Man dies from pet hamster:
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040928-040057-8015r.htm

“Saitama, Japan, Sep. 28 (UPI) — A man died from asthma after being bitten several times by his pet hamster in a city north of Tokyo, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Tuesday. “

“Even though 17 cases of anaphylaxis caused by pets have been reported in Japan since 1995, it is quite rare that such an allergic disease causes death.”

I now know what I’m getting people for Christmas, Hamsters.

Dilbert House:
http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/duh/index.html

Earth gots tunes:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,10926034^1702,00.html

“SEISMOLOGISTS believe they have pinpointed the source of a mysterious low-frequency “hum” that emanates from the Earth, the British science journal Nature reports.The persistent noise – at between two and seven milliHertz, way below the threshold of human hearing – is clearly caused by large emissions of energy near or at the Earth’s surface.”

“Their theory is that storm energy in the winter is converted to deep ocean waves which then interact with the seabed, creating vibrations that cause the hum. “

Sitting here, skipping class, watching Star Trek:DS9. I’m realizing I shouldn’t be doing this. I’m also realizing how stupid a character Ezri Dax was.

That doesn’t matter as much as the coming war over blackboards and whiteboards:
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1592/5005772.html

“Replace Gray’s blackboards with whiteboards or, worse, a tablet computer that projects numbers onto a screen, and you might as well tie his arms or gag him. He’s among an army of professors who want to keep their blackboards despite the university’s push to eliminate flying chalk dust that can foil today’s expensive classroom technology.
After 150 years as fixtures in American classrooms, blackboards are gradually giving way to whiteboards and computer projectors. But they remain a visceral part of school lore and popular culture.”

“Strict teachers were known to hurl erasers like missiles at the heads of disruptive students, ending their hijinks in a cloud of chalk dust. And everyone remembers the teeth-gritting screech of new chalk on a blackboard”

“About 60 percent of nearly 300 classrooms on campus have blackboards. But whiteboards are steadily gaining. Fitzgerald proceeds cautiously, meeting with faculty to see whether they are willing to make the change. He won’t force whiteboards on people.”

“Some Carlson faculty members are experimenting with electronic whiteboards, some of which can capture what’s written on them in a computer. That’s likely to get a big “harrumph” in math, where several professors said they still like to make their point by facing their students and stabbing at the blackboard with a piece of chalk.”

My side in this war? With the blackboards of course.

Here’s an uplifting story about a skeptic finding Christ:
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/ae/books/reviews/2812608

“James M. Ault Jr. is a self-described ’60s radical who embraced the anti-war movement, feminism and other left-leaning enthusiasms of the day. He has also taught sociology at Harvard University and Smith College and produced an award-winning documentary called Born Again: Life in a Fundamentalist Baptist Church, broadcast on PBS and abroad. “

“What surprised Ault — and changed his life — was the warmth and acceptance he found among the politically conservative members of Shawmut River Baptist Church in Massachusetts, where he spent three years researching the film. Even though he was a liberal intellectual and a nonbeliever, Ault plunged into the day-to-day life of the small church, joining a weekly Bible-study group meeting in the home of a newly “saved” couple”

This is a tale I hear a lot, one similiar to C.S. Lewis’ life. An intellectual learns of the warmth and goodness of Christians and the strength of our belief, and are transformed. It is one I have experienced first hand, and hope to share.

http://www.canada.com/health/story.html?id=f2554b2f-5e4d-447b-8312-814ba630bebb

“MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) – Health authorities in the northern state of Chihuahua said Tuesday they are recruiting hundreds of cats to fight hundreds of thousands of rats.
Chihuahua state officials say they hope to collect as many as 700 felines and send them to Atascaderos, an isolated farm village in the rugged Tarahumara mountains, a region where officials estimate there are about a half-million rats. “

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43391&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN

“rodent infestation is becoming a major health issue. But these are no ordinary rats. The pests, descendants of albino rats used in laboratories and wild rats, have spread throughout the country, including Bishkek and the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul. The rats have been seen in groups in the streets and yards of the capital in broad daylight.”

Wow, the rats are taking over. Maybe people should try killing them and stuff.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=817&ncid=757&e=10&u=/ap/20040927/ap_on_fe_st/cigar_man

“GREAT FALLS, Mont. – A 108-year-old man has taken up smoking again, encouraged by gifts of cigars from as far away as London. Retired railroad worker Walter Breuning spoke at his birthday party Tuesday of how he reluctantly quit smoking cigars at the age of 99 because he couldn’t afford them. “

Good for him.

