Who Do You Trust With the Bailout?

The Dark Bailout

Wish I had thought of this one!

Prime mortage, prime rib, prime numbers....

Get a couple of computers, at lot of people at UCLA with too much time on their hands, and wola!...Come up with the longest biggest prime number. From Fox News; it is a 13 million digit prime number which now becomes the 46th Mersenne prime (named from a French mathematician Marine Mersenne). Prime numbers are only divisible by 1. Read about it here http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,429201,00.html. I'll have to jot it down myself. It may come in handy some day.

I gotta get me one of these....

http://www.defensetech.org/archives/004440.html

there would be no excuse for not bagging a deer during hunting season.

Bonus Video - Brewers almost in the playoffs

In honor of the big win tonight against the Cubs, and the fact the brewers are a Win (and Mets loss) away from the playoffs for the first time in 26 long years, please enjoy a little Brewers Love:

Friday Night's Lost Video

In 1988, Kieth Richards, guitarist extraordinaire put out a solo album with a back up band called The Xpensive Winos. The song is called "Take It So Hard" and features Keith on Lead Vocals. Who know Keith could sing ( sort of)........ Enjoy!

"Fusion Man" Makes Historic Channel Flight

LONDON (Reuters) - Swiss airline pilot Yves Rossy became the first person to fly between France and England on Friday with a jetpack strapped to his back.


Cool! I want one of those for short trips around town...

OPEN BLOG - HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!!!!

Well gang, we've made it to Friday, yeah!!!!
What's on your mind today??

A couple of things . . .

There's a new section on the upper left sidebar of our page entitled 'Features.' It contains links to the most recent posts in some of the blogs that appear regularly here. If you'd like to post a regular blog and have it listed in Features, email me at: thesheriff@jtirregulars.com Also, if you already do one, please consider emailing me when you post your latest blog so that I can update the link as soon as possible.

At the bottom of the Features links is JTI CHAT. Some interest was expressed at the picnic about the previous Talkinator feature. There were problems with its size, though, and placement. We've decided to try it out on its own page. Right now, it's as big as it gets (500 pixels x 500 pixels) before it starts to distort. Let us know how you like it.

Finally, just below the West Racine weather on the sidebar, there is a new link to the Fall Color Report for Wisconsin. Drewzepmeister originally provided that link in a comment.

OK, that was more than a couple of things. That was three things.

And that made it four.

Going Up North

Going up North this weekend,to visit my family and get away from the insanity of the city. Out there in the boondocks,I'm going to do some fishing with my boy,go 4 wheelin' in the woods with our ATV's ,and maybe get some fall pictures.
So where does everybody when go when they want to getaway? Any vacation mermories?

The Quick Edit Pencil Icons Are Back

Previous blog here: http://www.jtirregulars.com/2008/09/where-are-quick-edit-links.html

We tried every fix that blogspot offered to restore the quick edit links, but nothing worked. We even posted a query on the Google Groups site. Still nothing.

Then, this morning, almost three days (the "transition period") to the minute after changing our URL address, they reappeared.

Thank you, o mighty gods of Google!

Day 4 Chuckle

Hypnotist at the Senior Center

It was entertainment night at the Senior Center. Claude the hypnotist announced, 'I'm here to put you into a trance; I intend to hypnotize each and every member of the audience.'The excitement was almost electric as Claude withdrew a beautiful antique pocket watch from his coat. 'I want you each to keep your eyes on this antique watch. It's a very special watch. It's been in my family for six generations.'

He began to swing the watch gently back and forth while quietly chanting: 'Watch the watch, watch the watch, watch the watch...'

The crowd became mesmerized as the watch swayed back and forth, light gleaming off its polished surface. Hundreds of pairs of eyes followed the swaying watch, until, suddenly, it slipped from the hypnotist's finger and fell to the floor, shattering into a hundred pieces.; 'SHIT!' exclaimed the hypnotist.

It took three days to clean up the Senior Center.

