The JackB

"When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn, that was fun'." Groucho Marx

Archives for October 2007

Ann Coulter’s Most Recent Mumblings

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I haven’t written about her for a whole variety of reasons, not the least of which has been time. But I thought that I would point out a link that I think is worth a look. Bookworm has a post that caught my eye because it was sensible.

The grouchy old bear pointed me to this article on WND. It contains all sorts of gems such as:

America is still quite friendly towards Jews, but the incessant attacks on Christianity by the likes of Deutsch, Forman and Abe Foxman have grown increasingly tiresome. Given this irritating behavior, and the historical fact that Jews have worn out their welcome in literally dozens of countries over the centuries, it is the height of foolishness for a small number of misguided individuals to demand that 80 percent of the American population remain silent about the tenets of its religious faith. Christians are dying for their faith in the Sudan, in North Korea, in China, Vietnam and Myanmar; they are not about to shut their mouths simply because a few Jews in the media disapprove of their beliefs.

and

Despite its flaws, America has been one of the best friends the Jews have ever had. It would not only be a tragedy, it would be a stupid and wasteful one if Americans were provoked into developing the instinctive anti-semitism that currently pervades Europe, the Middle East and so much of the rest of the world.

I do believe that we were just told to shut up and sit in the back of the bus, not to mention that the ignoramus repeats common antisemitic canards to try and make his point.

Well Voxy, Jews have been dying for our faith for quite a spell longer than you, but that is not the point. And frankly there is a disconnect between citing anti-Xtian issues in foreign countries in the context of this story. There is no correlation between the two. That is just a red herring.

Cutting to the chase, I don’t really care all that much about Coulter’s comments. I think that they were ignorant, unfounded and that they foster discord. She likes that kind of thing, so let her feel the results of her comments.

But the remarks you made were asinine and unreasonable. There is no war on Xtianity in the U.S. It may make you feel badly that people ask that the US Constitution be upheld. It may make you feel badly that some people prefer not to have religion stuffed in their face, but that is just too damned bad.

All My Bags Are Packed

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I am not a big fan of the song Leaving on a Jet Plane. I suppose that at one time I was, but too many years of summer camp kind of killed it. I don’t care if its John Denver or Peter Paul and Mary, I am sick of it.

But it makes an appropriate title for this post. In just a few short hours The Traveling Jack extravaganza will be ready for takeoff and hopefully in the air. Years ago I used to love to fly. It was a lot of fun and something that I very much enjoyed.

That is not the case anymore. As planes have grown more crowded and security measures become more stringent flying has become a task. In fact it is safe to say that on more than one occasion it has become unpleasant.

It is hard to be stuffed inside a tin can with 10,000 strangers. More often than not I fly coach. The problem is that the seats are too small for me. My shoulders hang off of the sides and when I sit straight up my knee brushes against the seat in front of me. If I can get an emergency exit or bulkhead seat I will, the extra room makes such a difference.

This is going to be a relatively short trip. I’ll duck in and out of a couple cities long enough to have a meeting or two and a cup of coffee. In theory if I don’t spend all day entertaining clients I’ll log on and update this thing.

But in case I don’t and you suffer from Shack withdrawal I encourage you to spend some time surfing through the archives or exploring the drop down menus on the right side of the page.

One more thing, I just printed out my boarding pass. How cool is that.

An Elephant Rampage

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Elephants are one of my favorite animals, but I’d be more than a bit nervous if a 100 of them decided to hang out in my backyard. If you read the article you’ll see a line that says that in one Indian state more than 600 people have been killed by wild elephants over the past 16 years.

GAUHATI, India (AP) — About 100 wild elephants have converged on a river island in northeast India, demolishing homes, feasting on sugarcane and panicking residents, officials said Saturday.

Thousands of villagers were using firecrackers and bonfires to scare away the rampaging animals.

“Dozens of houses have been destroyed in the past three days by adult elephants entering human settlements to look for their wandering calves,” said the local magistrate, L.S. Changsan.

Up to 50 families have moved to a local school being used as a refugee camp, Changsan said.

About 150,000 people live on the 338-square mile island of Majuli in the Brahmaputra River, nearly 220 miles east of Assam state’s capital, Gauhati.

Officials say the elephants swam to the island from a nearby hill region, beginning their rampage nearly a week ago.

Ukulele Orchestra -The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

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This was kind of fun.

You Don’t Bring Me Flowers

Smells Like Teen Spirit

And two more Ennio Morricone links:

Ennio Morricone – The Good, the bad and the ugly (concert)

The Ecstasy of Gold (live in concert)

(Every time I hear this one I always imagine myself out on a dusty windswept plain. I am riding my horse, alone, because that is how I live, alone.)

