vikulka-96 diary

srijeda, 06.01.2010.

Linkage all around...

Tom Cruise Kills OperahRemember when Vinny on Entourage gets paid half a million dollars to do that crazy Japanese commercial that American fans will never see?Damn, the south is an odd place. Leprechauns.

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ponedjeljak, 04.01.2010.

Ringling Brothers' elephants through NYCGothamist ArticleMore Gothamistcoverage

Ringling Brothers' elephants through NYCGothamist ArticleMore Gothamistcoverage:Our set at FlickrYouTube video by FrankVideo by FromtheCabinPhotos by SelfishCrab

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petak, 01.01.2010.

Dave Barry : Why Lobsters Aren't Food

Why lobsters aren't foodBY DAVE BARRY(This classic Dave Barry column was originally published on Jan. 26, 1996.)I am pleased to report that the scientific community has finally stopped wasting time on the origins of the universe and started dealing with the important question, which is: Are lobsters really just big insects?I have always maintained that they are. I personally see no significant difference between a lobster and, say, a giant Madagascar hissing cockroach, which is a type of cockroach that grows to approximately the size of William Howard Taft (1857-1930). If a group of diners were sitting in a nice restaurant, and the waiter were to bring them each a freshly killed, steaming-hot Madagascar hissing cockroach, they would not put on silly bibs and eat it with butter. No, they would run, retching, directly from the restaurant to the All-Nite Drive-Thru Lawsuit Center. And yet these very same people will pay $24.95 apiece to eat a lobster, despite the fact that it displays all three of the classic biological characteristics of an insect, namely:1. It has way more legs than necessary.2. There is no way you would ever pet it.3. It does not respond to simple commands such as, ``Here, boy!''I do not eat lobsters, although I once had a close call. I was visiting my good friends Tom and Pat Schroth, who live in Maine (state motto: ``Cold, But Damp''). Being generous and hospitable people, Tom and Pat went out and purchased, as a special treat for me, the largest lobster in the history of the Atlantic Ocean, a lobster that probably had been responsible for sinking many commercial vessels before it was finally apprehended by nuclear submarines. This lobster was big enough to feed a coastal Maine village for a year, and there it was, sprawling all over my plate, with scary insectoid legs and eyeballs shooting out in all directions, while Tom and Pat, my gracious hosts, smiled happily at me, waiting for me to put this thing in my mouth.Remember when you were a child, and your mom wouldn't let you leave the dinner table until you ate all your Brussels sprouts, and so you took your fork and mashed them into smaller and smaller pieces in hopes of eventually reducing them to individual Brussels-sprout molecules that would be absorbed into the atmosphere and disappear? That was similar to the approach I took with the giant lobster.''Mmmm-MMMM!'' I said, hacking away at the thing on my plate and, when nobody was looking, concealing the pieces under my dinner roll, in the salad, in my napkin, anywhere I could find.Tom and Pat, I love you dearly, and if you should ever have an electrical problem that turns out to be caused by a seven-pound wad of old lobster pieces stuffed into the dining-room wall socket, I am truly sorry.Anyway, my point is that lobsters have long been suspected, by me at least, of being closet insects, which is why I was very pleased recently when my alert journalism colleague Steve Doig referred me to an Associated Press article concerning a discovery by scientists at the University of Wisconsin.The article, headlined ''Gene Links Spiders and Flies to Lobsters,'' states that not only do lobsters, flies, spiders, millipedes, etc., contain the exact same gene, but they also are all descended from a single common ancestor: Howard Stern.No, seriously, the article states that the ancestor ''probably was a wormlike creature.'' Yum! Fetch the melted butter!And that is not all. According to articles sent in by alert readers (this was on the front page of The New York Times), scientists in Denmark recently discovered that some lobsters have a weird little pervert organism living on their lips. Yes. I didn't even know that lobsters had lips, but it turns out that they do, and these lips are the stomping ground of a tiny creature called Symbion pandora (literally, ``a couple of Greek words''). The zoology community, which does not get out a lot, is extremely excited about Symbion pandora, because it reproduces differently from all other life forms.According to various articles, when Symbion pandora is ready to have a baby, its digestive system ''collapses and is reconstituted into a larva,'' which the parent then gives birth to by ''extruding'' it from its ''posterior.'' In other words -- correct me if I am wrong here -- this thing basically reproduces by pooping.So to summarize: If you're looking for a hearty entree that 1) is related to spiders, 2) is descended from a worm and 3) has mutant baby-poopers walking around on its lips, then you definitely want a lobster. I myself plan to continue avoiding them, just as I avoid oysters, which are clearly -- scientists should look into this next -- members of the phlegm family. Have you ever seen oysters reproduce? Neither have I, but I would not be surprised to learn that the process involves giant undersea nostrils.And don't get me started on clams. Recently, I sat across from a person who was deliberately eating clams. She'd open up a shell, and there, in plain view, would be this stark naked clam, brazenly showing its organs, like a high-school biology experiment. My feeling is that if a restaurant is going to serve those things, it should put little loincloths on them.I believe that Mother Nature gave us eyes because she did not want us to eat this type of food. Mother Nature clearly intended for us to get our food from the ''patty'' group, which includes hamburgers, fish sticks and McNuggets -- foods that have had all of their organs safely removed someplace far away, such as Nebraska. That is where I stand on this issue, and if any qualified member of the lobster, clam or phlegm-in-a-shell industry wishes to present a rebuttal, I hereby extend this offer: Get your own column.

