I've written regarding the Red Cross's blood donation problems before. According to an article in the Times, they still continue to have problems. The article discusses a specific procedure for disinfection prior to inserting the needle to donate blood (swabbing antiseptic and such). I didn't know there was a separate procedure, but I'll bet that other blood donation services that I've given to have not followed that rule.
I was listening to NPR recently and heard a Quebecois group called "Le Vent du Nord" or "The Wind from the North." The band plays traditional Quebecois music. The neat thing is that they play songs that date from the founding of Quebec and came across from France. Meanwhile, these same French songs have become extinct in France.
There are songs to listen to both at NPR's website (where you can hear the report) and also at the band's MySpace page. They're also on iTunes.
What's one million dollars to fund a mystery rider program on Metro???!!!
See:
http://www.wmata.com/about/met_news/story.cfm?ID=1813
What a waste of money. Especially because I can tell you about Metro for free, as can many other customers.
I have been going to concerts at the National Gallery of Art recently and, on my way back to the Gallery Place China-town Metro, I've been stopping at the front of the Newseum to view the newspapers that they have on display from across the nation and world. But, you don't have to make the trek to see them, because you can see them online too. Hopefully they'll keep this up after they open on 11 April, but it looks like they may not.
On the Windows version of iTunes, Apple is, by default, disguising an installation of Safari (their browser) as an "update" to iTunes. It takes advantage of users who are told to install security updates religiously and forces an update on them. Microsoft does not take advantage of security updates to install new software onto people's computers.
See this blog entry for more information.
I don't fly that much, but I have had some experience with TSA, so I've found this blog interesting. One entry discusses the Macbook Air and an experience one traveler had when TSA was suspicious of his Macbook Air because it did not look like other laptops. Another entry discusses how, after implementing lanes for different types of travelers based on ski slopes (black diamond = expert, blue square = intermediate, green circle = inexperienced/family), they have seen a decrease in the amount of banned items that they see in the green circle lane at security checkpoints. I find this somewhat surprising, since I would have thought that by the time someone arrived at the checkpoint, they had already packed their bag with items they think are ok. I guess maybe someone who isn't feeling rushed by the people behind them may take the time to read the signs and realize "Oh, wait, I can't bring that shampoo on the plane with me!"
I heard about China asking Nepal to close Nepal's face of Mt. Everest from 1 May to 10 May last week on the radio. Nepal has acquiesced. They want to run the Olympic torch to the top of Everest. This article has more information.
I think Nepal shouldn't have acquiesced, as it will deprive all of the people who have planned their years around climbing Everest from climbing it.
As for China, I don't know much about climbing Everest, but one thing that I do know about it is that it is not easy and is not something that should be rushed. Yet, China seems to want to rush someone to the top of Everest and do it sometime between 1 May and 10 May. I understand that China may want to show the world that it can climb Everest, but, in reality, they're depriving people who have planned for years to attempt Everest of that chance so they can put on a show for the world.
In New Haven, although the school district eventually backed down, an eighth-grader was suspended from school for a day for buying Skittles from someone. He also was stripped of his eighth-grade vice president title, and was not permitted to attend an honors dinner.
I don't think the suspension was fair, and I also don't like the idea of the adults interfering in the political affairs of 8th graders, although I imagine sometimes it is necessary.
I've always wondered what purpose suspensions serve, particularly out-of-school suspensions. For the students who get them, it translates into a day off from school.
Apparently "dealing" Skittles also earns a suspension, although the story doesn't say whether that merits more days.
Here's the story.
If you're going to spam people, don't use Virginia ham in your spam. A North Carolina man who spammed people using AOL's servers had his sentence upheld recently. AOL is based in Virginia, which is how Virginia got jurisdiction over him. For those who don't want to read the opinion, there is a short summary here (search for Jaynes on the page if you don't see it at the top). Here's a link to the court's decision.
Don't read this if you've just had dinner, it's slightly gross.
Now, that being said, if a python starts sleeping in the same bed as your chihuahua, and other animals have been killed by snakes, it might, perhaps, be time to call animal control. This family apparently did not know that. Although the python was in the dogs bed and their cat had recently died under suspicious circumstances, the family did not call animal control.