Brooklyn Man Dies After Police Use a Taser Gun

"A naked and apparently emotionally disturbed man fell to his death from a building ledge in Brooklyn on Wednesday after an officer shot him with a Taser stun gun, the police said."

I dunno. Seems kind of cold to Taser him knowing that there's concrete ten feet below, but I'm not a cop and I wasn't there. Maybe the lesson is: don't threaten police with a fluorescent light tube.

While naked.

And climbing a fire escape.

Downtown Racine to be on TV

Charkes Gibson bringing World News broadcast here

All Residents of Beckerville (aka Downtown) Ordered on Best Behavior

"Put on your Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes," people urged.

Regular Racine Residents Warned: Stay Away!

"We don't want the world's perception of Racine to be distorted by the reality of the city," said one local government official, "so we're asking that the poor, the unemployed, the criminal, and all the other undesirables find somewhere else to go on October 9. Is that too much to ask?"

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello everyone! It’s time for our weekly wander through the realm of the unknown.

Our first question today comes from SER, who wrote: “I want to plan a trip...
What are the winning numbers going to be for Wednesday night’s Megabucks drawing?”

Dear Mr. SER: Of course, if I publish the winning numbers here, everyone who reads this will play them and there will be thousands of winners. Then you will maybe win a couple of dollars.

So, for security’s sake, I have sent the winning numbers to you telepathically. By now you should have received them and purchased your ticket. Congratulations, enjoy your trip, and please don’t forget my 15% gratuity.

Next, is a comment, I think, from a person, I think, who goes by the name ‘Karl Is Mad’:

Bom bom bom
I illiterate your fate with the back of my hand
and I'm crazy like a hound dog
no wait it's too late
I open heaven and then get shot down at the gate
and I have a gat
blat blat blat
I'm V-dub McLub with a ace o' club
skat skat skat skeet
wut up i have souls on my fiz-eet.
neat

Dear Mr. Karl Is Mad: Thank you for your interest in JT Irregulars.

Next is this from ‘Worried on Williams Street’: “Dear Madame Zoltar, I am very concerned about our economy. It seems like there is complete chaos on Wall Street and I don’t trust our government to do the right thing. (You know, the two biggest lies are ‘The check is in the mail,’ and ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help you.’) I’ve worked hard all my life for what I have and now I’m afraid it will disappear down a fiscal black hole. What do you suggest?”

Dear Worried: Are you old enough to remember the Marshall Plan? After World War II, we rebuilt the infrastructures and economies of our vanquished foes. Well, I think it’s pretty obvious that today we’ve lost the new war called Global Economy 101. I suggest that we surrender immediately and apply for aid from our conquerors. I also suggest taking some language classes in Arabic and/or Japanese. 幸運 !

[Confidential to Scandalized in City Hall: Slipping Antabuse into his coffee is probably illegal. Besides, I kind of look forward to watching him make an ass of himself at Party on the Pavement.]

That’s this week’s blog, my friends. I hope you enjoyed it. Please remember to keep those questions and comments coming to: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com

I hope you all have a very pleasant week and don’t forget, Madame Zoltar is watching over you. Au revoir!

How to Peel an Egg

This is too crazy; I may need to boil some eggs just to try it...

Instructions:

1. Cover the eggs with water and boil on low for about 12 minutes
2. Cool the eggs by placing them in cold water with 1 teaspoon of baking soda and ice. The baking soda raises the pH level and reduces adherence. If you choose not to use baking soda, be sure to move the eggs into cold water with plenty of ice immediately after boiling
3. Crack the top of the egg and remove a small piece
4. Crack the bottom (wide end) of the egg and remove a small piece
5. Hold the egg in your hand and blow vigorously into the narrow end of the egg, which will expel it out the wide end

Doesn’t get much easier than that! Just be ready to catch it when it comes out…

I Have No Idea What This Says About the Election...

Amazon.com sells these paper Halloween masks. As of right now, the Obama mask is ranked #1013 and the McCain mask is ranked #2456 in their best sellers. Does it mean that Obama is a beloved figure and will trounce McCain or that lots more people find him scary so McCain is really in the driver's seat?

