“I wish Bush would be (coherent, eschewed) for once during a speech, but there are theories that his everyday diction charms the below-average mind, hence insuring him Republican votes.”

(Answer: coherent)

A teacher in Vermont has been accused of giving a ‘liberal’ quiz to students. The above quote is from the quiz in question, which clearly makes certain political assumptions. Despite considering myself fairly liberal, I agree that this teacher stepped over the line; it creates tension and undue discomfort for students who do not share such political leanings, similar to how ‘under God’ or school prayer might to an atheist. Any children who were graded on the test should have it simply removed from their record, and the teacher, who has received a formal conference on the matter, should refrain from inserting personal politics into the curriculum.

Bad teacher, no apple.

[Which brings up another, oft-debated point: what, then, is Intelligent Design? To me, it’s clearly an attempt to influence science education in a way that bolsters religious claims, and by extension (these days, at least) political points.]

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

As visitors waited to enter the Supreme Court building in Washington, DC this morning, a chunk of marble broke free and fell on the steps below. Thankfully, no one was hurt. Some students who were there as part of a group to hear oral arguments attempted to take some souvenirs, but were stopped by police. :)

More here.

(Is this some sort of physical manifestation of the recent turnover on the Court? :-P )

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

Two United States congressmen were injured when their convoy was involved in an accident on the way back to Baghdad Airport Saturday. The two were Tim Murphy (R-Pennsylvania) and Ike Skelton (D-Missouri). Jim Marshall (D-Georgia) was in the vehicle but was unhurt. Murphy was airlifted to Germany for an MRI, while Skelton remained at a hospital in Baghdad. More here.

Note that these sorts of injuries aren’t all that uncommon; a pretty significant number of U.S. fatalities in Iraq (something like a quarter of them, actually) have been due to non-combat incidents, which can usually be read as cleaning your rifle while it’s loaded or getting in a auto accident.

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

According to the AP:

Former FEMA Director Michael Brown, heavily criticized for his agency’s slow response to Hurricane Katrina, is starting a disaster preparedness consulting firm to help clients avoid the sort of errors that cost him his job.

This needs no commentary from me; despite the failures on other levels of government, I think few people would defend Brown for his role in the post-Katrina response. More here.

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

Following up on yesterday’s post about earthquakes, volcanoes, and asteroids: There has been a magnitude 6.1 earthquake off the coast of Iran, resulting in the destruction of several villages, and presumably many deaths. Remember that two years ago it was a magnitude 6.6 quake that killed 26,000 people in the same general area. This is also just after another quake in China which has killed a few dozen people (officially) and left many thousands homeless. (The world is being shaken to death.) CNN has it up as Breaking News at the moment, but there’s an initial piece here. This story will surely get worse as the day goes on.

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

A 105 pound woman from Virginia named Sonya Thomas has won the world turkey-eating title by consuming a 10 pound turkey in 12 minutes. (I suppose that now makes her a 115 pound woman?) Quoting from the article (and get your minds out of the gutter):

The smallest in the field, Thomas put her victory down to “swallowing fast.”

“It was very dry and the skin was very dry,” said Thomas, holding her trophy, a roasting pan, over her head. “I just tried to eat fast.”

…

Thomas, who collected $2,500 in prize money, has also dominated her opponents in egg, cheesecake, baked bean, crab-cake, meatball, and fruit-cake eating contests.

Happy Thanksgiving.

[I’m thinking about printing the above article and posting it in the kitchen tomorrow. :)]

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

A French woman on her way to Australia decided she wanted a smoke, so she attempted to open the door — while the plane was in flight. Thankfully, a flight attendant was able to restrain the (drunk) woman and put her back in her seat. Apparently she was just a bit under the influence:

Defense lawyer Helen Shilton told the court Sellies was terrified of flying and had taken sleeping tablets with alcohol before takeoff.

She was placed on AU$1000 bond, and told to behave herself. :)

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

After shooting six people at Tacoma Mall just south of Tacoma, WA, a man held three people hostage in a Sam Goody music store. A SWAT team was called in, and the man was taken into custody “with no shots fired” (save for the ones fired by him). From the AP story:

Witnesses described hearing a noise and then seeing a man walking backward through the mall, firing.