Last Tuesday I voted in Maryland. This was my first time voting there, and it was a different experience from voting in New York. Maryland uses touch screen voting machines, whilst New York uses huge lever-operated voting machines that have been in use for decades. Personally, I like the old voting machines better. There is something anticlimactic about pushing a button to finally cast my ballot and see a screen informing me that my vote had been cast. I liked New York's voting machines much better, with the huge lever that you had to pull. I actually felt like I was accomplishing something in New York. I also don't like a computer counting my vote to begin with.
I would also feel more comfortable if they asked questions about one's identity that could not be obtained from a Facebook profile and the phonebook. (like the date and month of one's birth and one's address). I'm not sure if they even checked my signature against something. While I don't think that they should be asking for ID to vote, I do think that they could at least compare signatures (since that's available from the voter registration form)
There have been two instances where Carlisle has been featured in the news.
First, pastors are visiting Market Cross to talk to people who may be drinking their troubles away. Here's the article. I'm not sure if the Patriot-News keeps its articles up forever, so I don't guarantee how long the link will be valid for.
I'm also not sure if the pastors are visiting the right bar. I wouldn't visit Market Cross. As Carlisle bars go, Market Cross is, at least in my opinion, one of the classier ones.
Second, NPR wants to learn about truckers, so where do they go? The Flying J truck stop. They could have visited Dickinson, right nearby, and gotten a legal perspective. Here's the story.
This website has some information on receiving FM radio stations in general, and receiving WAMU (Washington's NPR Station) in particular. One thing I had not realised was that you should put an antenna in a T formation against the wall that faces the direction where you know the signal is coming. I had thought, that since FM radio was line-of-sight, that it would be better to keep the antenna away from the wall.
This article in the New York Times discusses the most efficient calorie-burning methods for using various machines in the gym. Some take-away points:
Don't read this if you have not watched Shawshank Redemption (which, incidentally, is a very good movie)
Now that I've gotten that out of the way, two (former) inmates apparently took (at least somewhat) careful notes on Shawshank Redemption. The long and short: two inmates chiseled their way out of a prison in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and, although they didn't crawl through a sewer pipe, they did take careful notes on the movie, in that they covered their chiseled hole with models from a magazine. I wonder if they'll meet in Zihuatanejo.
I had meant to post this around Halloween, but never got around to it. Anyhow, this is a link to a posting about witch trials in Connecticut. It's unfortunate, but witch trials didn't just happen in Salem. There's actually a lot of documentation linked in that blog entry about it.
I bought some pots from Ikea awhile back. Like most things Ikea, they were assemble them yourself, so I finally got around to assembling them this week. Within a week, the handle fell off the pot. The weld that holds the bracket broke as I was washing it in my sink. So, it looks like I will be returning the pot to Ikea.
I don't think I will get into the intricacies of the Implied Warranty of Merchantability with the clerk, though.
Yesterday at Giant, I tried to find Maypo. Usually this is by the oatmeal, but I found, much to my surprise, that they didn't have it. Today I tried Safeway, which also didn't have it.
Safeway, on the other hand, stocks Tilamook Cheese, which is from Oregon.
It's a bit frustrating, since brands that I've taken for granted in New York are difficult to find here. At least they still sell Campbell's Soup.
I went to the alumni weekend this weekend at Penn State Dickinson. To do this, and get to an 8:00 lecture, I had to get up at 5:20 a.m. and drive up there. It was dark when I started out. As I drove into Pennsylvania, dawn broke over the fields, mist was rising, and it was pretty neat. I'm not usually up and driving before dawn, but when I am, I always think it is neat to see the sun come up.
All of the events were at the Advantica building, which I think they've done a somewhat good job with. The only problem is that students don't hang out at the school after class, they all flee back to Carlisle, so there isn't as much community at the law school.
I saw a few people from my class, and overall, it was a good experience.
Last night I saw The Lost Bayou Ramblers at the Kennedy Center. It was part of Millenium Stage, which puts performances on 365 days a year free of charge. There is quite a variety of music, as you can see if you check out the calendar.
The Lost Bayou Ramblers not only sang in French, but also spoke to the audience in French too. I think it's neat that over 200 years after we bought Louisiana from the French, there is still so much French culture in Louisiana that there are still people that speak French and preserve this excellent music.
You can catch a recording of the concert here, and there are free downloads of music at The Lost Bayou Ramblers website.
