February 23, 2006
Mmmmm....Emma Woodhouse.....Mmmmmmm.......
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This is way cool: Reuters is carrying a piece today about forensic studies done on the remains of gladiators found in tombs near Ephesus in Turkey which supports the notion that gladiatorial combats were carried out pursuant to a code of conduct.
Injuries to the front of each skull suggested that each opponent used just one type of weapon per bout of face-to-face contact, two Austrian researchers report in a paper to be published in Forensic Science International.Savage violence and mutilation, typical of battlefields 2,000 years ago, were out of order.
And the losers appear to have died quickly.
Despite the fact that most gladiators wore helmets, 10 of the remains showed the fighters had died of squarish hammer-like blows to the side of the head, possibly the work of a backstage executioner who finished off wounded losers after the fight.
The report confirms the picture given of battles in the arena by Roman artwork, which suggests gladiators were well matched and followed rules enforced by two referees.
I expect this had as much to do with the economics of such spectacles as anything else - training and maintaining a first-class gladiator was a pretty expensive proposition and it would have been in everyone's best interest not to run the risk of throwing away such a valuable asset in an out-of-control free-for-all. If I recall my classical civ correctly, the more lawless bloodbaths in the arena usually involved criminals, prisoners and (from the Roman point of view) other more expendable riff-raff.
Yips! to Scribal Terror.
(Cross-posted from Llama Central because I know Kathy is a fellow Latin geek.)
Posted by: Robert at
01:57 PM
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Kathy and I became acquainted last year when she stumbled upon a series of dispatches I filed from the Big 12 basketball tournament in Kansas City. My drunken homage to Hunter S. Thompson made Kathy snicker, and she threw a shout out to a fellow Iowa State grad over at the Llama's pad. I consumed a beer for her at Kelly's, and the empty cup went on to appear in a series of traveling photos. I've done a few posts as a guest at Blonde Sagacity, but since mid-fall I've been in the grips of a bad case of blogging ennui, and my muse has been silenced. When Kathy asked me to help fill in during her vacation, I jumped at the chance to reinvigorate my schtick.
I've always struggled with finding my niche on blogs. Kathy's advice is to tackle topics that interest you, and don't worry about trying to be Stephen Hawking, Stephen Ambrose, or even Steven Tyler - just be yourself. OK, but be careful what you ask for. I'll try to relive my old high school class clown act for you, mainly because I can't compete with the other guests in obscure Royal Navy trivia (sooper sekret message to the llamas: Jack Aubrey? I've got one word for you, boyz - EXOCET!) and sexy hotness (whenever I have bedhead, it's never sexy. It's more of an "eraserhead meets Reverend Jim" visual).
Take the jump to the extended entry if you want to get my opinion on the winter olympics. more...
Posted by: Russ from Winterset at
06:02 AM
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February 22, 2006
At the crack of my ass dawn tomorrow morning, we shall board a plane for exotic and glamorous...Cincinatti.
Which is exciting, no?
Yeah, I know. Don't let your enthusiasm burst a button on your trousers or anything.
Have no fear, my devoted Cake Eater readers, that's not our final destination. We shall then catch a connection to warm and sunny Phoenix, Arizona, where we will stay for as long as it takes me to satisfy my In-N-Out jones. Then we shall get on the freeway and head south. WAY south. Past Tucson. To border country, where the in-laws just moved.
At that point the plan is that the husband and I are going to soak up as much sun and eighty-degree temperatures as we possibly can while we hang out with his family. If any satellites are downed from orbit whilst we're on vacation, it'll be my fault. Because I have some white, white legs going on currently. I apologize in advance for reflecting light back into space and damaging sensitive electronic equipment. Really, I don't know what I was thinking.
Anyway... I'm sure you, my devoted Cake Eater readers are wondering what's in store for you during my vacation. You see, I could leave you high and dry for five days, but I decided I wouldn't do that to you because you are, indeed, my devoted Cake Eater readers. I didn't want you all reverting to the Asian lesbian pr0n that you surfed before you found me. So, I recruited guest bloggers. Lots and lots of guest bloggers.
