Bike Bits
5 days ago
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Topless Down Under
From a Western Australian news site.
More than 130,000 inflatable breasts have been lost at sea en route to Australia.
Men's magazine Ralph was planning to include the boobs as a free gift with its January issue.
The cargo is worth about $200,000, which is another blow for publisher ACP's parent company PBL, which is already in $4.3 billion of debt.
A spokeswoman for Ralph said the container left docks in Beijing two weeks ago but turned up empty in Sydney this week.
Um...nobody noticed the odd-looking hats worn by the ship's crew members?
More than 130,000 inflatable breasts have been lost at sea en route to Australia.
Men's magazine Ralph was planning to include the boobs as a free gift with its January issue.
The cargo is worth about $200,000, which is another blow for publisher ACP's parent company PBL, which is already in $4.3 billion of debt.
A spokeswoman for Ralph said the container left docks in Beijing two weeks ago but turned up empty in Sydney this week.
Um...nobody noticed the odd-looking hats worn by the ship's crew members?
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
99 Bottles Of Beer On The Wall
I have an account with the Social Science Research Network where I find lots of interesting papers to peruse. While browsing at random, I came across this title.
"Estimating the Impact of Beer Prices on the Incidence of Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Cross-Province and Time Series Evidence from Canada"
Abstract: We attempt to contribute to the literature by evaluating the effects of higher beer prices on gonorrhea and chlamydia rates through pooling data across Canadian provinces and over time. Ordinary least squares as well as instrumental variables estimates suggest that higher real beer prices are correlated with a reduction in both gonorrhea and chlamydia rates, with corresponding implied elasticities within a tightly defined interval of (roughly) 0.7 to 0.9. However, the increase in real beer prices over the sample period is only responsible for less than a tenth of the decline in gonorrhea rates.
For the life of me, I can't imagine anyone outside of a writer for The Daily Show asking the question, "What effect does the price of beer have on the rate of sexually transmitted diseases...ummmm...in Canada?"
"Estimating the Impact of Beer Prices on the Incidence of Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Cross-Province and Time Series Evidence from Canada"
Abstract: We attempt to contribute to the literature by evaluating the effects of higher beer prices on gonorrhea and chlamydia rates through pooling data across Canadian provinces and over time. Ordinary least squares as well as instrumental variables estimates suggest that higher real beer prices are correlated with a reduction in both gonorrhea and chlamydia rates, with corresponding implied elasticities within a tightly defined interval of (roughly) 0.7 to 0.9. However, the increase in real beer prices over the sample period is only responsible for less than a tenth of the decline in gonorrhea rates.
For the life of me, I can't imagine anyone outside of a writer for The Daily Show asking the question, "What effect does the price of beer have on the rate of sexually transmitted diseases...ummmm...in Canada?"
Invisible
I wear slippers and scuff along the sidewalk. I ask for money, cigarettes, booze or food. My baggy, grey sweat pants are stained. I'm that young person sitting on the sidewalk asking for change. I pull a wagon or push a shopping cart containing all that I own. Oftentimes I smell. I talk out loud to nobody in particular without the luxury of a Bluetooth. The backpack and sleeping bag I carry are my home. I haven't shaved in days or sometimes months. I lost my house and then my car. A belt holds my ill-fitting jacket closed because the zipper is broken. I don't know when I last saw a doctor. Don't make contact with my rheumy eyes.
Don't.
Monday, December 1, 2008
We Can Dream, Can't We?
Joanne Mariner has an interesting piece about accounting for abuses that took place as a result of the attacks of Sep 11. In part:
A Commission of Inquiry
With the new administration entering office, it is time for a full, public, and objective accounting of the scale of post-9/11 abuses, why and how they occurred, and who was responsible for authorizing and facilitating them. Although several congressional inquiries, military reports, and Department of Justice investigations have looked into particular aspects of these questions, there has never been a comprehensive public inquiry into post-9/11 abuses.
Investigations to date have been incomplete and imperfect. Most crucially, they have either lacked independence from the executive branch or have not been granted access to necessary documentary and testimonial evidence.
During the first six months of his term, President Obama should work with Congress to set up a commission of inquiry to investigate, document, and publicly report on post-9/11 counterterrorism-related abuses. The commission should specifically address the question of who should be held accountable for these abuses and how accountability can be achieved.
A Commission of Inquiry
With the new administration entering office, it is time for a full, public, and objective accounting of the scale of post-9/11 abuses, why and how they occurred, and who was responsible for authorizing and facilitating them. Although several congressional inquiries, military reports, and Department of Justice investigations have looked into particular aspects of these questions, there has never been a comprehensive public inquiry into post-9/11 abuses.
Investigations to date have been incomplete and imperfect. Most crucially, they have either lacked independence from the executive branch or have not been granted access to necessary documentary and testimonial evidence.
