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Read it for yourself, suitcases have literally fallen out of the sky - after escaping an airplane cargo hold first, of course.
Best line from the article, in answer to the question most likely to be on the reader's partially attentive mind? Did the suitcase survive?
"The condition of the bag, which may have fallen several thousand feetfrom an open cargo bay door, was not known, the airline said." Rumor has it that one of the bags is on life-support and is not expected to survive, and the other bag is in guarded but stable condition. No word on the contents or why the airplane felt impelled to make like the Biblical Jonah and expectorate onto dry land, or in this case into thin air. (extra points for identifying the connection to Jon Krakauer in the last sentence).
Click here if you give up and want to know what Jon Krakauer has to do with suitcases falling out of the sky. (Nothing)Paladin is feeling:  chipper |
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Sports Illustrated online reports on one Roberto Madrazo, unsuccessful candidate for Mexico's presidential election last year, who appeared to win the Berlin marathan 55+ age category in the rather amazing time of 2:41:12. Apparently Madrazo didn't know, or forgot, that he was wearing an electronic tracking chip. The chip reported that he skipped two checkpoints, which meant that he covered nine miles in only 21 minutes. Almost as fast as a speeding bullet, we must say.
Madrazo's "winning photograph" showed him wearing a wind breaker, hat and long running pants, a bit much for someone running 26.2 miles in 60 degree weather. The photographer alerted race officials, and the rest is rather sad, dubious history! |
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So I needed to get some items from the store in order to have breakfast. We have a new Nob Hill near us and I was wondering what time they open. First I tried a search for Nob Hill in Alameda, but that didn't produce what I was looking for. However, one of the links gave me the general website - www.nobhill.com . What a surprising URL, huh? Anyway, and you can try this yourself on this website of any consumer store website, I went to the home page and looked for the "store locator." I won't tell you where it is, so you can see how long it takes you to find it.
It occurs to me that a very signficant percentage of traffic to consumer store homepages is for precisely this; to locate the store nearest to me, or you, or them, whoever. But usually, the store locator link is tucked away somewhere in small print and not easy to find, because the "geniuses" of web design are thinking about what "corporate" wants to push, and not about what the consumer needs.
Good news, though, I discovered that "our" Nob Hill opens at 5 am in the morning, perfect for those sunrise runs to the store for that emergency item you simply must have.Paladin is feeling: content |
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Well, its nice to know that Mahmoud Ahmadiinejad is a big fan of author Michael Chabon. As the reader knows, Chabon's latest opus posits the quick failure of the State of Israel with the resulting establishment of a temporary homeland for Jews in Alaska. The peace loving friend of homosexuals who masquerades as the leader for the real powers in Iran, is saying today that the Jewish homeland should move to Europe or Alaska. I'm sure the suggestion of Europe is not at all a "back to the land of the holocaust" idea. And Alaska? Its a good fictional premise, but I don't think its going to happen any time soon.
Once the world runs out of oil it will be a better place for Jews to live in, because then no one will pay attention to the hatred and bigotry that unfortunately continues to spew out of much of the Arab world. |
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I'm from Chicago, where - as the saying goes - we vote Democratic, we vote early, and we vote often!
Today is dedicated to supporting Republicans, because the better they do, the better the chance to take back our country from the powerful, the private and the predictable!
First off, let's root for Larry (I'm not Gay) Craig to hold on to his office. He doesn't have a leg to stand on; he's got three legs to stand on, if the reader knows what I mean. Because, if he stays in office, there's a better chance of a Democratic candidate winning his seat in 2008.
Second, let's root for the right-wing leaning conservative Christians to run their own presidential candidate in 2008, because as they see it, the Republican party has been taken over by left-leaning fellow-traveling liberals! May the ghost of Ralph Nader haunt them all, only this time from the right.
And thirdly, let's root for Rudy (three marriages) Giuliani, Mitt (no I never believed all that liberal hogwash I was spotting I'm a true believer now) Romney , John (security means invading a country half way around the world and pouring all our precious resources into anything but health care for the uninsured, rebuilding a crumbling infrastructure, protecting our ports and chemical plants) McCain, and Joe Don Baker, or Fred Dalton Thompson, or whatever his name is, the only credible Law and Order candidate we have. And maybe hard-ass Abby Carmichael can become attorney general. Hey, at least we'll have an AG that looks good.
