From Southern Fandom Classics Yahoo Group ...

cc2a.
Keep these guys away from the Con Suite!
Posted by: "J. R. Madden"
Wed Oct 7, 2009 7:42 am (PDT)

Bathurst Fans Face New Not-So-Limited Alcohol Limits
October 7, 2009

Authorities cracking down on drunkenness in Australia are focusing on the fans the Bathurst 1000 auto race. In order to cut back rowdy behavior, authorities have put a strict limit on alcohol. Each fan can now drink only one slab (a 24-pack) of beer or four liters of wine — per day.

http://www.npr.%20org/templates/%20story/story.%20php?storyId=

Yours in thirsty fandom,J. R. "Mad Dog" Madden

2b.
Re: Keep these guys away from the Con Suite!
Posted by: "Guy Lillian"
Wed Oct 7, 2009 10:39 am (PDT)

For Aussies, that's the equivalent of a sip of water.

2c.
Re: Keep these guys away from the Con Suite!
Posted by: "absarka_prime"
Wed Oct 7, 2009 11:33 am (PDT)

Well! And here I *was* thinking about standing for DUFF, but now... I dunno...

Curt Phillips

(ATTN: John Purcell: Any news yet?)

2d.
Re: Keep these guys away from the Con Suite!
Posted by: "Rusty"
Wed Oct 7, 2009 1:24 pm (PDT)

Yeah -- and these are *car racing fans*. Consider that the average NASCAR fan -- that is, those who actually go spend all day at the races -- can consume a case before breakfast. Then multiply that times Aussie....

Rusty

2e.
Re: Keep these guys away from the Con Suite!
Posted by: "John Purcell"
Wed Oct 7, 2009 2:15 pm (PDT)

This law might affect my decision to stand for DUFF. I notice it talks only about beer and wine. What about Scotch? Being not mentioned, am I to assume there's no limit?

- John Purcell

2f.
Re: Keep these guys away from the Con Suite!
Posted by: "absarka_prime@comcast.net"
Wed Oct 7, 2009 3:57 pm (PDT)

What could possibly go wrong in making that assumption? Besides, I have great faith in Australian Fandom. They'll make sure you don't dry up and blow away into the desert...

Curt Phillips

2g.
Re: Keep these guys away from the Con Suite!
Posted by: "John Purcell"
Wed Oct 7, 2009 7:37 pm (PDT)

The Aussies I have met over the years are some of the best fen. Great people, loads of fun.Do you remember Anti-Fan? I forget the chap's name, but he looked remarkably like Minn-stf's Denny Lien. Minicon was always on DUFF winner's intineraries. I wonder why...?

- John Purcell

I do not think Mr. Cheatham is ... accurate.

ASK THE ADVOCATE

Every Monday through Friday, The Advocate will answer questions from its readers. One question will be answered per day. Send questions to asktheadvocate@theadvocate.com.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Q: For some weeks, I have noted the absence of the special recycle collection truck with the grabber side arm that would empty the recycle bin into the truck and replace the bin curbside. This truck had a single operator. Instead, there has been a “regular” trash truck with a crew of three, with two fellows manually dumping the often heavy recycle bins into the truck. When the bin is loaded with magazines and paper, it can be very heavy. The manual dumping of the recycle bin is resulting in deep gouges on the sides of the bin and will probably greatly reduce the life span of the bin. When the bin can no longer be used, will a replacement be provided and the old one recycled?

A: Steven Cheatham, vice president of The Recycling Foundation, wrote in an e-mailed answer that the curbside recycling has always been collected with regular garbage trucks. 

“The Recycling Foundation does this for many reasons.  First, the manual collection allows us to also collect the cardboard boxes that are left beside the carts. With automated collection the only materials that are collected are those that fit inside of the cart,” Cheatham wrote.

“Secondly, it allows us to examine the materials in a cart to see if they are recyclable.  If they are not we will not collect the cart, but will leave an informational tag. Thirdly, it helps the environment because we are able to collect the route only going down a street one time instead of having to work both sides,” Cheatham wrote.

“We have had several conversations with the cart manufacturer concerning scratches and gouges on the carts due to our collection method. They have assured us that structurally this is not harming the cart and that our method of collection is actually better for the carts.  They have far more warranty claims and damaged carts from the automated ‘arm’ collection than from manual collection.  The carts have a 10-year warranty, so any cart that is damaged beyond use is covered under that warranty if the damage occurs in normal wear and tear,” he wrote.

If the bin is not useable because of defective manufacturing then it is replaced, he wrote. When the carts are recovered they are recycled, he wrote.

My first poll at Toluna.com

So where were you at durring the terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001?

Originally posted at Toluna.com ...

I was working in Linden, New Jersey. Word spread that something was happening at the World Trade Center. We could seen the smoke from the first tower that was hit. Later, when I went back there was just a huge column of dust and smoke so I thought the towers were still there. A short while after the towers had collapsed, we found out from various media that they were gone.

After another hour or two, I went to one of the offices of the Tri-County Chapter of the American Red Cross where, among other things, I watched the sole remaining broadcast television station, ABC, and collated information for the chapter's use. After nine hours of that, I couldn't watch anymore and checked out of the chapter office.

I recommend everyone ...
1. Build A Kit
2. Make a Plan
3. Get Trained
4. Volunteer ... I suggest the Red Cross.

My Snarky Comment in Smiley's column ...

Smiley Anders for August 13, 2009

...

Living with immaturity

J.R. Madden notes that in a recent column Louis Miller speculated that he might be “getting mature:”

“Louis Miller may be getting old, but not mature. Louis and I are alike in that we grow old, not up.”

Which reminds me

A few years ago my daughter Tammy was filling out an application of some kind and was asked to name two “responsible adults.”