Where Are The Quick Edit Links?

The Quick Edit links were those little yellow pencil links that appeared at the bottom right of the blogs we post:



If you saw an error in your blog after it was posted, or wanted to change something, you could just click on the pencil to go back to compose mode for that blog. They disappeared with our old url address and haven't been seen since. They are sorely missed.

The JTI staff is working feverishly on solving this problem. It probably is due to our address change, and, with any luck, it will resolve itself when the three day "transition" period is over. However, we will continue to prosecute the matter with the utmost diligence and concern.

In the meantime, you can edit your posted blogs the old fashioned way: from the website's main page, select the New Post link on the upper right:




When that opens to a new posting page, select the Edit Posts link on the left, next to Create:






From there, you can select which of your posts you wish to edit:












Please come back lil' Quick Edit. We miss you.

Safety Message

Don't forget to check your smoke and heat alarms.

Free at last, oh free at last.

Dag gone glitchy puter. Had a good time at the picnic. In fine form I made sure to wear my School's base ball cap. Located in sunny Henrieta New York, R.I.T. (Rochester Institute of Technology) had a fraternity selling hats for South Henrieta Institute of Technology. (S.H.I.T.) So here I am all freshly arrived to Pets and there is a group nice and close to the parking lot. A guy walks up to me and I ask, "Is this the picnic for the irregular support group?"

He looks at me, glances at my hat, gets a real weird look on his face and shudders as he says no. Now I'm quite oblivious forgetting what my hat says, but after time passed all I can think was the poor Iregular folks I was with across the way must have had a LOT of gossip about us from this first group afterI rolled away.

It was good meeting all of you and I think Orbs is bald. Only say this because the ball cap never came off. :-) I was actually sick from being overly full. That made for a great nap later that afternoon.

As I said when I was asked, next meet place, AMSTERDAM!

We Have A New Address

We are now officially at http://www.jtirregulars.com/
Please change your bookmarks/favorites accordingly.

This change should allow more people in more places to visit our website.

The old address, http://jtirregulars.blogspot.com/, will soon be redirecting to the new one.

Bumped on 9/23/08:

This conversion should present no problems to current users of this site. Login and posting procedures remain the same. You do not need to change anything. A number of bugs have popped up during the conversion process, though, and we're working on them.

We do have new email addresses for JT Irregulars: jtirregulars@jtirregulars.com and thesheriff@jtirregulars.com (The old addresses will continue to be monitored for awhile.) Please contact us if you have any difficulty with the site.

Email addresses at the jtirregulars domain are available for those who want them. You can have an address with your username@jtirregulars.com, but you do NOT need one of those to access, post on, or read this site. If you want a JTI email address, send an email to one of the above addresses.

Thank you for your patience during this time. Our intention in changing the address of the site was to make it available to more people, and we already know that has worked. Yay! More Irregulars means more fun!

"The Front Fell Off..."

I just received the following very funny video forwarded from a friend...it shows that even massive oil spills can be funny.



As I hope at least some of you suspect, this isn't real (the Senator not being named first aroused my suspicion...progressively more ridiculous answers raised it higher). It is the Australian comedy duo John Clarke and Bryan Dawe. This video is debunked on Snopes. Even more amazing, this comes from the early '90s, so it just shows that some old legends can find new life on the internet.

The person who initially forwarded this passed it on as a real interview. I can look at the chain of people it went through and I know several of them. They are smart people (maybe too trusting sometimes) who got taken in by this video as being the real thing.

This once again points out the problems with trusting the validity of forwarded emails. I haven't posted there in a long time, but it seems this problem is epidemic on the old JT site these days (if you have looked there recently, you know the posters I am talking about!) Although this particular email was not political in nature, it is important to apply the same level of critical thinking skills to political posts as it is to these fluffier emails.

It is easy to be skeptical of claims made by your political opponents. It is tougher, and even more important, to be just as skeptical of the claims politicians you support.