Aren't I thoughtful?
Yes, I know. You can thank me later when you read the dramatic stylings of Chrissy from JustDotChristina; the wicked humor of Agent Bedhead; the laid back ponderings of Bogus Doug; and, of course, the general wackiness of my dear pals Robbo and Steve, the Llamabutchers.
You, my devoted Cake Eater readers, also need to extend a warm welcome to a n00b who's making his HMTL debut: rabid commenter, Russ from Winterset, who will, in a few short weeks, be traveling to Dallas for the Big Twelve Tourney in his capacity as the Cake Eater Basketball Correspondent. Give him a warm welcome and a really hard time, because undoubtedly the power of the post will go to his head.
I will have the laptop with me, but I don't expect too much time for posting, as I will be making a concentrated effort to down satellites with my lack of pigmentation. I might pop in. I might not. You'll just have to wait and see what happens.
Have a good week, kids, and I'll see you next Thursday if not sooner.
Posted by: Kathy at
09:24 PM
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{...}The latest hitch on the set of "Casino Royale," the new 007 flick, reportedly occurred when the star revealed he couldn't drive the super-suave superspy's trademark Aston Martin. Craig, 37, found himself shaken, not stirred, when he was confronted with a manual gearshift instead of an automatic, British newspapers said today.{...}
I mean, honestly. Every single Bond film has an extended car chase sequence in it. Every single Bond film shows Bond driving. And every single Bond car has a manual transmission. Where, exactly, did Daniel Craig get the idea that Bond would suddenly be driving a automatic? Particularly since Aston Martin's are hand built and the Vanquish model, which was the last Bond car in Die Another Day, does not have an option for an automatic transmission?
Well, there's no denying it now: he's The Pussy Bond (TM). Any leeway I ws prepared to grant him because of Layer Cake is now gone. Ghandi. Poof. Disappeared into the ether.
{Hat tip: Chrissy}
Posted by: Kathy at
10:14 AM
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{...}Some of us are scratching our heads all right, but we're wondering why Mr. Graham and others believe Dubai Ports World has been insufficiently vetted for the task at hand. So far, none of the critics have provided any evidence that the Administration hasn't done its due diligence. The deal has been blessed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a multiagency panel that includes representatives from the departments of Treasury, Defense and Homeland Security.Yes, some of the 9/11 hijackers were UAE citizens. But then the London subway bombings last year were perpetrated by citizens of Britain, home to the company (P&O) that currently manages the ports that Dubai Ports World would take over. Which tells us three things: First, this work is already being outsourced to "a foreign-based company"; second, discriminating against a Mideast company offers no security guarantees because attacks are sometimes homegrown; and third, Mr. Graham likes to talk first and ask questions later.
Besides, the notion that the Bush Administration is farming out port "security" to hostile Arab nations is alarmist nonsense. Dubai Ports World would be managing the commercial activities of these U.S. ports, not securing them. There's a difference. Port security falls to Coast Guard and U.S. Customs officials. "Nothing changes with respect to security under the contract," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday. "The Coast Guard is in charge of security, not the corporation."
{...}Critics also forget, or conveniently ignore, that the UAE government has been among the most helpful Arab countries in the war on terror. It was one of the first countries to join the U.S. container security initiative, which seeks to inspect cargo in foreign ports. The UAE has assisted in training security forces in Iraq, and at home it has worked hard to stem terrorist financing and WMD proliferation. UAE leaders are as much an al Qaeda target as Tony Blair.
{...}So the same Democrats who lecture that the war on terror is really a battle for "hearts and minds" now apparently favor bald discrimination against even friendly Arabs investing in the U.S.? Guantanamo must be closed because it's terrible PR, wiretapping al Qaeda in the U.S. is illegal, and the U.S. needs to withdraw from Iraq, but these Democratic superhawks simply will not allow Arabs to be put in charge of American longshoremen. That's all sure to play well on al Jazeera.{...}
{emphasis mine}
While I've quoted liberally from this, please go and read the whole thing anyway.
