FILL IT UP WITH SAKE
At some point in the future Japanese cars might be running on sake, rice wine, rather than on straight gasoline. A project in Shinanomachi, Japan, is experimenting with rice-based ethanol to burn in their automobiles. The experiments involve waste materials such as rice husks being converted into material that can be used along with gasoline to power their cars. We think this is a good idea—as long as they keep it in Japan.
If the Japanese want to get a gallon of rice wine and then decide whether they want to drink it or put it in the tank, that’s fine, but if we move that venue to the U. S. and imagine ourselves with a keg of beer, that’s a different story. Are we going to use the beer to get to work this week, or are we going to have a keg party? You can see the problem.
First they came and took all the sake to use for automobile fuel, and I didn’t protest because I don’t really like sake. Then they came and took all the tequila for fuel, and I didn’t protest because of an unfortunate incident some years ago. Eventually it’s going to come to beer, and it will be too late to protest. We want to stop this thing in its tracks before someone throws all the beer into the gas tank.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Monday, July 9, 2007
CAN PERRIN BE PRESIDENT OF THE US AND THE COMPUTER CLUB?
MULTITASKING
When Hillary Clinton ran for reelection to the U. S. Senate, people wondered if she was gearing up for a presidential run in 2008. She assured voters that her only concern at that time was to serve as U. S. senator from New York for the next six years. Obviously things have changed. Now all her energy seems focused on winning the Democratic nomination for the presidency.
When New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg announced recently that henceforth he was an Independent rather than a Republican, to most people the only reason for the change was to put himself in position to run the nation’s top office as an Independent. Bloomberg said he “had no plans” to run for the presidency. He expected to remain at his job in city hall until the end of his term. Yeah, right.
It should come as no surprise that then members of the village computer club wonder if their president, Dr. Carl Perrin, will abandon them when he is elected president of the United States. In a prepared statement, Perrin assured club members that he will continue to serve as chief executive of the club even while he is leading the country in Washington, D. C. How is this possible? You may ask.
It’s as easy as pie, Perrin assured us. Former Newark mayor Sharpe James ran the city for over 20 years, and at the same time he was a member of the state of the New Jersey state legislature. If James could do two jobs at once, why can’t Perrin? The present White House occupant spends half of each summer in Crawford, Texas. Why can’t Perrin spend a couple of months a year at his regtirement village? Other presidents often spent weekends at Camp David. Why can’t Perrin spend his weekends at his New Jersey condo? He could even make it a long weekend so he will be there on Monday for the Computer Club meeting.
So, Computer Club members don’t have to worry. Perrin is used to multitasking. He can spend Monday showing people how to do things like add attachments to their email. Tuesday through Friday he can be in Washington, taking care of the nation’s business.
When Hillary Clinton ran for reelection to the U. S. Senate, people wondered if she was gearing up for a presidential run in 2008. She assured voters that her only concern at that time was to serve as U. S. senator from New York for the next six years. Obviously things have changed. Now all her energy seems focused on winning the Democratic nomination for the presidency.
When New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg announced recently that henceforth he was an Independent rather than a Republican, to most people the only reason for the change was to put himself in position to run the nation’s top office as an Independent. Bloomberg said he “had no plans” to run for the presidency. He expected to remain at his job in city hall until the end of his term. Yeah, right.
It should come as no surprise that then members of the village computer club wonder if their president, Dr. Carl Perrin, will abandon them when he is elected president of the United States. In a prepared statement, Perrin assured club members that he will continue to serve as chief executive of the club even while he is leading the country in Washington, D. C. How is this possible? You may ask.
It’s as easy as pie, Perrin assured us. Former Newark mayor Sharpe James ran the city for over 20 years, and at the same time he was a member of the state of the New Jersey state legislature. If James could do two jobs at once, why can’t Perrin? The present White House occupant spends half of each summer in Crawford, Texas. Why can’t Perrin spend a couple of months a year at his regtirement village? Other presidents often spent weekends at Camp David. Why can’t Perrin spend his weekends at his New Jersey condo? He could even make it a long weekend so he will be there on Monday for the Computer Club meeting.
So, Computer Club members don’t have to worry. Perrin is used to multitasking. He can spend Monday showing people how to do things like add attachments to their email. Tuesday through Friday he can be in Washington, taking care of the nation’s business.
Friday, July 6, 2007
HAS PERRIN GONE OVER THE EDGE?
Lakewood, NJ, resident Carl Perrin, seeking to establish his reputation as a computer nerd, recently acquired a binary clock—not digital, mind you, but binary. Instead of conventional numbers, the clock has a series of lights, which represent numbers in binary code.
We sent our reporter to interview the legendary nerd. Perrin was eager to show us his new toy. “The first light in each column represents one, the second represent two, and the third is four. It doubles each times it moves up one place. It’s a four-bit binary number. It’s really fascinating the way it works.”