Concert Memories

I've been to at least three dozen concerts over the years. Many of them excellent shows. So many memories. One of them was the second time I saw Rush at Alpine Valley on June 17,1990.
It was a beautiful night and the moon was full. Hair metal band Mr. Big opened up the show playing their mediocre power ballads. Rush lit up place with a two hour show playing tunes from though out their career as well as their well known songs like "Tom Sawyer","The Spirit of Radio" and "YYZ".
The most impressive part of the show was the light show,which I felt was worth the ticket price alone. They had lasers everywhere. Off of the buildings in the back,in trees, and down thr aisles. Very impressive!
So what is your favorite concert or concert moment? If you have never been to a concert,what is your favorite moment in sports games,comedy shows,or whatever you been to. I'd like to hear stories.

This is stuck in my head, and now it will be stuck in yours too!

In researching videos for my postings last night, the wayback machine in my head remembered this annoying little nugget of music from a band called Ween, and of course I watched the video and now its stuck in my head and Im wistling it at work. (Plus the bass player freaks me out!) Get ready to have your brain infected by "Push tha' Little Daisies"

What, Me Worry?

http://news.racinepost.com/2008/09/mayor-police-chief-give-hispanics.html

The Racine Post is a respectable website run by responsible people who are devoted to the welfare and improvement of Racine. Please do not post nasty or offensive comments there. That's what this site is for.

Party on, Becker!

Bonus Video - Classic 80's

Back in 1984, this song was playing in the clubs and college radio. The band is called Talk Talk and the song is called "It's My Life". I still keep getting pulled back to it. And the original is so much better than the hack job No Doubt's version was. Sit back and enjoy a true 80's classic.

Firday night's lost video - Sunday version

Sorry for the delay guys. Been a little busy this weekend, but will be back on schedule next week!

Tonights song is from a band called The Dead Milkmen. Underated band, fun song. Enjoy "Punk Rock Girl".

Happy Equinox

Tomorrow is the first day of fall...well, at least from an astronomical sense. Astronomical fall begins on the day the Sun passes directly over the equator. On this day, the Sun will rise directly in the East and set directly in the west (if you live on an east-west street, watch the Sun rise and set at the end of your street!)

For meteorologists, however, fall is old news. Meteorologists define fall as the months of September, October and November.

Oh, and you can forget the nonsense about standing eggs on end on the equinox. Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day takes on that with with Phil Plait standing eggs on end on a random day in October.

MoreCowbell.dj

	Make your own at MoreCowbell.dj

I did Denise by Randy & the Rainbows "with 86% cowbell and 92% Walken."

Do Water Bears Push Each Other Out Airlocks in Their Science Fiction Stories?

Well, it wouldn't be the most effective ways for these little guys to kill their enemies. Water bears (proper name tardigrades) were launched into space aboard the European Space Agency's Foton M3 spacecraft last year. Water bears are small (about 1.5mm) long creatures They were exposed to the vacuum and radiation of space in various combinations and, even when exposed to the vacuum and UV radiation of space, researchers found a good number of survivors.

"So who cares?" I hear the naysayers cry. Surviving the high radiation environment indicates their cells have a remarkable ability to repair DNA damage. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to see potential medical benefits to us in figuring out how they repair this damage. If we can isolate the genes or proteins, we could use it to reduce damage to healthy cells in cancer therapy. I could even see preventive therapies coming from this type of research in the future.

And I sure hope they figure out how these guys pull it off in case I am ever thrown out an airlock of a spaceship by my evil nemesis!

Saturday Night Video

Big Head Todd and the Monsters were one of my favorite bands to came out in the 90's

Here is Circle,from their Sister Sweetly album.
Enjoy!

JTI Picnic: the Brats and the Bees

Hi childrens!

We had a great time at the picnic! I was summoned early on to help by telepathically broadcasting directions to those who were unsure of their way. Once on the grounds, there was this hint:

A special thank you to dears SER and Lizardmom for staking out a claim early. (I happen to know that they spent the time sharpening their skills in a certain criminal activity. Oh yes, you two, Madame Zoltar knows all!)

