September 30, 2005

Tale of Two Hurricanes

It's September 2004, two months before the election, and Hurricane Frances is headed to Florida. What was the response of the bush administration?

Well, if you used Katrina as the guideline for crafting your answer you'd be wrong!

The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has positioned a powerful list of disaster response personnel, equipment and supplies to help those who are displaced or suffer losses after Hurricane Frances continues to move across Florida.

Via Nitpicker.

Posted by Steve on September 30, 2005

Friday Ark #54

Cats, Dogs, Spiders and ? every Friday.

We'll post links to sites that have Friday (plus or minus a few days) photos of their chosen animals (photoshops at our discretion and humans only in supporting roles). Watch the Exception category for rocks, beer, coffee cups, and....?

We will add your post to the list if you do one of the following:

  • Leave a comment or trackback to this post,
  • Use the Carnival Submission Form,
  • Email Modulator or
  • Our extensive staff finds it during our weekly search of the web
Of course, if our staff goes on strike then we will link only those posts someone tells us about.

Visit each border and come back regularly Friday-Sunday to visit new boarders. And do link to the Friday Ark whether you use trackbacks or not.

Dog folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Dogs hosted by Mickey's Musings.

Cat folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Cats which goes up every Sunday and the 80th edition will be hosted this week by Music and Cats. There are more weekly cats at eatstuff's Weekend Cat Blogging which has many participants who may not be familiar to Ark or Carnival participants.

Bird folks: Remember to submit your links to I and the Bird: A Blog Carnival for Bird Lovers. The 7th edition is up and hosted by the Bird Treatment Center, Anchorage, Alaska.

New for the spineless: Circus of the Spineless. A monthly celebration of Insects, Arachnids, Molluscs, Crustaceans, Worms and most anything else that wiggles. The first edition is up at Milk River Blog.

And, check out Laurence's fine graphical analysis of Friday Ark boardings.

Arkive editions of the Friday Ark.

Alert: There will be no updates today between 11:30 AM and 4:30 PM EDT.

Cats

InvertebratesDogsBirdsOther VertebratesIn MemoriamDidn't Make ItExceptions (inclusion not guaranteed)
For other current carnivals check out The Conservative Cat's Carnival Page and The TTLB Uber Carnival

Note for Haloscan Users: Haloscan started (the end of July) rejecting trackbacks if they were submitted "too rapidly" by the same host. I don't know what the timer is but it is long enough so that it was very difficult to ping everyone that is using Haloscan for trackbacks. I'm sure that they are doing this to try to hold back the tide of trackback spam but it makes the service pretty useless for carnival type posts. Perhaps you can contact them and urge some different solution. Update: Typepad appears to be doing the same thing. Everytime I update the Ark it appears the timers are reset and the long list of MT autogenerated pings fail. Yecchhhh....

Posted by Steve on September 30, 2005 | Comments (12)

September 29, 2005

How Many Is A Brazillion?

Hmmm, go find out.

Posted by Steve on September 29, 2005

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum

Jazz has this Item of Note:

From Pandagon, today's politics seem to beg the question: Are the two main parties melting down to the point where we wont' be able to tell them apart?
Gosh, when it get's down to the bottom line of securing life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for the people of the US they've been the same for a long time.


Posted by Steve on September 29, 2005 | Comments (2)

September 28, 2005

weekend Serenity

I'd already planned to see Serenity early in its theater run.

Now I think this opening weekend will not be soon enough.

Posted by Steve on September 28, 2005 | Comments (2)

Spineless Birds

Well,...No.

But, I and the Bird # 7 is up at The Bird Treatment and Learning Center.

And, today is the last day to submit posts for the inaugural Circus of the Spineless. Do it now!

Posted by Steve on September 28, 2005

Who Is Really to Blame for Katrina?

This Alabama state senator has the answer:

Hurricane Katrina and other storms that battered the Gulf Coast were God's judgment of sin, according to state Sen. Hank Erwin, R-Montevallo.

"New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast have always been known for gambling, sin and wickedness," Erwin wrote this week in a column he distributes to news outlets. "It is the kind of behavior that ultimately brings the judgment of God."

After touring Gulfport and Biloxi, Miss., and Bayou La Batre, Erwin said he was awed and humbled by the power of the storm. But he wasn't surprised.

