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Search rbgilbert.com

This is my blogchalk:
United States, Massachusetts, Boston, Brighton, English, Ron, Male, Photography, Nudity.

www.mslinux.org
It's good to see we're all learning to get along!

How come none of George W. Bush's handlers could tell him that the word is not pronounced "SUBLIMINABLE?"

The story below was in today's Boston Globe. I've copied it here rather than just providing a link because the Globe changes the URL each day.

The story concerns The Concord Review and its lonely stand against the growing tolerance of mediocrity.

Sense, sensibilities
In its attempt to inspire youth, anthology fights image of elitism
By Marcella Bombardieri, Globe Staff, 9/12/2000
SUDBURY - Maverick publisher that he is, Will Fitzhugh has both fans and detractors of the radical work he does in his little office above a consignment shop, down the road from the historic Wayside Inn.
There are the famous scholars who are awed by the journal he prints, and then there are the universities who tell him to stay far, far away.
He keeps the countless notes of thanks from his authors, attesting to all the ways he has enhanced their careers. He also saves the letters from the 137 foundations that have rejected his grant applications.
All for something as dazzling, as upsetting - or neither - as The Concord Review, a quarterly collection of history essays by high school students judged by Fitzhugh to be exemplary.
more...

The website of The Concord Review has a sampling of fascinating essays on a wide array of subjects: Goldwater, the politics of building the Mass Pike Extension, King Arthur, Kamikazes, the Negro leagues and more.

You may have seen the program "The Bicycle Corps: America's Black Army on Wheels" on public TV recently. It focused on the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps taking a 1900 mile bike ride in 1897 from Missoula to St. Louis. If you didn't catch it, you can read about the bicycle corps here. I thought the program made it sound like that was the only attempt at militarization of the bicycle. But no! Bikes have been used for all kinds of sneaky mayhem and death-dealing. Here are some of the gruesome highlights:

• 1870, Franco-Prussian War: Rowley Turner escapes under fire from a besieged Paris on a bicycle, during the Franco-Prussian War. This is the first recorded use of a bicycle in a war situation.
• 1885, Brighton Rifles: A British army unit called the Brighton Rifles used highwheelers in maneuvers against cavalry. These were the first maneuvers using bicycle troops for fighting.
• 1891, the Connecticut state militia formed a Signal Corps bicycle unit that was used in summer maneuvers.
• 1892-1893, German Army: The German army began using bicycles for couriers in 1892. In 1893, the ban on officers riding bicycles in uniform is lifted, and entire bicycle units begin participating in maneuvers.
• 1894, Colorado Militia: The Colorado militia used bicycle messengers during the Cripple Creek Strike. This was the first US operational use of military bicycles.
• 1899-1902, Boer War: The first actual combat use of bicycles, took place in 1899, when the British Army began employing them during the Boer War in South Africa. They were useful for messenger and scout duty, and occasional reinforcements, but infantry troops equipped with them found them a nuisance, and often left them at the side of the road.
• 1914-1918, World War I: Bicycle troops were widely used by both sides in World War I, and between 1914 and 1918, more than 6,000 were killed and 8,000 wounded. The Americans had 29,000 bicycles when they arrived in 1917, but used them mostly for communications.
• 1927, Nanking Uprising: China had over 200,000 bicycle troops and used them in putting down the Nanking Uprising.
• 1939-1945, World War II: During World War II in Europe, bicycles were used behind the lines by both sides, especially by the Germans, and Finns. The Germans invaded Poland in 1939 using troops on bicycles being pulled by ropes attached to motor vehicles. Germans used them heavily in the conquest of Norway.
• In World War II: U.S. forces used bicycle powered dentist's drills in field hospitals, and these are still used in third world countries, although patients say it can be quite painful when the cyclist gets tired and slows down. Some nightclubs in Paris stayed open during the war by using bicycle powered generators for the lights.
• Beginning in 1937, Japan used 50,000 bicycle troops in their war with China. On Feb. 15, 1941, they successfully defeated a much larger British force defending Singapore after using 20,000 bicycle troops to march through the supposedly impenetrable jungle of the Malay Peninsula and attack from the rear.
• 1950-1975, Vietnamese War: The Viet Minh used bicycle porters against the French during the early 1950s, and in 1954, they laid siege to and captured the huge base French base at Dien Bien Phu using supplies brought in almost entirely by bicycle. Ironically, the primary bicycle they used was a North Vietnamese-produced version of a French Peugeot bicycle. Although some trucks were used, it was primarily 200,000 bicycles that kept the 50,000 Vietnamese troops supplied.
• Even with massive American air power, the allies were unable to stop the flow of supplies bicycled to the south on the so-called Ho Chi Minh Trail. A think tank in the US suggested that US commandos on bicycles working with South Vietnamese troops were the only way to stop the flow of materials, but the idea was dismissed by the Pentagon.
• 1993-Present, U.S. Army militarized folding All Terrain "mountain" Bicycles (ATBs) tested and actually airdropped by the 1st Tactical Studies Group (Airborne) during Operation Dark Claw parachute operation, 11 February, 1993. These ATBs have solid foam inner tubes and rifle quick release attachments and an airdrop bag to carry the folded ATB attached to the Paratrooper for jumping.

