The U.S. should switch to the Metric System. Discuss. No reason. Just interested in opinions.
Miles, Pounds, Yards, Inches… Kilometres?Post + Comments (126)
RIP, Andrew Olmsted
Andrew Olmsted, one of the calmer and clearer heads to ever blog as well as a genuinely great guy and professional soldier, was killed while serving in Iraq. Hilzoy has a posthumous letter from him.
I think I am just going to cry.
*** Update ***
A round-up of reactions can be found here. It says a great deal about the man how diverse his online friends were…
And the RMN, wherre he blogged, posts their goodbye.
Open Thread
Compare our blog’s lameness against other examples of historical lamitude. The list should include Carrot Top, New Coke and Battlefield Earth.
Sara Jane Moore Released
After more than three decades in prison for a foiled attempt to assassinate President Gerald R. Ford, Sara Jane Moore was released on parole Monday.
Although Moore had been given a life sentence in the 1975 attempt on Ford’s life outside a hotel in downtown San Francisco, she had been eligible for parole for some time.
She shot at Ford because she thought he and his government had declared war on the left. Can’t wait to see how she reacts when she catches up on the news of the past 7 years!
Didn’t Read the Post But
Benazir Bhutto Killed
Thanks to commenter 4tehlulz for the link. Benazir Bhutto was killed this morning in a suicide attack:
Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was killed in a gun and bomb attack after a rally in the city of Rawalpindi on Thursday, her party said.
“She has been martyred,” said party official Rehman Malik.
Ms. Bhutto, 54, died in hospital in Rawalpindi. Ary-One Television said she had been shot in the head.
Police said a suicide bomber fired shots at Bhutto as she was leaving the rally venue in a park before blowing himself up.
“The man first fired at Bhutto’s vehicle. She ducked and then he blew himself up,” said police officer Mohammad Shahid.
Police said 16 people had been killed in the blast.
There will be chaos in Pakistan because of this. F**king crazy. Holy shit.
Update: apparently, she was shot after the suicide attack.
Damn Pigeons Get Bigger Every Year
Urban naturalist sounds like a contradiction in terms, but a lot of people live in cities who can’t always afford a weekend photo safari. Those of us who stay sane either don’t expect much (deer! turkey!), or have a pro’s knowledge of where to look. Birders, for example, love water treatment plants. Any other attitude just gets in the way of appreciating the artificial homecooked flavor in your seven-layer burrito.
Anyhow, this afternoon as I stepped out the back of my seriously urban Pittsburgh apartment something big took off from my porch/fire escape landing and landed in a tree close by.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure that is a juvenile bald eagle. Pale Male can suck eggs if the new neighbor starts snatching live fish out of the Monongahela.
***Update***
If you think that is a hawk, suggest what kind of hawk it might be. I don’t know many that grow three-fourths as big as a turkey.
***Update***
Awright, it’s probably a red-tailed hawk. This pic did it for me. Also this comment:
I can never tell which is which except one makes you say “God damn, that’s [a] huge bird!” and the other is merely large.
It sure seems like a big bird when it’s flying twenty feet over your head.