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Horrton Hears a Heart
If Dr. Suess had spent too many nights reading Edgar Allen Poe:
That creature named Sam was peddling his ham
And those green-colored eggs... I told him to scram!
He pleaded with me just to sample that junk.
Each time I'd refuse him and turn up my trunk!
[...]
His sinister orb was most eerily green,
Like his grass-colored eggs; O how vile, how obscene!
That stare seemed to make my flesh crawl and blood chill
And I knew right away - it is Sam I must kill!
Via GMSV
My craft skills peaked in second grade with a macaroni mosiac, but I can still appreciate beautiful and ingenious work like this Knitted Digestive System: 
Chisox Win First World Series Since 1917
Miers Withdraws Under Mounting Criticism
First wild beavers for 500 years
DeLay acknowledges failure to report legal fund donations
Pot not a major cancer risk: report
Poll: Bush would lose an election if held this year
Sure. And next you'll expect me to believe that people in the White House will be indicted for some of their crimes. As if!
A summary of this Faux News Fark thread is here. Via Daily Kos.
the farmers wife: entrepreneur
"All you need to go into the pumpkin business is a small piece of land and some pumpkin seeds. Most small roadside pumpkin stand are on the honor system. This person had the pumpkins marked with little signs, and you simply leave the money in a box.
Likewise, the fresh egg businesses. One farm wife has a refrigerator next to one of the outbuildings. You take the eggs out of the fridge and leave the money in a container. It's called trust - it works."
This wouldn't work everywhere. Something about the size of a community, and people's ability to perceive themselves as members of a community, allows it. But this kind of faith in people's essential goodness is an essential part of optimism. The Farmer's Wife has become one of my favorite photo blogs, with usually a single daily post that illustrates something about rural life with an incredible photo. Added to the Blogroll today.
To continue with the cow theme, the Milk Farmers Rap! Via GMSV.
Science geekiness alert! This story: "Milk ingredient may help control inflammatory diseases" begins with the phrase "One of the isomers of conjugated linoleic acid." If that turns you off, don't follow the link. If that turns you on, you know that's weird, right?
Anyway, one of the naturally occurring fatty acids in milk inhibits the COX-2 protein. Inhibiting COX-2 was the basis for new pain relievers like Vioxx until they were pulled off the market due to safety issues. Scientists hope this discovery will lead the way to preventing the damage to the body that can result from autoimmune diseases where it attacks parts of the body.
Image ©2004 CFA Properties, Inc.
BBC NEWS: Zombie worms' found off Sweden, named bone-eating snot-flower
The BBC reports that "A new species of marine worm that lives off whale bones on the sea floor has been described by scientists....Such "zombie worms"...are known from the deep waters of the Pacific but their presence in the North Sea is a major surprise." The scientists who discovered the worms have named them "Osedax mucofloris, which literally means "bone-eating snot-flower."[emphasis added]
What other job allows you to make up names like that? Maybe video game designer or divorce attorney, but that's about it. In light of this discovery, today's release of this study is even more disturbing: Study Reveals Pittsburgh Unprepared For Full-Scale Zombie Attack. From the article it appears that they didn't even consider the zombie worm possibility. I know! Unbelievable!
I want this guy to start doing the post-presidential-speech analysis on CNN. I have to clean coffee off my keyboard again:
Kung Fu Monkey: Lunch Discussions #145: The Crazification Factor.
If we don't fight terrorists in Iraq they'll build a fundamentalist terrorist state stretching from Spain to Indonesia? ...you gotta assume France, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, all eight hundred million Hindus in India, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore would be somewhat of an obstacle.
Tyrone: To be fair, you're going west-to-east. Maybe he meant a fundamentalist terrorist state stretching from Spain to Indonesia going east-to-west. Going that way, there's only the U.S.
[...]
John: Hey, Bush is now at 37% approval. I feel much less like Kevin McCarthy screaming in traffic. But I wonder what his base is --Tyrone: 27%.
John: ... you said that immmediately, and with some authority.
Tyrone: Obama vs. Alan Keyes. Keyes was from out of state, so you can eliminate any established political base; both candidates were black, so you can factor out racism; and Keyes was plainly, obviously, completely crazy. Batshit crazy. Head-trauma crazy. But 27% of the population of Illinois voted for him. They put party identification, personal prejudice, whatever ahead of rational judgement. Hell, even like 5% of Democrats voted for him. That's crazy behaviour. I think you have to assume a 27% Crazification Factor in any population.
[...]
John: You realize this leads to there being over 30 million crazy people in the US?Tyrone: Does that seem wrong?
John: ... a bit low, actually.
Tyrone: (shrugs) Probably right, then.
Read the whole thing, including the comments!
Via Majikthise
SWAPATORIUM presented this postcard from a New Orleans club from the 1950's - Pat Waters CLUB MY-O-MY (as in "It's Pat"?). Read the whole entry - fascinating history, lovely linen postcard.
Update: US contributes $50 million in aid.
I've alread read one blog from Pakistan this morning asking why the US contributed only $100,000 to the earthquake relief efforts. I'm sure that this time it's just a preliminary amount, given the reaction to the US tsunami donation of the same amount last year.
It is too easy to forget how unbelievably wealthy we are in the US compared to the rest of the world. All but the very poorest in this country live better than all but the wealthiest in the rest of the world. Each of us throws away or wastes more than the majority of people in the entire world consume in their entire lives. Think about that for awhile. Then get out your credit card and donate to an organization providing relief to the victims of this latest disaster.
Several months ago I met Shirazi, a Pakistani blogger, online through his wonderfully-named "Light Within" blog (see his links to Pakistan-related blogs with earthquake news here). He responded to my question this morning about charities to provide earthquake relief by recommending the Edhi Foundation, "the name," he said, "that is trusted all over the world."
The Foundation was created in 1947 by Abdul Sattar Edhi, who runs
the foundation with his wife (whom he met when she worked as a nurse at the Foundation's dispensary).
'I am just a simple man,' Abdul Sattar Edhi says. 'A simple man trying to bring a social revolution.'
The Edhi Foundation now has offices throughout the world (including the US) and uses more than 2,000 volunteers to perform its work in emergency services and ongoing efforts to improve people's lives.
There's also ICNA Relief-Helping Hand,
which is part of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA). ICNA
Relief has donated $100,000 to the earthquake relief efforts already
(an amount equal to what the US government has pledged) and donated
$250,000 to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.
There are also two blogs up to coordinate news, link missing people, gather donations, etc. They are South Asia Quake Help and Pakistan Earthquake 2005. Donation links will be up in the sidebar shortly, but feel free to click the organization links above if you don't want to wait to give as generously as you can to help.
