At the Gym

Whoa, no comments and the kit was posted over an hour ago? Has the world come to an end and I'm in the Twilight Zone?

attaboy, joel. when it comes to guns, we all know that bigger is better.

Here's a fitness question:

If I walk 2.5 miles every day, does it make a difference how fast or slow I walk? I mean, if it takes me longer then I'm getting in 45 minutes of exercise; shorter and I'm only getting a half hour. But it's the same distance every day.

So.. which is better for me? Does one or the other burn more calories? Or is there even a difference?

reposting from the previous kit, for Loomis:

Loomis, here's a major web site on diabetes and genetics. http://darwin.nmsu.edu/~molbio/diabetes/disease.html#Type%20II%20Diabetes%20--%20Genetic%20Factors

My father had diabetes; I've known for 30 years I was going to get it, too. (Genetically I'm practically his clone--I even look like him. I visited my brother recently, who I hadn't seen in eight or ten years, and when he opened the door he was startled, and said, "Jeez, for a minute I thought it was dad."

(My brother, curiously, is a dead ringer for my grandfather. Odder still, they say one inherits one's hair gene from the mother's side of the family. But I have my father's hair, and my brother has my grandfather's.)

Loomis, you might check out that over-the-counter A1C test pharmacies sell for $20. If your number is above 6.5 (or worse, above 7), get thee to a doctor for some serious diabetes testing. A one-time blood sugar test tells you almost nothing--it's just a single snapshot. But the A1C measures blood sugar over a 90-day span. The main test the doc will give you is called a glucose tolerance test. If you think your blood draw of 12 vials the other day was bad, the glucose tolerance test draws about 36 vials (I get one every six months or so). You fast overnight, and in the morning they give you a bottle the size of a pony beer or soda--mine look and taste like a cola. Then they draw three or four blood samples every 15 minutes for several hours (take a book). (The put an IV line in, so they don't keep poking you.) You can't eat or drink anything (except a little water) until it's over. It's really not so bad, just inconvenient. But it's the "acid test" for whether you have diabetes.

(Although I suppose the blood draw part of it varies from person to person. What with my two stents and quad bypass, plus my bout with vibrio two summers ago, my melanoma, plus the diabetes and doing my own daily tests, I'm so used to people poking holes in my arm it doesn't bother me. Your mileage may vary.)

JA, were those speeds tailwind-assisted?

I always make sure there's a big fan behind me when I use the treadmills at the Fitness Center so generously provided by my employer.

:-)

I dunno, TBG, but you're in good shape if you can walk 2.5 miles in half an hour. Takes me 45-50 minutes. Of course, I'm not pushing hard.

My big problem is shoes. Hubby and I walked last night. I had on ThorLo running socks and a pair of Saucony running shoes I've had for 2 years. Rubbed a spot on the ball of my left foot. It drives me crazy.

TBG, I'm sure there's some sort of chart somewhere that shows if you vary exertion and duration of exercise over the same distance, the overall effect remains the same.

Danged if I know where to find it, though. Perhaps the President's Council on Physical Fitness? Random factoid -- Denise Austin was just nominated to be the Council. Dunno if it's THAT Denise Austin, but I consider it very likely.

When and if you finish laughing over this kit, decamp to this link.

http://www.milkandcookies.com/links/23494/

If you have not seen it before, enjoy.

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18.5 mph is how fast Tom Cruise was running through Shanghai in the big chase scene in MI:III:Day Of The Turkey.

At the gym, I do 20 minutes on an exercise bike, about 30 minutes of weights and then 10 minutes on a treadmill at 3.0 mph (brisk walk). I'll try to do the same next month too.

In my gym days, a few years ago, I knew a research cardiologist who acted on his beliefs--he was practicing Pritikin when Ornish was fashionable ("Pritikin's cheaper and Ornish doesn't know anything new")as well as calorie restriction, an idea no one thought about back then. I was plump, anyway.

It's sort of encouraging that some of our excellent middle-aged Space Coast surfers are not exactly fat-free.

The best fat-reducing exercise possible would be to go for long walks, naked, in the snow. I once calculated that my body (with my surface area) pumps out about 100W just to maintain body temperature against radiant cooling at room temperature. Lower that outside temperature and get even more benefit! The walking is really just to keep the circulation in your feet, and to avoid creating a local layer of infrared-opaque humidity to insulate you. It also creates a little additional chemical heating, which helps to keep the power output high. A mild breeze would accomplish pretty much the same goal. By my calculations (which are crude), walking around nekkid in a freezing-point environment would burn about 4900W. That's about 1162 chemical calories per second. Unfortunately, food calories actually are kCal, so that's only 1.2 food-cal per second. Still, it's 70 food-cal per minute, or 4200 food-cal per hour. If you live, let me know how that works out for you this winter.

SciTim, wouldn't the body want to generate MORE fat for insulation in that scenario???

:-)

Boodle Follow Up:

I have been to the Corning Glass Museum. It's got displays on the history of glass, how they "float" glass, how safety windows for cars are made, and fiber-optics. They also have a great art gallery with glass painting for kids and glass blowing classes for adults.

Definitely worth a side-trip if you are in south-central New York on your way to the Finger Lakes. I-86 runs right through town if you need to find it.

Sciece Tim, I might give it a try. In the bush though there's not a lot of opportunity for windchill. The likeliehood of 'frickin' freezing' remains high in my neck of the woods in the middle of February.

It will be a no pictures event.

(Dear Lord, please help Science Tim forget he ever thought of this. As long as its before next February. Amen)

ScienceTim,
Cool-water surfing should work, too. Most mammals seem to really rev up the metabolism to cope with cold. I wish I could convince myself it's the same with people. How about testing Oregon surfers? There should be enough of them in Corvallis for someone at Oregon State to undertake the study. Or Humboldt State, in California.

yello, we didn't actually have time to visit the Glass Museum when we were in Corning, but I found the way the Corning plant looms over the little downtown of Corning was kind of creepy. The ultimate Company Town. We're Watching You. Don't Forget to Pick Up That Prescription.

I just want to add that the best thing that ever happened to treadmill runners was the addition of tv to the gyms. At the Y where I go they have two, and you can tune into the sound on a set radio frequency. If it wasn't for that, treadmill has to be the most boring physical activity ever conceived.

On the speed display, I've actually started putting a towel over the whole display to prevent checking it every two seconds.

I'm convinced body image is set by one's teens, and very hard to change afterward. I was a chubby, unathletic child and adolescent, then unaccountably became a good marathoner from my mid-20s to mid-40s. My daily run took me past a high school with a strong track team, and when I'd see their cross-country squad on the street ahead, something inside kept saying: "look at them, they're real ATHLETES" -- even as I was passing them and pulling away.

Unfortunately, it works both ways: ten years after the running tapered off, my appetite hasn't caught on that I'm not burning 5000 calories a day, and insists that I can eat as much as I want of whatever I want. It weighs on me...

Science Tim,

I live in a highly populated area. How is the paper bag I will be wearing over my head going to affect the numbers? For safety sake, there will of course be eye holes.

Joel, I am still laughing over this kit. Are you sure this was not a column worthy idea? Maybe man etiquette at the gym?

Since there are other posts on the Glass Museum, here's my repost from the end of the last boodle:

TBG, funny faq. In defence of the faq writer, that probably is a frequent question at any tourist destination. And c'mon, its the Corning Glass Museum. The most frequently asked question is probably how the heck to I get back on the Interstate.

Scottynuke notes: "SciTim, wouldn't the body want to generate MORE fat for insulation in that scenario???"

It'll try to do that, buddy. You gotta deny it. It has to use the fat to make heat, and it will try to convert new food into fat. You need to eat, like, hydroponic lettuce and carrots. Once you've achieved about 90% of your target weight loss, I guess you would want to shift your get-thin-by-shivering program to a warmer environment so that your body no longer is attuned towards creating fat from food. Otherwise, I suspect that you would bloat like a whale after your first meal of any real food.

By the way, I'm only describing a method of losing fat. I'm not recommending it.

Also, I feel I should warn you -- since the human body uses chemical processes to convert fat into energy, not nuclear processes, mass is conserved. In essence, you'll have to poop your weight away. Rapid weight loss in this fashion may produce some interesting side effects.

And so, I bring the boodle right back down into the sewer.

MLRP, regarding paper bags on the head: sorry, no can do. Your body loses much of its heat through the head, which maintains high circulation at all times and has poor insulating qualities. You need that loss. I'd go for misleading make-up efects, instead.

The kit is really a commentary on the apparent male need to turn almost anything into a competition. How else to explain things like "Pros vs. Joes" (or maybe Schmoes?) on cable or racing semi-truck cabs? Most guys seem to want to be the big dog at something. Nature or nurture?

Tim, wouldn't that theory be more effective where one is skinny-dipping in cool (not hypothermia-inducing) water? More effective heat transfer, no?

SofC, treadmill is boring, isn't it. I have a little gym set up in my home, with a tv and dvd and most recently satellite tv connection positioned right in front of my treadmill. Sometimes it helps to motivate me to get on the darned thing.

In the 2 years since I had the beast, I have found there are certain movies and shows that work on treadmills. Things with a lot of explosions or suspense, like '24' just don't work on the treadmill, while things like 'Pride and Predjudice' and Home shows, do. It seems to be the same with movies too. News magasine programs are particlularly good, but headline news less so. The weather channel really is bad for treadmill watching(Repeats in under 15 minutes). On movies, adding the commentaries into the mix works well for almost all movies. I am also considering getting books on cd for use while treadmilling.

The above data was unscientfically gathered, but that is what works for me. Lest anyone get ideas that the home gym is grandiose, if the treadmill track is down I cannot get to the books. Its up a lot.

Vanity, thy name is 'six-pack'.

I work out during my lunch, which is oddly enough at 11:00am. Oftentimes, I am one of two people working out at that time, so the competition ain't fierce.

I don't like using the weights in front of other people because I have this odd notion that they're judging me; how much I lift, how many reps and sets I do. I can see the internal calculations behind their (seemingly friendly) smiles. I expect one day one of these folks will scream, "Dilettante!" which would force me from the gym forever in shame.

dr, I've found instrumental music that has a beat that closely matches your foot speed is excellent accompaniment for treadmills.

Skinny-dipping in cool water definitely would do the job. Water has very high heat capacity, so it sucks the heat right out of you. Your body has to burn something to keep its temperature up. However, it isn't working unless the water is uncomfortably cold -- no skinny-dipping in the backyard wading pool in the middle of summer, unless you put ice in the water with you. No matter what, you have to be in an unpleasantly cold environment in order to get any benefit. The problem with water is that it may be TOO effective; the heat-extraction rate may exceed your body's ability to generate heat and thus make you hypothermic. Which would be bad, unless you are able to hibernate.

A little competitive Mr. Achenbach aren't we ? Something funny I have noticed a few times at the Gym. Some kids (male, of course) are quickly and discretly "pinning" the weight at a high number on a machine once they are finished with their set. Ah vanity ! I have to say it hurts my self-esteem when I have to reduce the weight on a machine following a girl (a girl! agirl! fur cryin' out loud!).
It happens only for leg exercises though, thank god , my upper body self-esteem is intact.

After years of watching TV while on the treadmill I've found the best possible distraction: my 2.5-mile walk is now around a local lake! And with a friend! Now the dreaded 30-minute morning walk has turned into a can't-wait-for-it burst of beautiful nature. And we started in the winter, so watching the spring emerge around us has been amazing.

I'm lucky to have the time to do this, I know. And someone to walk with. I guess you can imagine that I like to talk (No! Really?) so those 2.5 miles go by rather quickly. And so many of the world's problems get solved, as well.

In fact, before I put it on Craig's List, are there any local DC boodlers who would like a nice treadmill? For free? Just lemme know and come 'n git it!

Techno! I have this obnoxious CD from Old Navy that has all these 10 mins long techno songs from the 90s on it. Once I hear three pulse-pounding repetitive tunes, I'm off the elliptical.

By the way, I did the treadmill and the bikes. Both bore me to tears...But the elliptical is fun and gives me a full body workout, instead of legs/derriere only.

TV is good, but I'd rather have radio. I'm eyeballing an IPod for working out with...one of the new ones. That might set me back a few semolians, though.

Scottynuke, good idea. We've had so few radios round our house for decades I kind of got out of the listening to music at home, and put it into the category of 'what to do in the car'. Insert D'Uh here.

Maybe this would be the place to listen to Wagner. All the energy, all the huge volumes might do something for my walking.

Did you know that the BBC does not play Wagner during rush hour? People drive badly under the influence so to speak.

Competition in the Gym is not limited to the treadmill. Try checking out the weight room. Most reputable physical trainers understand that good form and consistency is much more important than the amount of iron lifted. Nevertheless, I frequently see men straining to the point where I fear getting splattered by torn ligaments. That's why I like to lift alone. Plus, there is less snickering that way.

TBG, walking outside is always better, anywhere. Out where I live its too dark to walk on the country roads in the very early a.m., and the trails are closed at that time of day. I used to walk in my subdivision till the cougar alerts went into effect. Apparently they like to eat early in the day, and I fear that I fall into the cull the weak and old category.

I get a kick out of those elderly gentlemen swimmers in the Polar Bear Plunge Clubs who dive and swim in icy cold water in the dead of winter. (In Jersey, is it?)

Joel, this kit is really funny. Do your girls think you're funny? (My g-kids think I am, but my kids thought I was corny.)

amo, re: techno. That's what I use too - I found anything else to be too slow so I have "Dance Fever" or some such nonsense in my walkman (showing my age, but might as well use it until it conks out).

tv can be just about anything that will hold your interest. Ideally without ads, or the boredom and temptation to peek at the time elapsed starts to return.

Wagner is problematic for use with headphones. Too much range. Long periods of "is this thing on?" during Waldweben followed by falling off the treadmill while adjusting the volume for Die Walkure.

At home I have a very good treadmill, an exercise bike (leftover from before my hip surgery when I was trying everything to avoid it) and a very expensive weight bench, plus yoga tapes. Of course I haven't used any of them for the six weeks since my house was sold and I started packing. The weight bench is now in pieces, prepped for the move. The treadmill is surrounded by boxes, the VCR packed, and, although I could use the bike, my daily exercise routine now is wrapping and packing and lifting. That and my raging case of nervous energy plus the fact that I'm trying to eat what's in the house without buying much new, has kept me slim-ish, semi-toned and mostly hungry. Funny thing, the treadmill was originally purchased by my ex, who had had a heart attack at a youngish age. He used it semi-faithfully (which was sort of how he did everything - if you get my drift) for a few months, while I used it all the time. So when the end came, I just took it with me. At my new home there will be a great route to walk to the ocean when the weather is good, and I'll get back to my exercise routine once I'm settled. I hate going to a gym, self-conscious mostly, but also hate to shower anywhere but home.

I didn't comment on all the diet talk in the last boodle for fear of running on and on. I have fought fat all my life. I was a chubby kid and was teased unmercifully. Having a thin skin made me a perfect target. I lost the weight when I was 11 thanks to a jump-start from a nasty case of food poisoning, and kept it off after that with some fluctuations. I always think of myself as 'fat,' however, I guess childhood traumas run deep. I have been on many diets through the years whenever my weight crept upwards, starting with simply counting calories as a teen and young adult. As I grew older and my metabolism slowed, I tried low-fat - high carb, point counting from WW, and finally South Beach. That one works best for me. I sort of live on a semi-diet now, watching my intake during the week and relaxing a bit on the weekend. I rarely eat junk food and may eat red meat once every week or two. But as others have said here, no one diet or philosophy of food and exercise is right for everyone. I have no answers for anyone else, I just know that when I'm exercising and eating right, I feel better physically and mentally.

Remember in Appocalypse Now, Robert Duvall's character played Wagner during air attacks saying "my boys love it!" Creepy

TBG--your question is kind of tricky. What kind of fitness benefits are you looking for? If you're trying to burn calories, you will burn almost the same amount whether you walk or jog--approximately 80% of your body weight per mile in calories (if I weigh 180, then I burn 144 calories/mile, and that's a veeeery rough estimate).

If you are looking to get some sort of cardiovascular benefit, then that means you need to keep your heart rate in a certain range for a certain period of time. Usually 60%-80% of your maximum heart rate for 30 minutes a day will do it. To get your maximum heart rate, there are plenty of handy charts on the internet, or, you could get really technical and schedule a cardiovascuar stress test. Hope that helps!

After my second child was born 20 years ago, I got serious about using the Airdyne. Something about only having lost 3 pounds when I went back for my 8-week post-partum checkup...The funny thing is that after several months, I had to go up a bra size because of the muscle that developed on my upper back and shoulders. I'm on my second Airdyne now, and am regular about using it, as well as walking when I can. Amazing how much better one feels when one eats right and exercises...

Science Tim,
I lived my childhood and teen years in a cold part Canada, where when we said -40 deg. it meant -40 on the thermometer, not some cooked up chilling factor. Nobody ever tried to lose weight by cold exposure and I don't think it would work either. When you are cold the blood flow to the limbs drops dramatically to reduce heat loss. Things that normally hang out of the body retreats to their inner sanctum. The sirens of hypothermia starts their song pretty quick too ( If I stop walking/swimming and just rest a minute, I'll be ok). I went through the ice on a river once, up to the arm pit or just about and walked back a mile after that in cold weather. My thing left its inner sanctum a day or two later, until then miction was a messy affair.

PS note the clever use of -40, where C and F are equals

Not to brag or anything, but I completed my second marathon in Cincinnati on Sunday! Very hilly, and my knee was not very happy about things at all, but I somehow crawled across the finish line in 3:59 and change. I then got a surreal handshake from a guy in a blazer and a high-five from some lady in a pig suit (it was the Flying Pig Marathon).