Unfortunately, even I couldn’t keep away the swarms of killer bees. Or yellow jackets. Or whatever those pesky little things are. I promise to have a potion ready for the next get-together.

I’m sorry, but I was much too preoccupied reading palms to notice who brought exactly what food. I know the burgers came from Timt49 and were delicious. Mr. drewzepmeister brought his fabulous chicken wings again. A veggie plate was contributed by our mystery guests. Only JT Irregulars and psychics may know their identity. Ooooooo-eeeeeeee-oooooooo!

I saw Huck Finn there and Cyndi and kkdither. Please, anyone who was there, please give credit where it is due for the food.

I’ll take credit for the weather, which was gorgeous.

See you all at the next soiree, dearies!

HAPPY FRIDAY!! Time for another OPEN BLOG!!!

YEAH!!! We made it to Friday!!
How did you survive this past week??
(full moon and all!)
Who's up for a picnic?

Mayor Becker to Discuss Immigration Issues with Members of Racine Interfaith Coalition

http://www.journaltimes.com/articles/2008/09/19/local_news/doc48d2a8f24a527054672138.txt

In a related development, federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents annonunced that they will discuss Racine's financial, infrastructure, business, industrial, employment, criminal, educational, transportation, and environmental issues.

Agent Bob O'Link, spokesman for the United States' ICE agency, stated, "With Becker handling the immigration issues in Racine for us, we thought we'd return the favor and do his job for him. I mean, somebody has to do it. It's great when government agencies can help each other out like this."

MIlwaukee Public Schools to Explore Dissolving District

Money pressure brings board’s surprising vote

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=796646

"While it is extremely far from this step to MPS going out of business — and the action might turn out to be largely a symbolic protest of the MPS financial situation — it was by far the board’s most dramatic reaction to the pressures it is under. Those pressures include wide demands for better student achievement, a tightening money vise and the strong prospect of a double-digit increase in the property tax levy to be imposed this fall.

“'We have ample evidence the current model is going to move us to ruination sooner or later,' [school board member Danny] Goldberg said."

“'Anybody else running it — good luck,' [budget committee chair Terry] Falk said."

Palin Email fiasco. It's all bad.

Yahoo bad for giving out the password.

Hacker bad for exploiting a broken system.

Net sites bad for posting the emails.

I'm bad for actually reading what should be private.

And Palin is bad for having lied about trooper gate.

)It's a small cruel world out there.

What did he say???

OK, here is the 'did I hear that right?' blog.

This week, Monday, I think,
We were asked "what time do you serve breakfast til?"

We answered "til 10:30 on weekdays and 11:00 on weekends"

This obviously led to great confusion by the one that asked,
to which the following question was asked....

"But what about Mondays???"

YIKES!!!!!

What is the oddest thing you've ever been told or asked??

Science Friday Live From Tucson

NPR's show Science Friday will be airing live from the Mars Phoenix building here in Tucson tomorrow 11am - 1pm MST (no daylight savings time here) which is 1pm-3pm CDT. They will be talking about Mars (duh!), chili peppers, and Arizona astronomy. I hear they are scalping tickets on Craigs List if you can believe that.

Unfortunately, I will not be in the audience as tomorrow is a special workshop for a program called Project Astro that pairs teacher with astronomers to do education. As an astronomer volunteer, I visit the classroom of my teacher to help lead activities and teach astronomy during the year. And our workshop goes all day tomorrow!

They may talk about a project I have a pretty good role in and that has some exciting Racine and Kenosha connections as well...I will post a follow up blog Saturday (I have to listen to the podcast of it first and, since we take the teachers up Kitt Peak Friday night, I won't even get to listen to the podcast at all tomorrow!)

You can try to find a station that airs Science Friday near you, but I don't know if you can pick any of them up in Racine. Or you can listen live streaming. If all else fails, you can be like me and listen to the podcast at your leisere.

So here is your heads up...more on Saturday.

Spiders

See You (22,500 years) Later, Alligator!