I tried to pull my thoughts together on this whole deal last night but I couldn't: I was too angry at all the stupidity and grandstanding involved to get everything down in a coherent fashion. I'm glad for that because the Wall Street Journal editorial board did a much better job than I ever could have.
This whole controversy is manufactured. And it's been manufactured by people who are looking after American commercial interests, and then it was picked up by Hillary Clinton's people for the purpose of proving she's a hawk in time for re-election to her senate seat. That's it. And everyone has fallen for it, including Congressional Republicans who have a few electoral hopes and dreams of their own for 2008 and who are now in open rebellion against their president again over an issue that they're bound to lose. Did you hear me or do I need to repeat that again? Bush will win this one. It'll be ugly, but he'll win. This is not another Harriet Miers scenario. How could it be? All the facts are on Bush's side. The worm is already starting to turn on this issue. And this worm has teeth: it will come back to bite anyone who argues against the sale because that's the stupid, uninformed position to take.
None of this, of course, really gets into the first class xenophobia and, in some instances, flat-out bigotry on display here. While most Middle Eastern men do wear dishdashas and ghoutras, and this makes them look all alike, really and truly, you should be able to tell the good guys from the bad guys by now.
Or at least you should be able to if you want to comment on this matter without looking like an idiot.
The UAE is a liberalized country in the Middle East that we want to be associated with. It is in their best interests to foil Al-Qaeda as much as we would. They buy arms from us. They have some of the most innovative examples of free trade going on. Their oil runs out in 2010 and their leaders have done their best to make sure there is an economy for their people when this unhappy event occurs. They did this to make sure radical Islam did not gain a foothold within their country. To lump the UAE in with Saudi Arabia---which has done precisely the opposite in terms of building an infrastructure, liberalizing trade, and encouraging education---or Syria, or any number of repressive Arab countries is the worst of mistakes not only because it's a political boo-boo, but because it threatens our national security down the road by taking chickenhawk potshots at an ally who's done nothing but help us in the War on Terror.
This editorial ends with the hope that Bush means it when he says he's going to veto any legislation that would prevent this sale: I hope he means it too, and if he doesn't follow through on it, I will, again, wonder why I voted for him.
Posted by: Kathy at
09:01 AM
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I hate him.
I hate his big, freshly fake enameled teeth. I want him to fall and break one of those suckers right off.
I hate how he makes sure all his Nike branded gear is front and center for the camera every time he weasles his way in front of one. I hate how he always tries to make eye contact with the camera, like he's got an imporant message for all the folks at home. I hate how he changed his hat right before he got his medal to make sure Nike was getting their money's worth. You're about to get a gold medal and THIS is what you're thinking of? Make sure the sponsors are being taken care of? Then you have the GALL to bitch at Shani Davis for favoring himself over his country because he chose not to participate in the team pursuit? What THE fuck is the matter with you, Chad? Patriotism at the Olympics is apparently only important to you when you can win more gold, eh? THEN you expect us to believe that's not the case? That's bullshit.
I hate how he apparently listened to his PR people and came up with a "story" to make his gold medal seem more important. The day he won was "the thirteenth anniversary of his grandma's death." The THIRTEENTH anniversary of his grandma's death. THIRTEENTH. She'd been dead a pretty long time, don't you think, to create such a maelstrom of emotion in her grandson? I wonder what he was like on the first anniversary of her death. He must have been prostrate with grief for days. If that day hadn't been the thirteenth anniversary of his grandma's death, I'm pretty sure he would have come up with some story about how his dog had been run over by a car back home and he was worried about fido. Or how it was a year ago today that his girlfriend broke up with him. OR had refused to give him head or something equally stupid. If he was actually torn up about his grandma's death, then I'm tall enough to reach the top shelves in my kitchen cupboards---which I'm not, just in case you were wondering. Someone told him he needed a story, so he came up with one. It's all bullshit.
