Archive for February, 2007
200K, Yay!
Whew-whoo! 200,000 page views. Thanks to all our readers! This reminds me of when my celica roled past 200,000 miles… not to mention when my CRX roled past 200,000 miles… What? Its not my fault the affordable cars had a lot of miles. Besides a Toyota or Honda need 100k just really get broken in… :)
No CommentsPresidents Day Quiz
In honor of Presidents Day we have a little history quiz…
Someone’s signature is often refered to as their "John Hancock" - why did this expression originate?
John Hancock was the first person to sign the declaration of independance AND his signature was huge (and ornate) compared to the others.
Bonus Points: Who do we have to thank that John was not captured by the British in 1775?
In April 1775, Paul Revere got John Hancock & Samuel Adams out of Lexington hours before the British arrived. Samuel Adams, of course, is famous for his ferverent boycott of tea including the Boston Tea Party protest. A lesser known fact, is that Adams’ motivation behind the tea boycott was not freedom from British appression or taxes, but creating an increased demand for his beer. ;)
No CommentsThe Price Is Wrong
Wow. I just witnessed some real stupidity. Today on the Price Is Right, contestant Jose displayed what we’re calling "bad math". After making it to the showcase showdown, Jose was forced to guess the total amount of his showcase (typically between $10-30k) without going over.
Adding up "all of it" (as he put it) turned out to be long chore. After much prodding from Bob Barker, Jose announced his total: $250,000. Mr Barker politely told him to "reconsider" his bid — probably because the showcase displays didn’t have enough digits to display such a gross over-estimate. With a tad more prodding, Jose re-estimated his showcase at $60,000.
Shortly later the other contestant smiled and promptly bid $1 for her showcase. Probably making Price Is Right history and securing her victory.
No CommentsReagan Quotes
Added some good Reagan quotes…
Great Race Of 07
While the major news networks hem and haw over the "upcoming" Presidential election (a mere two years out), I would point out the great race of 07: The Nobel Peace Prize.
Created by inventor Alfred Nobel in his will in 1896 to be given to the individual or organization who "shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding of
peace congresses." The first Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in 1901 to Henry Dunant and Frederic Passy.
This year promises to be a banner year for the peace prize as both Rush Limbaugh and Al Gore have been nominated. Rush has been nominated for his "two decades of tireless efforts to promote liberty, equality and opportunity for all humankind, regardless of race, creed, economic stratum or national origin. These are the only real cornerstones of just and lasting peace throughout the world". Al was nominated for his movie, An Inconvenient Truth, about global warming and "making a difference".
I believe this underscores the waning respect this honor now garners. And has everyone forgotten that this is a PEACE prize? Aren’t their any more Mother Teresas in the world?
No CommentsAdding Ethanol To Gas Hurts Mexico And America
National Review Online has an interesting article on the impact of increasing the ethanol content in gasoline. The idea sounds good: increase the amount of corn-based ethanol in gasoline to reduce our dependance on foreign oil and help protect the environment. Unfortunatley in practice it does a lot more.
Increasing ethanol in US Gas has increased corn tortillas in Mexico 55% - bad for poor Mexicans. Increasing the cost of food for the poorest people in Mexico is creating political instability there. If trends continue, Mexico won’t be the only one experiencing higher food costs. Not only will the cost of everything made from corn increase, but food that is fed corn (think meat) will increase in price as well.
The worst part is that the government is considering mandating a 20% level of ethanol into gas by 2017. The problem is that America doesn’t have that much corn. If all the corn grown here was converted to ethanol instead of food, we would be at a 12% level. So our great plan is to trade dependance on oil for corn while increasing the cost of living and destabilizing Mexico. Great idea guys.
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Best Superbowl Commercials
What a great game yesterday! And yet another year of entertaining commercials. The top 10 best superbowl commercials were:
- Coke old guy
- Bud dalmation for a day
- Doritos spicy cheesey crunchy
- Careerbuilder fight for promotion
- Tacobell lions
- Bud light hitchhikers
- Coke grand not-theft auto
- GM robot dream
- Bud light wedding
- Chevy carwash