During the first six months of his term, President Obama should work with Congress to set up a commission of inquiry to investigate, document, and publicly report on post-9/11 counterterrorism-related abuses. The commission should specifically address the question of who should be held accountable for these abuses and how accountability can be achieved.
Can't See The Lint For the Fuzz
Recently, the Spovangelist came up with an idea to create a small publication, The Spokane Blog Bible, containing descriptions of local blogs. My "duh!" moment in this was asking why "Blog Bible"? Because the Spovangelist is an evangelist for Spokane. Duh! At first I declined to participate. After letting it stew for a bit, my curiosity got the better of me and in order to see what would happen I decided to join in and submitted an entry for Shallow Cogitations. Participating bloggers had to begin their entry with "Thou shalt..." As an aside I wonder how many used the imperatively denying "Thou shalt not..." (guilty) as opposed to the imperative "Thou shalt..."
The Spokane Blog Bible's release party is at 5:30-8:00 pm, Dec 6, at the Magic Lantern Theatre and everybody in the free world, along with those who can escape from the non-free parts, is invited. They're even showing the movie "Hackers" (PG-13). So come on out if you're interested in meeting some Spokane bloggers or, better yet, people with interests similar to your own.
It's neat that in the last 18 months I've made some new friends and met some really great people whom I probably never would've crossed paths with otherwise. It reminds me of the interconnectedness expressed in The Five People You Meet In Heaven but on a far more humbler scale.
**************
Now my participation in this got me wondering. Why do I write this blog? I'm not out to change the world. I don't fancy myself as being particularly erudite or clever and I'm not looking for people to say so one way or the other. I'm certainly not better than anybody else. I never advertised my blog but people have managed to find it. While I don't care if anyone reads it or comments on it, I admit I experience a small amount of excitement when a subject line in my email begins with "[Shallow Cogitations] New comment on..." I reckon the relative anonymity acts as a safe harbor. For me you could say it's almost a sort of opt-in performance art where certain distractors are missing.
I understand Google Analytics could give me all kinds of information about page hits, etc., but I'm really not interested. Once I noticed I had a "follower", the naming of which--and this is no reflection on the person who likes my blog enough to want to be notified of new postings--I found disturbing. I would prefer "reader". But that's just me.
After mulling it over for far too long, I think the heading in my profile section pretty much says it all: "Me! Me! It's all about me!" in that I write this for mostly selfish reasons. Hardly anything fails to catch my interest. I like to write and I want to improve my writing skills. I like to think about things and I work at being more balanced at it. I like humor and fun. I like to challenge the status quo. The arcane, the obscure, the enigmatic and the road less traveled are curious to me. I like to wonder why. I appreciate new perspectives.
But I also like to share. And while you are welcome to everything on this site, I trust it won't bother you to know that I didn't do it for you.
Okay, I'm done navel gazing.
And just look at the mess I made. Too much for the lint remover. Better get the broom and dustpan.
The Spokane Blog Bible's release party is at 5:30-8:00 pm, Dec 6, at the Magic Lantern Theatre and everybody in the free world, along with those who can escape from the non-free parts, is invited. They're even showing the movie "Hackers" (PG-13). So come on out if you're interested in meeting some Spokane bloggers or, better yet, people with interests similar to your own.
It's neat that in the last 18 months I've made some new friends and met some really great people whom I probably never would've crossed paths with otherwise. It reminds me of the interconnectedness expressed in The Five People You Meet In Heaven but on a far more humbler scale.
Now my participation in this got me wondering. Why do I write this blog? I'm not out to change the world. I don't fancy myself as being particularly erudite or clever and I'm not looking for people to say so one way or the other. I'm certainly not better than anybody else. I never advertised my blog but people have managed to find it. While I don't care if anyone reads it or comments on it, I admit I experience a small amount of excitement when a subject line in my email begins with "[Shallow Cogitations] New comment on..." I reckon the relative anonymity acts as a safe harbor. For me you could say it's almost a sort of opt-in performance art where certain distractors are missing.
I understand Google Analytics could give me all kinds of information about page hits, etc., but I'm really not interested. Once I noticed I had a "follower", the naming of which--and this is no reflection on the person who likes my blog enough to want to be notified of new postings--I found disturbing. I would prefer "reader". But that's just me.
After mulling it over for far too long, I think the heading in my profile section pretty much says it all: "Me! Me! It's all about me!" in that I write this for mostly selfish reasons. Hardly anything fails to catch my interest. I like to write and I want to improve my writing skills. I like to think about things and I work at being more balanced at it. I like humor and fun. I like to challenge the status quo. The arcane, the obscure, the enigmatic and the road less traveled are curious to me. I like to wonder why. I appreciate new perspectives.
But I also like to share. And while you are welcome to everything on this site, I trust it won't bother you to know that I didn't do it for you.
Okay, I'm done navel gazing.
And just look at the mess I made. Too much for the lint remover. Better get the broom and dustpan.
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