Ronald Reagan’s face could one day adorn the $10 bill or half the dimes minted in the country, if fans of the late president get their way. (full story)
Um, well, maybe after a while? There’s nothing really wrong with the presidents and other folks on the bills now, that I’m aware of. Plus it’d be rather weird… Mr. Reagan would feel out of place. He’d be the youngest by far. And if Reagan got on a bill, you know King George would be jockying for a spot on the $20. I mean, Hamilton was an interesting fellow. And he was the *first* to do something, not just the *most recent*. And would the Mint have to pay royalties to the Screen Actor’s Guild for using Reagan’s image? He is a Hollywood icon, after all.
Eminem, who performed at the Saturday night taping with his group D12, appeared onstage dressed in a long red wig and jeans in a parody of Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose.
He repeatedly groped and flashed a studded codpiece in front of the cameras and the thousands of people in the live audience. Toward the end of the performance, he pulled down his trousers and flashed his bare backside at the audience. (full story)
Mature. Real mature. I used to kind of respect the guy for saying whatever he wanted, but mooning? Come on, Mr. Eminem, you’re not four anymore.
The case is United States v. Public Citizen, 03-358. (full story)
Nice move naming your consumer group Public Citizen … makes for interesting press. So it looks like the environmental study is off … those trucks better be in exact compliance with US pollution and traffic laws or I’m going to be mad.
Ivory Coast’s leaders including President Laurent Gbagbo must end their bickering and work together toward peace or risk fresh widespread violence, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Monday. (full story)
Is it just me or does that sound a tad threatening? Kind of like Annan is threatening UN-sanctioned widespread violence. “Quit it guys, c’mon, knock it off… or the UN will knock you off” The UN has such a ridiculous amount of trouble dealing with little countries and eensy-weensy groups of people, what would happen if, say, France or Germany or Mexico started fighting with themsel ves? Yesterday’s conflicts still echo even in American barbecues… the Frankfurter vs. Hamburger question, the ancient battle between the Baron von Frankfurt and the Chancellor of Hamburg could not have easily been solved without the liberal international aid package codenamed ‘ketchup and mustard’. So must the UN act to quell disturbances. That or they need a bigger quasimilitary force. That would be cool. “Quit your little local struggle or the free nations of Earth will crush you.” Talk about bringing democracy to the Middle East.
Can Ronald Reagan’s political magic work in one last election — this time for President Bush? Republican strategists acknowledged Monday that they hope the nation’s week of mourning for Reagan, who died Saturday, will turn into a boost for Bush’s reelection campaign. (CNN.com ‘daily grind’, non-permanent link)
…and Kerry is taking the week off to honor Reagan. Who’s got the morals? Kerry got the morals… That is, if he doesn’t change his mind.
… and what’s up with this ’such-and-such shot dead’? We’re not in the Ozarks here, people, we don’t be reckoning he be gettin shot dead. Let’s try out the word ‘killed’ or ‘fatally wounded’ every now and again, eh? Fine, he was shot. If someone was shot, we say he was shot. Not shot live, not shot-living, not ‘almost missed’. Shot. Neither do we say someone was ‘hit dead’ by a car, ’smashed dead’ by a tree, ’sickened dead’ by an illness or ’stabbed dead’ by a robber. When someone’s life is ended by such an action, they are dead. Killed. Ended. Muerte. Tot. Shot and killed might be acceptable. Killed by gunfire. Fatally wounded. Quickly shuffled off this mortal coil by aid of a revolver. After all, guns don’t kill people, the bullet ripping through their flesh does.
France, Germany and Spain say they intend to vote for a United Nations resolution on the transfer of power in Iraq. (full story)
… and a buck says China will try to block it. Just watch.
Scientists have not directly correlated exposure to PBDEs ['toxic computer dust'] with specific diseases or developmental impairment. (full story)
I know, what exposure to toxic computer dust does! Call on me! I know! I know! It causes money to be diverted from useful things to insipid studies of computer dust. Of course computers are toxic, fools, you don’t have to study it. Let’s just all agree that some people are too stupid and naive to realize that stuff in the world is harmful. Everything gives you cancer if you’re exposed to enough of it. Ever notice how health and safety nuts seem to be the first to kick the bucket? Live a little, people, and quit wondering what kinds of illnesses you can get from your computer. That’s called paranoia. Get over it, and don’t eat your computer.
Airport Express. So freakin cool. I must get one.
“Wi-Fi wants to be free,” said John Yunker, an analyst at Byte Level Research who follows wireless technology. He believes high-speed wireless access will evolve over the next several years into a freebie service, much like cable television or air-conditioning in hotel rooms, that customers come to expect at cafes, airports and conference centers. (full story)
Okay, let’s work through the math here.
Approximate average cost of a Starbucks transaction: $3.00
Approximate number of people served daily (based on an estimate of one person per minute, which seems ridiculously slow): 480
Gross sales daily: $1440
Gross sales monthly: $43200
Gross customers monthly: 14400
Average cost of broadband (non-fancy-T-mobile-T1, lets go DSL instead): $40/month
Internet cost divided by number of customers per month: $0.0028
Factor in a wireless access point, a one-time cost of $100 added to the first month of service: $0.0097
Scott’s solution: raise drink prices five cents, reap a crazy additional profit and provide free wireless service, all the while bringing in new customers because of the service.
Additional brilliant idea: limit the bandwidth to maybe 2x dialup speed. Put little peel-off stickers on the cups with codes that get a faster connection. Call them ZipCodes or something.
From the Wired sidebar:
Religious Regimens
What do evangelical Christians and “back to nature” health buffs have in common? They’re both targets of a recent batch of Bible-based eating plans flooding bookstores. “The Lord gave us everything we need in the Garden of Eden: fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds,” said the Rev. George Malkmus from Hallelujah Acres, his North Carolina headquarters. Similarly divine diets have been outlined in Dr. Don Colbert’s What Would Jesus Eat? and Gwen Shamblin’s The Weigh Down Diet, which urges eaters to follow “God’s perfect boundaries of hunger and fullness.” Malkmus, like many in this crowd, lacks formal scientific training, but he does employ a researcher, who determined that Malkmus’ “Hallelujah diet,” which was drawn from Genesis 1:29, was deficient in vitamin B-12. “This shocked me, that God’s perfect eating plan could have a flaw,” said Malkmus.
— Jenny McKeel
General