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srijeda, 30.12.2009.

I want everything on this page

I want everything on this page...ESPECIALLY the Hydrofoil Water Scooter

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ponedjeljak, 28.12.2009.

i visited ye olde CHS today

i visited ye olde CHS today. holy crap that was pretty much as weird as it gets. for starters, it took me three tries just to get into the parking lot. the old entrance now says do-not-enter, andthe old exit is a dead end. apparently the A-Building exit is now the official exit/entrance. now i've seen the renovated building from the outside, and even a little bit of the inside at the one-acts last year, but today was the first time i really got the chance to walk around. it's not renovated. it's rebuilt. i got lost, more than once. nobody's where they used to be. no, strike that, no DEPARTMENT is where it used to be. everything is different, and new, and big, and it was more than i could wrap my head around. plus there are a ton of new teachers and new classes i've never heard of (technology, entrepreneurship...). there's a new Martin Badoain Math Wing too. and yes, the old guy's still there. he claims he's retired but in my oppinion teaching three classes and running the math team (they won GBML, 3rd MML, and 1st New Englands for those who still care...) is anything but. four years of a yale education and i stil haven't had a teacher nearly as amazing as that guy. sousa's still there too,claiming "one more year" just like he did four years ago. he still has the same random pictures and news clippings, including one of me, which is tight. good to know you're remembered right? when asked how the new generation is doing he replied, "not nearly as good as you guys were. hell, you all got 5's! well, and one 4." fucking greg. i talked to sousa, badoain, sweeney, gaudette, michaelson, stenson, and donahue. didn't get to hit up french or english since their in A building now and there was a faculty meeting at the end of the day. so weird, so weird. everybody's so young! one teacher gave me the third degree in the hallway, not over whether i had a hall pass or something, but whether i signed in as a visitor. god, i dunno. the teachers i talked to were just as blown as away that i was graduating college as i was. oh how time flows...*tear.the CHS i knew is no more. it's now Canton University, and one by one all the old greats are retiring. not even the theater graffiti we left backstage remains. wow, i feel old.

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četvrtak, 24.12.2009.

cue some combination of monica and jasiri "you jew" comment

cue some combination of monica and jasiri "you jew" comment...annnnny second now :-P

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utorak, 22.12.2009.

"That means the Army is withholding payment on just 3

"That means the Army is withholding payment on just 3.8 percent of the charges questioned by the Pentagon audit agency, which is far below the rate at which the agency's recommendation is usually followed or sustained by the military the so-called "sustention rate."[...]In 2003, the agency's figures show, the military withheld an average of 66.4 percent of what the auditors had recommended, while in 2004 the figure was 75.2 percent and in 2005 it was 56.4 percent.Rick Barton, co-director of the postconflict reconstruction project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said despite the difficulties of doing business in a war zone, the low rate of recovery on such huge and widely disputed charges was hard to understand. "To think that it's near zero is ridiculous when you're talking these kinds of numbers," he said.Representative Henry A. Waxman,[...] said"Halliburton gouged the taxpayer, government auditors caught the company red-handed, yet the Pentagon ignored the auditors and paid Halliburton hundreds of millions of dollars and a huge bonus." "Honestly, what the fuck is going with the government right now?I feel like years from now there's going to be some probe, or documentary, or something of the sort showing that the entire administration is corrupt beyond anything suspected. I mean like conspiracy theory corrupt, because this shit is ridiculous.