In my 6th and 7th grade classes, there was a girl who was a little chubby, round and soft and unassuming. She made a perfect target. We teased her unmercifully, mostly about her weight. There were other, fatter, kids, but she was the one who didn't respond aggressively. She was delayed coming back to 8th grade, didn't arrive at school for a month or so after the rest of us. Some sort of illness.

She had been in treatment for anorexia nervosa, and had nearly starved herself to death. She was still with us, still painfully thin, by the time I left that school in 9th grade. I could have tried to become her friend, but I was never able to bring myself to talk with her again. I felt a well-justified shame and guilt every time that I saw her, so I just made sure to always lurk on the far side of classrooms, always avoided going through a door near her. She had tried to be friendly in 6th grade, and I had been one of the ones that just gave her pain. I didn't even have the excuse of having always been a bully, I was only a bully to her. Avoiding her didn't help her, either, but I couldn't face her. I didn't deserve forgiveness for my cruelty to her, and I really never have forgiven myself.

So, lose weight if you feel you really want to, but don't overdo it, and don't do it for anybody else.

Cougars in the neighborhood! Yikes. (although my friend has seen a coyote near her house lately--in suburban DC!)

dr, your cougars make me think of the brochure my husband showed us to convince the family to go on a train tour of Mexico. When I saw the section on what to do if bandits attack the train I told him we'd stick to places that didn't have a section on bandits, thank you very much.

When I interviewed author Covert Bailey he had a wise piece of advice. Exercise to make yourself happy. Get up and move it, whatever it is. Because if you find some activity that makes you happy, there's a great likelihood that you will continue to do it--over and over and over again.

Sure, there are *better* exercises: those that move the big muscles in your upper leg and your glutes, but if you don't like those, chances are you won't continue doing them. Walk the beach, dance the tango, garden up a patch of ground, jazzercise and jump and stretch, row a boat, swim in a river, jump rope, fly a kite, bike around your local neighborhood--just do it. (sorry, Nike).

To scoot out the door and on to the day...

Yeah, the whole 'diet' concept doesn't work for me. I think the word diet is misused in general, implying a short temporary change in food consumption. Which is why the weight eventually comes back; you go off the 'diet' and resume a high level of caloric consumption and the weight comes back.

Truthfully, a diet is defined as what a living thing is consuming to provide fuel for activity. Ice cream can (and in my opinion should) be part of anyone's diet that wants it to be. Going off one's diet to eat ice cream makes no sense. If you go off your diet, that means you are not eating anything and will die of starvation.

I think ultimately, as a country, we need to really re-think the whole 'diet' thing. It's a multi-billion dollar a year industry, which (as someone else puts it) boils down to the simple truth: eat less, exercise more.

We, as a culture, have this mentality that demands instant gratification and little input for maximum output. We don't like the long haul. Heck, we don't like waiting in traffic...how are we going to discipline ourselves as a nation to engage in some activity every day and eat fewer Whoppers?

So, I don't diet. I may make healthier choices in what I do eat, and I may choose to limit my intake of certain non-essentials to achieve a weight loss goal but I don't view it as dieting. I view it as controlled lifestyle change.

I like ice cream, a lot. I just don't eat Godiva's ice cream. I eat Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches that have 1.5 grams of fat and 140 calories - and are pretty darn good.

I may rarely get to eat Godiva ice cream, but my thinking is, it's probably meant to be that way - rare, but enjoyed when it happens.

Talking books are a good listen while walking. A digital camera will help you look at familiar surroundings in a new way.

jw - congratulations - that's a great time, too.

SD, I once voluntarily participated in an informal event we called "Rapid Transition", involving skiing down into a lake at the end of a snowfield and then being towed out of the near freezing water by friends. So I hear ya. I note for the Darwinian record that I did survive this experience and go on to reproduce.

Tim, your comment brings tears to my eyes. I'm going to make sure my kids read it.

When I was in high school I was 5'10" and about 125 pounds and I thought I was horribly fat. My friends all weighed closer to 95-100 pounds. Of course, they were about 5-10 inches shorter than I was but that didn't occur to me. I just thought about the hard numbers and the larger sizes I was wearing.

One day a boy I didn't know very well said something in passing, like, "Howya doin' Slim?" My uncle called my dad (who was pretty heavy at the time) "Slim," so I just knew that boy was calling me fat. My mom, who was short, skinny and worried about everything I put in my mouth, never realized that I thought I was fat. I kept that body image in my head all my life. Eventually it became true and I've always wondered about that day I was called "Slim." That guy has NO IDEA that I took it as an insult and that I believed it so strongly for so long.

I am shocked when I see how hot I looked back then. Just like I'll be shocked 30 years from now when I see how good I really looked in 2006.

Tim, I think many people have a story like that - whether they were the bully or the victim, or the friend of either.

You have it exactly right - do it only for yourself.

TBG, I am a long time lurker (due to firewall and typepad)I live in MD and would be willing to take that treadmill off your hands... :)

I tell my boss that it's more important that I go to the gym during lunch everyday than go to work because if I didn't, I would quickly become too weak to make it to work. I am, in a way, a little lucky to work out at my gym. I don't have a personal trainer, but I need help around the weight room as a safety issue which means that the staff allocates to me the least experienced employee, which is usually the hot babe student worker. I hang onto her as she takes me from machine to machine. I like to do "drop sets". This is a method where I do 5 to 6 reps starting out on a high weight till complete muscle failure. Then my helper lowers the weights and the process is repeated without resting till the pin is on a rediculously low plate for my strength. After I've completed a set, it takes considerable effort to lift my hands above my head. unlike that sissy aerobic stuff, pumping heavy metal really bulks the body. You can bet I've got a 6-pack... Unfortunately though,, it's hidden in the back of the fridge...

TBG, if you WALK, not run 2.5 miles in 30 minutes, you must be pretty tall and long-legged, or into racewalking.

Racewalking will burn more calories than jogging at a similar pace will, I think, because you're fighting the excess forces going through hips and spine that makes jogging more logical when you're at a certain pace. I'm sure if I was walking at 2.5 miles per hour I'd be fighting the tendency to bounce instead of walk.

I remember reading an article about scientists finding a third, hypothetical gait that was energy-efficient, but they couldn't find humans actually using it.

I read the description and e-mailed the author if they had looked at people who are switching from walk to run or slowing down from a run to a walk. I got an reply back saying the scientist had tried changing from a walk to a run and back and he thought he could see what I meant about the gait possibly existing.

So, everybody, try out a hypothetical gait today (it's stifflegged and uses the hip swing and lots of ankle and foot power)!

Unfortunately it is already patented at the British Ministry of Silly Walks... Fortunately, we're not in the UK.

Let me just say that kbertocci is not a loser and although she might not know how to spell the word "friend" every time, she knows what it means and, in fact, is very good at being one.

I'm just saying.

TBG

ScienceTim et al.: Putting yourself on ice is a good way to lose weight, but only when you start to shiver. At that point you start burning off about 400 Cal (food cal) per hour. Ref:
http://web.mit.edu/medical/h-asklucy_archive.html

I stopped going to the gym many years ago when the proprietors refused to attach ashtrays to the treadmills.

Just read that you're 5 feet 10. I knew you were a woman, so I was thinking you must be above average in height to manage that kind of pace.

I know some men around your height who can walk 7 mph or more when they're New York Fast, so 5 mph isn't shabby.

I wouldn't slow down at all. If you want to burn more calories or add muscle, put weights on your ankles and wrists.

I hope I have not hit any "height" sensitivities at all. Being undertall myself... I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, especially after all the times people've tried to rest their elbows on my head.

Hey, would you believe I actually work for Corning? And read this blog every day?

Actually, the Corning Museum of Glass gets A LOT of tourist traffic. Of course, it helps that I-86 is the main highway of choice to get from NYC to Niagara Falls, and that Corning is roughly halfway. It's a day stop for all those big tour buses.

And it is indeed the ultimate Company Town. That's not even a plant up there on the hill, TBG. That's just the R&D compound.

TBG... that said, if you ever meet me at a BPH, you'll have to look way down to see me. My dog's tall enough to look me in the eye. Mutt and Jeff, we are.

jw, way to go. It takes a whole lot of gumption to even begin to think of doing one.

kindathinker - that's sort of like my complaint about a gym I once went to. I felt they needed new weights. The old ones were too heavy.

Exercise, the elusive sport. I see most of you have equipment, treadmills,etc, and I have none of that. Must walk to get exercise, and that has become almost impossible, but love to walk. Used to do it everyday, rain, sleet or snow. Bad back , and even worse, knees. I need to walk, it would help every condition I suffer from, and help me lose weight.

I have a story I'd like to tell you. I really am ashamed, but I think I need to tell you because sometimes our troubles may help others, and if we can help we should. I went to the food bank this afternoon, to get food, for I'm horribly short this month with the price of gas, and everything reflecting that increase. They took me back, and the lady had some questions I needed to fill out. She assumed I was getting SSI because of the hearing impairment, and I didn't tell her any different. She was White, and so many times we're catergorized (African-Americans). I went along with what she said, even adding to it. They gave me the food, and even brought it out and put it in the car. While driving to see my sister at work, I said this is wrong. When I told my sister what I had done, she said don't you need the food. I said yes, but I shouldn't have lied. It bothered me so bad, I went back to the food bank, and just so happen the lady that took my information was coming out, and I told her that I had not told the truth, and I wanted to return the food. And I asked her to forgive me. She said come inside, and we'll fill out another form. I filled it out and put the correct information in, and she said you can keep the food, and don't worry about it. I tell you when I left that food bank I was so full it was if I had eaten a ten course meal. I'm telling you this because I want you to know that when we're sure of where we stand, God shows us that we aren't really where we think we are. We need Him, and we need His Son, Jesus. We need food for the body, but we also need food for the soul, because we have a soul, and it must be fed. I am no saint, I fall, but I'm so glad that God loves me, and that He keeps me standing. Pray for me, friends, and I will pray for you, always. I love you, much.

Let me also say that my 30-minute, 2.5-milk walk was purely hypothetical. We usually take anywhere from 40-50 minutes, depending on who is with us, what we're talking about, what kind of cool animals we see ("look at that hawk!"), etc.

I was just asking if it matters how far or how much time it takes?

And Geist, you are welcome to my treadmill. You can email me at boodler@mac.com and we can work something out.

Time for my walk now! (I sound like omni)

Instead of going to a gym, I think it is much more fun to integrate excercise into one's lifestyle. Why take the elevator to a boring staff meeting? Just take the stairs. Nothing gets you out of a meeting quite as effectively as the sudden onset of chest pains.

TBG, I've already taken three walks today. And after a one hour meeting I'm going to take a fourth.

The best treadmill viewing for me, by far, was the "Band of Brothers" series. Each episode I'd just start to get to that winded period after 15-20 minutes, then when the bullets started flying I would be highly distracted. More than once I got to the end of an episode and thougth "hey- I'm still walkin'...."

-- or my dog. Nah, it's how many steps you take and if you want heart fitness, you have to keep and sustain an elevated heart rate for so long for the fitness benefit. In that case, walking at a slower pace is OK.

However for ideal cardio benefits, you should be walking fast enough that talking isn't so easy, but not so fast you're gasping instead of talking. I think.... the fitness nuts will be all over this one.

But for destressing benefits and general life benefits, looking at hawks is very good. Have fun and just take 10 minutes for a real "burn" mid-walk if you're worried you're having too much fun.

Wow, Shriek, I learned two new things from your post (at 2:07):

1) Canada actually has a warm part (because you differentiated it from the "cold part"); and

2) the word "miction." I get so micted off when people use words I don't know and have to look them up.

Cassandra, if you needed the food, then you needed it. She knows a person who would come back would have never ever gone unless the need was real and immediate. His hand in action, no doubt.

It says a huge huge amount about you though, that you would go back because you felt you did wrong. 'Grace requires a something which riches cannot give' (C. Colton) and you Cassandra, walk in grace.

Best elliptical machine viewing : F1 Grand Prix. I more than once extended a session beyond my usual 50 minutes to see the end on the sports channel. Because of the time difference most European GPs are presented at my usual Sunday morning hour at the Gym. So I get prime time TV at 8-9 am on Sundays.
I'm like (who, omni I think ?), stationary bicycles and threadmill bore me to death but I still do them once in a while. Stat Bikes session helps for the real outside biking season.

In highschool, "Howard The Coward", a small frail kid with thick glasses was bullied, taunted and tormented by the boys every day. The girls didn't like it, but to our shame, we didn't do anything to help him. Then one Friday night Rebel Without A Cause came to the Majestic Theatre. All weekend long teenagers filled the first floor seats, balcony, opera boxes and SRO. I saw it 6 times. In Rebel, James Dean's character, Jim, takes up for and befriends a lonely kid, Plato (Sal Mineo), who is tormented by bullies at school. Natalie Wood's Judy is attracted to and falls in love with Jim because of his "sincerity" and his tenderness towards Plato. They both comfort Plato as parents would their own child. Very touching scenes.

Monday morning came. Everyone at school was talking about Rebel Without A Cause. Boys spoke knowingly about "chickie runs" they'd supposedly been on. They cuffed their jeans and combed their hair like Dean. They told their girlfriends how "sincere" they were. But most importantly and best of all, it was suddenly very very uncool to torment Howard. The guys who'd tormented him, now approached him to hang out with them. Howard was very suspicious and cautious. Time passed . Howard now had a couple of best friends. No one bullied him again.

Hello all, long time lurker, 1st real post.
I am 24 years old (a young'un I know, please be kind)My girlfriend's kickboxing trainers (3 of them) wants to meet me next Tuesday. I have 1 hour of formal training (wing chun)and have always enjoyed a gentlemanly fight with friends. I am in decent shape, but not conditioned enough to fight a "expert" kickboxer. She mentioned something about them "being protective" of her, which translates to me as "wants to see if I can fight" and a order of joining will be inevitable. The only kickboxing I would consider is Muay Thai and the discipline requires strict conditioning (which I have no interest in learning at this school) Anxiety has become my new best friend, and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to how to come out of this situation a winner. I could just as easy say "No" but that isn't being fair(they said they would make her work twice as hard if I don't show)and I honestly feel like I could hold my own against the weakest of the three after a few months of serious exercise.
Thoughts? Jokes? : )

SCC 1st wants...want

Amen, dr, amen. Go in peace, Cassandra. You did the right thing.

I don't know if Omni's walks are like mine at my job before I started teaching. Whenever something made me mad enough that I was about to say something inappropriate, I would take a very fast walk around the plant. It was a pretty big place and it took about 12-15 minutes of very fast walking to go all the way around and expend my rage energy. I could easily explain my absences since I often left the office and went out into the production area. However, it got to the point where I was going home exhausted after four or five laps each day. Exercising makes you tired, but exercising in a rage really takes it out of you, I think. One day, my boss made one of the usual comments about minorities, and I was wearing my one and only pair of shoes with somewhat high heels. So, instead of going for a walk, I typed up my resignation. It was the best career decision I ever made. I could have kept on walking and complaining to HR, but teaching is what I really love, so there.

I'm impressed Mudge, I thought you had all the Durdy Wird Phylter tricks path down.

People living in the Banada Belt (Toronto-Niagara along lake Ontario and Erie) don't know what a real winter is. One guy I know in Hamilton even barbecues his Christmas turkey. Don't get me started on British Columbia Lower Mainland, that's lotus land not Canada. 2 inches of snow out there and the place is paralysed for 3 days.

Loved that story, Nani.

Cassandra, you are one fine lady.

Geist: your problem is simple, therefore difficult. Go to meet these guys. Gamely participate. Get beaten, because they are in practice and you are not. Laugh ruefully about how you have sadly let yourself get out of shape. If presssed for WHY you are out of shape, mention whatever serious and demanding matter is the actual reason. Do not commit to go again. Demonstrate your seriousness about whatever keeps you from having done this stuff on your own, and how you are totally nonthreatened by the prospect that her "friends" can kick your ass. This event is not about discovering whether you can protect her. She's already kickboxing, she can take care of herself. It's about threatening you, to see how you react. So be nonthreatened and keep your cool. The situation will be defused and she will love you better for it, if she has any sense.

The obvious solution to the kickboxing conundrum is to put your best Steven Segal scowl on, grab the nearest cue ball or frozen sea bass, make lots of unnessessarily rapid and complicated hand and/or foot movements, and then go to town.

Either that or tell them that Chuck Norris taught you the ancient art of the roundhouse, and that you cannot be held responsible for what might happen.

Just read the blog. Here's a thought: when the groundhog said 6 more weeks, wasn't that fair warning? Even assuming it's winter until mid-March, shouldn't one be further along in the process?

It's like people who wait until the week before Christmas to do the shopping...

JW, I should come in with my own waiver and make them all sign it.
Tim, I like the advice. That is exactly what I will do. I'll give it my best and let everyone know the results!

If you walk in there and immediately start shouting, "Anybody seen Richie?! Anybody know why Richie did Bobby Lupo?" they will either be incapacitated by laughter, or really confused, and either way you have the upper hand. Just remember the signature Segal move: breaking the arm with an elbow smash.

Geist, you're right in seeing this as a manipulative ploy by the kickboxer trainers to do a pressure-sell.

Unless anybody has successfully fought off gunmen, murderers, and rapists and caught robbers with kickboxing... I would not pause a second before refusing a demand to join their classes, especially since you seem to know enough about kickboxing to know what you want.

But then, I hate pressure sells on anything I am not convinced by-- when I crumble I always hate myself after and usually weasel out.

I've let people recruit me for their classes and other stuff before, and always regretted it because they invariably had things to teach me, which I felt I was better off by not learning.

As you have made up your mind you're not interested, what purpose will this "drama" provide?

...Other than the usual testestrone competiveness stuff which is not to be overlooked, naturally.