So remember, root Republican... but vote Democratic.Paladin is feeling: cheerful |
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Temperatures moderating from extreme heat to cool and mild as Cubs go 10 games over the .500 mark and lead the Milwaukee Brewers by 3 games in the all-important loss column. Refrigerator trucks have been seen gathering in the vicinity of the river Styx waiting for the ferry. |
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Dan Rather's lawsuit, which he has filed in an apparent attempt to rehabilitate his news anchor reputation, instead shines the light directly on how little anchor-people have to do with actual reporting, and how mythical is the idea "you can trust me because I'm a news anchor on a big important TV network".
As the New York Times has it
By his own rendering, Mr. Rather was little more than a narrator of the disputed broadcast, which was shown on Sept. 8, 2004, on the midweek edition of 60 Minutes and which purported to offer new evidence of preferential treatment given to Mr. Bush when he was a lieutenant in the Air National Guard.
As the San Francisco Chronicle new service has it
Rather's lawsuit says he was forced to apologize "as defendants well knew, even if any aspect of the broadcast had not been accurate, which has never been established, Mr. Rather was not responsible for any such errors.
And alsoHe relied on a trusted producer and didn't check the story for accuracy, or apparently, even see it before he introduced it on the program.
So.... doesn't this mean that all he did was read a story off a teleprompter?
So.... doesn't this sound a lot like Bernie Ebbers, Richard Scrushy and a host of failed CEO's who never saw (translation: didn't want to admit) any irony between their bazillion dollar salaries (Rather - $6M a year) and their claims of "I didn't know" "it wasn't me" and "I depended on the people under me (that I stepped over on my way up, or that were busy licking my boots or a certain part of my anatomy).
Well, one thing is for sure. Despite the looming crisis in healthcare, Irony is alive and well in America. |
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My watch fought the microwave, and my watch won. Reached to close the door, hit one of the two plastic hooks with face of the watch. Hook broke. Discovered that you can latch the door with only one hook, and you can defrost chicken. Opening the door - that's a different question. Pressing the button to open the door raises the lower hook, which in turn raises the upper hook. Guess which hook I broke! You are correct.
Anyway, a very nice gentlemen at Kap's microwave in Oakland told me over the phone how to get the door open. So I felt a moral obligation to take the microwave to him for paid repairs. (Yom Kippur starts in two days, don't you know).
Was reminded this morning this morning that defrosting bread and re-heating coffee requires extensive microwave use. Otherwise you have to think to get the two slices of bread out of the freezer five minutes early, and you have to make fresh coffee. As Mona Lisa Vitto says in the closing scene of "My Cousin Vinnie" - what a freaking nightmare! |
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or... America Held Hostage - O.J. strikes again.
The chattering classes are all aflame the last two days because O.J. has been arrested on an ever-increasing list of charges stemming from an attempted robbery in a Las Vegas hotel. His co-perps are rapidly turning on him in a manner strangely similar to Michael Vick's alleged friends in the dog torturing business. As the missus put it - "does he think he's invisible?" To which I replied "No, just stupid".
More amazing, and orders of magnitude more stupid, this was the lead feature on Good Morning America this morning, and probably on all the other shows as well. I didn't check. Obviously, felony charges against a broken down ex football player are of greater significance than
- the Fed's interest rate cut that drove stock markets upward like a rocket departing Cape Canaveral, er, Kennedy, er Canaveral
- Blackwater USA apparently gunning down a bunch of Iraquis
- the tasing of a college student
- the last Senate appearance of Larry Craig
I could list more but that is sufficient. Is this country going to "h" "e" double hockey sticks in a handbasket, or what?
Coming soon - the all perp all-star NFL football team. |
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One of the many things in life that I don't understand is why anyone would answer the phone to say they can't talk on the phone because they are in a meeting, or in the case of Larry Craig, in the bathroom. Or in the case of Orenthal James Simpson, in the hotel room with the gun getting back the memorabilia.
If you can't talk on the phone, then don't answer it! Hello... or not! as the case may be. |
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