Saturday, May 10, 2008

The Case of the Too-Small Gloves

One legal case in recent history seemed to turn on a rhyme: "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit."

As for me, I thought the man guilty, but I have always been curious as to why the gloves seemed small.

Now, one of OJ's buddies offers a possible explanation:
Gilbert also claims that he counseled the jailed Simpson during his murder trial to stop taking his arthritis medicine so his hands would swell up and not fit the bloody gloves in court.
What do you think?
Can you believe
he got out of the clink
by not taking Aleve?

Friday, May 09, 2008

Push Presents

There's a new trend called "push presents". Women get them from their mates for pushing babies out of their bodies.

Helen Smith isn't sure she likes the idea:
...it is the expectation that one is to be reimbursed for the act of child-birth that is troubling here.
I do wonder if Michelle Duggar has been cashing in on this trend. She's pregnant with her 18th child.
With two sets of twins, Michelle, 41, has gone through 15 pregnancies that ended in 13 natural deliveries and two Caesarean sections.
Speaking of C-sections, there's no real pushing involved when they are of the scheduled variety. So do you still get a "push present"? Or would it be better to call it an "operation donation"?

Due to the size of the human infant's brain,
pushing out babies can be a giant pain.

Math Gaffe

Obama says he has visited every corner of the U.S., hitting 57 states as part of his campaign, with just "one left to go".

Video and other links here.

I guess the 57 with 1 to go refers to the 58 contiguous states. When you throw in Alaska and Hawaii that's 60. You didn't know about the 10 new states?

The funny thing is that he's in the Senate. You know - the legislative body with 100 members because there are 2 for each state? Of course, it's his first term in the Senate, so maybe he hasn't gotten around to counting all the seats yet.

If there's more contiguous states than we already had,
Mexico and/or Canada will really be mad!

But the people who sell American flags will surely be glad.

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Extreme Monotreme

They've run through the DNA code for the Platypus.

You know, that comical critter from the land down under.

It's furry and duck-billed and lays leather eggs
and keeps deadly poison in claws on its legs.

Update: it's only the male who has the poison on a spur on each of his back legs, and it's not deadly to humans, just very painful.

Of course, it's only the female who lays eggs, so I could try redoing it like this:

They're furry and duck-billed.
She lays leather eggs.
He has spurs - poison-filled
upon his hind legs.

ThomJeffBlog.Com

If Thomas Jefferson came back to blog,
he'd stare at our technology, agog,
and post some words of happiness and praise.

Then to our politics he would turn his gaze,
That's where I'm worried he might choose to write
words that border on the impolite.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

That Second Spot On The Ticket

I've idly wondered if Hillary is trying to get the vice-presidential slot under Obama.

But apparently, Jon Stewart was trying to talk McCain into having her as his running mate:
"If you choose Sen. Clinton, you would win this election."

"That’s one I never contemplated," McCain said of the New York senator who is running for the nomination of the Democratic party.

"Do you want to say into the camera right now that you would do that?" Stewart asked the candidate.

"No," McCain said. "I don’t want to look in the camera and say that I would ever do that."
If Mrs. C
joined the GOP
and asked real nice if she could be
McCain's VP,
I'd hope that he
wouldn't agree.

Academic Boom

Could higher education be in trouble?
Will it pop in the next market bubble?

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Victory?

Do I have to go to bed without a full consensus on whether Hillary really edged out Obama in Indiana?

She sounded victorious, but I also thought I heard the first signs that she is facing reality. She said something about Democrats coming together to support whoever the candidate is. It kind of sounded like she wasn't so sure it would be her.

The delegate count
continues to mount
in Barrack's column.

For Hillary, the moment must be solemn.

Bird Business

The birds go about their business,
flying, mating, making nests,
and singing in the spring.

Eggs can soon be expected,
young who must be protected
until their lives take wing.

Monday, May 05, 2008

Crash and Burn and Get Rescued

This morning a guy crashed his car on the North side of Chicago.

The car caught on fire.

Fortunately, Mike Gunia, 56, lived across the street, and responded immediately, pulling the man from the burning car.

Gunia's been a firefighter for 22 years.
After pulling the man out of the car, Gunia went back home.
Figures. If I pulled a man from a burning car, I'd be really excited. I'd be standing around telling everyone I met... till the buzz wore off, anyway, which would probably be 48 hours later. This guy... it's what he does for a living. So he just goes home.

Pulling people out of harm's way
for him is just a normal day.

Ironman the Sequel

The Ironman movie did so well at the box office, on its first weekend, that a sequel is already being announced.

And I haven't even seen the first one yet!

You know, just to carbon-date myself, I remember when Ironman didn't have any red in his suit. (See the Tales of Suspense cover at the Wikipedia site.)

Back then he was a metal tsunami
knocking over meddling commies.

Singlemindedness

To focus on one purpose for the hour,
and drive toward that goal with all one's power,
kicking in some hunger as a boost,
can leave one stunned at what has been produced.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Beaten by Kenyans Again

Whew. Just finished the Palos Bank Southwest Half-Marathon. The weather broke our way - blue skies, cool, light wind. The course was lovely - wide road through the woods - practically a straight line out-and-back route. 1500 or so runners.

The lead pack, when I saw it, consisted of 3 Kenyans.

I feel fine, which means I could have run faster!

It's my firm opinion
that no matter how fast I go,
I'll never catch the Kenyans.

They make lightning look slow.