Kickboxing in most of its variants is actually a SPORT martials arts, not an actual fighting martial arts style, just like boxing (and not hitting below the belt) is.

A good Tai Chi practioner probably could make shortwork of a kickboxer, same as a Hippiko practioner, perhaps even a pure karate artist who excels at defense, and so on.

I have friends who achieved black belts in judo, akidio and others. I learned quite a bit from them about why "sports martial art" kicks, punches etc. are no good, different styles have very different perspectives.

What I see of kickboxing doesn't impress me as an serious self-defense art, just something to do in a ring under rules and refs, or against an punching bag for exercise.

Gotta boogie early--my wife's in a car-buying mood. This can't portend well. Will report back tonight whether I am significantly poorer or not.

That said, I tend to concur with Tim.

Even if you're in shape, you may still get beaten because you're not used to fighting by those rules.

I don't know much about your relationship dynamics, but if she has to put on a show to show you that she's learning to kick real ass...

I'd look at whether she secretly itches to kick yours sometimes, and that she doesn't feel you give her enough respect for her self-restraint.

folks tend to forget the benefit of intensive training.

I laugh to myself when I see people lackadaisically chatting on their cell phones, grading papers, or reading a book while "working out" on the cardio machines. They spend what seems like an eternity on the machines and never break a sweat, and more importantly never raise the heart rate levels. I get more done in half an hour of interval training than most people get in an hour "cell phone walking."

You gotta train smart and train hard to see results. Lift weights first to burn off the carbs and glucose so by the time you hit the cardio, you'll be using up your fat stores.

TBG, sorry I'm a latecomer to the discussion. Regarding your earlier question about whether it matters how fast or slow you walk, I once posed that question to my doctor. Generally, exercise that gets the heart going faster is better, so walking faster will be better if it gets your heart working more. (The whole aerobics thing.) However, my doctor also gave me a formula to use to calculate based on heart-rate, my age, etc., and when I tried to swim fast enough to reach that level, I was so exhausted I was just ready to drown and be done with it already.

The intelligence level of this boodle is what keeps me coming back for more day after day. Sometimes I don't follow what is going on but everything is very smart and articulate. For example, I couldn't quite get a handle on the words "gym" and "exercise". Nobody else missed a beat though. I'm assuming through context that these words have something to do with pizza production and beer consumption. Thanks for increasing my vocabulary yet again! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to the "gym" for a large pepperoni. Maybe I'll stop to "exercise" on the way home but I'll be sure to take a cab if I over do it.

Cardio+no carbs or glycogen = bad news. Just sayin'. The metabolic process of converting fat to glycogen to energy is not fast enough to provide for energy needs. Thus, the "hitting the wall" effect. Cardio training with low glycogen levels leads to over-training, sleep disorders, and injury. And unless you are on a high calorie diet, your body will actually break down muscle for energy before it starts touching the fat.

Of course, if you actually take fitness advice from the Boodle, you're getting what you paid for.

Wilbrod, she was taking kickboxing before she met me.

"Unless anybody has successfully fought off gunmen, murderers, and rapists and caught robbers with kickboxing... I would not pause a second before refusing a demand to join their classes, especially since you seem to know enough about kickboxing to know what you want."

-I agree. I gave her a can of mace to keep in her car a while back.

As you have made up your mind you're not interested, what purpose will this "drama" provide?

-I feel like I will be in a better position to talk her out of this silly waste of money by going. It's not that she doesn't respect my opinion but I feel like if I go, that I am giving it a honest look from her POV. I wouldn't even mind taking up a REAL martial arts discipline with her. Honestly, I want to take up fencing (she has expressed interest as well) and Salsa (just picked up a ballroom dancing dvd/cd which teaches you basics about similar forms of dance)

I treat (or at least try to) her like a princess. We have been going out for a few months now and everything has been going great. All I can do now is exercise and wait until Tuesday (Finals week, yay!)

Kickboxing and martial arts "instructors" are in business for money, not to teach you to defend yourself. Ever observe a Japanese cop? Do they carry "swords", or "stars" or nunchuks? No, they carry a hickory baton. And they can and do receive all the martial arts "training" around. It's OK exercise. But it's not fighting.

Billy Badass and his twins couldn't kick their own asses in reality. Let's see, how many real fights are more than a punch or kick by a drunken idiot, which instantly turns into a shoving and wrestling match?

If martial arts were effective, why would ANY crook be in jail?

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is not real. And video games and modern movies make it even more ludicrous.

My advice. Dump her. There are real issues there.

Or go, grab the first idiot, take him down, and slam his face on the mat by the hair. A couple of elbows to the schnozz and broken fingers later, he'll curl up in a ball.

If you EVER consider a self defense course, you ought to be hearing things like:

The best defense against a knife is the feet: RUN.

You can't beat two opponents, much less more.

How you carry yourself is more important than your bench press record.

Your brain housing group can ensure you almost never will face a fight.

But, if you get in one, kick, scratch, punch, puke, spit, gouge, pull hair, break fingers, knee, elbow, bite, and break them in two with a pool cue. It's a fight, not a game.

Ever read the crime reports? Any instances of a young lady roundhousing a would be rapist or carjacker? Not often. Self defense is awareness, carriage, stance, fortitude, sticks, mace, and guns. If you lack the latter, use what you got. And that includes beating feet, not ass.

Geist, interesting problem and many different dynamics. From the kick-boxers' perspective, they are either looking to sell you on their style and have you join or are looking to pummel their current student's boyfriend. Either way will probably be fine for them.

Tim's comment is great advice for many such circumstances, but with such a physical and fight-related activity you should be aware that a new dynamic may arise after you want to quit after one session.

My advice would be to not go and to be up front with your girlfriend. You're not interested in that style etc. Suggest something else phsyical you can do together. If they are her friends as well as trainers, meet them for a beer. Be self-deprecating about how they would have kicked your out of shape butt. If they harass you despite all that, the counter is "wow, you guys are doing a great sales job for your sport". Look at girlfriend. Response will tell you whether to dump her along with kick-boxing.

Aw, Nani, bring tears to my eyes. That was yet again another story with a wonderful ending.

I walk for two reasons. One: It's good for me and since I've started doing this three times a day at work I've dropped 10 pounds (my weight is now stable at 155lb). Two: Gets me away from my desk where I sometimes over think a problem. I usually come up with brilliant solutions mid way through the walk while not even thinking about it (just sort of random daydreaming) Light bulbs, ya know.

I'm still pondering the vanishing of the 48mph jogger. Say Joel, have you seen an imprint on the back wall that would be roughly the shape of a 30ish jogger with no body fat ?
jw, getting romantic, sexual, scientific , gardening, health or training advice from the boodle is done at one's own risk and peril. I would take grammar advice, with all the English major around but that's about it.
The WaPo and its projectile vomiting lawyers make it clear in the Rules that, although they grab all intellectual properties there is to grab (grab mine all you want, it's more a liability than a property !) the WaPo has nothing to do for misuse of the silly advice therein.

Geist, what a sweet gentleman you are. How does she treat you? Go only if *you* want, for yourself. Fencing and salsa... such sensual, romantic activities. On guard! Congo Yambumba!

Yambumba! I've got to find a way to work that into a sentence today....

Nani, my gf treats me great. I have no complaints whatsoever. Im convinced that she was brainwashed by her African father (he's from Liberia) who always wanted a boy (she was reminded of this frequently from what she tells me) in regards of wanting to take kickboxing. I thank everyone for their advice and comments on this situation. Almost quit'en time.

*singing happily* My Achenshirt came! My Achenshirt came! It's a nice shirt, too! Now I can be a walking advertisement for the boodle! I'm excited! (Can you tell?)

jw, of course we all get our history lessons from Curmudgeon. I'm thinking of sitting for the AP History exam with my son now! How do you think I'd do?

Geist, here's what you do:

Come to my house on Friday afternoon and pick up your free treadmill. The workout you'll get doing that will give you the strength and stamina to meet those kickboxers for a beer and pizza on Tuesday night after your girlfriend's class. Everybody wins!

In case you didn't see it buried inside another post before, my email is: boodlerATmac.com.

Hey! where's bc?

TBG--it depends...I completely bluffed my way through the AP History test and did ok.

A friend of mine wrote his AP Biology essay on high school sex practices (the topic was something about asexual and sexual reproduction, and which was better for a species) and he got a 4, I believe.

Good heavens, Maybe he was the 48 mph jogger!

Well that is just bad boodlin' out of order. Its pretty funny though. Let me rephrase that.

Maybe bc was the 48 mph guy.

dr says: "Maybe bc was the 48 mph guy."

Joel described the 48 mph guy as: "about 30, zero body fat, treadmill dialed to 7.7 miles per hour."

dr... I think bc will love you forever.

Uh... that 5:25 was me.

grimmace, your 3:56 posting just got read out loud to my family. Thanks for the snort!

my fear is that bc might be a big splat somewhere....

Actually didn't he say he would be away for a while?

i don't excercise - i'm very, very, very, very... uh... very lazy. But this job has forced me to park almost a mile from where i work so consequently i've lost weight! yippee! and i get paid to do it! so now i do my morning and evening walks at "crack walk" speeds and have dropped a cpl of paint sizes - the only way a woman judges her weight - step on a scale? are you outta ur mind?

btw - i'm sooooooooooooo excited - i'm planning a trip to bocas del toro, panama for next month! wooopeeee!!!!!!

scc - paint = pant... i hope that's not a freudian slip!

Paint sizes? I think I saw that issue of Sports Illustrated.

Is it too late to boodle... think I've missed the bulk of boolders.

but hey, I've learned that treadmills are VERY bad for your lower back and result in many disc problems. Because you're glutes aren't firing properly. Anyway, I know this because I'm fitness training with an Olympic hurdler presently. Not kidding. And that's what he says.

Hey, Achenblog is headlining the Opinion section of the WP home page! Sit up straight, now. Put away those beer bottles.

mo! Take many, many photos and post them on your blog! Please. It's important!

Warmest Regards,

CowTown

Quick hide the pizza. Somone might see.

Ok I've never done that with pizza, but I have with chocolate. My relationship with chocolate is very personal. No one, but no one is gonna touch my chocolate but me.

Wow.. too bad they didn't highlight the corn poop boodle on the home page. I can see the description now...

» Achenblog | One must take care to carefully analyze output after certain input. Forget about computers: We're talking about corn and asparagus. What goes around comes around.

Perhaps I should have been more specific. Mo, my humble request is that you share your Panamanian Adventure by taking lots of photos and posting them on your blog.

Thank you for allowing me to clarify my earlier statement.

Miss Toronto, I'm somewhat surprised to hear that advice on treadmills. It certainly is a different group of muscles; anyone that's trained over winter on treadmills and then gone outside has had that experience! What does he say about mixing it up (ie not doing only treadmill but some outside work as well) or offsetting with some weight training?

as you wish cowtown - be sure there will be a plethora of pics! have you heard of bocas del toro?

Grimmace, I went for an extra long woalk during lunch, and know my Yambumba is all sore.

mo... does that mean Bull Mouths? You're going to Bull Mouths, Panama?

I hope you can make the BPH on May 30. Plenty of bull mouths there, I'm sure.

mo: I have a similar situation. Because I am still a new employee I have to park out in the remote lot. You know, the one with a separate area code. The excercise does me good. Also, most days my friend, Mr. G, and I go for a walk on the under-utilized jogging trail. This keeps us both in pretty good shape. Plus we get to talk about our plans for world conquest. It never hurts to be prepared.

TBG - has a site for the BPH been picked?

Of course your Yambumba is sore RD, if you 'woalk'ed. Its just the way it is.

I never just treadmill, though it surely is a mainstay. I do a whole range of stuff, mostly from dvd's. I've tried gyms, but my problem begins at home, and so I try to fight it at home. I can do whole body fitness at home, but whole brain fitness I find here. Well rounded, that's me!

dr - hey at least you didn't point out the "know" for "now." Remember boodlers, preview is your friend....

TBG: You hit the proverbial nail: the corn poop boodle is worthy of headlining the opinion section. I was pretty active until I tore my knee up playing men's league soccer in Clt. I never went to the doc to see what was wrong. As a result, bike riding was lost as an exercise option because proper ankling causet my knee to swell like a casaba melon. Thus, my only exercis occurred during boys' soccer practice during the times I would join the boys during 3 v 1, scrimmage, etc. I gave up coaching this year after a 15 year run, and now get sporadic exercise when working on the house or doing the lawn. Don't tell anyone, but I take the dogs outdoors clad only in my boxers at approximately sunrise. I wonder if that burns any extra calories as SciTim suggested. Th school district is opening a charter school directly across the street from us next year. The view may be grounds foar a call to the constabulary...

tbg - yes, it's mouth of the bull - my grandmother's birthplace - it's on the caribean and beeyooootttiful! and of COURSE i'll be at the bph! *psha* silly question, that!

rd - it's always nice to look at the positive side of things huh? i actually look forward to the walk - wakes me up in the am and calms me down in the pm - fortunately, it's through a visual part of dc...

I didn't even see that! So how do you woalk anyway? Maybe that's the name for that 3rd gait someone was talking about earlier? If not it should be.

RD, I just assumed that you were using "know" as a command eg know I'll be going home soon. "Woalk" was also assumed to be brogue, as in a "Woalk by the bonnie loch".

Yeah - what SonofCarl said. I meant to do it. That's the ticket!

The one thing I like about those shirt soaking, 300 calorie, or what I call a 2 beer workout, is that it really and truly turns me into a complete idiot. I mean, pumping hundreds of pounds of iron is just as effective at lowering my IQ as curling the 12 oz aluminum. It's a great feeling to stagger out of the gym with a goofy grin and an empty head. The greatest challange for me is to hit the correct elevator button, so I just press them all. When I hear others in the elevator huffing and puffing about every floor getting lit up, which are usually the VIPs destined for the twelf floor, I can sincerely offer them an honest excuse; "It's not that I'm blind. I'm just stupid." When I stumble off the elevator, many times I'm on the wrong floor, but I don't notice until I bump into a stranger. And then I ask, "Could you please tell me where I am?" The answer is always the same, both men and ladies, "Your right here." I marvel at the accuracy of the response. Where else could I possibly be, at any moment and time, but "right here"? Then comes my favorite part. I get a personal escort back to my office that I share with an exceptional lady who knows everybody in the building, especially me. Laughter ensues. Another charity call victim acknowledged. Another rescue mission accomplished. Then I sit at my desk drawing blanks for a few minutes. Then I hit the F5 key...

SonofCarl---to answer your question.... as per treadmills... if you do use them... you should mix them up with other activities for sure. Weight training is good but really you should work on core strength training and abdominals.

My trainer prefers using the body as a natural weight to do most of these exercises. They consist of basic floor routines and the good old sit-up.

Also, the old treadmills that you had to manually push with your feet are much better than the automatic ones.

Home from work, dishes done, here in the ebb tide of the boodle, some housekeeping, metablog comments.

TBG posted earlier a cryptic message with reference to "moi" and it brings up a general point. Sometimes we boodlers are communicating outside the blog, at porching hours and otherwise, but I think we should be careful to keep the conversation in the blog strictly public, so that someone stopping by for the first time doesn't think they've stumbled into some kind of private club. The more the merrier, after all. Anyway, TBG's comment implied that someone had called me a "loser" and I almost took umbrage until I remembered that I recently sent her a note that contained this sentence, written by me: "I'm a loser." Aha, now it makes sense. And maybe I've proved that I'm right and she's wrong, after all.

New, but related subject: the Achenshirt.

I feel bad that the Achenshirt is a kind of in-crowd thing and it's hard to figure out how to get one.

So here it is, nice and public.

Achenshirt, option one:

Go to uberprints.com
Click on the "My Account" tab.
sign in as kbertocci@hotmail.com
password: achenblog
Go to "My Designs"
Order one of the shirts already designed, or design a new one.

THE DRAWBACK of this method: although it is the easiest, it is my account and the confirmation emails will come to me. Your name and address will be on the emails. [You can trust me. (heh heh)]

Achenshirt, option 2:

Obtain the "we click" logo from my website
http://bellsouthpwp2.net/k/a/karenbertocci/weclick4.png
Right click and save to your hard drive.
Now you own the design, and you can go to uberprints, or any other site you wish, and order t-shirts, bookbags, posters, coffee mugs, wall-sized tile mosaics, whatever. Or you can print your own shirt.

If the WaPo lawyers come after you, you are on your own, I do not know you.

Good night, and Happy Boodling.

a note on vanity. i think that word gets tossed around a little too easily when it comes to working out and dieting. personally, i think calling it vanity is rationalizing one's own sloppy lifestyle of too much fat, sodium and processed sugars because they are so easy and taste so good.

Ache had it right, there is some vanity to it, and it's a powerful motivator. but it motivates us to do what is essentially good for our body (temple?) and we should take advantage of that. of course, true vanity is when one takes short cuts that are just as unhealthy.

but true work in the gym and eating properly is not vanity, its compensating for the unhealthy (sedentary) life our advanced modern society makes possible for us. whats wrong with that?

of course if you are comfortable without doing that, thats cool too. but diet and exercise are more than just about trying to look your best, they are about living healthy. tossing that off as someone else's "vanity" is easy and cynical.

a note on vanity. i think that word gets tossed around a little too easily when it comes to working out and dieting. personally, i think calling it vanity is rationalizing one's own sloppy lifestyle of too much fat, sodium and processed sugars because they are so easy and taste so good.

Ache had it right, there is some vanity to it, and it's a powerful motivator. but it motivates us to do what is essentially good for our body (temple?) and we should take advantage of that. of course, true vanity is when one takes short cuts that are just as unhealthy.

but true work in the gym and eating properly is not vanity, its compensating for the unhealthy (sedentary) life our advanced modern society makes possible for us. whats wrong with that?

of course if you are comfortable without doing that, thats cool too. but diet and exercise are more than just about trying to look your best, they are about living healthy. tossing that off as someone else's "vanity" is easy and cynical.

sorry about the double post
;]

I agree with you sure buddy... balance in life is key. Healthy body equals a healthy outlook on life... bringing happiness to all those around you. Builds self-esteem and makes us more productive.

