CNN presents this well conceived objection to Obama’s campaign:

Definition of muslin.

I was in the bank today cashing in some residual foreign currency, and the bank teller pulled out a copy of MRI Banker’s Guide to Foreign Currency to check the bills’ authenticity. It has pictures of every unit of currency in over 200 countries as well as big warnings about which bills not to accept. It was great! I want a copy.

Quick. What is this country? And where is it located?

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I was reading an article by John Hodgman about being a celebrity (via Kottke) when I noticed this odd ad from GQ:

Tell me, what exactly do you think GQ is offering me as a free gift? And is the free gift meant to appeal to men, or women?

I was in Singapore two weeks ago and saw them preparing for their inner-city Grand Prix. My cab driver, while not an official Grand Prix driver, did his best to simulate one on the early morning city streets. Now The Big Picture has a collection of snazzy images from the racetrack.

Twisted Sister: Where Are They Now?

Jay Jay French: taking it
Mark “the Animal” Mendoza: taking it
A.J. Pero: taking it
Dee Snider: VH1 talking head, Sirius Satellite Radio host
Eddie “Fingers” Ojeda: taking it

Thanks Nacho.

Video of Sarah Palin’s 1984 Miss Alaska swimsuit competition presentation.

“An open letter to NY State Senator Jeff Klein, who yesterday called me a f—ing assh-le after nearly hitting me with his Mercedes.”

EDIT: It’s already been on Reddit — this is the sort of thing that happens when you’re away for two months.

My mother sent me a link to this list of unusual deaths and I was particularly piqued by the death of Clement Vallandigham:

After the Civil War, controversial Ohio politician Clement Vallandigham became a highly successful lawyer who rarely lost a case.

In 1871, he defended Thomas McGehan who was accused of shooting one Tom Myers during a barroom brawl. Vallandigham’s defense was that Myers had accidentally shot himself while drawing his pistol from a kneeling position.

To convince the jury, Vallandigham decided to demonstrate his theory. Unfortunately, he grabbed a loaded gun by mistake and ended up shooting himself!

By dying, Vallandigham succeeded in demonstrating the plausibility of the accidental shooting and got his client acquitted.

“As long as you are a rich, diligent, asshole, you’ll have a stunning transcript coming out of GULC.”

Jiggity-Jog.

This script predicted it was 95% likely that I was male. Does it predict your gender just as well?

Assuming all has gone according to plan, I am now in Japan.

> From: freedomofexpression@tufts.edu
> To: announcements-all@elist.tufts.edu
> Subject: Freedom of Expression and Inquiry at Tufts: Request for
> Comments
> Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:52:24 -0400
>
> Dear Members of the Tufts Community:
>
> The members of the Task Force on Freedom of Expression invite your
> comments on a draft Declaration on Freedom of Expression and Inquiry at
> Tufts University.
>
> President Bacow appointed the university-wide Task Force in January 2008
> and asked us to draft a university-wide policy statement on freedom of
> expression that would guide the development of more specific policies
> and procedures across Tufts. In accordance with the President’s charge,
> we consulted broadly with the community, soliciting input through
> meetings on all three campuses, a dedicated email address, and a
> comments form on our web site. We are grateful for the thoughtful
> comments we received from students, faculty, and staff.
>
> We now invite comment from the community on our draft Declaration on
> Freedom of Expression and Inquiry at Tufts University. In developing the
> Declaration, we have been guided by the belief that any such statement
> needs to reflect and incorporate the values of the Tufts community. In
> the process of consultation, we shared with groups and individuals a
> number of tentative drafts, but the draft Declaration we are now
> presenting for comment has not previously been made public.
>
> We encourage you to share your thoughts on the draft with us. The draft
> Declaration and a report on our work are available on the Task Force web
> site at http://freedomofexpression.tufts.edu/. You may submit comments
> via email to freedomofexpression@tufts.edu or through the comments form
> on the web site, which will accept anonymous submissions. Comments
> should be received by Friday, October 17, 2008, in order to be
> considered as the Task Force prepares its report to the President.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> The Task Force on Freedom of Expression
>      Jeswald W. Salacuse, Chair
>      Sawkat Anwer
>      Lisa M. Coleman
>      Steven W. Hirsch
>      Daniel G. Jay
>      Dickens Mathieu
>      Colin Orians
>

Japan, Tokyo, Sumo Tournament (2008)

Japan, Tsukiji Fish Market (2008)

Japan, Yomiuri Giants Baseball Game (2008)

Japan, Tokyo (2008)

Japan, Kamakura (2008)

Japan, People (2008)

Japan, Hakone (2008)

Demographic information for the most popular websites.

When the NOAA issues a warning it’s typically rather tepid and technical. So when the pages-long warning for Galveston-area residents came out it was a little shocking to see this:

LIFE THREATENING INUNDATION LIKELY!

The all-caps that is NOAA standard make it shout-y enough, but you never see exclamation points in these things. Alas, then they had to ruin their dire warning with this bit of silliness:

PERSONS NOT HEEDING EVACUATION ORDERS IN SINGLE FAMILY ONE OR TWO STORY HOMES

MAY FACE CERTAIN DEATH.

As we all know, probable * certain = probable.

The whole warning is here .

Japan was hit by a 7.0 (preliminary) earthquake off the coast of Hokkaido, the island that contains Tokyo. Where RD is going to be in the near future. The news makes this sound not that bad, fortunately.