http://wwweber.marginata.com things that fell out of WorldWideWeber's head Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:32:31 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Just as a neighbor and I began talking seriously about putting up a bat house to attract these amazing mosquito-eating creatures to our mosquito-infested backyards, we learn that, like the honey bee, the bat is in trouble. It may not be for the same reason(s), but it's disturbing nonetheless: "This is ... http://wwweber.marginata.com/2008.08.01/bioduress Today was a big day. I read about the world's oldest joke and heard an old favorite, Haydn's Symphony No. 93, on XM Radio. Okay, here's the joke, recorded ca. 1900 BCE by a Sumerian who shall remain nameless: Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not ... http://wwweber.marginata.com/2008.07.31/pffffft Many folks were bothered by the recent New Yorker cover depicting Barack and Michelle Obama in the Oval Office. Presumably he had been elected president (!), but he's wearing Muslim garb (?). And his wife looks a lot like Angela Davis, replete with an AK-47 (??). Oh, and there's a ... http://wwweber.marginata.com/2008.07.19/covered I've been a little slow in posting this update to l'affaire Litvinenko. Back in May the Independent ran a follow-up, tallying up 18 months later what we know and still don't know about how Alexander Litvinenko died. That article pointed to a piece by Edward Jay Epstein in the New York ... http://wwweber.marginata.com/2008.07.18/litvinenko Since I'm one-quarter Slovenian, and have observed quite a few Slovenians up close, it doesn't surprise me that they are capable of remarkable feats of pigheaded persistence. You will recall how Martin Strel last year added the Amazon to the list of long rivers whose entire length he has swam. Now we ... http://wwweber.marginata.com/2008.06.30/peddler When you're caught between apoplexy and despair, your writing might get a little disjointed. You're prone to ask too many rhetorical questions. Like this: For hundreds of years, we have understood in this country that "keeping and bearing arms" is different from "having a loaded gun in the drawer of your ... http://wwweber.marginata.com/2008.06.27/guns Russians may be great chess players, but they don't seem to get the hang of American politics. Commenting on press reports that Hillary Clinton is open to the idea of being Barack Obama's running mate, a reporter for Moskovskii Komsomolets writes: Experts predict ... if Obama invites Clinton to join his ... http://wwweber.marginata.com/2008.06.04/ticket Seen on the rump of a car last week: O'BAMA 2008 ♣ Vote Irish ♣ And today: Jeff Greenfield on the American preference for presidents with unchallenging (i.e., bland, preferably mono- or bisyllabic Anglo-Saxon) last names. Could a George W. Dukakis ever have been elected? George W. Kucinich (or Voinovich)? George ... http://wwweber.marginata.com/2008.05.27/surnames The lefty blogs have gone so batscheiss crazy over the fact that Clinton is still in the race, it's impossible to read them. So, for some weeks now, I haven't. It's very pleasant. I finally got around to reading a novel a friend gave me a while back, Beyond Sleep, by ... http://wwweber.marginata.com/2008.05.21/relaxing Happy Birthday, Miss Ion Accomplished! Five years old today. You've gotten so big I hardly recognize you. Freedom is on the march everywhere. In my town, starting today you can look just about anywhere and smile into the camera. A friendly Homeland Security employee will take note. Feel free to give ... http://wwweber.marginata.com/2008.05.01/liberation