Nani, loved the story, as always.

Pat, hitting every elevator button, that's good. Your story had me laughing out loud.

Slyness, I wore my shirt today, and even to Bible study. I so love my shirt, and I think about you guys here when I wear it.

The lady was very nice to me when I returned, and she allowed me to fill out a new application. It was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders, I felt light. I'm tired and sleepy, it has been a long day, and I don't sleep well. I'm turning in, hope you all have a restful night, and the sweetest dreams. Love ya.

Ok... now I can publicy say: kbertocci is not a loser, no matter what she says.

My dad used to say every night at dinner, "Honey--I don't care what anyone says, you're a great cook!"

It was only looking back that I realized he was being facetious (about what people said--not her cooking talents). It sounded right to a kid.

I think the latest plan is to have the BPH up on the Hotel Washington terrace on Tuesday, May 30, at 5:00.

The Hotel Washington is at Pennsylvania Ave. & 15th Street, N.W.

http://www.hotelwashington.com

Well, I don't know about some of you folks, but I'm quite certain *MY* glutes are firing properly! *snorts disdainfully* It's the secret to why I'm so darn perky.

Cass, so you know, I wrote you a note today! I hope to hear from you in the next couple of days.

Cassandra, I'm glad i gave you a laugh, because I know I'll be on the trap door in the end, I'll hear the creek, with heat at my feet, then ST. Pete, with his hand at the rope will ask me, "What have you done for the least?" Cassandra, you are a hero to me, far from the least, but I'll tell St Pete that I put a smile on your cheeks. And I pray that all you Boodlers, intellectual giants and you know who you are, as well as double posters, instantly forgiven, will be on my jury.
as I lay me down to sleep. Goodnight!

Mudge: My family reminds me of how well my glutes and glutaneous accessories are working every day. They also remind me of how trim my one pack is.

Good morning, friends. Heavenly Father, in Jesus name, I asked that you bless my friends here at the Achenblog in every way, and that in blessing them, they know that you, Heavenly Father, love them more than they can imagine through Him, that died for all, your Son, Christ Jesus.

I've been up since three o'clock, and drinking my coffee and talking to my friends. God is so good. I hope your day is good. Thanks Pat for the kind words, and I'll look for the note Slyness. My daughter says she going to send my granddaughter for the weekend. That should keep me busy. And I hope my grandsons come too. Might as well have the whole bunch, that way I'll be good and tired. I do look forward to seeing them. And I know once they get here, I'll probably want to send them right back. They wear me out, but it's tiredness filled with love. I have the Math and reading program today, so I'll probably check in late today. I hope someone shows up. I've been going for the past two weeks and not one child has been there. With the good weather they're playing softball, and outdoor sports. I keep going, somebody might need some help and I want to be there. Have a good day, friends.

What the bleep is going on here!?!?!

A-fan, looks like the random word generators are back. But I certainly wouldn't click on that hyperlink.

:-)

I hate it when the cloaking device goes on the fritz.

Maybe we need to adjust the rabbit ears...

I'll pass along an email about Marjorie Williams:

Hard on the heels of PEN's announcement that "The Woman at the Washington Zoo" won the Martha Allbrand First Nonfiction award, Marjorie last night won a National Magazine Award (in the essays category) for the slightly abbreviated version of "Hit By Lightning: A Cancer Memoir" that appeared in Vanity Fair immediately prior to "Zoo"'s publication. Accepting the award for Vanity Fair, editor Graydon Carter said, "Marjorie's husband Tim is here, and I'm glad he's here. But I wish Marjorie were here."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/09/AR2006050901914.html

I can't find Bob's blog. Didn't he come back? Don't we need him now? It's all together too cute and warm here--gasp, I need air.

A-fan: It took me nearly two days to get the punch line...a classic that I'll forever pass along and attribute to you. Thanks for the levity. I need it.

I was driving to work this morning when out of the corner of my eye I say a confused disoriented man in workout clothes. He kept meandering onto the highway. I stopped to see if I could be of assistance. He just looked at me, muttered "My God! It's full of stars!" and quickly ran screaming into the woods.

Much bad magic is at hand.

RDP, you guys really need to keep better track of your test subjects!!! *L*

My mother was once walking the family dog in the bush (aka "woods"), when she came upon a man in workout clothes sans pants.
We tried to tell her that what she'd seen was a garden-variety flasher, but she was determined to give the man the benefit of the doubt: "Well, it *was* rather hot outside. Maybe he was just trying to cool off?"

Tonight, just after sunset, is an alignment of Jupiter and the moon. It should be pretty impressive even with binoculars. Coincidence? I think not.
Dissapearing gym-rats. Mutilated tomato plants. Bright lights in the sky.
It's all starting to fall into place.

RD: It would be an impressive sight, if only it weren't supposed to be raining buckets about then.

The first time we travelled to NC, to Morehead City (ca.1975), our route took us into gridlock on the Beltway. It was quite hot and there was a naked man walking in the median. His clothes were slung over his shoulder, nobody seemed to be giving him the time of day and he appeared to be enjoying the weather.

I hope that naked guy was wearing a good sunblock.
But I suspect he wasn't. (Sounds like he was as naked as a jaybird, wearing nothin' but a smile.)

[Oh, yes, they call him the Streak
Look at that, look at that
Fastest thing on two feet
Look at that, look at that
He's just as proud as he can be
Of his anatomy
He goin' give us a peek

Oh, yes, they call him the Streak
Look at that, look at that
He likes to show off his physique
Look at that, look at that
If there's an audience to be found
He'll be streakin' around
Invitin' public critique]

I asked for and received The Woman at the Washington Zoo for Christmas. What a fabulous writer Marjorie was. The depth and subtlety of her observations still amaze me. I recommend Hit by Lightning to anyone who has dealt with a serious illness in the care of the US health care system. I wonder if the outcome of her illness would have been different if her first primary care physician would have figured out what was going on sooner. Probably not, but we could wish.

I'm going fishing this weekend with my six year old son. My wife's Uncle is a member of a local hunt club and he has extended an invitation to us to spend the weekend in the country. The latter is kind of an oxymoron since our county is rural to begin with, perhaps the deep country would be more appropriate. This is the second new wrinkle in the realm of fatherhoood for me(The first one was when we recently saw a relationship blossom between our 13 year old daughter and what came to be her boyfriend, a subsewquent night out to her first formal and a breakup two weeks after the formal). I rarely fish, and haven't learned the art of removing a fish from the hook, even though I'm nearly 49. This is the beginning of the great adventure.

Cripes ebtnut - I hadn't even checked the weather. Perhaps the clouds will hold off a bit. I'll try making a few calls.

Hmm Achenfan - I guess both of us were thinking about full moons.

SCC; subsewquent is a regional spelling and pronounciation...kind of like hydrangia. My wife says that so sweetly, I have her repeat it whenever she says it. My d**n yankee ears love the sounds of the spoken word from native southerners. "it was so hot out, I thought I would die!"...Know whut I mean, Vern?

All the talk about exercise reminded me of how active we were as kids, bike riding, softball, skating, tag, and jump rope. So I pulled the jump rope out of the old toy box and gave it a try. Whew boy, am I out of shape!

Remember those jump rope chants?

Mabel Mabel, set the table
Don't forget the
RED HOT PEPPERS!

and

Not last night, but the night before
24 robbers came a-knockin at my door
I ran out
They ran in
This is the song they began to sing:
Spanish dancer do the split
Spanish dancer do a high kick
Spanish dancer do the kangaroo
Spanish dancer
That's enough for you!

and

Bluebells, cockle-shells
Eevy, ivy, over my head
My father is the butcher
Mother cuts the meat
I'm the little weenie
who runs across the street!

jack, my Uncle Claude never used the words "precisely" or "exactly". He'd mix the two and it came out "Perzackly".

I once worked for a man from Kentucky who was an adult before he realized the word was not "dreckly" but "directly."

And friend whose parents come from Kentucky thought he had a uncle named Barn (short for Barney). Then he found out the guy's name is Byron.

Absetively, poselutely, Nani! :-)

my mother and i were flashed at the train station in naples, italy - but the guy was wearing clothes, he just opened his rain coat in the "i'm flashing you" fashion... he was an old man so we chalked it up to senility...

I think Weingarten took our challenge to hit dirt bottom the other day, as evidenced by this post in today's updates:

Washington, D.C.: Gene, is it true that no one in Prince George's County wears pants? I've shied away from PGC primarily for this reason, but recently I've heard that in fact some folks up there DO actually wear pants. I am so confused.

Gene Weingarten: That is ridiculous. They wear pants. Otherwise everyone would see that they all have shaved pubes.

TBG - You're just encouraging him.

Again: What the bleep is going on here?
(For one thing, I don't think "shaved pubes" is grammatically correct.)

But I blame myself. I should never have told that story about the pantsless wonder my mum saw.

Achenfan - is it clear enough to see Jupiter next to the full moon? Somebody should see it. It doesn't happen very often.

Also, I was pleased to see that the National Geographic Website ( www.ngm.com ) won an award. It is one of the few I check everyday. Unfortunately, Joel's excellent science columns are not available on-line. For that you still need to read the magazine.

yep achenfan - all your fault! we had just gotten over the poop and now we are back to nude people...

RD, I could just be encouraging the boodle to try harder. You never know with this group.

Hey folks, I'm back after A Day at the Races.

Some old friends of mine were racing at Virginia International Raceway (near Danville) yesterday, so I took a day off work and went down to visit. I'm glad I went, even to where I could smile and take my usual portion of grief from the Brocks (Yates, Sr. and Jr.) without a problem.

Joel, I'm afraid that you've launched that guy to the TestosterZone. This typically does not occur until a treadmill user reaches 88 mph, but with the two of you accelerated into your own relativistic reference frame which was augmented by the miasma of free testosterone you Manly Men had created, it is theoretically possible for to lower required velocity to the opening of a portal (colloquailly referred to as a "Glorious Hole") into the TestosterZone by about half of the required 88 mph. 42 mph was not enough for you to get through, and you weren't on the treadmill anyway.

Your victim, however, has been launched into the TestosterZone, where 72 perpetually grouchy lady Personal Trainers await him, with medicine balls and Med-evil (TM) brand exercise equipment.

I wouldn't want to be that dude. Those ladies up the reps every single day of Forever.

bc

RD:
It's been unusually clear here for the past few days, but the fog/mist started rolling in this afternoon. D'oh!

SCC: Hey, I'm one for one already. Please remove the word "for", well, you know where.

bc

On a side note, I'm not afraid of what I look like when I'm lying on the beach.

Though it is a little irritating when well-meaning folks keep dumping buckets of seawater on me to keep me wet, while they organize other beachgoers into trying to push me back into the water.

And it's really embarassing when the Coast Guard shows up.

bc

bc, sounds like you had a good time yesterday.

TestosterZone. That explains everything. Thanks for sharing that insight!

Aren't we supposed to go on vacation to have fun? Seems like everyone is getting a bit overly concerned. Remember that there are always people who look worse or those who can't even put bait on a hook.

Who cares, have fun.

Speaking of astral conjunctions, never let it be said the Achenblog doesn't exert tremendous influence on the news-gathering operation at the Post, since our discussions of poop and gardening have collided into today's homepage/front page story, to whit: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/10/AR2006051002360.html

I understand that the fish will be biting this weekend since the moon is full. Given that Jupiter and the moon are going to be aligned, I'm hopeful that the Titans won't be unleashed to ruin the fun.

mudge - bellweather, pulse, essence, sup.

bc, I could have sworn the crowds were only waving a fish under your nose to get you back frolicing in the water.

And 'Mudge, the Boodle is ALWAYS ahead of the curve. Although being ahead of the entropy curve might not be good. SciTim?

:-)

You know that 6-pack behind the fridge that I claimed to have? Wel, my lovely daughter says it looks more like a keg. Now that's something no one minds on the beach, right?

ok - all dog lovers must go here:
http://www.olddogsbook.com/

(a props for weingarten) - go to the snapshots and prepare to go AWWW!!!! (i got a little teary-eyed too so if you are in cubicle-world, be careful...)

BC, my own kids used to call me the beluga due to my size and complexion. I think the little sinners were breaking one of the 10 Commendments. I've shed some blubber since then but I can still make a good iceberg impression, letting only by beer belly show up over the water. The protuberance hiding my rock hard six pack should be called a wine belly these days, as diabetes made me lose the love of my life.
It seems that maltose was getting in my blood stream by every possible means. I have wet dreams about downing a cold one on a deck after a hot day...

My "six pack" looks like it's wrapped up in a large, wet "beach towel."

That is all. Please continue.

mo, thanks for the old dogs link.

Several years ago when I was taking my evening walk I came across a dog hobbling and wobbling along the edge of a busy road in Northwest D.C. I thought she must have just been hit by a car, so I knocked on the front door of the nearest house to try to figure out who she belonged to. A young boy answered the door, and it turned out it *was* his dog, but he laughed when I suggested she'd been run over. "No! She's just the oldest dog in the world!" he said. (Turns out the dog was 17 years old, bless her fuzzy little heart, and it was the norm for her to walk in that wobbly fashion. I must say, I've never seen anything like it.)

OK, now it's time to flog the blog with another stupid blind joke:
Q: How do you pick out the blind guy on a red-hot nudist beach?
A: It's not hard.

*groan*

Read the piece on septic tanks, Mudge. We have a lot of them here. During hurricane season, septic tanks can be a real mess. All that water and the tanks don't go together. It's more like a nightmare. The price one pays for the country life.

Loved the dog pictures. I prefer cats, though.

Joel, are you there? Time for a new kit! I think we've done this one in...

My uncle had a dog so old, he was blind and cripple. He gave him hamburger for his treats, and not the prepackaged kind. He had the butcher to ground up pieces of beef for him. He loved that dog, but eventually had to put him to sleep.

I know I've asked this before, but is Iran a serious situation? It certainly sounds that way. My dad says we won't have to worry about Iran if they keep talking about nuking Israel, the Jews will eliminate them for us.

And I see in the Post today where the government has been listening to our conversation through the communication giants. As consumers do we have any recourse in this? Is this legal? I'm paying a big phone bill to talk long distance and the government is listening to my conversation. Wonder if I can get my money back? Or at least part of it?

In our neighborhood, 3 yr. old Jill and her big sister, Sue City, had an old collie named Mary who trudged after them literally everywhere. When Mary got too old and it was painful to walk, Jill and Sue City pulled her behind them in a wagon.

My sister just sent me this in an email...

I saw a very old man driving a very old pickup truck today with this bumper sticker:

JESUS LOVES YOU
Everybody else thinks you're an a**hole.

They make harnesses now for big old dogs to help them climb stairs. Wagons are good, too.

Let's get off the subject of crippled dogs before we get into a mass blubber event.

Maybe we could talk about three-legged dogs, most of whom are named "Tripod."

(Isn't it funny how dogs with three legs seem to hardly notice that they have a limb missing? They run around pretty much the same as their four-legged counterparts.)

I already read the septic article, Cassandra--and the most disappointing thing about it was to learn how dumb one of my own county commissioners is (I've lived in Charles County for the past 23 years). I'd like to think someone who makes policy regarding development would know a little more about it than "doh!"

As it happens, growing up in a very rural area of suburbs north of Philly, I am waaaaaaaay more familiar with septic systems and their foibles than any human has need to be. And one of the fellahs who went all the way through school with me from grade 1 to 12 was the son of the local honeydipper. My schoolmate was extremely smart, one of those 1590-on-his-college-board-types, and went to a top-notch college (I don't know what his major was). About the time of his graduation, though, his father died, and he returned home to run the honeydipper business, which I believe he does to this day. I swear I'm not going for the joke here, but he has got to be the smartest and best-educated honeydipper in the country, but he is wasted in that profession. (I swear I wasn't going for the joke...but then again...) True story.

Switching topics, we used to have a couple of Westies (West Highland White Terriers), and one of them, Tally, had a bad skin disease, and as she got older and sicker she began to deteriorate pretty fast, in addition to be scabby and worse and worse-looking. There came a day when she was so old and so sick and the vet could do nothing more for her that we had no choice. My wife couldn't bring herself to do it, and asked me if I would take Tally to the local animal shelter to be put to sleep. There's no question it was the right thing to do, but boy, that was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.

I knew a guy that had a dog without any legs. He named it cigarette and every evening he took it out for a drag.

Achenfan, in the "Dave Robicheaux" mystery series written by James Lee Burke, the hero's daughter, Alafair, has a pet racoon with three legs, named Tripod. (Burke's real daughter, also named Alafair, has herself become a novelist, like dear old Dad,)

P.S. I highly, highly recommend the Robicheaux mystery series, which is set in New Iberia Parish not far from New Orleans. The parish was pretty much wiped out, along with the rest of that region, by Katrina, I understand. They made a movie out of one of the early Robicheaux novels, staring Alex Baldwin, which you may safely skip. (You can read the novels in any order, unlike, say, Patricia Cornwell or a few of the Michael Connolly novels.)

Your guess is as good as mine...
Is this Joel or the Achenbro after a month at the gym?

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/05/11/arts/11tarz_CA1ready.html

If Joel doesn't have time for a new kit today, perhaps we could talk about Mudge's question posted at the very end of a long since past boodle. Mudge posed the question of whether society today should feel guilt over atrocities perpetrated by our forefathers. Paraphrasing badly, Mudge, help me out here....? I think Science Tim asked something similar in that same boodle.