She put down her mother’s name, then paused.

The gent taking the application asked her, “Is your father deceased?”

“Oh no,” said Tammy. “I just never think of him as a responsible adult. …”

###

Photos of recent Family events ...

Claire & Martin's wedding:
Friday, 27 March 2009
Saturday, 28 March 2009

A short video during the ceremony will be added shortly ... I hope.

Do they not like my "comment"?

As of 1130 CT, Saturday, 25 April 2009, my Comment to the Get Liberty blog had not been "approved" by the Blogmeister, apparently.

Sea Level rise impossible ... oh, yeah?

The Americans for Limited Government had an article "An Alarming Trend" On: 04/22/2009 10:21:00 by Isaac MacMillen and Robert Romano. Basically, they state that melting ice caps can not raise sea levels because ice floats, lakes keep water from reaching the oceans, and plate tectonics raise mountains which trap water in snow and ice.

I couldn't stand it and submitted what was to the be the first comment as follows:

"Greenland's Ice Cap is Melting at a Frighteningly Fast Rate"
(http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0811-06.htm)

The vast ice cap that covers Greenland nearly three miles thick is melting faster than ever before on record, and the pace is speeding year by year, according to global climate watchers gathering data from twin satellites that probe the effects of warming on the huge northern island.

The consequence is already evident in a small but ominous rise in sea levels around the world, a pace that is also accelerating, the scientists say.

According to the scientists' data, Greenland's ice is melting at a rate three times faster than it was only five years ago. The estimate of the melting trend that has been observed for nearly a decade comes from a University of Texas team monitoring a satellite mission that measures changes in the Earth's gravity over the entire Greenland ice cap as the ice melts and the water flows down into the Arctic ocean. ...


"Sea level rise could bust IPCC estimate"
(http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16732-sea-level-rise-could-bust-ipcc-estimate.html)

Sea level rises could bust official estimates – that's the first big message to come from the climate change congress that kicked off in Copenhagen, Denmark, today.

Researchers, including John Church of the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research, presented evidence that Greenland and Antarctica are losing ice fast, contributing to the annual sea-level rise. Recent data shows that waters have been rising by 3 millimetres a year since 1993.

Church says this is above any of the rates forecast by the IPCC models. By 2100, sea levels could be 1 metre or more above current levels, he says. And it looks increasingly unlikely that the rise will be much less than 50 centimetres.

In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change forecast a rise of 18 cm to 59 cm by 2100. But the numbers came with a heavy caveat that often went unnoticed by the popular press.
...
Because modelling how the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets will react to rising temperatures is fiendishly complicated, the IPCC did not include either in its estimate. It's no small omission: the Greenland ice cap, the smaller and so far less stable of the two, holds enough water that if it all melted, it would raise sea levels by 6 metres on average across the globe. ...


ExxonMobil scientists ... participate in the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and numerous related scientific bodies. (http://www.exxonmobil.com/Corporate/energy_climate_views.aspx)

Barbie is 50!

Barbie's 50th birthday was officially celebrated March 9, 2009.

Above: Natural Barbie -- A Brazilian artist’s rendition of what the doll would look like if she had aged normally.

Source: MARCH 2009 AARP BULLETIN (page 35)

Priest needs to "re-examine" the historical evidence ...

World
Former Student: Bishop Often Attacked Judaism
by Sylvia Poggioli

All Things Considered, February 25, 2009 · Until last month, Bishop Richard Williamson was barely known outside the ultra-conservative world of the Society of St. Pius X. That was before Pope Benedict lifted his excommunication.

Full story at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101139679

J. R. Madden (JRMadden) wrote:

"The historical evidence is hugely against Jesus Christ having been deliberately crucified as a deliberate policy of Pontius Pilate," J. R. Madden said in the Comments section of NPR.org.

"In fact," he also stated, "the historical evidence is instead hugely supporting of 6 million Jews having been deliberately gassed in gas chambers as a deliberate policy of Adolf Hitler."

Wednesday, 25 Feb 2009 15:15:23

I predict ...

NPR BREAKING NEWS: Congress Backs Delaying Digital TV Switch To June
02/04/2009 15:26:12 Central Standard Time

Congress has decided to give people four more months to prepare for the upcoming transition from analog to digital TV broadcasting. The House voted Wednesday to postpone the end of analog TV signals until June 12. The move is meant to address concerns that more than 6.5 million Americans with older TVs would not be ready by Feb. 17, the originally mandated deadline.

More at NPR.org: http://n.npr.org/NPRI/jN12773202_34500.htm

I predict ... In four months time, it will be estimated there are more than 8.4 million Americans with older TVs that will not be ready for the new mandated deadline.

Comment at NPR.org - Media Circus

Media Circus by David Folkenflik

Bartiromo Goes In For The Kill

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100010589

J. R. Madden (JRMadden) wrote:

Addressing U.S. executive compensation:

It is my understanding most C-level executives compensation must be approved the company's Board of Directors. It is also my understanding a lot of the Boards of Directors are made up of C-level executive from other companies. Therefore, the old paradigm of "Your scratch my back and I'll scratch your back" possibly comes into play.

Then again, maybe it does require big bucks to find C-level executives who will do exactly what the C-level executives at other firms are doing in making those "tough" decisions:
Let's cut costs = layoffs at the bottom and/or outsourcing;
Everyone one else is making a fortune in derivatives = me too;
Regulation = What regulation?;
I [believe] in free enterprise & capitalism = Please give me money, Uncle Sam.

And in conclusion:

If you got into the housing market with the belief that prices would continue upward indefinitely / forever ... isn't that the biggest Ponzi scheme of all?

Friday, 30 Jan 2009 16:14:58