For the drunks in the audience, the State of the Union Drinking game.
Knock back a few, and you too can say ‘nukular’ along with the President.
What Were They Thinking
Groan.. Why Don’t They Listen?
From the WaPo:
Drivers who use a cellular telephone, even with a “hands-free” device, suffer from a kind of tunnel vision that endangers themselves and others, U.S. researchers said on Monday.
Legislation that seeks to make mobile telephone use by drivers safer by mandating the use of a hands-free device may be providing a false sense of security, they warned.
New York is the only U.S. state that requires the use of the devices for mobile telephone conversations while driving, but 30 others have been considering similar laws, as has the Canadian province of Newfoundland.
“Sometimes you have to actually do the silly study that shows the obvious,” David Strayer, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Utah, who led the study, said in a telephone interview. Strayer, whose team has done a series of studies on cell phone use while driving, set up a driving simulator and put 20 volunteers in it. Sometimes they used a cell phone and sometimes they did not. Their reaction time, driving style and performance were monitored. Writing in the March issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, Strayer’s group said use of a cell phone clearly distracted the drivers.
Excuse me, but no shit. I was bitching about this nonsense before I had even heard of blogs. This is why anyone who has ever had a course in foundations of learning, educational psychology, or a basic course on human memory was screaming that the NY law was absolutely pointless. It is not the hands (or lack of when holding a cell phone), but the distraction. Grumble, sputter, bitch, moan.
Here is a decent, easy to read text that might serve as a primer on some of the issues:
Baddeley, A. D. (1998). Human Memory: Theory and Practice, Revised ed. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Here is the man’s website.
If you write laws for a living, go to those links and learn something before you start writing another pointless law.
Now We Need The French
I didn’t think we needed the French involved in the entire Iraq issue until I saw this on Common Dreams:
Greenpeace Activists Block Military Port in Iraq Protest
International pressure group Greenpeace today stepped up its campaign against war with Iraq by blocking a major UK military port, according to the charity.
At 9am today, Greenpeace’s flagship Rainbow Warrior dropped anchor at Marchwood, Southampton, blocking the entrance to the military supply port.
The Greenpeace spokeswoman said the aim of today’s action is to disrupt the naval ships joining the military build-up in the Gulf.
She said: “Rainbow Warrior has blockaded the UK military port of Marchwood at Southampton.
“We want to cut the military supply chain to the war in Iraq.
“Day and night ships and containers have been loaded up with helicopters and tanks at Marchwood bound for the Gulf.
“We have got some Greenpeace climbers who have attached themselves to one of the supply vessels and Rainbow Warrior is anchored directly across the mouth of the military docks.
“This peaceful action is part of a global campaign to prevent a war that will kill hundreds of thousands of people and increase the chances of weapons of mass destruction being used.
“We want to stop this relentless rush towards a war which is basically placing a higher price on oil than blood.”
The spokeswoman added that the Rainbow Warrior had a team of 25 protesters and Greenpeace intended to keep the ship in position at Marchwood as long as possible.
Who can save us from this Green Menace?
Who dares to defy the Rainbow Warrior?
Clearly, there is only one nation who knows how to handle something like this- the French. The renowned multi-lateralists know how to handle this sort of problem.
My kind of solution. KaBoom! Simplisme! Now pass me a Gauloise, if you would.
Happy Blogiversary
No Watermelons Allowed celebrates his first blogiversary today.
I was going there to check up and I actually may have stumbled on the worst blog ever. Instead of typing http://nowatermelons.blogspot.com, I went to http://nwa.blogspot.com.
DOW 7000?
The DOW plunged below 8000 today. F—— Great!
It is weird- I really don’t feel like the economy is that bad- but the market is sure sucking wind. Maybe I have my head in the sand.
Verbal Gymnastics
Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in his own words:
Mr. ElBaradei said his inspectors had made “good progress” in its inspections. “With our verification system now in place, barring exceptional circumstances, and provided there is sustained, pro-active cooperation by Iraq, we should be able within the next few months to provide credible assurance that Iraq has no nuclear weapons program,” he said. “These few months would be a valuable investment in peace because they could help us avoid a war.”
It is up to IRAQ to avoid the consequences which might result from failing to comply with 1441. Like alcoholics at 3 am, knowing that they have to quit drinking, but unable to stop, the inspections proponents just want more time. Both are completely unable to realize that one of these days they are going to have to sober up and face reality.
For fun, check out how NZ Bear would handle the inspections reports.