Tarzan in dreadlocks? I'm not ready for that! 'Course, I grew up on Johnny Weismuller.

Or not....

Please allow me to add my testimonial regarding the Robicheaux series. Burke is an excellent writer; even if you don't care for mystery novels he's worth reading. And, Mudge, I'm truly disappointed to hear they made a bad movie out of one of the books (figures, though). What was it called?

Since we're in a lull, I will pass on my favorite legal joke.

The elderly rancher is a plaintiff in an injury action. The defence lawyer's information is that the rancher said that he was fine at the scene of the accident, and is cross-examining him.

Lawyer: "Sir, isn't it true that you said that you were fine at the accident scene?"

Rancher: "Well, it's like this, I was driving down the road coming up the intersection -"

Defence counsel cuts him off. "Sir. Really. I don't mean to interrupt, but you're not answering my question."

The rancher continues. "-and I had my horse Nellie in the trailer behind my truck. When the other car came through the stop sign -"

He is cut off again. "Sir, it's a pretty straightforward question, can you please just answer it?"

Rancher: "Well, I'm trying. So anyway, my truck goes one way and the horse trailer the other -"

The lawyer turns to the judge. "Your honor, the witness is not being responsive. I'm asking for a direction for the witness to answer the question"

The judge is a bit of a Good Ole Boy himself, so he says "I'm kind of curious on how this turns out myself, so I'm going to let him continue. He seems to be trying to answer your question."

The rancher continues: "So my truck rolls and is in one ditch and the horse trailer in the other. I crawl out the window and I'm laying there in the ditch when a police officer comes and stands over me with his gun out. He says 'your horse was pretty bad off and I had to shoot him. How are you doing?'"

I have lived in cities and towns and the country in it various guises (as farmer and as subdivison personage) and I can say one thing. Most people really need country lessons before they buy.

Its not just septic tanks where things go awry. Its driving, its garbage pickup, it water wells, its pets and animals, and motorised off road vehicles. Its that being a good neighbour does not end when the city limits do. You'd be surprised at what country newbie expectations and assumptions are.

I will stop ranting now and will return to my normal-not normal self.

Yeesh. Apparently the rancher was spared, but the boodle was not. Sorry about that.

I actually have been working on a new kit but think i will save it for tomorrow morning. That means you guys are on your own for now. I might do a microkit later. What do people think about this latest story about Bush & Co. keeping track of our phone calls?

Here's Bush this morning:

"We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans."

No, because those millions of Americans are probably GUILTY. Of something.

CowTown, that would be Heaven's Prisoners http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116508/

Of course, one of the good things about it is that it has Teri Hatcher in it, nekkid. So I suppose I may have to amend my review of it.

Loomis, regarding that photo in the link: I don't think Joel likes those kind of hats much, so I suppose it might have been the Achenbro. But I didn't recognize the topless bodybuilder girl with the dreadlocks at all.

Nani, I wouldn't mind exploring that philosophical question, but I can't find the original link. I'm still looking for it, though. TBG, you're good at those kinds of searches; it had the phrase "collective guilt" in it, I believe.

Here's the USA Today story that revealed the data mining of phone records by the NSA:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-05-10-nsa_x.htm

So, SonofCArl,
since we're in a lull, why don't you tell us a little bit more about yourself? Alberta-bred? Lawyer or paralegal? Like or love golf? How did you get so good at poety/parody--your first effort in the Boodle catapulting you to "instant notice?"
Are you acquainted with dr? Do you live within shouting distance of each other?*wink* How long were you lurking before you jumped into the Boodle with both feet? How did you find the Achenblog?

Very good effort the other night giving your synopsis of the "historic" day on the Boodle, plus some past Boodle history.

"Trying to put pressure on Qwest, NSA representatives pointedly told Qwest that it was the lone holdout among the big telecommunications companies. It also tried appealing to Qwest's patriotic side: In one meeting, an NSA representative suggested that Qwest's refusal to contribute to the database could compromise national security, one person recalled.

In addition, the agency suggested that Qwest's foot-dragging might affect its ability to get future classified work with the government. Like other big telecommunications companies, Qwest already had classified contracts and hoped to get more.

Unable to get comfortable with what NSA was proposing, Qwest's lawyers asked NSA to take its proposal to the FISA court. According to the sources, the agency refused."

Since Joel wants to zig over to phone wiretaps--and presumably Hayden, there is local story this morning about Hayden--it ran Page One, but the three new proposals/designs for Main Plaza ran under the banner. Here's the local angle:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA051106.01A.Hayden.1d02df83.html

Americans know Hayden, currently the principal deputy director of national intelligence under John Negroponte, as the longtime head of the National Security Agency and a chief defender of President Bush's controversial wiretap program.

But people with Alamo City ties probably are more familiar with him from his days at the Air Intelligence Agency [I believe that this military intelligence gathering is either affiliated with Lackland AFB or formerly Kelly AFB, now closed under BRAC; the AIA dubbed locally as "The Hill," IIRC]-- a highly secretive Air Force organization that has a public affairs office but little contact with the media.

Some think Hayden's connections to the city have had a dramatic impact on San Antonio. They point to the NSA's arrival here as a key case in point. City officials and Hayden worked together in the past year to plan the Texas Cryptology Center, the NSA campus at the former Sony plant in Northwest San Antonio [not far from where we lived in SA during our first stint of residency here], said Ramiro Cavazos, municipal economic development director.

The NSA is renovating the old chip manufacturing plant and should open in 2008. It has 2,200 Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and civilian Defense Department employees here, and that is expected to more than double in the next few years.

"There are some that argue that part of the NSA site selection was driven off the fact that Hayden had ties to San Antonio," said ex-AIA man John B. Dickson, president of the Denim Group and chairman of the San Antonio Technology Accelerator Initiative.

Nevermind, TBG, I found it. I'm working on it.

Here ye be (thank heaven for those keywords, Mudge, because I tried to search for it once):

Now, to address your doppelganger ScienceTim for a moment, you (he) wrote: "We European-Americans carry -- or should carry -- a heavy moral burden."

I'm fascinated by this notion, and have given it much thought over the years, and I think I have to disagree with the premise. (I don't disagree a whit about the awfulness of the things that happened, though). First, "heavy moral burden" to me just translates as the word "guilt" (if there's a distinction I don't immediately see it, but am open to discussion and persuasion).

So--using "guilt" simply as a shorter phrase--this soon wanders into the whole area of collective guilt, both historical and present-day. For instance, the classic question, even sixty years later, is German guilt over the holocaust in particular and the war in general. I have no problem assigning massive amounts of guilt to the generation(s) that started that war and the attached holocaust--there is no Hell hot enough or painful enough for them, in my view. I am less sure about the succeeding generation of Germans; I'm will to castigate the deniers, etc., but I'm not too comfortable holding them responsible for something their parents or grandparents committed, especially if they tehemselves don't agree with what was done. I don't see this as being very different on a national level to an individual level, and therefore don't want to be "guilty" about something my father or grandfather may have done in the 1920s in Philadelphia.

So that brings us to the Indians. What is the statute of limitations on historical cultural slaughter? It seems we have to go back close to 500 years, starting with Columbus and then the Conquistadors, etc., since it's been continuous tragedy ever since, and I don't know where and how you draw a stopping point or diving line in there. Do we stop with the Sand Creek massacre, and let the 20th century pretty much off the hook?

Since the earliest explorers were mostly Spanish, and virtually all were Catholic, does the Catholic Church come in for some special blame? Or are we just going to bag all Europeans together, including the nascent Protestant church then just forming?

When you say, "European-Americans," does that include any or all present-day Hispanics? After all, many of the earliest (and worst) explorers/Conquistadors were Spanish. So I don't see how we can let them off the hook. Do we distinguish between a Conquistador, who conquered for gold and power, but let off the Catholic missionaries who aided and abetted, albeit for supposedly holier reasons? And is attempting to convert a continent of godless heathens to the Mysteries of Rome a good thing, or a bad thing? So to what extent is the church in particular or religion in general due for a share of the "heavy moral burden"? I dunno, but I'm inclined to think quite a lot.

(One of the major problems I have with the whole religion issue is that I think religion has been a major source of strife and suffering in the world for thousands of years, which is why I tend to say "A pox on all your houses"--or at least those houses doing all the troublemaking. Seems to me that Judaism and Buddhism get a general pass, and pretty much everybody else is in the dock for one thing or another at one time or another. And I'm certainly not willing to let many Native American tribes off the hook--many were not necessarily the peace-loving, nature-loving innocents many would have us believe. And heaven knows there were few peoples as bloodthirty as the Aztecs and Mayans. I've never been comfortable scoring the Cortes-Aztec thing; who are the "good guys" in that one? Or did Cortes just violate the Prime Directive, and that's end of case?)

So we go back at least 500 years. How much more? If we go back just a little further, we can rope in my Viking ancestors, who did their share of raping and pillaging all over Europe (they tried to get to America, but didn't seem to be able to sustain it. Of course, there wasn't a helluva lot to rape and pillage in Newfoundland, so maybe the Newfies can count themselves lucky.) And we need to throw in Genghis and all those Huns, Goths, Visagoths, etc.

Quite frankly, I'm not even sure I know what "heavy moral burden" means, or even "guilt" in this context, and what it is I'm supposed to think or feel or do.

But as I say, I take this topic seriously and welcome lots of discussion.

Posted by: Curmudgeon | March 16, 2006 11:03 AM

Since its a slow boodle day, I shall go topicless.

Nani, I have taken some of your literature advice. I picked up copies of the 'Caine Mutiny' and 'The Moonstone' at the used bookstore. I am currently reading 'Moonstone'. The hard part is that while the story just slowly takes you in, I cannot seem to stay awake for long. The book is in danger of being destoyed by drool. This weekend I am almost ready to pray for rain not for the trees, but so I can read this book.

I also watched a whole pile of movies on the weekend while my hubby was on a man weekend with some golf buddies. The best of the lot was 'The Constant Gardener' 'Good Night and Goodluck' was good, but it did not capture me the way the other did. 'Walk the Line' was ok.

The other best of in the "its-so-silly-I-am-afraid-to-admit-I bought-it-girl-movie" category was 'Bride and Prejudice', the Bollywood version of the tale. It was absolutely the right way to set the story, and so far superior to the 'Pride and Prejudice'that I feel like sending 'Pride and Prejudice' back to the producers and asking for a refund. I've never felt like that about a movie I bought before, and I own some real stinkers. I own a copy of K-19 (which was a great story but severely needed to be edited by someone else before hitting theatres) and even K-19 did not make me want to hit the director over the head for getting something so wrong.

Ok I'm ranting again. I'll quit now, but I'm posting this anyway.

I am not trying to steer the boodle. Would never do that. Not my job. (Not my responsibility, more importantly.) (Too much work!) But I do think this is the big story of the day and part of this larger question of whether the War on Tara has generated elements of a police state (you know the drill) and how it will play out for Bush et al as these revelations keep coming. Hayden was at NSA when all this went down -- now he'll run the CIA? I personally have no secrets, have never done anything wrong, or made any phone calls in which I said anything that could not be made public. But I do worry about the civil liberties of my friends, who are demons.

One other comment just for those who may wonder where the new kit is: I started one, and it's an interesting one potentially, but I am of the opinion that the problem with blogs is that they're slapdash and often devoid of good writing or the thing that we shoot for here, which is Well Crafted Drivel. An editor here said to me a while back, "Why should I care about someone's half-baked opinion about something?" Referring to blogs.

And so we aim for 2/3rds baked.

Hmm...do you think that the NSA could used my prediclection for General Tso's Chicken against me? Maybe they think I'm a PRC sympathizer!

I feel your pain dr. I don't live in the country but a normal subdivision with lots in the 50x80' range popped up behind the acre-acre and a half lots that make-up our street. I got lucky in a way because a guy built a monster McMansion on three lots against my owm property, so I've got only two neighbours on that side. Some other owners in my street have as much as 5 different style of fences on this side of their lot. Because our large lots are not fully "developed", e.g. uniformly turfed to all edges these new neighbour do things like throwing their yard waste over the fence, storing stuff like trailers on our side, etc. One guy cut some trees that were making too much shade on his pool. Simple respect for other and basic good manners aren't as widely distributed as one would expect.

Loomis, thanks. I'm a news junkie, like a lot of you probably are. When my office first put high speed internet on our computers I had quite the list of sites to go through. Eventually I managed to drop all but a couple - the only US ones were WP and NYT. As you know, the velvet rope went up at NYT. I miss reading Friedman's articles.

I drifted off the opinion columns into the blogs by reading Early Warning. The comments are too often just wingy, however. I guess with the subject matter it's like a Rovestorm everyday.

Achenblog is attractive because of the mix of hard and pop science, with some humour and Achenbach's inexorable disintegration.

I'm a lawyer. Curmudgeon and nelson, I've been on both sides of files with fibromyalgia as an issue. I'm going to say I "like" golf. I shot a 79 once when I was 18, and don't even come close to that now on 5-10 rounds/year.

Maybe more later. Client lunch. In the discussion on diet etc. nobody mentioned how much havoc lunches out play on a diet program, but it does!

There is no mistaking the fact that the NSA data mining (or more) is a huge invasion of privacy. Sure, people may say that they have the proverbial nothing to hide, but who knows how this information will be used in the future.

Gonzalez and President Bush have proved that they have a warped view of their powers and there is a major question here about to what depth our nation must manage the various agencies through congress to make sure that this doesn't happen again.

Sure, Bush is an honorable and trustworthy man, but what if someone we don't trust gets into the White House and brandishes these same powers?

Thanks, Loomis, I just found it, too. For the record, here's ScienceTim's entire paragraph that led to my response Loomis re-posted above.

Joel, do you want to consider excerpting Tim's and my screeds, and using them as the basis/starting point for a new/separate kit on historical guilt? We are way, way down at the bottom of this one, and if people are interested in this topic, maybe it ouight to be its own boodle. Just a thought.

ScienceTim wrote:

"So, as long as we're critiquing museums, how about moving into danger territory? What about the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI)? It seems to be attempting to redress some of the shortcomings of the Smithsonian regarding interpretation, but they only go so far. It's consciously conceived as a celebration of modern Native American life and the continuance of tradition, which is a good thing. It doesn't seem to convey much of a sense of the density of history to me, however. We European-Americans carry -- or should carry -- a heavy moral burden. The occasional reminder is not a bad thing, although if you do it too much, nobody will come to the Museum. Nobody likes to be scolded."

Posted by: ScienceTim | March 16, 2006 09:47 AM

Nani, you always were such a troublemaker. :-)

SonofCarl, you're a lawyer? Damn, and we were all beginning to like you, too. (Mandatory lawyer joke, followed by mandatory rimshot and optional "I'll be here all week" cliche.)

LindaLoo, interesting question you pose. To those of us with a theological turn of mind, you are proving the doctrine of original sin, which holds that all of us are fallen and cannot save ourselves. I'd say that each individual and every group in every generation find ways to commit violence, because it's innate. I know that I'm not *good* in the sense of being perfect, although I try to live at peace with all. So yeah, we're all guilty. Hence the need for grace.

OK, Joel--spying on our own. Bad, bad, bad!!! Especially with no warrant, no probable cause (note: See Froomkin's blog the other day regarding his and Hayden's interpretation of the Fourth Amendment). I guess Bush has been so brainwashed with the neo-con rhetoric that he has no idea that there are supposed to be limits to presidential power. You can't just declare a war and then declare all of the laws of the land are moot. Gads, he even pens these addendums to bills he signs but doesn't like saying that he isn't going to abide by them. Today my phone records--tomrrrow no habeas corpus. And if you keep up with Bill Arkins' blogs, you'll find that the Defense Department has been spying on us too. I certainly hope some more Republicans start paying attention to what they have allowed to happen. If things go the way they are looking for November, their going to have to do a lot of backing and filling.

It was nature day at lunch today. There was a sparrow pirched right outside the window of the cafeteria, and because of the tinting, I could sit right next to it. Anyway, I observed some interesting behavior. This sparrow's feathers were a little disheveled and I couldn't tell if it was an adolescent with adult feathers growing in, or if it was just a little sickly. Anyway, every few minutes, another sparrow would fly up to the window, and drop something--food or water, I guess--into the first sparrow's beak. This happened about three times before both birds disappeared. Very interesting.

There's also a few families of geese wandering around down here, with a flock of fluffy little gosslings. It's apparently nature week down here on Buzzard Point.

Joel, Cassandra brought up the topic of the government listening in on phone conversations earlier this morning 11:32 am post. This needs to be nipped in the bud immediately, no? What next, hidden video cameras in our homes? Where will it end? My home is my haven from the storm, my own PRIVATE Blue Heaven.

Allow me to engage in some hyperbole, something strangely lacking in this blog:

Republican Position 1996: The NSA's review of phone records is an unconscionable affront to liberty and freedom in our country!

Republican Position 2006: If you're innocent, you have nothing to worry about.

Just how fragile is our society?

We have laws and customs and courts and public opinion, and the media to keep us all informed, but the unknown is an element something like faith. Faith in the system, and faithfulness to it.

President Bush has decided that the law only applies to him when he finds it convenient, and otherwise he can just issue an executive order that countermands the law. And in fact, he can do that. He has done it. And he will probably continue to do it until and unless someone stops him. He can't do it all by himself; he has to have cooperation all along the line.

If people in general don't care, if the courts and the legislature don't take any action, where will it end?

I have a lot of faith in our system. I think our society has serious flaws but that they can be addressed through the existing structure. The most wonderful freedom we have is freedom of expression. So right now I will express my opinion as strongly as I can:

I believe that President Bush is in violation of both laws and constitution, and as such he is in violation of his oath of office, and should be impeached. It's not primarily this issue about the phones. For me, the main issues are habeas corpus and torture. Too many people (ONE would be too many!) have been deprived of liberty and due process, and subjected to torture.