Perrin’s wife, the long-suffering Janet, merely rolled her eyes. “You think this is bad,” she said. “You should hear him when he gets started on grammar.”
We sent our reporter to interview the legendary nerd. Perrin was eager to show us his new toy. “The first light in each column represents one, the second represent two, and the third is four. It doubles each times it moves up one place. It’s a four-bit binary number. It’s really fascinating the way it works.”
Perrin’s wife, the long-suffering Janet, merely rolled her eyes. “You think this is bad,” she said. “You should hear him when he gets started on grammar.”
Thursday, July 5, 2007
IS McCAIN IN TROUBLE?
REPUBLICAN FUND RAISING
Several Republican candidates for the presidency have revealed their fund-raising numbers for the second quarter. Rudy Guiliani leads this race with $17 million. Mitt Romney is next with $14 million.
The Republicans are trailing Democrats in fund raising. The top three Republicans (Guiliani, Romney, and McCain) raised a total of $49 million in the second quarter. That compares with $69 million for the top three Democrats (Obama, Clinton, and Edwards). The top Democratic fund raiser, Barack Obama, raised nearly twice as much money as Guiliani, $32.5 million to $17 million.
The really big news here, though, is that John McCain is really hurting. His campaign collected much less than expected, less even than he raised during the first quarter. He has only $2 million in the bank to fund his campaign. Because of this, he is going to skip the influential Iowa straw poll, and he is cutting his campaign staff way back, from 120 to 40.
Democratic candidate Dr Carl Perrin of course collected even less campaign money than McCain, but Perrin is still in good shape. He wasn’t planning to enter the Iowa race anyway, and he won’t have to cut back on his campaign staff because he doesn’t have one. Incredible as it seems, Perrin is running his own campaign, answering the phone, writing campaign literature, and all that stuff.
Of course Perrin has a lot of volunteers working for him. He said he doesn’t need campaign headquarters all around the country because he has lived in a lot of different states and has contacts who will be ready to help him when the time comes. He’s especially strong in Ocean County, New Jersey, and in Maine, where volunteers are collecting returnable bottles to help finance his campaign.
Several Republican candidates for the presidency have revealed their fund-raising numbers for the second quarter. Rudy Guiliani leads this race with $17 million. Mitt Romney is next with $14 million.
The Republicans are trailing Democrats in fund raising. The top three Republicans (Guiliani, Romney, and McCain) raised a total of $49 million in the second quarter. That compares with $69 million for the top three Democrats (Obama, Clinton, and Edwards). The top Democratic fund raiser, Barack Obama, raised nearly twice as much money as Guiliani, $32.5 million to $17 million.
The really big news here, though, is that John McCain is really hurting. His campaign collected much less than expected, less even than he raised during the first quarter. He has only $2 million in the bank to fund his campaign. Because of this, he is going to skip the influential Iowa straw poll, and he is cutting his campaign staff way back, from 120 to 40.
Democratic candidate Dr Carl Perrin of course collected even less campaign money than McCain, but Perrin is still in good shape. He wasn’t planning to enter the Iowa race anyway, and he won’t have to cut back on his campaign staff because he doesn’t have one. Incredible as it seems, Perrin is running his own campaign, answering the phone, writing campaign literature, and all that stuff.
Of course Perrin has a lot of volunteers working for him. He said he doesn’t need campaign headquarters all around the country because he has lived in a lot of different states and has contacts who will be ready to help him when the time comes. He’s especially strong in Ocean County, New Jersey, and in Maine, where volunteers are collecting returnable bottles to help finance his campaign.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
ZERO TOLERANCE
A kindergarten student in Rhode Island was suspended for 10 days for bringing a butter knife to school to cut cookies. This was part of the school’s zero tolerance policy against bringing knives to school.
A 10-year old boy with epilepsy was suspended after he brought anti-seizure medication to school. Another child was suspended after he gave his cousin a cold pill for which they both had a prescription.
A few years ago a kindergartener was suspended when he came to school on Halloween wearing a fireman costume and carrying a play axe because the school said the axe was a weapon. Well, it could be used as a weapon, but so could a ball point pen.
We reported on this blog the case of an honor girl who terrorized her middle school by wearing Tigger Sox to school.
We just wonder when school will start applying zero tolerance policies to stupidity.
A 10-year old boy with epilepsy was suspended after he brought anti-seizure medication to school. Another child was suspended after he gave his cousin a cold pill for which they both had a prescription.
A few years ago a kindergartener was suspended when he came to school on Halloween wearing a fireman costume and carrying a play axe because the school said the axe was a weapon. Well, it could be used as a weapon, but so could a ball point pen.
We reported on this blog the case of an honor girl who terrorized her middle school by wearing Tigger Sox to school.
We just wonder when school will start applying zero tolerance policies to stupidity.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
CAMPAIGN FUNDS
Barack Obama broke records in fund raising this past quarter. With $32.5 million, he surpassed Hillary Clinton’s $27 million. John Edwards was in third place with $9 million. Of course he had some help from unofficial fund raiser Ann Coulter, who kept saying nasty things about Edwards so he could use her statements to get more contributions. Edwards also raised his fund raising base to 100,000 donors.
