randomWalks

Australia has Anzac Day (April 25) and Remembrance Day (November 11).

On Anzac Day, some people march.

originally posted by xowie

"A lot of us were standing outside watching the planes flying overhead. But you don't see Japanese-Americans or other Hawaiians in the film. Maybe it was just the base they were showing? It's hard to tell. But it doesn't show us." The movie spends 40 minutes on the Japanese attack without showing that the Japanese not only bombed battleships, killing more than 2,000 sailors, but also bombed and strafed all over Oahu, this island where Pearl Harbor is situated, causing fires and reducing buildings to rubble. And the movie does not give even a glancing reference to the scores of Hawaiian civilians — the youngest a 3-month-old girl — who were killed in the attack, most of them from friendly fire as antiaircraft rounds missed their targets and landed several miles away in Honolulu.

"There's no reason that we would expect any acute reactions. What we're more concerned about is if people consume this over their lifetime, will it eventually catch up with them?" said an F.D.A. food safety official.

No Dog or Cat Feces in the Garden

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originally posted by xowie

From suggested lesson plans for John Ashcroft’s Dept. of Justice Bible study group:

MATTHEW 5:38-39 - “Ye have heard that it hath been said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but I say unto you, that ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Discuss the implications of this passage on the use of force by federal law enforcement officers.

Wiccan icon Fairuza Balk appeared in the Sopranos finale.

originally posted by xowie

It turns out that tying a tie is equivalent to a so-called persistent random walk on a triangular lattice. Using this model, the number of all possible knots is calculated. The optimal knot is determined by the aesthetic conditions of symmetry and balance. Of the 85 tie knots found, our model duly predicts the four knots in widespread use and further introduces nine new aesthetic ones.

Is it just me, or has this been the slowest-moving weather front you’ve ever seen come across North America? We’re having crazy storms over here. Are we drastically changing our climate? How many people will increase their chance of getting skin cancer this weekend? By how much? Will you please put on some sunscreen?

He has been totally dependent on his father ... a spoiled brat.

Taking note of: “3 color” q u i d d i t y. Very nice. Thanks ghost rocket.

Black Loyalists: Our History, Our People - “This new online exhibit from Canada’s Digital Collections Program documents an often overlooked group who fought for the British in the Revolutionary War: freed and escaped slaves. After the British government offered freedom to any slaves who fought on Britain’s behalf, as many as 30,000 people of African descent escaped to aid the British war effort. When the war ended in an American victory, these free blacks were evacuated to Nova Scotia with the other Loyalists who left the former colonies. Although they had been promised land and a new life in Canada, black emigrants found harsh living and working conditions, prompting many to leave for Sierra Leone. This site tells the story of the black Loyalists with numerous illustrated vignettes, short biographies, a timeline, and descriptions and maps of black Loyalist communities.” - The Scout Report via wood s lot.

Everything you know is wrong. (Another example.)

originally posted by xowie

Lord of the Rings wows Cannes

No one could find an obituary. One person called the newspaper in Kaycee's small town and they said that they had not heard of any girl with leukemia.

originally posted by xowie

Smithsonian Oral and Video Histories: Steve Jobs.

Amazon Listmania: Picture Books About Interracial Families.

A gallery of photos from Brooklyn Kings: New York City’s Black Bikers.

Obligatory post from the new Apple Store in Tyson’s Corner… I’m having too much fun to write more. (The new iBook is incredible.)

My computer literacy is zero. It's partly because it wasn't easy to learn, so I just gave up.

The news organization has to elevate the significance of stories about communities of color. Those stories have to be seen as part of the path to success and not part of the path to obscurity.

The boxes are supposed to help you focus your attention on one post at a time. The prominent dates floating to the left ought to help you see what’s new since your last visit. The thin border around the list of links is similarly intended to help you isolate that part of the page mentally as you scan for information. The title is supposed to be murmured more often than shouted, and the strip is just for fun. What works and what doesn’t?

“Where the hell did they get these kids?"
“It doesn’t matter."

You’ll probably enjoy this.

The appeal of laissez-faire capitalism, as it spread around the world until it vanquished even the Soviets, was simple: You need neither a change in structures nor a change in human nature. Instead, the bad side of human nature -- the greed, competitiveness, and materialism -- could be counted on to magically produce enough wealth that many people could actually enjoy the easy life that the utopians and commissars could only promise. That is the revolutionary idea of our time, and it has cast into a sepia shadow both Gandhi and Lenin. We distrust moralizing as thoroughly as we distrust government; in a cynical age, our ultimate trust is in the notion that trust is unnecessary, that we should each simply advance our own cause.