Here is the discovery of a cosmic oddball with the not so poetic name of SQ372. The minor planet was discovered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)about 2 billion miles from the Sun (about the distance of Neptune). The unusual thing about this little guy is that its orbit is elliptical...very elliptical. It takes 22,500 years to complete one orbit and ends up about 150 billion miles away at its farthest point.

They were not even looking for asteroids or comets but supernova. The SDSS was scanning the same area of the sky every clear night looking for supernova. When you get this type of data, you can also find moving objects, but it takes a different computer program to find them. So they wrote the program and you can see the discovery images in the animation below.
Doesn't exactly jump out at you, does it? This guy is probably less than 30-60 miles across and has a composition similar to a comet. Unlike comets, it never gets close enough to the Sun to form a tail.

The significance of this discovery is that it is an object that appears to have originated between the Kuiper belt (a collection of icy bodies between Neptune and about 5 billion miles from the Sun) and the Oort Cloud (which should lie about a trillion miles from the Sun). Astronomers have dubbed this area the Inner Oort cloud (not exactly a creative name) and its existence is still controversial. However, a previously discovered body named Sedna (it was big enough to get a name) and now this guy are starting to provide a little more evidence for the Inner Oort Cloud model of the solar system.

This discovery is a nice example of science in action. Observations are made, predictions are made and tested by more observations and experiments. Ideas are revised based on new observations. I am looking forward to more discoveries as we try to piece together the mysteries of the outer solar system.

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, everyones! Welcome to my weekly Wednesday blog.

Madame Zoltar is not pleased. I was working on my blog this morning and had it nearly completed when there was a sudden power outage. I should’ve been OK because I have a battery backup for my computer manufactured by APC. I just tested it a couple of weeks ago. However, when the power went down, so did my computer, and I lost everything. Power was eventually restored and I rewrote the blog. All’s well that ends well, though, and I hope that the CEOs of WE Energies and APC enjoy their new incarnations as a jackass and platypus, respectively.


Today’s first question comes from one of my favorite contributors, Mr. Avenging Angel, who asks, “If Rocky fought Rambo, who would win?”

Why, Sylvester Stallone, of course: just think of all the money he would make! Seriously, though, this question reminds me of that old conundrum about an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. In that scenario, I like to think of Rambo as a collection of protons hurling in one direction inside of the Large Hadron Collider. By the same token, Rocky would be a different collection of protons hurling in the opposite direction. Then, if they were to collide, space and time as we know it would cease to exist. That’s not a big deal for me because I’m used to slipping in and out of the material world, but it may pose some problems for the rest of you. In short, Mr. AA, the answer to your question is that no one would win, but we would all lose. Let’s just keep the great, patriotic Americans like Rocky and Rambo fighting together for our side.


Our next comment comes from someone who wants her “name withheld for anonymity,” and once you’ve read the message, you’ll know why: “Dear Mme. Zoltar. I have been having these ‘special feelings’ about you lately. I am totally heterosexual and strictly into men though. Could it just be patient/psychic transfer that I'm experiencing? Please help. I am so uncomfortable having this sexual angst hanging over my head....”

My, I’m feeling rather flushed. Ah, er, yes, it’s that transfer thing, or something… Perhaps your feelings for me are really an expression of gratitude for the insight and wisdom I have brought into your life with my special powers. Or maybe you’re just horny. In any case, I recommend cold showers whenever you have those feelings – for both of us.


Here’s a query from a locally elected official: “Why do bloggers feel they have the right to comment on and criticize a public figure? Just because I campaigned for office and am paid by their tax dollars, they seem to think it’s OK to discuss my job performance. Why don’t they understand? I was duly elected by the people – now leave me alone!”

Sorry, but bloggers are a notoriously thick lot who can’t seem to shed those silly notions of democracy and civic duty that some damn fools drummed into their heads. Tell you what, for the right price (contact me), I can cast a spell that will blind them with celebrations and commercial distractions. They’ll be so busy with partying that they probably won’t even hear the gunfire in the distance.