[…]

Inside the mall, Stacy Wilson, 29, of Bonney Lake, heard a popping noise and turned around.

“I saw the gunman randomly shooting. I ran with a group of women to Victoria’s Secret,” Wilson said. She said they crouched behind a wall in the store, and when the shooting stopped, an employee ran out and closed a security gate at the front.

(Saved by lingerie!)

More here and

Several tornadoes hit the midwest on Saturday, including one that touched down (no pun intended) during the Iowa State - Colorado football game. Fans were sent fleeing into shelters. At least two people died, and property damage was widespread; not only were homes and other buildings damaged or destroyed, but also livestock. Notable quote:

“There were sheep everywhere,” [Woodward, Iowa resident Doug] Jimeson said.

I can only imagine the horror.

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

In an online chat with the landscape architect for the WTC memorial, a few new (for me, at least) details about the project came up. It will be open 24/7, will feature a large number of white oak and sweetgum trees (the latter which turn red in the fall), and pets will probably not be welcome.

More here.

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

Kansas has (for the third time in six years) rewritten state education standards to include intelligent design as part of the science curriculum. My (Republican-leaning biology teacher) wife rolled her eyes when she saw this; a shame, it is. Said board member Janet Waugh:

“This is a sad day. We’re becoming a laughingstock of not only the nation, but of the world, and I hate that.”

Indeed, and I’d go so far as to say that this reflects poorly on our country as whole, not merely the squarish states in the middle.

P.S.: Keeping with tonight’s election motif, it’s interesting to note that

All six of those who voted for the standards were Republicans. Two Republicans and two Democrats voted against them.

Elections for the State Board of Education are in 2006, so maybe they’ll flip again.

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

An 18 month investigation led to the arrest of 17 people in Australia, including outspoken Islamic cleric, Abu Bakr, who publicly supported Osama bin Laden. According to the article, authorities also found suspicious items “including unidentified substances, firearms, travel documents, computers and backpacks”. (Side note: other than the firearms, How many people carry the rest? But moving on…)

This is seen as a major victory, especially given the attacks against Australians overseas, particularly in tourist spots such as Indonesia and Bali.

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

Given all the recent Irish Trojan coverage of football, unusual acts by cheerleaders, and patriotism, I thought I’d link to something sure keep soldiers warm at night: seems that last year the Miami Dolphins cheerleaders visited US troops in Bahrain! (Additional galleries here. ) Usually it’s the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders who do the USO thing, but perhaps desperate times call for desperate measures. Think of it as a draft. Oh, and apparently the NFL cheerleaders have their own blog.

Also, since I don’t remember Brendan catblogging on Friday, here’s something for cat lovers and military types alike: it’s HooAH Kitty!.

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

From CNN:

Tornado kills at least 7 people in an Evansville, Indiana, mobile home park, officials say.

(That’s over 300 miles from South Bend, so no worries about BrendanLoy.com going away.) Note that it’s on the Indiana-Kentucky-Illinois border; this isn’t exactly Tornado Alley, but it’s not immune to such things either.

Update: The current toll stands at 16 dead and 160-some injured. See the CNN link above for more. Note that according to the CNN article:

It was the deadliest day of tornado activity in the United States since April 8, 1988, when 37 people were killed, including 32 in Oak Grove, Alabama.

There is some indication that the current number could rise as more people are found.

Here’s a gallery of the 10 deadliest tornadoes in U.S. history.

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

The Argentinian newspaper La Nacion interviewed Bush, and as part of said interview asked what he had in his pockets. The answer: virtually nothing. This is as one might expect, since he has handlers around to do, well, everything for him. Still, I thought he’d perhaps carry a lucky penny to worry over, or maybe a book of Psalms. More here, and for the linguistically gifted, excerpts from the interview (although they apparently left out the part about his pocket contents). (…or maybe my Spanish is really bad.)

(Another note: he apparently wears a Timex. So I guess all that spam I get that tells me he wears some expensive Swiss timepiece is just a lie.)

Posted by Brian (Briandot)