NYTimes: “‘I disagree with the idea that this shows problems for the modern Republican Party,’ said Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, a group that applauded Mr. Sanford’s attempt to refuse some federal stimulus funds earlier this year. In reference to the fiscally conservative philosophies of Mr. Ensign and Mr. Sanford, he joked, ‘I think instead it shows that sexual attractiveness of limited-government conservatism.’”

Yahoo: “He made clear that one recent overture to Iran — the authorization for U.S. embassies to invite Iranian officials to Independence Day parties — was likely to disappear without changes. ‘That’s a choice the Iranians are going to have to make,’ Obama said.” Ooooh, tough.

The top 50 airports in the United States by passenger traffic. I think I’ve been in 25 of them.

And now nobody will ask about it.

Why do they write “Police” in English?

Via The Big Picture.

Newsweek’s high school ratings for my high school:

2009 – 241
2008 – 223
2007 – 137
2006 – 126
2005 – 130
2003 – 197

We’re going the wrong way.

It’s safe, I tell you:

A Tokyo clinic is seeking volunteers for a highly safe clinical trial in September. Participants stay in the clinic for 4 days/3 nights and take one regular dose of an extremely safe medication that has been on the market in the US since 2003. Each person who completes the four-day trial will receive a total of JPY 200,000. Full Internet access, video games, DVDs and other entertainment will be provided for the duration of the trial.

Interesting:

You need 2765.2 calories per day to maintain your current weight without exercise.

You need 2620.5 calories per day to reach your goal weight slowly and maintain that weight without exercise.

If you reduce your current caloric intake to 2265.2 calories per day you will lose one pound per week without exercise.

If you increase your current caloric intake to 3265.2 calories per day, you will gain one pound per week.

I can eat a ton!

This movie sounds confusing:

Colossus is the top battle fighter for the Red Army and the nephew of General Red, head general of the Red King Army. Using a computerized system and armed with a robotic battle suit, he leaves the Real World and goes into the Third World by way of the Passage World to battle the Death Rebels, outcast robot race. General Red is kidnapped after a massive attack by the robots from the Third World. The Red King Army Council gives Colossus orders to find and rescue the general, but his real MO is to find his kidnapped pregnant wife, Sarah whom also was taken in the attack. Colossus journeys into the unknown to find information on his Uncle’s and wife’s whereabouts and to rescue them.

I find these poll numbers surprising:

34. Do you think homosexuals who DO publicly disclose their sexual orientation should be allowed to serve in the military or not?

Yes No No opinion
7/13/08 75 22 3
1/15/01 62 35 3
5/23/93 44 55 2

Heathers 2, unlike like Ferris Buehler’s Laid Off, is a bad idea.

CNN: “From the first elements we have, it would be a man who’s around 50 years old, who was wearing a suit and a Borsalino-style hat, who, like any client, walked inside the jewelry store, held up employees with a handgun, was then given items displayed in the window.”

Yeah, just like any client.

Two Coke facts:
1. The price of Coca-Cola remained at one nickel for seventy years.
2. In the 1950s, Coca-Cola requested that the US Mint begin printing a 7.5 cent coin.

This is part six (previously: part one, part two, part three, part four, part five) in my ongoing investigation into people online who have the same name as I do, but who are not, in fact, me. I will look at them and then consider what my life would be like if I were them. Here’s our sixth participant:

I found this person with my name from his twitter account. It only has three entries, but it provides the second picture above (which I rather like) and the fact that he’s from Maryland. Based on his Facebook profile, and an award he was nominated for in high school (for performing in Cats!), he attended the Beth Tfiloh Community School in Baltimore and graduated in 2007.

He currently attends California State Polytechnic University at Pomona, set to graduate in 2011. In the winter of 2007 he joined Phi Kappa Tau, the local chapter of the fraternity whose logo is on his shirt in the first two photos above.

The other noteworthy thing about his public Facebook profile is that’s he’s already friends with the comedian! Pretty soon all the people with my name will know each other.

Presumably he lives in or around Pomona, California, which is only about 45 miles from where I live. We’re practically neighbors.

After considering all of this, I’d still prefer to live my own life. He isn’t halfway through college yet and there’s still potential graduate school time in front of him. While I do envy his ability to pose for pictures in front of abbreviated versions of his own name, I’m happy with my current status and am not going to switch lives with him.

The search continues.

A lot of people don’t know this, but the Red Army actually invented the idea of a dance off:

WSJ: “Only one enclosed mall has opened in the U.S. since 2006: The Mall at Turtle Creek in Jonesboro, Ark.” That’s shocking.

9 or nine?

Did anyone realize that the New Madrid fault line in Missouri had three 7.8+ earthquakes in three months in 1811/1812? Was anything still standing at the end of that?

I am convinced by this spam.

from Jill Philben
to myname@myemailaddress.com
date Sun, May 10, 2009 at 2:54 PM
subject $WordFile{click.txt}

$WordFile{click.txt} $WordFile{click.txt} $WordFile{click.txt} $WordFile{click.txt}
$WordFile{click.txt} $WordFile{click.txt} $WordFile{click.txt}
$WordFile{click.txt} $WordFile{click.txt} $WordFile{click.txt} $WordFile{click.txt} $WordFile{click.txt} $WordFile{click.txt} $WordFile{click.txt} $WordFile{click.txt}
$WordFile{click.txt} $WordFile{click.txt} $WordFile{click.txt} $WordFile{click.txt}
$WordFile{click.txt}

I wish to purchase this $WordFile{service} or $WordFile{product}.

Sand Sharks are terrifying: ” Reproduction – Sand sharks only develop two embryos, one in each uterus. The strongest pups eat other embryos and any other unfertilized eggs in a process called ‘intrauterine cannibalism’ before being born.”

The Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act of 2009.

Girl who named Pluto dies at 90.

My head is confused. EDIT: this one’s better.