I hate everything about him. He's a Grade A Prime Shithead. I sincerely hope he bombs his last race. He's a poor sportsman and an even worse American.
He's the dumb asshole the rest of the world thinks all Americans are, and I, for one, am ashamed to have him representing my country at the Olympics.
Posted by: Kathy at
12:06 AM
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February 21, 2006
Now...I command you, my devoted Cake Eater Readers, to shake that thing!
Posted by: Kathy at
02:45 PM
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February 20, 2006
The rest of you, well, you should just take the jump. more...
Posted by: Kathy at
10:05 PM
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Some stupid show that nobody with half a brain watches---coughAmerican Idolcough---- is responsible for this idiotic, but fortunately temporary, move.
Posted by: Kathy at
11:05 AM
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Posted by: Kathy at
10:58 AM
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Exiled Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden is seen in this April 1998 picture in Afghanistan. American officials said they are looking at Bin Laden for involvement in the Friday, Aug. 7, 1998 Kenyan and Tanzanian U.S. embassy explosions. He has threatened a holy war against U.S. troops and Americans, and is suspected of backing other terrorist acts, including the 1996 attack in Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo)
{emphasis mine}
So, Osama's an "exiled Saudi dissident." He has "threatened" holy war.
And, really and truly, he's just a misunderstood, psuedo-intellectual anarchist who spends most of his time reading Marx and Engels in the college library whilst sporting a jauntily tipped beret and whispering "Vive La Revolucion!" under his breath like a deranged Tourette's sufferer.
Posted by: Kathy at
09:19 AM
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February 19, 2006
This is, apparently, a rule which Mike Hatch, the Minnesota AG follows to the letter. Otherwise why would he be suing Pfizer and Merck on behalf of the great State of Minnesota to recoup the costs of cleaning up meth labs?
{...}Hatch said he plans to sue giant international drugmakers such as Pfizer and Merck on grounds that they long have known that large quantities of their legal products have been diverted to illegal meth labs, spurring an epidemic of addiction, crime and shattered lives across America.It is a step likely to stir opposition, especially in an election year when the DFL attorney general is a leading candidate to challenge Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Drugmakers say Hatch's plan would penalize makers of valued medicines for others' misuse of their products.
"I'm sure it's controversial," Hatch said. "But we've got to be serious about this. This industry essentially lied to the American public. They're clearly dumping [meth ingredients] in a way that allows creation of this illegal substance."
{...}Hatch noted, however, that the companies "strenuously opposed legislation that would have made their products more difficult to obtain."
Hatch said he will seek enabling legislation to assist the courtroom assault -- including extending the drugmakers' liability six years into the past -- an idea that got a chilly reception from Republican leaders.
Hatch suggested, however, that he could move ahead without legislation, adding that "current law already provides legal theories for recovery of costs caused by meth from the manufacturers and suppliers of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine."{...}
{my emphasis}
Is this sounding vaguely familiar to you all?
{Insert the sound of Kath repeatedly slamming her head on her desk here}
Of course you know what's coming, don't you?
In a related move, the legislature, under prompting from Governor Pawlenty, decided to institute a seventy-five-cent per box "fee" on cold medicine because the cost of cleaning up meth labs is apparently as good an excuse as any for the legislature to raise some moolah for some other arm of government to spend.
When Pawlenty was called on his behavior, he scoffed, "Well, you know, I don't, I'm not a big fan of growing revenues through new mechanisms like this as I hope I've proven as governor but the bottom line was we had a historic government shutdown we had to find common ground and compared to the alternatives of the Democrats wanting to tax everything including income and business taxes and a variety of other things. This was the least offensive. And the good news is other states have done it and meth making has decreased dramatically, and so this has a health benefit as well."
Just you wait.
Posted by: Kathy at
10:28 PM
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Yeah, I know. I went there. My bad.
{Insert slapping of hand here}
Dear Daniel's off to an auspicious start, though, eh? At this rate, he'll probably spontaneously combust when he hits the first of the love scenes.