The corpse exuded the irresistible aroma of a piquant, ancho chili glaze enticingly enhanced with a hint of fresh cilantro as it lay before him, coyly garnished by a garland of variegated radicchio and caramelized onions, and impishly drizzled with glistening rivulets of vintage balsamic vinegar and roasted garlic oil; yes, as he surveyed the body of the slain food critic slumped on the floor of the cozy, but nearly empty, bistro, a quick inventory of his senses told corpulent Inspector Moreau that this was, in all likelihood, an inside job.

--Bob Perry, Milton, MA (1998 Winner of the Bulwer-Lytton Grand Prize)

Usenet. What is it? It's not the WWW. It's not e-mail. It's not the government. It's not a network. It's not the internet. This is from "What Is Usenet"

WHAT USENET IS
Usenet is the set of people who exchange articles tagged with one or more universally-recognized labels, called "newsgroups" (or "groups" for short). There is often confusion about the precise set of newsgroups that constitute Usenet; one commonly accepted definition is that it consists of newsgroups listed in the periodic "List of Active Newsgroups" postings which appear regularly in news.lists.misc and other newsgroups. A broader definition of Usenet would include the newsgroups listed in the article "Alternative Newsgroup Hierarchies" (frequently posted to news.lists.misc). An even broader definition includes even newsgroups that are restricted to specific geographic regions or organizations. Each Usenet site makes its own decisions about the set of groups available to its users; this set differs from site to site.

• alt.humor.best-of-usenet
• alt.iomega.zip.jazz
• alt.usenet.offline-reader.forte-agent
• rec.arts.movies.reviews
• rec.bicycles.rides

New house

Welcome to our loan office, Mr. and Mrs. Clinton. So, you want to buy the old Rye Brook place for 2.2 million, and with the customary 20% down that's $440,000, leaving a mortgage of $1,780,000.

Now let's have a look at your financial statements. Let's see, Mr. Clinton, you are the president of the United States, of course, and your salary is $200,000 a year. We recommend buying a house that costs no more than two and a half times your annual salary. That means you should be looking for something around $500,000, perhaps a nice brick rancher?

And I see here that you'll be out of a job in 16 months or so. What will you do then? Open a library? In Little Rock Arkansas? Wow, I bet that will be some kind of a moneymaker.

Mrs. Clinton, you're running for the Senate, right? Senators are paid $130,000 a year. That's assuming, of course, you're elected. So, even with your pension, you're still looking at a house in the $825,000 range. Maybe a nice center hall colonial. Mrs. Clinton, you haven't worked outside the house since 1991?

But you did some volunteer work, I see. But you have other experience? Yes, I see you had several business ventures back in Arkansas. How about this Whitewater Development Corp.? It went bankrupt. And Madison Guaranty? Bankrupt. And Castle Grande? Bankrupt, too. I see. You actually did go to Yale you claim? A little bad luck with the law, too, I see. Three of your business partners went to jail. This is embarrassing, I know, but we have to ask because it does, after all, affect your ability to pay.

Any problems in your marriage? No?

Fine. Let's look at your assets. You owe $4.5 million, Mr. Clinton? How do you expect to pay that off? Any legal problems? I see a $90,000 fine for perjury. I guess that rules out putting your law degree to work. Oh, you're hoping people will donate to a special fund?

So basically, you're relying on the kindness of strangers. You also have some serious expenses. A kid at Stanford has got to be setting you back $30,000 to $35,000 a year, probably more with the airfares.

And she wants to go to medical school? Say, how do we know you're not lying on your loan application? Of course, you are right, it would look a lot better if you WERE lying. Are there any other legal matters we should know about? Mrs. Clinton? You don't think she's going to get hit with a perjury or obstruction of justice rap? But you're not totally sure, right? That means there's a remote possibility, note that I say "remote," that you could be trying to pay off a $1.76 million mortgage while making 12 cents an hour stitching mailbags for the feds, at the same time that Mr. Clinton is trying to make a go of a library in Little Rock.

Let's review the situation. One of you is now unemployed and the other one soon will be. Your business partners are in jail. You have debts equivalent to over 22 times your annual income that you're hoping someone is going to come along and pay. There's also a looming criminal indictment.