"Warnings year after year by godly evangelists and preachers went unheeded. So why were we surprised when finally the hand of judgment fell?" Erwin wrote. "Sadly, innocents suffered along with the guilty. Sin always brings suffering to good people as well as the bad."

In case you doubt erwin's credentials there is this:
Twinkle Andress, executive director of the Alabama Republican Party, said she had not seen Erwin's column. But she praised his performance as a senator.

"Obviously, I think Hank Erwin is a great senator and been a real leader," she said.

According to the article erwin is in fine company: al-Qaida, Pat Robertson and Louis Farrakhan have expressed similar views.

Posted by Steve on September 28, 2005 | Comments (2)

September 27, 2005

Comes A Time To Stop And Listen

Put your headphones on and go tap into this.

Not work safe for Deadheads...productivity will go immediately to zero.

Posted by Steve on September 27, 2005 | Comments (2)

Setting A Fine Example

Headlines from todays news:

First (R): Bush urges U.S. to conserve gas
President Bush called on Americans on Monday to conserve fuel and cut non-essential car trips....
Second (R): Bush Gets Close-Up Look at Rita's Damage
President Bush flew over the largely obliterated Louisiana town of Cameron and circled an offshore oil rig in his first up-close look at the devastation that Hurricane Rita brought to the Gulf Coast's oil producing and refining communities.
What could be more non-essential than a bush fly-over?

Posted by Steve on September 27, 2005

September 26, 2005

It's A Revenue Generator

I'd like to think that the us senate respects the people and the constitution enough to toss out crap like the house recently passed on to it but, heck, it is the us senate so we will probably get to see this go all the way to the supreme court before we hopefully are rid of at least some of the more noxious provisions.

Radley in discussing some of representative pence's (r-ind) additons to the Child Safety Act of 2005 also notes the following:

It gets worse. The bill's enforcement provisions empower law enforcement with the power to seize the assets of violators, proving that there really is a graveyard of stupid ideas deep in the bowels of the U.S. Capitol Building that Congressmen return to when they're out of stuff to legislate. Because asset forfeiture has worked so well with the drug war. Idiots.
Actually asset forfeiture has worked very well in the drug wars. See, assest forfeiture is not about stopping some type of alleged criminal activity. Rather, it is about adding another revenue source for government agencies. And they don't have to call it extortion taxation.

Via Brian Doss at Catallarchy.

Posted by Steve on September 26, 2005

September 23, 2005

Friday Ark #53

Cats, Dogs, Spiders and ? every Friday.

We'll post links to sites that have Friday (plus or minus a few days) photos of their chosen animals (photoshops at our discretion and humans only in supporting roles). Watch the Exception category for rocks, beer, coffee cups, and....?

We will add your post to the list if you do one of the following:

  • Leave a comment or trackback to this post,
  • Use the Carnival Submission Form,
  • Email Modulator or
  • Our extensive staff finds it during our weekly search of the web
Of course, if our staff goes on strike then we will link only those posts someone tells us about.

Visit each border and come back regularly Friday-Sunday to visit new boarders.

Dog folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Dogs hosted by Mickey's Musings.

Cat folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Cats which goes up every Sunday and the 78th edition will be hosted this week by Yourish.com. There are more weekly cats at eatstuff's Weekend Cat Blogging which has many participants who may not be familiar to Ark or Carnival participants.

Bird folks: Remember to submit your links to I and the Bird: A Blog Carnival for Bird Lovers. The 6th edition is up and hosted by Bird Chick.

New for the spineless: Circus of the Spineless. A monthly celebration of Insects, Arachnids, Molluscs, Crustaceans, Worms and most anything else that wiggles will be posting its first edition on September 30 hosted by: Milk River Blog.

And, check out Laurence's fine graphical analysis of Friday Ark boardings.

Arkive editions of the Friday Ark.

Cats

InvertebratesDogsBirdsOther VertebratesIn Memoriam
  • Dharma Bums: When You Love A Dog: Farewell Sadie
  • Poor Impulse Control: Friday Cat Blogging: Zorak
Didn't Make ItExceptions (inclusion not guaranteed)

For other current carnivals check out The Conservative Cat's Carnival Page and The TTLB Uber Carnival.