{Hat tip: Chrissy}
Posted by: Kathy at
09:43 PM
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It's better than good, really. I'd say it's an absolutely crucial question that needs answering toute suite.
Posted by: Kathy at
09:24 PM
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February 18, 2006
If the blogosphere is, as so many say, just a million monkeys typing, well, what is it when reporters for many mainstream media publications manage to pump out the same damn article over and over again?
Just wondering.
Posted by: Kathy at
12:11 PM
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February 17, 2006
Lest you think I'm a killjoy in the celebrity endorsement department, I present to you an ad Sir Anthony Hopkins did for Barclay's Bank about six years ago. I actively searched the internet for this video. I asked for help when I couldn't find it. This ad was memorable. It made an impact. And, most importantly, it was well made. I'm sure Anthony received a "What's the word?" fee for his work because he sold Barclays well. The unfortunate thing is that Jessica Simpson was probably paid just as much, if not more, than Sir Anthony for her "work," if you can call it that.
Will anyone remember the Pizza Hut commercial, though, in six years?
Posted by: Kathy at
02:21 PM
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BITTER WIND CHILLS TODAY.ARCTIC AIR CONTINUES TO POUR INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST THIS
MORNING. TEMPERATURES HAD PLUMMETED INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS BELOW ZERO OVER PARTS OF WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN AND SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND AROUND 20 BELOW ZERO IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA NEARALEXANDRIA. NORTHWEST WINDS OF 15 TO 20 MPH WERE PRODUCING WIND CHILLS OF 38 TO 45 BELOW ZERO.THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN HAS ISSUED A WIND CHILL WARNING FOR MUCH OF WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM CST THIS AFTERNOON. THE WARNING AREA IS ROUGHLY NORTH OF A PROVIDENCE TO COSMOS LINE...AND WEST OF VINELAND TO ST CLOUD TO KINGSTON. THIS REGION WILL REVERT BACK TO A WIND CHILL ADVISORY AFTER 1 PM CST AND EXTEND TO 5 PM CST.
A WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT TODAY FOR THE REMAINDER OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA...AND FOR WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN. WIND CHILL VALUES OF 30 TO 45 BELOW CAN BE ANTICIPATED. THE MOST DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS WILL BE FOUND OVER WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA WHERE VALUES COULD APPROACH 45 BELOW ZERO.
It's currently fourteen below zero. Surprisingly enough, news crews in New York City aren't predicting the end of the world, either. I don't suppose they know about it because, ahem, it's not happening right in front of their faces.
No matter, but the Canadians really need to get on the stick and close the damn back door to the Arctic already.
UPDATE: Doug has related thoughts.
Posted by: Kathy at
09:24 AM
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Now, I know more than 100K people have been to the Cake Eater Chronicles because the server stats tell me so. (For every hit the sitemeter registers, the server stats tell me there are two that it doesn't catch. You can do the math.) But, the sitemeter, for a very long time, was all I had. And even though I have fancy stats, technorati and the ecosystem, it's sometimes the only way I know who's coming here and why---and it never ceases being fun seeing what some of you freaks typed into Google that brought you here. It's also nice seeing regular readers in the logs, because, well, it means you keep coming back for more.
Anyway, since it's 12:30 and I want to go to bed, I'll stop rambling about stats and say "thank you" to my devoted Cake Eater Readers, who will turn that thing over because you are, in fact, devoted.
Posted by: Kathy at
12:31 AM
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February 16, 2006
On the Fox Report this evening, they covered the same event and I mentioned to the husband that Robbo, being the landlubber naval history geek that he is, had posted about it as well. (C'mon kids: it's not everyday you get two doses of arcane naval history, is it?) The husband then proceeded to ask when Robbo's biography of Admiral Halsey, titled The Fighting Sailor was going to be released.*
Accordingly, I laughed like a loon and figured out precisely who Robbo wants to be when he grows up. Although, he's serving in the wrong part of government and needs to move over to Langley to keep pace.
*bonus points to whomever gets the reference.
Posted by: Kathy at
11:53 PM
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