I won’t say there’s less happening in the world at large.
I will, however, distract you with a link to mp3s from Abbie Hoffman’s 1969 album, Wake Up America!
Let me tell you about my great enormous backlog of links
Going all the way back to mid-February, WorldPress Review carried an interesting story about the US Military’s recruitment schemes, both historical and contemporary.
And did you hear about the starquake? Oh. You did.
Well, did you hear that women are “less likely to get quality heart attack care,” or that cancer-stricken rats live longer if they’re curious, or that a new law in China will require power grid operators to purchase as much renewable energy as possible?
Tackling the very large subject area of Things That Do Not Make Sense, NewScientist picked 13 and wrote up an article on them; the result is quite interesting. Curiously, the list is heavily weighted in favor of spacebourne phenomena like dark matter and the Kuiper cliff.
In a turn of events that does not bode well for the success of Yucca Mountain (you know–the whole radioactive waste storage thing), the Energy Department made a series of dubious choices in preparing to get all its ducks in a row, certification-wise. Like, e.g., used instruments without bothering to calibrate them; and certified instruments prior to their calibration (and before being received).
In other, arguably more positive environmental news, Grist Magazine has a Q&A with author/activist/scientist oil-spill expert Riki Ott (whose book is Sound Truth and Corporate Myth$: The Legacy of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, which ought to be read by all).
And researchers in Ohio make the claim that man-made wetlands do just as well as natural ones in filtering and cleaning water. I’m slightly dubious of the claim, but I’d be a lot more dubious if one of the researchers (William Mitsch) weren’t the author of a wetlands textbook (he is), what textbook I’ve in fact used for a wetlands class in the past.
For those of you with an itch to learn about Daylight Saving Time, the California Energy Commission has a fairly comprehensive backgrounder.
Posted by Ben on April 14, 2005
https://www.swordbilled.com/let-me-tell-you-about-my-great-enormous-backlog-of-links/
Strange and Good
- Rasterbate this. Using the wonders of modern technology, the Rasterbator takes any image you feed it and turns it into a massive, massive poster that you can print out on your standard printer. To date, it’s rasterized enough images to cover 2.39% of Vatican City. (via WFMU’s Beware of the Blog)
- Build your own. Read all about the guillotine at The Guillotine Headquarters.
- Holy Mole-y. The star-nosed mole is apparently the most voracious mammal known to humankind. It may be tiny, but it can stuff down ten mouthfuls of earthworm in 2.3 seconds. By comparison, all other mammals require at least one second to devour a mouthful of food. (NYT: “Underground Gourmet: Mole Sets a Speed Record”)
- Chicago in your pocket. Postcards you can craft into Chicagoan landmarks. (via MeFi)
- Needs improvement. Bush scores a C on this year’s “Presidential Human Rights Performance Report Card.” While the card, issued by the Center on Democratic Performance, is only in its second year, previous presidents’ performances are used as a means of comparison.
Posted by Ben on April 2, 2005
https://www.swordbilled.com/strange-and-good/
Slow and steady steals the house
Working in broad daylight, waving at passing motorists, two men slowly dismantled a three-bedroom brick house in order to sell it for drug money.
(AP: “Thieves make off with three-bedroom brick house” [March 23, 2005])
Posted by Ben on March 27, 2005
https://www.swordbilled.com/slow-and-steady-steals-the-house/
History of the thingamajig
Wikipedia has an entire entry dedicated to kadigans (which are more reasonably referred to as “placeholder names.”). An entire entry, in other words, dedicated to the doodad, the whatchamacallit, and East Jesus, USA.
(via The Morning News)
Posted by Ben on March 27, 2005
https://www.swordbilled.com/history-of-the-thingamajig/
Rats, of course, have limitations
But they can, through a strict training regimen, learn to distinguish one language from another. Dutch from Japanese, for instance.
(NYT: “Is It Dutch? Japanese? Why Not Ask the Rat?” by Nicholas Bakalar [Jan 11, 2005])
Posted by Ben on March 27, 2005
https://www.swordbilled.com/rats-of-course-have-limitations/
Do you know how to file a FOIA request?
No, I didn’t think so. Neither do I. The First Amendment Center has answers, with information on most anything you could want to know about the Freedom of Information Act.
(via MeFi)
Posted by Ben on March 20, 2005
https://www.swordbilled.com/do-you-know-how-to-file-a-foia-request/
Around the world in 80 languages
Watching America collects (and, by the looks of things, translates) articles from publications based in different countries around the world, the focus of these articles being America.
Seems similar to World Press Review, if somewhat less professional.
Posted by Ben on March 16, 2005
https://www.swordbilled.com/around-the-world-in-80-languages/
Il Dottore
Il Dottore
by Ron Felber
First things first: as an account of a true story, Il Dottore is fascinating. And it’s obvious that author Ron Felber had a blast writing it. (Seriously, though—who wouldn’t?)
But whereas Il Dottore makes gains based on the inherently fascinating story of mob connections, double lives, and what-have-you, it takes those gains and fritters them away in the area of the writing itself. If it were a rough draft, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. As a “finished copy,” it sucks.
(Also in the vein of considering Il Dottore as a rough draft, I noticed a higher-than-average incidence of typos. Sure, there’s the possibility that I was primed to be on alert based on my opinion of the book. But there’s also the possibility that Il Dottore could have used a few more edits.)
As is, Felber manages to take a true story and make it seem phony. Unless of course it’s not a true story and he’s just pulling our collective leg, which—who’s gonna know? Take a “true” story involving mob figures (many of whom are now dead), anonymous characters (including the title Dottore), and hearsay, and who can possibly know how much is invented, exaggerated, etc.? All this is wanton speculation, however, and not particularly relvant. The bottom line is: Il Dottore is mostly great, if you can ignore the writing. The ending is nice, in a testament to the “Good Guys Don’t Always Finish Last” adage, but it feels a little phony. Dramatic license? Who knows.
A fun, quick read, but definitely not one to put on your “100 books to read before I die” list.
Posted by Ben on March 16, 2005
https://www.swordbilled.com/il-dottore/
When they who can cook, don’t
Where do famous chefs eat when they don’t feel like cooking? The answers here:
Mr. Keller says he used to have a weakness for Burger King’s Whopper with extra cheese and French fries, but now that he lives in California, he has switched his allegiance to the cheeseburgers at In-N-Out Burger, with French fries and a milkshake. He also favors Krispy Kreme doughnuts. “I like pretty much all junk food,” he said.
Posted by Ben on March 16, 2005
https://www.swordbilled.com/when-they-who-can-cook-dont/