Archive for January, 2006
Tuesday, January 31st, 2006
White County Court TV
There’s something about watching the wheels of justice in motion that has always fascinated me.
When Tish and I were in college in Nashville, our ultimate cheap date was going downtown to watch Metro Night Court at the detention center. It was always unpredictable and had its share of memorable characters. Like the judge who used [...]
9 Comments » - Posted in Searcy, courts by ME
Monday, January 30th, 2006
Paracats Over Borneo (Part 2)
There are two documents that substantiate the basic story about the Paracats.
The first is an article by Gordon R. Conway in The Careless Technology: Ecology and International Development (1972) and the second is a first-hand account of “Operation Cat-drop” by Tom Harrisson in the journal Animals published in 1965.
The basic story is true: A malaria-control [...]
9 Comments » - Posted in Borneo, WHO, cats, parachutes by ME
Saturday, January 28th, 2006
This Week’s Sign of the Impending Apocalypse (#13)
An Oregon man hurled both of his prosthetic legs at a state trooper, striking him with one, after his son was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, police said on Monday.
According to the police, Joel Kackstetter, 53, grew hostile, after an officer stopped his son’s vehicle after he was observed driving the wrong way on [...]
8 Comments » - Posted in bad parents, crime, the Apocalypse by ME
Friday, January 27th, 2006
Paracats Over Borneo (Part 1)
Last semester in my global issues class, we were discussing how the introduction of an invasive species can play havoc with a local environment. Some of the more infamous cases include rabbits and blackberries in Australia and the balsam woolly adelgid in the Great Smokey Mountains.
One of my students asked me if I had ever [...]
14 Comments » - Posted in Borneo, WHO, cats, parachutes by ME
Thursday, January 26th, 2006
Geoliteracy Survey (2006)
My post last week about geoliteracy got me thinking about how my students at Harding would do on a geography survey as compared to the 2002 National Geographic-Roper survey. So I gave them a quick survey last week in class.
I didn’t want to put my students through the ordeal of completing the entire survey, so [...]
6 Comments » - Posted in geography, international relations, surveys by ME
Wednesday, January 25th, 2006
Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One
This is probably the oldest joke in the history of organized religion, but something reminded me about it yesterday and I think it’s one of the funniest stories I’ve ever heard. I really don’t know why. Maybe because the first time I heard it, it was told by a Christian and the second time was [...]
6 Comments » - Posted in humor, religion by ME
Tuesday, January 24th, 2006
Keep Voting
I started asking for nominations for “Who Should Play Jack Shock in the Final Episode of The West Wing” rather late in the day yesterday.
The record number of hits at my blog indicates that this is the most popular post I’ve ever done.
So the ballot box remains open. Nominees so far include:
Ewan McGregor (perfect for [...]
21 Comments » - Posted in The West Wing by ME
Monday, January 23rd, 2006
Vade in pace, West Wing
I read last night that NBC is pulling the plug on The West Wing after seven seasons.
Low ratings and the move from Wednesday to Sunday nights top the list of reasons for an earlier than expected end to one of the best shows on television.It wasn’t a big surprise, but I had figured that they [...]
13 Comments » - Posted in The West Wing, television by ME
Monday, January 23rd, 2006
Now Comes the Hard Part
The process of creating a new democratically-elected government in Iraq that began in the December 15 election is approaching an endgame. Over the next several weeks, representatives from the Shiite, Kurdish, and Sunni political factions are going to try to form a government that they can all live with.
In hindsight, the process of holding an [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in Iraq, international relations by ME
Saturday, January 21st, 2006
This Week’s Sign of the Impending Apocalypse (#12)
Japanese fishermen are fighting a battle with giant jellyfish that have invaded their fishing waters.
The jellyfish have been described as being “the size of sumo wrestlers.”
The species in question is the Echizen kurage (stomolophus nomurai) or Nomura’s jellyfish that can grow up to 6.5 feet in diameter and weigh as much as 440 pounds. Fishermen [...]