A few reactions to the show I’ve heard is that we shouldn’t do movie reviews, and I should interrupt Tony Garcia more, any other reactions please leave in the comments section of this post.

I’m standing by my opinion that the school should refuse the money from the stripper car wash, I don’t care if they are strapped for cash.

If you didn’t catch the show, tough beans, you can catch some clips on http://www.racetotheright.com

Radio Show, 2-4pm am1570 The Patriot II…..TODAY

Also, you know something is wrong when Christina Aguilara calls you “trashy”:

http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/celebrity/show-art.php?news_unid=779

“Christina Aguilera has branded Britney Spears’ wedding to Kevin Federline as “trashy, pathetic and low rent”

Long necked sea-monster:

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-reptile24.html

“Scientists on Thursday announced the fossil discovery of a very odd creature that swam the oceans 230 million years ago.

It looked sort of like a dinosaur, but actually was another type of reptile.”

Some tech news, they have nano bots that can kill bacteria:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=13996

“The researchers thought that by combining a chemical structure called a quarternary ammonium salt group, known for its ability to disrupt cell membranes and cause cell death, with a hydrocarbon diacetylene, which can change colors when appropriately formulated, the resulting molecule would have the desired properties of both biosensor and biocide”

Huh?

Ford goes bio-tech:

http://media.ford.com/newsroom/feature_display.cfm?release=18677

“The 2005 DB9 contains the first onboard neural network in an engine control module. Unlike traditional computer systems that need to be programmed for each step, neural networks are programs modeled on the way human brains learn and adapt. The DB9′s module keeps tabs on engine combustion performance with a sophisticated software program that compares actual engine performance to the design specifications. “

Someone has been watching too much Star Trek, a neural net? Isn’t that what made Data “Alive”? And do we really need our cars thinking for us?

Actually, the way most people drive, probably.

Japanese cell phone ringer makes women’s breasts bigger:

http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/waiwai/0409/0923ringtones.html

Somehow I doubt it

Anyway, be sure to enjoy some Twinkies while you can, they’re going out of business quick:

http://www.thewgalchannel.com/food/3757428/detail.html

And finally, there really is a code to those boxes of chocolate candies women pretend to like:

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_062.html

“Here’s a list of selected candies comparing the old codes with those of two present-day firms, Chicago-based Fannie May and Massachusetts-based Fanny Farmer. (And no, I am not going to speculate on why candy makers tend to be named Fanny. I’ve got enough problems already.)(UC = universal code; FM = Fannie May; FF = Fanny Farmer)

Vanilla cream–UC, round with “V” on top; FM, round with straight line; FF, round with single “arrow”

Chocolate cream–UC, round with open “C” on top; FM, round with 2 curved lines (light inside); FF, round with 2 straight lines (dark inside)

Cherry cordial–UC, round with closed “C”; FM, round with circular hieroglyphic; FF, round with closed “C”

Vanilla caramel–UC, square with “V” on top; FM, square with straight line; FF, square with V-like zigzags

Peppermint–UC, round, flat, unmarked; FM, round, flat, wavy stripes; FF, discontinued

Nougat–UC, rectangle, straight line; FM, rectangle, straight line; FF, rectangle, 1 or 2 straight lines

Orange cream–UC, round with “O” on top; FM, oval, slanted “Hostess cupcake” swirls; FF, oval with narrow zigzags

Shredded coconut–UC, not listed; FM, round, wide zigzags; FF, round, lumpy, one arrow

Marshmallow–UC, not listed; FM, square with 2 or 4 “peaks”; FF, round with random peak pattern”

Now you can eat all the good ones, and give all the bad ones as long as you buy more than one box, which I do anyway.

Radio Show:

2-4pm on 1570 am Sunday!

And some interesting stuff:
Men and Women are different? http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040925/D85APROG0.html

“These discoveries are part of a quiet but revolutionary change infiltrating U.S. medicine as a growing number of scientists realize there’s more to women’s health than just the anatomy that makes them female, and that the same diseases often affect men and women in different ways.
“Women are different than men, not only psychologically (but) physiologically, and I think we need to understand those differences,” says Dr. Catherine DeAngelis, editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association.”

