Money well spent?

There are reasons why Americans don't trust the government to spend money wisely. From the Colorado Springs Gazette via News of the Weird.

Gamblers' Shuttle Gets Terrorism Funds
Colorado Springs-based Ramblin Express, which shuttles gamblers to mountain-town casinos, including Cripple Creek, has received $382,000 in anti-terrorism grants.

The most recent grant, for $184,415, was announced this month as part of the Department of Homeland Security's $844 million Infrastructure Protection Activities program.

Ramblin Express' grant is among the $11.2 million allocated to the Intercity Bus Security Grant Program, which is intended to assess risks and prevent attacks on that part of the nation's transportation system. Rest of story.

Smart-mouth bunny

This is so mean. It makes me laugh out loud.

What now?

WPP Settles on Name for Dell Shop: Synarchy Worldwide
Finally Finds Moniker for 'Project DaVinci' but Still Needs CEO
By Rupal Parekh and Matthew Creamer

Published: May 14, 2008

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The new WPP Group agency designed to handle Dell's marketing-services business is expected to be named Synarchy Worldwide, a reference to a utopian political system coined in the 18th century.

Synarchy looks a lot like snarky to me.

Oh the noise!

It's week two of the re-roofing here at work. After a hellishly loud day one (vacuuming rocks off the roof), the noise was quite bearable. Today there is a machine outside my window that is pumping tar onto the roof. It's loud and smelly.

Underpants for peace

This is the best nonviolent protest. Ever.

Going deaf

Our office building is getting a new roof. The equipment -- some kind of big semi-truck kind of thing -- is right outside my window. It is so loud. You can feel the vibration in your skull and rib cage.

I have my iPod cranked to drown out some of the noise. I will likely lose part of my hearing.

Another reason not to eat beef

Human Head Found In Hamburger


Also from The Onion, a cynical, yet frighteningly truthful, take on the 2008 elections.

Polish language progress

I'm getting a little used to the Polish pronunciations. They are quite different than what I know but the words are really fun to say. The spelling, however, freaks me out. In the same way math freaks me out. So far I have to practice the pronunciations without looking at the words or I freeze up.

A few things I've learned:

• Dzień dobry (good day; jane DOUGHB reh)
• Jak sie masz? (how are you; yaak sheh maash)
• Dziękuję (thank you; jane COO yeh)
• Proszę (please; PROH sha)
• Przepraszam (excuse me; sheh PRASH ahm)

You can listen to pronunciations of these and other basic phrases here.

Nice reading comprehension

I was in a store in the card aisle. Among the various types of cards, “birthdays” “graduation” etc., there is a section called “milestones.” When I first saw it I thought it said “mistresses.”

This and that

Randomness from today:

• Saw this sign: Sample "sock" sale


• Heard this in the audio of Master and Commander: "A ham that could only have come from a hog with a long-borne, crippling disease."


• My new wood blinds went up yesterday. They are lovely!


• Beginning Polish class starts tonight. Hooray!


• Bryan Ferry's CD of Bob Dylan covers, Dylanesque, is very good.


• The sun is out! The sun is out! The sun is out!
  

Made me laugh

I went on Comedy Central to find something. At the top of the page it said, "You are so not logged in." It made me laugh.

Not so springy

It is snowing outside. It's April 10 and it's snowing.

Musings on prophets

It's been a week of death remembrances. Last Friday, April 4, was the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination. 63 years ago today Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed. Both were 39 when they were murdered. Both pushed their fellow human beings, often their fellow Christians, to higher standards yet knew that they, too, were flawed.

It was messages like the below that got both into trouble. Bonhoeffer -- fighting for peace, human rights and the overthrow of Hitler; King -- fighting first for civil rights and then to eliminate poverty and end the Vietnam war. We love the prophets when they're speaking truth to others. When they speak truth to us we kill them.

Christianity stands or falls with its revolutionary protest against violence, arbitrariness and pride of power and with its plea for the weak. Christians are doing too little to make these points clear rather than too much. Christendom adjusts itself far too easily to the worship of power. Christians should give more offense, shock the world far more, than they are doing now. Christian should take a stronger stand in favor of the weak rather than considering first the possible right of the strong.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, from a sermon on II Cor. 12:9

Product recall

Do you have any pot pies at home? You need to listen to this.


Hungry FDA Official Orders Massive Pot Pie Recall

Coolicious!

Idealist is like candy! Designers post things like this dog bone phone . You can vote "yes" or "no." I want this phone. Mostly because the ad has a Sophie dog.

Via Technomarketer on Twitter.

Substitute "Sophie" and it's right on

I hope this Mutts comic will be available as a print. Substitute "Sophie" and it's exactly how I feel.

Subscribe to get your free daily dose of sweetness via e-mail.

Tears of joy, Wayans is back

I've been mourning the loss of In Living Color since it stopped running in the mid '90s. It was the funniest show on television, past or present. Period. You'd laugh while feeling like you were a really bad person by laughing and then laugh harder.

Ad Age ran a story on Damon Wayans' new site, Way Out TV. Ah, the return of the biting, no-one-is-safe humor. Brilliant!

Warning: the sketches may offend.

:`)
blotting my tears of joy

Where did this put-down come from?

I really like using the put-down, "commie pinko spy." Although it has much less oomph than in the past. Any idea where it comes from? I checked Wikipedia and Google. Nada, nichts, zip.

Groovy bandages

You can buy these on Fred Flare. I love them.

I knew it!

From this week's The Onion.

Study: 93% Of People Talked About Once They Leave Room

LOGAN, UT—According to an alarming new study published Monday in the American Journal Of Sociology, the vast majority of Americans are critically discussed after leaving a room occupied by two or more additional people.

The groundbreaking research contradicts decades of previous inquiries into the area, including dozens of informal surveys in which respondents adamantly denied ever having talked behind others' backs. More

Ah, passive aggressiveness. Such fun. I swear, Minnesota has got to be passive aggressive capital of the world.