the impact, what it could do to the testicles (tastefully displayed as two tiny green spheres), and how their new product would distribute the force differently into the pelvic bone. The new product was called - (wait for it) - the nutty buddy. They even had a demo showing the inventor shot in the groin with a baseball. You can see him on another morning show here providing a live demo in the street, and explaining the difference between the models know as the Mongo, the Hog, the Boss, and the Hammer.

Photo_060709_003.jpg

Originally uploaded by bachrach44

Today was the annual DuPont-Kalorama Museum walk, where a few local museum are open for free and they have shuttles running between the museums. It’s odd that even after living here for so many years, I sill haven’t visited most of the places on the list. (In fact, a few I didn’t even know existed). We decided to go to Dumbarton House since it’s right down the block from us. The house isn’t really that interesting - it’s a lot like the dozens of other historic houses you’ve seen that have been restored to look as they did hundreds of years ago, and there all sorts of plaques telling you how Joseph Nourse could have slept in a bed just like this one here! (Wow - Joseph Nourse - this is real celebrity here!).

Down in the basement though, they had something called costume family days. Although Aliza was still too young to appreciate being put in 18th century clothes, Rebecca and I were not. Yes, that’s right, dressed up my daughter in ridiculous clothes for my own enjoyment. I’m also thinking ahead - when she’s a surly teenager, I can threaten to show these pictures to her friends.

I started playing around with the MS Windows 7 beta. Since my Vista experience only lasted for about 10 minutes (and it was about 10 minutes too long at that), some of the new vista-like features took me by surprise (mainly it’s complete and utter lack of file organization or respect for a file system). The first that that noticed though was the new and improved look and feel. It looks a lot like…… KDE? Seriously, can I be the only one to notice that Windows 7 looks a lot more like KDE?

Windows 7

KDE 3.2