Note for Haloscan Users: Haloscan started (the end of July) rejecting trackbacks if they were submitted "too rapidly" by the same host. I don't know what the timer is but it is long enough so that it was very difficult to ping everyone that is using Haloscan for trackbacks. I'm sure that they are doing this to try to hold back the tide of trackback spam but it makes the service pretty useless for carnival type posts. Perhaps you can contact them and urge some different solution. Update: Typepad appears to be doing the same thing. Everytime I update the Ark it appears the timers are reset and the long list of MT autogenerated pings fail. Yecchhhh....

Posted by Steve on September 23, 2005 | Comments (13)

September 21, 2005

Satisfy Your Cravings

Tangled Bank # 37 is now up and has a great selection of school food for the brain.

Posted by Steve on September 21, 2005

September 16, 2005

Friday Ark #52

Cats, Dogs, Spiders and ? every Friday.

We'll post links to sites that have Friday (plus or minus a few days) photos of their chosen animals (photoshops at our discretion and humans only in supporting roles). Watch the Exception category for rocks, beer, coffee cups, and....?

Alert: The Ark crew is still wandering around Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. They will make updates as time permits. Your expectations should be a bit low....

We will add your post to the list if you do one of the following:

  • Leave a comment or trackback to this post,
  • Use the Carnival Submission Form,
  • Email Modulator or
  • Our extensive staff finds it during our weekly search of the web
Of course, if our staff goes on strike then we will link only those posts someone tells us about.

Remember: Visit Each Boarder and come back regularly Friday-Sunday to visit new boarders.

Dog folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Dogs hosted by Mickey's Musings.

Cat folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Cats which goes up every Sunday and the 78th edition will be hosted this week by Watermark. There are more weekly cats at eatstuff's Weekend Cat Blogging which has many participants who may not be familiar to Ark or Carnival participants.

Bird folks: Remember to submit your links to I and the Bird: A Blog Carnival for Bird Lovers. The 6th edition is up and hosted by Bird Chick.

New for the spineless: Circus of the Spineless. A monthly celebration of Insects, Arachnids, Molluscs, Crustaceans, Worms and most anything else that wiggles will be posting its first edition on September 30 hosted by: Milk River Blog.

And, check out Laurence's fine graphical analysis of Friday Ark boardings.

Arkive editions of the Friday Ark.

Cats

InvertebratesDogsBirdsOther VertebratesIn Memoriam
Didn't Make It
Exceptions (inclusion not guaranteed)


For other current carnivals check out The Conservative Cat's Carnival Page and The TTLB Uber Carnival.

Note for Haloscan Users: Haloscan started (the end of July) rejecting trackbacks if they were submitted "too rapidly" by the same host. I don't know what the timer is but it is long enough so that it was very difficult to ping everyone that is using Haloscan for trackbacks. I'm sure that they are doing this to try to hold back the tide of trackback spam but it makes the service pretty useless for carnival type posts. Perhaps you can contact them and urge some different solution. Update: Typepad appears to be doing the same thing. Everytime I update the Ark it appears the timers are reset and the long list of MT autogenerated pings fail. Yecchhhh....

Posted by Steve on September 16, 2005 | Comments (13)

September 15, 2005

Flying High

I and the Bird #6 is up.

Posted by Steve on September 15, 2005

September 14, 2005

Welcome to My Living Room

Just a bit below the summit of Mt Rendezvous, WY at about 10,200 feet:

IMG_4297.jpg

Posted by Steve on September 14, 2005 | Comments (2)

September 13, 2005

Mt Moran

Mount Moran at 7:58 PM MDT 9/13/05:

IMG_4262.jpg

Posted by Steve on September 13, 2005

September 12, 2005

On The Road Again

The Modulator staff will relaxing in the Tetons for the next week. First snows hit over the weekend.

Posting will likely be minimal.

Everyone have a great week!

Posted by Steve on September 12, 2005

September 10, 2005

Flogging Blogger

Will Google become the Wal-Mart of the web? Hopefully not! They have a we will do no evil motto!

In a taste of what may be coming Google owned Blogger is starting to censor blogspot sites based on readers saying the site has objectionable content. Read about the flag button.

This would be an excellent idea if restricted to spam. But your hot topic might be objectionable to me or Sally, or w, or, well, just about anyone. Heck, there are plenty of folks out there who will click on people's Flag Button just for no reason at all...like vandalism.

