me on TV? I doubt it

I have to assume it’s due to a comment I left here, but this came over the transom today:

Good Morning America is planning a segment focused on the “delivery debate”. Should men witness the birth of their children? Is it okay to be squeamish about it? What does it mean if they are?

We’re currently looking for men who were present during the delivery of their children, who believe that it was important for them to be there and would be willing to discuss their feelings. We’ll have men on both sides of the issue.

If you’d be willing to participate, please reply to this email as soon as possible with your name, telephone number(s) and best time to call so we can contact you this week. GMA will take care of any necessary travel arrangements.

A guy with a face for radio on TV? I expressed interest, but I’m not holding my breath.

<update> I just got called back and yes, they would fly me to NYC to appear on their morning broadcast. Not for me, though: I somehow doubt I would make the cut unless their makeup staff have prosthetic teeth on hand ;- )

a new meme: ongoing victory

DeLay declares ‘victory’ in war on budget fat – Nation/Politics – The Washington Times, America’s Newspaper:

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that Republicans have done so well in cutting spending that he declared an “ongoing victory,” and said there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget.

Mr. DeLay was defending Republicans’ choice to borrow money and add to this year’s expected $331 billion deficit to pay for Hurricane Katrina relief. Some Republicans have said Congress should make cuts in other areas, but Mr. DeLay said that doesn’t seem possible.

“My answer to those that want to offset the spending is sure, bring me the offsets, I’ll be glad to do it. But nobody has been able to come up with any yet,” the Texas Republican told reporters at his weekly briefing.

Asked if that meant the government was running at peak efficiency, Mr. DeLay said, “Yes, after 11 years of Republican majority we’ve pared it down pretty good.”

Wonkette has the best take on this:

We admire the locution of “ongoing victory” — it opens up a whole new order of excuses, including “we’re not late, we’re experiencing an ongoing arrival” and “I don’t owe you money, you’re receiving ongoing payment.”

Spread the joy: tag posts with the new hotness.

Now playing: Home by Hothouse Flowers from the album “Home”

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When the going gets tough

The incompetent write memos.

KR Washington Bureau | 09/13/2005 | Chertoff delayed federal response, memo shows:

Chertoff – not Brown – was in charge of managing the national response to a catastrophic disaster, according to the National Response Plan, the federal government’s blueprint for how agencies will handle major natural disasters or terrorist incidents. An order issued by President Bush in 2003 also assigned that responsibility to the homeland security director.
But according to a memo obtained by Knight Ridder, Chertoff didn’t shift that power to Brown until late afternoon or evening on Aug. 30, about 36 hours after Katrina hit Louisiana and Mississippi. That same memo suggests that Chertoff may have been confused about his lead role in disaster response and that of his department.
“As you know, the President has established the `White House Task Force on Hurricane Katrina Response.’ He will meet with us tomorrow to launch this effort. The Department of Homeland Security, along with other Departments, will be part of the task force and will assist the Administration with its response to Hurricane Katrina,” Chertoff said in the memo to the secretaries of defense, health and human services and other key federal agencies.

I’m not sure which applies — plan your work then work your plan, or failure to plan is planning to fail — but it doesn’t seem like much has been learned since 9/11, when everything changed.

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never saw New Orleans, and now I never will

I wanted to use a better headline, but someone beat me to it.
When I read the details of how New Orleans has fared — and I’ve read little else this past week — I keep thinking of the Kursk or Beslan, and how they were bunged by the new Russian state.

I have taken in so much information on when the city and state realized the potential magnitude of the disaster and how unaware the federal authorities remained until it was too late for many. This just doesn’t seem possible for a disaster like this to happen to the 4th largest seaport in the world, a major US city, an international tourist destination, and one of the most unique of American cities.

Is this the response we should have expected from our Department of Homeland Security in the four years since 9/11 “changed everything?”