I heard President Bush say something one time, that if I hadn't heard it with my own ears, I wouldn't have believed it. But now it defines his presidency for me. He said, "I am the President. I don't have to justify my actions to anyone. Other people have to justify themselves to ME."

Apparently, he skipped 8th grade civics.

Here's a link for Achenfan:

http://www.rebeccahartong.net/?p=757

or just go here

http://www.rebeccahartong.net

She's been blogging about her vacation. I like the way she writes. Not as much as our Sara tho' (I really miss her blogging). Hopefully after she's married she'll find more time for it.

Mudge, I do need to post some Boodle screeds and will do that in a Best-o-Boodle kit one of these days soon, I vow. I think we've passed 50,000 comments. I was thinking of tracking down the 50,000th. It was probably something like, "Where's Mudge?"

Where's mudge...hahahaha

I've been following this for quite a while, but this is my first time posting - please take that into account.

Regarding kb's comments about Bush's statements - someone correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Nixon try a variant of those arguments about 32 or so years ago? They didn't work then either.

I just hope #50,000 wasn't "poop." If it was, would you adjust the data, Joel?

omni, thanks for the Achenfanlink!

Can I come to the BPH if I've never posted? Just asking...

Now that you have posted, maggieo'd, you are qualify.

jw--

The bird was a juvenile, and one of its parents was feeding it. Young birds fledge and then follow their parents around for a while, learning where to find food. Eventually, the parents stop feeding them and move on, usually to hatch another brood. It's funny and somewhat pathetic to watch a young bird chasing after its parents, chirping and shaking its wings, begging for more food, while the adult bird studiously ignores it.

I'm not going to make the obvious corollary here about human children....

--cranky

So if this was not happening before 9/11, why were the republicans talking about the 'data mining' in 97?

If they had the ability to do it for the last 40 years, does anyone ever really beleive they stopped?

Who decided that the standard size for paper would be 8.5 x 11 inches? I think this would be a good question for Mudge to answer.

and now for a funny link:

http://www.emailsfromjesus.com/

You're welcome kb, I hope Achenfan likes it.

Any Achenblog reader, poster, lurker or even 'loper is welcome at a BPH (Boodle Porching Hour) just so long as you actually declare yourself, sit with us and join in the conversation and fun.

Even Achenbach himself is welcome, but we also respect his privacy. We don't even talk about him (really!). Well, maybe once, but it was over quickly and we were soon moving on to important topics like "where's Shiloh been?," "where's the waitress?," and "where's my Yuengling?"

Just remember this famous quote, "We are the Boodlers. We don't have to justify our actions to anyone. Other people have to justify themselves to US."

the only thing I have to say about paper is that "I HATE LEGAL".

I'll stay Science-y in my name, since it was a discussion of museums that brought up the original issue of the NMAI, etc. I'd actually rather not get into this too deeply, but I thought I should at least explain the terms I had in mind.

By "heavy moral burden", I didn't mean a personal culpability inherited from my ancestors. I may have said something unlike this, later in the original discussion; my defense is that I got confused and couldn't even remember my own thoughts. I do that.

So, anyway: what I meant is responsibility for our current acts, and responsibility to our fellow human beings who are here with us right now. The sticky point is that we people who are alive today have inherited a country built on inequity. What is our responsibility to correct the inequities that we have inherited? We didn't commit the acts that created the inequity, but we allow inequity to be perpetuated, and we take advantage of our unequal opportunities and receive unequal benefits. We all have inherited inequity, of course, but some inequities are greater than others. You know what I'm talking about (I have just deleted a lengthy diatribe on exactly what I'm talking about. It was too much).

So. What is our responsibility? Reparations? I don't think it will ever happen. There isn't a societal consensus. There's no amount of money that really could make up for centuries of slavery (of African-Americans) and genocide (of Native Americans) and just plain institutionalized racism (applied to them, and so many others). There are too many inheritors who deserve something. How would you decide who gets what? Do the descendants of slaves freed by the Emancipation Proclamation deserve more or less than the descendants of those who were freed before the Civil War? What about mixed-race descendants? We don't want to get into the business of making judgments on who is more deserving by virtue of their ancestors, it would just create more inequity, not correct it. It would have made sense to make some reparations back in 1866, as a leg up to enter society as full members. It's too late now. That moment is gone.

Anyway, reparations is the lazy way out. "Here's 100 bucks. Now go away, I owe you nothing." What happens when the 100 bucks is gone?

And as Mudge noted -- there has always been injustice. How far back do you go, to determine guilt? 10 years? 100? 1000? If your ancestors transgressed against me, and mine transgressed against you, are we even? Does it matter who transgressed most recently?

The fact that monetary reparations is an unworkable solution doesn't relieve us of responsibility, it just means that we have to perceive our responsibilities and live up to them in a different way. All I want is for consciousness that neither the good things nor the bad things in our individual lives necessarily came to us because we "deserved" them. Same for other people. If their lives are bad, we should help them out -- whether or not we know them or like them. If our lives are good, we should enjoy the fruits of that good life, but we should share them, too, because it's not solely our own wonderfulness that brought us those fruits.

And that's all I'm trying to say. Follow the Golden Rule.

Or, as Rabbi Hillel said, about 2300 years ago (there is a variation attributed to a more recent philosopher, about 1980 years ago): "Do to others as you would have them do to you. That is the whole of the Torah. All else is commentary."

Wait a minute...what Sara are you talking about omni?

And completely off topic here, but did anyone else decide American Idol was more than worthless after Chris got kicked off last night? I'll bet mo would agree with me here. I haven't been watching the main show, just the results show. It kind of made me feel out of the loop with a lot of the American public, but now, I don't care. My favorite is gone.

TBG,

"We are the Boodlers. We don't have to justify our actions to anyone. Other people have to justify themselves to US."

Good bumper sticker. Though no one in the general public would get it.

Well, I think here in North America we're the only ones who use that size. Everyone else uses A4 and the like. This is a funny link I think that explains it. Funny because it makes no sense to me at all..

http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/iso-paper.html

And is that Achenfan's blog?

Man, I'm out of the loop. I promise to uphold the boodling standard with more integrity after the wedding. Everything is planned and booked, but you'd be amazed at how much is left to do even after everything is planned and booked. But. I am having the time of my life.

YES! American Idol. Finally, something important I can weigh in on.

I'm an Eliot man, myself, but Chris is ok. I was SHOCKED. Especially in the manner that Secrest revealed it, which went something like this:

Secrest: "Blah, blah, blah, lowest two, blah, blah, which one will go home, blah, blah, CHRISYOUAREGONE."

Now, I'm looking on the bright side here, but Chris was obviously the most "marketable" out of the finalists in that he had the potential to have Kelly Clarkson-style success after his manditory crappy post-AI album. But...Fuel is STILL looking for a front man, last I heard. I don't think Chris has to worry about anything, and I'm sure he'll be laughing all the way to the bank, while Simon tries to figure out how to may Eliot a pop star.

What the heck is A4?!? Do you mean there's a whole world of paper sizes I don't know about? Are they just slightly bigger than our standard just to annoy us, like with money that won't fit in my stupid American wallet?

Jeremy just e-mailed me to tell me that a band was looking to sign him as their lead singer. Must have been Fuel. Apparently there will be more on Extra on E! tonight. I won't be watching it, but there ya go.

jw, CHRISYOUAREGONE made me laugh. It might have just been the way I read it in my head--with a devilish, booming voice.

jw,

Its exactly like money that won't fit in the wallet, but its paper that doesn't like to fit in the autofeeder of the photocopier.

TBG,

I'll admit, I didn't even try to read that page. I looked at it, looked at the math equation involved in the paper sizes and realized it just wasn't for me.

What about other data that governments and others are able to gather? For instance satellite pictures.

I can see my hottub sitting outside my house, and the deck where I do my non-porching porching from google earth's free sections and if you knew where to look, so could you. I have to beleive the classified technology is a whole lot better than the free stuff.

If someone is up there taking pictures of my home that are clear and well defined, my private space, my home, my little conrer of the world, isn't it the same kind of thing? They are gathering non-personal data about me without permission or reason.

In exactly the same way, it would not be that hard to add other data base information to find out a lot more about me, with only lattitude and longitude of my home. Just the pictures alone could tell a lot of things about my household's behaviour patterns.

Isn't it the same kind of thing?
Shouldn't we be just as worried about that?

Sara, I think Secrest was trying to say it like he was ripping off a bandaid because he knew it was going to make Paula cry.

jw... doesn't your printer have a setting for A4? Haven't you always wondered what that is?

And I said "North America," because I'm assuming that paper in Canada is the same size as ours.

Which reminds me of the paper that we sometimes get at work. The reams are wrapped in very patriotic red, white and blue stars and stripes and across the bottom it says "Made in Canada" or "Fabrique au Canada" which just cracks me up.

First, a link to Howard Kurtz's column, which has some similarities to the Qwest dilemma:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/04/11/LI2005041100587.html

I disagree with Dolphin Michael's comment that Bush is good and honorable (or something to that effect). I think the Constitution has been the only thing slowing him down at all--it's difficult to attack the Constitution, takes years and lots of spin. You have to whittle away at Constitutional protections to dilute its power. Without that document to protect us, I think we would have been in a full-scale police state with political detentions several years ago.

If you doubt this, look how close we are even with the Constitution--covert monitoring of a huge part of the US population (>= 5% of our population), prisoners held w/o due process, and likely some as political prisoners (of non-citizens, but with attempts to do the same to citizens), torture of prisoners, accusations of treason with respect to political opponents, and sanctioned government punishment of political opponents (Qwest, Kurtz's article).

I really think this may be the most divided the country has been since the 1850s-1860s (maybe the 1960s too, but I don't think so). Given the amount of animosity between both sides, fueled as a political tool by this administration, I think that the only reason we aren't approaching a civil war is that our ideological divide does not have a corresponding geographical divide, as it did in the 1860s.

Unfortunately, I think the ideological divide used to be much less than now--I feel the country has been driven apart as a political tool. Without certain political groups egging them on, I think most Americans kind of gravitate toward the political center. But the center is now a no-man's land ("You're either with us or against us.").

My wife and I were debating a few days ago how we could get to this point of almost blatent disregard for the Constitution. The only thing I can figure, is that the authors didn't envision things getting this bad. The checks and balances installed assume that one branch of government at least will always be both ethical (with respect to constitutionality) and competent to follow their mandate. I don't think they imagined a president violating the Constitution, in office at the SAME TIME as a Congress that either colludes or refuses to hold the presidency accountable, along with a rubber-stamp Supreme Court. The only fallback against this scenario is the election itself.

dr, its worse with satellites, because they're pretty much operating under the same protection as the paparazzi. You don't own the photons being reflected off of you as you relax in your hot tub. The government can't help it if those photons happen to run into their satellite--heh heh heh.

And I love that we Americans are such free spirits that we dont' need no stinkin' equations to figure out our paper sizes. We just made them up arbitrarily and give 'em good American names like "letter" and "legal" size.

Sara, I of course mean you:

http://discoveringsara.blogspot.com/

Science Tim, I don't even know how to begin addressing that statement you've just made. On the outside it makes a lot of sense, but there is a much deeper issue here, and you're not really hitting that. Your statement sounds a little bit like something I often hear people say, "well, I didn't have anything to do with slavery, that was my ancestors, not me", that kind of thing. And that statement in of itself does have some truth in it, but one cannot discount the fact that inequality still exist, as you say, and who may I ask is perpetrating said action. The descendents of those same ancestors. It just does not end, because it is entrenched, and basically when the wrongness of the action is seen, it is just overlooked, talked about a little bit, and moved on to something else. This is really a sticking point with me, and I'm sure many of you know that because we're talking about my life and my people's lives, and whether anyone believes it or not, our lives do count. They mean just as much as yours does. Our free labor built this country, yet we are called lazy and not worthy, and for me, that is insulting and simply not true. And how do you repay a people that have had their whole existence denied and beat down? Surely you wouldn't dare give them your money? Surely you wouldn't now decide to pay them for their free labor? Let me stop now before I cannot stop, but let me leave this with you, put yourself in my shoes, and just think how you would feel, and what you would want done for you. And then, address these questions.

omni,

That's what it sounded like, but I had to make sure. Thanks! I'll have to start writing again.

"What the heck is A4?!? Do you mean there's a whole world of paper sizes I don't know about? Are they just slightly bigger than our standard just to annoy us, like with money that won't fit in my stupid American wallet?" If you get past the math, you find that the A4 is part of an attempt to standardize paper sizes in the metric system. The A4 works out to about 8.3 x 11.7 inches. Of course, those of us of a certain age remember when the U.S. Government had its own standard paper size of 8 x 10.5 inches.

Hmm...those paper formats do seem pretty convenient, what with a standard ratio of width to height no matter the size. Makes resizing very easy, as that website says. 'Course its also based on the metric system, which we all know is evil because it was invented in France.

Boy, talk about boodling out of order. Sheesh. Sorry. I'll go back to worrying about my freedoms, thank you very much.

The whole human race should carry a heavy moral burden. Slavery? Every major civilization has been on that act at one time or another. And so on.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Without any inbreeding, go back 30 generations (that's only 600 years ago or so)... and you have over 1 billion potential ancestors-- and that's more people than were alive at that time.

Now, complete outbreeding doesn't occur obviously.
But it only takes one immigrant every couple generations between two populations or so to keep a population from splitting off into a separate race/species. And we know humans have been doing a lot more than that, especially in the last 300 years.
Look up "ring species" for another perspective on human variation.

African populations on the coast have some chinese traders as ancestors from before China shut down their seafaring expeditions (around 1400's).

Likewise, the Mediterranean region is pretty much a blur of races and continents, and a major trading nexus.

So you wanna be guilty for something that occured 150 years ago? Are you even sure you didn't have ancestors on both sides of the question? (4 generations ago).

Also, speaking of slavery, what about people who are interracial? Heck, Frederick Douglass was half white. Read his autobiography, and I don't think you'll see him saying "darn, I'm half white, so I should hate myself."

You should only feel guilty about not doing what YOU could have done.

History is to learn from, not to be stuck inside.

And Bush apparently not failed to pay attention in 8th grade civics, he seems to have thought "Animal Farm" was in fact about democracy as it should be.

I don't know, I've been rooting for Katharine since I first watched it (I think the week before Queen (which dagnabit I missed (I wanted to see that train wreck))).

I defer to the previous weight conscious boodling, but someone out there is going to be really, really sorry if they are looking for at the photons bouncing off of me. Equipment will likely break.

jw, does this mean they have settled the issue legally, or is this just inferred.

TBG, it was me with the copier issues, the problem with A4 is that is is just that much larger than letter, while I can print out to A4 (if I had the paper) copying from A4 (sent to me) to Letter, the autofeeder is just a little too small, many easy workarounds but it is an annoyance.

Eliot is my favorite now. But not favorite enough to keep my watching the show. And I agree with jw that it might be hard to turn Eliot into a pop star.

I think Spike said it pretty well in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (c'mon omni, back me up):

"You won. All right? You came in, and you killed them and you took their land. That's what conquering nations do. It's what Caesar did, and he's not going around saying, 'I came, I conquered, I felt really bad about it.'"

SCC: me watching.

Legal sized paper is completely useless. Most importantly, it doesn't fit in binders without folding.

Legal sized paper was the bain of my filing existence when I was a secretary. It really bothered me when letter sized paper was paperclipped to legal sized paper.

I think it's a conspiracy of Big Paper.

dr, I honestly have no idea. Do police have to get a warrant to conduct photo surveillance? I think so--but it's also true that a perfect stranger can take pictures of you and there's nothing you can do about it. There's an implication that if you're letting people *see* you, then you're also letting them capture a more lasting image.

Look at it this way: how many closed-circuit TVs do you willingly walk by every day--each on recording your movements. Now take those CCTVs and put them 700 km above the earth.

ScienceTim was raising a good question. Everybody say with me: "We didn't start the fire, it's been burning since the world's been turning..."

Now, life is unfair. We have anti-discrimination laws. We have increasing black success and wealth in this country. A lot has changed since 1960. It's not enough.
People are alive now who fought the civil rights movement tooth and nail. they're probably somewhat adjusted now, but they're not natural with the idea of racial equality. Likewise, people are still alive who remember well what it was like BEFORE civil rights. Children who grew up during the civil rights movement had to contend with the old and new attitudes.
Nowadays, people 30's or younger, they grew up without the society sanctioning race by law. Many of them have married interracially, have friends across races.

The healing has started. It's not done by a long shot. I have a stake in racial equity because the next generation of my family is nearly all biracial.

When I hear stereotypes hurt black boys' successes in school, I get angry and resolve to help be sure the message bounces off.

So I read about how black people became successful under such worse circumstances, and learn how to promote the strength, so I can be sure to stay on message. I know they will be very successful in life.

What we CAN do is continue to resist accepting institutionalized racism. That means whites-only golf clubs, men-only stuff. We can try and encourage integration of worship.

America remains deeply segregated when they worship, not only because religion is tied to culture. I have attended churches that had a wonderful mix of diversity. It is possible, and those churches have a message of inclusiveness, removing barriers created by deafness, handicap, and vision.
And let's face it, most churches consider themselves exempt from the ADA too because they don't want to rob the coffers to remove stairs and build ramps so people in wheelchairs can get in, and they don't really know or understand the barriers that handicaps create to feeling fully included as a part of a church community.

And certainly, it's hard to sit in a church and feel fully comfortable being the only black, white, whatever in a society that keeps saying racism is important, that somehow you are intruding simply by being different.

That's when you realize combating racism starts in your own heart. Those are all things everybody can work on-- not just the white people ;).