It looks like blogger users might be able to remove the Navigation Bar and the offensive Flag button by removing this statement:

@import url(http://www.blogger.com/css/navbar/3.css);
from their templates.

Update: Tegan says you can't remove this. Maybe if buy a pay service. I do see some blogger sites without the navbar.

By the way, have you ever contemplated the possibility of Google's vast database of people's search activities in the hands of some future thought police. Oh yea, the Patriot Act. Perhaps the future is not so far away.

Via A Stitch In Haste.

Posted by Steve on September 10, 2005 | Comments (2)

September 9, 2005

Friday Night Humor

Just because...

Posted by Steve on September 9, 2005

Friday Ark #51

Cats, Dogs, Spiders and ? every Friday.

We'll post links to sites that have Friday (plus or minus a few days) photos of their chosen animals (photoshops at our discretion and humans only in supporting roles). Watch the Exception category for rocks, beer, coffee cups, and....?

Next Week's Ark (9/16) The Ark crew will be traveling next week with limited net access. We will put up Friday Ark #52 but expect limited updates!

We will add your post to the list if you do one of the following:

  • Leave a comment or trackback to this post,
  • Use the Carnival Submission Form,
  • Email Modulator or
  • Our extensive staff finds it during our weekly search of the web
Of course, if our staff goes on strike then we will link only those posts someone tells us about.

Remember: Visit Each Boarder and come back regularly Friday-Sunday to visit new boarders.

Dog folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Dogs hosted by Mickey's Musings.

Cat folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Cats which goes up every Sunday and the 77th edition will be hosted this week by Blog d'Ellison. Update (9/10): more cats at eatstuff. Weekend Cat Blogging 14 is up. WCB has many participants who may not be familiar to Ark or Carnival participants.

Bird folks: Remember to submit your links to I and the Bird: A Blog Carnival for Bird Lovers. The 6th edition will be hosted 9/15 by Bird Chick.

New for the spineless: Circus of the Spineless. A monthly celebration of Insects, Arachnids, Molluscs, Crustaceans, Worms and most anything else that wiggles will be posting its first edition on September 30 hosted by: Milk River Blog.

And, check out Laurence's fine graphical analysis of Friday Ark boardings.

Arkive editions of the Friday Ark.

Cats

InvertebratesDogsBirdsOther VertebratesIn Memoriam
Didn't Make ItExceptions (inclusion not guaranteed)


For other current carnivals check out The Conservative Cat's Carnival Page and The TTLB Uber Carnival.

Note for Haloscan Users: Haloscan started (the end of July) rejecting trackbacks if they were submitted "too rapidly" by the same host. I don't know what the timer is but it is long enough so that it was very difficult to ping everyone that is using Haloscan for trackbacks. I'm sure that they are doing this to try to hold back the tide of trackback spam but it makes the service pretty useless for carnival type posts. Perhaps you can contact them and urge some different solution. Update: Typepad appears to be doing the same thing. Everytime I update the Ark it appears the timers are reset and the long list of MT autogenerated pings fail. Yecchhhh....

Posted by Steve on September 9, 2005 | Comments (11)

September 6, 2005

Things I'd Like to Read This Week...

...but probably won't have time:

I suspect I'll add a few more to this list as the week goes on.

* Update to original post

Posted by Steve on September 6, 2005

September 4, 2005

A Barry Happy Birthday

Enrevanche is a frequent and enjoyable read, is a regular contributor to the Friday Ark and enrevanche is a blogyear old today.

Have a great second year, Barry!

Posted by Steve on September 4, 2005

September 2, 2005

Left Lane Campers

It really is time to exterminate them. You know the ones:

In the course of years of freeway driving, it has become increasingly clear to me that the largest single source of clogging of America's interstate arterials is not the highway system itself.

It's pilot stupor.

Somewhere along the line, America either forgot � or failed to learn � how to drive on the freeway. It's that simple. And that infuriating.

You know exactly what I mean: You're driving along somewhere outside the normal clog zones, exulting in the rare opportunity to approach the actual speed limit, when you come up on the imbecile in question.