I don’t feel safer.
Continue reading “never saw New Orleans, and now I never will”

Hurricane Relief

Hurricane Relief:

The American Red Cross

Donation Link: Click here
Relief focus: Provides a full spectrum of services to disaster victims, including shelter, medical care, food, clean water and assisting with cleanup efforts.
__________________________________

America’s Second Harvest

Donation link: Click here
Relief focus: Transports food to victims and secures additional warehouse space to assist member food banks in resuming and maintaining operations.
__________________________________


Catholic Charities USA

Donation Link: Click here
Relief focus: Community based relief efforts focused on the long-terms needs of disaster victims and affected communities.
__________________________________

Direct Relief International

Donation link: Click here
Relief focus:Serves as a private back-up support to official emergency response efforts in the United States.
__________________________________

Feed The Children

Donation Link: Click here
Relief focus: Mobilizing and distributing supplies in hurricane devastated areas.
__________________________________

Habitat for Humanity

Donation link: Click here
Relief focus: Helping disaster victims rebuild piece by piece and house by house.
__________________________________


Humane Society of the United States

Donation Link: Click here
Relief focus: Dispatching Disaster Animal Response Teams (DARTs) to rescue animals and assist their caregivers.
__________________________________

Noah’s Wish

Donation Link: Click here
Relief focus: Keeping animals alive during disasters.
__________________________________

The Salvation Army

Donation Link: Click here
Relief focus: Providing hot meals to displaced disaster victims and emergency personnel working to aid those devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
__________________________________

United Jewish Communities

Donation Link: Click hereRelief focus: Community organized and administered humanitarian relief for disaster victims.
__________________________________


United Methodist Committee on Relief

Donation Link: Click here
Relief focus: General community-based disaster relief, as well as the creation and distribution of “flood buckets” — a relief item for those who prefer to donate with a personal touch.
__________________________________

United Way

Donation Link: Click here
Relief focus: Identifying serious needs of devastated communities and helping not only with front-line disaster relief but with long-term recovery.
__________________________________

(Thanks to RenaRF for the idea.)

stolen wholesale from Billmon
Continue reading “Hurricane Relief”

feh

Free Download A Day » Blog Archive » Opera Web Browser: free reg code (today only):

Today only, Opera Software is celebrating its 10th anniversary by giving away registration codes for its Opera web browser. (It’s normally $39.) Opera’s a fantabulous web browser: features include a pop-up blocker, RSS newsreader, e-mail client with spam filter, a notes feature, and much more.

Have patience when you go to the site: understandably, the Opera site is heavily loaded — and therefore slow — today. The offer is valid until 12 a.m. Wednesday, August 31 2005 (PDT).

Opera 10-year online anniversary party – Opera Web Browser:

No more free drinks!

Cheers guys, it was a blast! Millions of people (literally) got their free registration code at our party, but the offer is now over.

white:~ paul$ date
Wed Aug 31 21:03:27 PDT 2005

Looks like I missed it.
Continue reading “feh”

changes

Not much to mumble/grumble about lately. The shortening days of summer (both in length and quantity) have taken precedence over logorrhea.

  • Two families of raccoons have taken residence in the impenetrable thicket in the middle of my block: 2 mother and 2 litters, of 4 and 5. 11 raccoons is too many, but since we have a soft-hearted neighbor who leaves cat food out for them, they don’t know any better.
  • Gardening proceeds nicely. I just discovered the canonical handbook on gardening locally and wish I had grabbed it earlier. I’m not doing too badly — lots of tomatoes on the vine, lots of basil, and some green beans in flower — though it is late. My efforts at harvesting rainwater over the wet months have paid off: I haven’t had to tap into drinking water, with my 250+ gallon reserve on hand. I realized that I was overwatering (automated watering systems are not the boon they could be: they require more management than I realized) and the byproducts were waterlogged vegetables, lot of weeds (broadcast watering helps them too), and astronomical water bills. Next summer should see much better yields.
  • I have been making some money lately doing some freelance system management work, which helps make ends meet around here. So I dropped the shilling for dollars: no ads anymore. My options with Google are to suspend my account and let them hold my earnings or close it and get paid off. I’m leaning toward option b, since it’s unlikely I’ll hit on any sure-fire traffic generating scheme. Hope springs eternal, but even I can take a hint.
  • Now playing: Exit Music (For A Film) by Radiohead from the album “OK Computer” | Get it

Continue reading “changes”

A farewell to AdSense

ongoing · Exit AdSense:

[T]he only conclusion I can draw is that AdSense isn’t going
to make you much money if you write about Web technologies and politics and
publish pictures of flowers and donkeys.

I am coming to much the same conclusion. I don’t even have the pictures to post (still scraping up the pennies for a Nikon Coolscan 4000) and I doubt it would make a lot of difference: they aren’t content AdSense can sell against.
Continue reading “A farewell to AdSense”