US customary sizes (8.5 x11 and 8.5x14) are old standards evolved from printing practices of the 1700 and 1800's. Paper thickness or quality is measured in basis weight, that is the weight in pounds of a reference ream (500) of paper. The reference size of each sheet changes with the type of paper, to made things more complicated. For Bond paper, your typical printing©ing paper, the "basis size" is 17x22" . The basis weight would be expressed in pounds for weight of 500 sheets 17x22". Then, the sheet sizes are developed by folding the sheets in half: 17x22 becomes 11x17 becomes 8.5x11.
The thoroughly modern ISO standard is much better (keeps each size at the same width to length ratio) but don't hold your breath until the US adopts it.

So, what they want is EVERYBODY's phone records -- not the conversations, just the records, so it doesn't look as bad -- in order to analyze them for characteristics of terrorist activity. This has value, of course, only if it is not a one-time thing. You need continuing access to phone records in order to use the statistical information that you gather in order to establish probable cause for future searches. The issue here is that the government wants to establish that it has a legal right to these records without any requirement of probable cause to obtain them. The records belong to the phone company, not to you, and are simply a record of business activities. Right?

When the legal system wants YOUR records, or wants to search your property, they need a warrant, because they are collecting information about a specific person. When the police are in active pursuit, however, they can enter and search your premises, and book you for crimes discovered through that search, even if you are only incidental to the reason they entered your premises. Without an active investigation or pursuit, however, they have no right to search specifically YOU or your records. This is an attempt to undermine that principle. The government argument would be that they *are* actively involved in an investigation of terrorists, and that this is simply a means of tracking them down, no different from an APB or tip-line. Anything else they turn up, however, would be fair game.

I can't imagine what terrorist activity would look like. I can't imagine what organized crime would look like. They are both activities in which relatively smart people set out with a plan to foil authorities. I can easily imagine ways to confuse my phone trail by switching phones on an irregular but frequent basis, using aliases, if I felt that the phone might be used to track me down. An investigative practice like this would track down only the stupidest of actual criminals.

On the other hand, normal people wouldn't think of going to the efforts required to confuse authorities. I can easily imagine what adulterous activity would look like, what a teenager dealing with unintended pregnancy would look like, what political activity would look like. These all are arenas in which the government currently, or in the past, has claimed an interest. Imagine using phone records to track down members of out-of-favor political parties.

Neocons seem to be unable to imagine themselves out of power, but let's try the thought experiment anyway -- imagine a vigorously anti-gun President in power with this precedent established, and he manages to pass a Federal anti-gun law. He can now use the phone records to track down every person who has ever called a gun shop, and use that as probable cause to search your premises and deny you what you consider to be a right.

We are being asked to accept the government accessing our phone records "but only so we can find the bad guys. Good guys have nothing to fear." How long until someone changes the definition of "bad guy" to be more inclusive?

On Sept 3, 1939, Churchill had the following to say about the then upcoming struggle and civil liberties. Its relevance to the current situation depends in large part on whether or not you believe there actually is an existential threat posed at the current day:

"This is not a question of fighting for Danzig or fighting for Poland. We are fighting to save the whole world from the pestilence of Nazi tyranny and in defense of all that is most sacred to man. This is no war of domination or imperial aggrandizement or material gain; no war to shut any country out of its sunlight and means of progress. It is a war, viewed in its inherent quality, to establish, on impregnable rocks, the rights of the individual, and it is a war to establish and revive the stature of man. Perhaps it might seem a paradox that a war undertaken in the name of liberty and right should require, as a necessary part of its processes, the surrender for the time being of so many of the dearly valued liberties and rights. In these last few days the House of Commons has been voting dozens of Bills which hand over to the executive our most dearly valued traditional liberties. We are sure that these liberties will be in hands which will not abuse them, which will use them for no class or party interests, which will cherish and guard them, and we look forward to the day, surely and confidently we look forward to the day, when our liberties and rights will be restored to us, and when we shall be able to share them with the peoples to whom such blessings are unknown."

The whole speech can be read here:

http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=878

In 1850 and before- "No Irish need apply"
In 2006- "Everybody's Irish on St Patrick's day."

The Irish used to be labelled as an inferior race by the British, and everybody could "tell an Irishman."

Shaw's "A Modest Proposal" was in part a protest against the stereotypes of Irish.

Most groups have assimilated successfuly in American culture, and achieved success on all economic levels.

African-americans have not, simply because the laws and the system were designed NOT to allow them to. That's not so easily written off.

Generations of poverty, lack of environmental justice, violence, fatherless households, has produced conditions in some inner city neighborhoods that are simply appalling and completely destructive to the development of children.

That shouldn't be written off as easily as "Oh, we took the laws away, now go and succeed."

Many successful black people who fought in the civil rights movement can't understand inner-city poverty and apathy. But it exists, and in part due to our increasing reliance on cars.

When you're too poor and/or scared to go more than one block or two from your home, your world is very small. It's hard to dream big in a small world.

Beautifully said Wilbrod.

On the phone record issue...am I the only person who assumed this was already being done? Is it that much of a surprise the the government would collect data on who is calling whom?

2008 is too long to wait for our rights to be handed back to us, much torn up and damaged.

...soon to morph into Gunde, our son's nickname.

If you want to read some excellent books about American Indian issues, read anything by the late Vine Deloria, Jr., Sioux Indian, who died last November...his first book, "Custer Died for Your Sins" was an instant I-gotta-read-this, at least for me. Many others. He served as attorney for many, many Indian people--was spokesman for the occupation of Alcatraz, Wounded Knee, etc. I had written him for information, and he was a great help. He invited my husband and me to their house in Colorado, and helped me with some research I was conducting at that time. In addition to a law degree from Colorado he had degrees from Iowa State, Lutheran School of Theology. Many honorary degrees...a great speaker and raconteur. Also, i would guess a formidable opponent. i was pleased to call him friend...

Jw, this story broke a while ago, so I wasn't surprised by today's mention. But apparently it's mutating into a monster.

Considering that Nixon resigned as president for wiretapping ONE location, this is egregious arrogance. I'm glad the media isn't letting the subject drop.

Oooh, I am very wordy today.

Cassandra, I think we agree on what is right and wrong. Where we differ is on how to make things better. As a scientist, my life revolves around finding out what solutions work, and throwing away solutions that don't work. The concept of reparations is morally right. But, I can't begin to conceive of any way to construct a system of reparations that would be accepted by nearly every member of society, without resentment, and without perpetrating new inequities based on somebody's judgment of whose ancestors' suffering was more significant than someone else's. That is the standard that you would have to meet for a working system of reparations.

Morally right or not, reparations just can't work in practice. That means that we need to find another way to make things right for the people who are here now. Am I going to give away everything I own? Well, no. Get real. I have worked, hard, to get where I am and I want to give my own kids the best opportunities that I can. I owe them more than I owe any other person in society. What I have worked hardest to get is my own education. How can I give that away? The closest I can come is by teaching, in places that could not possibly afford to pay my salary for the time I spend there. And that is what I do.

The gathering of metadata is kind of like sniffing around public records to see what your old flame is up to. While it may not be illegal, it is certainly disrespectful.

RD but at what point does sniffing around become stalking?

Oh, and for those who may not happen to be into the lingo, "metadata" are information about the data, not the data themselves. In this case the alleged program was not about wiretapping or eavesdropping, but was, instead, about getting everyone's phone bills to create a statistical norm. Worrisome and rude, but not the same as the previous allegations.

dmd - that is exactly the concern. That is why these allegations demand a closer look. At the very least they display very poor judgement.

RD do you really believe they never went further than recording the data, never did a backwards look up of numbers to see who they belong to, address etc.

dmd - I have absolutely no idea. However, the association between a phone number and an address is as legal as the yellow pages. Again, the point, to me, is not the legality but rather the underlying lack of respect displayed.

Aaaaaarrrrggghhh. I've been away from the boodle fighting no less than three separate inter-office brushfires, writing rebuttal memos, etc. I just HATE it when work interferes with my boodling. Is nothing sacred anymore? Jeezy-peezy.

OK, where were we? Yikes. OK, first things first: jw writes: "Who decided that the standard size for paper would be 8.5 x 11 inches? I think this would be a good question for Mudge to answer."

Who decided? Answer: I did, punk. You wanna fight about it? Wanna take it outside, Lunch-eating Bird-watching Boy? Bite me.

...ooops. Er, sorry there, jw. My inter-office memo-writing guerrilla attitude just got the better of me for a moment. I might have been channeling Karl Rove there for a minute. Take a breathe, Mudge. Ooooom. Oooooom.

OK, 8 1/2 by 11. We pretty much hashed that one out on the Parchment Standardization Committee in 1687, when we revamped the earlier (and quite obviously obsolescent) Papyrus Protocol, as well as the folio/quarto quarter-folio mess. Oh, it was a nasty fight. Nasty, nasty. I'm not sure the world is ready for that tale, any more than the story of the Giant Rat of Sumatra. Brrrr. Still gives me chills to think about it. Took months for the parchment cuts on my fingers to heal, too. I hate parchment cuts. 'Course, you folks nowadays wouldn't know about that.

OK, Individual rights, wiretapping, and the administration. Finally something easier to address. The administration blows. Next question.

Collective guilt, moral burdens, and reparations. C'mon, gimme something tough! Whatsa matter with you people? The solution: It's not my fault, the dog ate my Constitution. Anyway, I won't have the money 'til next week.

Ok, what else you got? Bring it on, bring it on...

Realize too that huge quantities of metadata regarding everything from your shopping habits to your elctrical and water consumption are routinely gathered. Did you ever wonder how the credit card company knows to helpfully call you when it looks like you have purchased something "unusual?" Or why you keep getting coupons in the mail that seem surprisingly personalized? Intrusive metadata. Personally, I find all metadata disquieting. I keep imagining a call like this: "Mr. Padouk. This is MasterCharge. We are concerned about the amount of bluegrass music you have been purchasing. We have you tagged as more a modern jazz kind. Plus, about your purchases of Shiraz..."

...or how come Safeway knows to print out a Hot Pockets coupon for me at the check-out, even when I haven't bought any? Scary.

Cassandra,

I understand your anger and I agree that something should be better than nothing, but you've also got to agree that Tim's got a point about the methodology. And who is really responsible for injustices that happened 150-200 years ago? My ancestors were living in complete poverty high in the jagged mountains of Greece back then. No one in my family was in this country before 1910 or so.

Now, granted, the opportunities my people came to take advantage of were here mainly because they were carried on the backs of your people. But when my parents were young, there were places around D.C. with signs that included, among other restrictions, "No one of southern European descent allowed."

I want you to know that the best we can ALL do right now is to raise a generation of people who are not racist. I am trying my best to do that. But raising a colorblind child is hard when you turn on the news and hear about "the first Black head coach," or "first woman circuit-court judge." That just brings our differences to the surface when we should be focusing on our similarities.

We were watching a 1934 movie recently starring Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers called Imitation of Life, about a white woman and an African-American woman raising their daughters together. When the black daughter ran into the room crying because the white girl had called her "black," Colbert grabbed her daughter and said, "How could you say such a terrible thing?!" Well.. my daughter just burst out laughing. She thought the idea that calling someone "black" was terrible was just ridiculous. So ridiculous that it was funny to her.

The one person in her 6th grade class she thinks will make the best president of the U.S. is a boy whose family is from Ghana. Her best friend's family is from India. When I was pregnant with my daughter, my son (who was 5) asked what color did I think she would be. He just hadn't really noticed that skin color tends to run in families. Maybe what will finally work is when it no longer does.

If we ALL keep teaching our kids NOT to be racist--we can change the tone of the country.

I'm so glad you're part of our boodle, Cassandra. I look forward to your morning and evening messages of good will and always love to hear what you have to say about everything. We all think about these things all the time, even if we're not living it like you are. We look around us and hate to see anyone who doesn't have an opportunity for a better life. We're doing what we can in our small little ways. One Greek expression my grandmother used to say translates to "bean by bean fills the bag."

[Why is it that our posts look so much smaller in the little window we type them into and then they appear so huge and long in the boodle. Oh well. Sorry for rambling.]

jw, we know *ALL* about your HotPocket jones. Everything. *laughs evilly, like bwa-hahahahahahaha*

C'mon, peeps. Me and mo and Padouk and few others here on the boodle work for the government. Whaddayou guys worried about? We wouldn't let anything bad hap...hap-- ack...gurgle...

*Silence from the Mudge cubby.*

*It's quiet. Too quiet.*

I agree completely TBG. However, that still doesn't get you entirely off the hook for the terrible things your evil ancestors on the wrong side of the Ionian Sea did to my saintlike ancestors on the right side of the Ionian Sea.... Sorry just channeled my grandfather for a moment.

Speaking of racism and metadata, remember the fuss about DVD recommendations on Walmart's web-site a while back? Another reason I hate metadata, the picture it creates is inherently stereotypical.

(No dear - I have no idea why Netflix says that based on my past rentals I would really enjoy "Showgirls.")

Right you are Mudge. By the way. You should probably have someone look at that mole behind your left ear

This reminds me, Nani, did you watch Birth of a Nation when it was on TCM recently? I missed it. Any comments?

RD, it has actually crossed my mind that I should call up Mastercard and tell them when I'm going on vacation (ask permission?). I'm very paranoid that someday a hotel very far from home is going to say "all your cards were declined" because they don't fit my "pattern". Note to self: bring cash to Amsterdam.

Or are there "two moles!" Ha Haa Ha.

Gotta go walk the dog now....

I know what I could accomplish with phone record metadata and a supercomputer farm. That's what worries me.

The grocery store has your purchasing information because that's what those handy "Savings Clubs" are all about. They can't legally collect those data from your credit/debit card, but they can get it straight from you, if you agree.

Your bank has all your purchase information, and sells it. It bothers me to know that they can and would willingly sell all my data to the government, or sell the analysis of my data, permitting the government to reconstruct a history of every place that I used my cards to spend money. We use our cards so easily and often these days that a person with access to your purchasing records could easily locate you in short order.

Well, just to be on the safe side, when I last hopped the pond, I called my bank and let them know so they wouldn't worry about me and my habits. They were okay with that.

Yeah, we're all radio-tagged with various collars.

I suggest we sabotage the savings club system-- exchange cards with strangers. Rotate every month. Pretty soon the grocery stores will be printing out meat coupons for vegans and so on... Anarchy!

Everyone collects data to help them 'serve us better'. Why not the government?

My hubby had an uncle who was a POW in WW II. (He was part of a Lancaster crew). Anyhow, he was as eccentric as they come. He refused to use anything other than cash because he was sure the government was following him. He was always beset by fears that someone was out to get him, and preferred to live as far away from people as possible. He was very upset with me when he found out I seldom carried cash, and always used my debit card so I had an easy record of what and where I was spending. He was sure 'they' were coming for me.

I laughed at it at the time, but I understand what he was getting at now. He is right about the information gathering. I sure hope he is wrong about the why of the information gathering.

My one consolation is that on average, governments are no more efficient with large data streams than I am with paper in the back storeroom here at work. I find some hope in that.

Perhaps the scariest thing is that someone is determining what is "normal" and if you don't fit into the model of normal you are suspect. The message conform or else. You don't have to look to far back in history to see what happened when governments decided certain behaviour/associations were cause for investigations and the destructions of lives. While the threat of terrorism is real and must be considered the loss of the ability to be unique or hold unpopular opinions must not be given away without a fight.

Don't mean physical fight but through democratic methods, lest any international spy agency be noticing my post.

More bothersome news from the WaPo home page: Partial matches to DNA can be used to determine whether a relative of the partially-matching person is a suspect for a crime. So, if DNA from a crime scene were found to partially match my DNA, you could deduce that the criminal probably was one of my blood relatives. An old rape case was solved by partially matching crime-scene DNA to a known felon. The known felon's brother was trailed until a DNA sample could be obtained from a discarded cigarette butt, yielding a perfect match and a conviction.

Take-home message: if you are guilty of a crime, or think that some day you might commit one, don't litter. Hold on to your own trash, and incinerate it.

No problem, so long as it is not abused. However, the reason that we have limitations on search and seizure is that history shows that we need those limits in order to protect the civil rights of those who are innocent but unloved by the government. This comes perilously close to a search without probable cause.

Keep in mind that the Intelligence Community is like the Armed Services. They do what they are instructed to do by the Commander in Chief unless it clearly violates the law. At the end of the day it wasn't Hayden's call or some poor analyst's at NSA. It is Bush and his lawyers who decide what gets done and what doesn't.

*distraught mo is moping on the boodle today* chris voted out of american idol... my life is over! http://www.mortiifera.com/?p=84

the only thing saving me now is planning the trip to panama....

and yes, fuel did offer chris the lead singer's spot...

All this talk of being on or off the grid has me recalling Huxley.

Everyone remembers the planned stratification of society in Brave New World, but one of the most striking parts of that book for me is the contrast between the populated area and the area outside the urban area where things were still "natural" in all the good and bad meanings of that word.

Not particularly relevant, just an observation (that could be my motto, actually).

yes, sonofcarl - you should call your credit card company before you travel - mom and i were in italy and suddenly our charges were being denied - we called the card company and they said they were reporting strange charges in a foreign country - we said "yeah, by US!" - they reinstated the card forthwith, but not w/out some embarrassment on our part when getting our credit card denied.

yes, mudge outted me - i work for the gubment - i've already been investigated within an inch of my existence so the whole "phone tapping" thing doesn't personally affect me but it does piss me off cuz it's a violation of civil rights regardless of the reasons - i signed away my rights to privacy for my job so i made that (i) choice (/i) but others did not!

mo, I bet you also had to surrender a DNA sample (or one could easily be obtained from your cubicle, when you aren't looking). So, you also have signed away your mother's privacy, and the privacy of any other relatives, known or unknown to you.

Pleasant thought.