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subota, 19.12.2009.

testing the flickr-auto-upload feature of the new looks like it works

testing the flickr-auto-upload feature of the new looks like it works!

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četvrtak, 17.12.2009.

From

From: Walter Cronkite [ExecDir@actioncenter.drugpolicy.org]Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2006 5:23 PMSubject: Why I Support DPA, and So Should YouFebruary 23, 2006manage my subscription | text versionI urge you to send as generous a contribution as you possibly can to the Drug Policy Alliance.Why I Support DPA, and SoShould YouDear Yaron,As anchorman of the CBS Evening News, I signed off my nightly broadcasts for nearly two decades with a simple statement: "And thats the way it is."To me, that encapsulates the newsmans highest ideal: to report the facts as he sees them, without regard for the consequences or controversy that may ensue.Sadly, that is not an ethic to which all politicians aspire - least of all in a time of war.I remember. I covered the Vietnam War. I remember the lies that were told, the lives that were lost - and the shock when, twenty years after the war ended, former Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara admitted he knew it was a mistake all along.Today, our nation is fighting two wars: one abroad and one at home. While the war in Iraq is in the headlines, the other war is still being fought on our own streets. Its casualties are the wasted lives of our own citizens.I am speaking of the war on drugs.And I cannot help but wonder how many more lives, and how much more money, will be wasted before another Robert McNamara admits what is plain for all to see: the war on drugs is a failure.While the politicians stutter and stall - while they chase their losses by claiming we could win this war if only we committed more resources, jailed more people and knocked down more doors - the Drug Policy Alliance continues to tell the American people the truth - "the way it is."I'm sure that's why you support DPA's mission to end the drug war. And why I strongly urge you to support their work by giving a generous donation today.Make a Donation NowYou see, Ive learned first hand that the stakes just couldnt be higher.When I wanted to understand the truth about the war on drugs, I took the same approach I did to the war in Vietnam: I hit the streets and reported the story myself. I sought out the people whose lives this war has affected.Allow me to introduce you to some of them.Nicole Richardson was 18-years-old when her boyfriend, Jeff, sold nine grams of LSD to undercover federal agents. She had nothing to do with the sale. There was no reason to believe she was involved in drug dealing in any way.But then an agent posing as another dealer called and asked to speak with Jeff. Nicole replied that he wasnt home, but gave the man a number where she thought Jeff could be reached.An innocent gesture? It sounds that way to me. But to federal prosecutors, simply giving out a phone number made Nicole Richardson part of a drug dealing conspiracy. Under draconian mandatory minimum sentences, she was sent to federal prison for ten years without possibility of parole.To pile irony on top of injustice, her boyfriend - who actually knew something about dealing drugs - was able to trade information for a reduced sentence of five years. Precisely because she knew nothing, Nicole had nothing with which to barter.Then there was Jan Warren, a single mother who lived in New Jersey with her teenage daughter. Pregnant, poor and desperate, Jan agreed to transport eight ounces of cocaine to a cousin in upstate New York. Police officers were waiting at the drop-off point, and Jan - five months pregnant and feeling ill - was cuffed and taken in.Did she commit a crime? Sure. But what awaited Jan Warren defies common sense and compassion alike. Under New Yorks infamous Rockefeller Drug Laws, Jan - who miscarried soon after the arrest - was sentenced to 15 years to life. Her teenage daughter was sent away, and Jan was sent to an eight-by-eight cell.In Tulia, Texas, an investigator fabricated evidence that sent more than one out of every ten of the towns African American residents to jail on trumped-up drug charges in one of the most despicable travesties of justice this reporter has ever seen.The federal government has fought terminally ill patients whose doctors say medical marijuana could provide a modicum of relief from their suffering - as though a cancer patient who uses marijuana to relieve the wrenching nausea caused by chemotherapy is somehow a criminal who threatens the public.People who do genuinely have a problem with drugs, meanwhile, are being imprisoned when what they really need is treatment.And what is the impact of this policy?It surely hasnt made our streets safer. Instead, we have locked up literally millions of people...disproportionately people of color...who have caused little or no harm to others - wasting resources that could be used for counter-terrorism, reducing violent crime, or catching white-collar criminals.With police wielding unprecedented powers to invade privacy, tap phones and conduct searches seemingly at random, our civil liberties are in a very precarious condition.Hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent on this effort - with no one held accountable for its failure.Amid the clichs of the drug war, our country has lost sight of the scientific facts. Amid the frantic rhetoric of our leaders, weve become blind to reality: The war on drugs, as it is currently fought, is too expensive, and too inhumane.But nothing will change until someone has the courage to stand up and say what so many politicians privately know: The war on drugs has failed.Thats where the Drug Policy Alliance comes in.From Capitol Hill to statehouses to the media, DPA counters the hysteria of the drug war with thoughtful, accurate analysis about the true dangers of drugs, and by fighting for desperately needed on-the-ground reforms.They are the ones whove played the lead role in making marijuana legally available for medical purposes in states across the country.Californias Proposition 36, the single biggest piece of sentencing reform in the United States since the repeal of Prohibition, is the result of their good work. The initiative is now in its fifth year, having diverted more than 125,000 people from prison and into treatment since its inception.They oppose mandatory-minimum laws that force judges to send people like Nicole Richardson and Jan Warren to prison for years, with no regard for their character or the circumstances of their lives. And their work gets results: thanks in large part to DPA, New York has taken the first steps towards reforming the draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws under which Jan was sentenced.In these and so many other ways, DPA is working to end the war on drugs and replace it with a new drug policy based on science, compassion, health and human rights.DPA is a leading, mainstream, respected and effective organization that gets real results.But they cant do it alone.Thats why I urge you to send as generous a contribution as you possibly can to the Drug Policy Alliance.Make a Donation NowAmericans are paying too high a price in lives and liberty for a failing war on drugs about which our leaders have lost all sense of proportion. The Drug Policy Alliance is the one organization telling the truth. They need you with them every step of the way.And thats the way it is.Sincerely,Walter CronkiteP.S. Why does this reporter support the Drug Policy Alliance? Because they perform a service I value highly: When no one else will, they tell it the way it is, and they do so on one of the most important but least discussed issues in America today.Just as they did in Vietnam three decades ago, politicians know the War on Drugs is a failure that is ruining lives. Please help the Drug Policy Alliance tell the truth about the war on drugs - and get our nation on the path toward a sensible drug policy.To Contact or Make a Donation by Mail to the Drug Policy AllianceDrug Policy Alliance70 West 36th Street, 16th FloorNew York, NY 10018Get a PDF copy of the Donation Form.For subscription problems please contact Jeanette Irwin, Director, Internet Communications jirwin@drugpolicy.org, 202.216.0035DrugPolicy.org | Take Action |Donate| Privacy Policy++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++You received this message because yaron.guez@yale.edu is a member of the mailing list originating from alerts@actioncenter.drugpolicy.org.Please visit http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/unsubscribe to unsubscribe from all lists. Visit http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/managesubscription.asp to learn about other lists you can subscribe to.For problems, please contact Jeanette Irwin at jirwin@drugpolicy.org.Please consider joining the Drug Policy Alliance: http://www.drugpolicy.org/join

