Liz Phair Videos, In QuickTime Format!

Liz Phair's official web site now includes superior QuickTime versions of her music videos.

And don't miss the Down" video. "Down" is probably Liz Phair's best song of the 21st century.

People and Dogs Belong Together

For a long time I have believed that humans and dogs belong, nay, need to live together, because they have evolved together. People who do not like dogs deny themselves complete personhood.

The CS Monitor has a short article contrasting the difference between dogs and wolves.

Why your dog is smarter than a wolf

After a decade studying dogs in their human habitat, Mr. Miklosi and his colleagues have accumulated a body of evidence suggesting that dogs have far greater mental capabilities than scientists had thought. Dogs' smarts, it turns out, come out in their relationships with people.

How Is Bush's Katrina Investigation Going?

The missed deadline by FEMA to get evacuees into housing by October 15 got all the press, but I remember "Bush said he will personally lead an investigation into what went wrong with the early federal response to Katrina." I wonder how that's going... turns out by "personally lead" he means appoint the head of the homeland security council who was appointed by Bush in 2004.

The Daily Show On The President's Teleconference

Using Parody to Make a Point

Another homerun from the Daily Show writers...

The Social Security Office Lists Popular Baby Names in the U.S.

Popular Baby Names, 1880-2004

Random facts:
1979 was the apex for Jedediah when it was the 540th most popular name.

In the 1920's, 290,203 babies were named Helen.

We're looking for baby names and I tend to believe the best names are Welsh names.

New Study Shows How To Get Kids Self-Esteem 'Through The Roof'*

*As in, "her self-esteem is through the roof" from the 'Not Without My Daughter' episode.

Family meals, stories boost child confidence

Hype for "Katz on Dogs"

The book "Katz on Dogs" is getting all kinds of hype.

Diane Rehm spoke with Katz about his book today.

Here's what to take from it - training a dog to do a task can take up to 2000 repetitions and sometimes the person needs to be trained as much as the dog.

Excerpts
Do Dogs Think?
Checklist for Perspective Dog Owners
Why Do I Want A Dog?

Better than Jack Morris Pitching 10 Scoreless Innings?

Was yesterday's Astros - Braves game that went for 18 innings "The Greatest Game Ever Played?"

For me Jack Morris pitching 10 scoreless innings in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series has to be the best baseball game ever played.

Update - NPR made this the last story for All Things Considered.

Cleveland, city of light, city of magic - Cleveland, city of light, you're calling me

Cleveland touted as 'most livable' U.S. city

Cleveland was my second-choice city after TC. I had a dream that I could find a job with an employer who offered Indians season tickets as a perk.

Burn On...

We're Long Past the Point of Studying the "If?" of Gloabl Warming

Here are some recent news reports:

The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes worldwide has nearly doubled over the past 35 years

Global Warming Past the Point of No Return

The Gulf Stream Conveyor Current is Slowing Down (Just like in the horrid Movie The Day After Tomorrow)


Arctic sea ice continues decline as temperatures rise

...but on the flip side this means that the long awaited dream of the Northwest Passage will be attainable.

To exacerbate our problems the sun is increasing in luminosity. This may explain the climate change seen on Mars.

Finally, from today's NWS Forecast Discussion for Northern Michigan:

PRIMARY FORECAST ISSUES WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY INCLUDE POTENTIAL
FOR AN HISTORICALLY WARM DAY WEDNESDAY...

...POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR ONE OF THE WARMEST OCTOBER DAYS
EVER RECORED. GIVEN UPSTREAM TEMPS ALREADY 85-90F WITHIN WARM
SECTOR...AND GIVEN POTENTIAL FOR LOW/MID LEVEL DRYING WITHIN WARM
SECTOR WEDNESDAY...RESULTING IN SURFACE DEWPOINTS A FEW DEGREES
BELOW THOSE OF TODAY...BUMPED UP TEMPS A FEW DEGREES WEDNESDAY...
NOT FAR FROM RECORD HIGHS FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH OF OCTOBER
AT APN AND HTL (88F)...TVC (89F) AND GLR (85F). IN FACT...IF THE
WARM FRONT LIFTS NORTH MORE QUICKLY THAN EXPECTED...EVEN THE ALL
TIME MONTHLY RECORD AT ANJ (81F) COULD BE CHALLENGED.

At least the U.S. will have a weather modification program to fix all of this .