SoC, I have had my credit card duplicated fraudulently twice, and in both instances the credit card company was able to recognize the pattern, in less than 24 hours in one instance and less than twelve the other. I didn't know whether to be glad they caught the problem so quickly or afraid that my spending habits were monitored so closely.

ScienceTim,

I think you should be more concerned about what your alter ego StorytellerTim is saying. You know what he's like; he's bound to bring you down with him eventually. And I'm not even referring to what ConceptualTim might do.

mo - I feel your pain with the credit card denial only I wasn't as lucky. The night of my wedding I paid for a fairly substantial dinner with my debit card. Since I was out of state, my card was flagged w/suspicious activity and was promptly suspended. Unaware, I tried hitting an ATM a little while later to no avail. Upon calling the bank to determine the problem, I was greeted by an automated message informing me that the system was down due to "planned system upgrades." Very embarrasing.

*Silence from the Mudge cubby*

*Rain runs down window overlooking a bleak, rainswept twilight Washington street*

*Eerie violin music*

*Camera closes in on an overturned coffee cup, with drips running across desk...*

*Camera follows one particular coffee drop down to floor, where we see...*

*"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhh!"*

*The night janitor's shrill cry pierces the still evening air! We hear footsteps running down a long, empty government corridor...*

SciTim, I don't think the Case of the Panamanian Goth plays out as ominously as described.

First of all, I'm not so sure that government employee DNA data is automatically available for database checking versus a sample at a crime scene.

Second, the links between would have to be solid or the whole case collapses. Your scenario implied that one of mo's blood relatives was the proper suspect. IF I'm wrong about govt employee DNA, then I guess the "close" match might turn the investigation to relatives, but without more, there wouldn't be any search warrants issued against mo's relatives.

I acknowledge that the exception may be warrantless searches based on items discarded by mo's relatives. I confess that I don't know how much of a legal problem such searches pose.

Tim, isn't it more like harrassment than search without probable cause? If he litters, well they are just being good citizens. and if not a case of litter, who owns the garbage once its tossed into the garbage can?

'Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive.' Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) Lochinvar

In the particular case cited, there were detectives trailing a man for the purpose of collecting his cast-offs. His cast-offs are legitimate targets for a search. The (possibly) unreasonable search and seizure component of the situation is with respect to using his brother's DNA to track him down, without knowledge or consent to sampling by either brother. This is, of course, a case in which all of us would like to see the perpetrator arrested and put away: he smokes, he litters, and, oh yeah, he raped and murdered someone. This is potentially a "camel's nose in the tent" deal -- if we allow cases like this, where we really want law enforcement to be able to track down and convict these persons, are we inadvertently permitting uses that are unacceptable? It's arguable.

One thing I don't believe is that the barricades between government agencies actually prevent data collected by one agency from being used by another. IRS knows a lot about you. Especially now, there is much impetus for data-sharing and data-mining by all branches of government. IRS gets to ask you about "income, illegal or otherwise" because the agency is supposed to protect your Fifth Amendment rights; in exchange, if you are a sensible criminal and lie about such income, the government can get you for tax evasion, the most common conviction of mob bosses. If IRS is required to share its data with other branches of government, there will be interesting Fifth Amendment issues at work, I suspect. They can't legally require you to answer that question, if doing so opens you automatically to criminal conviction. We would exchange an effective tool against organized crime for the safety that comes from reviewing terrorists' income tax returns.

i have a conundrum and i'm looking for advice -
to board or to get a petsitter? since i'm going to be in panama for 8 days i need to have someone take care of my cat - i know cats hate change so i'm really concerned about having him boarded for a week in a strange place (don't they just keep the cats in cages?) but petsitting - well, having a stranger come to my house? i have family members nearby but i hesitate to ask them to come over every day for 8 days... advice?

and NO i'm not phising for a pet sitter - tho' a recommendation would be nice! *grin*

mo, I think ideally you have someone dropping in everyday anyway, so that is the best option. Personally, I think a cat's water, hard food and litter could go two days comfortably if you don't want to impose on relatives.

However, an important consideration is whether these family members are blood relatives ie partial DNA matches of you.

I will say one thing about this administration: I used to wonder why people were against registering guns, but now I understand. I guess I used to think folks who were paranoid about the government were, well... paranoid.

But like some smart person said, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.

Has anyone seen my tinfoil?

mo;

Just cut open a 40 lb. bag of Tender Vittles and leave, oh, about four dozen small bowls of water around the place.

And cover every square millimeter of carpet with plastic.

.
.
.
.
.
KIDDDING, I'm KIDDING!!!!!!!

:-)

Seriously, a recurring visitor they're not familiar with v. a loud, strange-smelling place with LOTS of new cats?

Bother your relatives (ones the cats know) for a couple or three visits. Every day would be a bit much.

HAH! SoC - um... they MAY be dna matches and they MAY not... i take the 5th on that!

TBG, I could have sworn I saw 'Mudge wearing your tinfoil...

:-O

Well I lost a whole comment. Never had that to happen before. Just as well. TBG, I thank you for your comment. I'm no saint, but I try to be kind, not always easy, and dont't always succeed. Slavery and racism are subjects that prove to be stumbling blocks for me, because I don't really see us working real hard at improving things. When one see the media blast over the Duke rape case, and people going, oh no, they couldn't have done that, it just literally blows me away because, hey that is exactly what their ancestors did. It is not a new thing. But then we have to wait and see. We live by the rule of law, at least some of us do.

I would definitely go with the petsitter if no relatives are available for kitty kibble time.... um, let me rephrase that... nah, never mind.

A stranger for 30 minutes a day vs 8 days solid in a kennel-- no contest. Besides, quite a few cats warm up to a warm lap and tempting treats very quickly.

Cats are not renowed for fidelty or loyalty, after all. I don't own cats, but have catsat for cats I've met. Those who hide during the whole time are the same ones that hide when I visit with the owner there, anyway. They only warmed up with a hefty dose of catnip, and even that wore off.

hey scotty - that's a great... uh... HEY! wait! that's TERRIBLE!

one other wrinkle - aristotle (my cat) has... um... questionable toilet habits... not sure how to spring that on the relatives...

wilbrod - that's pretty much what i was thinking but i wanted to get someone else's opinion to make sure - and i think you are right... besides, if i pay a petsitter then i don't have to feel bad about his... um... questionable potty habits cuz that's part of what i'm paying them for...

k - any petsetting recommendations in the dc/va area? you can e-mail me at maureen@mortiifera.com (so the boss doesn't get mad at me...)

Cassandra, I haven't had a comment lost yet, but I've canceled lots of them and almost canceled my racism post. Glad I didn't and I hope it all goes well with you.

Around here no one is saying the Duke players couldn't have done that. But of course, this is a house full of Tarheel fans!

:-)

But really, I think everyone sees what's happening there: rich white guys hiring expensive lawyers to make the victim look like the criminal. Don't think anyone's being fooled. One of the boys charged has just had to appear here in DC on charges that were suspended earlier for beating up a guy outside a Georgetown bar. He goes to court in DC in July since one condition of the suspension of the charges was that he was not to commit another crime. Seems like that order meant nothing to him.

TBG

omni:
Thanks so much for that link. (Wow, she actually liked Vegemite!)

I'm off to bed, hope everyone gets some rest and sleep well. It's has been a good day. My little boy didn't show up for the reading hour, but saw his mother, and she said he'll be there next week. I hope so. Good night friends, and if life lasts, I hope to talk with you again.

TBG, I know what you mean about canceling comments. I've canceled a few of my own today. I'm glad you didn't cancel yours, though. The efforts you're making with your own children give us hope that maybe Cassandra's comment about our failure to try to improve things isn't quite accurate -- or fair.

I thank you, and Tim, for taking the time to address this topic. You do it far better than I could have done.

Thanks indeed, TBG and SciTim, for your comments today. Racism is a problem we won't solve in this generation, but that doesn't absolve us from the moral necessity to try. I too am grateful for Cassandra and her perspective on life. She is an honest and courageous person, and I am honored to know her, even if only in cyberspace. May God rain blessings upon her!

Long and productive boodle today. I hope Joel will come through with a new kit tomorrow, otherwise we will be lost in comments.

Oh, and I hope we can revive Mudge in the morning. Wouldn't want him to stay dead for long.

G'night, everybody!

mo, when we lived in Falls Church eight/nine years ago, I used a service called Sit-A-Pet. They were excellent. We once left a cat for three weeks and the sitter worried that he needed company and turned the TV on for him. They come daily, feed, clean up litter box.
I tried looking this up in yellowpages; no results. Try 703-243-3311, or 301-424-7100 or 202-362-8900

mo--I use Tender Loving Cat Care--the sitters are bonded, which makes me less anxious about having someone in the house. Part of the service is a "diary" of each day's visit. By the end of the week, a note of desperation creeps in--how many different ways can one write "Kitty and I had a nice visit?"

mo, a barn cat was once caught (by mistake, nothing intentional) between two doors at my father in law's farm. Careful inquiry after the cat, a large kitten really, was found revealed it survived 6 days in that 4 in. wide space. The cat showed no permanent damage. It was the fall though, there were no great thermal challenges in either direction. Just to say that cat's reputation for having 9 lives is not without some truth. Having said that we have the in-laws coming every other day when we leave home and leave the stupid cat on its own. That stupid cat could probably live a year in the house on its own, it helps itself to package cat and dog food, opens cabinets, etc. I wouldn't be surprised to find it in front of the computer one day, buying stuff with my credit card. And that's a grey striped alley cat with a brain the size of a pecan.

Been very busy and can't keep up with what is happening here. But I read that today is the 10th anniversary of the ValuJet plane crash in the Everglades. One of the passengers on the plane was Walter Hyatt. He wrote a splendid song called "Teach Me About Love" that Lyle Lovett recorded on his excellent "Step Inside This House" album.

Hyatt's song is an uptempo swing tune with melancholic lyrics that appear below. Lovett's version is superb.

"Teach Me About Love"

Darlin' don't walk out on me
Tryin' to teach me a lesson
Thinkin' you'll come back to a better man
If you don't like the way things go
Just stay here and tell me so
'cause there's one thing about me
You've got to understand

I've had enough lonesome
In my education
I don't want to study anymore
About a woman and a slammin' door
If I want to be blue
I've got enough information
I know about lonesome
Teach me about love

Now the words from your sweet lips
And the looks from your sweet eyes
Are lessons that I study day by day
Each day I pick up something new
Each night I learn a thing or two
But how can I learn anything
When teacher's gone away

I've had enough lonesome
In my education
I don't want to study anymore
How to make it through a barroom door
I've been down and out
I'm ready for inspiration
I know about lonesome
Teach me about love

http://www.lyricstime.com/lyle-lovett-teach-me-about-love-lyrics.html

Mo, I've used petsitters because my rather sociable cat turns into a basket case if left alone over a weekend with only kibble and water for company. (Bald stripes from over-grooming, incessant "Where have you been?" meowing upon my return, etc.) The two petsitters I've used were both terrific ladies who were huge animal lovers and therefore very good to my cat. I met both of them beforehand so it didn't feel creepy leaving them with a key to my house, and when I returned from trips where my cat had been pet-sat, she was almost indifferent about my return rather than the basket-case I expected.

You might try looking for a petsitter who is registered with NAPPS (the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters, www.petsitters.org) or PSi (Pet Sitters International, www.petsit.com). Good luck.

Regarding guilt and activism: I think I began to feel tinges of embarassment, being caucasian, after reading "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" as an eighth grader, followed by stronger tinges after my first viewing of "Little Big Man". Various PBS programs cause the same feelings to surface. Suffice it to say that regardless of geographic location, man's inhumanity to man is appalling. The victor always sems to feel as if his way is THE way. Brutality, slaughter, mutilation, terror, enslavement, abuse, prejudice and institutionalized discrimination follow, roughly in that order. Thus, the source of my guilt. I resolve to treat others as I would be treated, although being human precludes total sucess. I endeavour to instill this behaviour in my children and at least some of my students.
To continue, enclaves of individuals begin to resort to variants guerilla tactics to get their way, and a stereotype of the offending factions morphs into another cycle as mentioned above. The offences against the status quo escalate to fantastic events, as evidenced by those now written into history since September 2001. Governments feel the need to intervene by any means possible and begin to push the limits allowed by the documents that frame the limits of power, and use the media and wordcrafting to make their case. In the present global and national context we (with apologies to Zappa) have been bamboozled...the dreck has hit the fan. Convince, in a gentle way, those in your circle to exercise their right to express opinion via the written or spoken word and certainly to exercise the vote in such a way that their values are represented. Too much is at stake. That being said, I must contemplate how I will remove the first fish from the hook this weekend, on the occasion of the first manly weekend at the hunt club with diehard outdoorsmen. I need to save face in the presence of my son.

Jack, hope you can get some useful information here, have a wonderful weekend with your son. Whether you can get the hook out or not will not matter you are creating a wonderful memory your son will carry for a lifetime.

http://www.takemefishing.org/default.aspx?id=666

jack, you are going to have a great time, no matter what. You know, I often wish I could just go out and get into the wilderness areas, myself. It is unfortunate that it takes so long for us in the DC area to get out and enjoy nature and fish and take walks.

I'm pretty sure this first appeared in the New Yorker; it's from a cartoon by Roz Chast. Can't find an image of the actual cartoon, but I did manage to find a site from someone who had already infringed on the copyright and provided the words...

DIARY OF A CAT by Roz Chast

Today I got some food in a bowl.  It was great!  I slept some, too.

Played with yarn.  Got some food in a bowl.  Had a good nap.

Slept, food, yarn.  Fun!

I played with a shoelace.  Ate, slept.  A good day.

Slept.  Ate some food.  Yum.

Food in a bowl.  Yarn galore.  Dozed for quite a while.

Had a good nap.  Then food in a bowl.  Then yarn.

TBG, they forgot:

Woke up large, loud, sleeping food-giver by sharpening claws on leg.

:-)

That cat diary also brings to mind a question I posed to my family just last night about the Chick-fil-A® ads that feature the cows who write signs like "Eet more chikin"...

If cows are smart enough to speak English and write, why would they be so stupid that they can't spell? C'mon, now.

These are the important things we dwell on, Joel. Not trivial matters like domestic spying or habeas corpus.

It's the cow's lack of opposable thumbs that hinders clear writing, TBG... *nods*

Why can't cows spell?

Oh, City Girl!
The dairy cows Jerseys, Guernseys, and Ayrshire speak old medieval English, *etan* for eating. Of course, this comes from the German (below, next graf), which was actually derived from the Latin cows, now extinct.

The Brown Swiss and Holsteins say "Essen Sie more chikin."

The cows just need more classes in English as a second language. However, they are working on a version of the National Anthem in Moo, their shared, common mother tongue.

I also think I read somewhere (McLuhan?) that paper sized began to become standardized thanks to the invention of saddle bags.

Gosh, I took yesterday afternoon off to attend to some auto repair and maintenance on one of the chariots, and look what happens in the Boodle.

Some quick catching up:

I, too, read James Lee Burke when I can. Mainly the Robicheaux novels; "In the Electric Mist with the Confederate Dead", remains my favorite.

I have no idea what to do about reparations for Slavery or any other of the many sins of our ancestors, other than to agree with those who ask: How do we negotiate prices or value for such things?
It's an uncomfortable discussion, and I'm glad it's happening, but I find that I have no idea what to do other than to try to make sure it never happens again.

Add me to the list of those that think the Gov't. is probably doing a lot of things that they'd rather not have the public know about. If you think the phone call DB has some interesting info, think about all the info that your credicard companies and banks have. Think about all those traffic cameras popping up like dandilions at intersections. Think about giant public Internet traffic sniffers putting every keystroke I'm submitting here into a huge DB under Ft. Meade.

It's not a question of whether they have data on all of us, it's just whether you make youself noticeable enough for someone over there to justify fishing your info out of the Ocean of Data.

bc

Good morning, friends. Do hope your day, and mine are good. Hearing hoping that you and I realize that God loves us more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Christ Jesus.

As to being fair regarding efforts to improve race relations, yes, some folks do try and some succeed at doing better, yet there is a percentage of the population that for whatever reasons may exist don't do that nor do they care for those that do. The first part of any problem is acknowledging that the problem exist. Next one sets up a method or problem solver that will work. In doing the first part, I would think a national apology would suffice. In doing the second part, we come together as one, and do whatever is necessary to not uphold those sisters and brothers that continue to impact people's lives with racism and inequality be it the President or just joe citizen. The second part I'm sure would be hard, but nothing about stopping hatred has ever been easy. The first part may be even harder because it admits a wrong, and as one can see here, so many pretend racism is a thing of the past. Or even if they admit otherwise they're at a loss as to what to do about it, so they discount it and move on to something else. This war will not be won with us, although we can start, it will be our children that raise the victory. And never think that it is not war because it is. We are fighting for our national life as well as our personal lives and that of our children. So it is very much worthy. God is good. And through much prayer and perserverance we can win this war.

TBG, I used to teach high school remedial reading, and Mrs. D. is an elementary/middle school teacher.

I have no trouble in believing that someone who can (nominally) read and write English would be unable to spell.

(I sure hope I spelled everything correctly in THIS post...)

Oh, jack, just the fact that you're taking your son, and enjoying this time with him speaks volumes about you. And I say this in all truth, I know your son will enjoy the time because he's with you. I so envy you with your son. Do have a good time and don't worry about the craft, just have fun.

thank you guys so much for the recommendations and advice! boodleaire, aristotle is a very social cat and follows me around like a puppy - i'm very, very fond of him and hate to be away from him for so long so i'm relieved that you guys had positive petsitter experiences - that makes me feel sooo much better! (sorry to go off topic boss!)

am i a boodle killer?

New kit was posted couple of hours ago

Hi! Very interesting! pvflsc