From Grist Magazine:
"Carbon dioxide: They call it pollution; we call it life." Nope, not a story in The Onion. That's the punch line of two TV ads that the industry-funded Competitive Enterprise Institute began airing in 14 U.S. cities last week, timed to correspond with the big-screen debut of Al Gore's climate-change movie An Inconvenient Truth. The ads, replete with happy, energy-guzzling families and a little girl blowing dandelion fluff, protest the maligning of poor, innocent CO2 -- which, according to one ad, "some politicians want to label ... a pollutant." (Gasp.) What will happen if we stop spewing CO2 into the atmosphere? The ads aren't specific, but apparently it has something to do with riding a bike in heavy snow. CEI acknowledges that global temperatures have risen in the past century, but according to president Fred Smith, warming is moving us "a lot closer to heaven than hell." So, the road to heaven is paved with CO2 emissions. The road to hell is paved by Al Gore. And reality has left parody in the dust.
Um, wow. The ads are here [link] .
From a bit upthread:
Her biggest present is horse riding lessons. She's in the process of moving from being a dino fan to a horse fan.
Gud, has she already read the Marguerite Henry books? Those were my absolute favorites when I was in my horse-freak phase. In addition to the one everyone knows (Misty of Chincoteague), I loved Justin Morgan Had a Horse and (for some reason) Born to Trot. The first Black Stallion book was fun reading, too (although not as good to read as an adult, which I did a few years back--definitely not as much depth to it as I thought when I was a kid).
That's just mean.
Scott got us each a slice last night, and I had much too bad of a stomach ache to eat it. Does that help?
O, Valium. I am getting teeth drilled on Wednesday (a little drillin' now means less drillin' later) and realized I only have one Valium. To do this properly, I will need two. I don't think I can get another in the next few days.
(Legal blah blah: since it's a controlled substance, ye canna call a scrip in; it has to be brought the paper from the doctor's office by hand. The doctor is not convenient to my house during business hours, etc. etc. shoulda thought of that last week, etc. etc.)
The question becomes, do I (a) bug Mr. Perfect my coworker and see if he has any Valium on him or (b) sub in 1/2 Vicodin instead of any Valium? (a) is convenient, and Mr. Perfect does do things like trade drugs with his friends, so he might in fact have Valium on him; (b) is more of a Known Quantity, but painkillers and mood-grooviness-makers are not technically the same thing. (Pain, shmain; it's the panic I am talking about. Luckily, opioids make me a zombie.)
I would not be legal to drive on either of these, for the record. Busses are good.
Um, wow. The ads are here [link] .
I don't think I can click on that link without my head going splodey.
There have been some great contests satirizing those ads. I preferred the entry. "No really. Go ahead and put that plastic bag over your head." but something else won.
Oh yes - Marguerite Henry - I would add,
King of the Wind, Misty of Chincoteague, Brighty of the Grand Canyon and Black Gold.
I bet you can get an omnibus of the Misty stories -- but they must have the Wesley Dennis illustrations.
Timelies all!
Went swimming today. I usually swim in the slow lane because, well, I don't swim fast enough for the other lanes and people have scolded me for being too slow. The problem with the slow lane is the people who aren't swimming. I'm almost used to the older man who does an odd walk/hop/frog kick thing back and forth. He's a regular. However, the couple today who were horsing around when they weren't standing in the middle of the lane ticked me off. I'm really tired of having to suddenly shift lanes or end up scraping against the ropes so i don't hit someone. Grr...
FILL IN ALARMIST AND ARMAGEDDONIST FACTOID HERE
joe, I totally meant to post about that when I heard it on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. So funny!
The actual treatment involved a thingie (made of the same material as self-dissolving sutures) that releases a steroid over the course of six weeks, then dissolves.
That sounds really cool, tommyrot. Aside from the whole NEEDLE IN YOUR EYE thing.
I just has some strawberry shortcake and it was awesome. Proper shortcake, dense and crumbly and only a hint sweet.
Yum. Although I also love strawberries and whipped cream on pound cake, even though it's not shortcake.