Driving a minivan, an SUV or a vintage K-Car. In the left lane. At or below the speed limit, beady eyes fixed dead ahead, hands at 10 and 2 o'clock. Refusing to move over. Not now. Not ever. Period. End of discussion. Stop flashing your lights � or get a brake-slam return message.

Read the rest and enjoy the chuckles but, remember, these folks need to be taken off the road!


Posted by Steve on September 2, 2005

Friday Ark # 50: Katrina Relief Edition

Cats, Dogs, Spiders and ? every Friday.

We'll post links to sites that have Friday (plus or minus a few days) photos of their chosen animals (photoshops at our discretion and humans only in supporting roles). Watch the Exception category for rocks, beer, coffee cups, and....?

Katrina Relief Effort: If you have not already made your first donation please do so today! Please consider The Humane Society or one of these pet rescue sites.

We will add your post to the list if you do one of the following:

  • Leave a comment or trackback to this post,
  • Use the Carnival Submission Form,
  • Email Modulator or
  • Our extensive staff finds it during our weekly search of the web
Of course, if our staff goes on strike then we will link only those posts someone tells us about.

Remember: Visit Each Boarder and come back regularly Friday-Sunday to visit new boarders.

Dog folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Dogs hosted by Mickey's Musings.

Cat folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Cats which goes up every Sunday and the 76th edition will be hosted this week by The Conservative Cat.

Bird folks: Remember to submit your links to I and the Bird: A Blog Carnival for Bird Lovers. The 5th edition is hosted by A DC Birding Blog.

New for the spineless: Circus of the Spineless. A monthly celebration of Insects, Arachnids, Molluscs, Crustaceans, Worms and most anything else that wiggles will be posting its first edition on September 30 hosted by: Milk River Blog.

And, check out Laurence's fine graphical analysis of Friday Ark boardings.

Arkive editions of the Friday Ark.

And, Leslie has information you need to read about the pending federal Pet Animal Welfare Statute. Help your senators and representatives either totally toss or at least improve this unneeded bit of federal legislation.

Cats

InvertebratesDogsBirdsOther VertebratesIn Memoriam
  • Athenamama: Missing Mama: Athena April 9, 2001 - August 31, 2003
  • Publius & Co.: Friday Rat Blogging: Leather is an old girl! She passed away 9/3.
Didn't Make ItExceptions (inclusion not guaranteed)

For other current carnivals check out The Conservative Cat's Carnival Page and The TTLB Uber Carnival.

Note for Haloscan Users: Haloscan started (the end of July) rejecting trackbacks if they were submitted "too rapidly" by the same host. I don't know what the timer is but it is long enough so that it was very difficult to ping everyone that is using Haloscan for trackbacks. I'm sure that they are doing this to try to hold back the tide of trackback spam but it makes the service pretty useless for carnival type posts. Perhaps you can contact them and urge some different solution. Update: Typepad appears to be doing the same thing. Everytime I update the Ark it appears the timers are reset and the long list of MT autogenerated pings fail. Yecchhhh....

Posted by Steve on September 2, 2005 | Comments (13)

September 1, 2005

Viva La Difference

There has been much talk about the commonality between the human genome and that of other animals. Fir instance, human and chimpanzee genomes are 96% identical. Yet, that 4% is a lot of difference:

...it is the differences between the species�as many as 3 million of which fall in functional areas of the genomes�on which research now focuses.

According to the main study, the catalog of genetic differences includes about 35 million single-nucleotide changes, 5 million insertion/deletion events, and a number of other chromosomal rearrangements.

Yep, that should keep those researchers busy for a while.

Posted by Steve on September 1, 2005

Katrina Relief Effort

Folks, this one will probably warrant more than one donation. If you haven't make your first The American Red Cross is a good place to start:

mastheadhurricanekatrina.jpg


Please consider as well The Humane Society or these Pet Rescue Sites (Via Laurence).

After you have made your donation do go log your contribution at The Truth Laid Bear's Blog Contribution Page (More info here).

Update:

  1. Glenn Reynolds has a lengthy list of suggested charities
  2. Bryan lives in Florida and posts about the reality of aid and insurance.
  3. Have you met skippy's challenge? These folks have!

Posted by Steve on September 1, 2005

Spelling Error?

Don't leave the first s out of craigslist unless you really, really want to go to one of those very work unfriendly place!

Posted by Steve on September 1, 2005