The Republicans have not announced their figures, but Senator McCain’s campaign has stated that they do not expect to meet their fund-raising goals, while Mitt Romney’s expects to exceed theirs.
Where does Democratic candidate Dr. Carl Perrin stand in all this? Donations to the Perrin campaign are up too. It may not sound like much compared to $32.5 million and $27 million, etc, but Perrin now has $23.73 in his campaign fund. A good part of this was from the $10 bill that Perrin found in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Brick, NJ. “It was like some public-spirited citizen deliberately left the ten spot as a contribution to my campaign.” Perrin said.
Although Perrin’s fund may seem paltry compared to funds in the million dollars, he remains upbeat. Donations are up, he says, and there’s a long way to go to the primaries. He’s not going to spend a lot of money getting his name out there because a lot of people already know him. Then at the last minute he will mount a media blitz to end all media blitzes.
“Besides,” Perrin adds with a smug smile, “my people in Maine are collecting returnable bottles for my campaign. They have almost $20 worth of bottles waiting for me at the ‘Perrin for President’ headquarters in Maine.”
The Republicans have not announced their figures, but Senator McCain’s campaign has stated that they do not expect to meet their fund-raising goals, while Mitt Romney’s expects to exceed theirs.
Where does Democratic candidate Dr. Carl Perrin stand in all this? Donations to the Perrin campaign are up too. It may not sound like much compared to $32.5 million and $27 million, etc, but Perrin now has $23.73 in his campaign fund. A good part of this was from the $10 bill that Perrin found in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Brick, NJ. “It was like some public-spirited citizen deliberately left the ten spot as a contribution to my campaign.” Perrin said.
Although Perrin’s fund may seem paltry compared to funds in the million dollars, he remains upbeat. Donations are up, he says, and there’s a long way to go to the primaries. He’s not going to spend a lot of money getting his name out there because a lot of people already know him. Then at the last minute he will mount a media blitz to end all media blitzes.
“Besides,” Perrin adds with a smug smile, “my people in Maine are collecting returnable bottles for my campaign. They have almost $20 worth of bottles waiting for me at the ‘Perrin for President’ headquarters in Maine.”
Monday, July 2, 2007
BLOOMBERG FOR PRESIDENT?
BLOOMBERG AN INDEPENDENT?
New York mayor Mike Bloomberg has been a Democrat and a Republican, and now he announces he is an Independent. Can’t the guy make up his mind? He went to California to make his announcement. Why couldn’t he have declared his change of party back in old New York? People naturally began to speculate that the mayor is planning to run for the presidency. With only 47 people running for that office now, there seems to be plenty of room for another candidate. When reporters asked him if he was going to for that high office, he said he plans to serve out his term as mayor of New York City. What about Bloomberg and California governor Arnold Schwartzenegger running together at the head of an Independent Party? Bloomberg answered that he “had no plans” to run. Yeah, right.
As expected, pundits around the country began to talk about a Perrin/Bloomberg ticket. Reporters went to Perrin for President headquarters to ask the candidate if he would consider running as a vice presidential candidate in an Independent Party. Perrin was having his afternoon nap, so he could not be interrupted to talk to the press. However, a spokesperson said that Perrin is a life-long Democrat. Unlike Bloomberg, who changes parties as often as some people change their socks, Perrin is not going to shift parties for some kind of political opportunity. Further, he is a candidate for the presidency, and he will not consider running as vice president. Anyway, why should he even think about running as an Independent? He is sure to win the Democratic nomination.
New York mayor Mike Bloomberg has been a Democrat and a Republican, and now he announces he is an Independent. Can’t the guy make up his mind? He went to California to make his announcement. Why couldn’t he have declared his change of party back in old New York? People naturally began to speculate that the mayor is planning to run for the presidency. With only 47 people running for that office now, there seems to be plenty of room for another candidate. When reporters asked him if he was going to for that high office, he said he plans to serve out his term as mayor of New York City. What about Bloomberg and California governor Arnold Schwartzenegger running together at the head of an Independent Party? Bloomberg answered that he “had no plans” to run. Yeah, right.
As expected, pundits around the country began to talk about a Perrin/Bloomberg ticket. Reporters went to Perrin for President headquarters to ask the candidate if he would consider running as a vice presidential candidate in an Independent Party. Perrin was having his afternoon nap, so he could not be interrupted to talk to the press. However, a spokesperson said that Perrin is a life-long Democrat. Unlike Bloomberg, who changes parties as often as some people change their socks, Perrin is not going to shift parties for some kind of political opportunity. Further, he is a candidate for the presidency, and he will not consider running as vice president. Anyway, why should he even think about running as an Independent? He is sure to win the Democratic nomination.
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