And one more, Metallica’s version of The Ectstasy of Gold.

What Does It Feel Like To Die

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New Scientist has an article that explores what it feels like to die. They cover drowning, decapitation and more. Here are a couple of excerpts for your review:

Decapitation
Nearly instantaneous

Beheading, if somewhat gruesome, can be one of the quickest and least painful ways to die – so long as the executioner is skilled, his blade sharp, and the condemned sits still.

The height of decapitation technology is, of course, the guillotine. Officially adopted by the French government in 1792, it was seen as more humane than other methods of execution. When the guillotine was first used in public, onlookers were reportedly aghast at the speed of death.

Quick it may be, but consciousness is nevertheless believed to continue after the spinal chord is severed. A study in rats in 1991 found that it takes 2.7 seconds for the brain to consume the oxygen from the blood in the head; the equivalent figure for humans has been calculated at 7 seconds. Some macabre historical reports from post-revolutionary France cited movements of the eyes and mouth for 15 to 30 seconds after the blade struck, although these may have been post-mortem twitches and reflexes.

If you end up losing your head, but aren’t lucky enough to fall under the guillotine, or even a very sharp, well-wielded blade, the time of conscious awareness of pain may be much longer. It took the axeman three attempts to sever the head of Mary Queen of Scots in 1587. He had to finish the job with a knife.

Decades earlier in 1541, Margaret Pole, the Countess of Salisbury, was executed at the Tower of London. She was dragged to the block, but refused to lay her head down. The inexperienced axe man made a gash in her shoulder rather than her neck. According to some reports, she leapt from the block and was chased by the executioner, who struck 11 times before she died.

Hanging

Speed of death depends on the hangman’s skill

Suicides and old-fashioned “short drop” executions cause death by strangulation; the rope puts pressure on the windpipe and the arteries to the brain. This can cause unconsciousness in 10 seconds, but it takes longer if the noose is incorrectly sited. Witnesses of public hangings often reported victims “dancing” in pain at the end of the rope, struggling violently as they asphyxiated. Death only ensues after many minutes, as shown by the numerous people being resuscitated after being cut down – even after 15 minutes.

When public executions were outlawed in Britain in 1868, hangmen looked for a less performance-oriented approach. They eventually adopted the “long-drop” method, using a lengthier rope so the victim reached a speed that broke their necks. It had to be tailored to the victim’s weight, however, as too great a force could rip the head clean off, a professionally embarrassing outcome for the hangman.

Despite the public boasting of several prominent executioners in late 19th-century Britain, a 1992 analysis of the remains of 34 prisoners found that in only about half of cases was the cause of death wholly or partly due to spinal trauma. Just one-fifth showed the classic “hangman’s fracture” between the second and third cervical vertebrae. The others died in part from asphyxiation.

Michael Spence, an anthropologist at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada, has found similar results in US victims. He concluded, however, that even if asphyxiation played a role, the trauma of the drop would have rapidly rendered all of them unconscious. “What the hangmen were looking for was quick cessation of activity,” he says. “And they knew enough about their craft to ensure that happened. The thing they feared most was decapitation.”

Call me a chicken, but whenever that day comes I ask for quick and painless.

Mayor Toilet Wishes To Speak

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The mayor is my kind of guy.

SIM Jae-Duck was born in a toilet and now he plans to live and die in one – a $US1.6 million ($1.8m) toilet-shaped house designed to promote his tireless campaign for cleaner loos worldwide.

Mr Sim will open what is billed as the world’s one and only toilet house on November 11 to mark the launch of his World Toilet Association.

The 419 sq m concrete and glass structure is rising on the site of Mr Sim’s former home in his native city of Suweon, 40km south of Seoul.

Before he moves in, anyone who is flush with funds can rent it for $US50,000 a day – with proceeds going to his campaign to provide poor countries with proper sanitary facilities.

Apart from two bedrooms, two guestrooms and other rooms, the two-storey house – of course – features three deluxe toilets.

Unlike the giant toilet in which they are located, they will not be see-through affairs.

“A showcase bathroom screened by a glass wall is located in its centre, while other toilets have elegant fittings or water conservation devices,” Mr Sim said.

The showcase loo will feature a device producing a mist to make users feel secure. An electronic sensor will raise the lid automatically when people enter, and there will also be music for patrons.

The house, complete with a stream and small garden in front, is named Haewoojae, meaning “a place of sanctuary where one can solve one’s worries”.

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