Finally, here are my prognostications for this weekend’s JTI picnic: perfect weather, outstanding food, and great company. Remember, if you want me to make an appearance, gather into a circle, join hands, close your eyes, and chant my name. I will be there shortly. If that hussy “Bloody Mary” Worth shows up in my stead, please tell her to take a hike.

And don’t forget to email me at madamezoltar@wi.rr.com to see your questions and my answers published here every week.

Ciao!

September 17th....ahhhhhh!

Down here in the desert, September 17th is a somewhat important day in Tucson...it is the average date of the last 100 degree day of the year. Right now, no more are in sight. We could get another, but the odds are going down and we wont' get weeks at a time of them.

The saying here is that our first 100 degree day in the spring is when the "Ice breaks on the Santa Cruz River". Yep, here ice doesn't break until 100 degrees is hit.

So here we go for the nice fall weather, hikes in the national park, and road racing season picks up.

Enjoy the fall!

Fed in AIG Rescue - $85 Billion Loan

Government response reaches dramatic new level: U.S. will take 80% stake in nation's largest insurer to prevent global financial chaos.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/16/news/companies/AIG/?postversion=2008091710

I'm not a high finance type guy, so I wouldn't pretend to know about these kinds of things, but even an idiot like me is getting a little worried. Our government is now financing 80% of a privately owned company, the nation's largest insurer, correct? And this is in addition to the previously announced bailouts, correct?

Just so you know, OrbsCorbs Inc. has suffered tremendous losses in the recent economic turmoil and is in great danger of collapsing, which would send ripples of uncertainty throughout the blogging community. How do I go about applying for one of these federal bailouts?

And where's my FEMA trailer?

The Fish pic from IKE

Umm not sure if this worked......

Moonrise on Lake Michigan Revisited

About 7:30 this evening, I was down by Samuel Myers Park (aka 11th St. Beach). I looked off to the east, and there was a beautiful full moon just beginning to rise over the lake. It reminded me of the Solstice Moon that we discussed a few months ago: http://jtirregulars.blogspot.com/2008/06/solstice-moon-illusion.html.

I thought of the great photos that drew took of that moon: http://jtirregulars.blogspot.com/2008/06/solstice-moon-pictures.html. I didn't have my camera with me and the light was fading fast, but I wanted to try to get some shots of this moonrise. So I raced home, grabbed my camera, and raced back down. By the time I arrived, it was almost dark. As I trotted toward the rocks, I suddenly remembered the tripod that I had left at home. Isn't it fun to get old?

Anyway, I tried to get some decent pics, but I was too winded to hold the camera steady, and very ticked off at myself for forgetting the tripod. The picture above is the best of the lot. And the one at right, well, I'm not sure exactly what happened there, but it reminds me of the 60's.

I'm boycotting political posts

There is the saying is that the one thing that can ruin a good friendship between a guy and girl, (two guys, two girls what ever) is marriage. The same can be said about politics. In some of the past blogs, we all may have shed some light on our leanings. I know mine came out. Some I agree with, some I don't. I don't thinks there is anything that anyone can say to change mine, and likewise for me to do the same to someone else. And I sure as hell don't want politics to come between the intelligent conversations, the unintelligent conversations, laughs, and general BS of my irregular friends. However crapping on the Bears and Cubs is still fair game!

This Week's Big Picture: Hurrican Ike

This week's Boston Globe Big Picture focuses on Hurrican Ike. Really tough to pick a sample picture this week.
Okay, someone else post...I am starting to feel like a blog hog here!

Fun with Telemarketers

On Orb's spam blog, the conversation turned to telemarketers, so let's start a new one here.

I refuse to put my number on a do not call list. I want these idiots to call me. They can be a tremendous source of amusement, if you play them right.

Over the last few months, I've gotten:

The auto warranty calls

The credit card consolidation calls

"Dave" or "Steve" or whatever the idiot's name is for satellite tv

Subscription for the RJT

Life insurance from JC Penny


Here's why they don't call anymore:

Auto Warranty:

I claimed to own an '86 Ford Pixar. Idiot stayed on the phone with me for 30 minutes trying to find it in her system before abruptly hanging up. Someone must have finallytold her that "Pixar" is the name of a movie company.