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utorak, 15.12.2009.

i can not face the hoursstaring backand closing in on meand all the pages writtenforget the ones to comei only need it nowi only want it nowand sacred colored liesfaded fast against the nightsee it slowsee it gofor a secondi almosti dunnocraze onstopoh st

i can not face the hoursstaring backand closing in on meand all the pages writtenforget the ones to comei only need it nowi only want it nowand sacred colored liesfaded fast against the nightsee it slowsee it gofor a secondi almosti dunnocraze onstopoh stopplease stop just for a seconda momenta year or two or three or fourjust notyetcould it be forsaken, everythingis it possiblecould it for a moment be consideredthat thisthisis as good as it getsat least in a category or twoand i'm not ready to wrap my head around thatif it's soi think it's sothe world's full circle in the most surprising of waysthe most, unexpected waysand every time i think i got the perfect hold on iti think i see it for what it isi think i know every god damned thingor at least can reasonit out.but why can't i sleepwhy can't i sleepi just want to sleepcuz everything's so perfectwell not quite yet perfectbut perfect in imperfection right before you reach perfectionor start out for onewe all start out for one. what if not everyone winscatch 22i hate youthe more fun i have the more i just dreadany infinitessemal wastea nighton the town that in the end's not that greatdid i see enough plays, did i get my money's worthdon't want to worry about a thing, but still have to graduateyou're only young once, did i get enough girlsand a million other trivialitiesi just don't feel like facing right nowwould i do everything the same that i did beforehell no, i'd change a dozen things but then i'd never learnto learn to sleepthat's a different story.time to try

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