24 May 2008
24 May 2008
FROM MY DAD…
0830 by Jeff Hess
I could never bring myself to forward all the email jokes, cartoons and other Internet comedy that land in my inbox. But then I started posting the ones my dad sends me. Judging from my comments and emails, my dad has become one of my greatest blogging assets. So for your morning blog chuckle I present: From My Dad.
Customer: I can’t get on the Internet.
Tech support: Are you sure you used the right password?
Customer: Yes, I’m sure. I saw my colleague do it.
Tech support: Can you tell me what the password was?
Customer: Five stars.
24 May 2008
24 May 2008
FROM MY CHAPBOOK…
0230 by Jeff HessFound in my electronic chapbook.
In Broca”s aphasia, patients can comprehend language better than they can produce it. Most are frustrated, struggling with each word, and very often become depressed. (T) p. 121
From The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer”s Block and the Creative Brain by Alice W. Flaherty.
23 May 2008
23 May 2008
MUCKING OUT THE BLOGPILE…
1430 by Jeff Hess
I’m constantly tossing interesting websites into what I call my blogpile. Some of them find their way here in the form of regular posts, but more often than not they languish and get buried deeper in the pile. The end result is that I have to go back and do a bit of shoveling. Today’s item is Obama Beats McCain Among Jewish Voters.
23 May 2008
FROM MY DAD…
0830 by Jeff HessI could never bring myself to forward all the email jokes, cartoons and other Internet comedy that land in my inbox. But then I started posting the ones my dad sends me. Judging from my comments and emails, my dad has become one of my greatest blogging assets. So for your morning blog chuckle I present: From My Dad.
Tech support: Your password is the small letter ‘a’ as in apple, a capital letter V as in Victor, the number 7.
Customer: Is that 7 in capital letters?
23 May 2008
FROM MY CHAPBOOK…
0230 by Jeff HessFound in my electronic chapbook.
Depression: Of course, that is one reason that we write, to prove to ourselves that the wreckage is not complete. p. 119
From The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer”s Block and the Creative Brain by Alice W. Flaherty.
22 May 2008
GOOD MORNING MYANMAR…
2030 by Jeff Hess
Like an alcoholic who hits bottom and realizes that they fix their lives on their own, the military dictators of Myanmar have relented and agreed, at least in principle, to all foreign aid works free access to their nation devistated by Cyclone Nargiis. Now we have to see if their word is any good.
From the Associated Press:
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, on a mission to open Myanmar to international disaster assistance, said the ruling junta agreed Friday to allow “all aid workers” into the country to help survivors.
Ban’s comments came after a crucial two-hour meeting Friday with the junta leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, the country’s most powerful figure. Myanmar’s junta has until now refused to allow an influx of foreign aid and experts to reach survivors of Cyclone Nargis, which struck three weeks ago and killed at least 78,000 people and left 56,000 missing.
The United Nations chief did not say whether Than Shwe had acceded to the most urgent request by international aid agencies — to allow their foreign experts into the hardest-hit region, the Irrawaddy delta. Continue Reading »
22 May 2008
22 May 2008
MY COMMENTS…
1732 by Jeff Hess22 May 2008
22 May 2008
MUCKING OUT THE BLOGPILE…
1430 by Jeff HessI’m constantly tossing interesting websites into what I call my blogpile. Some of them find their way here in the form of regular posts, but more often than not they languish and get buried deeper in the pile. The end result is that I have to go back and do a bit of shoveling. Today’s item is Not Your Everyday Travel Tips.
22 May 2008
DRUG TESTING HONOR’S STUDENTS…
0951 by Jeff HessI had a conversation about drug-testing non-athletes earlier this week and asserted that drugs to enhance mental performance were just as much a cheat as steroids or blood doping for athletes. But how do we deal with doctors who nudge, nudge, wink, wink, write scripts for children of demanding parents. Is it a cheat if you have a doctor’s prescription?
From the BBC:
Schools and universities may soon need to test students sitting exams for brain improving drugs, experts say.
The Academy of Medical Sciences said drugs for diseases such as Alzheimer’s were being used by healthy people to boost alertness and memory.
The experts said if it became more of an issue, urine drug tests may be needed just as they are for athletes.
Will class valedictorians, honors students and winners of brain competition have to pee in a cup?