Credit Card Consolidation

I spent 15 minutes detailing the charges on 23 different ficticious accounts. I think I tipped my hand when I claimed to have a $643 balance on my "Vista" card from the "Bank of Racine". They hung up.

Satellite TV.

I listened to the entire pitch (about 10 minutes), then asked: If the picture is coming from a satellite, will all I see is space? I kept up this curious line of questioning (will I see planets? The moon?) until they hung up.

Subsrciption for the RJT

I listened to that whole pitch, then asked if the paper was available on audio or braille because I'm blind (I'm not). The woman mumbled an apology and hung up. She must have put something in the notes because the very next day, RJT called again. It went like this:

Me: Hello?
RJT: Hi I'm calling from the Racine Jour......Sorry, have a good day.

They never called back.


JC Penny life Insurance


As detailed on the other thread, JC Penny began calling me looking for "Annie". Even though I explained 6 or 7 times that there was no "Annie", they kept calling back. Finally, I asked why they were calling:

Me: Can you tell me what this is about?
JCP: We're calling JC Penny card holders with an offer for Life Insurance.
Me: So, if I kill the bitch, you pay me?
JCP: Excuse me?
Me: I said, if I kill the bitch, you gonna pay me?
JCP: Click

They never called back, but I kind of expected a visit from the cops. lol


All in all, I consider anyone calling my number to be fair game for abuse.

Just In Case You Missed SNL...

Very funny introductory bit...Tina Fey really has Palin's mannerisms and cadence down. I bet Fey almost wants Palin to win so she can do this for the next four years.

If Gore Invented the Internet then McCain Invented Cellphones and Wifi

First, a review. In an interview with with Wolf Blitzer, Gore said,

"I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system. "

Conservatives jumped on this and said Gore claimed to invent the internet (I note the lack of the word "invent" in there but that's just me.)

Fast Forward: 2008. Science Debate 2008 asks a series of questions of the candidates. On the first question about innovation, McCain claims,

"Under my guiding hand, Congress developed a wireless spectrum policy that spurred the rapid rise of mobile phones and Wi-Fi technology that enables Americans to surf the web while sitting at a coffee shop, airport lounge, or public park."

Sounds a lot like what Gore was claiming...being a part of the legislative process that helped spur the development of a modern technology. Or maybe McCain is claiming he invented cell phones and wifi.

Although an advisor of McCain did indicate that he (McCain) created the Blackberry. When asked about McCain's experience on the Senate Commerce Committe,

"Pressed to provide an example of what McCain had accomplished on that committee, Holtz-Eakin said the senator did not have jurisdiction over financial markets — then held up his Blackberry, telling reporters: “He did this.”"

At least McCain seems to realize this is silly.

"Meanwhile, McCain senior aide Matt McDonald said that the senator "laughed" when he heard the comment.

"He would not claim to be the inventor of anything, much less the BlackBerry. This was obviously a boneheaded joke by a staffer," McDonald said."

So, either we drop the Gore invented the internet nonsense or I get to make fun of McCain for inventing mobile phones, wifi and the Blackberry!

______

Note: I am going to blog on the candidates science policy (now that McCain has answered the Science Debate 2008 questions...his answers were posted yesterday and Obama's have been up since late August.) Just need a little more time to digest them.

Monday Night Groaner

One night, as he finished his last beer, Joe's doorbell rang. He answered the door and found a six-foot cockroach standing there. The bug grabbed him by the collar and threw him across the room, then left.

The next night, the doorbell rang, and he found the same six-foot cockroach standing there the big bug punched him in the stomach, then left.

The same thing happened the next night. This time, he was kneed in the groin and hit behind the ear as he doubled over in pain. Then the big bug left.

The following day, Joe went to see his doctor. He explained the events of the preceding four nights. "What can I do?" he pleaded.

"Not much," the doctor replied.

"There's just a nasty bug going around."