Funny, I could have told you that when I was five.

Congress finally acts on limiting the power of legislating judges:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040923/ap_on_go_co/congress_pledge_of_allegiance

“Supporters insisted that Congress has always had authority to limit federal court jurisdiction, and the legislation is needed to protect an affirmation of religion that is part of the national heritage. “

Well done!

Britons are dumber:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=14677975&method=full&siteid=89488&headline=navels-are-all-at-sea-name_page.html

“ONE in five 18 to 24-year-olds do not know where their navel is, according to a report on Britons’ knowledge of their bodies.
Almost two out of five people do not know what kidneys do, one in seven do not know where the rib cage is and over a third are unaware the femur bone is in their leg.”

Wow, their education system sucks, but who cares, they have nationalized healthcare!

ACLU strikes again:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,133534,00.html

“A federal judge ruled Friday that the state’s “Choose Life” license plate is unconstitutional based on the reasoning in similar cases in other states, but he declined to rule on whether Tennessee’s entire specialty plate program is flawed.
U.S. District Judge Todd Campbell (search) wrote that the state cannot promote just one viewpoint in the abortion debate.
“The result in this case would be the same if the statute authorized a ‘Pro-Choice’ license plate instead of the ‘Choose Life’ license plate,” Campbell wrote.
The American Civil Liberties Union (search) and Planned Parenthood challenged the plate in November, arguing that the state was not providing an equal opportunity for opposing viewpoints.”

I like that way of looking at speech, if both sides aren’t heard, then no one should be heard. That’s like saying is if someone is searched and seized illegally, then everyone should be searched and siezed.

My radio show is going to be this Sunday from 2-4pm on am1570 KYCR the Patriot II, please listen. Also, check out our show website at http://www.tonygarcialive.com

Here’s a great little article from a sci-fi author about the web:
http://www.voidspace.org.uk/cyberpunk/gibson_wasteoftime.shtml

“THE NET IS A WASTE OF TIME…and that’s exactly what’s right about it.by William Gibsonpublished in ‘New York TimesMagazine’ (July 14, 1996)

I was born in 1948. I can’t recall a world before television, but I know I must have experienced one. I do, dimly, recall the arrival of a piece of brown wooden furniture with sturdy Bakelite knobs and a screen no larger than the screen on this Powerbook. Initially there was nothing on it but “snow,” and then the nightly advent of a targetlike device called “the test pattern,” which people actually gathered to watch.Today I think about the test pattern as I surf the Web. I imagine that the World Wide Web and its modest wonders are no more than the test pattern for whatever the 21st century will regard as its equivalent medium. Not that I can even remotely imagine what that medium might actually be. In the age of wooden television in the South where I grew up, leisure involved sitting on screened porches, smoking cigarettes, drinking iced tea, engaging in conversation and staring into space. It might also involve fishing.

To be successful, apparently, is to be chronically busy. As new technologies search out and lace over every interstice in the net of global communication, we find ourselves with increasingly less excuse for … slack.And that, I would argue, is what the World Wide Web, the test pattern for whatever will become the dominant global medium, offers us. Today, in its clumsy, larval, curiously innocent way, it offers us the opportunity to waste time, to wander aimlessly, to daydream about the countless other lives, the other people, on the far sides of however many monitors in that postgeographical meta-country we increasingly call home. It will probably evolve into something considerably call home. It will evolve into something considerably less random, and less fun – we seem to have a knack for – but in the meantime, in its gloriously unsorted Global Ham Television Postcard Universes phase, surfing the Web is a procrastinator’s dream. And people who see you doing it might even imagine you’re working.”

–William Gibson (excerpts)

I liked this article. It’s not quite my vision on the web, yet it has a strong ludditic influence, very unlikely from your average sci-fi author.

The question of what the web is-is one that is difficult to answer. The web has an almost spiritual connection to me. The web is where I grew up, and today, the web is where people live.

Or maybe, the web is just a collection of computers that has a lot porn space.

A couple of things that caught my eye, T.H. Kerry thinks the U.S. is Hell: http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040803_598.html

Belief in Hell helps economies:
http://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/re/2004/c/pages/fear_of_hell.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5529195/

and unemployment is low:
http://money.cnn.com/2004/09/03/news/economy/jobless_august/