Harvesting items, newsworthy or not

 
Finally! Mandela speaks out against South Africa's AIDS policy.

Why is it that paper can only be crumpled so far and no farther? Why is it that salespeople, on the other hand, are often crumbled into bits? Here's an organization which hopes to prevent such unhappy occurrences. "People for the Ethical Treatment of Salespeople", no less. Ok, I know that's a serious issue, but they shouldn't have picked an ironic name. In yet more oddball news, a new survey indicates that women want their POSSLQ's* to have white teeth. "No toothbrush, no kiss" is the battle cry. Lysistrata lives, apparently. Remember SecTreas O'Neill's unfortunate quote "...the genius of capitalism," when Enron first surfaced? Well, this really does show that genius; books and films are already in early stages. Then there's this example of corporate honesty: a new listing on the NYSE informs potential investors that the corporate directors may have links to organized crime. Refreshing, to say the least.

For us techies, how the Olympics work. And, speaking of the Olympics, 1) I am contributing (on a delayed basis, since that's how we get TV coverage out here!) to the Olympic blog that Cooties set up, and 2) I had to go out to buy a replacement TV in order to gather raw material for my contributions. My old TV began making horrific noises a few days ago; this has happened before, and it went away after a while, but not this time. I concluded that spending ~$100 to get it fixed here made no sense, when Circuit City had a sale on the same size tube for ~$99. Thus, new TV.

*POSSLQ=Person of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters (see Time or Newsweek from about 20 years ago when the trend began)
posted by Link Meister at 5:29 PM

 
Today's Enron news, ripped from the middle pages; the folks who are now expressing outrage are some of those who wrote/lobbied for legislation which effectively helped this fiasco along, including Tauzin, Dodd, Pitt, and others.

"Presence awareness." A logical extension of IM and telephone busy signals, or another infringement of privacy? And does anyone else remember punched cards? I sure do! (You are old, Father William...) Mr. Ashcroft, who is also an anachronism, apparently doesn't want to be bothered with the facts about Oregon's "Death With Dignity" law. Unlike Ashcroft, here's a kid who's thinking of the future: a golf glove which translates American Sign Language. Did all those rock concerts have an impact on your hearing? If so, you might find this news interesting. It's a hearing aid which purports to isolate the human voice from other sounds within the environment. More nostalgia: paper Valentine cards. And in this shoebox, photographic slides. A review of four new scanners (under $150) which transfer them to digital form. Keep the slides, throw out your Kodak Carousel projector.

Finally, in a blatant attempt to promote comments and controversy (kidnapping innocent dogs and kittens is beyond my skill set), here are two compilations of The Greatest Rock Bands of All Time!!! One is the result of votes by some 500 NPR listeners; the other is Spin Magazine's list. Have at it, folks.
posted by Link Meister at 2:30 PM

 
Henry Kloss has died. Who, you say? Well, think KLH; think AR; think the guy who first put the Dolby (tm) process into a cassette deck. He deserves at least a nod from all the audiophiles out in blogland. And for the book lovers, here is a book history timeline. Back to Seabiscuit this afternoon! Speaking of racehorses, man beats horse!

Frivolity! Play the Enron Blame Game! Via Slate. Regarding Enron, here's some commentary about Corporate America and pensions. In other Enron-related news, Deloitte Touche plans to separate its auditing and consulting functions, making it the last of the Big Five firms to do so. Governmental America, meanwhile, is releasing Budget "Talk Papers" to help staffers speak with one voice regarding its proposed spending; this one is for the FDA. Interesting in a way; there are some $295M in "users fees" included in expected inflows, mostly from something called the Prescription Drug User Fee Act. It's unclear just exactly what that is. Fog of war, hell; that can't compete with the fog of budgets.
posted by Link Meister at 3:45 PM

 
The Super Bowl for dog lovers is next week: the Westminster Dog Show takes place on Feb. 11 & 12! Man's best friend may also provide some insights into human aging, too, perhaps re-proving that hoary old adage. The real Super Bowl may have overshadowed the commercials, but here's one critic's take on their efficacy. Speaking of efficacy (or its opposite), a British hospital's trustees are (gasp) Ashcroft clones! Well, they share his view of naked statues, anyway.

Not a new thought, but one expressed here and elsewhere before: Speaking of the war on terror, Paul Krugman of the NYT says, "as far as the budget goes, it's not a mission; it's an excuse." Turnabout is fair play, unless you're in power: special counsel? NOT! Where's the "vast left-wing conspiracy" when we need it?

Changing the subject a little; any members of PayPal out there? The company is doing an IPO. Here's a serious question: did any of its customers get an offer to buy shares early? And finally, from the same folks who brought you yesterday's Top Ten warning signs, a Top Ten List of M&A Stimuli. Gotta get them deals moving!
posted by Link Meister at 4:36 PM

 
Save the avocados! Over 13.2 million pounds were consumed yesterday. Regrettably, mine hosts didn't serve any. By the way, according to that website, the original Hass tree is listed as a California Historical Landmark.

More from the "nice work if you can get it" file: Employment sought: $2,000 per hour required. For slightly larger fees and larger societal impact, perhaps; remember the CIA's entry into venture capital? See part of the portfolio. Other business news: "Top Warning Signs That Your Business is in Trouble." This is worthy of Letterman; who said accountants were dull?

Far from dull, perhaps even over-the-top, is this idea for the prevention of kidnapping: have your pets got microchips implanted? How about one for you? Or perhaps you'd like a less-invasive browlift, purportedly eliminating forehead wrinkles? Speaking of wrinkled brows, could this article have that effect on Mr. Cheney, whose job title should perhaps be modified to VP-Obfuscation (with a nod again to Batgrl for the term)? Oh, and for those of you who have read Shrub, you'll appreciate this essay from its author, Molly Ivins, who laments Texas' fall from whatever state of grace it once had in the eyes of the rest of the nation. Finally, in what can't exactly be called a "sly" dig, here's a paragraph from Howard Kurtz' "Media Notes" column from Saturday.

"The media loved Bush's State of the Union. Perhaps it was just a coincidence that the president had an off-the-record lunch that day with Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, Ted Koppel, Judy Woodruff, Wolf Blitzer, Brit Hume, Jim Lehrer, Tim Russert, Bob Schieffer, Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts. Howard, you shameless name-dropper!
posted by Link Meister at 2:43 PM