[T]hey warned there was anecdotal evidence drugs such as Aricept, a treatment for Alzheimer’s, Ritalin, used for attention deficit disorder, and modafinil, which targets day-time sleepiness, were also being used by otherwise health people to boost alertness and memory.
The body said in the future, regulation may have to be introduced to stop these treatments and future ones from giving people an unfair advantage in examinations and tests.
Sir Gabriel added: “We see similarities in the future use of cognition enhancers with the current use of performance enhancing drugs in sport.”
But a spokesman for the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry said the prospect of brain enhancers being used on a large scale was unlikely.
He said: “These drugs are prescription drugs and therefore you need to go to the doctor to get them. I don’t think the system is that open to abuse.”
What fairy land is this guy living in?
22 May 2008
WHAT THEY SAID…
0836 by Jeff HessObama can afford to leverage both his money and his lists by placing paid staff in every corner of the county, with special emphasis on turnout operations in the heavily African American 11th CD. Money will literally be no object, which means, as absurd as it sounds, Obama could afford to hire a person for every ward of Cleveland (21) , and every suburb in the county (56).
Seventy seven staff in Cuyahoga County alone? That”s ridiculous, of course. But the past model, between 5-10 staff, most of whom aren”t placed until late September, isn”t going to work. It hasn”t worked in the past two elections for 2 main reasons. First, because the staff is small and late in arriving, they don”t have time to build an organization independent of the party. And second, they are then forced to navigate and rely on the internecine absurdity of a county party that can”t deliver what is required anyway. It”s paralyzing.
If Obama gets in here early (Thursday night sounds good), hires a LOT of staff, and directs those staff to leverage their own lists immediately, placing people precinct by precinct, the county party won”t matter.
REPEAT. THE COUNTY PARTY WON”T MATTER. It hasn”t mattered ANYWAY, except to slow things down.
Are Tim and Jimmy worried?
22 May 2008
FROM MY DAD…
0830 by Jeff HessI could never bring myself to forward all the email jokes, cartoons and other Internet comedy that land in my inbox. But then I started posting the ones my dad sends me. Judging from my comments and emails, my dad has become one of my greatest blogging assets. So for your morning blog chuckle I present: From My Dad.
Customer: My keyboard is not working anymore.
Tech support: Are you sure it’s plugged into the computer?
Customer: No. I can’t get behind the computer.
Tech support: Pick up your keyboard and walk 10 paces back
Customer:! OK
Tech support: Did the keyboard come with you?
Customer: Yes
Tech support: That means the keyboard is not plugged in. Is there another keyboard?
Customer: Yes, there’s another one here. Ah…that one does work…
22 May 2008
FROM MY CHAPBOOK…
0230 by Jeff HessFound in my electronic chapbook.
Depression can be agitated, with increased, or what is sometimes called melancholic depression, with apathy and lethargy. (T) [Notes from Teresa, JH] p. 118
From The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer”s Block and the Creative Brain by Alice W. Flaherty.
21 May 2008
GOOD MORNING MYANMAR…
2030 by Jeff HessGiven the track record of Myanmar’s military dictators on child soldiers, I can’t say that I feel very comfortable with the news that the government is setting up orphanages to take care of the hundreds (hundreds?) of children whose parents died in Cyclone Nargis. With the death toll reaching six figures how in the world could there only be hundreds of orphans?
From the Associated Press:
Myanmar’s military junta will set up orphanages for the hundreds of children whose parents died in the recent cyclone, state media reported Wednesday.
The New Light of Myanmar newspaper said orphanages will be opened in Pyapon district and Labutta, Irrawaddy River delta towns among those hit hardest hit by Cyclone Nargis.
The newspaper did not say how many orphans the government estimated had survived the May 3 disaster, or how many orphanages would be built.
UNICEF’s representative in Myanmar, Ramesh Shrestha, said the agency believes the number of children left without guardians is over 600 and could rise. Continue Reading »
21 May 2008
MUCKING OUT THE BLOGPILE…
1430 by Jeff HessI’m constantly tossing interesting websites into what I call my blogpile. Some of them find their way here in the form of regular posts, but more often than not they languish and get buried deeper in the pile. The end result is that I have to go back and do a bit of shoveling. Today’s item is Why You Should Kick the “Versus” Habit.