And your only tangible assets seem to consist of an old Ford.

Tell you what. We'll give you a call.

Today is the anniversary of California statehood, September 9, 1850.

So here's a panorama of Long Beach in 1908. It's big! This comes from the panoramic photograph collection of the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress. There are thousands more like this. Most are from the period of about 1890 to 1910. Go here to find them all. They have a lot of photos showing the effects of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. But most are of small towns all over the U.S.

Microsoft's Terraserver.

You can go find satellite images of anywhere in 48 states plus Hawaii, and limited areas in the rest of the world. While Puerto Rico is completely covered, there are no photos of Cuba available! The easiest way to find them is to used the Advanced Find at the Terraserver. You can enter latitude and longitude here. And the easiest way to get the latitude and longitude of a position is to use Mapblast which shows you the decimal latitude and longitude of whatever address you enter.

Here are some other views I've already found:

• University of Iowa football stadium
• Aircraft lined up on the ground in Tucson, Arizona
• The area around North Station in Boston. In this 1996 photo you'll see the Boston Garden is still standing next to the new Fleet Center. Construction on the new courthouse has not yet started. And, most importantly, everything is pre-Big Dig!
• The entire town of Clarinda, Iowa
• Center High School in Kansas City

"The Grand Canyon in Arizona is cordoned off by a fence around the more treacherous overlooks, to prevent unsteady sightseers from tottering into the depths. Some of these overlooks have small towering plateaus a short distance from the fence. Tourists toss coins onto the plateaus, like dry wishing wells. Quite a few coins pile up on the surfaces, while others fall to the valley floor far below. One entrepreneur climbed over the fence with a bag, and leapt to one of the precarious, coin-covered perches. He filled the bag with booty, then tried to leap back to the fence with the coins. But the heavy bag arrested his jump, and several tourist were treated to a view of his plunge to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. He did not survive to harvest the piles of coins that had suffered his same fate."

Go read about more qualifiers for The Darwin Awards

Real Spam®!

eHow to be gay or lesbian. Really! I'm not kidding!

The destruction of Galveston, Texas, September 8, 1900

"If guns cause crime, then pencils cause misspelled words."

Water Rockets!

• Tech Support: "Hi, this is tech support. I was returning your support call."
• Customer: "Sorry, we don't sell lobsters to the public."

It's getting to be that time of year.
Boston Symphony Orchestra

Boston Philharmonic

If you've been to this place, let me know about it.

satirewire.com
Less subtle than The Onion

Helpful
kresch.com/exts/ext.htm
Decode strange extensions on file names.

Magportal.com
Like sitting in a doctor's waiting room with tons of magazines...and you don't ever see the doc. (This is a good thing).

MICROSOFT TV DINNER INSTRUCTIONS

You must first remove the plastic cover. By doing so you agree to accept and honour Microsoft rights to all TV dinners. You may not give anyone else a bite of your dinner (which would constitute an infringement of Microsoft's rights). You may, however, let others smell and look at your dinner and are encouraged to tell them how good it is.

If you have a PC microwave oven, insert the dinner into the oven. Set the oven using these keystrokes: \mstv.dinn.//08.5min@50%heat// .

Then enter ms//start.cook_dindin/yummy\l/yum~yum-) gohot#cookme

If you have a Mac oven, insert the dinner and press start. The oven will set itself and cook the dinner.

If you have a Unix oven, insert the dinner, enter the ingredients of the dinner (found on the package label), the weight of the dinner, and the desired level of cooking and press start. The oven will calculate the time and heat and cook the dinner exactly to your specification.

Be forewarned that Microsoft dinners may crash, in which case your oven must be restarted. This is a simple procedure. Remove the dinner from the oven and enter ms.nodamn.good/tryagain\again.again.crap

This process may have to be repeated. Try unplugging the microwave and then doing a cold reboot. If this doesn't work, contact your hardware vendor.

Many users have reported that the dinner tray is far too big, larger than the dinner itself, having many useless compartments, most of which are empty. These are for future menu items. If the tray is too large to fit in your oven you will need to upgrade your equipment.

Dinners are only available from registered outlets, and only the chicken variety is currently produced. If you want another variety, call Microsoft Help and they will explain that you really don't want another variety. Microsoft Chicken is all you really need.

Microsoft has disclosed plans to discontinue all smaller versions of their chicken dinners. Future releases will only be in the larger family size. Excess chicken may be stored for future use, but must be saved only in Microsoft approved packaging.

Microsoft promises a dessert with every dinner after '98. However, that version has yet to be released. Users have permission to get thrilled in advance. Microsoft dinners may be incompatible with other dinners in the freezer, causing your freezer to self-defrost. This is a feature, not a bug. Your freezer probably should have been defrosted anyway.