Thursday, June 28, 2007

Hatchet Annie - Coulter Strikes Again

Ann Coulter: "Giving strong women everywhere a bad name" | BlogHer

This links to a range of opinions on Annie's latest stink. Most of them are thoughtful and well reasoned but I have to disagree with the 'insult comic' theory. Unlike Don Rickles or Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog, Coulter is not trying to be funny. She's a zealot for her cause and she's on the attack from the word go, aggressive and hostile and not looking to be at all conciliatory. You're either with her or against her and if you're against her you're not going to hear jokes or comic ridicule you're going to hear scorn and derisive comments about your personal beliefs and dismissal of your basic value as a human being. Insult comics have no problem making a person look ridiculous in order to make their audience laugh but they stop short, if they want to keep working, of vicious attacks and character assassination because nobody thinks that stuff is funny.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Skype 3.5 adds Call Transfer

Skype 3.5 adds Call Transfer

"So in other words using On-State, a business can setup a call center WITH ACD functionality and WITH Call Transfer functionality and with all the other typical Skype features (voicemail, IM, etc.). What else do you need to run your enterprise voice network? If any company is running a company with >10 employees and is exclusively using Skype, let me know and I'll profile your organization here on my blog."

Skype Journal: Skype Sightings at eBay Live

Skype Journal: Skype Sightings at eBay Live

Wii Bowling at eBay Live Boston

Wii Bowling at eBay Live Boston

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

KCBS - Contaminated Toothpaste Sold in Bay Area

KCBS - Contaminated Toothpaste Sold in Bay Area: "Marie Coveney didn't notice her toothpaste was made in South Africa when she first bought it. But she stopped using it because, 'My husband tasted it (and he said), 'This tastes kind of funny; where'd you get it?' I said, 'the flea market.' I tasted it, too, (it) does not taste like Colgate.'"

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Lothrop Withington III, 65; handled legal system with the ease of a sailor - The Boston Globe

Lothrop Withington III, 65; handled legal system with the ease of a sailor - The Boston Globe: "When he was out of the office, Mr. Withington loved nothing more than slipping on rain gear and sailing the Atlantic in his 23-foot sailboat, the Aleator. He regularly chartered boats in the Virgin Islands and competed in the Marion to Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race.

Mr. Withington was the son of Lothrop Withington Jr. of Plymouth, who was said to have started the goldfish-swallowing craze at Harvard College in 1939, and Lois Brewster Roberts of Harwich, who descended from a Mayflower passenger."

Thursday, June 14, 2007

No gay marriage vote for Massachusetts | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

No gay marriage vote for Massachusetts | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "Raymond Flynn, the former Boston mayor and former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican who was the lead sponsor of the proposed amendment, said the 170,000 Massachusetts residents who signed the petition for the ban 'had their vote stolen from them.'"

Ray Flynn cries foul but conveniently ignores history. The fact is that the judges who interpreted the constitution and came down with the pro gay marriage ruling were all appointed by duly elected Governors of the Commonwealth and the legislators who stood for equlity and fairness today were all duly elected representatives of the people.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

RED ALERT! EU moves past “grave concern” mode - New Europe News: #1 The European News Source

RED ALERT! EU moves past “grave concern” mode - New Europe News: #1 The European News Source: "More worries for dictators, despots, totalitarians and just-plain bad people who run countries like Sudan, where hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and two million more forced into refugee status: the European Union is upgrading its level of concern over genocide, mass murder, and repression of human rights.
Until now, the EU thought it was enough to fire off a flurry of press releases, killing more trees then people have died in Darfur, to express its worry.
But being ignored for four years has so irritated the EU that its previous strategy of sending off a letter, then another letter and another letter, expressing “concern,” and then “deep concern” and then “grave concern,” will be replaced with a new system expressing faux grief. "

They make a number of very good points in this piece and the sarcasm is right on target. On the negative side they failed to give credit to the Three Stooges for the Dewey Cheatum and Howe* reference and in re: levels of concern it seems like minty fresh concern should have been mentioned. Maybe that's just me.

*Formerly Wee Fleeceum and Howe

Friday, June 08, 2007

Pace goes to keep war process details out of the light

General 'sacrificed' to clear decks on Iraq | Iraq | Guardian Unlimited: "It was also seen as an extraordinary retreat for an administration which had earlier prided itself on its resolve in pursuing policy matters, as well as loyalty to personnel. Mr Gates told the press conference that conversations in recent weeks with both Republican and Democratic senators had convinced him that a confirmation process would have shone the spotlight on the prosecution of the war."

Yeah, God forbid we should do that.

Scientist says executive of Avandia firm tried to bully - The Boston Globe

Scientist says executive of Avandia firm tried to bully - The Boston Globe

>>An executive of the company that makes the diabetes drug Avandia said a researcher who was among the first to link it to heart problems would be held liable for the $4 billion GlaxoSmithKline PLC lost in stock value as a result of his findings, Dr. John B. Buse testified before congressional investigators yesterday.<<