JUST SOME POSTS

Back when I used to travel a LOT, I told an airline employee that I was very impressed with their company's computing power. When she looked pleased but a bit puzzled, I explained. I told her it took an amazing amount of computing power to assure that my original boarding gate was as far from security as possible, my arrival gate was as far from ground transportation/baggage as possible, or if I was catching another flight that my arrival gate and my departure gate distances were maximized. She was no longer as pleased. I am travelling this week and have more musing on the wonders of travel. I find myself even more amazed at the airlines computing power today. They still are able or maximize any distances I have to travel to, from, or between planes. However, now they are able to assure that my seat mate is larger than me. I am usually sitting with an empty seat beside me just knowing that the first person resembling King Kong that comes down the aisle will ask me to get up so ...

If you have not read the post below, you may want to. The referendum has been held. The Swiss have decided by an overwhelming margin that they are not insane. Animals will not have access to public defenders to pursue animal rights cases. Maybe there is hope for us all after all. Now if the U.S. Congress could show some signs of intelligence!

OK, there is now some doubt about whether we are the craziest society on earth. I just read a Wall Street Journal article about a referendum that will occur tomorrow - Sunday 3/7/2010. The Swiss people will be voting on whether the government needs to provide animal lawyers - public defenders for "animal rights". Now, I think animal abuse is awful. Anyone that would purposefully harm a defenseless animal should be punished legally and by society. However, Switzerland has taken this idea to a whole new level. They already have one animal public defender that operates in one of the cantons (kind of like our states, or "super"-counties). He recently prosecuted a fisherman over the abuse of a pike. This abuse occurred while a fisherman was catching the defendant (pike). The legal argument was based on the fact that the fisherman took too long to land the defendant and caused it undue suffering. The court threw the case out, but only because the court said it had no juri...

This was obviously a bad day for this soccer goalie in Germany. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqUhmHsG5P0&feature=player_embedde In some South American countries, this could get you killed! If you got the title reference, you are probably my age or close and have a good memory. Later.

I stopped by Food Lion tonight and picked up some groceries. Because it was late (and both my wife and I like it) I got some fried chicken from their deli. We have gotten it before and it is quite good, and a very good value. (OK Food Lion - free food coupons can be sent to the email attached to this blog - but stop reading here) The chicken in not as meaty as the stuff you get from KFC or other chicken places, but it is about half the price. We sat down to eat and I grabbed a breast. I bit into it and started eating. About 40 seconds later I was down to all bone. I looked at my wife and said "This chicken died of starvation, based on the meat on these bones!". I ate some of the potato salad and macaroni salad, but what I wanted was some chicken. I grabbed another piece, this one a thigh. There was no way this chicken was ambulatory. The size of the thigh was so puny that there is no way there was enough muscle mass to move the chicken around! I had the tiny little bone in ...

I was going to write one of my stunning commentaries on life, liberty, and small animals; but decided to wait and see if I need to. The CERN people in Europe are firing up the Large Hadron Collider again. So, we may all be headed to a black hole. If you don't remember or know what I am talking about see the two posts below and/or Google it. I'm Baaaack from Sept 13, 2009 and Still Here from Nov 7, 2009. Wonder if any "birds" got 300 feet underground again? I will admit that finding the Higgs bosun is a facinating prospect, but I still wonder about this thing. Oh well, at least it will be quick...